De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Bouna Festa! I must apologise for my obvious mistake with my Sunday Scripture reflection this week, as Fr. Jeff called me yesterday to ask why I had posted for the thirteenth Sunday when the Catholic Church in the UK will be celebrated Sts. Peter and Paul, carried over from Saturday. Still, my non-UK readers would not have been confused whereas they would have been if I'd posted the correct readings. As I listened to the readings today I did feel a pang though, as I would like to have thought and studied a bit about these fascinating readings, especially the fantastic and miraculous story from Acts which formed the First Reading. Of course, the Gospel story today was the same as last week's, with the profession of Peter, albeit from Matthew's Gospel this week instead of Luke's. I did cover a bit of both last week  talking about the fact that Jesus called Peter "Rock" Cephas (Greek: Κηφᾶς) or Kepha (Hebrew: כיפא‎) both meaning the same thing. The Prote...

On Monday we had wonderful celebration of our Parochial Feast. We were joined by our wonderful Ordinariate priests Fr. Jeff Woolnough, Fr. Lee Bennett, Fr. Bob White and their communications officer, Fr. James Bradley along with the Ordinary, Mgr. Keith Newton. What a pleasure it was to welcome them into our Parish. We had a beautiful Mass, and Mgr. Keith spoke brilliantly, mentioning the Pope's shock resignation, as well as preaching on the Gospel. There's a good explanation of the Ordinariate here along with an explanation of why it was created here . Fr. Kevin asked me to take some pictures of the occasion which you, beloved reader, are privileged to view before they are used anywhere else! Fr. Jeff from St. Peter's Eastwood who is a great friend and is much loved and respected. Fr. Lee from Benfleet. My two oldest sons, Michael and William. Fr. Kevin, our Parish Priest and Dean of Southend with Mgr. Keith Newton, the Ordinary. The Ordinary of t...

Monday, January 28, 2013 St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) By universal consent, Thomas Aquinas is the pre-eminent spokesman of the Catholic tradition of reason and of divine revelation. He is one of the great teachers of the medieval Catholic Church, honoured with the titles Doctor of the Church and Angelic Doctor.  At five he was given to the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino in his parents’ hopes that he would choose that way of life and eventually became abbot. In 1239 he was sent to Naples to complete his studies. It was here that he was first attracted to Aristotle’s philosophy.  By 1243, Thomas abandoned his family’s plans for him and joined the Dominicans, much to his mother’s dismay. On her order, Thomas was captured by his brother and kept at home for over a year. Once free, he went to Paris and then to Cologne, where he finished his studies with Albert the Great. He held two professorships at Paris, lived at the court of Pope Urban IV, dir...