What will your Sunday Supper be?
I noticed on Twitter that people attending the Beatification Mass in England said that, after the Mass, people were producing food and sharing it around. Nice. People should eat together on Sundays.
In honor of this great day for the Catholic Church in England, I will make a small beef roast, Yorkshire puddings, and some squishy cake or other upon with I will drizzle treacle.
I will finish with, of course, Mystic Monk Coffee!
What about you?
UPDATE:
The day began long before I saw this.
Then after Mass and Sunday activities and some office I put together my Sunday Supper. A few quick photos.
We start with the flour and some ground ginger. This will eventually become a sponge cake made with Lyle’s Golden Syrrrrrrrrrup.
Lemon zest for the same.
I will spare you the gory details.
But I must say that this dessert thing has been a harrowing experience for me.
I am a terrible baker, and I didn’t have the right sort of pudding basin.
Then there was the ordeal of sealing up something without a hard exterior. I eventually struck on parchment paper and aluminum foil and lots of string.
Here is a shot sometime along the timeline when I was heating the ramikins with drippings from the roast for the Yorkshire puddings.
You can see my improvised pudding basin in a pyrex baking dish with water.
I opted to use a squishy sided silicon bowl, thinking that a) whatever I screw up will detach and b) nothing can harm it.
When it came out, this is what it looked like.
And it did, in fact, come right out with no problem at all.
I have various roast photos, but you have all seen that sort of thing before, along with vegetables.
Seeing that Pope Benedict had dealings with the Crown, for my repast I enjoyed a bottle of ale made on the estate of HRH The Prince of Wales. I first had this on tap at a pub at Seven Dials where I stop on afternoons when I am in London because you can pick up a public wifi access point from the hotel across the way.
Here are a few of the small Yorkshire puddings. I made two batches. The first batch didn’t rise very well. I think my oven temp is off. Also, I didn’t have time to let the batter rest for a while. Next time.
The second batch were small, because I had little batter left. But they were good! Crunchy on the outside, and moist on the inside.
As I said, you know what beef and vegetables look like. But, I did make a thick red wine reduction and mushroom gravy.
Before I cut it, this was my foray into spongy cake.
The aftermath, with Mystic Monk Coffee.
[CUE MUSIC]
When you have had a long day live blogging papal visits to England with the Pope named after a 6th c. monk, have a nice WDTPRS mug full of hot freshly brewed coffee!
It’s the coffee sent directly to your house!
Mystic Monk!
It’s swell!
[Many coffee beans were destroyed in the production of this coffee. Supplies are abundant while they last. Be sure to refresh your supply through this link!]
And another angle.
This was very economical, except for the specialty item of the Lyle’s Golden Syrrrrrrrup, which was one of a couple cans sent to me by a brother priest via the wish list some time ago. The roast was a very cheap cut and most of the veg, with the exception of a couple celery stalks were from the garden. Eggs and milk and flour for the puddings. Pretty much the same for the cake, though that had ginger and lemon zest. The ale I had stored away some time ago.
This cost me more in anxiety over the results of the harrowing work with the oven baking. Not my strong point. But the cake was good.
It is good to try new things!
And so I had my Sunday Supper in honor of my friends in Ol’ Blighty, whom I hope to see in person before too long.
Congratulations on the last few days. Well done.
Benedict XVI has beatified John Henry Card. Newman.
England has a long tradition of martyr saints, whose courageous witness has sustained and inspired the Catholic community here for centuries. Yet it is right and fitting that we should recognize today the holiness of a confessor, a son of this nation who, while not called to shed his blood for the Lord, nevertheless bore eloquent witness to him in the course of a long life devoted to the priestly ministry, and especially to preaching, teaching, and writing. He is worthy to take his place in a long line of saints and scholars from these islands, Saint Bede, Saint Hilda, Saint Aelred, Blessed Duns Scotus, to name but a few. In Blessed John Henry, that tradition of gentle scholarship, deep human wisdom and profound love for the Lord has borne rich fruit, as a sign of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit deep within the heart of God’s people, bringing forth abundant gifts of holiness.
The definite service to which Blessed John Henry was called involved applying his keen intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing "subjects of the day". His insights into the relationship between faith and reason, into the vital place of revealed religion in civilized society, and into the need for a broadly-based and wide-ranging approach to education were not only of profound importance for Victorian England, but continue today to inspire and enlighten many all over the world. I would like to pay particular tribute to his vision for education, which has done so much to shape the ethos that is the driving force behind Catholic schools and colleges today. Firmly opposed to any reductive or utilitarian approach, he sought to achieve an educational environment in which intellectual training, moral discipline and religious commitment would come together. The project to found a Catholic University in Ireland provided him with an opportunity to develop his ideas on the subject, and the collection of discourses that he published as The Idea of a University holds up an ideal from which all those engaged in academic formation can continue to learn. And indeed, what better goal could teachers of religion set themselves than Blessed John Henry’s famous appeal for an intelligent, well-instructed laity: "I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it" (The Present Position of Catholics in England, ix, 390). On this day when the author of those words is raised to the altars, I pray that, through his intercession and example, all who are engaged in the task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort by the vision he so clearly sets before us.
Benedict XVI used Hyde Park for his soap box tonight, and gave this address.
Let me begin by recalling that Newman, by his own account, traced the course of his whole life back to a powerful experience of conversion which he had as a young man. It was an immediate experience of the truth of God’s word, of the objective reality of Christian revelation as handed down in the Church. This experience, at once religious and intellectual, would inspire his vocation to be a minister of the Gospel, his discernment of the source of authoritative teaching in the Church of God, and his zeal for the renewal of ecclesial life in fidelity to the apostolic tradition. At the end of his life, Newman would describe his life’s work as a struggle against the growing tendency to view religion as a purely private and subjective matter, a question of personal opinion. [We return to a major theme of this Pope’s pontificate and this Visit. There are many people who would forcibly eject any Christian voice from the public sphere. This is especially true in the case of a Catholic voice. Even many Catholics who are not entirely faithful to the Church’s teachings are complicit in this.] Here is the first lesson we can learn from his life: [1] 
in our day, when an intellectual and moral relativism threatens to sap the very foundations of our society, Newman reminds us that, as men and women made in the image and likeness of God, we were created to know the truth, to find in that truth our ultimate freedom and the fulfilment of our deepest human aspirations. In a word, we are meant to know Christ, who is himself "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6). [The British Humanist Association needs to get this part straight.]
Newman’s life also [2] teaches us that passion for the truth, intellectual honesty and genuine conversion are costly. [Bearing witness – martyrdom] The truth that sets us free cannot be kept to ourselves; it calls for testimony, [Martyrdom.] it begs to be heard, and in the end its convincing power comes from itself and not from the human eloquence or arguments in which it may be couched. Not far from here, at Tyburn, great numbers of our brothers and sisters died for the faith; the witness of their fidelity to the end was ever more powerful than the inspired words that so many of them spoke before surrendering everything to the Lord. [NB] In our own time, the price to be paid for fidelity to the Gospel is no longer being hanged, drawn and quartered but it often involves being dismissed out of hand, ridiculed or parodied. And yet, the Church cannot withdraw from the task of proclaiming Christ and his Gospel as saving truth, the source of our ultimate happiness as individuals and as the foundation of a just and humane society. 
One of the Cardinal’s best-loved meditations includes the words, "God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another" (Meditations on Christian Doctrine). Here we see Newman’s fine Christian realism, the point at which faith and life inevitably intersect. Faith is meant to bear fruit in the transformation of our world through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the lives and activity of believers. [Here is some realism for you:…] No one who looks realistically at our world today could think that Christians can afford to go on with business as usual, ignoring the profound crisis of faith which has overtaken our society, or simply trusting that the patrimony of values handed down by the Christian centuries will continue to inspire and shape the future of our society. We know that in times of crisis and upheaval God has raised up great saints and prophets for the renewal of the Church and Christian society; we trust in his providence and we pray for his continued guidance. But each of us, in accordance with his or her state of life, is called to work for the advancement of God’s Kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel. Each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human person. As our Lord tells us in the Gospel we have just heard, our light must shine in the sight of all, so that, seeing our good works, they may give praise to our heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5:16).
Here I wish to say a special word to the many young people present. Dear young friends: only Jesus knows what "definite service" he has in mind for you. Be open to his voice resounding in the depths of your heart: even now his heart is speaking to your heart. Christ has need of families to remind the world of the dignity of human love and the beauty of family life. He needs men and women who devote their lives to the noble task of education, tending the young and forming them in the ways of the Gospel. He needs those who will consecrate their lives to the pursuit of perfect charity, following him in chastity, poverty and obedience, and serving him in the least of our brothers and sisters. He needs the powerful love of contemplative religious, who sustain the Church’s witness and activity through their constant prayer. And he needs priests, good and holy priests, men who are willing to lay down their lives for their sheep. Ask our Lord what he has in mind for you! Ask him for the generosity to say "yes!" Do not be afraid to give yourself totally to Jesus. He will give you the grace you need to fulfill your vocation. Let me finish these few words by warmly inviting you to join me next year in Madrid for World Youth Day. It is always a wonderful occasion to grow in love for Christ and to be encouraged in a joyful life of faith along with thousands of other young people. I hope to see many of you there!
First, I am so very happy for Catholics in England who had the privilege of being addressed with this sermon.
Dear friends, let us return to the contemplation of the great crucifix which rises above us. [This from a Pope who wants ad orientem worship and, in lieu of that, the Crucifix front and center on the altar. The Cross is central to his reflection on mystery.] Our Lord’s hands, extended on the Cross, also invite us to contemplate our participation in his eternal priesthood and thus our responsibility, as members of his body, to bring the reconciling power of his sacrifice to the world in which we live. [Sin is a corporate reality. Responsibility is a corporate reality.] The Second Vatican Council spoke eloquently of the indispensable role of the laity in carrying forward the Church’s mission through their efforts to serve as a leaven of the Gospel in society and to work for the advancement of God’s kingdom in the world. [On many occasions the Pope has said that we must raise our voices in the public square. We need a strong identity to persevere in doing that. However, today he is adding another dimension. As a priestly people we also suffer in the public square. Bearing witness = martyrdom.] The Council’s appeal to the lay faithful to take up their baptismal sharing in Christ’s mission echoed the insights and teachings of John Henry Newman. May the profound ideas of this great Englishman continue to inspire all Christ’s followers in this land to conform their ever thought, word and action to Christ, and to work strenuously to defend those unchanging moral truths which, taken up, illuminated and confirmed by the Gospel, stand at the foundation of a truly humane, just and free society.
Kathleen10 on Daily Rome Shot 1117 – A *POLL* about 2026-27: “Fr Z thanks so much for 2 reminders. 1. Using your Amazon link! For heaven’s sake it costs us nothing…”
