Pope Picture of..

the week!

Right, my quote of the week failed; alas that was due to my laziness, I'll post the odd quote every now and again that I feel is worthy of posting, however I will now be having "Pope Picture of the Week".

What ideally will happen is that I will trawl through the picture archives of the Vatican website finding a picture that makes me smile, be it of HH Benedict XVI or of his predecessor it doesn't matter!

Also if you have any... and I mean ANY pictures of any Pope you wish for me to post as the picture of the week then e-mail me; if you can come up with a caption then that would be immense!

So, for the first one...

*thought bubble* - "brick by brick"

In Domino

"Remember man...

...that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return"

If there was to be any day to remind us Catholics of our mortality it is "Ash Wednesday".

My favourite Gospel reading was read yesterday, it conjures many images in my head (having seen the Passion of the Christ) of people, dressed like Caiaphas standing on the street corners, proclaiming the Old Covenant to the people. It seems to me a funny image, but I might be alone on this one.

Our Lords message in yesterdays Gospel was pretty straight forward; humility. We should be humble before the Lord for it does not matter what other people think of us. All that matters is what the; Father who sees all that is done in secret, sees us doing.

Our Lord tells us not to have sad faces when we fast, but to show no sign of the lack of strength brought on by ones fasting, to carry on as normal for the Father sees everything, and it is only his opinion that matters.

So we must come humbly before the Father not boasting about what we are doing. We must take up the message of yesterdays Gospel; humility, not just in Lent, but throughout the whole year, for the rest of our lives.

We must come humbly before the one who, "so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

In Domino

Lent is...

...well, tomorrow!

I've decided to give a few things up and maybe even take up the odd thing; however I will not tell you dear readers, just in case I fail.

My 'Lent reading' however is something I am quite pleased about; The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is one of the books; the other is the Rule of St Benedict. I have yet to read either of them so this shall be most interesting.

Most interesting however is a new prayer book which arrived this morning. I have heard a lot about it and look forward to begin praying with it tomorrow; I shall be using the "The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary" I am rather excited!

Well, I shall leave it there. I'll let you know how I get on with the Little Office.

In Domino

BBC at Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral.

As the topic heading suggests, the BBC (BBC Radio Wales) were in the Cathedral on the 4th February; they were recording for two programmes. The first of which was aired this morning at 8.05; the other will be on Easter Sunday at the same time.

The preacher was the Very Rev Canon Peter Collins, Dean of the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St David.

It is a 'liturgy of the word' and can be heard here.

I tend to refrain from posting on Sundays but I thought I'd be different today.

In Domino

Funeral.

Tomorrow (12th February) is my paternal grandfather’s funeral; I ask for your prayers.

I will be reading Psalm 23. I really do think it is a beautiful Psalm, it was originally suggested that I sing it, however I have never heard of it being sung, although I suppose it would have been sung initially and probably should be sung, after all we do ‘sing’ the Psalms when we pray the Divine Office.

But anyway, I shall read it, as I think it sounds better read. Especially being as it will be hard enough to read tomorrow, let alone sing!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have prayed for my family and I at this time, we have found it a great comfort and want you to know that we greatly appreciate it. I would like for you to know that you are all firmly in my prayers.

I will get back to blogging properly when this week is over, maybe even Monday. I’ve just found it quite difficult to get anything done over the past week.
I leave you with the words of the Psalm I shall read tomorrow; (King James edition)

The LORD is my shepherd
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside still waters.

He restoreth my soul
He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

In Domino

Quote

My quote of the week is not so much the original but how it has been paraphrased.

In 1976 Margaret Thatcher sat down to an interview for Thames TV, during which she said "...and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people's money. It's quite a characteristic of them."

I use this paraphrase every now and again, when my Socialist brother is in ear-shot!

"The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."

I have a great respect for Lady Thatcher, and I do wonder what she must be thinking has happened to the Party which she led for many years. It seems to have gone off the rails.

Prayers

I come to you dear readers for prayers at this time. My paternal grand father John Malcolm James passed away yesterday.

I ask for your prayers; both for the repose of his soul and for my family at this difficult time.

I also ask for your prayers for me, personally, as today I turn 21!

In Domino

My Bishop meets the Pope...

I wonder what was said?!

Pope Benedict: "So, tell me Peter; where do you send your students for the Priesthood?"

Arch. Peter: "erm... erm... well..."

Just a bit o' fun ;-)

In Domino