De La Mennais Brothers: Making Jesus Christ better known and loved by young people

This Good Friday, I’ll be going to the Pantasaph Stations of the Cross in North Wales (outdoors, winding its way up a steep hillside). Back home, I’ll be listening to my Good Friday “standards”, in other words, Bach’s “St. John’s Passion” and Arvo Pärt’s “Passio”. This morning, I have begun with another old favourite: Eddie Kirkland’s cover of John Mark McMillan’s “How He Loves”, set to the drawings of Si Smith that imagine, in cartoon form, Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, but with symbolic references to the Passion story along the way. First up, here’s the Bach:   Bach’s Passion itself starts at 5min50secs. "In addition to the ensemble performing on period instruments, further elements of both authenticity and intimacy were added by inserting other music used in the Leipzig Good Friday service that Bach himself would have heard and by inviting the audience to sing the re...

Photos from our first full day in Larantuka, Indonesia, including the walk to the local coastal shrine for their Good Friday morning liturgy involving the Stations of the Cross, a procession with a 500 yr. old statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, followed by a sea procession involving a flotilla of heavily laden boats of all shapes and sizes, the boat containing the statue leading the way. Catholic pilgrims come from all over the different Indonesian islands (and beyond) to take part in this and other subsequent Easter Triduum celebrations. Our guides were two young Indonesian Brothers whom the Brothers in Liverpool know well thanks to their stay for a few months in England about 5 years ago to improve their English: Bros. Andreas and Frengky. Bro. Blass who has recently finished his Scholsaticate (further studies after our initial year of training to be a Brother = the Noviciate). Bro. Andreas. The stage in the Pusat community centre. Our primary school wh...