Sunday, April 17, 2011

I am on the list of 150 invited to attend the Vatican's first Blogmeet

I'd need to quote an entire entry from Roget's Thesaurus to express my astonishment at this development. I expect to wake up at any moment and find that the whole thing is a dream.  Most of last evening was spent working on the Oasis design and other techno problems which had kept me from posting all day yesterday. (That's why the Holy Father's little birthday gift was posted so late in the day.) A very dear friend guided me through the whole thing with amazing patience and great expertise. She will remain nameless for the time being, although I suspect many of you will guess her identity! We didn't finish our work until 10pm French time and I didn't find the list  until gone 10.30pm and then only by accident. I decided on a final bloglist check before retiring to bed. Well, I read Reluctant Sinner's post reporting that he had been invited. I sent him a comment of congratulation.. I don't know what made me follow the link he gave to the full list of 150. For one thing I thought it beyond the bounds of possibility that we would both have been selected, for another, I didn't send my application until the very last minute on Wednesday. I really only sent it to get the Oasis URL on some Vatican list somewhere.

For me to get to Rome is going to take a minor financial 'miracle'. There is one family phone call to be made tonight, which might help to get me there. And (like Dylan Parry) I'll approach my London bank tomorrow in the hope of an extended overdraft. Other than that it's down to prayer. I'll keep you posted.
Please be assured that I do NOT fall into either the 'uber-trad' or the 'supporters of Mr Ivereigh' category.
On this blog, I have always striven for balanced orthodoxy. If I go to Rome, my behaviour, and anything I say there,  will follow the same yardstick. I think the mottto has to be 'Evangelisation through Love, Truth and Reason'. We will do our Catholic Blogosphere no good if we cannot be charitable and fair  towards each other. I've perhaps failed on the first count once or twice. But I always feel rotten after a rant!

Please pray for me and for my efforts to be able to accept this amazing opportunity.
God bless all here
In Christo pro Papa

J

9 comments:

Stuart said...

I've only very recently started following your blog and am delighted to hear of your trip to Rome.

How exciting and just sent up a quick prayer for your finances.

We will do our Catholic Blogosphere no good if we cannot be charitable and fair towards each other.

Well said.

Annie said...

Yay Jane!! Fabulous! :D

Genty said...

Go, Jane, go!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely wonderful news, Jane! Your blog is sensible, "adult" and orthodox. It's a Catholic blog - what more can one say!!!!
Love, Mary xxxxxx

Convenor said...

Congratulations! I hope you won't forget to mention the Holy Year for Nuns while there.

Staying in Rome may be a little easier if you consult this list:

http://www.santasusanna.org/comingToRome/convents.html

I've stayed at CASA IL ROSARIO, CASA DI PROCURA SUORE CATECHISTE DI SANT'ANNA, and Casa per ferie SANTA MARIA ALLE FORNACI. They're all in good locations and are comfortable. ISTITUTO MARIA SANTISSIMA BAMBINA is in a fantastic location just off St. Peter's square but it's up a massive ramp and is very simple.

God bless you!

Jane said...

Thanks to all of you for these supportive comments. I'm particularly grateful for Convenor's information about places to stay in Rome.

Fr John Abberton said...

Somebody at the Vatican knows what he/she is doing sometimes! I'm glad you were selected and I'm sure your contribution will be valuable.

Mike said...

Jane.
How many women bloggers applied and how many were finally invited? Do you know?
Its good to hear you are going.

Jane said...

Thanks Mike

My husband's done a quick check and thinks there are about 40 women on the list. No way of knowing how many women applied, although might be able to discover that when I'm there.