Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Jesuits...

...have been in the news because they've been electing a new Superior, so this morning I decided to go to Mass at the Jesuit Church in Wimbledon. Sung (Latin, ordinary form) Mass, glorious music, good-sized congregation, although probably not as large as that for the earlier "Family Mass" which was still spilling out as I arrived. (Actually, if I had children I would take them to the one I attended: much more impressive stuff to see and hear and smell - even the introductory rites, including the Confiteor, were chanted, strong participation, church filled with song, lots of incense, and Credo III, and the familiar Pater Noster, and a "Domine, salvam fac" for the Queen at the end - all much more exciting than just children's hymns).

We sat up late yesterday evening watching Casino Royale on DVD (James Bond) - interesting to see how they've developed the new plots as there is no Soviet Union to be the Enemy any more, so it has to be general International Terrorism and Evil Crooks. This will work for a while, but is a bit wobbly - as Western society increasingly ceases to believe in itself, the notion of having a Secret Service dedicated to its preservation will seem less and less defensible, so the old M15/headquarters in London/Bond reporting back/loyalty to Britain/etc idea won't work so well.

No comments: