De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Our Diocese is recruiting for the post of Assistant Manager of our Youth Retreat Centre, Walsingham House.   The House is very much rooted in the spirituality of Our Lady of Walsingham, and I know Leighton Walker, the wonderful new Manager who takes over from September of this year, has a deep devotion to Our Lady. The role appears to be an upfront evangelistic one judging by the job description and the right person has the opportunity to influence thousands of young people with the truths of our Catholic faith! I would suggest this ministry would suit a devout and prayerful young Catholic in their 20s with excellent communication skills looking to develop a career in the Church or get themselves on the job ladder. There does seem to be an impressive remuneration package which includes accommodation and food.
Many priests and religious I know over the years have spoken highly of our diocesan youth retreat centre, so I sincerely hope they appoint the right person who has a love for t…

On Saturday our diocese of Brentwood went on pilgrimage to Walsingham. I would have loved to have joined them, but having just returned from a very busy pilgrimage to Lourdes I was, frankly, rather exhausted!

I was represented by the best possible ambassador however, in my son Michael. He met our Bishop-elect Fr. Alan Williams SM, MA, PH.D, and shook his hand, telling him we were all praying for him. He also walked the last mile in from the Slipper Chapel carrying the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham bare-foot!

Here is his take on his first pilgrimage to Walsingham—England's Nazareth:
On Saturday, May 24th I travelled to Norfolk with the Brentwood Catholic Youth Service to visit the Shrine of Walsingham. Upon arriving we entered the Catholic Shrine of Our Lady in Walsingham which was overflowing with pilgrims; we gathered for holy Mass together, which was concelebrated by our Bishop-elect Father Alan Williams SM. After Mass we were greeted by our Bishop-elect and had the chance to…

I was honoured to be invited to give a lecture at our diocesan Youth Retreat Centre, Walsingham House this week by Michael Barwick, Director of Walsingham House and Leighton Walker, Assistant Director. The subject was, as regular readers might guess, one of my great passions: Sacred Scripture.

I really wanted to light a fire within our young leaders hearts and show them how incredible the Bible really is. I put together a talk which I hope gave them some insight into the extraordinary complexity of the Bible while unlocking some of its secrets and the powerful connections which have led so many to faith in Jesus Christ through the last two thousand years.

These talks can go one of two ways really. If the audience is unresponsive and fail to engage or ask any questions, it can seem like a painful eternity. However the Walsingham House Team were very bright and eager to learn. There were lots of questions and the whole thing was very animated. Although I spoke for over two hours, it se…

Brentwood Catholic Youth Service oversees Walsingham House, Brentwood Diocese’s Youth Retreat Centre, located on Canvey Island. The ethos of the House is based on the spirituality of Our Lady of Walsingham, whilst also recognising her role as the Star of the New Evangelization, the model disciple, and intercessor for souls like no other.

The House is managed on a day-to-day basis by a permanent staff team and the Diocesan Youth Chaplain has oversight of the liturgical life of the House. The staff team invite young people aged between 18 and 25 from our diocese to volunteer to undertake a year of Discipleship and Mission in their on-going conversion to Jesus Christ and their growth in the saving truths of the Catholic faith. In turn they evangelise the young people who come on retreats from our Parishes as part of their Confirmation Programme and Schools as part of their Religious Education Curriculum.



Every Tuesday the ‘volunteer disciples’ spend time in prayerful formation, often ai…

I have spent the last week in beautiful hot weather on pilgrimage in Lourdes with the family.

Some people have asked me about the damage that was done by the recent floods. We were contacted by our hotel a week before departure as they couldn't honour our booking due to flood damage. Interestingly, we were able to get alternative accommodation without any problem. This made me wonder whether there were the usual number of pilgrims there for the time of year and indeed, the town was busy, but not as heaving, as I have seen it in the past.

The damage is visible, the glass covering the spring in the Grotto has been damaged, the wall bordering le Gave is damaged, but the most visible sign is the bridge from the Domain to the Basilica Bernadette, which suffered a great deal of damage. Overall, the place looks surprisingly good and is 99% open for business. They've done a sterling job cleaning it up so well in such a short space of time.


Our visit fortuitously coincided with both …