Cue hand-wringing

It's the Feast of the Annunciation (Lady Day).* I was going to write something contemplative about the Incarnation, but instead I am trying to work out what to teach the confirmation class about the Eucharist - or, more to the point, how to teach the confirmation class about the Eucharist. it possibly doesn't help that Youth Canon is obsessed with using talking about Passover as a way into it, and while the Eucharist as a sort of re-invented Passover is certainly important aspect of the sacrament (yay typology), I don't think it's a good place to start.

( In which I try to work out what I feel about Christian use of the Passover )

On another note entirely, Bishop Alan had a good post about Oscar Romero. Morbid types like me tend to think that, never mind dying peacefully in your sleep, that really is the best way to go... But it's good to be reminded that the church gets things right at times, and Romero is one of the people who really did get it right. I wish they'd canonise him.


* And, not at all coincidentally, the date Tolkien chose for the destruction of the Ring and the liberation of Middle Earth. Typology, you can haz it.

Yes, I know, I'm spamming; it's procrastination at it's worst

It's probably a good idea that I have never particularly been the type of fanfic writer who goes in for the high-school AU type of story, because after all, if the characters don't have their canon pasts, are they really the characters? A strict AU where one thing's changed and you go on with the consequences from that is one thing, but "The crew of the Enterprise work for a fashion magazine!" is just ... not my sort of thing.

So I shan't be writing the Church of England AU version of Deep Space Nine, and not merely on grounds of taste. You should all be jolly grateful that you are not having a story inflicted on you which would involve Sisko as the reluctant new incumbent of a small, struggling urban parish, Kira as his curate and a militant member of WATCH, Dukat as the priest of the next door, Forward in Faith, parish, Miles as the luckless parishoner and PCC-member who - due to his technical expertise as an electrical engineer - gets to stop the church falling down, Odo as the churchwarden, and Garak as a newish parishoner who used to go to Dukat's church but has left for murky and unspecified reasons. Sisko would be a widower, and have had his arm twisted into taking the parish by the bishop (Picard?) It would also feature Bariel and Winn as incumbents of other nearby parishes - Bariel has SCP written all over him; I'm not so sure about Winn, but she would become Archdeacon after Archdeacon Opaka dies unexpectedly (possibly in unexplained and vaguely murky circumstances).

So, as I say, you've been spared dialogue like:

"Dear me, these frontals really are in a shocking state. I can repair them, of course, but." Elim pursed his lips disapprovingly. "Are you sure you wouldn't like me to run up some new ones? I would be happy to. When I think of S. Chad's, Father, all that gorgeous Watts stuff..."

Ben gritted his teeth. "I think these are more than adequate for our needs. I'm sorry we don't live up to the glories of Chads."

Elim smiled, "Oh, tat isn't everything, I'm much happier here than at Chad's - at least these days. Though I must say, I may not like the man, but Fr Dukat does say a lovely Mass."