Saturday 9 October 2010

Barney Life No. 16 (posted 23/08/2010)


As usual, my Sunday Masses yesterday began with a Traditional Latin Mass at 9 o'clock, and, yesterday, as usual the Beards Family were in church for the Mass.  However, yesterday was not quite as usual.
Also present were a BBC cameraman and his producer/director who are making a documentary about one of the Beards Family, Clara, who intends to enter an enclosed Benedictine Convent on the Isle of Wight in September.  This team of director and cameraman have already spent a couple of hours in an empty St Mary's Church filming Clara and the church, no doubt for background shots whilst a commentator introduces the topic of the documentary.  Yesterday they filmed the whole of the Mass with of course a live congregation and concentrating on Clara and her family, showing, I imagine, the effect of the TLM on her and the others in church. 
Many in the congregation were alarmed before Mass when they saw a film crew in church, until just before Mass I explained that this was not the Benefit Fraud Squad or Big Brother State but the making of a documentary.  I suggested that they ignored the camera and tried not to look 'holier than thou' for the camera because they are holy enough already.
Needless to say, the Mass was celebrated without a hitch and without any stops for second takes.  I think the congregation was amused by the whole event and supportive of Clara in what she proposes to do.  We pray that she may receive the grace of God to try her vocation in this way.  When the film is eventually completed and broadcast, I hope that it will show a very positive side of the Catholic Faith today.

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