Recently we reformatted our parish newsletter. We've moved from an A4 folded to A5 format, to an A3 folded to A4. It is a bit more cumbersome for those who want to stuff it into their back pocket but it does greatly increase the amount of space available to us. It means that we have now been able to incorporate a "This week at the Holy Ghost" column with a day-by-day listing of all our talks, catechesis, and other activities. We also have space for a featured spotlight each week. This week for example we focus on "Christian Initiation", explaining what RCIA is and announcing the commencement of a rolling 'pre-catechumenal' or enquiry course that will continue throughout the year on a six-weekly cycle. This course will lead into the RCIA classes which begin in September.
Another new feature is the "Defending a Culture of Life" column which advertises Natural Family Planning and also important life issues. We have currently, for example, a little piece on the Westminster Declaration and another on the General Election.
The resurrection of the Blog is part of our effort to communicate effectively. The plan is not to simply repeat what you can read in the newsletter. Instead we want to give a greater insight into what goes on at our events. For example, rather than simply advertise the 'Echoes' course we are currently running, we could give a more detailed account of what is covered in each session. More than that, however, the Blog may be a useful tool for pulling together comment on wider issues affecting the life of the Church. We can provide links to other good articles or informative pieces.
So... watch this space!
On Sunday 18th May, Fr Behruz Rafat spoke to Forum Christi on "The Joyful Mysteries and the Gospel of Life". He gave a brief summary of John Paul II's teaching in the encyclical Evangelium Vitae, and then gave a meditation whilst we prayed the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. He suggested that as a follow-up to his talk, we read the whole encyclical for ourselves (download from www.vatican.va)After the talk we went for supper in the Nightingale. The evening ended with Fr Marcus beating Gavin in boxing on the new Wii games console.
On Sunday 11th May, Fr Marcus spoke to Forum Christi on "The Church, Contraception and the Culture War". He explained a number of arguments that we can use to explain the Church's teaching, and gave examples of statistics that can be used to destroy the argument that the Catholic Church's ban on condoms has been responsible for the spread of AIDS in the developing world.
On Friday 9th May, the Keep the Faith groups met at the Royal Albert Hall. After games of football and rounders and a picnic in Hyde Park, they attended the Film Harmonic concert. Music from a number of film scores and television series were played, including Jurassic Park, Gladiator (Fr Marcus' favourite) and Chariots of Fire.
