SUNDAY – THE HOLY FAMILY

We drive a long time up to Lincs, five and a half hours away, and our new puppy Monty immediately poos all over the kitchen.

I always find that part of the Rosary, the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple, underwhelming. But Father Christopher summed it up well. Every parents knows the agony of losing a child. The best part of the Gospel is: “His mother stored all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2:41) In her heart: not her mind.

MONDAY – THE HOLY INNOCENTS

This is the week of the wild beagle, but we think half foxhound, Monty. He cannot be let off his lead. He will run for miles. I’m not sure he’s a holy innocent.

TUESDAY

We go to Brocklesby Park for a dinner party. A usual holiday day in Lincolnshire. A run in the morning to read a psalm in the church. An hour long walk in the afternoon, now pulled by Monty. This is the fifth day of Christmas, the Commemoration of St Thomas Becket.

“We can be sure that we know God only by keeping his commandments.”

WEDNESDAY

I read Psalm 76 – Natus in Judea.

“In Judah God is known,
his name is great in Israel.
His abode has been established in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion.”

THURSDAY – New Year’s Eve

We are alone now in Lincolnshire. A quiet evening: one firework and one bottle of prosecco.

In the morning I read Psalm 77 – Voce mea ad Dominum, I will cry out to God with my voice, in the time of my trouble I sought the Lord, my sore ran in the night and ceased not… I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.

FRIDAY – New Year’s Day, 1 January 2016

I always enjoy New Year’s Day in Lincolnshire. I watch the New Year’s Day concert from Vienna, and normally there is a golden oldie on telly – this year my second all-time favourite, the Sound of Music (second after It’s a Wonderful Life).

Today’s Psalm 66 is the Prayer for Parliament:

“O God, be gracious and bless us and let your face shed light upon us… and show us the light of your countenance.”

So much more beautiful in the King James Bible, which adds “yea” to “Let all the peoples praise you.”

SATURDAY

Sts Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen

A day spent not so quietly in Lincs dominated by the new dog, Monty, pulling me around the block.

I read Psalm 78 in our village church – “Hear my law, O my people”. Monty obeyed no law save intoxicating scent.