De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

The Archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia fears "too many believers" have adapted to the secular world around them by stressing not their faith itself but its ethical values. Challenged by a robust secularism, he said Scottish Catholics avoid saying they "really believe in anything supernatural; in anything they can’t see or touch or experience; or in anything beyond modelling and encouraging decent behaviour. He added: "Too many believers no longer talk about Jesus winning salvation for the sinful but instead point to him as a moral ideal of what humans should strive for. "We accommodate. We compromise. We avoid conflict - even when conflict is the only proper course. We are too wishy-washy, as we would say in Scotland." The Archbishop made the comments at a recent meeting of priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Archbishop Tartaglia, spoke about what lessons could be learned in the United States from the Church in Scotland and the rest of t...

Welcome to this, the Fortieth of my reflections on the theology of the Sunday readings at Mass. I'm a bit late this week, it's been really hectic with Head Teacher interviews and lots going on at work. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I sincerely hope that this reflection will inspire you. You might find that it answers a few questions you may have, but most of all I hope that it will show you how fantastic Sacred Scripture is and perhaps enable you to share some of my love and passion for the Bible as you begin to comprehend how layered and multi-faceted it is, and what a carefully considered part of the Mass the readings are. If you want to know how these posts came about, please read my first post in this series  here . I would like to think this regular blog would be a great help to anyone who reads at Mass, to enable them to foster a deeper understanding of the message they are trying to impart to the congregation. There are several differ...

Father John Edwards, SJ, died on Wednesday . My Parish Priest Father Kevin Hale, was a great friend of Father John's, and put the following quote from Fr. Ray's blog in our newsletter yesterday: Please pray for the repose of the soul of Father John Edwards, SJ. He concelebrated community Mass at Farm Street on Wednesday and died in the evening. In his last circular letter to family and friends he wrote that his impending death brought him immense happiness. His last public Mass was offered for his friend and brother Fr. Hugh Thwaites SJ, the first time a traditional Mass was offered at Farm Street since the 1970's. I am told that he regarded the process of dying as "a very busy affair". He was a good friend to us in this Parish and over the last nine years he has heard thousands of our Confessions! He had a great knack of teaching people to pray and to go to Confession. He was such a good Confessor, he could lift weights that had ground people down for ye...