De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

So you've all seen this story by now I'm sure, here in The Catholic Herald Pope Francis has called for the Italian translation of the Lord’s Prayer to be changed as it implies God leads people into temptation. The line, which is traditionally translated into English as “And lead us not into temptation”, was recently changed in French to say “do not let us enter into temptation.” Currently, the Italian translation is rendered in the same way as the English, implying a change in the English version may also be coming. Asked about the change on French TV, the Pope said the traditional phrasing is “not a good translation”. “I am the one who falls. It’s not him pushing me into temptation to then see how I have fallen,” he said. “A father doesn’t do that, a father helps you to get up immediately. It’s Satan who leads us into temptation, that’s his department.” The current English translation has two things going for it: it’s an accurate rendering of both the N...

This afternoon's Confirmation Class will be on Prayer & The Sacraments. We are following the course "I Have Chosen You" by Joseph Moore, which has an extensive section on prayer which focuses on the Creed. I think this is an important part of any confirmation course. We live in a world where truth is usually considered provisional and changeable. “Dogmatism” is almost a dirty word. “Acceptance” is the order of the day, where everyone is considered free to hold any opinion he or she chooses, in a pluralist society. Dogma for Catholics is the foundation of faith. The dogmas of the faith are enshrined in Creeds, about which St. Ambrose wrote “This Creed is the spiritual seal, our hearts meditation and ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul” ( See CCC 197) Of course we say a Creed every Sunday at Mass, but how often do we really think about what it means or where it came from? The Nicene Creed was agree on by a Council of the Church ...

"Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  Ps 119:105 Welcome to this, the fifty-fifth of my reflections on the theology of the Sunday readings at Mass. I have been on holiday for a couple of weeks and while I pre-prepared my weekly posts, a lack of wifi availability made it difficult to post them (rather frustratingly). In any case, I have decided to post them retrospectively for anyone who is interested, and since they are quite a bit of work! I have undertaken this project, regularly posting background information on the readings at Sunday Mass as part of my own prayer life. I have found it helps me to do a little study before I go to Mass about the readings, what the theme of the week is, how it follows on from the previous week's readings and what is being said. In sharing this, I hope to help you too get more from the Bible and Sunday Scripture readings. Perhaps it might give you confidence in the value and legitimacy of the Bible, or...