Firmly Anchored in Brockworth

22 November 2010

Our permanent deacon in St Patrick’s parish in Brockworth writes for cliftondiocese.com with news of a popular short course on the Catholic faith. 

Over the past few Wednesdays we have been running the new Anchor course in Brockworth. Anchor is a short course on the Catholic faith in simple, straight forward language, produced by the Maryvale Institute and Dominican Sisters of St Joseph in Lymington.

Due to a higher than expected number of people attending the course, we had to order more copies of the beautifully produced participant's packs. The last session, on the Communion of the Church, is on Wednesday (24 November) at 7.30 pm.

The participants included Catholics, non-Catholics and lapsed Catholics, all interested to learn more about the Catholic faith. There were plenty of opportunities for questions, comments and discussion, which all the participants took full advantage of!
 
In summary, Anchor is a six session mini-course designed to be held in the parish, the school, or the home. Each session lasts around one and a half hours. Anchor leads the participants to understand (doctrine), receive (liturgy) and experience through prayer their place in the heart of the Blessed Trinity, within the communion of love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Prayer is at the heart of Anchor. Each session begins with a reflection on a painting, such as the Baptism of the Lord. The sessions culminate in a personal time of prayer using Scripture, where the participants spend around 10 minutes in silence, ideally in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.
 
Anchor also helps parents to pass on the faith to their children, and at the end of each session there are various suggestions for parents.
 
All who came found it enjoyable as well as inspiring and enriching.

Deacon Brendan Vaughan-Spruce