This morning I was up and off to London Victoria to wave my daughter goodbye back on her way to university. The family enjoyed having her around for Easter and are going to miss her cheery demeanour!
As always, I think it’s a waste to go up into town without having explored or ‘achieved’ something. I ended up achieving more than I explored today. I decided a while back that whenever I visited London I would make an effort to attend Mass there and as it so happens, Westminster Cathedral is about a fifteen minute walk from the Bus station. So armed with my ‘maps’ app on my mobile I strode in the direction of the Cathedral only to find out that if I’d walked straight out of the Victoria train Station entrance I would only need to walk a few hundred meters to the entrance of the Cathedral!
My conscience was pricked as I walked along and passed by a homeless woman sleeping on a shabby white duvet, surrounded by plastic bags of different shapes, sizes and colours. Homelessness in London is on the rise. It should not be happening here, surely?
The ‘Something kind’ happened at a traffic light when someone asked me for directions and I was fortunately able to help her on her way and that’s pretty amazing as I don’t really know London all that well. She happened to be going to the Passport Office which I had visited but a few weeks ago. The ‘Something wonderful’ happened in the Confessional in the Cathedral when after confessing my sins, I was given absolution and I was in good time to celebrate Holy Mass together with a myriad of different peoples. This is one of the attributes of Catholic congregations that makes me feel just right: the cross-section of cultures and colours that can be counted in the pews or observed walking up to receive Our Lord in Communion. We are all part of a Universal Church, and this universality is beautifully portrayed at every Mass across the the globe. Today the Mass held a tinge of African flavour as our priest sang three verses of a well-loved song before the Final Blessing. It was wonderful.
The view from my chair as I waited for Confession. Beautiful.
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