Becoming Heralds

Regretfully, it is Goodbye for a while!

2010-12-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

It's been fun this past couple of years, blogging away about whatever took my fancy. But now, sadly, it's time to take a break. Family, Parish, and general commitments are becoming more time-consuming, and I am unable to spend as much time as I used to, at my computer. So, from the 1st January 2011 this blog will be inactive.

Thank you to anyone who has been kind enough to follow my musings. I wish you a very holy Feast of the Nativity and a blessed 2011.

Salve Maria!

A half truth is a whole lie.

2010-12-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

Barry Goldwater once wrote, in his book “The Conscience of a Conservative,” that “Every man, for his individual good and for the good of his society, is responsible for his own development. The choices that govern his life are choices that he must make; they cannot be made by any other human being.” He went on to say: “Conservatism’s first concern will always be: Are we maximizing freedom?”

For those of us who consider ourselves conservatives (with a small ‘c’), a certain degree of independence and privacy is essential to enable us to become “artisans of (our) destiny.” POPULORUM PROGRESSIO (On The Development Of Peoples) Pope Paul VI. Where we would disagree with Barry Goldwater is that we instinctively realise that the idea of ‘maximising‘ our freedom is completely at odds with granting an equal level of freedom and respect to others. When his philosophy is acted out in the day to day world, it becomes one where the strong do what they wish and the weaker are forced to acquiesce.

In any case, what his viewpoint overlooks is, that this individualistic description of human nature does not reflect the reality of the human person as we know it. We are not completely self-sufficient supermen. We are relational creatures, deeply, deeply interconnected with one another. Every decision we make is influenced by its social context — by those around us, by culture, and by history. In fact, the classical economic model of society is based on fantasy people. Who do we know, or who have we ever met, who is completely efficient, rational, or utility-maximizing - to use the economic jargon?

We are defined by bonds of family (even where we try to reject them), by our attachments, and by our social networks, to name but a few influences which shape us. Inevitably our individual behaviour reflects the dynamic impact of all them. We do not create ourselves. We are not "free"; we are autonomous, deeply interconnected individuals, dislike it and deny it as we might.

There was a time - and it wasn’t that long ago - when the majority of people regarded themselves as part of a greater unity of country, culture and history to which they willingly gave their allegiance, even though they may well have disagreed over many internal aspects. It was regarded as natural to feel comfortable with the idea of being British, or French, Italian - or European. People felt that it was perfectly normal to love ones country, and to appreciate the sophisticated checks and balances of democracy, which enabled them to live in relative security.

But the two world wars, the Cold War, the Vietnam war and all the endless string of modern conflicts have disheartened us and made us feel increasingly insecure and uncertain of our place in the world. The greatest challenge to our sense of who we are is the loss of the idea of Truth in social and political discourse. To speak out in support of even the idea of virtue is now regarded as naïve and unsophisticated, or as a cover for our private selfish agendas. “Spin” is the final killer blow to all that we held dear, because it magically transformed our world into a horrific hall of mirrors, where sleight of hand and cynical manoeuvring has left us in a permanent state of disorientation.

Spin is everywhere. Once the prerogative of political parties, it is now the prevalent newspeak of our modern, technological world. Everything has become some form of propaganda - biased, manipulative and deceptive, and this is a real problem for all democracies because it masks untruth and feeds us with the poison of distorted information. How does it work? There are certain rules:

Incorporate unclear phrasing into every statement, written or spoken, so that its exact meaning becomes hard to pin down.

As a matter of course, manipulate the words of your opponent and misrepresent what has actually been said.

Speak in euphemisms to sound less offensive, disturbing or troubling. When you call up 30,000 additional troops for your war, don't call it an escalation. Use the word "surge," or “peacekeepers” which dampens concern.

As the news media usually repeat the wording from a press conference / press release verbatim, without questioning the aptness of the phrase, it is a very useful way of perpetuating both your message and whatever preconceptions you might wish to embody within it. Constant use of a phrase or a word legitimizes it.

Of course, we are all guilty to some degree, and we all do this to a greater or less degree. We simply call the process "lying", or "bending the truth". But now that the very existence of truth is questioned in so many fields, many begin to wonder if is it really possible, or even worthwhile, to identify which body of knowledge should be transmitted? Society as a whole has lost its confidence that it has anything worthwhile to protect and pass on to future generations. So schools and universities have taken the easy solution and have decided to opt out of the very purpose for which they were originally created. Now they teach students to 'learn how to learn' rather than deal with the difficulties and challenges of teaching traditional subjects or encouraging skills of critical appraisal and discernment. Some even consider that ‘places of learning’ should take on the role of simply delivering the values of the 'Big Society' we now live in, and thus become policing agents of political correctness?

What to do? I think that our only hope is courage and endurance. We must find a way to always speak the truth, and then endure the inevitable results. Instinctively we know that this is the only way - but to do so is to set oneself up to be demonised. But it must be done if there is to be any change in the world and if we are to be ‘children of the of the light and… not the darkness’.

I do not agree with everything that Henry David Thoreau wrote, but I do with this:

“In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they (citizens) put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. ….. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens.
Others, as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders, serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God.
A very few ….serve the state with their consciences also, and so … they are commonly treated as enemies by it.”

The Colleges of Unreason

2010-12-07T07:04:00.000-08:00

It’s a funny old world! Often I talk to young students at college or University who tell me that they are studying all sorts of interesting new subjects. They are emerging with Degrees in the most varied disciplines, and they pride themselves that they constitute the new intellectual elite.
I must take their word for it. For so often in conversation with these bright young things, I find blank incomprehension when I speak of the most basic concepts or ideas or arguments. Intellectual and literary references with which almost everyone was familiar when I was their age [and I am not quite Methuselah] are completely unknown to them. Humorous puns and subtle satire in films and literature passes completely over their head. Knowledge of hugely important historical or current world events has rarely cluttered their minds.

On the other hand, they are very clever when it comes to using iPods, mobile phones, computer games and other sophisticated technology. They have a language and vocabulary which is completely incomprehensible to people who are not 'switched on' to the jargon of consumerism. They do not read anything other than ‘chick lit’ ‘fan fiction’ and comics - now called ‘graphic novels’ which sounds much more intellectual, but which is still the same thing! In other words they make excellent and informed consumers, and although I don’t know where it all comes from, these young people seem to have enough money to buy anything they want.

But it seems to me, that what passes for education has simply become a social engineering tool, churning out endless hoards of potential consumers who feel entitled to everything ’because they are worth it!’ And the last thing anyone wants to educate them for is to think - because of course, if they do, they might begin to wonder if ‘having things/stuff’ is all that life is ever going to offer them. Keep them busy consuming, and they just won’t have time to wonder what life, existence is actually for.

I was interested therefore, to read the following excerpt from an article: Consumerism and the Predicament of Moral Education by Jin Shenghong at the Research Institute of Moral Education in the School of Education at Nanjing University in China.
http://www.philosophy-of-education.org/pdfs/Saturday/shenhong.pdf
It makes for very interesting reading. Clearly the incredibly damaging results of the deconstruction of modern education is not simply a problem for Europe and America. Worldwide, the whole fabric, and indeed concept, of society as co-operative unit has almost disintegrated with catastrophic consequences for social cohesion.

-----------------------------------------------------
“Consumerism and Egocentrism

In consumer society, the commoditization of everyday life made its reconstruction of values orientations and aims to depend on the desires production and consumption. Human values are only evaluated by the market and individuals’ capacity of consumption. Therefore individuals only have commercial values that can be calculated and exchanged in the market. Everyone has no alternatives except to be subjected to the requirement that the commercial society pressed on the personal qualities because only in meeting the needs of the commercial market can he or she gain the satisfaction though consumption. Because of the relations between desires and consumption, everyone has become a servant to his consuming desires and concentrates his or her concerns on the desires that developed by the consumer market and on the capacity to get the satisfaction though calculating, competing and owning….

The commercialization of school education changes personal spiritual communication in whole range into consumption. The school market service and the educational consumption change education and cultivation into a consumption style. The communication between education and people becomes relationship of the exchange. Education abandons its intrinsic values in the cultivation of moral person. Commercialized schooling debases moral education. Morality seems only to be a kind of adjustment to the social order and conventions to define peoples’ activities…

Consumerism and the new social responsibility

In the rise of commercial society, the production and reproduction of desires and the objects of consumption form a new relation between individuals and society. People form the social conformity as consumers who are involved in the circle of desires and pleasure satisfaction. Choices of the multifarious commodities and their symbolization of meaning become the ultimate end of life, but the choices of moral values turn to be like “Supermarket Choice”. Moral values are determined by personal tastes and personal preferences. Values relevant to self and others do not matter morally, which become neutral and everybody can freely determine how to dispose his own mind and body according to his desires and needs. Values have no relations with the flourishing of personal and social well-being. So there are no moral duties and responsibilities to self and communities in the values preferences. What is more, in the dominant consumerism era, the difference of desires and the multifarious preferences bring the situation of lack of shared values and public spiritedness. To be apathetic to others’ well-being and alienated from the community is regarded as the justified private morality. No common and shared social values hold the modern individuals together except the consumption mutual advantages. The social solidarity and social trust are degenerated and we are related each other not morally but in the consumerist way. Consumerism reduces the social life to a trivial materialism. It makes social responsibility lapsed and constructs lives in relation to a future devoid of moral obligations and social responsibility of citizenship.
When public education becomes a venue for making a profit, delivering a product, or constructing consuming subjects, education reneges on its responsibilities for creating democracy of citizens by shifting its focus to producing a democracy of consumers. Giroux, Henry. Stealing Innocence: Youth, Corporate Power, and the Politics of culture. New York: Palgrave, 2000, page 173.) “

Preparation for the Nativity of Our Lord: LITANY OF THE UNBORN CHRIST CHILD

2010-12-07T06:22:00.000-08:00

LITANY OF THE UNBORN CHRIST CHILD

Our Father, Author of Life,
Thank You for the gift of life.

Word of God, through Whom all things were made,
Thank You for the gift of life.

Holy Spirit, hovering over the waters of Creation,
Thank You for the gift of life.

Jesus, Your coming was announced by an angel,
* BLESS THE UNBORN AND THEIR PARENTS.

Jesus, conceived in love by God’s Spirit and the Virgin Mary,*
Jesus, beloved son of a humble carpenter,*
Jesus, source of immeasurable joy for Mary and Joseph,*
Jesus, the aging Elizabeth rejoiced in Your presence,*
Jesus, You filled the unborn Baptist with gladness,*
Jesus, Mary’s soul mirrors this gift of Divinity,*
Jesus, because of You all generations call Mary blessed,*
Jesus, one month in the womb and Your tiny heart beat for love,*
Jesus, another month passed and Your mouth and hands were wonderfully formed,*
Jesus, that mouth would tell the glory of God,*
Jesus, those hands were fashioned to be pierced for love,*
Jesus, before birth You rested near Your mother’s faithful heart,*
Jesus, grateful to those who assisted Your mother during pregnancy,*
Jesus, teaching us; whatever we do to the least of Your brothers and sisters, we do to You,*
Jesus, Your birth was a joyful revelation to humanity,*
Jesus, days after that nativity, a fearful king planned to kill You,*
Jesus, countless infants were slaughtered in Your place,*

Lord, thank You for first coming among us as the Unborn Christ Child. Today, untold numbers of our tiny sisters and brothers have been abandoned by the world’s leaders, by the traditional defenders of justice, by the healing professions and even by their own parents. But You are their Savior – You have not forgotten them. Savior, rescue and protect these little ones from the neglect and violence of an uncaring world.

Merciful Lord, Your tiny infant heart, which was later emptied on the cross, offers this world it’s only hope. Forgive us our sins against the unborn, against their parents and against all Your children. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

Prince of Peace, through Your healing Spirit, help us to lovingly accept every conceived child created in Your image and likeness, as a messenger of peace and goodwill towards all people. Amen.

To make your heart sing: Ev'ry valley shall be exhalted (Sir Colin Davis, Mark Padmore, LSO)

2010-12-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

What I Learned from NaNoWrimo.

2010-12-06T14:58:00.000-08:00

Well, it's all over until next year. On the 30 November at midnight the Nanowrimo wordcount verifier was finally closed, and all participants were either past the post or not. At one minute past the hour, it was just too late. A bit like death!

I am delighted to say that both my daughter and I finished in time and slightly over the wordcount goal, which was very, very satisfying. So we both have a 'novel' to our credit. Except of course there is no way that it IS a novel. Impossible to achieve in such a short time - but we DO have a first rough (very, very rough!)draft, which could possibly be developed into a serious story with a lot of TLC, a lot of rewriting, a lot of patience, and a lot of polishing. And that is something to be celebrated.Not that I necessarily will bother with this particular attempt, but who knows!

So what did I learn from the whole experience?

1. Well,it was enormous fun. It taught me a lot about creative writing in general, and plot construction in particular.

2. It made me realise that I need to pay much more attention to other people as I have a very limited understanding of what makes them tick. After attempting to develop characters for my story, I realise that I see others too much through my own eyes, but they are very unlikely to see the world in the same way I do. As a result of trying to deal with this - for me - new problem, I find that I am beginning to ask myself new questions about other people. How do they experience the world they inhabit. How do they respond to the problems of life. What do they feel, think, want?

3. I can actually write 50000 creative words in one month, and amazingly, can manage to find the discipline to focus on that goal and achieve it. To be honest, I never thought I had a chance of finishing it. But I managed to endure through the periods of boredom and frustration and push through to the end.

4. I have made a couple of friendships which will continue past the Nano month. They share the desire to write, and the friendship is based on the hope of mutual support and encouragement to continue to learn the art and craft of writing.

5. While I am determined to continue this learning process, I am not sure whether my interest and/or strength lies in the area of fiction or non-fiction. Time will tell. My daughter on the other hand, having been a creative writer all her life, with three youthful novel-length stories under her belt, is now determined to proceed with perfecting her draft and at least trying to get something published.

Would I do it again? Definitely. I think this is so enjoyable that it could become an addiction. Roll on November!!

NaNoWrimo - week 2: An update.

2010-11-09T14:32:00.000-08:00

Tuesday of week two, and I have written 15,282 words so far. By now, of course the whole idea of 'a novel in a month' is somewhat less amusing than it was before I started, and increasingly it is taking a real effort of will to sit down every day and write.

But in a way that is one of the best lessons of the whole experience. I have discovered that the old advice is absolutely true. You can't wait around until the creative spirit moves you, because this fickle being rarely appears when you want it, preferring to appear when you have given up hope and just started to 'throw the mud at the wall' to see what happens.

The other very interesting thing about nanowrimo is that there is that you can get 'writing buddies' to provide encouragement by e-mail. But there is something more helpful than e-mails that writing buddies can provide - their daily updated wordcount! Every time I feel like giving up, I see how much the others have written, and my competitive streak kicks in. It never ceases to amaze me how I can then manage to find the energy to write another couple of thousand words at the end of the day, when I had intended to switch off the computer and relax. One glimpse of a buddy's newly increased wordcount is amazingly energising!

So, having just seen that someone has completed their first 20,000 words, I had better get back to work!

Fr Robert Barron comments on the film 'Hereafter'

2010-11-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

I found this Video found on an interesting Catholic blog: http://spreadthyfragrance.blogspot.com/

The video - and the blog - is well worth a look.

Are today's Orthodox Catholics Writing any Novels?

2010-10-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

Since deciding to attempt the notorious NaNoWriMo, in order to try to force myself to stop talking about 'writing' and actually do it, I have been wondering whether there are currently any Catholics who describe themselves, not as writers who are Catholics, but as Catholics who are writers. I mean by this that the reader can see that the author IS Catholic, and that the writing clearly demonstrates it. Many modern Catholic writers express their Faith in so subtle a way that their work seems entirely secular.

I am not criticising that, but my own interest is in much more 'full blooded' Catholic writing. I have not come across much of anything I could recognise under this heading in the UK, but after a quick search of the net I discovered a couple of items of interest.

The first is an excerpt (see below)from an article by Marian Crowe, a Visiting Scholar at the University of Notre Dame and the author of Aiming at Heaven, Getting the Earth: The English Catholic Novel Today&& (Lexington Books).

The second is a website of The Catholic Writers Guild (The rebirth of Catholic Arts and Letters).

Their introduction to the group says:

"Are you a Catholic writer loyal to the Magisterium and looking for a group of like-minded writers determined to assist each other in our publishing goals?
Are you an editor, publisher, or illustrator interested in furthering the development of quality faith-filled writings?

If so, the Catholic Writers' Guild may be for you.

The Catholic Writers' Guild is a non-profit organization comprised of writers, artists, editors, illustrators, and allies dedicated to building a vibrant Catholic literary and artistic culture. We do this by encouraging Catholic writers to create, publish, perform, and share their work; by reflecting upon core Catholic values (i.e., those in accordance with the teaching of the Magisterium) in art; and by networking within the faith and literary communities. Our organization is loyal to the teaching authority of the Church. Our regular and alumni members are practicing Catholic writers, while institutional members are persons or companies supportive of Catholic writing; institutional members need not to be Catholic, but sympathetic to Catholic practices and morals. " Check out the website at: http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php

I am very encouraged by both of these sites, but they are both American. I wonder if there is anything similar going on in the UK? Are there any practicing Catholic writers or aspiring writers out there, who are interested in providing Catholic literature? If so, where are you?

Excerpt from Marian Crowe's article:
(The full article may be seen at: http://www.firstthings.com/index.php)

"..Yet it is indisputable that the future of the Catholic novel is inextricably intertwined with the future of the Church. Catholic fiction, more so than other Christian fiction, has a denominational mentality. If the state of the post—Vatican II Church affected the novels written during that era, it stands to reason that the future of the Church will be a defining factor of future Catholic fiction. Sociologist David Carlin in The Decline and Fall of the Catholic Church in America&& predicts that the Church of the future will be much smaller, a "saving remnant," in which traditionalists will outnumber liberals. His argument is too complex to go into here, but two factors are that conservative, traditional Catholics tend to be more successful at passing on the faith to the younger generation and that they are more likely to stay with the Church even when disappointed or scandalized by it.

Carlin believes that the "saving remnant" will need to resist strongly the idea that Catholicism is simply one sect among many paths to the same truth, regain a sense of the importance of being Catholic, and emphasize that which is distinctive in the Catholic tradition. Carlin also contends that the Church must recognize that it is confronting a serious enemy in secularism, an aggressive anti-Christianity that is vigorously promoting "a moral and political agenda that is flatly incompatible with Christianity." Carlin's thesis has support in high places. In Salt of the Earth&&, then Cardinal Ratzinger argued that the Church in coming years "will assume different forms. She will be less identified with the great societies, more a minority Church; she will live in small vital circles of really convinced believers who live their faith." One sign that these predictions are accurate is the trend reported in Colleen Carroll's recent book The New Faithful&& that "a small but committed core of young Christians is intentionally embracing organized religion and traditional morality." They "resist any compromise of the essential tenets of orthodoxy as capitulation to secular culture" and are having disproportionately powerful influence on their peers and the culture.

A smaller, more traditional and orthodox Church may be more conducive to good Catholic fiction for several reasons. First, Catholic fiction flourished in a period when Catholicism became more open to the secular world but still maintained a strong self-identity with clear, though permeable, boundaries. More orthodox Catholic writers are more likely to maintain the boundaries. Only a vibrant and resolute faith has the resources to allow the secular to be itself, to embrace its goodness while seeing it clearly. Secondly, the sense of salvation and damnation as truly momentous questions may once again exist in a small group of people with a strong faith more focused on traditional doctrines. Third, recognizing secularism as a serious enemy may be good for the Catholic novel. Most of the earlier Catholic novelists defined themselves in opposition to something. Fourth, the Catholic imagination, as Greeley points out, is nourished by the liturgy, ritual, art, architecture, and stories that have enabled Catholics to live in what Greeley calls an enchanted world. I suspect, however, that this imagination is also sustained by a belief in the supernatural doctrines of the creed, the efficacy of the sacraments, and clear and consistent moral teaching. Traditional orthodox believers are more likely to emphasize both the "enchanted world" of the tradition and the belief system sustaining it. American Catholic novelist Ron Hansen, in his preface to A Stay Against Confusion&&, put it well when he wrote:

Looking back on my childhood now, I find that church-going and religion were in good part the origin of my vocation as a writer, for along with Catholicism's feast for the senses, its ethical concerns, its insistence on seeing God in all things, and the high status it gave to
scripture, drama, and art, there was a connotation in Catholicism's liturgies that storytelling mattered. Each Mass was a narrative steeped in meaning and metaphor, helping the faithful to not only remember the past but to make it present here and now, and to bind ourselves into a sharing group so that, ideally, we could continue the public ministry of Jesus in our world.

Undoubtedly, the most essential element for first-rate Catholic fiction is a Catholic writer of exceptional talent. That lies in God's hands. But because I believe that God loves good Catholic novels, I think that, given a Church of greater orthodoxy, mindful and grateful of the fullness of tradition, and inspired by the work of past Catholic novelists, the future for Catholic fiction looks promising."

Marian Crowe is a Visiting Scholar at the University of Notre Dame and the author of Aiming at Heaven, Getting the Earth: The English Catholic Novel Today&& (Lexington Books).

Back in circulation again - for NaNoWriMo!

2010-10-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been so long since my previous post! Where does the time go? We have, like Martha, been busy with many things.

We have had lovely Heralds visiting us [yes, that is you, Brothers Arthur and Brother Louis Miguel from London, accompanied by two other delightful Herald Visitors here in England for the Pope's visit. Some of their wonderful photos of many places of interest in England will begin to appear here: http://heraldsgospelsinengland.blogspot.com/]

Since then we have had the usual rush of autumn commitments which has kept us busy, and now we all have a bad 'dose of the cold' which inevitably lowers our energy levels. Hopefully however, we are beginning to get back to normal. Just in time because my daughter and I have a something interesting in the offing. We are participating in the amazing, world-wide phenomenon of NaNoWriMo.

You have never heard of it? Well, neither had I until Charlotte introduced me to it. She loves to write, and although she has as yet nothing published, she already has two novels under her belt. I write, but not fiction, and only for private consumption. However, this seems such a fun project that I just can't resist.

Participants have to write 50,000 words of fiction during the month of November. Quite an achievement in itself, and clearly it is quantity rather than quality which is sought. The editing and polishing of the precious manuscript comes later on, but the serious point of the exercise is to kick-start the actual writing. After all, how many of us say that 'one day' we will write a novel, or biography or whatever, but we never actually get round to it.

So today my daughter are going public with our ambition to achieve this, on the basis that once anyone else knows about this ridiculous ambition, we will do absolutely anything to make sure that we achieve it. Fear of public failure and ridicule is a great motivator - so watch this space!

And perhaps someone else out there would also like to have a go at this very exhilarating attempt? If you are, you can find everything you want to know at:

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Urban foraging - one of life's great pleasures!

2010-09-02T16:41:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I went hedgerow foraging yesterday evening. It was something we had been planning to do for a while, as we had seen the bountiful autum crop of wild fruit developing very nicely over the past few warm, wet weeks. After about an hour, our many plastic carrier bags were straining under the weight of out wonderful plunder. And the joy of it all is that it was free for the picking from the hedgerows!

I am always surprised to find that the number of people doing this is getting smaller each year, considering that it was something that families traditionally did together at this time of the year. I think that many people today have never been taught the old ways, and they thing that everything that grows in the wild is 'dirty' or 'dangerous'. What a pity for them - but it leaves the fields clear for the declining number of those who still know how to find wild food.

In the short time that we spent searching, we managed to find endless apples - most of them on land that had once been an orchard, so they were bramleys and varies species of dessert fruit, not the sour wild crab apples. We also found sloes and damsons in profusion, and also some rose hips. The photo above shows what was left after giving a large bag of fruit to our young neighbour. (The other day she had given us a wonderful supply of mussels which she and her son had foraged from the local seashore.)

There are many, many wonderful old recipes for these autumn hedgerow crops, but here are a few easy ones which take very little time or energy to prepare, and which preserve all these nutritious foods so that you can enjoy them all through the cold winter months.

Recipe for Apple Jelly

Ingredients:
4 lbs (1.8 kg) crab or cooking apples
2 pints (1200 ml) water
Stick cinnamon or a few cloves or strips of lemon rind
1 lb (450 g) of sugar per pint of juice obtained.

Method:
Wash the apples and wipe. Cut into quarters but do not remove the skin or core.
Put the fruit into a pan with the water and the cinnamon, cloves or lemon peel tied in a piece of muslin.
Stew until the fruit is pulpy.
Test for pectin.
Remove the flavouring ingredients.
Turn into a jelly bag and leave to strain overnight.
Measure the juice and heat in a pan.
Add 1 lb (450 g) warmed sugar to each pint juice, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved.
Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until the jelly sets when tested.
Remove the scum.
Pot and seal whilst still hot.

No-Bake Blackberry Bread Pudding

1 loaf day-old French bread
1/3 C. softened butter
1 C. blackberry syrup
about 4 C. blackberries
about 1 C. of sugar

For berry syrup, simmer 1 cup of blackberries with 1/4 cup sugar until thickened. Strain and cool.

Lightly butter a 9 x 5 deep loaf pan. Remove all crust from French bread and slice long way into 1/2 inch slices. Butter all sides and edges of bread. Place a layer of berries into pan followed by a sprinkling of sugar. Cut and arrange bread into the pan for the next layer. Repeat layers of berries, sugar and bread until pan is full. Place another loaf pan on top of layers and weigh it down.

Refrigerate overnight. To remove from pan, place pan in warm water for 5 minutes and invert. Slice, drizzle with berry syrup, top with whipped cream and serve.

[I obtained this recipe from Razzledazzle Recipes website at http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/berrylane/blackrec.htm]

Sloe Jelly
Put sloes into pan, cover with water and simmer till tender. Strain through jellybag,
Measure juice, allowing 1lb sugar per pint. Mix sugar and juice in pan and boil until setting point is reached. Pot into warm jars.

Sloe Gin
Pick enough sloes to half fill a clean Kilner jar, about 1lb. Prick all over - or just put in the freezer overnight (either way and put in jar with 4oz granulatd sugar. Seal jar and leave for 3-4 days, shaking jar twice a day.

Fill jar with gin and stir well, seal and leave for at least 6-8 weeks, or even better, until Christmas, gently shaking jar from time to time. Strain through muslin into clean bottle.

It improves with keeping, but is very good after just a few months. Very sweet (and strong) but delicious when drizzles over puddings and ice creams, or added - just a shot! - to coffee.Even if you don't like gin, it is worth making as it tastes more like a liqueur, as you can make it as sweet as you like.

Enjoy!

Custody of the eyes(and of the senses) - a modern necessity. (First thoughts)

2010-08-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

There is a traditional concept in Catholic moral teaching known as “Custody of the Eyes” wherein a person is very careful as to what they allow themselves to see (cf Job 31:1; Mat 5:28; Psalm 119:37 etc.) My daughter and I were talking about this teaching which I remember from my childhood but which we never hear of now. The principle behind the idea is that what we permit ourselves to look at will inevitably have an effect on what we think. Obviously true when you think about it, isn't it?

Our Lord clearly taught that we can sin - mortally - with our eyes if we look at others (or pictures, or films etc.) in a sensual way. Mortal sin is a very serious reality, and has almost been forgotten in a world where we are surrounded with endless images of the naked human body adorning every hoarding, bus shelter, magazine, TV screen. So ubiquitous is the practice that we have almost cease to notice the endless vulgar crudity which fills our daily environment. Even school textbooks and information leaflets show graphic images that would a generation ago have been called pornography, and to even posess them would have drawn down the threat of prosecution through the Courts.

But not today. To show any embarrassment or dislike of the situation is to immediately draw down the accusation that we are 'prudish' or 'insecure' or 'unsophisticated'. Parents who try to protect their children from looking at such things can even find that Social Services begin to take an interest in their childrearing practices, because they may be 'brainwashing' their children and depriving them of their human and sexual rights!

But the truth is still the truth whether it is politically acceptable or not. If we are created by God to 'know, love and serve Him in this life and be happy with Him in Heaven forever' as the old Catechism used to say, then we must follow the Laws He has given us in the Old and New Testaments, in the Church founded by Jesus Christ, and in the guidance of the Holy Spirit through our consciences. So we must not only practice custody of the eyes ourselves, but as parents and teachers, we must teach our children practice the same discipline of averting the eyes from immoral pictures, bad scenes on media screens, and anything that could lead to sinful thoughts.

However, I want to consider the wider aspect of 'custody of the eyes'. Here are some ideas I have come across and have begun meditating on. At the moment I am not sure where this exploration will lead me, but I am begining to realise that there is something incredibly profound in this apparently old-fashioned concept. I hope to develop my understanding of the idea, and will return to it in future posts.

Something to consider:

1. Apparently there is a rabbinic tradition about the reading of scripture in worship. When the scriptures are to be read in synagogue public worship, the reader is enjoined not to lift his eyes off the text he's reading. That seems counter-intuitive, and indeed counter all that we have ever been taught. But what if we, as individuals, not as Readers, were to practice doing this when we are praying or reading the Scriptures. During our own private prayer times, what if we really honoured the text and used this method to really focus ourselves and ground ourselves in waht we were meditating upon?

2. Try not looking around you during Mass or Benediction. Resist the impulse to look up, or greet others as they go past, or to look around at the source of any noise or disturbance elsewhere in the Church. Easy? Childs play? Try it! I can tell you from my own experience of having begun to try to put this idea into practice that this amazingly difficult. The self-control and self-discipline needed for such an apparently simple act is enormous. Indeed I would go so far as to say that the apparent simplicity of this practice hides one of the truly heroic virtues.

3. What about 'Custody of the ears?' 'Of the mouth?' 'Of the intellect, imagination and will?' One of the difficulties of living in the modern world is that we are daily beseiged by the influence of philosophies and errors that can totally mislead us. What if we resisted our passion to know the latest news, read the latest opinions, listen to the latest popular music, buy the latest clothes styles, taste the latest culinary delights, follow the latest fashion in ... well, in whatever we like to follow. Chose your poison, as the saying goes - but in this case choose it in order to destroy it. And of course, realise that you will never manage to do this on your own. Pray for the grace to do battle and overcome. You will need prayer, because each one of these 'poisons' represents a spiritual battlefield, and so without God's help, you haven't a hope in succeeding!

We need to remember St Paul's reminder that we must “work out [our] salvation in fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).

Fr. Daren Zehnle, an American Catholic Priest, in his blog 'Servant and Steward' has also focused on this whole idea of 'custody of the senses'. He says:
"we must constantly return to two key questions: Do I welcome the love of Christ? And, Do I share the love of Christ?

One sure way that we can both welcome the love of Christ and share it is to keep “custody of the senses.” We must keep custody of the eyes lest we see something that leads us to sin. We must keep custody of the ears lest we hear something that leads us to sin. We must keep custody of the mouth lest we lead others to sin. The well-known phrase, “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” is quite poignant, even today.

Keeping custody of the tongue is, perhaps, the most difficult to control but at the same time it is the one that does the most harm. When we are tempted to gossip about someone or some situation, we would do well to remember the words of Jesus: “What comes out of a person, that is what defiles” (Mark 7:20).

Let us make a concerted effort this Lent to root out the evil of gossip from our lives. Let us not only refuse to listen to it or to read it, but also and especially let us refuse to speak it.
Let us pray not only for ourselves but for each other that sin may be removed from our lives. Let this be our prayer: “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew with me… Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit to sustain me” (Psalm 51:12, 14). Amen."

Gosh! August is over! Where has the year gone?

2010-08-29T12:45:00.001-07:00

These photographs were taken just a month ago, during a scorching July, when it seemed that summer would never end, and the cold would never return!

Sadly August never lived up to the early promise, and we have had a rather wet, cold month. Now the garden is a sad and bedraggled memory of its earlier glories. (A bit like myself, I sometimes think ..) What with the evenings drawing in earlier and earlier, it seems as though autumn is already here. If the weather continues as it is, it is going to be a long, long winter! I do hope not. Endless long dark evenings, and wet, cold weather can be dispiriting. But who knows? September may be lovely. We must live in hope.

WHAT IS A "RIGHT"?

2010-08-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

Very interesting short article from: www.catholicassociates.com
And a handy, concise explanation for use during those 'discussions' we have with those of our friends and family who talk more about 'Rights' than about 'Obligations'
----------------------------------------------------------------

In his encyclical letter Tametsi futura, published in 1900, Pope Leo XIII commented: "The people have heard quite enough about what are called the rights of man. Let them hear about the rights of God for once." This is precisely what we shall do now.

Strictly speaking, God alone has rights which belong to Him of His very nature. As human beings we possess only contingent rights, rights which are accorded to us by God. We have a right to do only what is pleasing to God. This is synonymous with stating that we are free to do only what is pleasing to God, and the freedom referred to here is moral freedom, or moral liberty. Whenever the term "right" is used in this study, it must be taken to mean "moral freedom." To state that a man has a right to perform an action means that he is morally free to do so, and he can never be morally free to perform any act that is displeasing to God.

The fundamental meaning of the word "liberty" is the ability to act without constraint. There can be three forms of constraint: physical, psychological, and moral.

Freedom from physical restraint simply means the absence of any external constraint which could prevent a person from carrying out a desired action. A football player who wished to take part in an important match, but who had broken his leg and was in hospital at the time of the game, would not be physically free, or able, to participate in the event.

Psychological liberty is better known as free will and involves the capacity to make moral choices. It is thus restricted to angels and to men. Beings who possess free will, or psychological liberty, are the masters of their acts, and hence are responsible for them. Animals have physical but not psychological freedom. A pair of blackbirds necessarily select the tree in which they will build their nest on the basis of which tree seems most useful; they cannot choose to sacrifice the better tree and select a poorer one. Nor do they possess the free will enabling them to decide whether or not to build a nest and raise a family, or even what type of nest to build.

It should be clear that being physically able to perform an action, and being psychologically able to choose whether to perform it, do not mean that one has a right to perform it. There may be a moral constraint against performing the action. Two simple examples should make this clear. A bank clerk might find himself in a position to defraud his employers of a large sum of money with very little likelihood of being detected. He would be physically free to perform the action, that is, he would be able to remove the money without being detected. He would be psychologically free to perform it, that is, he would be able to use, or rather misuse, his free will to commit the theft. But he would not be morally free to steal the money, since theft is forbidden by the Commandments of God. In this case the law of God and the law of the State concur, and just as there is no moral right to steal, there is also no legal right to steal.

But a legal right does not necessarily confer a moral right, as the following example will demonstrate. A woman may be physically, psychologically, and legally free to have an abortion, but the so-called legal right to murder her baby does not confer a true right, since murder is forbidden by the Commandments of God.

With thanks and acknowledgements for the extract from
‘The Reign of Christ the King’
by Michael Davies
Printed by
TAN Books and Publishers Inc. 1992
PO Box 424
Rockford, Illinois 61105

What I believe, "and shall hold to my dying breath ."

2010-08-06T16:28:00.000-07:00

THE OATH AGAINST MODERNISM
Given by His Holiness St. Pius X September 1, 1910.

To be sworn to by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries.

I . . . . firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day.

And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:90), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated:

Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time.

Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time.

Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously.

I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely.

Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our creator and lord.

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas.

I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion.

I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality-that of a believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful.

Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm.

Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact-one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history-the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labour, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles.

I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God. . .

Dear Father, please wear your collar!

2010-07-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

I have had many, many conversations with other Catholics over the years in which the view was very forcefully expressed

"Why don't Priests and Nuns dress as Priest and Nuns? So many of them dress like the rest of the world. If that's what they want, why on earth did they commit themselves to a religious vocation in the first place?"

Here is a beautiful list of reasons why the Priest should dress recognisably as a Priest, and wear the Roman collar. This a shortened version of 'Why a priest should wear his Roman Collar' by MSGR. CHARLES M. MANGAN & FATHER GERALD E. MURRAY.

The full article may be found at: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0351.htm

1. The Roman collar is a sign of priestly consecration to God - in the same way that a wedding ring is a public declaration by husband and wife of their commitment to each other.

2. Church Law requires clerics to wear clerical clothing. See number 66 of the Directory for priests, which quotes canon 284.

3. It is the repeated, ardent desire of Pope John Paul II, who said that clerical dress is valuable "not only because it contributes to the propriety of the priest in his external behaviour or in the exercise of his ministry, but above all because it gives evidence ... of the public witness that each priest is held to give of his own identity and special belonging to God."

4. The Roman collar prevents "mixed messages"; other people will recognize the priest's intentions when he finds himself in what might appear to be compromising circumstances.

5. The Roman collar inspires others to avoid immodesty in dress, words and actions and reminds them of the need for public decorum.

6. The Roman collar is a protection for one's vocation when dealing with young, attractive women.

7. The Roman collar provides a reminder to the priest himself of his mission and identity.

8. A priest in a Roman collar is an inspiration to others and speaks of the possibility of making a sincere, lasting commitment to God.

9. Catholic priests by virtue of their dress can cause non-Catholics to reflect – even if only a cursory fashion – on the Church and what she entails.

10. A priest dressed as the Church wants is a reminder of God and of the sacred.

11. The Roman collar is also a reminder to the priest that he is "never not a priest." Two wardrobes can easily lead – and often does – to two lifestyles, or even two personalities.

12. A priest in a Roman collar is a very visible vocation message.

13. Because the Roman collar gives instant recognition, priests who wear it make themselves more likely to be approached, particularly when seriously needed - being asked for the Sacraments and summoned for assistance because they were immediately recognized as Catholic priests.

14. The Roman collar is a sign that the priest is striving to become holy by living out his vocation always by make himself constantly available to souls and by being publicly identifiable as a priest.

15. The Roman collar serves as a reminder to "alienated" Catholics not to forget their irregular situation and their responsibilities to the Lord. It provides a reminder of the Church.

16. The wearing of clerical clothing can be a sacrifice at times, but putting up with discomfort … can be a wonderful reparation for his own sins, and a means of obtaining graces for his parishioners.

17. The Roman collar makes a powerful statement: the priest has accepted the Redeemer's mandate to take the Gospel into the public square, regardless of personal cost.

18. The Roman collar helps priests to avoid the on duty/off duty mentality of priestly service. …The "lost sheep" do not make appointments.

19. The "officers" in Christ's army should be identifiable as such. Those priests who wear the Roman collar show forth their role unmistakably as leaders in the Church.

20. The saints have never approved of a lackadaisical approach concerning priestly vesture. For example, Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), Patron Saint of Moral Theologians and Confessors, asserted that the Roman collar helps both priest and faithful to recall the sublime splendour of the priestly state.

21. The cherished custom of wearing distinguishable dress has been for centuries sanctioned by the Church; it is not an arbitrary imposition. Catholics expect their priests to dress as priests and to behave in harmony with Church teaching and practice.

Look at this beautiful face. The fruits of the Holy Spirit embodied in a humble Priest.

2010-07-08T12:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes ordinary Catholics find it hard to 'warm to' Cardinal Newman. He seems so 'dry, ascetic, not very accessible', or 'too intellectual' - the list goes on ..
But I came across this video from Corpus Christi Watershed [see below] which shows his private Chapel, and I was struck by its homeliness. Just like my own home, and the homes of many Catholics, it is full of 'bits and pieces' - photos of those we want to pray for, In Memoriam cards, prayers we have come across and like - all stuck on the walls or leaning against a statue etc. This is the Chapel of a prayerful and humble person, with no pretentions to grandeur or impressiveness. I thought it gave a real insight to the man, the Priest and the Cardinal. I would have liked to know him!

Here is some further information from:
http://www.newmancause.co.uk/newman.html

Cardinal Newman, who is to be Blessed John Henry Newman, faced a life of trials, as he was suspected and even resented by some in authority. Several projects which he took up, including a magazine for educated Catholics, a mission at Oxford, and a new translation of the Bible, met with rejection or failure. On the other hand, many of his publications in this period were well-received: the Apologia pro Vita Sua(1864), a biographical account of Newman’s conversion; the Letter to the Duke of Norfolk (1875), which considered the relationship between conscience and the authority of the Church; and the Grammar of Assent (1870), on human reasoning and the act of faith, which although not always well understood by his contemporaries, would become generally acknowledged as an major contribution to both philosophy and theology.

During old age, Newman continued in Birmingham, quietly writing, preaching and counselling (from the age of twenty three he had been above all a pastor – ‘a father of souls’) until, when seventy eight, a big surprise came. As a tribute to his extraordinary work and devotion, Pope Leo XIII made the unprecedented gesture of naming Newman, an ordinary priest, a Cardinal. After a life of trials the news came as a joyful relief and Newman declared ‘the cloud is lifted for ever’. Cardinal Newman died on 11th August 1890 and received a universal tribute of praise.

The Times wrote: ‘whether Rome canonises him or not he will be canonised in the thoughts of pious people of many creeds in England.’ The Cork Examiner affirmed that, ‘Cardinal Newman goes to his grave with the singular honour of being by all creeds and classes acknowledged as the just man made perfect.’

Read what Pope John Paul II said about him in his Letter on the Bicentenary of Newman’s birth (on 22 January 2001):

Newman faced a life of trials, as he was suspected and even resented by some in authority. Several projects which he took up, including a magazine for educated Catholics, a mission at Oxford, and a new translation of the Bible, met with rejection or failure. On the other hand, many of his publications in this period were well-received: the Apologia pro Vita Sua (1864), a biographical account of Newman’s conversion; the Letter to the Duke of Norfolk (1875), which considered the relationship between conscience and the authority of the Church; and the Grammar of Assent (1870), on human reasoning and the act of faith, which although not always well understood by his contemporaries, would become generally acknowledged as an major contribution to both philosophy and theology.

During old age, Newman continued in Birmingham, quietly writing, preaching and counselling (from the age of twenty three he had been above all a pastor – ‘a father of souls’) until, when seventy eight, a big surprise came. As a tribute to his extraordinary work and devotion, Pope Leo XIII made the unprecedented gesture of naming Newman, an ordinary priest, a Cardinal. After a life of trials the news came as a joyful relief and Newman declared ‘the cloud is lifted for ever’. Cardinal Newman died on 11th August 1890 and received a universal tribute of praise. The Times wrote: ‘whether Rome canonises him or not he will be canonised in the thoughts of pious people of many creeds in England.’ The Cork Examiner affirmed that, ‘Cardinal Newman goes to his grave with the singular honour of being by all creeds and classes acknowledged as the just man made perfect.’

The Cardinal's Personal Chapel from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR STUDIES - Part II

2010-06-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

At first sight St John Bosco's advice might seem too ‘pious’ for people today, but I was struck by the similar approach taken by Virginia International University
( http://viu1.wordpress.com/ ) in the following excerpt from their blog, and I thought that they were equally useful for those of us who are following our own self-imposed course of study, as well as students in academic institutions:

John Bennett, VIU’s Director of Library Services and Associate to the VP of University Affairs has a few tips to making the most of your study time by finding out what routine works best for you!

Mr. Bennett … gave some pointers for higher education study habits:

* Learn to Identify what you know and what you do not know: Try to trace your learning to determine what you know and where specifically you are getting into trouble with understanding course material. Breaking concepts down line-by-line to see where the trouble is rooted can be a big help.

* Don’t fool yourself into thinking you are a great multi-tasker: Studying while watching television, eating, talking to (or texting) friends may seem like a good idea, and some people may even claim that it actually helps study efforts. However, multi-taskers are not studying effectively–a lot can be said for devoting exclusive time and quiet focus to your studies. The library is still a great place to crack open a book. Try it. See what happens!

* Read with a Pen in Hand: Students often believe that highlighting is a major help on identifying key concepts, and in many cases actually can be. However, a pen can prove to be the superior study tool. You can underline or circle words, take notes in the margins or on other sheets of paper as you are reading. This can really help students not only learn information, but have a much better shot at retention.

* Pre-read, re-read, and post-read!: Don’t assume that all you need to do is pick up a text and read it through once from start to finish. Difficult texts often require pre-reading, multiple reading, and post-reading activities. Skim the text first and create a list of questions you will try to answer. Then, read the text multiple times and in different ways: focus on vocab, acquire a general meaning, etc. After reading two to three times, try to write a paragraph to summarize key concepts in your own words. This will be an invaluable study tool.

* Become an Excellent Note Taker: Come to each class with a notebook & pen, use a fresh page, and commit to taking careful lecture notes. Note-taking can be challenging when the class is very good or very bad; students who are enjoying class can forget to take notes while those who are bored will tune out the lecture. However-do not try to write down every word you hear! Focusing on key points and reflecting on the notes after class will help flesh out the notes and create better study tools for students.

* Work with a Calendar: Students enrolled in multiple classes must manage assignments from multiple professors who will be competing for your limited time. The key to juggling the demands is to anticipate bottlenecks in your schedule and head them off. At the beginning of the semester you should review all of the due dates and exam dates and place them on your calendar. This will help with time management and keep you from pulling all-nighters to handle a busy schedule! “

Source: University Guide for Students & Parents, Virginia International University, 2009

http://viu1.wordpress.com/

HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR STUDIES - Part 1

2010-06-25T07:10:00.000-07:00

Saint John Bosco is one of the patrons of Catholic education. Born in Italy of good, simple, God-fearing parents, he had extraordinary intelligence, physical strength, and charm. He was ordained a priest and dedicated much of his life to the true Catholic formation of boys. He founded boarding schools and eventually an order of priests under the patronage of Saint Francis de Sales. What follows are some guidelines for students given by the Saint.

My dear sons, I want to suggest a few means for you to triumph in your studies, so I will teach them to you one by one each night.

1. The first means for studying well is to have fear of God.

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Do you want to become truly wise and make great achievements in class? Fear the Lord. Avoid offending Him, because wisdom will not enter the malevolent soul, nor will it inhabit the body given over to sin. The wisdom of man springs from the Wisdom of God. …What pleasure can one experience in studies when his heart is agitated by his passions? How does one intend to overcome the difficulties he stumbles through in his studies without God’s help?

2. The second means for studying advantageously consists in not losing even a second of time.

Time … is a treasure. In the time that you should devote to studies, give yourself entirely. Never look for pretexts to escape from class. It is painful to see students who contrive pretexts of sickness or forcefully wrest permissions from superiors to avoid fulfilling these duties.

During study time or class time, do not read books that have nothing to do with the material being covered. Suppress daydreams. Do you see that student who seems engrossed in his book? Do you think he is studying? Right, right…! His mind is thousands and thousands of leagues away…. Let’s study, then, and not lose time.

3. The third means for success in studies consists in getting used to not going on in any subject, .... without knowing the previous material well.

Consequently, memorize what you are studying. Cicero said, very correctly, ‘We know as much as we retain in our memory‘. Study daily in such wise that the lesson or the section of the classical author that the teacher pointed out is well engraved in your mind; I say every day because if you are not careful to learn it today, you will have to double your efforts tomorrow to catch up.

4. The fourth means for studying advantageously consists of eating in an orderly and timely fashion.

Gluttony has claimed more victims than the sword. Do you want advice? Don’t live to eat; eat to live. Take little at breakfast and snack. Don’t eat until you are full. If you have a tasty morsel saved in your drawer, don’t be lured by gluttony to eat all of it at once; save some for the next few days, and it will do you no harm. ….. Whoever goes to class stuffed with food soon feels his head overloaded, indisposed, and wearied. He vainly fights tiredness and loses time miserably, because he understands little or nothing and cannot fix his attention….

5. The fifth means for getting ahead in studies is to keep company with other studients.

Use study circles and groups. During the breaks, stay near … your better-instructed companions; ask about [whatever you are studying]. Speak among yourselves often about things related to your duties — the lessons, compositions, and translations. … Frivolous and useless conversations are worthless, merely distracting the mind and cooling the heart…

6. The sixth means is an orderly recreation.

Use the entire recreation period, because playing will bring new strength for studying better during class time. Do not turn your recreation time into study time, because when you have to study later during the appointed time periods, your mind will be tired and you will gain little. Also avoid (giving yourself over) to the game so much that you are thinking about it during class. ….

(Avoid too)…those young people who walk about in cliques, speaking about outings, parties, snacks, festivities, and vacations with such enthusiasm that during class they can think of nothing else. For those who have bad conversations during recreation, I will say only that without fear of God it is impossible for them to truly progress.
Consequently, even in your recreation, be orderly

7. The seventh means for studying profitably is this: attack and overcome all difficulties you encounter in your subjects of study.

When you find difficulties, don’t panic…. it is only natural that you are going to learn what you don’t already know. And to learn what you don’t know means you must force your mind, with greater or lesser effort depending on each one’s greater or lesser wit. Therefore, take courage! It is necessary never to leave a job half-done. Those who evade a difficulty that comes along do not act well if they say, "I don’t understand this!" and then go on to something else. It is worthwhile to wait until the difficulty has been conquered and overcome.

To obtain this, first have recourse to Jesus and Mary, and you will see how the difficulties will disappear. Never forget, dearest sons, that this is the best way to overcome all difficulties in studies, because God is the only Giver and Father of knowledge. He communicates it to whom and as He wishes. Every day you say to the Most Holy Virgin in the Litany: Seat of Wisdom, pray for us. Mary is the Seat of Wisdom. Go also to your teachers and assistants; they will quicken and help you with all the explanations you need. ….

We should not become discouraged in encountering difficulties. Saint Jerome gives an example of perseverance with his studies of Sacred Scripture. Having been commissioned to translate the Bible from Hebrew to Latin, he retreated to a cave. After spending much time with similar studies, he was unable to resolve numerous difficulties. So he decided to put the task aside. One fine day, having left the cave, he saw a rock with a small hole in it. He stopped to consider how the little hole had been formed, and he concluded that the incessant falling of water, drop by drop, in the same spot over a long period of time had formed the hole. "Who knows," he said, "if this is not a sign from heaven for me not to become discouraged and to continue my work? If a drop of water, with time, could drill a hole in this rock, cannot I also, with constancy, finish my job?"

So he continued, taking lessons from a learned master and finished his magnificent task, to the incalculable advantage of all Christendom.

8. The eighth means to study beneficially consists of dedicating yourself exclusively to studying the subjects of your course.

One does not acquire knowledge leafing through many books. When Saint Thomas was asked how he had become so learned, he answered, "Reading just one book at a time."

It is necessary to mark well in your mind that studies outside of your assigned subjects must be postponed. ... There are young men who read a lot and are unable to do anything but tangle their brains. There are many who read unassigned poetry, tales, stories, or classical prose — excellent in themselves, if you will, but which distance them from their duties, preventing them from acquiring true knowledge.

"But," you will ask, "what if I have free time after I have finished my work and studied my lesson?" Go over it again. Go back to certain rules you have forgotten…. In sum, don’t waste your time reading stories.

As I give you these counsels, I do not set aside the importance and advantages of orderly and judicious reading; but it is necessary that you have present, while reading, the following norms:

First: Do not read other books until you have finished your studies, and
Second: Do not read … useless books, poorly written or reprehensible, that corrupt the mind and heart, insinuating perverse maxims.

9. Continuing the list of means to study with headway, always have recourse to the protection of Mary Most Holy.

Mary is the Seat of Wisdom. Thus, before studying your lesson, before beginning the author’s explanation, before doing your composition, don’t ever forget to pray a ‘Hail Mary’to the Virgin, adding ’Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.’ Realize, also, that –our action– is prayer directed to the Holy Ghost.

The Perpetual Virginity of Our Lady is still a Dogma of the Catholic Church

2010-06-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

Mary is the gate proclaimed by the Prophet Ezekiel through which God entered into the World "while remaining shut" (Ezekiel 44:2).
I had a conversation recently with a few Catholic friends of mine, who I considered- and who considered themselves - to be completely orthodox Catholics. I was extremely surprised therefore to discover that none of them believed in the perpetual virginity of Our Blessed Lady. More surprisingly to me, they were completely unaware that this was in fact a Dogma of the Catholic Church!

I drew their attention to the teaching of the Catechism, which states that Roman Catholic Dogma is : "a truth revealed by God, which the magisterium of the Church declared as binding"

After a long conversation, during which it was clear that none of those present believed me, I promised that I would provide further information. Here it is.
[The information on the subject provided below, has been taken from the very useful website: 'The Marian Dogmas' which I recommend to anyone who wishes to obtain further information. http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/mariandogmas.html ]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

The Church's Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these. (Catechism 88)

The Catholic belief that Mary is "ever virgin" is a Dogma of our Faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church asserts,

"The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man".

This statement reflects a more precise dogmatic statement issued at the First Lateran Council:

"If anyone does not, according to the holy Fathers, confess truly and properly that holy Mary, ever virgin and immaculate, is Mother of God, since in this latter age she conceived in true reality without human seed from the Holy Spirit, God the Word Himself, Who before the ages was begotten of God the Father, and gave birth to Him without injury, her virginity remaining equally inviolate after the birth, let him be
condemned".

Underlying this statement is the Church's consistent defense of the Incarnation: Jesus, Second Person of the Holy Trinity, true God from eternity, consubstantial with the Father, entered this world through the Blessed Virgin Mary who had conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit; therefore, we believe Jesus is true God and true man, with both a divine and human nature.

The perpetual virginity of Mary has traditionally been defended and examined in three parts:

Mary's conception of Christ (virginitas ante partum);
Her giving birth to Christ (virginitas in partu);
And her remaining a virgin after the birth of Christ (virginitas post partum).

This formulation was used by many of the early Church Fathers -- St Augustine, St Peter Chrysologus, Pope St Leo the Great, St Gregory Nazianzus and St Gregory Nyssa.

Mary's virginity prior to the conception of Christ is quite clear from the Gospels of St Matthew and St Luke, where she is clearly identified as "a virgin". Moreover, when the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear the Messiah, she responded, "How can this be since I do not know man?" indicating her virginity.

At the other end of the spectrum is Mary's virginity after the birth of Christ. Succinctly, we as Catholics believe that Mary and Joseph did not have other children after the birth of Christ. No evidence exists either in Sacred Scripture or Tradition to believe otherwise.

The troublesome part is the middle -- Mary's virginity in giving birth to Christ. We remember that one of the sufferings inherited because of original sin is that of "child bearing pains": The Lord God said to Eve, "I will intensify the pangs of your childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth children." (Genesis 3:16) Since Mary was free of original sin by her Immaculate Conception, she would be free of "child bearing pain." In wrestling with this belief, the early Church Fathers then struggled to explain this virginity. The Western Fathers seemed to emphasize Mary's physical integrity; for instance, Pope St Leo the Great said, "She (Mary) brought Him forth without the loss of virginity, even as she conceived Him without its loss . . . (Jesus Christ was) born from the Virgin's womb because it was a miraculous birth." On the other hand, the Eastern Fathers emphasized Mary's joy and freedom from pain in giving birth to Jesus, the Son of God. In either case, remember, the Gospel of St Luke simply stated, "She gave birth . . ."

Father Karl Rahner, without delving into all of the anatomical details, focused on the spiritual reality of Mary's virginity: "Mary bore the Son of God. Her childbearing must have been essentially different from other women since she was free of the effects of original sin. Her virginity, childbearing and motherhood are together in union with the Will of God."

Please note that the Church never has authoritatively ruled on the interpretation or specifics of "virginitas in partu".

Moreover, on July 27, 1960, the Holy Office (now the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) warned against discussing this issue in a way ". . .clearly opposed to the traditional doctrine of the Church and the devotional sense of the faithful."

In all, we need to emphasize and revere both the virginity and motherhood of Mary. Vatican II asserted: "For in the mystery of the Church, which is itself rightly called mother and virgin, the Blessed Virgin stands out in eminent and singular fashion as exemplar both of virgin and mother."

A new way to die well – Are you sure?

2010-06-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

Is Organ Donation Euthanasia becoming our new duty?

I carry a Donor Card and have always encouraged others to carry one. If in death I can give a better quality of life to someone else through my donated organs, what a great blessing that would be. Also, I myself may need a transplant at some point in my life, and if I would not consider donating an organ, how can I expect someone else to do for me what I would never do for others?

The Catholic Church has spoken of its benefits. Pope John Paul II spoke with admiration of acts of organ donation - performed in an ethically acceptable manner - as a ‘sincere gift of self‘, in Evangelium vitae (1995). So, I fully accepted the idea, and indeed had no doubts that it was something I wished to do. However, having read a recent article in on the subject in the prestigious journal Bioethics, I am now seriously reconsidering! Following the matter up, I came across an article on the website of the Culture of Life Foundation, which provides a very reasoned comment on the matter:

“Two medical ethicists from Oxford University, Julian Savulescu and Dominic Wilkinson, argue that euthanasia should be used to maximize the number and quality of organs for transplantation. Patients should be allowed to designate on their end-of-life documents their desire to donate their organs through a process that the authors call Organ Donation Euthanasia or ODE. They carefully qualify the criteria for ODE eligibility: patients must be in intensive care and dependent on life support; they must have planned for the withdrawal of life support if their prognosis is poor; their condition is such that they will die anyway within a short time of the removal of life support; and they must explicitly consent to ODE. If these conditions are met, doctors may put them under general anesthesia and harvest their organs. But intentionally removing vital organs from a living patient, especially the heart, will ordinarily kill the patient. So the procedure is euthanasia.

The authors identify a number of utilitarian benefits to be gained by introducing ODE into transplant medicine, and they say:

“…. However, it is difficult to see why a patient is morally harmed or has their rights violated if they are actively killed, compared with a state of affairs where they die as a result of treatment withdrawal, assuming that they have consented to either.”

For full article see: http://culture-of-life.org//content/view/641/1/

Increasingly Doctors and scientists wish to ignore the whole issue of consent - presumed or otherwise. Most of us live in blissful ignorance of what our medical specialists are really thinking.

If you think I am exaggerating look at this article from SPUC [Society for the Protection of Unborn Children] dated August 2008.
For the full article see: http://www.spuc.org.uk/ddr.PDF

“In a recent paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, heart transplant surgeons described how they modified the definition of death for three brain-damaged infants whose hearts were removed for transplantation into three other infants with severe heart problems. The controversy surrounds the likelihood that the children were not in fact dead.

The journal invited two bioethicists, Robert Truog and Franklin Miller, to write a commentary, which is when the controversy really began to deepen. The essential line taken by Truog and Miller is that it really doesn’t matter whether the patient is dead or not. Instead what really counts is whether informed consent has been given. In their assertion that it is “perfectly ethical” to remove organs from patients who are not really or convincingly dead, they give voice to the utilitarian ethic, which is that the outcome – organs that save people’s lives - is really so good that traditionally unethical means can be justified.”

Medical personnel are of course, not the only ones to consider that this is the way ahead. See this from the Humanist Life website http://www.humanistlife.org.uk/

“Some hard thinking about organ donation and the way we die, from members of Oxford University research centres. The authors propose that those who want to should be allowed to choose not simply to be allowed to die (in which case organs usually cannot be used), but to actively have their organs removed under general anaesthetic in optimum conditions, to save potentially thousands of lives a year.”

Proposals for presumed consent consider the human body as simply another commodity, with parts can be harvested as we do with plants or animals. The Catholic Church does indeed promote the benefit of organ donation, where “donation” means the freely given decision to transmit the gift of life to another. Presumed consent, where the state or their representatives presume to take authority over our bodies, and decide when and how our organs can be removed is not true consent!

How soon will it be before it becomes a social obligation to have one's organs used to save the lives of others, and how soon after that will the state start to legislate for it, and the medical profession oversee it.

O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!
Shakespeare‘s The Tempest

2010-05-31T14:34:00.000-07:00

Medical Miracles: how does the Church decide?

This post may also be found at: http://heraldsgospelsinengland.blogspot.com/

There is a very interesting article which appears on the Zenit website (See ROME, MAY 30, 2010 - http://www.zenit.org/index.php?l=english) on the subject of how the Church authenticates miracles. It is by Father John Flynn, LC, and the full article may be found by following the above link.

The article gives very useful information regarding the way that the Vatican authenticates miracles. Catholics are accustomed to the idea of miracles generally, and in particular, of people being cured through the intercession of the saints. However many find it difficult to give a reasoned response to the sceptical questions of those around them. Fr. Flynn refers us to a recent book "Medical Miracles: Doctors, Saints, and Healing in the Modern World" (Oxford University Press) by Jacalyn Duffin. She is a Doctor who holds the Hannah Chair for the history of medicine at Queen's University, Ontario, Canada and during her researches she examined 1,400 miracles cited in canonizations from 1588 to 1999.

Her interest in the subject arose when she was asked to examine tissue samples, and some time later, documentation, which were part of a canonization process. She began to realize that these must exist for every canonized saint.

Soon after, she researched hundreds of these records and considers that she reviewed between a third and a half of all miracles deposited in the Vatican archives since the rules governing canonizations were laid down in 1588.

Evidence

Many people today are unaware that the regulations that were part of the Counter-Reformation reforms demand a rigorous gathering of evidence and a scrupulous examination of the material by medical and scientific experts. For a healing to be deemed miraculous it should be of an incurable illness and the recovery should be complete and instantaneous.

In respect of suspected miracles the Church always acts as a ‘Devil’s Advocate,’ and relies on a scientific scepticism to test their validity. In the records of the miracles that Duffin examined she found that the religious authorities readily deferred to the opinion of scientists and withheld a judgment until they were convinced that the experts were prepared to label the events as inexplicable.

Duffin noted there is much argument over whether, just because there is no apparent explanation for a cure, it really means that the event is a miracle. For example, one of her colleagues explained that while we may not know the natural explanation, one must exist.

Duffin’s response is that to assert that a miracle simply cannot occur is no more rational and no less than an act of faith than the belief that miracles can happen.

The Catholic Church of course believes in the possibility of divine intervention, but it first uses all of medicine's and science’s resources to remove the possibility of any natural explanations of the cures. In addition, the Vatican does not recognize healing miracles in people who have refused orthodox medicine to rely solely on faith. The intervention of doctors provides objective medical evidence that avoids any possible manipulation of the case in question.

The use of doctors to rigorously sift through the available evidence has increased and indeed, the Church does not rely exclusively on Catholic doctors. The inquiries examined the faith of all witnesses, doctors included. Even where doctors were Catholic many admitted they did not regularly practice their faith. Indeed a couple had been excommunicated, but nevertheless they were not disqualified from being witnesses. Nowadays the medical and scientific expertise of doctors of other faiths, or none, has been given in testimony.

Since the second half of the 17th century, the evidence of the doctors treating the patient has been supplemented by independent medical observers, and today the number of experts consulted in every case matches or even exceeds the numbers of doctors attending.

Ultimately a miracle is only declared when the medical experts admit that they are unable to find any natural explanation as to how a person recovered when the best scientific medicine failed.

Today tolerance means that nothing is intolerable but the truth.

2010-05-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

I came across this interesting short article on a website I found when browsing through the internet. It is from: Austin Hall Library (Reflections on faith, culture, books and ideas found in books)

"James V. Schall made an insightful observation in an essay I read this morning on G.K. Chesterton that was originally presented at the Meeting of the American Chesterton Society, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, in June 2005.

Schall notes that it is characteristic of our more recent times that we do not really debate anything, especially the truth of anything. He says that we avoid real debate for fear that something actually might be true and therefore put demands on our minds, polities, and morals to change our ways. Thus, we only "tolerate" things.

Schall goes on to say that debate that presupposes that truth exists and is worthy of pursuit is itself a dangerous proposition, particularly politically. Therefore, our "debates" are power struggles and number countings, not attentive and logical examinations of evidence to arrive at true conclusions and reject the untrue propositions. We don't want to actually change people's minds. We only want to understand them and let them remain as they are. To change them is to undermine the very premise of respect and tolerance.

In contrast to this recent view, Schall presents the older notion of "respect" for ideas that meant doing a person the honor of seeking to correct him if he was wrong. This came from the belief that the greatest service one man could give another was to lead him to the truth--by the route in which truth is known, that is, through argument and evidence, in courtesy and conversation.

In its original sense, tolerance meant allowing other opinions to be accurately heard without intimidation, threats, or interference. Today it means the intolerable idea of not allowing them to be heard on the basis of the evidence for them.

Today tolerance means that nothing is intolerable but the truth. "

Taken from:
http://austinhall.typepad.com/austin_hall_library/2008/12/the-credo-of-our-age.html

The secret language of architecture: Are Libraries just places for books or also symbols of something greater?

2010-05-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

Further to my previous comments about my fondness for libraries, I recently came across an article written by the Brazilian Catholic intellectual Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.

It had previously not occurred to me to consider the spiritual, almost moral, implications of architecture. I liked a building or I did not, and thought no more about it. But, having read Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira’s comments, I have begun to recognise that I am much more affected than I ever thought possible by the architecture, atmosphere, and ambience of particular buildings.

There are some buildings where we cannot help smiling with delight as we enter them. We recognise its beauty, graciousness, light and comfort. Or even just its little quiet, protected spaces for solitude, and peace. But others are of such utilitarian ugliness, and functional minimalism that we simply ‘switch off‘. Increasingly, we simply do not ’see’ our environment.

But back to libraries! Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira says that there are two ways of considering a library. One can view it purely in terms of its practical function i.e. to protect books, magazines, documents, etc. from humidity, fires, and thieves. And the materials must of course be organized efficiently so that information can easily be found.

He gives as his example the building that houses the library at the University of California in San Diego - a very impressive modern building, and one which the University is very proud of. As can be seen above, it is composed of four successively taller stories, and looks like an immense 'chest' with four different-sized drawers designed to neatly organize several different types of objects.

But is this sufficient? If we compare this building to something like, say, the Library of Congress, in America - or the library of Coimbra, Portugal, to which he himself refers, we can see what Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira means when he says that there is represented in such libraries “another conception of the ideal building for a library. While it meets every practical requirement, it also satisfies a higher objective -- (it) express(es) the fundamentally noble aspect of reading and studying. The building corresponds to a hierarchy of values that places thinking at the height of human activities, preceded only by prayer. Thus, the building should have, a regal magnificence to the degree possible.”

Unlike the functional design, “the books are here splendidly bound and arranged in huge, solid bookcases, numbered so they can be easily classified and found. Employing all the modern methods of our epoch, this library is completely "functional." But, on the other hand, the magnificence of its decor makes it seem like both a palace and a church.
….
The building serves not only the practical objectives of protecting papers, parchments, and bookcases; it also fills a spiritual objective, which is to highlight the prestige of the intellectual in the natural order, and, consequently, in the hierarchy of values of temporal society.”

So, what is ’wrong’ with the University of California Library, or indeed Yale University’s Beinecke Library of rare books and manuscripts? Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira says that it is the conception behind the design. A library should be more than a place for book storage. It should, in some way, pay tribute to the intrinsic nobility of intellectual life. “Nobility is not a strictly functional value, and, therefore, it cannot be completely or adequately expressed only in terms of efficiency or bigness. Mere efficiency is suitable, perhaps, for industrial buildings, where production dictates the whole architectural design. However, it is not for buildings destined for ends that transcend the mere practical domain, even while they serve a practical purpose.”

I have spent some time thinking about his article, all the more because I had never considered the matter in this light before, and I have come to the conclusion that he is correct. Architecture surely should be more than a practical and functional process through which the most economic building possible may be constructed. Surely it is in its own way a ‘dialect of the spirit‘, and should draw our hearts and minds upward.

And to those who respond with the argument that such ideas are too idealistic to put into practice, I have also included above a couple of pictures of very ordinary little ‘places where books are stored’ but where you would have to have a heart of stone not to feel instinctively that you would like to spend some time there.

If we can't 'do' martyrdom, can we not at least 'do' embarassment and discomfort? Do Catholics really care about ending abortion?

2010-05-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

Isn't it strange that the Catholic Church is totally pro-life and yet the Catholics on the pew appear to be so indifferent to the subject? At least that is my own experience. Pro-life leaflets and information are left unread, talks given by people who want to do something to help are sparsely attended, prayer meetings for the end of abortion are neglected by all but the usual dedicated few.

It's not surprising therefore that the more 'scary' option of standing outside the abortion clinics, holding only Rosary beads, a Crucifix, and a picture of Our Lady of Guadaloupe almost never takes place - at least here in Bristol and Bath, in the SW of England.

I sympathise with many of those who feel that it is a lost cause in this country. For a long time I thought that myself. I said private prayers and supported pro-life organisations financially, but I never 'went public' because I was embarassed at standing out from the maintream view that abortion and euthenasia were somehow 'private' decisions. It is taken for granted that if we as individuals do not have personal experience of these problems, then we have no authority to speak out against them.

But then, in 2002 Pope John Paul II warned that the "grave danger that the false interpretation of human rights" which would permit abortion, "can drive democratic regimes to transform themselves into totalitarian regimes."

"The church affirms the right to life to every innocent human being at the moment of its existence," he told the participants. The Pope condemned the "distinction sometimes made in certain official documents between a human being and a human person" which would "apply the right to life and physical integrity only to people who are already born," as "an artificial distinction without scientific or philosophical foundation." He continued: "Every human being, from his conception to his natural death, has the inviolable right to life and deserves all respect due to the human person."

See the full text of the Pope's address:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/
2002/february/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20020227_pont-acad-life_it.html

At this point I recognised the absurdity of my own position. After all citizens of every nation will go on strike, protest, resort to the Courts etc. to remedy any perceived infringement of equal rights for women, people with disabilities, or any individual on the basis of their age,sex or race etc. We had street riots against the Poll Tax, marches in support of our National Health Service, endless Court cases to protect someone's Human Rights. We are all happy to speak out on these issues, and it is generally accepted in modern democracies that their citizens have both the right and the duty to use their freedom to express their views.

How is it that the pro-life issue is the only one which we are supposed to ignore. Or if we oppose what is happening, we are supposed to keep our opinions to ourselves.

Just as I was beginning to realise how profoundly influential this idea of the need for self-censorship had become I met a tiny group of people who meet once a month in Bristol and Bath, cities near where I live, to simply pray fifteen decades of the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet outside one of the clinics or hospitals where abortions are performed. On any occasion I have attended, there were a maximum of about nine people. Most are middle aged, some are elderly, the only young person being my nineteen year old daughter who loves to join us when she can.

What does it feel like standing there - a little group of 'religious cranks' on the side of the pavement - praying in public among the shoppers, the tourists, the students? I'll tell you - it feels embarrassing! Who likes to look like a crank? But, so what? I now realise that this is simply a feeling of discomfort. It is not martyrdom. I can do this little thing for God, and to demonstrate to myself as much as to anyone else, that my so-called 'beliefs' are not just nice words. Embarrassment, and the minimal amount of discomfort I experience is as nothing compared to the horrific agony of these babies in their mothers womb.

Is ending abortion a lost cause? Perhaps it's only lost because we refuse to do anything about it!

Pope asks Bloggers to Give Internet a Soul

2010-04-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

I read with great interest, the Holy Father's message about the Internet. Those of us who use the Web regularly are only too aware of its dangers, and the amount of nasty, sordid or downright repellent material which is only a click away at any particular moment.

Having said that, there are also so many wonderful sites which open the doors to learning and discovery, and where we can learn almost anything we might ever desire to know. It is undoubtedly an incredibly useful invention which has helped to turn the world into the proverbial Global Village.

So let us, as Pope Benedict asks, do everything to maintain it as a way of bringing art, philosophy, education, science, Faith, into every home - of bring light instead of darkness, and a sense of humanity to what could so easily become an arid wasteland of cruelty and indifference.

-------------------------------------------------------------
From: Vatican Radio

"The dangers of homologation and control, of intellectual and moral relativism are also increasing, as already recognizable in the decline of critical spirit,in truth reduced to a game of opinions, in the many forms of degradation and humiliation of the intimacy of the person"

Thus said the Pope we see, a "spiritual pollution" that brings us to no longer "look one another in the face”. So we must “overcome those collective dynamics that risk reducing people to "soulless bodies, objects of exchange and consumption”. The media must become a “humanizing factor”, focused "on promoting the dignity of persons and peoples". Only then, will "the epochal times we are experiencing be rich and fertile in new opportunities":

"Without fear we must set sail on the digital sea facing into the deep with the same passion that has governed the ship of the Church for two thousand years. Rather than for, albeit necessary, technical resources, we want to qualify ourselves by living in the digital world with a believer’s heart, helping to give a soul to the Internet’s incessant flow of communication".

See: Vatican Radio website:
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/index.asp

Text of the Pope Benedict condemns Britain’s proposed equality law.

2010-03-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

Thank God for the Pope! We need to hear this loud and clear from our own hierarchy. Ultimately we may need to struggle against unjust laws with the “missionary zeal” that our Holy Father speaks of here. If Christians have moral courage and unity, we can achieve wonders.

See this from: Times Online at:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7011095.ece

The Vatican condemned Britain’s proposed equality law yesterday, complaining that legislation to give homosexual equal rights “violates natural law”. On the day Rome finally confirmed that the Pope would make a state visit to Britain this year, the Vatican launched an unprecedented attack on the human rights policies of Gordon Brown, claiming that they threatened religious freedom and urging Catholic bishops to fight back with “missionary zeal”. ....
The Pope’s words indicated the level of Catholic anger, shared at the highest levels of the Church of England, at the Labour Government’s repeated moves to marginalise religion in public life.
In a speech in which he confirmed a four-day visit to Britain in midSeptember the Pope said: “Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet, as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed.”

Peter Smith, Archbishop of Cardiff, also joined the chorus of Catholic attacks on Britain’s equality legislation. “We are getting there but we are not there yet. There have been serious difficulties. The Church, of course, upholds absolutely the equal dignity of every person irrespective of their faith, age, ability and so on. But there is a misunderstanding: sometimes in government legislation equality seems to mean that we are all absolutely equal, which we are not. We are equal in dignity.”

Text of the Pope's address to the Bishops of England and Wales:

Many thanks for the rather elusive text of the Holy Father's address, to the Website of St Mary Magdalen Parish, Brighton. See:
http://marymagdalen.blogspot.com/2010/02/text-of-popes-address-to-tyhe-bishops.html )

Dear Brother Bishops,

I welcome all of you on your ad Limina visit to Rome, where you have come to venerate the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul. I thank you for the kind words that Archbishop Vincent Nichols has addressed to me on your behalf, and I offer you my warmest good wishes and prayers for yourselves and all the faithful of England and Wales entrusted to your pastoral care. Your visit to Rome strengthens the bonds of communion between the Catholic community in your country and the Apostolic See, a communion that sustained your people’s faith for centuries, and today provides fresh energies for renewal and evangelization.
Even amid the pressures of a secular age, there are many signs of living faith and devotion among the Catholics of England and Wales.

I am thinking, for example, of the enthusiasm generated by the visit of the relics of Saint Thérèse, the interest aroused by the prospect of Cardinal Newman’s beatification, and the eagerness of young people to take part in pilgrimages and World Youth Days.On the occasion of my forthcoming Apostolic Visit to Great Britain, I shall be able to witness that faith for myself and, as Successor of Peter, to strengthen and confirm it. During the months of preparation that lie ahead, be sure to encourage the Catholics of England and Wales in their devotion, and assure them that the Pope constantly remembers them in his prayers and holds them in his heart.

Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed. I urge you as Pastors to ensure that the Church’s moral teaching be always presented in its entirety and convincingly defended. Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others – on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth.

Continue to insist upon your right to participate in national debate through respectful dialogue with other elements in society.

In doing so, you are not only maintaining long-standing British traditions of freedom of expression and honest exchange of opinion, but you are actually giving voice to the convictions of many people who lack the means to express them: when so many of the population claim to be Christian, how could anyone dispute the Gospel’s right to be heard?

If the full saving message of Christ is to be presented effectively and convincingly to the world, the Catholic community in your country needs to speak with a united voice. This requires not only you, the Bishops, but also priests, teachers, catechists, writers – in short all who are engaged in the task of communicating the Gospel – to be attentive to the promptings of the Spirit, who guides the whole Church into the truth, gathers her into unity and inspires her with missionary zeal.

Make it your concern, then, to draw on the considerable gifts of the lay faithful in England and Wales and see that they are equipped to hand on the faith to new generations comprehensively, accurately, and with a keen awareness that in so doing they are playing their part in the Church’s mission. In a social milieu that encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises, it is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate. It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free. Cardinal Newman realized this, and he left us an outstanding example of faithfulness to revealed truth by following that "kindly light" wherever it led him, even at considerable personal cost. Great writers and communicators of his stature and integrity are needed in the Church today, and it is my hope that devotion to him will inspire many to follow in his footsteps.

Much attention has rightly been given to Newman’s scholarship and to his extensive writings, but it is important to remember that he saw himself first and foremost as a priest. In this Annus Sacerdotalis [Year for Priests], I urge you to hold up to your priests his example of dedication to prayer, pastoral sensitivity towards the needs of his flock, and passion for preaching the Gospel. You yourselves should set a similar example. Be close to your priests, and rekindle their sense of the enormous privilege and joy of standing among the people of God as alter Christus. In Newman’s words, "Christ’s priests have no priesthood but His … what they do, He does; when they baptize, He is baptizing; when they bless, He is blessing" (Parochial and Plain Sermons, VI 242). Indeed, since the priest plays an irreplaceable role in the life of the Church, spare no effort in encouraging priestly vocations and emphasizing to the faithful the true meaning and necessity of the priesthood. Encourage the lay faithful to express their appreciation of the priests who serve them, and to recognize the difficulties they sometimes face on account of their declining numbers and increasing pressures. The support and understanding of the faithful is particularly necessary when parishes have to be merged or Mass times adjusted. Help them to avoid any temptation to view the clergy as mere functionaries but rather to rejoice in the gift of priestly ministry, a gift that can never be taken for granted.

Ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue assume great importance in England and Wales, given the varied demographic profile of the population. As well as encouraging you in your important work in these areas, I would ask you to be generous in implementing the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, so as to assist those groups of Anglicans who wish to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. I am convinced that, if given a warm and open-hearted welcome, such groups will be a blessing for the entire Church.

With these thoughts, I commend your apostolic ministry to the intercession of Saint David, Saint George and all the saints and martyrs of England and Wales. May Our Lady of Walsingham guide and protect you always. To all of you, and to the priests, religious and lay faithful of your country, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of peace and joy in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Posted by Fr Ray Blake

SPIRITUAL BOUQUETS: A LENTEN OPPORTUNITY

2010-03-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

I remember most of the Sisters of Mercy who taught me in my Catholic Primary School in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, and later in Mount Lourdes Grammar School, high on a hill overlooking Lough Erne, in the same country town. Some I loved dearly. Others I just liked. Occasionally, as with Sr. Eucharia our Headmistress, I tried to avoid their apparently all-seeing eyes! All of them, I respected, and thought of them as holy women who were very special.

They always smelt of lavender soap, and they never, ever ran! If we were making a noise in the classroom, we knew when our teacher was coming because you could hear the soft rattle of her Rosary beads, even if you never heard her quiet footsteps!

It never occurred to me that they were ever young, or indeed that some of them were just a few years older than myself. I remember being shocked, but delighted, when one day during the school holidays I had reason to visit the school, and happened to be walking past the tennis courts. There I discovered Sr. Rita playing tennis with Sr. Clement. What a surprise to see the long skirts of their habits hitched up very decorously to just below their knees, and the two of them laughing and hitting the ball back and forward, unhindered by the formal rules of the game. I was about 14 years of age at the time. Now, looking back, I imagine that these two young Sisters were only about 22, but to me they were ageless - beyond the normal rules of aging.

Where are they all now? The convent is closed I am told. The schools continue to function as Catholic schools but with lay teachers. A couple of years ago, I returned to Ireland and had the opportunity to revisit my old haunts. It was during the summer holidays and the school was deserted. But everything had changed. The lovely gardens were now rough and untidy and the beautiful grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, that I used to pass daily on my way to and from school, was overgrown and unkempt. The little shrine to St Anthony in the Primary school, where every morning I used to spend a few minutes having a little chat to him was long gone, though the old statue was retained and placed out in the open in a corner of the building. I was so sad to see that everything which the Nuns had so carefully tended and loved had all decayed, and the Nuns themselves were now long forgotten. I could have wept!

But nothing can bring back the past, though it can survive in our hearts and memories. The reason all these images flooded back to me is because I was reminded by a friend that there used to be a lovely old pious Catholic tradition of making a Spiritual Bouquet as a gift for people one cared about. One promises to say a number of prayers or Rosaries, hear Masses, offer up one's Holy Communions, attend Benedictions etc. for the person, or for Our Lord or Our Lady on special Feast Days. I had long forgotten it. But the Nuns in Ireland once taught this beautiful tradition to generations of children, of whom I was one of the last to hear it. But I have decided that I am going to revive it, and I shall now make one as ad Lenten offering.

As Lent proceeds, as always, I very easily slip away from my initial enthusiastic promises to use the time to make some form of Reparation. I am deliberately using the language that those dear Nuns taught me, for as a child I had no problem in believing that we are Sinners, with totally undisciplined instincts. Anyone who doesn't believe that doesn't know themselves very well - and I am sorry to say that I have never had any reason to change my opinion about myself!

But what exactly does Reparation mean in this context for Catholics?
Christ's Sacrifice was perfectly accomplished when He said, "It is finished." He paid the price of our redemption. That much is a fact. But St. Paul said, "Now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the Church...."

How odd! What does he mean?

St. Alphonsus explains it thus: "Can it be that Christ's passion alone was insufficient to save us? No. It left nothing more to be done; it was more than sufficient to save all men. However, for the merits of the Passion to be applied to us, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, we need to cooperate by patiently bearing the trials God sends us, so as to become like our head, Christ."

This is called 'reparation.' It is a theological doctrine of the Catholic Church. Reparation is the foundation of many confraternities and pious associations – to make reparation for our sins and for the sins of mankind.

That infinite merit of Christ's Passion and Sacrifice on Calvary enables us to add our daily prayers, labors, trials, and sufferings to those of our Lord. Thus, we become actually co-redeemers with Christ, sharing in His suffering. Isn't that wonderful!

But what exactly are we making reparation to God for? Well, to show that, even though we know that we have been forgiven them, we are truly sorry for our own offences against Him (i.e. our Sins) and also, because we are part of that great Communion of the Saints, we can also make some reparation for the sins of others. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, n.2412, n.2487, n.2454, n. 2509 teaches that every offense committed entails the duty of reparation, even if its author has been forgiven.

The greatest offering of reparation is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. But we can also offer our Holy Communions, our Rosaries, our prayers and our day to day duties and sufferings - however apparently trivial!

So the Spiritual Bouquet means that we make a little present of these for that particular intention, for ourselves or for another person. Of course we can just offer up the actions without doing anything else, but the old tradition gave us a way to make something tangible to show what we have done. The Nuns taught us how to make a little card, often with a Holy Picture on the front, listing the little offerings we have made. The pictures above show examples. To most modern minds, this can seem terribly childish and unsophisticated, but generations of pious Catholics maintained the practice, and these little cards were often made by people from every possible backgrounds. Lay people made them. Priests and Religious made them. Even Popes made them! So actually we are in good company.

Suggestions for prayer:

___ Masses heard
___ Holy Communions
___ Hours of the Divine Office
___ Hours of Adoration
___ Novenas
___ Rosaries
___ Acts of Penance
___ Stations of the Cross
___ Other

The completed card would be treasured by the recipient. After all, wouldn't it be lovely to receive a card which said "10 Rosaries are being offered for your intentions." or "4 Novenas are being prayed for you," and so on!

Post-modernism: Be scared. Be very scared!

2010-03-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

'Postmodernism' - we all use the phrase, but do we really understand what it means? It sounds so 'cool' so trendy, so 'on message'. It sounds as though we ' our finger on the cultural pulse'. In short, it shows we are intellectual heavyweights, worthy of esteem and respect!

I am sure that I am in good company when I find that much of what is labelled ‘postmodern’ in art, sculpture, philosophy, poetry or film is often totally incomprehensible. One has the sneaking feeling that the ’artist’ is deliberately using language and semantics to disguise the fact that there is very little in the way of logic or content in their work. Indeed, the more incomprehensible it all is, the more ‘artistic’ we are made to feel that it must be. The unmade bed, the dead animal in formaldehyde, the graffiti, or the deconstructed syntax that passes for poetry MUST be incredibly clever BECAUSE we cannot understand it! One may have a deep suspicion that it is all ‘smoke and mirrors’, but one can never quite pin down the actual source of our inner confusion.

This is why I was delighted to come across a very interesting article on the website of ‘Classical Home Schooling’ on the whole subject. (By the way, the only person I home school is myself - but I thoroughly recommend this site, as it is full of very challenging - but accessible and interesting - articles by many modern philosophers and writers.)

The emphases are mine - and this is only a small portion of the whole article, but it helped me to articulate, even if only to myself, what is wrong with Relativism.

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Excerpts from:
POSTMODERN IDOLS OF THE EDUCATION TRIBE: THE ABOLITION OF EDUCATION by Curtis L. Hancock

Read the full article on: http://classicalhomeschooling.com/?page_id=176

Postmodernism … implies a radical scepticism, of course, because consciousness cannot grasp reality. ….postmodernism asserts that knowledge, including awareness of goodness, rightness, and the human subject, is a cultural construction. Since there are no objective standards, nor human nature to establish natural law to dictate how human beings ought to behave, reason is a rule for self-invention.

(According to philosopher ) Richard Rorty, postmodernism represents the last stage of the Enlightenment Project, which has already passed through Rationalism and Romanticism. We are now in a third stage, bringing to a close the Enlightenment Project. This last stage he labels “ironic,” because, while philosophical claims to objective truth are empty, each self has its best opportunity to live autonomously on the pretence that talk about truth matters. ….. Rorty believes that there are no standards of justification for our narrations…. “Truth,” to the extent the word should be used at all, is relative to social consensus. ….

… Accordingly, philosophy is not bound by objective standards, nor can it pursue public truth …. In such a state of affairs, the aggregate “we” trumps the individual.
Since one cannot ultimately justify one worldview or moral behavior over another, one must demonstrate unlimited openness. For postmodernists intolerance is added to the original list of deadly sins. Social dialogue, along with institutions that support it, is a social priority. …

Postmodernists disagree whether tolerance is negative or positive. For Richard Rorty, tolerance is a condition for liberal democracy. But for other postmodernists, such as Michel Foucault, tolerance requires that we make the world safe for tolerance. This view calls for a liquidation of all cultural bases of intolerance. Intolerance is defined as wilful perpetuation of our self-imposed immaturity, to use Kant’s language again, and something we must transcend, perhaps with the aid (or coercion) of others, as enlightened participants in historical progress, to use the language of Rousseau. Hence, curiously, postmodernism is, for some, supportive of democratic politics; for others, collectivist politics.

… postmodernists themselves do little more than assert their views. … Of course, this will not do. By this strategy, postmodernists find themselves in a quandary. On the one hand, if they argue for their position, they contradict themselves. On the other, if they do not, what reasons do we have philosophically for accepting their worldview?

….Richard John Neuhaus makes this criticism effectively:
(The postmodernist) knows that people do and do not fear, he knows that Freud has given us a way to understand human behaviour that is more adequate than earlier descriptions, he knows the course of history toward maximizing freedom, goodness and truth will take care of themselves. He even knows that “scientific discoveries” have discredited belief in an immortal soul. The ironist’s final vocabulary turns out to be not so formal as it appears; it is filled with contents that other people call facts, and about which, contra the first article of his ironist’s creed, Rorty gives no indication of having “radical and continuing doubts.”

…Of course, sceptics have to deride common sense. Once the consensus among intellectuals is to accept beliefs that are counterintuitive to people untrained in departments of philosophy, their criticism and bemusement can be dismissed as the doubts of the unsophisticated. This fosters a Gnostic culture, as Eric Voegelin explains, in which modern and postmodern intellectuals seek to create a Magisterium of secular intellectuals. This is the consensus of Enlightened intellectuals who qualify for what Kant called “public speech,” by which even common sense is criticized. In this way, modern and postmodern intellectuals can use education and other arms of culture to monopolize discourse about their definition and interpretation of the social contract. They can protect public speech from intolerance. They can root out intolerance wherever it occurs. People who are not qualified for “public speech,” that is, those who live by the guidance of common sense, can be forced to be tolerant, just as Rousseau said Enlightened leaders can force citizens to be free. In education and in practice, this is political correctness….

Another Outing for the Emperor's New Clothes!

2010-02-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

I regularly spend a very pleasant few hours in Bristol Museum, where I alternate between visiting the various galleries, spending some ’quality time’ with all my favourite objects, and sitting in the vast, austerely beautiful atrium, sipping a cappuccino and reading or writing. The real joy of my visits though, is that I have a haven of solitude in which to be anonymous and invisible, so that I can think more deeply about whatever I am currently studying.

No, I have not enrolled on any official course of study, much as I might like to. The costs are beyond my reach! But I do follow my own personal study journey, and try to focus on whatever serious issue which currently interests me. The procedure is the same as that found at any University: read seriously, analyse and compare the various authorities, take notes, memorise and finally - the equivalent of formal ‘Essays’ - I try to produce, for my own interest, and for an intellectual challenge, written responses to those questions which spark my interest or intrigue me. It is supremely enjoyable and really exciting to struggle with new ideas and concepts!

Up to a couple of years ago I would never have bothered to do such a thing. I always read widely, but my reading had become superficial and undemanding. It was my meeting with the Heralds of the Gospel which changed all that. As I have said in earlier posts, there are so many aspects of this wonderful Order that I came to deeply admire, and to desire to emulate, but it was their love of deep and serious learning which really attracted me. Their example changed me completely in so many ways, and the desire to study is one of the gifts I have received from them.

So now I take my books and notebook with me wherever I go. I study on buses, in cafes, park benches, libraries, art galleries - wherever there is peace and I am undisturbed. What I have discovered, strangely enough, is that the surroundings in which you think or read deeply about something, colours your memory of that thought and that book. And the beautiful and grand interior of the Victorian museum really adds to that wonderful feeling of having an ongoing conversation with great thinkers and writers. It has a little of the same ambience that I associate with great libraries of the kind in the photos above.

But now I am going to descend from this elevated mood and express the deep irritation that I feel when I first enter the museum and see what appears to be a statue of a classically beautiful angel defaced and mocked by the artist who has upended a pot of pink paint over its head! It is a work by the internationally renowned Bristol graffiti artist ‘Banksy’

Of course, I am aware that this is an ‘ironic’, ‘postmodernist’, ’deconstructivist’ take on classical aesthetics. But every time I see it, I feel assaulted by a sort of spiritual nihilism, a desire to desecrate all that is good, or noble. And the most depressing aspect of all is, that this ‘artwork’ has been chosen to be proudly exhibited in the most prominent part of the Museum’s display area!

This work - and I think that some of Banksy’s graffiti art is clever and thought provoking - seems to show a coarseness of feeling which grates on me every time I see it.

Well, now I have done! My opinion counts for nothing here, and would no doubt be regarded as unsophisticated rantings of a middle-aged nobody. However, I will say it: this is not a ‘work of Art’! It is just another outing for the Emperor’s New Clothes!’

NINE YEARS OF SERVICE FOR THE CHURCH!

2010-02-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

Nine years ago this week, the Heralds of the Gospel were raised to the category of an International Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right. Congratulations to Heralds and Companions worldwide on this happy occasion!

If you are interested in finding out more about this very interesting young Order in the Catholic Church, visit their UK blog at : http://heraldsgospelsinengland.blogspot.com/

Intellectual rigour - powerful shield against political correctness and cultural relativism.

2010-02-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

Picture from :http://www.you-can-teach-writing.com

“Even if the wounds of this shattered world enmesh you,

and the sea in turmoil bears you along

in but one surviving ship,

it would still befit you

to maintain your enthusiasm for studies unimpaired.

Why should lasting values tremble

if transient things fall?”
—
Prosper of Aquitaine

Thank You Lord Shadowblade!

2010-02-18T17:32:00.000-08:00

I am delighted to be able to include a new picture of a young Herald of the Gospel at the top of my blog. The picture has been made available to me by a young 18 year old Artist from the United States. Her work, which includes a high proportion of religious art, may be found here:
http://lordshadowblade.deviantart.com/art/Herald-of-the-Gospel-86375286

She works under the pseudonym Lord Shadowblade and writes in her profile:

Why I Am Here :-

To uphold all that is True, Good, Beautiful and Holy!

To spread the Gospel through my Artwork

For the Greater Glory of God and for my Soul's Salvation

Who says that young people aren't interested in their Faith? Thank You Lord Shadowblade!

IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF A RETURN TO STANDARDS?

2010-02-18T03:37:00.000-08:00

What have these three pictures got in common?

Nothing - except that they all exhibit the highest technical standards. This technical ability is an objective reality, independent of whether we like them or whether they correspond to our personal philosophy about art.They are all technically brillant.

These and many, many more may be seen on a wonderful new website. The Art Renewal Centre (ARC) has created a large on-line Museum, with hundreds of thousands of high quality images of all the known works of the greatest painters and sculptors, cross referenced to a an encyclopaedic online art reference library of essays, biographies and articles.

The most exciting thing - for me -about it, is that it promotes the return of “training, standards and excellence in the visual arts.”

For those of us who look at much of modern art and feel instinctively and intuitively that the cult of ugliness and degradation espoused by much of the modern art confraternity is a dead end, it is hard not to feel a great sense of encouragement when we read that ARC sees its mission:

“ To repudiate the idea that development in art requires destruction of boundaries and standards, pointless emphasis on 'newness,' or pursuit of the bizarre and ugly as ends in themselves, and to expose as artistic fraud those works conceived only to elicit outrage.”

ARC wants to return to high standards and they promote the requirement for ‘recognizable quality’ in Art.

This website is a boon for artists, art historians and teachers - but it is also a breath of fresh air for 'ordinary' people like myself - the proverbial ‘man or woman on the street’ - to find a way to articulate our true views about much so called Art which we recognise immediately as being - in reality - The Emperor’s New Clothes!

So often we feel we have to be silent in front of the vulgarity and superficiality we see in our art galleries and museums simply because we don’t know how to respond to the deliberately confusing newspeak from the so-called experts. Well, now we have some assistance in the intellectual counter-reformation which is beginning! I would encourage everyone to visit this site : http://www.artrenewal.org/index.php

TODAY IS ASH WEDNESDAY

2010-02-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

PRAYER FOR ASH WEDNESDAY

Grant, Lord, that we

Christ's soldiers,

may enter on this Lenten campaign

with holy fasting,

so that self-denial may strengthen us

in our warfare with the spirits of evil.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen

"The Last Man in Europe" Part 2

2010-02-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

Images from :http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/index.html

NOTE: George Orwell's original working title for the novel '1984' was "The Last Man in Europe". This is an excerpt from a larger article, written by George Orwell on the subject of Newspeak. I thoroughly recommend that anyone interested in the subject of corruption of language should read the full article which can be found at http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/ns_frames.html

For Part 1 see: http://becomingheralds.blogspot.com/2010/02/last-man-in-europe-part-1.html
From "The Principles of Newspeak" by George Orwell [Pt 2] (Italics mine)

When Oldspeak had been once and for all superseded, the last link with the past would have been severed. History had already been rewritten, but fragments of the literature of the past survived here and there, imperfectly censored, and so long as one retained one's knowledge of Oldspeak it was possible to read them. In the future such fragments, even if they chanced to survive, would be unintelligible and untranslatable.

….. In practice this meant that no book written before approximately 1960 could be translated as a whole. Pre-revolutionary literature could only be subjected to ideological translation -- that is, alteration in sense as well as language. Take for example the well-known passage from the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of those ends, it is the right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government. . .

It would have been quite impossible to render this into Newspeak while keeping to the sense of the original. The nearest one could come to doing so would be to swallow the whole passage up in the single word crimethink. A full translation could only be an ideological translation, whereby Jefferson's words would be changed into a panegyric on absolute government.

A good deal of the literature of the past was, indeed, already being transformed in this way. Considerations of prestige made it desirable to preserve the memory of certain historical figures, while at the same time bringing their achievements into line with the philosophy of (the age). Various writers, such as Shakespeare, Milton, Swift, Byron, Dickens, and some others were therefore in process of translation: when the task had been completed, their original writings, with all else that survived of the literature of the past, would be destroyed.

George Orwell

An example of Newspeak/English Translations from Orwell's novel :

Original English : "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that thy are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of those ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government....."

Newspeak Translation : Crimethink

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From the same website http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/index.html
see also this page:from which I have taken the following excerpt:

"This page is inspired by the language of Newspeak from George Orwell's classic novel Nineteen-Eighty-Four. Newspeak was the official language of the totalitarian state of Oceania. In the totalitarian politics of Oceania, the state possessed control over every aspect of its citizen's lives. The way they dressed, who they associated with, what they did with their free time... and most importantly - their thoughts. To achieve this goal, the government set out to construct a "perfect" language... a language in which all concepts that went against party policy were removed.

The state wanted to destroy every idea that conflicted with Ingsoc (English Socialism). The concepts of freedom, liberty, love, privacy, and democracy went against basic party principles, and therefore, had to be stamped out. And, since these concepts were becoming non-existent, there was no longer any need to have words to describe them. By destroying the words themselves, the state would be able to destroy the concepts they represented.

Once the language had been cleansed, there would be no way to form any resistance against the government. The communication of heretical ideas would be impossible, since the words to describe any "unorthodox" ideas would not be available. Any would-be revolutionaries would be robbed of the words that were necessary to spread their ideas. Moreover, it prevented anybody from even thinking any "dangerous" ideas in the first place.
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How thought provoking that Jesus Christ,
Second Person of the Blessed Trinity
chose to be called
'The WORD'
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
(Douai Rheims translation) http://drb.scripturetext.com/john/1.htm

"The Last Man in Europe" Part 1

2010-02-16T08:58:00.000-08:00

NOTE: George Orwell's original working title for the novel '1984' was "The Last Man in Europe". This is an excerpt from a larger article, written by George Orwell on the subject of Newspeak. I thoroughly recommend that anyone interested in the subject of corruption of language should read the full article which can be found at http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/ns_frames.html

From "The Principles of Newspeak" by George Orwell [Pt 1] (Italics mine.)

The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits ….., but to make all other modes of thought impossible. It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought -- that is, a thought diverging from the principles of (the established political order) -- should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words. Its vocabulary was so constructed as to give exact and often very subtle expression to every meaning that a Party member could properly wish to express, while excluding all other meaning and also the possibility of arriving at them by indirect methods. This was done partly by the invention of new words, but chiefly by eliminating undesirable words and stripping such words as remained of unorthodox meanings, and so far as possible of all secondary meaning whatever.

To give a single example - The word free still existed in Newspeak, but could only be used in such statements as "The dog is free from lice" or "This field is free from weeds." It could not be used in its old sense of "politically free" or "intellectually free," since political and intellectual freedom no longer existed even as concepts, and were therefore of necessity nameless. Quite apart from the suppression of definitely heretical words, reduction of vocabulary was regarded as an end in itself, and no word that could be dispensed with was allowed to survive. Newspeak was designed not to extend but to diminish the range of thought, and this purpose was indirectly assisted by cutting the choice of words down to a minimum. Newspeak was founded on the English language as we now know it, though many Newspeak sentences, even when not containing newly created words, would be barely intelligible to an English-speaker of our own day.
…………….
The B vocabulary consisted of words which had been deliberately constructed for political purposes: words, that is to say, which not only had in every case a political implication, but were intended to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the person using them. ……..
.
But the special function of certain Newspeak words, of which oldthink was one, was not so much to express meanings as to destroy them.

As we have already seen in the case of the word free, words which had once borne a heretical meaning were sometimes retained for the sake of convenience, but only with the undesirable meanings purged out of them. Countless other words such as honour, justice, morality, internationalism, democracy, science, and religion had simply ceased to exist. A few blanket words covered them, and, in covering them, abolished them. All words grouping themselves round the concepts of liberty and equality, for instance, were contained in the single word crimethink, while all words grouping themselves round the concepts of objectivity and rationalism were contained in the single word oldthink. Greater precision would have been dangerous.

So far as it could be contrived, everything that had or might have political significance of any kind was fitted into the B vocabulary. The name of every organization, or body of people, or doctrine, or country, or institution, or public building, was invariably cut down into the familiar shape; that is, a single easily pronounced word with the smallest number of syllables that would preserve the original derivation.

This was not done solely with the object of saving time. Even in the early decades of the twentieth century, telescoped words and phrases had been one of the characteristic features of political language; and it had been noticed that the tendency to use abbreviations of this kind was most marked in totalitarian countries and totalitarian organizations. ….. In the beginning the practice had been adopted as it were instinctively, but in Newspeak it was used with a conscious purpose. It was perceived that in thus abbreviating a name one narrowed and subtly altered its meaning, by cutting out most of the associations that would otherwise cling to it. ….This accounted not only for the habit of abbreviating whenever possible, but also for the almost exaggerated care that was taken to make every word easily pronounceable.

…. what was required, above all for political purposes, was short clipped words of unmistakable meaning which could be uttered rapidly and which roused the minimum of echoes in the speaker's mind. …. The use of them encouraged a gabbling style of speech, at once staccato and monotonous. And this was exactly what was aimed at. The intention was to make speech, and especially speech on any subject not ideologically neutral, as nearly as possible independent of consciousness. …

So did the fact of having very few words to choose from. Relative to our own, the Newspeak vocabulary was tiny, and new ways of reducing it were constantly being devised. Newspeak, indeed, differed from most all other languages in that its vocabulary grew smaller instead of larger every year. Each reduction was a gain, since the smaller the area of choice, the smaller the temptation to take thought. Ultimately it was hoped to make articulate speech issue from the larynx without involving the higher brain centers at all.

The C vocabulary was supplementary to the others and consisted entirely of scientific and technical terms. These resembled the scientific terms in use today, and were constructed from the same roots, but the usual care was taken to define them rigidly and strip them of undesirable meanings. …..

From the foregoing account it will be seen that in Newspeak the expression of unorthodox opinions, above a very low level, was well-nigh impossible. ….The concept of political equality no longer existed… . A person growing up with Newspeak as his sole language would no more know that equal had once had the secondary meaning of 'politically equal', or that free had once meant 'intellectually free', than for instance, a person who had never heard of chess would be aware of the secondary meanings attaching to queen and rook.

To continue to Part 2 see here: http://becomingheralds.blogspot.com/2010/02/last-man-in-europe-part-2.html

Still Becoming Heralds, just a change of Template.

2010-02-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

I have decided to change the template of this blog as I was encountering some difficulties with the previous layout. As I want content to take precedence over style, I have chosen a much simpler one with a much clearer layout. So - new posts will continue very soon!

What the Heralds taught me: Read Serious Books!

2010-02-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

One thing which fascinates me about the Heralds of the Gospel is their devotion to study.
Mgr. João S. Clá Dias, the founder of the Heralds of the Gospel
(see: http://www.arautos.org/view/show/341-arautos-do-evangelho) tells us that we should never stop studying until the day we die!

Shamed by my own mental laziness, and by the example of the Order, I have returned to a programme of serious reading. But where to begin? I hope to keep track of my progress on this blog - among other interests. But I came across this post from http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/02/weekends-are-for-curling-up-with-books.html
and I found it helpful.
---------------------------------------------------------------

...Reasons to Study the Classics by Oliver DeMille

"It is chiefly through books that we enjoy intercourse with superior minds . . . . In the best books, great men talk to us, give us their most precious thoughts, and pour their souls into ours." -William Ellery Channing

"How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book."
-Henry David Thoreau

"When you reread a classic you do not see more in the book than you did before; you see more in you than was there before."
-Clifton Fadiman

Study the Classics

There are at least six... reasons to study the classics:

1. The Classics Teach us Human Nature

The classics give us a glimpse into human instincts. In fact, the thing which makes a classic great is glaring insight into basic human nature. Ultimately, as you study the classics, you learn about your own personal nature. Learning through experience is good, but it is often better to learn from someone else's experiences and build on them- we hope a baby will learn from his parents not to touch a hot stove, even though the actual experience would certainly have impact. If we will let them, the classics can teach us lessons without the pain of repeating certain mistakes ourselves. They can show us correct choices which will get us where we want to go.

…. Classics allow us to experience, in an intimate way, the greatest mistakes and successful choices of human history. If we learn from these mistakes and successes, we will make fewer mistakes and have more successes.

…. We can develop empathy, compassion, wisdom and self-discipline without subjecting our relationships to the learning curve. This is invaluable to the spouse, parent, entrepreneur, community leader or statesman. People with experience have been through certain patterns many times and know what to anticipate. The classics can provide us with many such experiences.

2. The Classics Bring us Face-to-Face with Greatness

The purpose of studying literature is to become better. First, as we read we experience despair, heartache, tragedy-and we learn to recognize what causes them and avoid it in our own lives. As we study the characters, real or fictional, in the classics, we are inspired by greatness, which is the first step to becoming great ourselves. In the classics we come face-to-face with Moses on Sinai, Buddha leaving the castle, Christ at Gethsemane, Mohammed's cave (and Plato's), Paul on Mars Hill, Adam's finger outstretched on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Washington at Valley Forge, Hamlet, Lear, Shylock, Othello, Macbeth, MacDuff, Hector, Penelope and Jane Eyre. ‘Who we are’ changes as we set higher and higher standards of what life is about and what we are here to accomplish.

3. The Classics Take us to the Frontier to be Conquered

Our challenges define us, our reactions to them mold and shape us. As Thucydides said over three thousand years ago, and as I like to tell my students at George Wythe College: "There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another: but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school."

Human beings need a frontier in order to progress. Fortunately, we do have one frontier left, and it is in fact the hardest one. It is the frontier within. In all of history, this frontier has not been fully conquered. The most challenging struggles of life are internal-and the classics can help. The classics deal with the real questions of life, our deepest concerns: joy, pain, fear, love, hate, courage, anger, death, faith. These issues are reality; they are eternal and more lasting than jobs, careers, school, material things.

In the classics we can often experience other people's characters more powerfully than in real life because the author lets us see their thoughts, feelings and reasons for and consequences of their choices (which we hardly ever see in others, and often not even in ourselves). Our goal in life is to become truly good, really happy. The classics help us see that quest in others and how their choices fail or succeed. A by-product of this rapport is the erasure of prejudices and ill-founded biases that divide and factionalize us from others. Classics help us connect with individuals whatever their race, creed, age, culture and even place in history.

I fear that modernity has come to mean ignoring what is important because we are too busy with what is immediate. Nietzsche said that the difference between modern and ancient times is that modern man substitutes the morning newspaper for morning prayer. … Too often we focus on the mortal rather than the eternal: this is a disease of modern times.

The classics are a remedy and can be a cure. They force us to turn off the TV and computer, to quietly study for hours and hours and hours-reading, pondering, thinking, asking, crying, laughing, struggling, and above all, feeling, changing, becoming. And then, because we are better, we must go out and serve.

4. The Classics Force us to Think

First we are caused to think about the characters in the story, then about ourselves, then about people we know and finally about humanity in general. At first reading the classics can be a chore, an assignment. If we persist, it eventually becomes entertainment. Then one day (after a few weeks for some, perhaps years for another) something clicks; all the exposure to greatness reaches critical mass. And you, the reader, awaken. Your exposure to greatness changes you: Your ideas are bigger, your dreams wilder, your plans more challenging, your faith more powerful.

The classics can be hard work, and that is exactly what is needed to learn to think. Thinking is hard; deep thinking is not entertaining or easy. Thinking is like exercise, it requires consistency and rigor. Like barbells in a weightlifting room, the classics force us to either put them down or exert our minds. They require us to think. And not just in a rote memory way, either. The classics make us struggle, search, ponder, seek, analyze, discover, decide, and reconsider. And, as with physical exercise, the exertion leads to pleasing results as we metamorphose and experience the pleasure of doing something wholesome and difficult that changes us for the better.

5. The Classics Connect Us to Those Who Share the Stories

Each culture is different because it has different shared stories. Different stories define each family, each religion, each nation. And members of each connect themselves with the stories, they make the stories part of their personal story.

Can you imagine the Jews without the stories of Moses, the Maccabees, or the Holocaust? Or Americans without stories of Paul Revere, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln? Learn the stories of a culture, and you will come to understand that culture. That is why I think it is such a tragedy that the current generation of … youth are mostly growing up without … stories . The classics are the ark, the preserver, of stories which unite the cultures and the generations.

In addition to cultural, national and family stories, we each have individual stories. We all have a personal canon, a set of stories which we hang on to and believe in and base our lives around; and great classics are the best canon. A canon is the set of books we consider to be the standard of truth. Since the purpose of reading, of gaining education, is to become good, our most important task is to choose the right books. Our personal set of stories, our canon, shapes our lives. I believe it is a law of the universe that we will not rise above our canon. Our canon is part of us, deeply, subconsciously. And the characters and teachings in our canon shape our characters-good, evil, mediocre, or great.

6. Our Canon Becomes our Plot

There are four types of stories: bent, broken, whole, and healing.

A. Bent stories portray evil as good, and good as evil. Such stories are meant to enhance the evil tendencies of the reader, such as pornography and many horror books and movies. The best decision regarding Bent stories is to avoid them like the plague.

B. Broken stories portray evil as evil and good as good, but evil wins. Something is broken, not right, in need of fixing. Such books are not uplifting, but can be very inspiring. Broken stories can be very good for the reader if they motivate him or her to heal them, to fix them. The Communist Manifesto is a broken classic; so are The Lord of the Flies and 1984. In each of these, evil wins; but they have been very motivating to me because I have felt a real need to help reverse their messages in the real world.

C. Whole stories are where good is good and good wins. Most of the classics are in this category, and readers should spend most of their time in such works.

D. Healing stories can be either Whole or Broken stories where the reader is profoundly moved, changed, significantly improved by his reading experience.

I recommend three rules in coming face-to-face with greatness through the classics:
1. Avoid Bent stories.
2. Develop a personal canon of Healing stories.
3. Spend the majority of your studies in Whole works, but don't neglect Broken stories that you ought to be fixing.

(I have excerpted the above from a link at the George Wythe website. For the entire essay, you can go here: http://newsletter.gw.edu/pre/july2000.pdf )

Something to think about?

2010-02-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

“Contact with writers of genius procures us the immediate advantage of lifting us to a higher plane;

by their superiority alone they confer a benefit on us even before teaching us anything

….they accustom us to the air of the mountaintops….

In that world of lofty thought the face of truth seems to be unveiled;

beauty shines forth…”

The Intellectual Life, A.G. Sertillanges, O.P.

Who was Alcuin? An Englishman!

2010-02-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

Picture of MANUSCRIPT - Alcuin's Vulgate (9th century)

An educator, scholar, and theologian, Alcuin was born about 735 in or near York, in the north of England, and died 804. He was of noble birth, and in childhood he entered the cathedral school in York founded by Archbishop Egbert. His ability and holiness attracted the attention of the Archbishop, who devoted special attention to his education. In 767 he succeeded as master of the school, attracting numerous students and greatly expanding the already valuable library.

On a visit to Rome in March, 781, he met Charlemagne at Parma, and was persuaded by him move to France and become “Master of the Palace School”. Under his leadership the Palace School became the centre of knowledge and culture for the whole of Europe. Charlemagne himself, his queen, Luitgard, his sister Gisela, his three sons and two daughters became pupils of the school, and the rest of the nobility soon began to follow their example.

Alcuin attended the Synod of Frankfort in 794, and contributed to the drawing up of the decrees condemning Adoptionism. In 796, he was appointed by Charlemagne Abbot of St. Martin’s at Tours where he built up a model monastic school, gathering books and attracting the most promising students from far and near. He died 19 May, 804.

Through his work, Anglo-Saxon scholarship achieved a very wide influence, and the rich intellectual legacy of Bede at Jarrow, taken up by Alcuin, became the permanent possession of civilized Europe.

The Carolingian Renaissance: the Emperor Charlemagne and monk Alcuin

2010-02-05T08:01:00.000-08:00

Isn't this beautiful! This Tiffany window (designed by Frederic Wilson) portrays the Emperor Charlemagne and monk Alcuin reading an astronomy book in the Palatine Chapel. As head of the Palatine school which Charlemagne established at Aachen, Germany, Alcuin (735-804) greatly influenced the revival of learning known as the Carolingian Renaissance which was largely prompted by the forward vision of Charlemagne and Alcuin. Although the culture of the time was still largely barbarian it was a beginning of the integration of Christianity and the best of the ancient Classical civilizations of Greece and Rome a process which ultimately gave birth to Christendom in the early Middle Ages.

Western civilization is thus rooted in the profound integration of Christianity and Classical civilization, which began at the Carolingian Renaissance. Perhaps we ourselves need to return to our roots as we did in the Renaissance period following the late Middle Ages.

This information is taken from an extremely interesting article on the website of: Universities of Western Civilization: http://www.uowc.org/news/charlemagne-and-alcuin/

Such a return to our roots is a goal of the Universities of Western Civilization.The image of these two pre-eminent figures of the Carolingian Renaissance appear on the Universities of Western Civilization banner.

Keynsham - Our Little town

2010-01-30T16:39:00.000-08:00

Our town has a prehistoric history and is scattered with Roman remains, including two Roman villas and a burial site. The town also has links to the Mormen, the hostile forebears to the Angles. The original settlers in the area are said to have been allied with the Mormen and it is due to this alliance that Keynsham survived the 1147 Angle sacking.

The town which is said to be named after Saint Keyne, developed into a medieval market town, thriving alongside the influential and prosperous Keynsham Abbey, founded by the Victorine order of Augustinian monks around 1170 under the patronage of William Earl of Gloucester. It was founded the year in which the Earl's son Robert died, and traditionally at his son's dying request. At its foundation the canons seem to have adopted the then popular monastic discipline of St. Victor, so that the head of this house was always called the abbot, and the house was known as the house of the Canons of the Order of St. Austin and St. Victor.
[From: 'Houses of Augustinian canons: The abbey of Keynsham', A History of the County of Somerset: : http://www.british-history.ac.uk]
It survived until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 and a house was built on the site. There are still some minor remains to be seen in the town park. The town was also the site of a battle between royalist forces and the rebel Duke of Monmouth.

According to local legend, St Keyne was warned by the local King that the marshy area was swarming with snakes, which prevented habitation. St Keyne prayed to the heavens and turned the snakes to stone. Folklore has it that the fossilized ammonites that are very prevalent in the town are the remains of the snakes.

Keynsham played a part in the Civil War as the Roundheads saved the town and also camped there for the night.

Snowfalls in Keynsham

2010-01-30T15:18:00.000-08:00

We have recently had some snow - not the heavy falls of Canada and the like, but enough to cause some problems in this part of the country. Bristol is usually fairly mild, and we in Keynsham, once a little town on the edge of the city, now an outlying suburb, usually share in its weather patterns.

However a week or so ago we awoke to a glorious white world, and nature forced everyone whether they wished it or not, to slow down and start looking all around them, even if it was only to find a secure footing on the icy pavements. Neighbours started to talk to each other, checking on the welfare of the elderly or housebound. Children couldn't get to school and spent the days tobogganing on the hills nearby, often accompanied by parents who hadn't been able to get to work. Our 24/7 culture took a hit - and (almost) everyone loved it. After a snowy week or so, it all melted, and a more rested and refreshed community returned to the daily grind of timetables, phonecalls, appointments, commitments ...
So you see, being snowed in was rather enjoyable for most of us.

I'm Back!

2010-01-30T15:06:00.000-08:00

I think I talked myself out of blogging with my last post. I was so convincing when I said that "So many people are talking into the ether! Is anybody out there actually listening? Is there any point in this endless self-communing?" that I stopped altogether. But this is another year, the sap is rising in the plants, and Spring is on its way - so, here we go again!

Why Blog? Why "Becoming Heralds"?

2009-09-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

I am always amazed at just how many Bloggers there are out there on the Web. So many people talking into the ether! Is anybody out there actually listening? Is there any point in this endless self-communing? I have started to create Blogs before, but struggled with the idea that I was wasting my time, and gave up. After all, who cares what I think? And is what I say or think of the slightest importance in the great scheme of things? The answer, of course, is no! The world will not shake on its foundations if I choose not add my opinions, words, thoughts, to the great, turbulent ocean of human discussion that is cyberspace.

However, I have come to the conclusion that we write for the same reason that the solitary Reader reads. We do it to discover and augment the Self- as the American writer and Literary Critic, Harold Bloom would say. Of course, he expresses himself as a Literary Critic should. All I can say is, perhaps we Blog to 'cast our bread upon the waters' and see if we may not discover out there, a Listener who may just possibly become a partner in our endless inner 'mulling over' of things.

Why 'Becoming Heralds'?

In July 2008 my husband and I travelled with our daughter to Brazil, where she wished to spend some time with the 'Heralds of the Gospel', a very new Religious Order. We had first seen them in February of the same year, when we watched a wonderful Mass of dedication of their first Church, Our Lady of the Rosary on TV [EWTN]. At that time we had all been stopped in our tracks when we saw what appeared to be hundreds of young people, wearing the distinctive, almost Crusader-like habit of the Order, all taking part in the most beautiful Liturgy we have ever seen. Watching it at all was an accident. My husband had his hand on the TV remote, looking for a sports channel he liked. I came in to the room to give him a cup of coffee. But we both stopped -spellbound. What on earth is this? Who are they? What are they called? We had never seen anything like them before! The TV remote returned to the table and I sat down, coffee forgotten. Later our daughter came in and after a moment, silently took another seat. We watched for the next three hours. The ceremonial dedication of the Church was very moving and beautiful, but it was the young people, the Habits, the beauty and dignity of the event which astounded us. When it all ended we felt as though we had descended to earth after having spend time in Paradise! That sounds fanciful, but it is true. Indeed the experience was to change our lives for ever, for a few months later we had discovered enough about the Order and its Founder to allow our seventeen year old daughter to spend some months with them.

We travelled over to Sao Paulo with her, and stayed for about ten days. We were able to attend the Third Order Congress while we were there. We also got to know many members of the First and Second Orders. It was a wonderful experience and we were different people by the time we returned to England, for by then my husband and I had joined the Third Order, and committed ourselves to its future.

This Blog is a long exploration and meditation on our lives since then, as we try to assimilate the culture and ethos of the Order. It is also an exploration of the new life we have begun as we try to become, in its most profound sense, Heralds of the Gospel.

Food for Thought!

2009-09-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

The Two Roads - A choice.
[From the Diary of Saint Faustina .]
One day, I saw two roads. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of pleasures. People walked along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They reached the end without realizing it. And at the end of the roads there was a horrible precipice; that is the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell. And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness, and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings. (153)

An Irish Memory
The old farmer walked with his walking stick and a rosary in his hands, and timed the turning of the rosary beads to coincide with his steps. He knew exactly where he was making for: “Well, we were at the third decade…."

Rene Laennec; (French physician, father of modern pulmonary disease research) to his wife, after he was thrown from their carriage in an accident; whereupon they went on with the rosary they had been reciting just before the accident!