Good Monday morning!

Today is the last day of September and tomorrow begins October and with that an extraordinary month of mission announced by the pope!

Of course every month is a month of mission but this extraordinary month is when we are invited to step it up a notch and get out there more among the broken and the needy!

To kick it off I was at mass yesterday evening in Westminister cathedral where the bishop encouraged us on this mission to be the light to the world!

The mass was packed and there were many colours and flags as different nationalities joined in!

Ironically I had been out in Soho the night before and seen a drag show! At times one can’t help but see the funny side of things and remark that the only 2 places that it is acceptable for men to wear a dress and many colours is at a drag show or in church!!

I recall a pastor friend in Australia who said he could never become a catholic priest as he had a tendency towards cross-dressing when he was younger and that he’d get carried away with the vestments!

Of course on a more serious note the clergy do not wear dresses and the different vestments and different colours have different spiritual meanings. Red vestments symbolize the blood of the martyrs etc.

However to the newly converted and indeed to many not so newly converted these different colours and outfits mean nothing!

In a recent video I listened to from Bishop Barron I heard that 80% of ‘catholics’ do not believe in the real presence of Jesus in the eucharist not to mention knowing anything about liturgical vestments.

And all this makes me think that during this extraordinary month of mission the greatest mission territory is perhaps within the church herself where Jesus is so little known!

And so this month let’s make an extraordinary effort to deepen our own faith and understanding of the church so that we will be able to explain to others what it’s all about and how our church liturgies and ceremonies are any different from a concert or a drag show!!

John Paul 2, pray for us and for the renewal of the church (and remember to thank God too for google where nearly every question or query we may have may be answered).

Have a great mission

Mike