Weekly Record

14th December 2008

The Daily Post this week reported that a small herd of reindeer had been brought to the City Centre as an attraction for Christmas shoppers. All I can say is that it is bad enough for most of us venturing into town to join the hordes of shoppers but to inflict this on the poor reindeer would be enough to make them so stressed that it would put them off pulling sleighs for the rest of their lives. Before anyone gets any ideas –they will not be at our Car Boot sale or any Christmas events in the Cathedral!

We move to the Third Week of Advent from this Sunday and the pressure is now on to finalise the full content of the Christmas services and this year to co-ordinate a New Years service. In the case of Midnight Mass it means information and texts- even sermon - being passed from Cathedral to BBC to Archbishops House and back again and has all the potential for confusion. I normally end up one or two drafts behind everyone else and it is just as well that others are more organised. The New Year service fell to us this year following the successful event at Liverpool Cathedral last year which was very well attended by people of all faiths. The challenge is to continue with this tradition of a simple service of blessing and celebration to welcome the start of the New Year.

This Sunday the Choral Evening Prayer will be reduced in length and will be followed by the Choristers singing a ‘Ceremony of Carols’ accompanied by harp. The texts are ancient Advent Prayers and Poems which were set to music by Benjamin Britten. On Monday Liverpool Education Authority Music Support Service hold their Carol service in the Cathedral at 7pm. There is another Carol Service this week on Wednesday at 7.30pm arranged by NSPCC entitled ‘Carols by Candlelight’ they provide the carols and we, for safety, control the candlelight.
Monsignor Joe Gibb’s funeral Mass will be on Tuesday at 12.15pm in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and Bishop Malone will preside. A number of our staff and sisters and former Cathedral priests were very kind and attentive to him when he became infirm both at the Cathedral and in Christopher Grange and I feel sure he would want to thank them now for their kindness to him.

On Thursday Bishop Tom is being interviewed in the Cathedral by Cherie Blair for a TV programme. I think she wants to chat to him about Liverpool and his faith. I would like to be a fly on the wall at this – not so much to hear what will be recorded but to hear what is said off the record. Also on Thursday Nugent Care will have a short service for those connected with their charity entitled ‘Light up a Light ‘ to pray for loved ones who have died.

The Cathedral Christmas Party is on Friday and you will be pleased to hear that having had a come dancing competition and an X factor in previous years we will not be having a competition this year – mainly because we have run out of ideas. We could always start a campaign to encourage Claire the Comedian to make a come-back.

The Cathedral Service of Reconciliation for Advent will be on Saturday at 3pm. I always find this one of the most moving and prayerful services of Advent. I end this week with a poem for the Advent season which reminds us of our real need for Reconciliation and Peace.

O day of peace that dimly shines through all our hopes and prayers and dreams,
Guide us to justice, truth and love; Delivered from our selfish schemes.
May swords of hate fall from our hands, our hearts from envy find release.
Till by God’s grace our warring world shall see Christs promised peace.

Then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb nor shall the fierce devour the small;
As beasts and cattle calmly graze, a little child shall lead them all.
Then enemies shall learn to love, all creatures find their true accord;
The hope of peace shall be fulfilled, for all the earth shall know the Lord

Canon Anthony O'Brien
Cathedral Dean