Bootle Paradiso

I can't get the word 'transformation' out of my head. It wasn't there when the rain began to fall whilst on the A50, driving towards Stoke nor when I pulled into Nantwich for my regular Costa latte did it come to mind. Driving under the Mersey Tunnel and being back in Liverpool the word resonated with this familar environment. I can see that is going to be a circuitous blog, but I might as well get it in before Jenny and Carmel arrive tomorrow. I'm staying in the Communiy House of the Salesians of Don Bosco and some of their members will be animating youth events as part of the Adoremus programme. I won't be joining them, though having been part of this community many years ago, I'll be with them in spirit. The Liverpool I first knew resonated with the music of the Beatles. Their music disguised and distracted from the run-down nature of its inner city, through lack of investment. It went through a period of militancy governance in the 70s, culminating in the Toxteth riots. The Government took notice; the Churches United in social action - the two Cathedrals linked by a thoroughfare called Hope Street. The Archbishops, Worlock and Shepherd , understood one another and the desperate needs of the city. Today, by being the Cultural city of Europe, plus the restoration of decrpid docklands and large-scale investment it draws in the tourists; hotels are full most weekends. Yes, you could say,  Liverpool has been transformed.
After two years of planning- the seed was sown by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, a Liverpudlian - we are on the verge of take-off for the Eucharistic Congress. I suspect by the very nature of the Congress we shall be pulled towards what is a central feature of our faith - Christ fully present in the Eucharist. The talks, the keynote speakers, the exhibitions, those precious moments of exposition, the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, in which leaders from the other churches will be taking part, should all contribute to a transformation of Church, here in the city but also tangibly in our own Eucharistic community in Keyworth. I can't wait. I forgot to mention that one parish is organising a Beatles singalong evening! I'll be singing all the way back to Nottingham.