Thursday 22 November 2012

Was God Speaking To The Church of England?


Archbishop of Canterbury
AP: Church of England: Vote Needs Explanation

I have been watching the matter of the ordination of women as bishops in the Church of England with interest.  There are two main reasons.  I am a convert to Catholicism from the Anglican Communion and therefore what happens in the Anglican Communion always remains of interest to me.  Secondly, I find this current situation in which the Church of England finds itself regarding the ordination of women bishops a little strange. 

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Dip In The Pool



What could be better than a dip in the pool on a hot summer day?  This Southern Masked Weaver certainly thought so.  Look at the enthusiasm with which he really gets into it.  Isn’t nature great?

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Marikana: Cardinal Napier Asks What We Can Learn



Cardinal Napier asks what we can learn from the Marikana tragedy here . . .

A Nice Email From Opus Dei


Opus Dei

I came across an email from a priest of Opus Dei to one of the bloggers who I follow.  In light of the high rates of unemployment in our and other countries, it is an inspirational email, well worth reading.  Fr. Hayward writes in his email that those who are unable to find employment obviously despair at the situation and they can be likened to those who suffer from severe illness.  Read more »

Sunday 18 November 2012

Abortion Not Health Treatment



The news of the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar has attracted a great deal of media attention.  Pro-abortion groups, supported by secular media, have already stated, despite the fact that the investigation into her death is still to be concluded, that her death could have been avoided had she been permitted an abortion.  How do they know this for a fact, I wonder?

Saturday 17 November 2012

Proof God Exists



“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.”[i]

Congratulatory Warning


Bishop Hilarion

I found, on “The American Catholic” Blog, a copy of the letter of congratulations that Bishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk and a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow, wrote to the Right Reverend Justin Welby, the nominated Archbishop of Canterbury of the Church of England.

Friday 16 November 2012

£14,000 Politeness Penalty



Want to hear some really daft news.  Consider this.  Last year in February Adrian Smith stated, on his personal Facebook page, that the UK government’s plan to pass a law to permit gay marriages in a church was “an equality too far”.  This was Adrian Smith’s personal opinion and I am sure that you will agree he is perfectly entitled to his opinion.

Thursday 15 November 2012

iHurt




It all began with an iPhone ... 

Clerical Dress



A matter that I often cogitate is why a priest does not wear clerical dress in public, outside of his church.  I accept that there are occasions when it is impractical to be dressed in a cassock or to wear a shirt with a clerical collar.  I even accept that the priest has every right to moments when he just does not want to dress in that way, such as at personal social events.

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Stop Discrimination Against Catholics



DSTv continues to blatantly ignore Catholics and has not responded to requests to include EWTN, a Catholic television network, in its choice of channels for its viewers.  Muslims have a television channel on DSTv.  Non-Catholic Christian denominations have more than one channel on DSTv.  Yet Catholics, despite numerous requests, still have nothing.  We must however not lose hope and must keep trying.  Please help us in this cause by going here.

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Church - Divorce - Compassion



This week’s editorial in The Southern Cross focused on the Church’s teaching regarding divorce.  In particular it focused on the Church’s teaching that individuals who have remarried, without their first marriage being annulled, are no longer able to receive Holy Communion and sacramental absolution.  The editorial is entitled “Barred From Communion”.

Saturday 10 November 2012

Queen's Message To USA



I am not sure who the author of this is.  It was sent to me by a friend.  It had me in stitches and so I thought it was worth sharing.  Any overly sensitive readers from the US who have no sense of humour should not read any further …

Friday 9 November 2012

Rhino Cries As Poachers Kill It


Image by: LAUREN MULLIGAN
The South African National Prosecuting Authority has withdrawn charges against Marnus Steyl related to the illegal hunting/trading of rhino.  According to the National Prosecuting Authority their evidence against Steyl was circumstantial. Now this video below has been released.

Read The Bible Chronologically



I got this interesting information from Jeff Cavin on EWTN some time back.  It was an explanation of the sequence in which one should read the Bible if one wants to read the Bible in chronological order, like a story from start to end.  I thought I would share it with anyone who did not know this.

Thursday 8 November 2012

Police Lawlessness



Take a look at this video footage broadcast by eNCA on South African television.  Take specific note of the scene that is shown 35 seconds into the video.  It shows a South African Policemen clearly hitting an unarmed man on the back of his head. 

Instruction On The Creed


St Cyril of Jerusalem
This is the second reading from Matins for today, Thursday of the Thirty First Week of Ordinary Time.  I felt an urge to share it.  The reading is from the instructions by St Cyril of Jerusalem to Catechumens.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Fundamentals Of Catholicism


I have just completed reading this three-volume set of books by Fr. Kenneth Baker S.J.  This is not a new set of books.  They were published in 1983.  They provide a complete course in Catholicism that presents Catholic teaching on all-important points of doctrine and morals.  Volume 1 thoroughly analyses the Creed and the Ten Commandments.  Volume 2 takes up God, the Trinity, Creation, Christ and Mary.  Volume 3 covers the Church, Grace, and the Sacraments.  These books are an easy read and I highly recommend them.

Sunday 4 November 2012

Cardinal Unfairly Branded A Bigot


Cardinal Keith O'Brien
I, like many Catholics and Catholic organisations, am, to say the least, really annoyed at the fact that a LGBT lobby group has publicly branded Cardinal Keith O'Brien as a bigot.  This occurred when Stonewall awarded their “Bigot of the Year Award” to the Cardinal because of his statements regarding gay marriage.