Not as Technically-Minded as I Thought...

I was privileged to meet up for lunch with a certain non-blogging priest (who wishes to remain anonymous) and was treated to a guided tour of the church in which he is Curate, dedicated to St Joseph.

The church is rather a nice one, and has some very attractive statues, and so, ever mindful of a blogging opportunity, I promptly whipped out my camera phone and (with Father's permission, nay, encouragement even!) started snapping away.

Alas, as the title of this post indicates, I seem to have messed up in spectacular fashion... when I came to download the pictures, I found that only three of them had been saved.

This is a rather good statue of Our Lady and the Child Jesus which is currently in the Sacristy... there is a possibility that the statue might find its way into the newly-built hall.



Also in the Sacristy is this picture of Pope St Pius X - the parish of St Joseph's was carved out of the neighbouring parish of St Pius X, and there is quite a devotion to him... I think I took a photo of his statue, but alas...




This is the last of the photos I could find. St Thomas More, unusually, is shown with a beard. Normally clean-shaven, he grew a beard while in the Tower of London: he joked with his executioner that he should take care not to catch his beard under the axe, for it had not been guilty of offending the King!



I am sure that you are all devastated at the loss of the other photos, including one of a really beautiful statue of Our Lady... I guess I shall just have to go to lunch again soon to remedy the matter!

Aloha!

Seems that this blog has made it as far as Hawaii... Hallo to Esther (A Catholic Mom in Hawaii)

Esther is into home-schooling (at least, I figure she is, going by the stuff on her excellent blog) and she has a pretty cool sense of humour too! I snaffled the following joke from her blog:

How many home-schoolers does it take to change a lightbulb?

First, mom checks three books on electricity out of the library, then the kids make models of light bulbs, read a biography of ThomasEdison, and write a brief narration.

Second, the Big Book of Saints is consulted to see whom are the patron saints of light and/or electricity and the kids argue over pronounciation of the saints' names.

Next, everyone studies the history of lighting methods, wrapping up with dipping their own candles which brings to mind the Feast of St. Blaise and the blessing of the neck with twin candles held by the local parish priest which is coming up on Feb 3rd.

This reminds everyone that Saint Valentine's Day is less than two weeks after that!

Everyone takes a trip to the store where they compare types of light bulbs as well as prices and figure out how much change they'll get if they buy two bulbs for $1.99 and pay with a five dollar bill.

On the way home, a discussion develops over the history of money and also Abraham Lincoln, as his picture is on the five dollar bill. This brings to mind President's Day in which brings up the discussion of holidays in which the older children tell the younger that is is really a Catholic word,Holy-Days.

Finally, after building a homemade ladder out of branches dragged from the woods, a quick prayer is said, and the light bulb is installed.

And there is light...!

Mom thanks their Guardian Angels that no one got electrocuted and St. Scholastica for her daily intercession and very appreciated patronage of which should could not do without. (St.Scholastica's Feast Day is Feb 10th.)

How to Make a Grown Woman Cry

This was incredibly moving. Something about the way the bell rings brought tears to my eyes. I might have to raid the DIY Liturgy Kit for a tissue or two...



H/T to Overheard in the Sacristy

Caption Competition

Ok, let's see what you come up with for this one. I'm sure you agree that he's getting cuter by the minute!

First Blonde Joke of 2007

A blonde and a redhead went to the bar after work for a drink, and sat on stools watching the 6 o'clock news. A man was shown threatening to jump from Tower Bridge, and the blonde bet the redhead £50 that he wouldn't jump.

Sure enough, he jumped, so the blonde gave the redhead £50. The redhead said, "I can't take this, you're my friend." But the blonde insisted saying, "No. A bet's a bet."

Then the redhead said, "Listen, I have to tell you that I saw this on the 5 o'clock news, so I can't take your money."

The blonde replied, "Well, so did I... but I didn't think he would be stupid enough to jump again!"

It's All About Meme!

So far, out of the seven people I have tagged for the "Five Random Facts" meme, only one person has responded...

...and Dadwithnoisykids has posted his five facts HERE. I am fascinated to read that he proposed to his wife during an argument... though I guess she had the last word!!

The downside is that the Dúnadan has tagged me for a "Six Political Heroes" meme, with the rider that I should be careful what I wish for (well, I had been snivelling about my lack of tags!)

Now, me and politics just don't mix. I blame the hair colour. I need to think about it for a bit longer... and look up politicians on Google...

Dúnadan, I'll have to get back to you...

UPDATE: Fr. Dwight has just completed his meme and has let slip the fact that he met Mel Gibson and contributed a scene to "The Passion of the Christ." How on earth he expects to get away without revealing all escapes me. Must be a "man" thing...

ANOTHER UPDATE: Mark has completed his meme. Now, I wonder how he learned all those languages? Signs of a mis-spent youth!

NEXT UPDATE: Ma Beck has completed her meme. Four down, three to go. I suppose that I ought to have given this update a red tinge - Ma's feet are orange because she eats so many tomatoes! I guess there is some truth in the old adage, "You are what you eat." This makes me a couch potato. Chipped.

UPDATE UPDATE: The Northern Cleric has stopped sneezing long enough to complete his meme!

PENULTIMATE UPDATE: Paulinus is chary of overstaying his welcome at the RCC, so he has detailed his meme in the comments section... (and what a way to have your heart murmur diagnosed!!) so that just leaves Joee... the Caveman was excused by dint of his just coming out of hospital...

FINAL UPDATE: Joee has posted his meme, so now I have a full house!

Congratulations!

Baby Madeleine has finally arrived! Check her out HERE.

The Latest Gadget?

H/T to Encyclopedia Kevinannica

Another Meme

Kevin (over at the Encyclopedia Kevinannica) has tagged me to complete the "Five Random Facts About Me" meme.

I often complain about not being tagged, so I was pleased to have been included... until I realised that he's tagged practically the whole blogosphere... including himself!

However, a tag is a tag, so here goes...

1. I wear a mantilla.

2. I studied neuropsychopharmacology at the Institute of Psychiatry, London.

3. I carried out my research on the effects of alcohol on memory and the brain.

4. I forget what the results were...

5. I love cats.

Ok I'll tag Paulinus (hiding at the Recusant Cricket Club... probably in a hidey-hole built by Blessed Nicholas Owen), Northern Cleric, Joee Blogs, Mark, Ma Beck, Dadwithnoisykids and Fr. Dwight Longenecker (hey, I've got to get my blog stats up again somehow!!)

Caveman, I'd have tagged you, but you said you were sick of memes, ...but going in to hospital is a fairly drastic way of avoiding them... If you are bored, feel free to consider yourself tagged (it's only a 5-item meme!!)

Another Spiritual Bouquet

The prayer bouquet on Fr Tim's blog for the Doyle family seemed to go down a storm.

Dilexit Prior (Letters from a Young Catholic) is having a hard time at the moment, as her grandmother is dying. Perhaps we could offer prayers for her and the whole family.

Put a comment for what prayers you will offer in the com-box...

Oh Wow!

This picture is priceless... The Holy Father just caught sight of an acquaintance as he left Vespers. His obvious delight is infectious... I found myself just grinning back at the photo.

This is a great man.

H/T to American Papist (he has a really neat caption!) and Shouts in the Piazza

A Quick Question

I'm not sure about the "links capture" feature which I have installed... I really admired it when I first saw it (and coveted... mea culpa, mea culpa...) but it is beginning to get on my nerves, mostly because just scrolling past pictures causes a box to come up.

Does anyone else have any thoughts either way?

Ouch!

The United States military has developed a new weapon: a heat-ray gun which can work from a distance of 500 metres. It apparently penetrates clothes and heats up the skin to about 50°C and was being described as making people think their clothes were about to catch fire.

This high energy beam was also described as harmless...

...yeah, right!

Imminent Arrival

Matt and Wendy are expecting their baby, Maddy, any minute. They may have to have the baby induced if nothing happens tonight. Fr. Tim has started a Spiritual Bouquet in his com-box for people to say what prayers they wish to offer up. Pay a visit HERE.

The picture is my nephew... well, Maddy is playing hard-to-get!

Adoption

As I was waking up this morning, I heard an item on the Today Programme (yes, I know, I haven't managed to wean myself off Radio 4 yet... soon!) describing how Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor had written a letter to the Government protesting about Catholic Adoption Agencies being forced to consider gay couples under the new anti-discrimination legislation.

I was quite pleased to hear that the Hierarchy had finally decided to fight back. "Goody!" I thought, "I'll be able to post something positive about the Church in England and Wales, something which doesn't involve references to the Classical Rite Mass or the New Movements..."

And then I came across the text of the letter itself, courtesy of Fr. Ray at St. Mary Magdalen's...

It was a bit of a let-down. Yes, there was a defence of Catholic teaching - of sorts. But it was worrying to see that there was no objection to adoption by homosexual couples per se... that it was all a bit fudged: it's just that Catholic Adoption Agencies can't place children with homosexual couples... they can, however, pass the details of other adoption agencies on to these couples.

Helloooo, people! Something very wrong here... isn't it a bit like saying "It's not allowed by the Church, but it's ok if you're not Catholic, then you can do what you like"?

Surely, if it is ok for homosexual couples to adopt (and it must be ok if the Catholic Adoption Agencies are passing them the details of other agencies, I mean, it can't be a moral objection) then asking for Catholic Agencies to be "let off the hook" is actually discrimination? Or am I missing something here?

*sigh* I guess clear Catholic teaching was too much to hope for...

Great Minds Think Alike...

Spiritual Grooming Products

Well, you've all heard of "personal" grooming products...

Following the advent of The Pope's Cologne (and no, we don't mean the town in Germany) as advertised by Fr. Tim (who refuses to wear it on health and safety grounds... must be a blast!), Jeff (the Curt Jester) brings us the cure for Spiritual Dryness: Acts of Faith Moisturiser.

Check it out HERE.

Being Silly Again...

...or should this post be re-titled "Wishful Thinking" ?

Thought-Provoking Quote

Another interesting "statistic" to ponder:

The next time you have a homily about Roe v. Wade and pro-abortionists, maybe you could mention that they claimed the right to abortion would help prevent child abuse. Everything I've read indicates that the incidence of child abuse has risen significantly since Roe v. Wade. It seems to me that the decision to make abortion legal brought about an increasing indifference to the value of children, born or unborn. If you can kill them before birth then apparently it doesn't matter if you abuse and/or kill them after they are born.

H/T to Orthometer (from whose blog I shamelessly stole the above quote!)

A Leap Into the Light

I don't understand all the teachings of the Faith. However, ever since I came back to the Church, I have made a conscious decision to accept them as Truth, and assume that it is my own (fallen and flawed) reason which is at fault. A friend once described this as a blind leap of faith, not into the dark, but into the LIGHT...

Sure enough, I often find that the understanding comes later, after I have made an assent of my will to believe the teachings of the Church as absolute Truth.

Ma Beck has obviously experienced the same thing, only she puts it so much better. I love the tag line she's put at the top of her blog - If a person cannot name at least one article of Faith which he believes based solely on the authoritative teaching of the Magisterium, he is either a Saint or a Protestant.

Read more HERE.