De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

My Third son John has discovered denominations and is fascinated about what different Christians believe. This developing interest has led us on a bit of a journey over the last few months. After Mass this morning, we drove past a Congregationalist chapel. "con-greee-gaT-on-el" enunciated John, trying to get his tongue around the unfamiliar word. "Are they popular Dad?". John knows how to ask a question in a way which puts me least at ease. I don't know what the Church attendance is like there, but it is one of four chapels along this short stretch of road in Leigh, famously densely populated with religious communities of all persuasions. Given the proliferation of alternative religious options versus the number of potentially attending human persons in Leigh, I find it difficult to imagine they have anything more than a handful of devoted attendees. "They're Protestant, right Dad?" Is John's next enquiry.  "What do you think that means, J...

Louise and I are fortunate enough to be friends with this wonderful family, the Wards. Recently, Sarah was invited to Rome to receive an award for her commitment to life. She was also asked to speak to the newly formed John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family in Rome about her experience of being a Catholic Mother with eight children. LifeSite News have reported on it here . In her speech, Sarah explained how “Fifty years of silence” on Humanae Vitae has been “catastrophic” as she explained how reading Humanae Vitae after the birth of her second child changed the course of her life. Sarah was speaking at an Academy conference, titled Human Life, the Family, and the Splendor of Truth: Gifts of God , which focused on the topic of two crucial encyclicals of the Church, Humanae Vitae and Veritatis Splendor . Both are absolutely essential reading for any informed Catholic,  Humanae Vitae was utterly prophetic and spoke with absolute clarity about the family & t...

  Having a hard day? Struggling to keep it all together? Feel like you are finding it difficult to maintain that calm, swan-like exterior while underneath your little legs are going like the clappers? Have a read of Clare's blog today and I'm sure you will feel better.

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Commentary of the day Pope Benedict XVI Address, Ad limina , 25 September 2009 The Church cannot be indifferent to the separation of spouses and to divorce, facing the break-up of homes and the consequences for the children that divorce causes. If they are to be instructed and educated, children need extremely precise and concrete reference points, in other words parents who are determined and reliable who contribute in quite another way to their upbringing. Nor, it is this principle that the practice of divorce is undermining and jeopardizing with the so-called "extended" family that multiplies "father" and "mother" figures and explains why today the majority of those who feel "orphans" are not children without parents but children who have too many. This situation, with the inevitable interference and the intersection of relationships, cannot but give rise to inner conflict and confusion, contributing to cre...

I thought this short film on Catholicism by Soul Pancake was too good not to share. What wonderful advocates for the faith!

Have a look at this extract from the final message of 2012 Synod of Bishops: We do not ignore the fact that today the family, established in the marriage of a man and of a woman which makes them “one flesh” (Matthew 19:6)  open to life , is assaulted by crises everywhere. It is surrounded by models of life that penalize it and neglected by the politics of society of which it is also the fundamental cell. It is not always respected in its rhythms and sustained in its tasks by ecclesial communities.  It is precisely this, however, that impels us to say  that we must particularly take care of the family and its mission   in society and in the Church,  Source:  http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20121026_message-synod_en.html Now, ask yourself……as a result of the 2014/2015 synods on the family … do you NOW FEEL the support of and “particular care” of the Church that the pope and church pledged only 3 years ago???? …...

Last Thursday evening I was privileged to be asked to speak at ' Soul Food ', a gathering of vibrant young Catholics for prayer and reflection. I was asked to speak about the reality of living a Catholic Marriage. It was the first time I'd delivered this particular talk so it was interesting to see how it "worked" in practice. I think if I do it again, I will know where to tweak it. I started off quite heavy on the theology, grounding the talk in Trinity as the exemplar for the interpersonal project (communion-in-love-without-rivalry) and how, if we are created in the image and likeness of God, this is what we need to set as our goal (we are, after all, called to be Saints). Trinity strikes me as a good starting point for any talk on relationship and Trinity is the centre and focus of theology; a rich mystery by which we can begin to understand so much about our humanity and how we relate to each other, but also what God is like and how our life will be in he...

Vatican Radio tells us how, on Sunday evening, in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis urged parents and families to stand up to "ideological colonisations that poison the soul." He was speaking to around 25,000 people from the dioceses of Rome, for the opening of the Diocese's annual Ecclesial Convention, dedicated this year to the theme of the family. Cardinal Vicar Agostino Vallini was present, together with many Catholic families and a high percentage of the 350 parish priests of Rome. During his address, Pope Francis touched on many issues including the need for a "spiritual rebirth" for the city of Rome which is currently shaken by a corruption scandal involving municipal authorities. But his focus was mostly on the family and on the Synod of Bishops on the Family to be held in the Vatican in October, and he appealed to the many parents present to safeguard their children from ideological attacks against the institution of the family and all that is...

…and happy Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God! And so a New Year dawns and calls us all to renewal and rebirth. I have always loved that sense of freshness; of turning the page that we especially get with the New Year's celebrations. At this time of year, I often remember the feeling of getting ready to go back to school as a child, perhaps with some new writing implements or notebooks; gifts from Christmas. The overall feeling of promise; that the new year would bring with it opportunities to shrug off past failures and try harder; to be better; to achieve more. New Year is a time when anything seems possible, anything seems achievable. The last few days of the old year seem tired and fleeting, as if the year is rushing to shed its old skin and begin anew. This year more than any other I can remember, I feel the old year dying and the new one approaching with a green sense of possibility. And it is true that we can indeed change things and start again; something I have exp...

You hear that time heals all wounds. This is a lie. The wound of a lost child never heals, but time does anesthetise you to the pain somewhat. You get used to carrying the cross around with you and slowly, you become able to smile again with honesty. The grief is always there though, often very close to the surface. Sometimes I feel my most honest moments are alone with Mary, bathing her, dressing her, when I can just hold her and cry. Cry for joy because God has given her to me, forgiven me, trusted me, saved me. And cry for Ruth, for the overwhelming love I still feel for her and can no longer express in the tactile way that was so every-day just a few brief years ago. These are strange moments, full to bursting with an incredible amount of love, but also excruciatingly painful. A moment when I let my grief out of the secret, carefully hidden box I keep it in for a moment and allow it to engulf me. I wonder what Mary makes of me dissolving into a blubbing puddle of love in the m...

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.  —Ps 90:10 Having lost a child in 2009, Christmas has been a tough old struggle for the last few years. It is a time which tends to be all about the kids, right? So when one is missing, the season serves to focus pretty much all your attention on that fact. And that fact is the hard, concentrated, epicentre of pain you try to keep locked away deep inside you most days. It is hard to shop for presents when every store you go into abounds with things you know she would love. It's, well, it's quite frankly heart breaking. This year is the second Christmas we have spent with our beloved Mary, who was pretty much 17 months old by Christmas day. Mary being around has made this all easier. Not just for me, for Lou and the boys too. I sense we are all a bit stronger, and we are all a bit more f...

I for one am not shocked or surprised that the House of Commons approved the bill for Same Sex Marriage, it seemed inevitable to me in a society that has such high divorce rates and so many co-habiting couples. Many couples today ask why they need the piece of paper to prove that they love each other. Indeed the fact that society simultaneously seems to reject the conformity of marriage whilst asserting with such authority that anyone in love should be able to get married seems slightly schizophrenic. With such a poor understanding of what marriage is and what it is about, can we really be shocked that legislation that seeks to define the institution to mere sentiment is supported? Historically Marriage has seldom involved sentiment, and has been more about security, social progress, and a framework for the birthing and rearing of children. It is usually defined as the legitimate union between husband and wife. Love is undoubtedly part of a good marriage, but I always think that lov...

Welcome to this, the twenty-third of my reflections on the theology of the Sunday readings at Mass. 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 different ways to read this post. I would suggest the first thing to do is to look at the relevant  ...