Chrism Mass Card For Priests...

The Chrism Mass "Thank You" cards have just arrived from the printers. I think that this year's card compares favourably with those of previous years... though it's difficult to see from the JPEG files. Trust me, they look really snazzy "in the flesh," so to speak!

When we started in 2003, I wanted to make the cards something the priests could use as a marker in their breviaries, perhaps as a keepsake. I bought a medium-weight one-sided photo paper, and printed the text on the back with a mono laser printer, and then printed the front on my colour ink-jet printer... the downside was the length of time needed to print the sheets (the printer wasn't very good, and I needed to feed the paper in by hand because of the thickness, to ensure the front aligned with the back) and the time taken to cut the cards up carefully using a small guillotine.

Paper cuts were a definite hazard, but I tried very hard not to bleed all over the cards...

In 2006, my ink jet printer had a conniption just as I was starting to get the cards done. Major emergency! Fortunately I was able to find a local printer, and they colour-photocopied the sheets of cards... the result wasn't quite as good, though, as the photocopied cards lacked the slight glossy sheen of the ink-jet prints.

The following year I started early, and found a card-printing company on the internet. This meant that the cards could be full colour bleed (ie. the colour goes right to the edge) and laminated. Also, I don't get paper cuts... 

I have put up what we've had in the last few years (in case anyone wants to try the same for their own diocese!)

Rejoice...

A happy Laetare Sunday to you all!

Rather later than anticipated, (I had a few errands to run) but better late than never, I have some photos from this morning's Mass at Blackfen.

Fr. Tim gave me his snazzy camera, with instructions to get some good "long shots" from the back of the church. I'm unable to kneel, and I'm not exactly light on my feet, nor am I in any way inconspicuous, so I delegated the task of Official Photographer to Carl. I stayed put in my usual pew, and snapped away quietly from the front... the best vantage point of all, according to Carl, who confessed to contemplating whether it was worth him trying to oust me from the front for a few of the photos. He obviously decided that it was more than his life was worth, and contented himself with judicious use of the zoom lens.

Fr. Tim hasn't uploaded his photos yet, so I'm getting in there first with my dinky phone camera. 

Dr. Laurence Hemming made a special trip to Blackfen, and John Harrison, permanent deacon at St. Mary's Chislehurst, allowed himself to be snaffled by Fr. Tim (with the consent of his PP) so that we were able to have a full Solemn High Mass, and the new rose vestments were displayed in all their glory. We also had a good number of servers, which meant that we were able to field six torch bearers for the Canon of the Mass.

Mass is, naturally, always an awesome event, simply by virtue of the fact that God becomes present... but the ceremonies of a Solemn High Mass just add that something extra special.

Jonathan, our MC, remarked afterwards that it was the largest humeral veil he had ever seen... our sub-deacon was nearly lost beneath it.

I really love the fact that the clouds of incense seem to fill the sanctuary during the Consecration. My little phone camera can't always quite catch it... but this time I was lucky.

Keep an eye out for the "proper," high resolution photos which will be making an appearance over at Fr. Tim's blog.

UPDATE: As expected, His Hermeneuticalness has indeed put up a post about the Mass with some stunning photos... you can see them HERE.

Anticipation...

We're having a High Mass tomorrow (Laetare Sunday) so the new rose vestments will get their first official airing (they were blessed last week.) I shall do my best to get photos... though someone else is in charge of Fr. Tim's snazzy camera, so I'm limited to what I can capture on my dinky little phone (which will, of course, be in "airplane mode" so no-one can phone me in the middle of Mass by accident!)

Family & Faith Day...

We had a family day in the parish today. It started with our usual Saturday morning devotions (Low Mass, Exposition, Confessions and Benediction) and then Margaret Mizen came along to speak about how her faith had helped her and her family survive the murder of her son, Jimmy, last year. I hadn't realised that the trial is actually on at the moment, so she and her family need all the prayers you can spare. She was an inspiring speaker, and it was a moving occasion.

After Margaret spoke, we had lunch in the Large Hall. Lots of families were in evidence, and the beefburgers and cheeseburgers went down a treat. Once lunch was over, there were four separate sessions for the different groups: young children were led in various activities in the Small Hall, teenagers had a talk from Fr. Tim in the church, adults had a talk in the Large Hall, and grandparents had their own group in the Sacristy.

Here you can see Fr. Tim checking out some of the latest technology with a few of the teenagers. There were about 20 young children in the Small Hall, and about 12 teenagers (I think) - not everyone could stay right to the end, but we all finished up with prayers and a blessing for the children (and families) in the church, and then a quick cup of tea before going home.

It was a really great day. Thanks are particularly due to the Treloar family who were responsible for organising the event, though many other families chipped in to help. Fr. Tim indicated that he hoped this would be a regular parish event. Watch this space for details of the next Family Day.

Complaining About Press Standards...

The Times decided to run an extremely offensive cartoon last Wednesday (18 March 2009) which depicted the Holy Father with a condom on his head.

The Pope is Christ's representative on earth for around 1.13 billion people.

A similar attack on the Prophet Mohammed was greeted with outrage by Muslims worldwide, and the cartoon was deemed unacceptable.

So why is it unacceptable to depict the Prophet Mohammed in a cartoon, but it is ok to pillory the Holy Father for stating the teaching of the Catholic Church (especially when those teachings are actually backed up by evidence)?

Is it possibly because Catholics don't answer back or protest when the Church is attacked?

Time to speak up in defence of our Holy Father. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor did actually write to the Editor to complain, but we need to drive the point home.

First, write to the Editor in Chief. I have to admit that I couldn't quite work out, from The Times website, who that was. However, the Times Online Editor in Chief can be reached by email, as can The Times Editorial Departments for Home News and Foreign News. There's no harm in sending emails to all three... better to send too many than too few.

And then, contact the Press Complaints Commission. They have an online complaints form, which makes it easier. You can have a look at the Code of Practice, but the category you need to note is Section 12 (i):

Discrimination

i) The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual's race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability.

The publication date was 18 March 2009. You also need to include the internet link. The most relevant one is, I think, this one.

Now Who's Ignoring The Evidence...?

The Pope is killing thousands of people with HIV/AIDS because he won't allow condoms... because condoms have been shown to be the most effective way to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, haven't they?

Well, no, actually. The evidence points the other way.

"We have found no consistent associations between condom use and lower HIV-infection rates, which, 25 years into the pandemic, we should be seeing if this intervention was working."

In an interview with National Review Online, Dr. Edward Green, Senior Research Scientist and Director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard Centre for Population and Development Studies has said quite clearly that the Holy Father is spot on with his comments that condoms aggravate the problem of HIV/AIDS.

"The pope is correct," Green told National Review Online Wednesday, "or put it a better way, the best evidence we have supports the pope’s comments." He stresses that "condoms have been proven to not be effective at the 'level of population.'"

"There is," Green adds, "a consistent association shown by our best studies, including the U.S.-funded 'Demographic Health Surveys', between greater availability and use of condoms and higher (not lower) HIV-infection rates. This may be due in part to a phenomenon known as risk compensation, meaning that when one uses a risk-reduction 'technology' such as condoms, one often loses the benefit (reduction in risk) by 'compensating' or taking greater chances than one would take without the risk-reduction technology."

Green added: "...The best and latest empirical evidence indeed shows that reduction in multiple and concurrent sexual partners is the most important single behavior change associated with reduction in HIV-infection rates..."

Now, how long do you think it will be before the mainstream media admit this one? No, I'm not going to hold my breath either!

Twitch of the mantilla to LifeSite News.

Confraternity Of St. Joseph

The Cardinal Winning Pro-Life Initiative (the primary apostolate of the Sisters of the Gospel of Life) has launched a new project for men involved in the pro-life cause: the Confraternity of St. Joseph.

"...So often abortion is characterised as an issue which does not concern men at all. While the devestating effect that abortion has on many women is beginning to come to light, little attention is paid to the effect that it can have on men. Like women men have a part to play in building a culture of life. If we are to truly embrace life, all hearts must be converted."

The Confraternity blog can be found HERE.

Shocking News: Pope Upholds Catholic Teaching!

The mainstream media have gotten their knickers in a twist. The Holy Father has stated quite clearly that condoms are not the solution to the HIV/AIDS crisis, neither in Africa nor elsewhere.

That is hardly surprising. The Church has always opposed the use of condoms, as it has every method of artificial birth control.

The particular quote which seems to be causing most outrage is: "One cannot overcome the problem [of HIV/AIDS] with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, they increase the problem."

This is not a reference to the fallibility of condoms. It is pointing out the blindingly obvious fact that the belief that condoms protect against HIV/AIDS means that people will be less likely to stop engaging in promiscuous sexual activity.

This has been the experience, reported by the UN, of the Phillipines and Thailand. In the 1980s and 1990s, the two countries had very similar rates of HIV/AIDS infection. In Thailand the government went all out to promote condom use, while in the Phillipines, a program promoting abstinence was introduced. Result? According to the UN's own figures, in 2008, 650,000 people were estimated to be HIV positive in Thailand, while less than 1000 people in the Phillipines were infected.

How utterly thick does one have to be to miss the obvious connection here?

There is also the hoary old chestnut that the Holy Father, by opposing the use of condoms, has been the direct cause of thousands of deaths due to HIV/AIDS.

I fail to understand why people who ignore the teaching of the Catholic Church on chastity and continence will actually balk at ignoring the Church's teaching on the use of condoms... "Yes, well, I'm not worried about contracting an STD through casual sex, and I'm not worried about endangering my immortal soul by committing a mortal sin... but I'd better make sure I don't use a condom, because that's a really bad thing..."

The Holy Father is merely restating the truth... truth which was first rejected as unpalatable in 1968 when, in Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI stated that use of contraceptives would lead to increased sexual activity outside marriage.

Our beloved Holy Father really needs our prayers at this time.

Forty Hours Devotions...

Phil over at the Isle of Wight has advertised that St. Mary's in Ryde are going to hold the Quarant' Ore devotions for the intention of increasing vocations to the priesthood, starting at 8pm on Friday 27th March and finishing with Solemn Mass and procession at 11am on Sunday 29th March.

There's a timetable of activities (Mass, Rosary, Divine Mercy chaplet, opportunity for confessions) over at his blog.

If you're in the neighbourhood, why not pop along and spend some time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament... sounds like an excellent way to start Passiontide.

A Blog After My Own Heart...

I've just discovered an excellent blog - Countercultural Father - by Ben Trovato. His profile description is a work of art in itself. I am only sorry I didn't spot the blog before...

It would seem that Ben feels very strongly about The Suppository... and thinks that, instead of complaining, we should actively campaign to revive the journal... by, say, including free music CDs. I have to say that my favourite suggestion was for a recipe page...

...and so Ben has a recipe for Oecumenical Stew!

There's also a poll in the side-bar: Why do you love The Tablet?  Do pop over!

Year Of The Priesthood

Northampton Seminarian was first to pick up on the news that the Holy Father has announced a "Year of the Priesthood" from 19th June 2009 - 19th June 2010.

The year's particular theme will be "Faithfulness of Christ, Faithfulness of the Priest" and will be opened at Vespers on 19th June (Solemnity of the Sacred Heart) by Pope Benedict.

The year coincides with the 150th anniversary of the death of the Curé d'Ars, St. John Mary Vianney. At the end of the year, the saint will be declared patron of all the priests in the world.

I have to say that I thought the Curé d'Ars was patron saint of all priests... but then remembered that he's the patron of the secular clergy.

St. John Vianney is one of my favourite saints, and I like to think of him quietly egging me on when I'm having problems getting stuff organised for the Chrism Mass demo (and the problems always seem to dissolve when I turn to him!)

Monday Musings...

I've actually managed to dash home briefly between holding detentions for some pesky Year 7 boys and getting to Mass at Blackfen this evening.

A few years ago there was a book with the title "101 Uses for a Dead Cat"... it was, of course, only a joke, but the title has provided me with a germ of an idea. I am planning to start a series of blog posts along the lines of "101 Uses for The Suppository."

Unfortunately, other than lining my cat's litter tray, I can't really think of many other uses.

Any suggestions?

Cardinal To Join The House Of Lords?

Shurely shome mishtake?

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor is, according to the rumours, in line for a peerage when he retires.

He has certainly done everything in his power to be as accommodating as possible to the Labour government, first under Tony Blair and then under Gordon Brown... the SORs passed with scarcely a murmur from the Cardinal, as did living wills, human-animal hybrid embryos, human embryo experimentation, same-sex "marriage"... Being rewarded for his lack of opposition with a seat in the House of Lords seems only fair...

It is, however, a little strange. I was under the impression that bishops in the Church of England sit in the House of Lords until they retire, after which they relinquish their seat.

Why would a Catholic bishop be treated any differently from an Anglican one?

Has his accommodating attitude been that useful to the government?

Just a thought...

Blessing Of Vestments...

After The Suppository printed its dreadful article, so many people were upset by it that they decided to donate money to enable Fr. Tim to buy some vestments - thanks to both Damian Thompson and Fr. Z for co-ordinating their campaigns!

Today as promised, after Benediction, we had the new rose vestments blessed.

Here you can see two of our senior servers training up three new recruits in the correct angle at which to join their hands...

And then the blessing itself...

Taking A Leaf Out Of Cato's Book...

Further to His Hermeneuticalness' comments about The Suppository, Vincenzo has cooked up a little picture for him...

Welcome Back, Jackie...

Looks like Jackie's back. Hopefully she won't disappear again.

Sadly, her mother-in-law has just died, so any prayers for the repose of Ingeborg Parkes would be greatly appreciated.

Requiescat in pace.

Double Standards...

It seems that there is an interesting case of double standards going on... Paulinus points out that the Catholic Adoption Agencies have bent over backwards to comply with the SOR legislation which makes it an offence to discriminate against anyone in the provision of goods, facilities, services, education and public functions on the grounds of sexual orientation... and yet Stonewall Housing does exactly that, even making its discriminatory selection criteria clear on its website... not only is it not prosecuted, the BBC's flagship charity, Comic Relief, gives it financial support.

Now, why doesn't that surprise me...?

Biology Fail !

Occasionally, my students say really silly things... a previous example I've given is "Miss, what's the liquid form of water called...?" To be fair, the student did actually know the answer, and there was a real "D'oh!" moment as the rest of the class dissolved into fits of giggles.

There is much amusement in the Science Faculty office as we share some of these bloopers. We smile, and hope that the kids will acquire a little more general knowledge as they get older... and hope it's not anything we taught them which is responsible...

However, it's not quite so funny when a similar gaffe is made by someone who, not so long ago, was in charge of a whole country...

Apparently, Bill Clinton is of the opinion that an embryo is unfertilised. It wasn't a one-off followed by a "D'oh!" moment either... he made the point five times.

Even more worryingly, Barack Obama's nominee for Surgeon General didn't pick up on the mistake.

I guess the entrance requirements for medical school have been dumbed down... try not to get sick if you live in America...

Twitch of the mantilla to Fr. Z.

Rumours & More Rumours...

Fr. Ray Blake seems determined to be the cause of a heart attack... all I saw, from a quick check of some blogs during a spare five minutes was "Today: An Announcement..."

The rumours are low-key rather than the frenzy we had a short while ago, which makes me wonder whether this is the real thing.

I have a dreadful sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach...

Watch this space!

Thanking Our Priests...

As we are now entering the second week of Lent, I am aware that I need to start organising our annual Chrism Mass "demonstration" in support of our priests.

A few of us started it in Southwark in 2003, and we've gone from strength to strength - a group of us wave placards and cheer as the priests process in to Mass, and we hand out small cards as a "thank you" - last year's card is shown on the left.

Following on from the success of the demo at Southwark, Westminster diocese had their own little "thank-you demo" for the past couple of years, and last year I think there was a third diocese to experience it (I forget which one!)

The Chrism Mass is where the priests of the diocese come together to renew their allegiance to their Bishop, so it seems to be a particularly good opportunity to have a public display of gratitude for all that our priests do for us.

I am singularly devoid of good ideas for this year's card, so any prayers for divine inspiration would be greatly appreciated...

The Southwark demo will be on Maundy Thursday, 9th. April 2009, at St. George's Cathedral, starting at 10:35am (the priests process in at 11:15am) and then some of us will go off to the Three Stags pub, on the corner of Kennington Road and Lambeth Road. If any of you are free that morning and would care to join us, please come along.

Say It With Flowers...

I really dread it when people give me flowers or plants as a present. It's lovely of them to think of me, and I don't want to appear ungrateful, but they really are a disaster in this house...

One time, I was given a beautiful pot plant with lovely red flowers. Don't ask, because I don't know what plant it was, it just looked very nice. Yes I am a Biology teacher. No, I don't know the name of the plant... it was green with red flowers... you have a problem with that?

Anyway, I placed it on a table in the living room. Gradually, I noticed that the flowers disappeared... not unsurprising, you might think... but there weren't any dead flowers to be seen, and no fallen petals. Then the leaves started disappearing. No sign of dead or fallen leaves.

Eventually I caught Sylvester taking a snack from what he had obviously decided was the kitty equivalent of a salad bar. By this time, the plant was little more than a stick in a pot. He pretty much decimates anything floral. So this little photo made me chuckle...

A Foretaste Of The Heavenly Banquet...

This morning saw Blackfen's monthly Missa Cantata with the visiting schola. I haven't ever been at an Ember Day Mass before (at least, not consciously) but I had been warned that it was a long service due to the five readings, four graduals and a canticle (along with about seven collects) which preceeded the Epistle.

I was amazed at how quickly the time seemed to pass: the liturgy was beautiful, and there was, for me, a real sense of the numinous. As Fr. Tim said in his sermon, this is what heaven is all about: the worship of God for all eternity.

I took a few photos: of the Mass itself, and of Benediction which followed. Enjoy!

We had so many servers for Benediction that they barely fitted in the photo... I shall have to consider moving back a couple of pews!

Fish On Fridays...?

When I first came back to the fold, I had picked up the idea that not eating meat on Fridays was something that Catholics used to do, but Vatican II had done away with all that, because it really wasn't very practical... and anyway, quite a lot of the world's population never ate meat at all due to poverty, and so not eating meat on Fridays was a bit pointless...

Of course, no-one ever pointed out that some other form of penance was supposed to be substituted... I discovered that snippet of information some time later. The problem was that deciding on a suitable Friday penance was soooo hard, as I usually didn't remember until the end of the day, by which time the opportunity for all suitable penances had pretty much expired... "Well, I haven't eaten any chocolate, so I'll make that my penance..." doesn't really cut the mustard.

It was actually through reading blogs that I discovered that abstaining from meat was still considered to be a requirement for Catholics in some parts of the world. Then I discovered that some people still observed the penance anyway, without any "requirement" and I thought I should try it.

It certainly reminds me that it's Friday: I loathe vegetables from the very depths of my being (potatoes don't count as vegetables, especially when chipped and deep-fried), and I'm not much of a fish-eater (unless you count fish fingers) so not eating meat is definitely something I notice.

Some people will still object that, if you do like fish, then substituting a nice salmon steak (or whatever) for your usual pork chop isn't much of a penance... this, however, is more a demonstration of how they view penance than anything else: it's not necessarily something unpleasant, or even terribly difficult. Instead, it's about doing something for the love of God, making an effort for His sake.

Fr. Longenecker has some further thoughts about not eating meat on Fridays...

Pound-A-Priest...

Fr. Zuhlsdorf has been so incensed by the attack on His Hermeneuticalness by The Suppository that he has set up a campaign to encourage everyone to pound Fr. Tim without fear of ecclesial penalties...

So, if you want to send Fr. Tim a donation of £1, you can do it by clicking on the "Pound Fr. Finigan" button, and Fr. Z will send the proceeds on... so that we can buy some snazzy silver candlesticks for the Lady Altar.

While you're at it, you can donate some money to Fr. Z as well...

Vincenzo's Done It Again...

...methinks Vincenzo has altogether too much time on his hands, but the result is definitely worth it!

Barbie Girl...

Matthew over at Creative Minority Report has posted about the latest Barbie to hit the shops: Tattoo Barbie. No, Cavey, don't get excited, not a military tattoo, just the body-piercing type.

Matthew has a few suggestions for forthcoming Barbies... Correctional Facility Barbie being one of them!

Weird...

I was feeling really ill last week. I felt so ill, I actually made the effort to go to see my GP. He listened to my symptoms (feeling dizzy, major headache for two days, pins and needles in one hand) stuck a thermometer in my mouth and told me that I had a temperature of 38.3 °C. This, as one friend informed me, is very nearly 101 F.

I am now much better, though feeling a little washed-out. However, I've noticed a curious side-effect... coca cola, one of my favourite drinks (when I'm not drinking alcohol) suddenly smells petrol-ly. It doesn't taste too great either!

Ok, I know there are a couple of medicos who read this blog... whassup?

This Made Me Giggle...

...and it would have been handy on our recent snow day... instead of which I had to trek around the back of the flats to clear snow from the cat-flap ledge before Sylvester would deign to go outside...

Making God In Her Own Image...

Laurence England writes a really good blog. He also is fortunate enough to attend an excellent parish (Fr. Ray Blake, the PP, is a really wonderful priest!)

Laurence has been reading up (via The Telegraph) on Cherie Blair's latest project: speaking on Channel 4's History of Christianity programme tonight, she is apparently complaining that,

...Women were "virtually invisible" in the public face of Christianity and that its failure to recover from the social changes of the 1960s was one of its "fundamental weaknesses. "Until the traditional churches fully resolve their relationship with the female half of the population, how can they expect Christianity to have a future in the modern world?" she asked.

Laurence's reply to this is very tongue-in-cheek, and deliciously witty... he uses yellow for his own comments, but that would look frightful on my blog, so I'm just picking them out in bold.

(Oh good grief, woman, just put the kettle on will you? I don't know...Nag, nag, nag...)

"Traditionally it was women who passed religion on to their children and who kept the church going through good times and bad, but when it comes to the public face of Christianity, women are virtually invisible." ("Why can't I be a priestess?")

She was filmed interviewing Britain's most senior Catholic, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, about the issue. "If you actually look at the formal structures of the Catholic Church you don't see a woman's face when you see people speaking for the Catholic Church... can we change that?" she asked. ("You and me, Cardinal, let's take on the Holy Father and march on Rome with an army of 10,000 women to be ordained! I know all the Apostles called by Christ were men, but Christ was, like, so 2,000 years ago. Get with the programme, man!")

Finally, when challenged about her use of contraception, Mrs. Blair replied,

"I'm a feminist…(rather than a Catholic?) How could I have done all the things I have done if I hadn't used contraception? Because actually every time I didn't use contraception I seemed to have a baby." (Publicly confessing your sins is one thing...but it sounds like you want to nail condoms to the church door in some German town and make Church teaching in your own image.)

I think that just about sums it up... 

Read what Laurence has to say HERE.

A Minor Rant-ette...

Grrrrrrr.

One of the (many) things which really gets up my nose is the mis-quoting of certain sayings and proverbs.

The particular bugbear I have in mind is "I want to have my cake and eat it."

Obviously, one must be in possession of the cake before one can consume it. Therefore, it seems to be rather important to have one's cake and eat it... which means that the saying is actually meaningless.

In fact, the expression is: "To want to eat one's cake, and have it too..." thereby suggesting that despite wanting to make use of something (so that it is ended or finished), one still wants to remain in possession of it, ready to make use of it at a convenient point in the future.

Rant-ette over. Thank you for listening...

A Nose By Any Other Name...

It seems that Red Nose Day is nearly upon us. I had hoped that I'd missed it (I don't watch TV) but that must have been Children In Need or some other fund-raising enterprise.

For those of you across the pond, who haven't been acquainted with Red Nose Day, it's part of Comic Relief, and people do silly things and wear red noses in order to raise money. You can't turn around without seeing (or hearing) that something ridiculous is being done "for charriddy" (though quite a few C-list celebs seem to try to resurrect their ailing careers by getting prime spots on TV...)

I have no problem with the idea of doing stuff to raise money for worthy causes. Unfortunately, I've become very choosy about which causes I will support. I won't support any charity which claims that it's offering reproductive "choices" to the poor in Africa (ie. "we think you're too stupid to be allowed to reproduce, so we're going to "encourage" you to have smaller families...") I don't want my money going to fund the killing of babies for research (so that's quite a lot of the medical charities scratched off the list), and I don't wish to support euthanasia (so that wipes off rather a lot of the charities which deal with disabled or elderly people.)

Red Nose Day and Comic Relief allocate funds to charities which do all those things. Avoid them.

It's a lot easier to pick a specific charity (or two or three), check them out via the SPUC Charities Page, and then give money with a clear conscience. SPUC, Aid to the Church in Need, Life, the Good Counsel Network, Cor Unum, and the Sisters of the Gospel of Life are examples of charities which support the teachings of the Catholic Church, and that's just a bunch I reeled off from the top of my head.

Think about where that money is going.

I Forgot To Mention...

Ooops. Big booboo...

Back in November, I asked Angela Messenger to pick me a Patron Saint for 2009... just for once, I managed to get it done before the year started.

However, after being assigned my saint, I promptly forgot all about him. Not good. Not very polite. Especially since I will probably be calling on him for help with something or other before too long...

So, who did I get?

None other than St. John the Evangelist.

Wow. Thanks Angela!

Blogroll Clear-Out...

After months and months of waiting, I have finally lost my temper with Blogrolling.com. It's a real shame, because I had used them for the whole of my blogging career to date, and, until the latest blip, they had been very good; this was why I was so patient with them.

In the latest update on progress, however, I saw that they proposed to include adverts in the blogrolls unless the subscriber pays $20. Now, I don't mind paying for an enhanced service - I pay for the upgraded version of Sitemeter - but I do object to being told that I have to pay to avoid adverts, (especially when I have been with Blogrolling for so long), without any idea when the service will be functional, or what sort of adverts will be appearing, and so on.

So, I've decided to move over to Bloglines. It was a mammoth effort, as I needed to load up all the current blogroll pages manually, and then subscribe to them, check the feed and then get the information back on my blog without losing anything, but I'm hoping that I won't need to do this again any time soon.

Links which are now "dead" will be removed, as will any blogs which have been inactive for what I consider to be a long time, unless they have indicated their inactivity is temporary and due to holidays, family commitments, Lent or whatever... I'm not totally ruthless!

It's been such a long time since I have been able to update the roll that there may be new or newly-discovered blogs which I missed. If you think I have missed you, and would like to be included on my blogroll, just drop me a link in the com-box.

More Books For My Bookshelves...

After the last book-related post I wrote, I received an email, through a mutual friend, from Brian of Catholic Word: would I be interested in receiving review copies of books?

Is the Pope a Catholic?

Well, yesterday I received a parcel. I love parcels. I'm not so fond of those styrofoam "peanuts" which fill so many parcels (no matter how careful you are, several of them always escape and stick to stuff... I'll be finding styrofoam peanuts for weeks!) but, every silver lining has its cloud.

Inside the parcel: six books and a CD.

The first book was The Signs of the Times: Understanding the Church Since Vatican II. It is a collection of writings by Fr. Richard Gilsdorf. At around 500 pages, I doubt that it'll be a quick read, but, having glanced at the Foreward, I am keen to continue.

"To read this book, then, is to understand the crises afflicting the Church. It is to understand why catechesis has lacked substance and been so ineffective, why some diocesan newspapers still feature dissenting columnists..."

Oooooh. Tabletistas explained...

The next book out of the box is Christopher West's Theology of the Body for Beginners. This is not a book I would have chosen to buy, it not really being a subject I'm particularly interested in, but the book is quite a short one, so I shall give it a go.

Building on a Solid Foundation, by Fr. Antoine Bakh, Daniel Daou and Joseph Bakhos is a sort of shortened catechism, arranged under seven topics: The Holy Trinity, the Eucharist, Salvation, The Church, Confession and Reconciliation, Purgatory and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Each of the topics is followed by a section giving quotes on the topic by the early Church Fathers, and then a list of Scriptural quotes, which gives the book a very "Evangelical" feel. I think this is more a reference work rather than something to be read cover-to-cover, though the topics are surprisingly short, given the thickness of the book.

Brian told me that Made for More, by Curtis Martin, was a reason-based argument for Jesus' Divinity, in that it didn't use Scripture as a basis for proof. It's a small, pocket-sized book, so not too daunting. I am keen to see how it reads, as one of the most common objections I've heard from teenagers over the years is how we can't use the Bible to argue anything, because obviously it's biased! This is, of course, nonsense, but I'm interested to know what non-Scriptural arguments can be roped in for support!

Did Adam & Eve Have Belly Buttons? by Matthew J. Pinto is another reference-type book. The front cover proclaims that the questions (200 of them) are from Catholic teenagers, but many of the questions are the same (or similar) to the questions asked by adult converts to Catholicism - the cover will, I fear, put many people off this book, not least the teenagers the book is aimed at... because it is most definitely not "cool" (or whatever the latest buzz-phrase is) to be seen reading a book written specifically for teenagers.

If they overcome this hurdle, the book itself is excellent, though I wouldn't recommend reading it cover-to-cover. It's a book to be dipped into, with a question or two (along with the answers, naturally!) being read at any one time. Many of the questions seem pretty obvious: "Q. 82. Can you be forgiven for committing murder?" but these really are the sort of questions I've been asked by teenagers, even those who are preparing for Confirmation.

The final book out of the box was Ignatius of Antioch: A New Translation and Theological Commentary by Dr. Kenneth J. Howell. A small, slim volume, it nevertheless was the book that interested me the most.

I first encountered St. Ignatius from the writings picked for the Office of Readings. Fairly early on in the year, I think, there's a letter of his which describes how he expected to be thrown to the lions in the arena, and how he did not want his followers to try and save him. (I may be muddling two of the extracts together, but no matter, you get the general idea!)

This was all much as one might expect from a saint of the early Church. Then, his letter gets a little surreal... apparently, several of the beasts used for the games were rather poor specimens, and were rather reluctant to dispatch the Christians presented to them. St. Ignatius was a little anxious that his martyrdom might be impeded because of the indifference of the animals, and so he described his intention of persuading the animals to eat him... "I shall use force to them..." he said.

In anyone other than a Saint of the Church, this would be considered serious mental disturbance!

So, I've always been a little intrigued by St. Ignatius of Antioch.

The CD which was enclosed was one on Confession, by Fr. Larry Richards. It's distributed free by the Mary Foundation, and can be ordered online. I found the quality rather fuzzy (I guess we've been spoiled by near-perfect CD recordings) and the speaker was very "American-Evangelical" in his approach: referring to Bible chapters, and encouraging his audience to look up the quotes with him. It was, however, a good summary of why we need to go to Confession, and Fr. Richards gave a brief run-through of how the Commandments are relevent to our lives.

That lot should keep me out of mischief for a while!

Photo Fun...

Vincenzo put this one in my com-box a while back, and I meant to give it a proper airing, but got a little side-tracked. Now seems as good a time as any...

The Suppository's Cheek A Little Hard To Swallow...

...sorry, couldn't resist the play on words.

At the risk of giving more free publicity to the dreadful rag, I'd just like to point out that they have had the gall to cry foul over Fr. Tim's fisk of their nasty little piece.

Apparently, it infringes copyright.

And then, they have the nerve to refuse to publish a letter condemning their article, a letter, moreover, from James MacMillan, a composer who has previously contributed several articles, but considers their latest piece possibly to be actionable.

So, not much chance of Fr. Tim being allowed a right of reply in the paper itself... not that he needs it. He just put up a legally compliant version...

As Fr. Z has pointed out, WDTPRS has a daily readership greater than the circulation of The Bitter Pill.

Mel Gibson's Latest Epic...

Twitch of the mantilla to Fr. Z, who got it from Vincenzo...

A Gentle Reminder...

...the Sisters of the Gospel of Life have been overwhelmed by the generous response to their appeal for funds. However, there's still a way to go.

Remembering that almsgiving is one of the three activities we should engage in for Lent, you might want to pop over to their blog and click on the PayPal donation button in the side-bar.

Look at how easy that is... one of the Lenten duties fulfilled at a mouse-click, and no worrying about whether the funds will be going to something incompatible with Catholic doctrine... like distribution of condoms, or embryo research, etc.

And, if you can't afford to give a little something, you can at least pray for the success of their fund-raising efforts... thereby fulfilling another of those Lenten duties...

Blogging Lite...

I don't know if I'll have much time for blogging in the next week. Tonight we have a rehearsal for our Confirmation candidates. Wednesday is, of course, Ash Wednesday, and we have a Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the evening (there are two others, Novus Ordo, in English, earlier in the day) and Thursday is the Confirmation Mass itself (I'm a catechist, in case you were wondering why I have to be there!)

On top of all that, I've got school to prepare for...

I should be able to get some really good photos for Ash Wednesday, but I'm not sure when I'll have the time to post them... So, there might not be much activity on the blog over this week. Watch this space!

Time For A Cat Post...

This made me smile, though the thought of a cat being locked out all night is not a good one... Sylvester has the freedom of the cat-flap (as I have discovered, to my cost, when it has been raining at 4am and he wants to be dried off!)

The Dignity Of The Mass...

As Paulinus so rightly said, it's not my Mass, or Father's Mass, or any one person's Mass, it is Christ's Mass, and, as such, no mere mortal has the right to muck about with any of it.

As an antidote to some of the dreadful stuff we have all heard about on the blogosphere, Paulinus wants everyone to put up pictures of beautiful Masses, whether they're in the Ordinary or the Extraordinary Form. My guess is that the Extraordinary Form photos will outnumber the Ordinary Form photos, partly because the EF is simply more photogenic (with the eye drawn upwards and inwards along the natural line-of-sight) but also because it's easier to take a photo when the celebrant isn't glaring at you... (heheheheh... I am such an oppressed parishioner!)

I have so many photo to choose from, but I think I'll go for this one: Epiphany (Jan 6th 2009), Extraordinary Form, Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Blackfen, England.