*The below message is taken from the weekly Cathedral Record newsletter. The full Cathedral Record is available to pick up from the Cathedral or can be downloaded here.*
New Resolutions
The month of January is a relatively quiet month upstairs in the Cathedral, but down below in the Crypt we literally have thousands of first year students sitting exams both for John Moores and Liverpool Universities last week, and for the next few weeks. Rather than this causing disturbance for the daily 12.15pm Mass in the Crypt Chapel this is transferred to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel for the next two weeks. Also next Sunday there will be a Joint Choral Evening Prayer at Liverpool Cathedral for the week of Prayer for Christian Unity involving both Cathedral choirs and clergy – please come along and join us in this shared service at 3.00pm.
The Sunday evening Chaplaincy Mass for university students at St Philip Neri’s has resumed after the holiday break and we welcome Fr Neil Ritchie, the new chaplain, to our city centre deanery.
Two things I had intended doing during the quieter time between Christmas and New Year was to go to watch the film ‘Silence’, based on a novel about two Jesuit missionaries who travel to Japan to find their priest mentor in 17th century, a time when the practice of christianity had been outlawed, and to read the book by author Robert Harris entitled ‘Conclave’. The film has had mixed reviews with one harsh critic stating ‘Silence is not Golden’, whereas the book seems to have been highly praised across the board. I have to confess that I haven’t been successful with either intention so far- it was probably not the film to go to see as a family group, and other reading material got in the way of the novel. I hope New Year intentions don’t get eroded in the same way. I enjoyed the verses printed in the Shrine newsletter last week perhaps we could all benefit from following some of these “Blessed Attitudes” for the year ahead:
Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves: they will have no end of fun.
Blessed are those who can tell a mountain from a molehill: they will be saved a lot of bother.
Blessed are those who know how to relax without looking for excuses: they are on the way to becoming wise.
Blessed are those who are sane enough not to take themselves too seriously: they will be valued most by those about them.
Blessed are you if you can take small things seriously and face serious things calmly: you will go far in life.
Happy are you if you can appreciate a smile and forget a frown: you will walk on the sunny side of the street.
Happy are you if you can be kind in understanding the attitudes of others, even when the signs are unfavourable: you may be taken for a fool, but this is the price of charity.
Blessed are those who think before acting, and pray before thinking: they will avoid many blunders.
Happy are you if you know how to hold your tongue and smile even when people interrupt and contradict you or tread on your toes: the Gospel has begun to seep into your heart.
Above all, blessed are you who recognise the Lord in all whom you meet: the light of truth shines in your life and you have found true wisdom.
Joseph Folliet
