About to Graduate...

Tomorrow morning I have the momentous privilege of being part of the 300-something medics graduating from the University of Birmingham. As part of the ceremony we will also be read the "Duties of a Doctor", which is the closest we will get to making a Hippocratic Oath! Its an exciting occasion, and I will have my Mother and ghostly Father (priest and spiritual director) present in the audience, with Wendy and Maddy watching the proceedings live from a television studio.

Today at the Oratory we had a funeral for an old lady called Mary, who was a member of the Union of Catholic Mothers. Wendy, a member herself, was present as a guard of honour as the coffin left the church. It was a poignant occasion, as all funerals are, of course. The colours of the Oratory have never been so resplendent to me; the glory and honour shown to God for the dignity of one of his daughters now leaving this life. The solemn exit of the coffin from church called to my mind the opposing image during the Baptismal Rite whereby a physical entry welcomes the Christian into the Church, the mystical Body of Christ. Now Mary was leaving the Church Militant, and embarking on her final journey to God's Kingdom. Such a journey must be met by us with both joy and mourning; what can we do but feel the loss and pain when a loved one dies? My experience of death within my own family has been a bitter and furious one. Death seems like such an abrupt end. Yet for the Holy Souls we must unite our prayers of despair and anxiety with God's infinate mercy, and appeal that our love for them may wet their tongue of any loss and pain they may experience on being cleansed of this world and its Sin.

This year I am arranging a 10 year commemoration of my brother Damian Coghlan's death. He was 20 when he died - such a young age, which made it hard to really engage with the legacy and impression he left behind; all thoughts and feelings at his funeral were mixed up with bitter suffering and raw pain. Now is a time to think in a joyous way about the gift his life was to us. I plan to present everyone present on Saturday, 13th October with a memorial book about his life. This will also include numerous photos of him growing up, from birth to his last year. Our joy can shine through once again, when we are healed from the mourning and hurt. I hope many of those people who knew Damian will share in this joyous day.

The last few days have been a comedy of errors and annoyances, which leaves me anything but joyous. It may surprise my readers to know I have a criminal past, and although it is for petty police cautions as a teenager, these things need careful consideration and scrutiny by the General Medical Council (the regulatory body responsible for ensuring a register of qualified medical doctors). Unfortunately important documents have got lost in the post (no doubt a result of the recent Royal Mail strikes) which leaves me in a real predicament! After everything I have been through to finish my degree, I may now have to defer my first job until I have full registration (which may be the time it takes to get a Criminal Records Bureau check!). I think the irony here is that people will be free to work without a recent CRB check coming through if they haven't declared any cautions or convictions, but myself - having declared something - now needs to provide full proof and documentation! It would have been nice to know all this a little sooner than 2 weeks before the commencement of my post. I suppose it is just an example of the temporal effects of Sin. I better get my book of indulgenced prayers out... and pray to St Anthony to find my CRB certificate!

Glancing at the News today, it has been "confirmed" that the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI uses the extraordinary form of the Mass (1962 missal) whenever he says Mass privately. This does not so much surprise me, but I have to wonder now that Summorum Pontificum has been issued, whether he will celebrate publically, an extraordinary High Mass for the Feast of the Exhaltation of the Holy Cross this year? That would be quite something. I have lots more to say about the Old Mass (whoops slip of the keypad, I mean extraordinary Mass) but it will have to wait. In particular, how can the Holy Father's wishes for reconciliation and unity be achieved from this document? Too long have we suffered divisiveness and conflict from "traditionalists" vs "liberals" or otherwise; when can we simply get on with practising our Faith with whatever form of the Roman Rite we choose? Time will tell...