CCN – The Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, today issued a stirring appeal for change to the Catholic faithful.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Thought For The Day, Archbishop Nichols said, “Hullo Brian, hullo Sue. You know, the other day I saw Austen Ivereigh gesticulating wildly and declaiming something about Barack Obama and change we can believe in. At first I though Austen was just having a little turn – he’s been a bit moody since someone stole his toadstool and fishing rod – but then it occurred to me that there was in fact an important message in his jibber-jabber.
“My mind flashed back to the popular 1980s Liverpudlian sitcom Bread, with its inspiring portrayal of a big family all pulling together to get through the hard times. Once again we are living in hard times, and the Church is determined to play its part in pulling together. For example, we are currently rolling out an ambitious programme of reducing our heating bills by insulating all our churches and schools with millions of unsold copies of the Tablet. In doing this we hope to combine our economy drive with our plan to make the Church carbon-neutral. And I believe, in a very real sense, that points us in the direction of the change we need to go forward together.
“So I am asking the faithful to have a good rummage down the back of their sofas, and see if you can find any spare change. Or perhaps you have a jar of pennies that’s just lying around doing nothing. At this point I recall what Our Lord said in the Parable of the Talents about how it is praiseworthy to put your change to work. So, instead of having your penny jar just sitting on the fireplace gathering dust, you may like to consider contributing to the common good by sending it to Mgr Andrew Summersgill. Every little helps.
“And, if possible, it would be nice to get it before the papal visit next month. Not to put too fine a point upon it, if this turns out to be a complete shambles it will make me look very bad in front of the Holy Father and, more importantly, Chris Patten. This dreadful loss of face could just possibly be avoided if the faithful look in their hearts, and down the back of their sofas of course, and truly grasp the necessary change.”
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