2016-08-18 to 2016-08-19 Northampton

Day began with a mass. This time, my son and I decided to go to St Gregory, another Church close to my daughter's place. It was raining so we walked through the rain. It is about half an hour's walk.

The church is a small church but it has some great art that adorn it. I thought the mass begins at 9:30 but it turns out it starts at 9:00. Thankfully, we left early and caught the priest still giving his introduction to the mass.

The Madonna at the pillar is beautiful. It shows Mary not looking at Jesus, but looking forward, past Jesus. It has Jesus looking at Mary. This is an interesting pose because it shows Jesus looking and relying on his Mother while he was young. Quite often, we forget that Jesus had a childhood and this involves a looking at Mary and relying on her to help him.

I also like their statue of St Joseph. It shows him teaching carpentry to Jesus. It shows what a father is to do. St Joseph is the ideal human father, otherwise, God would have chosen another man to be the foster father of his Begotten Son. This sculpture shows what a father is to do: He is to teach his son the dignity of work. The hand of Joseph on the shoulder of Jesus shows how the father is to care for his children.

One of the things that is changing on this trip is my perception of St Joseph. I see how difficult his life was. He had to pick up and move when God tells him. This shows faith because that means he will need to settle in a place he does not know and establish himself again. Imagine him moving to Egypt as a foreigner. He had to probably deal with racism, idolatry with the uncertainty of how he is to provide for his family. Yet, he obeyed.

This simple trust in Joseph is something to emulate.

We went to Marks and Spencer and bought some things. Some of the goods are cheaper than in Victoria and of better quality.

August 19 being our last day before we leave for London, we finished our tour of Northampton and of the Shoe Museum. This is the All Saints' church that has a cafe at its plaza. This carving of a knight stands at the plaza of the church. It used to be a Catholic Church but was converted to an Anglican Church when Henry VIII created his own church.