To quote Victor Meldrew ‘I can’t belieeeeve’ it is a year since Sister Janet last put me through this agony and torment; but it is, and here I am one year older and not necessarily one year wiser, or more adept at writing reflections.

What a year it has been! One of the great joys I have experienced is being actively involved in the process of the change from Pontifical Mission Societies to Missio. Another one is definitely being present at a general audience with the Holy Father in September.

During the past twelve months much has occurred in the world to enhance my grumpy old man attitude and ensure that I am frequently fighting against a high degree of cynicism.  Standards and values continue to fall or be ignored; horrendous crimes against humanity and the individual continue to occur.  What is happening in our society when a television icon can spend a million pounds on his birthday party as millions starve in Third World countries and the press seem to think this is news worthy; when a former film director is at last arrested for the sexual abuse of a drugged thirteen year old girl and film stars of some note are appalled that he is seemingly being victimised - no one appreciates his artistic merit, and as one star put it: it was not really a ‘Rape! Rape’!!!

So Christian beliefs and values continue to be under pressure from a very secular world; the very fabric of society appears to be unravelling.  I even had a good friend remark (during a conversation that impinged on the problems currently faced by my local primary school) that ‘faith schools are divisive’ and that if we had local government funding then we should be like all the other local authority schools. The concept that ‘faith schools’ are in being because parents desire their children to be educated within a Christian environment with Christian ideals was something that he regarded as unusual and outside the requirements of traditional education.  In some respects we Catholics still face a form of persecution and certainly mistrust. However, another friend informed me that his grandson, who had been transferred to a Catholic Comprehensive school, had told him how amazed he was at the standard of discipline within the school as compared to the L.A. comprehensive school he had left - Catholic see, good standards.

Yet, despite the fact that the numbers of priests are falling and many parishes are now without their own parish priest, our congregations are still much larger than those of other denominations - so, are we still keeping the faith; are we still deeply committed to our beliefs?

This past twelve months has seen my parish priest on long-term sick-leave. In fact he has now had to retire on ill-health grounds.  We are being sustained by our Deanery priest and his curate, so there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of our Masses, especially week-day ones, but no reduction in the spiritual guidance and help that we are receiving.  Despite adversity, the parish and its will survive.

During this period we welcomed a priest from India who was in the country to strengthen his pastoral experience and who, for me, brought into sharp focus what it must be like to have a missionary, minister to your religious needs.  The sheer simplicity and strength of Father Maria Francis’ faith was something to behold.  His mantra was very, very simple: ‘Jesus I worship you. Jesus I praise you. Jesus I adore you’.  During his stay of about two months, every Sunday and weekday he quietly and with reverence placed this before us as the maxim that should guide our daily lives.  His homilies were full of examples of how faith in God and Jesus Christ can work miracles in our world today; he frequently implored us to bring not only our hopes and aspirations to the altar but also our fears and doubts.  The solution he told us would be found in the love of Christ. God is good, God is great.

In September the relics of St. Therese came to Cardiff and so many people were at the Cathedral to welcome her that they had to close the main doors for health and safety reasons.  To be part of the congregation attending one of the scheduled Masses and to see the number of people who came forward to venerate the relics was most moving - there is still strong belief and faith.  At the end of the month to be part of the large throng that congregated in St. Peter’s Square for an audience with the Holy Father;  the vibrancy, the sheer love of Catholicism; did much to dispel my cynicism.  Groups from every continent in the world had come to see the Vicar of Christ and to worship together in Christ’s name, and I am not even counting those non-Catholics who were there merely to be part of the event.

So, despite the trials and tribulations of this year, not the least of which has been the impact of illness on close members of the family, I face the coming months with a deeper strength and purpose.  Perhaps being a grumpy old man is not too bad after all, especially if I can tackle what the next year brings with, as my watchword, the sentiment expressed in the first line of one of my favourite hymns: 

‘Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy.’

Keith Lewis

Mission Together,

Cardiff.