Dilemma...

I face a dilemma; what should the new header be tomorrow? Do I include pictures from Holy Week 2009 (of the Holy Father) or what?

Suggestions in the comment box please.

(I have a new graphic programme and I am quite keen to use it!)

Baby on the way.

Amidst all the problems of the past weeks there are a few things which keep me going. The first is that the Church will always prevail.

Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am?
Simon Peter answered and said: 'Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God'
And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I say to thee: That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

And this, dear readers, is the proof of the fact that the church will always prevail. For Christ said so to Peter. The Church will always come under attack from the Devil, for the church is the Body of Christ, the Devil hates the Church. But, as Christ said 'hell shall not prevail against it'.

The second thing keeping me going is that fact that pretty soon (6 days away) the newest member of the family is expected to arrive. That's right, Catholic Student is to become an uncle. The names are (for a boy) Finn, and (for a girl) Roxanne.

I ask your prayers for; (1) better names, and (2) that the baby may be healthy.

As yet my brother is adamant that his child will not be baptised... I also ask your prayers that the Lord will bring him (my brother) back to the Church.

St Peter - pray for us.

In Domino.

I..

...along with fellow blogger Catholic with Attitude support His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.

May the Lord preserve our Holy Father, Benedict. May He give him life and protect him in this life and reserve for him the reward of the just. Amen.

I think it important that we remember this prayer too;

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou,
O Prince of the Heavenly Host
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell,
Satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

In Domino

Well...

...how did I hear about this latest scandal? Not via the BBC (initially) it was in a text from my brother which read; 'Do I need to pass comment about the latest Papal scandal?' I quickly went to the BBC website, read the story and the utter rubbish it accuses the Holy Father of, when I replied to my brother our conversation descended into a slinging match, eventually he called the Catholic Church a perverted boys club.

I find all this, especially from my brother deeply distressing. I pray for him, I think you should too.

Anyway, I left the textual conversation there, no doubt he thought he'd won; I went to bed and when I woke up I was greeted by a very interesting comment posted on Fr Ray Blake's blog. I think I will simply copy and paste the argument which the commenter has;

Fact: The revolting abuse took place over a long period up to the 1970s
Fact: Archbishop Weakland was enthroned in 1977. He first raised the issue in a letter to Cardinal Ratzinger in 1996; the only letter he wrote to the Cardinal.
Fact: Cardinal Ratzinger acted immediately and designated his deputy to conduct the investigation.
Fact: The investigation was in progress when the errant priest wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger asking for mercy because he was dying.
Fact: Fr. Murphy died 7 months later.
Fact: Those in the diocese who had the power to act when the allegations began to surface did not very much.
It's all in the documents, which most of the hysterical anti-Pope brigade won't bother to read.
The former Archbishop Weakland when asked directly to confirm the Pope did nothing, merely said those in authority should have acted sooner. He added he should have acted sooner.
But then Fr Weakland's record on such matters doesn't bear much scrutiny.
The most troubling question is who released these internal church documents, knowing that they could and would be misused to injure the Pope?
Thank God that at last someone has spoken out for the Pope. Thank you, Archbishop Nichols.

It appears to be, as Damian Thompson suggests a stitch-up of the most disturbing kind.

In my text to my brother this morning I outlined all that the comment leaver said and concluded with the simple line; 'If the Pope is guilty of anything, he's guilty of showing compassion and being a Christian."

Thoughts?

In Domino

Good Friday Reflection...2005

It was in 2005 when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, (Benedict XVI) wrote the reflections for the Good Friday Via Crucis at the Colosseum in Rome, that he best put into words a problem which has plagued the Church in recent times;

"How often is the holy sacrament of his Presence abused, how often must he enter empty and evil hearts! How often do we celebrate only ourselves, without even realizing that he is there! How often is his Word twisted and misused! What little faith is present behind so many theories, so many empty words! How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him! How much pride, how much self-complacency!"

Pray for our Holy Father.

St Peter
Pray for Us

In Domino

Radio 4...

...the Today programme.

Goodness! the Archbishop of Cardiff, Most Rev. Peter Smith was on Radio 4 this morning talking to John Humphrys'... I think his Grace keeps his cool, where I simply couldn't. Mr Humphrys' seems a little, shall we say, ignorant.

Click here to listen to it.

In Domino

He's Coming!

I realise I'm a bit late on the pick up, well I found out when we all did, but I haven't posted on it yet.

When I heard that the Holy Father has (unofficially) accepted the invitation of Her Majesty's Government to come to Britain on a state visit I became like a child, quite excited. As I'm only 21 it will be my first experience of a Papal visit. My mother remembers with fond memories when Pope John Paul II visited Cardiff (something which I notice the Pope is not going to be doing).

My mother was banned by the doctor from going to the Mass at Pontcanna fields (she was heavily pregnant and ready to 'drop' at any time). So she was quite annoyed, however providence played its hand and when she was out for one of her daily walks to the shops she was stopped by the police from crossing the road, wondering why, she looked down the road only to be greeted by the sight of the Pope-mobile as His Holiness made his way to the airport – she insists even to this day that John Paul II looked straight at her and blessed her.

Hopefully I will at least go to one of the events organised. It’s just a waiting game now.

In Domino

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig

...supposedly that is the Gaelic way of wishing blessing today; St Patrick's Day.

We all know little bits of the Life (Vita) of St Patrick. He was British, kidnapped by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland where he worked on a pig farm. Eventually he escaped and went back home. However he had a revelation from God, asking Patrick to return to Ireland to convert the Irish to Christianity. And... that's pretty much all I can remember, apart from the famous snake story, and of course the use of the Shamrock to teach the Trinity.

Anyway, I went to St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School and so know this hymn quite well;

Hail, glorious Saint Patrick, dear saint of our Isle,
On us thy poor children bestow a sweet smile;
And now thou art high in the mansions above,
On Erin's green valleys look down in thy love.

On Erin's green valleys, on Erin's green valleys,
On Erin's green valleys look down in thy love.

Hail, glorious Saint Patrick, thy words were once strong
Against Satan's wiles and an infidel throng;
Not less is thy might where in heaven thou art;
O, come to our aid, in our battle take part.

On Erin's green valleys, on Erin's green valleys,
On Erin's green valleys look down in thy love.

In the war against sin, in the fight for the faith,
Dear saint, may thy children resist unto death;
May their strength be in meekness, in penance, their prayer,
Their banner the cross which they glory to bear.

On Erin's green valleys, on Erin's green valleys,
On Erin's green valleys look down in thy love.

Thy people, now exiles on many a shore,
Shall love and revere thee till time be no more;
And the fire thou hast kindled shall ever burn bright,
Its warmth undiminished, undying its light.

On Erin's green valleys, on Erin's green valleys,
On Erin's green valleys look down in thy love.

Ever bless and defend the sweet land of our birth,
Where the shamrock still blooms as when thou wert on earth,
And our hearts shall yet burn, wherever we roam,
For God and Saint Patrick, and our native home.

On Erin's green valleys, on Erin's green valleys,
On Erin's green valleys look down in thy love.

So once again, Happy St Patrick's Day. I will probably have a pint (or two) of Guinness later on.

In Domino

Rose vestment time...

..following on from the post by Fr. Tim Finigan and the beautiful vestments that were worn in Blackfen on Sunday I thought I'd show you, dear readers, what was worn in Cardiff's cathedral.

Now it is important to note that the Canon was away at St Johns Seminary, Wonersh... something to do with the permanent diaconate. In his absence we had the retired priest in residence who regularly refers to me as a; 'Latinist'.

You may wish to look away now.



You may notice that the strip of pink (there is no way that is rose) is attached with Velcro. You may also notice the two statues, one is St Anthony, the other Pope St Pius X... I wonder what they, the latter in particular, would make of this.

In Domino

Spring?

I stepped out onto the terrace this evening and it was quite a beautiful evening so I decided to take a few pictures.

(the sun sets behind my apartment building so I get light, without the problem of being blinded)

I was pretty impressed anyway! There are a few other pictures:


This is a view across the water at 'Cardiff Bay'. You can see the curved roof of the Wales Millennium Centre, you can also see the Pier Head Building (the read building with the clock tower) and of course, one of Cardiff's luxury hotels (St. David's Hotel and Spa - it has the odd roof).

And this is a picture of the Cardiff barrage. It's because of this that the 'bay' exists! Or rather, the 'lagoon' as my father calls it.

In Domino

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Dedwydd!!

Happy St David's Day!!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a Happy St David's Day, regardless of whether you are Welsh, English, Irish or whatever!

Today, all across Wales, schools will be having mini-Eisteddfods - I seem to remember singing "Sospan Fach" a song about a "Little Saucepan" on numerous occasions. Getting louder with each verse! Also, today there was a March from Cardiff City Hall, I don't know where it went as I was in university at the time.

I also missed the Royal Welsh on parade in Cardiff over the weekend. The were 'on guard' at Cardiff Castle. And I can't believe I missed it, however I did see a tank being driven down the road in front of Cardiff Castle yesterday. This was quite surreal.

Anyway, back to today's Solemnity, I sang this morning one of my favourite hymns; O Great St David. It was written by a former Archbishop of Cardiff, the Most Rev. Francis Mostyn.

O great Saint David, still we hear thee call us,
Unto a life that knows no fear of death;
Yea, down the ages will thy words enthral us,
Strong, happy words: "Be joyful, keep the faith."

On Cambria's sons stretch out thy hands in blessing;
For our dear land thy help we now implore.
Lead us to God, with humble hearts confessing
Jesus, Lord and king forevermore

Christ was the centre rock of all thy teaching,
God's holy will -- the splendour of its theme.
His grace informed, his love inflamed thy preaching;
Christ's sway on earth, the substance of thy dream.

On Cambria's sons stretch out thy hands in blessing;
For our dear land thy help we now implore.
Lead us to God, with humble hearts confessing
Jesus, Lord and king forevermore.

St David
Pray for us

In Domino