Message from the Editor
It is coming close to the end of year and I realise that I haven’t updated this newsletter for some time. This newsletter started out as something of an experiment - somehow or other I was coming to hear of various Catholic events, groups, retreats, and pilgrimages and thought it would be a good idea for there to be one place where people could discover them without having to browse multiple parish websites etc. Somehow, since I sent out my first newsletter in July, I have managed to keep it going. However, I realise that a weekly newsletter can sometimes be repetitive and also time-consuming for me. I have decided, therefore, to shift to a monthly schedule in the coming year.
Adamah Young Writers Competition
Adamah Media are hosting a writing competition aimed at budding journalists and writers aged 18-28, offering a cash prize and further opportunities for their development as writers. Further details can be found here.
Must-Reads
Fr Joseph Evans, writing for Adamah, speaks here on the importance of travel.
I also wrote an article for Adamah on the virtue of gratitude, which can be found here.
‘Christ triumphs through humility’ is a homily given by St Josemaria Escriva on Christmas Eve in 1963 and is well worth reading if you want a seasonal read. It can be found here.
What are you reading?
I’d be very keen to hear from you, my readers, as to what you are reading at the moment or if you have any suggested spiritual reading. Please let me know and if you like I can even feature a comment from you and a link to the book in my next newsletter.
First Saturday Devotions
The Marian Franciscans organise a Sung Mass, Adoration, Benediction, and a Marian talk at the Oratory of St Mary Magdalene in Wandsworth every first Saturday of the month. The next one will be held on Saturday 1st January from 10am till 2pm.
White Knights Ball 2022
The White Knights Ball will take place on Saturday 15th January 2022 in the Great Room of the Grosvenor House Hotel to raise money for the work of the Order of Malta Volunteers. The evening will involve a champagne reception, three course meal, and dancing until carriages at 2.30am including opening the ball with a waltz. Tickets are available here.
Looking for flatmate
Flat on Kew Road (with balcony!) and only a 10 minute walk to Richmond station. Rent is £800pcm including council tax, but excluding utilities. Available from 5th February. Let me know if you are interested or know anyone who might be.
Examen
The examen is a method of reviewing your day in the presence of God. It’s actually an attitude more than a method, a time set aside for thankful reflection on where God is in your everyday life. It has five steps, which most people take more or less in order, and it usually takes 15 to 20 minutes per day. Here it is in a nutshell:
Ask God for light. I want to look at my day with God’s eyes, not merely my own.
Give thanks. The day I have just lived is a gift from God. Be grateful for it.
Review the day. I carefully look back on the day just completed, being guided by the Holy Spirit.
Face your shortcomings. I face up to what is wrong - in my life and in me.
Look toward the day to come. I ask where I need God in the day to come.
Source: A Simple, Life-changing Prayer: Discovering the Power of St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen, Jim Manney (2011).
Novena for Work
This novena for work may be of particular interest to those who are job-hunting or for those who are keen to sanctify their work.
London Shrines
Westminster Cathedral (shrine of St John Southworth)
Rosary Shrine (diocesan shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary)
Corpus Christi Maiden Lane (diocesan shrine of the Blessed Sacrament)
Tyburn Convent (Shrine of the Martyrs at Tyburn)
Volunteering Opportunities
Accommodation
Netherhall House (male)
Ashwell House (female)
Quote of the Month
“You well know the obligations of your Christian way of life; they will lead you safely and surely to sanctity. You have also been forewarned about the difficulties, or practically all of them, because you can already get a rough idea of them at the beginning of the road. Now I wish to emphasise that you must let yourselves be helped and guided by a spiritual director, to whom you can confide all your holy ambitions and the daily problems affecting your interior life, the failures you may suffer and the victories.”
St Josemaria Escriva, Friends of God, 15
Pope’s Prayer Intention for December 2021
That catechists, who are called to proclaim God’s Word, may be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be its courageous and creative witnesses.
Postscript
Inevitably I will have left out events, retreats, workshops, and volunteering opportunities so please feel free to get in touch with me at edwardckendall@gmail.com if you know of anything worthy of inclusion in this newsletter. And please subscribe and share this newsletter with all your friends and anybody who you think might be interested by clicking the buttons below.