An odd Good Friday

Living with non-Catholics can often be difficult. Today has been a prime example of this. I haven't even been able to go to church today. I do hope, however, that I have made the most of a bad situation.

The whole family, myself included, descended upon Grandparents' house in County Durham for a large shared lunch (yes, I know this is a fast day, so I avoided breakfast etc.). The afternoon was taken up by a walk in the country and general 'quality-time', which although not as good as attending church, given I had no alternative, was at least an expression of family life, and so not wholly contrary to Catholic practice of the faith. I had hoped to go to church later, one local parish had an unusually late service at five, yet this wasn't to be either... I did manage to excuse myself at three, and remove myself to a quiet room for a few minutes silent prayer, but its really not the same thing.

All this does, however, remind me of something. Last night, I was listening to somebody talk about how, during times of persecution in England, Catholics prevented from attending mass used to observe feast and fast days as a way of keeping their faith alive. I suppose the lesson from this is that I must find secondary ways of practicing the faith when mass or other expressions of Catholicism are occasionally impossible. Could anybody reading this please pray that I might at least be able to attend the Easter Vigil tomorrow night? I think its fairly likely that I'll be able to attend mass on Sunday morning, but the Vigil would be nice to attend.

Augustine