CaFE: Catholic Faith Exploration

Starting this Monday (26th), we're very excited to be running a CaFE series.

WHAT? CaFE is a series of films and discussions exploring the Catholic faith, open to practising and lapsed Catholics, Christians of other and no denomination and those of no faith. It’s an opportunity to explore together - over some food - our ideas about our faith and our relationship with God.

WHEN? Every Monday for five weeks, starting January 26th. Meet in the entrance to the new INTO building (the one next to the Medical Centre) at 7p.m. Let Seán know you’re coming - cathsoc@live.co.uk.

Hope to see you there! Any questions, email CathSoc - cathsoc@live.co.uk, or see us after Mass.

Wednesday

Every Wednesday in term time is CathSoc:Wednesday

So put it in your diaries!

In odd weeks of term, we shall have an event on campus.

In even weeks of term, we can be found in the Workshop café bar, which can be found at 53 Earlham Road, on the 35 bus route, near the Catholic Cathedral.

Below are the dates and places for all our parties until the Easter holidays:

Week 2 (Wednesday 21st January): Informal banter at the Workshop

Week 3 (Wednesday 28th January): What is prayer?

Week 4 (Wednesday 4th February): Chat & banter at the Workshop

Week 5 (Wednesday 11th February): Fun in town

Week 6 (Wednesday 18th Febrary): Fun and games at the Workshop

Week 7 (Wednesday 25th Febrary): Mass for Ash Wednesday

Week 8 (Wednesday 4th March): Unstructured fun at the Workshop

Week 9 (Wednesday 11th March): Salsa dancing

Week 10 (Wednesday 18th March): Relaxed banter at the Workshop

Week 11 (Wednesday 25th March): Spiritual: Life

Week 12 (Wednesday 1st April): Farewell drinks at the Workshop (it's no joke!)

Stay tuned for more updates...

In hope we are saved

Last night was our second film and pizza evening. Much merryment was had. In fact, I believe this was the largest single CathSoc:Event so far with a grand total of 25 jolly attendees.

We watched La vita è bella, which according to a source, was Pope John Paul II's favourite film. It is a very important film too, one which provoked so many emotions amoung our CathSoc:brethren.

The main conclusion from the lively discussion afterwards was the general theme of hope which the film portrayed in an exemplary manner, reminding us of the words of St Paul: "in hope we are saved." [Rom 8:24]

The title of the film, Life is Beautiful, is very apt in a paradoxical way, and all the most extreme aspects of the rollercoaster we call life are taken up by the director and actors with great humour, dignity and class in a way not really seen in much of our contemporary cinema.

I think we all learnt a lot.

Baptism of Fire

Today is the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, a feast which marks the end of the liturgical Christmas season.

It is fitting that fate has determined that the community's first Mass of the year of our salvation 2009 is on this day, as we remember the public manifestation of the Lord and the start of his three-year ministry nearly two millenia ago.

This term sees some more of your favourite CathSoc:Events too.

Lined up for your enjoyment we have film nights, more prairies and socials, and a few trips to local establishments for good old fashioned mingling.

Now that the format for our Prairies has been established, it is changing a little. Our next one will be lead by our Justice and Peace co-ordinator, and for the one in Lent (on the solemnity of the Annunciation) we shall have a specially invited guest speaker. We are also making use of a Prairie day falling on Ash Wednesday this time round.

This term is a long slog, and will not end until the very start of Holy Week in April, so hang in there. CathSoc and the chaplaincy are there for you, so use it when you need a bit of refuelling.

Finally, CathSoc would like to wish you every blessing for this new year and new semester.

CathSoc:Prairie

Our second Prairie was a good event indeed.

And second is very appropriate, for the theme (very unattractively) was Parousia & Ecclesia. The parousia part was a bit more popular and provoked more discussion than ecclesia, but all was well. And we managed to include St Francis Xavier, whose memory is recalled by the Church on the 3rd December.

It seemed most people learned at least one thing, namely about St Francis of Assisi and Christmas cribs, but other than that, the 'C' word was not mentioned, and we all focused on the season of Advent.

We concluded our gathering by praying the office of compline, singing Gabriel's Message, in honour of Our Lady. This very lovely hymn is appropriate for many reasons, and not just the fun one gets from singing most highly flavoured gravy. Like St Francis Xavier, it is Basque, and is one of most loved Advent carols.

CathSoc:Quasar

Our Quasar social pulled off a treat. Two teams of eight grappled with each other for a whole forty minutes to sieze control of their opponent's base.

Unfortunately, the blue team lost (sorry Blessed Mother) but the red team triumphed (congratulations, Blood of the Martyrs), beating blue by doubling their score!

The president and vice-president were top scorers, while spiritual secretary and music secretary were at the very bottom of the list (too busy with their heads in the clouds concentrating on heavenly matters).

Much fun was had by all, and we topped off the evening with a quick tipple at a local establishment or two.

Next week: keep your eyes peeled for our next Prairie, on the subject of Advent (Wednesday week 11, Nelson Court Common Room, 7.30pm).

CathSoc:Prairie

Someone must have been on our side when we planned our first Prairie, or prayer party. We had around 17 attendees, which was much more than I anticipated (although I did accidently supply 40 booklets).

There were a few fun ice breakers, food and drinks, and the principal activity was, of course, constructing a giant 8 metre Rosary, for the theme of the evening was that wonderful prayer to Our Lady.

After a talk by a mysterious celebrety speaker, we had a discussion about prayer and the Rosary, followed by making the prayer itself all together, all bringing our own intentions found within our hearts to the bosom of Our Mother. This was followed by praying the Litany of the Blessed Virgin before a little altar we had constructed dedicated to her and the glorious mysteries of the Holy Rosary. The mysteries themselves were wonderfully painted by a skilled artist. While we forgot to take a picture of the group or the Rosary itself, we did catch a snap of our focal point.

I'm sure we are all looking forward to our next event!