Battlements Of Rubies

The stuff of nightmares, and fright flicks.

2012-01-05T00:34:00.003Z

So how was your Christmas holiday?
Did you burn the bread sauce?
Argue with grandma?
Hit the Baileys and wail dementedly over the sherryless sherry trifle?

This story is about to cock your turkey traumas and internecine festive squabbles into a cocked hat.

This young mother lost her husband to cancer on Christmas day.
She is alone a week later, on new years eve, with her three month old baby, when two intruders, one armed with a hunting knife, try to break into her home.
She thinks she recognises one of the men as someone who had been stalking her.
She puts the baby in the cot with a bottle to keep him quiet. She picks up a "12 gauge" and a pistol. She calls 911 and asks the operator if she can shoot him.
The operator, while not exactly telling her that she can shoot, tells her that she must do whatever she can to protect her baby.
The men outside start to break down her front door as she stands waiting, with her gun cocked.
As soon as the first man sets foot over the threshold, she fires the gun and kills him. His accomplice legs it.
It all sounds too incredible, and nightmarish, to be true. But the recording of the 911 call is here, and the poilce appear to verify her story.
Oh and by the way, she's eighteen.
Eighteen!

Talk about Mama Bear.
As the spunky lady says, there's nothing more dangerous than a mother with her child.
Oh yes.

...I'm always late posting Christmas cards

2012-01-03T02:02:00.000Z

Wishing you all a year of Grace in 2012.

"May the Lord be with you always and, wherever you are, may you be with Him always, Amen." (Blessing of Saint Clare)

Veni, Creator Spiritus!

2012-01-01T22:48:00.001Z

VENI, Creator Spiritus, mentes tuorum visita, imple superna gratia quae tu creasti pectora.	COME, Holy Spirit, Creator blest, and in our souls take up Thy rest; come with Thy grace and heavenly aid to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.
Qui diceris Paraclitus, altissimi donum Dei, fons vivus, ignis, caritas, et spiritalis unctio.	O comforter, to Thee we cry, O heavenly gift of God Most High, O fount of life and fire of love, and sweet anointing from above.
Tu, septiformis munere, digitus paternae dexterae, Tu rite promissum Patris, sermone ditans guttura.	Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known; Thou, finger of God's hand we own; Thou, promise of the Father, Thou Who dost the tongue with power imbue.
Accende lumen sensibus: infunde amorem cordibus: infirma nostri corporis virtute firmans perpeti.	Kindle our sense from above, and make our hearts o'erflow with love; with patience firm and virtue high the weakness of our flesh supply.
Hostem repellas longius, pacemque dones protinus: ductore sic te praevio vitemus omne noxium.	Far from us drive the foe we dread, and grant us Thy peace instead; so shall we not, with Thee for guide, turn from the path of life aside.
Per te sciamus da Patrem, noscamus atque Filium; Teque utriusque Spiritum credamus omni tempore.	Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow the Father and the Son to know; and Thee, through endless times confessed, of both the eternal Spirit blest.
Deo Patri sit gloria, et Filio, qui a mortuis surrexit, ac Paraclito, in saeculorum saecula. Amen.	Now to the Father and the Son, Who rose from death, be glory given, with Thou, O Holy Comforter, henceforth by all in earth and heaven. Amen.

http://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Hymni/VeniCreator.html

Come Holy Spirit
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
V. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

( One of the most widely used hymns in the Church, Veni, Creator Spiritus, is attributed to Rabanus Maurus (776-856). It is used at Vespers, Pentecost, Dedication of a Church, Confirmation, and Holy Orders and whenever the Holy Spirit is solemnly invoked. A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who recite it. A plenary indulgence is granted if it is recited on January 1st or on the feast of Pentecost.)

O! O! O!... Christmas is almost here!

2011-12-18T00:15:00.000Z

The great O Antiphons have started today. And this year we have another little head at the table.
Honor joined the boys to colour in the O Sapientia ( from here.)
I have been collecting jewel coloured gel and glitter pens and putting them away for this special week.
Tonight I got them all out and we sat at the table and listened to A Classical Kids Christmas while we illuminated our pages.

The book in the foreground is The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder, given to us by a friend. It is written to be read, a chapter a day throughout advent and we are really enjoying it and looking forward to the next chapter each evening. It's a nice read for a wide range of ages and because the chapters are reasonably short they are quite manageable. I recommend it to anyone looking for another advent family readaloud.

Christopher Hitchens RIP.

2011-12-17T22:57:00.000Z

Profoundly sad to hear of the death of Christopher Hitchens. Without a doubt one of the most likeable and interesting of the 'attack atheists'.
I wish Richard Dawkins no ill whatsoever, but he bores the knickers off me. And his sneery voice, which ranges from Bond villain to affronted old maid, doesn't have nearly the euphonious listenability of The Hitch. He'll probably live to be a hundred.

Euthanasia is not mercy.

2011-12-10T15:06:00.000Z

A couple of posts back I put up a comedy skit entitled "Euthanasia".
The writers may not have intended to, but their skit draws attention to the dark underbelly of the most inappropriately self styled "death with dignity" movement. That is, the pressure that sick people will feel to end their lives rather than be "a burden" on their loved ones, or the over stretched health service.
The sentiments of the "ethics expert" Baroness Warnock: 'Dementia sufferers may have a duty to die' no longer shock us. Many agree with her.
Her opinion that “If you’re demented, you’re wasting people’s lives – your family’s lives – and you’re wasting the resources of the National Health Service.” is probably rather widely shared..
Certainly, in a society whose moral and ethical thinking was more "joined up", her words would have created quite the stir. As it was the response was fairly muted.
I think many people felt she had a point, albeit an ugly one. After all, if unborn babies in the third trimester are killed on account of Downs Syndrome, or even a simple club foot or cleft palate, why on earth shouldn't we do the same to Grandma when she starts to demand more than she is giving.
Besides, have you any idea how expensive Nursing Home care is these days? That could eat through the inheritance before you can ask who the Prime Minister is.
And in these economically straitened times, you may even find yourself shelling out for incontinence pads too.
It's not hard to see how grandma might be persuaded to 'do the decent thing' and relieve her carers of the burden that she has, or will, become.
Certainly there isn't much 'dignity' in being cared for by people who think that the best help they could offer you is a glass of orangensaft laced with a lethal dose of phenobarb.

Barbara Ellen of The Observer makes some very astute observations on this issue following the BBC documentary "Choosing To Die':.

The BBC has been accused of acting "like a cheerleader for legalising assisted suicide", which it denies. Pratchett says: "Everybody possessed of a debilitating and incurable illness should be allowed to pick the hour of their death." Clearly, with him, the dignity of choice is paramount. However, while one has enormous sympathy for Pratchett suffering such a vile disease, the fact remains that he is a rich, powerful man and it is highly unlikely that his wishes would be ignored. With respect, euthanasia laws are not in place to protect people such as him. What of those who may have their "choice" taken away, even if they don't want to die?
...

There are bigger issues at stake, not least the arrogance of the pro-euthanasia able bodied towards the profoundly ill – the unseemly rush to pronounce the lives of others "not worth living". A recent study discovered that some sufferers of locked-in syndrome – as many as three out of four of the main sample – were happy and did not want to die. Such studies are flawed (some sufferers are unable to articulate either way), but it should still give us pause for thought before blasting off about "lives not worth living".
Likewise the knee-jerk: "They wouldn't have wanted to end up like this." Of course not – who would? – but that might not be the end of the story. How individuals feel when they are fit may change considerably when their health fails. Like those with locked-in syndrome, they may adjust to a life that is very different, often difficult, but just as precious. Who are we to judge?
Bizarrely, the one thing the pro- and anti-euthanasia lobbies have in common is an obsession with God. Sometimes, it's almost as if the antis are tricked into talking about the "sanctity of life" and "God's will", to make the pros look more modern and credible.
Personally, if I ever get something nasty, I'd rather be with a God-botherer than somebody who decides I'm looking peaky, books a Swiss flight and whisks me off to the ghouls at Dignitas. Or maybe I wouldn't – maybe I'd be begging for death. The hope is that I'll choose.

It's a short piece, and it's worth reading it all here.

There is a reason why disability rights groups around the world are not supporting euthanasia.
It is noteworthy also, that support for "mercy killing" is typically strongest among the young and the fit, and weakest amongst the old and the weak.
This essay by by Dr. Gregor Wolbring ( Advisor on bioethic issues to the council of Canadians with disabilities) is worth reading for an insight into why disability rights movements do not support euthanasia.

The recent news of the death of Geraldine McClelland at Dignitas clinic in Zurich has, as she hoped, stirred the debate again. There is a poll running on Sky which shows an overwhelming number of people voting in favour of legalising such assisted suicides as they offer at Dignitas. Currently the voting is running at 86% in favour to 14% against.
Interestingly in a videotaped interview Ms McClelland mentions that she would envisage legalised assisted suicide as requiring the same kind of medical 'safeguards' as abortion. That is, that two doctors should both sign to confirm that no pressure has been brought to bear on the patient. Because, she says, that has worked with abortion. "vulnerable young women aren't forced to have abortions, it never happened. And it won't happen with some vulnerable old people...or if it does, then...you've got everybody concentrating on that and have let the people like me, who know what they want, do it easily".
This is a poor and incoherent form of reasoning. But I can't fault the poor lady for that. Suicidally depressed people are not typically thinking about how their decisions will impact other people.
As for the idea that pressure has never been brought to bear on women seeking abortions, well anyone with even a passing aquaintance with the issue knows that this is pure fiction.
And it is easy to see how the kind of emotional pressure that works to impel youmg women to terminate their pregnancies ( "I'll leave you", "don't think you'll get a penny from me" etc) would also work to impel the elderly and the sick to shuffle more sharply off their mortal coil than they otherwise would.

She also says that being unable to get into the seat of the taxi "isn't a life, by anyones standards".
Of course, such a life is very much a life by the standards of plenty of sick and disabled people. But of course, many able bodied people do look at disability in this way. They see it as "not a life". Which is why I believe the euthanasia movement is profoundly dangerous for the weak and the ill, and preys on the natural fears most of us have of losing our faculties.
What we need is a culture of love, care and practical support for the weak and the scared. But sadly we are so damn scared of their condition ourselves, that we have rendered ourselves incapable of being alongside people in their own fearful valley of the shadow of death. To do that demands somethung of us that we do not want to give. Care comes at a price that few are any longer willing to pay. We just want to make it all go away..

I'll leave the last word to a commenter on my last post who offers some personal insight:

I can confirm we (family) feel the pressure at times from doctors or even "friends", "neighbours" to let our father die. First my father does not want to die despite problems, and second we fight for him getting better, not to die. Before my father falls ill, I was undecided about euthanasia, whether it should be allowed or not. But now I am completely against. At a time when my father had serious lung infection over 2 years ago, we heard from doctors his death was imminent, that there was no point in feeding him anymore... Back home "to die", my dad did not feel so bad and wanted to get a gastrotomy, we had to rush and find another hospital where he could get treatment, convince a neurologist by phone,.. in between GP saying we should be ready to let him go (means die) and neighbours telling us to be relaxed about dosage of morphin! Thank God we listened to our heart and intuition and supported our father to live. It is 2 and half years now since this happened and we are ready to celebrate Christmas with my father, with health problems, but ALIVE AND HAPPY! In times of difficulty there are many people who prefer to send you the cemetary rather than battling for you to live (all disguised with compassion). allowing euthanasia will put a lot of pressure on ill people to end their life!

Chocolate coins for breakfast

2011-12-06T12:31:00.000Z

Happy feast of St Nicholas!

Euthanasia

2011-11-29T00:20:00.000Z

"You've always been such a..proud, dignified man"

Breaking the silence

2011-11-25T00:31:00.000Z

This short film is a reading of a real letter that was written by a young mother to the baby she lost to abortion.
For many women abortion is a shameful grief that they feel they must carry in silence.
Some post abortive women are now committed to offering the kind of support that was not available to them. Slowly, the truth about abortion is being told.
One day abortion will go the way of the slave trade, and our children's children will wonder at our generation's inhumanity.
How is it possible that we can know about the barbarous inhumanity which abortion inflicts upon our most vulnerable human beings, then look away, and imagine ourselves to be humane and civilised?

(ht: Abby Johnson's FB page)

Mary is the Ark of the Covenant? Do you guys ever read your bibles?

2011-11-22T01:31:00.010Z

This evening someone left a comment on an old post I put up for the feast of Our lady of the Rosary.
I included a video and added the words too, because I find them beautiful.
My anonymous commenter was shocked by them however.
This is what Anon said:

I am stunned by such heresy. JESUS was the burning bush (I am) - God Himself was the cloud. Do you catholics now believe that Mary is part of the Trinity? That Mary is the savior of Israel? Do you guys ever read your Bibles?
Mary is the Ark of the Covenant??
Why dont you just do away with Jesus altogether - can anyone say pagan??

You know, these challenges are just irresistible to me.
Even though I was getting ready to shut down the 'puter and get to bed, I got a second wind and started tap tapping out what was meant to be a brief response.
Meant to be. Famous last intentions.
Brevity is not my strong point I'm afraid, even past midnight. But this is about as brief as I can manage for a matter which sets my pulse racing like no other ( well, apart from my exceptional progeny of course)
After typing it out I thought maybe I'd put it in a post instead:

Hi Anon.
Sorry to have stunned you.
I hope you are recovering your equilibrium now.
Actually the bible is a catholic book, but you are welcome to borrow it any time you like :-)
And no Anon, Jesus was not the burning bush.
The burning bush was ablaze with God, but the bush itself wasn't God.
It burned with the presence of God, but it was not consumed by the flames.
Mary bore the living God to the world and yet she also was not consumed.

Pregnant with God. Like the bush in Horeb.
Can you see the parallel?
Mary was the living shrine of the Word of God. The Ark of the New Covenant.

This is not a novel heresy, but a very ancient understanding of the scriptures and the role of Mary in salvation history.

No, Catholics do not believe that Mary is
"part of the Holy Trinity" anon.

When David danced before the Ark, was he worshipping the Ark itself?
What did the Ark bear?
The ark bore the word of God made stone.
Mary bore the word of God made flesh.
She bore the living Word. Jesus Christ. God incarnate.
Mary is the " Ark of the New Covenant".

You asked me if "us catholic guys" ever read our bible.
Well now you've gone and bin and thrown down the gauntlet Anony!
It's late so I can't be here all night, but you know I can't resist a challenge, so here's a little catholic scripture lesson to whet your appetite:

Jer 31:31
"The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
   “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel   ...
because they broke my covenant,
   though I was a husband to them"
Lk 1:35
Marys spouse is the Holy Spirit.

2 Sam. 6:7 The ark was so holy and undefiled that the Lord slew Uzzah when he touched it.
Just as the Virgin of Nazareth, Mary, the New Ark, is holy and undefiled.

2 Sam. 6:16
David leaps before the ark of God.
Luke 1:41
John the baptist leaps in the presence of Jesus in Marys womb.

2 Sam. 6:9
David says: "How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?"
Luke 1:43
Elizabeth says: But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

2 Sam. 6:11
The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months
1 Chron. 13:14
The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months
Luke 1:56
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months .

1 Sam 4:11
The ark of God is captured, brought to a foreign land, and later returns (1 Sam 6:13)
Mary is also exiled to a foreign land ( the flight into Egypt) and later returns (Mat 2:14)

"can anyone say pagan?? "

I think most people.
And it's pretty easy to spell too.

I'm just kidding anon. We're not pagan, we're just the original historical christians.
Accept no imitations.

Here's that video again.
Listen this time without prejudice and think about those old testament types, or foreshadowings of Mary, the New Eve, the Ark of the New Covenant.
" The cleft in the rock, which God covers with His hand while His glory passes by"
Maybe then you will even be able to appreciate the words a little.:

A heads up about new posts planned.

2011-11-21T23:21:00.003Z

I've been thinking that I would like to keep a record of some of my online forum conversations.

Some of them throw up very interesting, or comically ludicrous challenges. But i would quite like to keep them in one place and my blog seems like the best place for that.

I don't want to bore anyone, and obviously there is no obligation to actually read it, but I want to be able to refer back to it myself from time to time.

Also, it occurs to me that reading through the exchanges may help other readers to think about how to formulate their own responses to similar challenges.

Please don't think that I imagine I have done a marvellous job worth emulating. I don't.

Although I do think the church's teaching is very satisfying to defend because it is so clear and coherent, and I would like to encourage normally timorous readers to be a little bolder in explaining or defending their faith, or the Holy Father .

It has been interesting to see how perceptions of the same conversation differ.

Sometimes I think I am being hilariously LOL funny and I am surprised when others comment that I am rude and arrogant.

I do think that my tone is something I need to watch. But at the same time i don't want my salt to lose it's flavour if you know what i mean.

Anyway, I'm cutting and pasting over the next couple of days and will be putting the exchanges up here, warts and all, for you to read if you like that kind of thing.

I won't edit to make myself look better, but I will take out some of the extraneous fluff ( mine and other people's) if it gets in the way of the conversation.

Just thought I'd let you know what's in the works.

Young Nuns ( havin some fun, crazy ladies keep em on the run)

2011-10-26T00:56:00.000+01:00

I know it's a bit late, but I want to watch Young Nuns on I Player ( I know, quelle surprise) but it won't play for me.
Is it just me?
I'm going to jack it in and go to sleep if it won't work soon.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...s7/Young_Nuns/

Nuns are my favourite people, but only when they wear the full shebang.
Progressive nuns in navy polyester trouser suits with a little silver cross pin are all wrong in my traddy opinion. Why on earth bother.
I want an aesthetic ascetic.
I like my nuns to look like Deborah Kerr in Black Narcissus.
I want hemp and sandals and rope and big giant knotted rosaries hanging from the waist.
I want big butterfly wimples or veils so long you could trip over them if you weren't looking..
That's what I want, if you want to know.

"Beneficence towards the fetus"

2011-10-25T13:17:00.002+01:00

I have been away from my blog on account of being mired in a lengthy discussion online about abortion.
One commenter argues that the fetus is a 'proto human' whose sole worth is in the eyes of parents as the "potential person" it will become. It has no intrinsic worth of it's own.

Because the conversation has had many twists and turns I didn't want to get too bogged down with the question of fetal pain, since, although horrendous this is not the crucial "wrong" of abortion.
Nonetheless, this commenter challenged me further on a reference I had made to the fetal awareness in utero.
I think it is safe to assume that abortion, for the sensate fetus, is a horrendous death.
He disagrees.
He linked to this paper here:
Fetal Pain: A Systematic Multidisciplinary Review of the Evidence
The conclusion of the report is as follows:

"Evidence regarding the capacity for fetal pain is limited but indicates
that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester. Little or no evidence
addresses the effectiveness of direct fetal anesthetic or analgesic techniques. Similarly,
limited or no data exist on the safety of such techniques for pregnant women in
the context of abortion. Anesthetic techniques currently used during fetal surgery are
not directly applicable to abortion procedures".

I was struck when reading the report that the language is ambivalent. Phrases like "pain is unlikely", "little or no evidence", "little or no data" are not the language of certainty.
And yet my interlocutor is confident that this report supports his contention that fetal pain is impossible.
If we were talking about any other human being than the unwanted unborn, wouldn't we be giving them the benefit of the doubt?
Wouldn't we be horrified at the merest possibility that any surgical procedure carried out on a born fetus would cause them to feel pain?
This is how I responded to him:

The report you link to, which was put together in response to moves to legislate requiring physicians
to inform women seeking abortions that the fetus feels pain and to offer fetal anesthesia.

Small wonder that those same doctors with blood on their hands, whose work consists of dismembering the unborn, have chafed at the idea .

The report you link to is littered with caveats like "unlikely" or "possibly" or "little evidence as yet".,
Strange don't you think, that where the wanted get the benefit of the doubt, the unwanted get none.

I thought this passage very telling:

"...Instead, beneficence toward
the fetus represents the chief justification
for using fetal anesthesia or
analgesia during abortion—to relieve
suffering if fetal pain exists."

In the absence of crucial "beneficence" we can sweep away all doubt.

The baby who is not wanted can die and die violently.

The baby to whom we feel is owed beneficence however, will get the benefit of the doubt regarding it's experience of pain.

This is why I stand in solidarity with the weakest members of our human family, against whom all,
from their parents and grandparents, to the medical establishment to the legal system, have shut their doors.

There is no "BENEFICENCE" toward them.

Honor and Marie-Aibhlinn on the steps of the BPAS abortuary

40 Days For Life: An inspiring talk

2011-10-09T23:49:00.003+01:00

This is so encouraging.
Shawn Carney and David Bereit speaking at Helena, Montana:

HT Discover Happiness

Happy Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

2011-10-07T22:03:00.000+01:00

Mary, little Mary,

You are the gentle breeze of Elijah

The breath of the Spirit of God

You are the burning bush of Moses

which bears the Lord

without being consumed

You are ‘that place near me’

which the Lord showed to Moses

You are the cleft in the rock

which God covers with his hand,

while his glory passes by.

Let the Lord come with us

if we have found favour

in his eyes

it’s true that we are sinners

but pray for us

and we shall be his Heritage forever.

Mary, little Mary,

Daughter of Jerusalem

Mother of all nations

Virgin of Nazareth

You are the cloud

which protects Israel

The tent where we meet

The Ark of the Covenant

The place where the Lord dwells,

The Sanctuary of his Shekinah.

40 Days For Life. A timely and powerful testimony.

2011-10-07T20:52:00.000+01:00

Yesterday morning I recieved this months CD of the month from Lighthouse Media.
It is the incredible testimony of Dr Bernard Nathanson, the abortionist turned passionate pro life activist who died earlier this year, May the Lord have mercy on him.
He gives an eloquent and dignified account of his life, his Jewishness, the hardship and poverty endured by his grandparents and his father, his fathers subsequent rejection of God and how this informed the young Bernards own worldview.
He explains how he came to spearhead the abortion rights movement in the US which ushered in the legalising of abortion, and his succesful business running the largest abortion facility in the world.
He estimates that he was directly responsible for 75,000 abortions and the wrecked lives of many others.
He was the man who, in his own words "uncaged the abortion monster" in the US, and by extension, much of the world beyond.
And he would spend the rest of his life attempting the apparently Sisyphean task of getting it back in it's cage.
Small wonder that he was quoted as saying "I have such a heavy moral baggage to drag into the next world"
It is simply devastating to consider how it must feel to wake up to the magnitude of the crime against humanity in which you yourself have been a key player.

At one point in the talk he describes how, after he himself had already repudiated abortion, he asked a doctor friend who was a practising abortionist to film a D&E (dilatation and evacuation) termination in progress. This friend, when he saw on the ultrasound monitor, the reality of kicking limbs being torn asunder and understood for the first time what he had being doing, he was distraught. He never carried out another abortion again.

He speaks beautifully about the significance of personhood. Because the human being in the womb IS a person, and to deny personhood to another human being is to tread in the footsteps of history's most reviled and wicked tyrants. This really made me aware of the importance of the language we use, and I made a mental note to myself to be sure to use the word "person" more often when referring to the unborn baby.

He rejected abortion as an atheist, on humanitarian and scientific grounds. And he remained a pro life atheist for some time.
It was only later, after a crushing depression, that he started to reconsider faith with fresh eyes.
Looking to the Jewish faith of his fathers for some hope for redemption and forgiveness, he found little.

Eventually, through the aquaintance of an Opus Dei priest, Fr John McCloskey, who understood that Dr Nathanson was a man best reached first in the intellect, he came to accept the peace of Christ.

It was a deeply moving account. And I felt that throughout it, I could hear in his voice the sobriety, gravity and firmness of purpose of a man set on spending the rest of his life making reparation.
I have rarely listened to a talk that so haunted me, and even though there are lots of noisy distractions here, I have found my thoughts drifting back to it all afternoon and evening since.

It was very well timed on the part of the Lighthouse team to send this CD out while 40 Days is underway. And listening to Dr Nathansons story has reminded me not only of the horror of abortion itself, but of the devastating effect on so many people who have been touched by abortion, the consciences dulled, the emotions wounded, the hearts hardened or broken.
It has renewed my zeal to teach my children to protect and defend human life always, and why it is necessary to never "pass by on the other side of the road", but to put ourselves at the service of the least of our brothers.

40 Days For Life London

2011-10-06T12:42:00.001+01:00

You'll be glad you came.
See you there!

Come and join us outside the BPAS abortuary at 26-27 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3HP

19th November 2011: Save The Date!

2011-10-06T01:09:00.001+01:00

The Good Counsel Network have announced this years fundrasing ball.
Book your table now!
A great opportunity to get together with some friends, have a terrific evening without having to wake up to the dishes, and enjoy the warm glow of knowing that you are supporting the worthiest of worthy causes.

Date: November 19th, 2011

Time: 6.30 PM

Location: 55 Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2PN. (nearest tube station is South Kensington)

This will be a fun evening with a delicious 3 course dinner,
live music and great dancing.

Price: £70 per person
Special Offer: £630 for table of 10.
Dress: Ladies Evening Dress, Gentlemen Black Tie

Call to book now on 0207 723 1740 or book online below
Or book your tickets here http://www.goodcounselnet.co.uk/GCN-Fundraising-Ball.html

A red rag to my papist bull

2011-09-16T23:57:00.006+01:00

What am I like?

I've just got embroiled again in a great conversation online about the Catholic church .
One of my interlocutors ( who I have met, this being a local forum) put a link to this march organised by the Secular Society and suggested readers might like to come along.
This is the photo that they used to promote the march they will be holding tomorrow:

Talk about red rag to my papal bull.

This is what I said:

"Dear Stewart
Many thanks for the invitation but I regret that I will not be attending your nasty anti catholic rally.

I am disappointed that I missed an opportunity at Laurences "is secularism more tolerant?" talk.
With a little more foresight I would have prepared a large banner bearing the caricature of the burning demon Pope leading three children by dog leashes and holding a Nazi swastika style crozier.
It would be the same one as that which was carried by the gleefully bigoted "secularists" in the picture on the site you linked to.
Then I wouldn't have had to bother Terry Sanderson with my long questions.
I could have saved my breath and simply held the banner aloft, as my silent riposte to his claim that secularism is a tolerant ideology."

He respnded with comments like this:

"Secularism is tolerant, except when it comes down to acts of abuse...

The catholic church has been responsible for more than it's fair share, and for that reason we need increased secularism in Europe...

The pope is a valid target for derision - this is not attacking Catholics.

His biggest beef was the homophobia with which catholic children are apparently being inculcated. Secularists being naturally tolerant and open minded about everyone. Well...not quite. But anyway.
I pointed out that homophobia is a silly hysterical word which means an irrational fear of homosexuals and asked him to point to some teaching of the church that promotes this.

Here is the digested version of the rollicking convo that ensued:

Stew: "The pope is a valid target for derision - this is not attacking Catholics."

Me: Again, I'm not feeling the love.
Respect and tolerance wearing thin is it?
Is Mohammed a valid target for derision?
There are mad mullahs aplenty for your banners, where are they then?
I know why you don't have caricatures of mullahs on your banners. Because your pusillanimous marchers know that their current "valid target for derision" is a safe bet fatwa-wise. They don't need to be looking over their shoulder on the bus back from their big day out deriding his popiness

Stew: "Perhaps I should ask you if you think atheists should stop worshiping the devil."

Me: Well that would be a silly question Stewart wouldn't it and probably revealing of a very touchy defensiveness about being a "good person" on your part.
I didn't say atheists are bad people, much less devil worshippers.

Stew: "Homophobia is not a hysterical word, it has a meaning - it is a word related to those that can't stand homosexual people, be it hate or fear."

Me: It is a completely hysterical word when used about the catholic church which is in no way homophobic.
In what way are catholics likely to bring their children up with this hate or fear of homosexuals?
Any little example coming to mind, or is it merely such a long accepted notion in your circles that you hardly know where it came from?
Really. You militant secularists love to get all frothily militant about something.
And the favourite fall back is invariably the good old GLBT issue. Where would you be without it to stir you all to indignation

Stew: "Perhaps you've heard of the Alpha course. This is Christian course (sometimes hosted by Catholics) that is critical of homosexuality. "

Me: Yes, I am very familiar with it and this is news to me. In what way is it critical?

Stew: "Now you and I can't say what catholics believe because different catholics believe different things "

Me: Wrong. The catholic church is probably the only church in Christendom* where you CAN say exactly what they believe.
We are not free to wing it, and although many do, those areas in which they are winging it are not catholic. If there is anything you want to know about what catholics believe look it up in the catechism online. Simples.

Stew: "As long as there is homophobia in the Catholic church then it remains a problem and erodes the church as a whole. The more religious a country the less tolerance of homosexuality it appears to be to the extent it is made illegal.

I know of no atheists who are homophobic. "

Me: And I know of no catholics who are homophobic.
Goodness me homophobia is a biggie for you isn't it Stewart?
This homophobia hunting has a touch of the old McCarthyism which saw reds under the bed and around every corner.

Stew: "But many will call the Pope an evil old man who collaborated with kiddie fiddlers and rules over a 'country' that is built upon the blood and gold of countless innocent and poor people who really could not afford to give."

Me; Well many people are ignorant twits aren't they? I do what I can to shine a light into such profound intellectual and moral darkness but it's like shovelling snow while it's still snowing.

Stew: "You don't need gold crosses to have a faith - melt them down and give the proceeds to people who need the help."

Me; And who owns the gold crosses Stewart? Who can make the decision to sell them?
WE own them,
and our future generations own them.
That means that they belong to no one and they belong to us all.
That is what it means to be catholic.
A penniless drunk can sit in a cathedral and be just as much at home there as a duke. All that grandeur belongs to us all. We are rich because we are catholic, and by extension so are you.
If you melted down gold crosses you'd feed some poor people for a fortnight and the priceless antiquities would be gone forever. It would be robbing future generations of their heritage and no one has the right to do that. Not even the pope.

Stew: "Interesting you should mention intelligence and faith - there is a overall tendency for the smarter you are the more likely you are to be an atheist. You are also far less likely to end up in jail. So universities tend to have more atheists and prisons more religious people - and that's worldwide. It's a not very popular or PC fact but a fact none the less."

Me: Well i DID NOT mention intelligence and faith, i was just talking about getting a good education.
But you were keen to squeeze that info nugget in sideways weren't you?
But thanks for the LOLs, because you secularists know how to big yourselves up on the brains front ( "The Brights" indeed!)
I'm not buying it.

Atheists tend to be infatuated with the idea of intelligence, specifically their own.
I just don't believe that intelligence is an easily quantifiable thing ( sorry to all you IQ mensa egg heads out there)
And while I'm more than happy to have the lame brains in my gang, I also get to have the super clever too:
Max Planck.
Gregor Mendel
Copernicus
Descartes
Issac newton
Thomas Aquinas
GK Chesterton
Hilaire Belloc
to name just a few off the top of my head.

What a humourless, smug, middle of the road bunch The Brights appear by comparison.
And they take themselves so awfully seriously.
All that objecting to things makes one a little dull don't you think?

As Hilare Belloc puts it:
"Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
There’s always laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!"

Stew: " You left off your list Fred Hoyle - he gave the start of the universe the name 'Big Bang' in an act of derision as he thought it was utter rubbish. This does not diminish the other great work he did in the sphere of astro physics."

Me: Why would I have included Fred Hoyle in a list of Christian geniuses?
Fred Hoyle initially derided but later accepeted the work of the first proponet of the Big Bang theory, a CATHOLIC PRIEST Georges Lemaitre. He was one of many that I left of the list I ran off, as I said, from the top of my head.

As I said, i'm happy, DELIGHTED, to have the lame brains in my gang.
I don't mind your being un PC but it has more than a whiff of the ubermnsch about it.
Which is understandable. When 'the mind' is all you have it had better be a good one.
Small wonder you don't have a cross section of humanity in your gang, feeble minded people are not welcome with you as they are in the church.
we believe people are worth infinitely more than their intellectual capacity.

I am proud that my church puts flesh on the idea that "the least of these" are of infinite value. It's not like having a march with some like minded mates.

Stew: Now if you follow the church closely you'll know that under the Catholic church that "Every human being is called to receive a gift of divine sonship" and that to do this you must reject sin. And homosexual behaviour is seen a s a sin. Therefore being a proper Catholic means seeing homosexuals as second class citizens who ain't getting into heaven.

Me:
1.
"Now if you follow the church closely you'll know that under the Catholic church that "Every human being is called to receive a gift of divine sonship""

Mmkay...

2.
"and that to do this you must reject sin."

sright...

3.
" And homosexual behaviour is seen as a sin."

Sex you mean? ok, with you so far...

4.
"Therefore being a proper Catholic means seeing homosexuals as second class citizens who ain't getting into heaven."

Stewart.
Wake up!
You are confabulating.

You did alright with 1,2 and 3 but went off the deep end at 4.

Well done for getting the bit about divine filiation ( was that meant to be controversial?), now that you've managed that, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to have a further gander for some actual catholic teaching that supports your guess about gays and hell.

It's quite important isn't it, given your repeated allegation that the RCC promotes homophobia.

I'll give you a bit of a leg up with the research (matron!)

Catholics do not believe that unless you are without stain of sin you are destined for eternal perdition in the fiery sulphrous pit.
We tend to be quicker to accuse ourselves in the "sin department" than to be looking for the speck in our brothers eye.
I did already mention that any sexual act which is not within the sacred bond of marriage is sinful. We are not obsessed with orientation as you are. And anyway, catholics are big hearted and magnanimous. We like to shove up and make room for a dirty rotten sinner, without whom no party is complete.

Stew: Now you may be wondering if I might be homosexual, after all I keep on going on about it. It really doesn't matter one way or the other because, according to the Catholic church, i'm not getting to heaven anyway! But as I don't believe even secretely in a kind of closeted way that there is a heaven, or hell or big sky master ape that kind of stuff doesn't affect me. What does affect me are scum bags who abuse children, cheat on their wives and hide their real sexuality only to be discovered as big fat hypocrites later.

Sooo if you bring your Children up as Real(tm) Catholics then they are more likely to be homophobic as gay guys and girls are sinners!

Me:
"Now you may be wondering if I might be homosexual, after all I keep on going on about it. "

You read my mind.
I just keep wondering and wondering.
All day it's been going round and round in my mind.
"Is Stewart 'one of those'?"
It's hard to be sure.
There IS *something* of the nancy there, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
...Do you like Kylie?

2011-09-11T00:30:00.001+01:00

In haste, but I want to draw attention to an excellent response by Alison Davis of No Less Human, to this Hardtalk interview of Tony and Jane Nicklinson who are campaigning for the legalisation of assisted suicide.

The interview itself is very painful and sad to watch, and adds to what seems to be a recent ramping up of the very emotive stories arguing for legalising euthanasia.
My impression is that public opinion seems to support the campaign, and many pro lifers feel ill equipped to defend their pro life stance in the face of some harrowing examples of lives which are truly difficult and filled with suffering. .
We need to understand how the arguments for assisted killing run, and how to respond to them.

Here is part of Alisons response:

Both Mr Nicklinson and his wife want "strict safeguards", again along the lines of DiD's "model" law. Note that lethal injections should be available "in only the most special of cases." As has been apparent from places where some form of killing sick or disabled adults has been legalised (e.g. The Netherlands, Belgium, the American states of Oregon and Washington), it has proved impossible to 'hold the line' in this way. Once it becomes legal to directly kill an adult (by whatever means, and whatever the disability), the situation quickly deteriorates, and those 'not quite' fulfilling the 'strict criteria' are found to be 'worthy' to qualify for this type of supposed 'death with dignity'. Then the proverbial slippery slope is greased enough to allow the killing of those unable to 'choose' death - e.g. disabled newborns and people with dementia, both of whom qualify for being deliberately and directly killed in The Netherlands.

Read the rest on John Smeaton's blog here.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols' Message to Secondary School Children September 2011

2011-09-11T00:23:00.000+01:00

Archbishop Vincent Nichols' Message to Secondary School Children September 2011 from Catholic Westminster on Vimeo.

The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster’s message to Secondary School Children in Diocese of Westminster

5 September 2011

Today I want to speak to you, to each student in our secondary schools, as you begin this new school year.

I hope you have had a good summer. Some of you may have been on a family holiday. Some of you will have got your exam results. Some of you may have had a difficult time. It’s not always easy being a teenager, knowing what to do or who to follow. All of you will have known about the riots in our capital city.

Now you come back to the patterns of school and college life with the demands they make and the opportunities they carry.

Here you learn again about being part of a community that is far wider than your family. Central to what you learn is the need to show respect for each other and have some responsibility for each other if you are going to make the best of the opportunities given to you here.

These lessons of mutual respect and responsibility went out of the window for those few days of rioting and looting. I know that many of you were upset at what you saw.

Since then much has been said about young people today. But I am confident that you do understand the issues involved: that we owe respect to others in every circumstance; that theft is wrong; that we are easily tempted in the spur of a moment; that the actions we take always have their consequences.

But it is a deeper truth that I want to stress, one that underlines all these other points. It is this: the respect we have for each other is rooted in the respect we have for ourselves. Your respect for yourself is so important. Self-respect is what helps to set the standards by which you live.

That might sound simple. But profound and true self-respect is difficult to achieve. So many influences can sway you this way and that making you feel confused about who you really are and what you really want.

Self-respect is something you grow into gradually, as you come to accept and appreciate the abilities and character you have been given. You learn of it through those who love you. You can lose sight of it when you feel dejected or misunderstood.

When you truly respect yourself then you set yourself high standards of behaviour especially in the company of your own age group. You are not afraid to be different. When you truly respect yourself you also have high achievement targets. You want to do your best and be your best.

As you get older, you come to understand for yourself the differences between right and wrong. You learn how to be generous with what is right and how to say ‘no’ to what is wrong. Gradually you seek and find true and lasting values, not just those promoted by fashion or celebrity. Gradually you acquire the habits and routines of good behaviour, so that you know how to behave even when no-one is watching.

But what is the deepest foundation of this self-respect?

When you look at yourself in a mirror who do you really see? A child of your parents, certainly. A person liked by their friends. And a face anxious about its appearance. But you see someone more.

What you see is someone expressed in this truth, on which you can rely: ‘Before you were born God called you. From your mother’s womb God pronounced your name.’ (Jer.49.1)

There it is. You are a child of God. That is who you see each morning in the mirror. It is God’s life that is within you, the supreme gift that you have received. When you understand this, everything changes. This is why you have such respect for yourself, in every aspect of your being, and in your future. This is also why you have respect for your family and for every other human being for they too have the same dignity as you, as sons and daughters of one heavenly Father. We share one life together.

This truth lies at the heart of the life of your school community. I trust that in this coming year you will continue to learn more about the greatness of human living and achievement, about your faith in God made visible in Jesus Christ who is your friend and companion, about your own abilities and true potential. I hope that as you grow and learn you will see the importance of giving good leadership to others around you and the importance of contributing to your local community to build a just and compassionate society. What you give, the service you offer, helps others around you, but it really helps you to grow in self-respect as well.

Thank you for listening to me. I ask that you take a copy of this message home to your parents and talk about it with them, too.

One last thought. All your actions are carried out in the presence of God. You can be sure that God never lets you out of sight because God loves you so much that He can never take His eyes off you. God wants to watch as you prosper and truly flourish. You are loved so much. Please remember this in the term ahead.

God bless you all.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols

2 September 2011

Dr Dawkins regrets he's unable

2011-09-06T00:51:00.001+01:00

It seems that Dr Lane Craig, that Hammer of the Humanists, is coming over on a speaking tour of the UK. Our very own British "Bright" Brights are disinclined to engage however.
Clinton R Dawkins won't play.
Likewise A C Grayling.
Polly Toynbee has taken her ball and gone home.
It's all getting rather funny to see the Bright ones affecting languid disinterest as they run for the bunker.

On the 25th October an event has been scheduled at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. Apparently the plan is to leave an empty chair for old Mad Dog Dawkins, in case, like the bad fairy, he turns up at the eleventh hour.
If, as seems likely, he doesn't show, Dr Lane Craig will deliver a critique of The God Delusion instead. Either way it will be an interesting event.

Anyway, all the hilarity has led to some creative video's on Youtube; two of which, out of my largesse, I share with you here, gentle reader.

Before I go, I also want to share a remark by "Albert" that I read in the comments here:

So why don't more people believe in God? Answer (apart from ignorance): fear of religion. Here's atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel on fear of religion:

I speak from experience, being strongly subject to this fear myself: I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn't just that I don't believe in God and, naturally, hope that I'm right in my belief. It's that I hope there is no God! I don't want there to be a God; I don't want the universe to be like that. My guess is that this cosmic authority problem is not a rare condition and that it is responsible for much of the scientism and reductionism of our time. One of the tendencies it supports is the ludicrous overuse of evolutionary biology to explain everything about human life, including everything about the human mind… This is a somewhat ridiculous situation… [I]t is just as irrational to be influenced in one’s beliefs by the hope that God does not exist as by the hope that God does exist.

The same commenter also linked to this blog post which caught my attention.It is about the cosmological argument, and I have saved it to read propely when I'm less tired ( and I will send it to my Dominic who is doing theology at A level, this stuff is up his alley)
Here is what the blogger, Edward Fesser, says about himself:

I am a writer and philosopher living in Los Angeles. I teach philosophy at Pasadena City College. My primary academic research interests are in the philosophy of mind, moral and political philosophy, and philosophy of religion. I also write on politics, from a conservative point of view; and on religion, from a traditional Roman Catholic perspective.

It might be worth a look if you like that kind of thing.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning.

2011-09-05T02:27:00.002+01:00

A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.

Thursday night saw Fr Alan return for the last time to the little church of St Charles Borromeo in Ogle Street.

For the last time he boldly announced the Gospel and gave us a message of hope.

As he lay in his coffin over the sunken baptismal font he "broke the bread of The Word", and delivered his final, most eloquent Kerygma.

Those waters of death into which he had plunged countless new Christians, and brought them out into new life, were the same waters over which his body now reposed in death.

He had died, as he had wished, affirming the faith of our Holy Mother the Church.

When the Creed was prayed in the packed church on Thursday night, the confidence with which the words were announced made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and brought tears to my eyes. This is our faith, the faith of the Church.

Thanks be to God.

"He is not here, for he is risen as he said he would"

The book of the Gospels, resting on his coffin, was open to the Easter Sunday reading from Matthew.

After the liturgy, many stayed behind to "keep him company" in prayer.

Pale faced and sombre, they came forward to kneel before his coffin, to kiss it and pray.

Love is stronger than death.

It was very peaceful and consoling to sit quietly in the church with the others.
I thought about Fr Alan and all the lives that he had touched, the souls he had brought close to Christ .
I thought about how he had poured his life out for the people of God. How tirelessly he had worked.

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

And now his pilgrimage on earth is over. He is home at last, in his Father's House.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of weeping, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

With a full heart, I looked at the place over the font where his coffin rested and remembered Marie-Aibhlinn's baptism last year.
I little imagined that he would not see another Christmas at Ogle Street.

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you

"Ephphata" Be opened.
"The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May He soon touch your ears to receive His Word, and your mouth to proclaim His faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father."

Here are the two video's ( one oddly sideways) of Marie-Aibhlinns baptism last year.

It is especially poignant to watch them now.

I am thanking God for Fr Alan's ministry, and for the privilege of having known him.

And I'm praying for the grace of perserverance, so that, like him, I will run to the end, the race marked out for me.

Fr Alan's funeral was on Friday, at Westminster Cathedral, it was a beautiful service and the cathedral was filled to standing room only.
He was buried at St Mary's cemetery in Kensal Green.

Fr Alan Fudge. An opportunity to spend some time with him in prayer.

2011-08-22T12:22:00.000+01:00

Thank you to the people who have left comments about Fr Alan. There are some very touching reflections on what his ministry meant to people, Catholic and non Catholic alike. It is really moving to read, thank you.

This morning a helpful comment was left with the following information which is worth sharing.

For those who want to see Fr Alan, spend time in prayer in front of him etc, you can do so at the funeral parlour

A France and Son [Holborn]
45 Lambs Conduit Street
LONDON WC1N 3NH

0207 405 4901

Mon - Fri 9 am to 5 pm

This is a good opportunity to spend some time with this servant of God and ask him to add his powerful prayers to our more feeble ones.
I have some special requests to make!

7 Late Takes (Saturday edition)

2011-08-14T01:36:00.005+01:00

1.)
If you are interested in reading a fiery polemical exchange between a Catholic priest and an anti Catholic or two, go here. Part two here.
Many of the points raised are ones that I have heard many times. Purgatory is an unscriptural myth, "Church" does not mean "Church" but it does mean "Ekklesia" ( which is a bit like saying "house" does not mean "house" but it does mean "maison" or "haus") The upside down Papal cross is a sign of the anti christ,etc.
Fr Joe does a good job of answering the questions and gives the challenger a pretty good run for his money.
Which of course makes him "horrible, unloving and hateful".

2.)
In the wake of the recent rampages, we have seen a very noticeably increased police presence on the streets.
There were lots of vested up riot police In Tesco express on the Uxbridge Rd at about 6pm on Tuesday. They were stocking up on snacks and looked well beefy in their robo cop elbow pads and stab vests.
There were about 20-25 queuing up with their bars of chocolate and tortilla wraps.
The store was so thick with testosterone I came over all giggly and coquettish.

They were there again on Wednesday.
After Monday nights ructions, 25 riot police in a boarded up Tesco store are a swoonworthy sight for sore eyes.
I wanted to run up to each one of them and gasp " Thank you! Thank you for your service to our country!"
in the way that Americans are wont to do with their troops.
But something about 25 police officers in riot gear makes a girl a little bashful. So I summoned up a jaunty little "be careful out there" as I weaved through them with my toilet paper and milk..

3.)
Two nurses have won the right not to work in an abortion clinic

I am astounded that this ever became an issue.
As far as I was aware, it was widely understood that medical staff could conscientiously object to work in this area.
I was a bit disappointed that it was hailed as a victory for "Christians" however. Putting it like that confirms the idea that it is only Christians that are opposed to abortion.
As far as I am aware, anyone who works in health care can and should invoke the conscience clause and refuse to participate in abortion if they are conscientiously opposed to it.

4.)
We went for a walk along the South Bank of theThames on my birthday.
Brendan, who works around the corner, met us just outside the Tower of London for lunch.
It's a little strange to find myself hurtling through the years like this, but it was wonderful to spend at least part of the day with all my chooks together, being reminded of what I have been doing while the time has been whizzing by.
It's been a great journey, and for all the challenges and frustrations, so incredibly satisfying and worthwhile.
I think this makes it much easier to grow older, although I do sometimes sigh for my youth which has all but slipped away.

Sadly I forgot to get a photo of us all before Brendan had to go back to work. Here's me with the rest of my chicken's:

Well it's hard to get a shot in which they all look cheerful at once.

The children loved these little fountains:

5.)
This is a photo of Pat with the children standing in front of Tower bridge.

Apparently, back in the '60's, an American billionaire bought London Bridge, thinking that he was getting Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge:

London Bridge ( reassembled in Arizona):

It was only after he had got it out of the box and put it together that he thought "This doesn't look quite right". Which is a feeling that anyone who has shopped in IKEA can relate to.

6.)
Dominic returned from a rugby tour in Australia ( the lucky pup) with a strange injury to his elbow . I don't think it's anything too serious, probably ligamentous, but he went for an x ray yesterday, just to exclude bony injury. He can't straighten his arm, but it doesn't stop him throwing the baby in the air and scaring the wits out of me.

7.)
Lastly, very sad news about the man who was beaten unconscious on Monday in Ealing. He died when his life support was switched off.
Utterly tragic.
May his soul rest in peace.

For more quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary.

Fr Alan James Fudge: Funeral arrangements.

2011-08-11T17:44:00.001+01:00

Many thanks to the commenter who shared this information in the comments.

Because all the bishops will be away at World Youth Day, Fr Alan's funeral will be delayed until their return.

Here are the details:

Fr Alan Fudge's funeral is confirmed for 11.30AM
FRIDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER IN WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL.

Fr Alan's body will be
brought into Ogle Street at 1pm on Thursday 1st September and kept
overnight in the church.

There will be a liturgy in the church on Thursday evening, and I shall put up the details of that when I recieve them.

UPDATE:

Thursday 01 September

St Charles Borromeo

14.00 body into the church

20.00 liturgy of the word

Church will be very full, best to arrive early.

Friday 02 September

Westminster Cathedral

11.00 body into church

11.30 funeral mass

A word about comments

2011-08-11T17:39:00.000+01:00

Owing to some problems I have been having with comment moderation, I have taken comment moderation off and all comments will now be published straight away.
If anyone wants to comment privately, I have now added my email address to my profile page.
Here it is again: mybattlementsofrubies@gmail.com

Happy Birthday to me...and then hordes of Vandals and Barbarians smash up my city,

2011-08-11T12:22:00.002+01:00

Well that was a bit close for comfort.

I went out for a meal on Monday night with husband dearest (to celebrate my birthday ...shh!)
and Dominic told us not to go too far, because it looked like the riots that had kicked off in Tottenham were now spreading across London.
We laughed.
We mocked his foolish fretting.
Riot? Here? Unimaginable! Inconceivable! Hahahah! Lololol! And so on...
A few short hours later my friend Elizabeth emailed me to say that there was a car on fire at the end of her road.
And the news started coming in from Twitter that Ealing was in the thick of it.
Every single car on one nearby road had it's windscreen smashed. Our local Tesco Express had all it's windows smashed. The staff were locked up inside, the police were all elsewhere. It must have been scary. .

Our road was unscathed, but it was a closer call than I would ever have envisaged..
It's pretty surreal to see your own leafy neighbourhood on the news, still familar, but with the ghosts of burnt out cars and the road bestrewn with broken glass.

One, as yet unidentified, man, is clinging to life after being beaten by a mob who had set fire to a bin.
This video, which is without sound, shows the floored victim lying still on the ground with burning rubbish on the road beside him.
The silence is eerie. That the victim looks like anyones dad: grey hair, checked shirt and completely out of place in this Mad Max scenario, makes it even more surreal.
It just hurts to watch.
Praying that he pulls through.

Melanie Phillips opines today about the root of the barbarism unleashed on England.

The causes of this sickness are many and complex. But three things can be said with certainty: every one of them is the fault of the liberal intelligentsia; every one of them was instituted or exacerbated by the Labour government; and at the very heart of these problems lies the breakdown of the family.
For most of these children come from lone-mother households. And the single most crucial factor behind all this mayhem is the willed removal of the most important thing that socialises children and turns them from feral savages into civilised citizens: a father who is a fully committed member of the family unit.
Of course there are many lone parents who do a tremendous job. But we’re talking here about widespread social collapse. And there are whole areas of Britain, white as well as black, where committed fathers are a wholly unknown phenomenon.
In such areas, successive generations are being brought up only by mothers, through whose houses pass transitory males by whom these women have yet more children — and who inevitably repeat the pattern of lone and dysfunctional parenting.
The result is fatherless boys who are consumed by an existential rage and desperate emotional need, and who take out the damage done to them by lashing out from infancy at everyone around them. Such children inhabit what is effectively a different world from the rest of society. It’s a world without any boundaries or rules. A world of emotional and physical chaos.
A world where a child responds to the slightest setback or disagreement by resorting to violence. A world where the parent is unwilling or incapable of providing the loving and disciplined framework that a child needs in order to thrive.
Yet instead of lone parenthood being regarded as a tragedy for individuals, and a catastrophe for society, it has been redefined as a ‘right’...

The social and moral breakdown behind the riots was deliberately willed upon Britain by Left-wing politicians and other middle-class ideologues who wrap their utter contempt for the poor in the mantle of ‘progressive’ non-judgmentalism.
These are the people who — against the evidence of a mountain of empirical research — hurl execrations at anyone who suggests that lone parenthood is, in general, a catastrophe for children (and a disaster for women); who promote drug liberalisation, oppose selective education (while paying for private tutors for their own children) and call those who oppose unlimited immigration and multiculturalism ‘racists’.
And the real victims of these people ‘who know best’ are always those at the bottom of the social heap, who possess neither the money nor the social or intellectual resources to cushion them against the most catastrophic effects of such nonsense.

Read the rest here.

I share her opinion.

I voted for those same left wing politicians whose policies she blames for this mess. Consistently, and faithfully, I voted for them.

Foolish, optimistic gull that I was.

Never again.

Now I believe that behind much liberal left wing opining is, indeed, a contempt for the poor.

I find the language of the left, especially when they talk about social policies, to be patronising and infantilising.

The labour government have destroyed the working class in this country.

How bloody ironic is that?

(images from here and here)

There is no need to be afraid

2011-08-05T22:40:00.001+01:00

First God calls. Then God converts us. We are not called because we are already converted. With the call comes the grace for a change of life. Slowly at first. In fact, slowly all the time.

Our lives will change when God acts and we do not resist his action. Our lives change, will change when God calls and we do not ignore his calling. Our lives will change when God chooses and we do not reject his choice.
Today we pray that when the Lord acts, here in Ogle Street, his action will not be resisted by you! And when the Lord calls, here in Ogle Street, his choice will not be rejected - by you!
Meanwhile you will be very relieved to know that not all priests are like me! Priests come in all shapes and sizes. Some of us are nice. Some of us are very nice indeed. And some of us are not nice at all!
This is to assure us that God is not a selection committee. If he were, I would not be writing this now. God chooses whom he chooses. God could even choose you. Yes, you!
Listen to God’s call today. There is no need to be afraid. If God risks on you, risk on him.

Fr Alan Fudge. 29th April 2007

Fr Alan James Fudge 1940-2011

2011-08-05T11:38:00.003+01:00

De Profundis
Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord: Lord hear my voice.

Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.

If Thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

But there is forgiveness with Thee: because of Thy law I wait for Thee, O Lord.

My soul waiteth on His word: my soul hopeth in the Lord.

From the morning watch even until night let Israel hope in the Lord:

For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plentiful redemption.

And He shall redeem Israel, from all their iniquities.

Only last month, I wrote here about my saintly parish priest Fr Alan.

Last night I heard that nothing more could be done for him and that his treatment was to be directed at palliative relief of symptoms. He was given this news on Wednesday. I went to bed and prayed for him again.
This morning I recieved the devastating news that he went home to the Lord at 3 oclock this morning.

I cannot describe how much he was loved and will be missed. He was a father, and a wise teacher to so many.

Here is the email that I recieved:

It is with deep regret and sadness that I inform you Fr
Alan Fudge died at 3am this morning, Friday 5th August. We can rest
assured that our prayers last night at Soul Food helped carry him
towards heaven. The official Parish announcement is given below:

At the end of May, Father Alan wrote in the newsletter about his sickness and
the operation he had had. He said that he hesitated to write about
himself knowing that many of you know more about suffering, pain and
illness than he did. He has certainly had his share of them in these
last few months.

He also said that he needed more treatment for cancer
on his lung. The treatment took the form of chemotherapy, but on
Wednesday he received the news that the treatment was having little
effect and it would not be continued. Palliative care, relieving the
pain and treating the symptoms of the disease, was all that could be
offered to him.

The cancer turned out to be even more aggressive than
even the doctors realised.

Fr Alan died peacefully on the morning of
the 5th August. Those who have been caring for him were praying at his
death. It was less than five months since he became ill.

We have much to thank God for in having had Fr Alan as Parish Priest and, as with
every member of our community, we need to accompany him in prayer.

So that we can pray together as a Parish, on Sunday 7th August, there will
be:

SILENT ADORATION before the BLESSED SACRAMENT after the 6pm Mass
until Midnight

Alan James Fudge

Died on 5th August 2011

Forty years
as a priest

Thirty-three years in this Parish

Requiescat in
Pace

Can you eat radish leaves?

2011-07-20T00:08:00.001+01:00

Yes you can!
This I have discovered today when I asked myself that question.
I had a big bundle of organic radishes and was loathe to throw away such abundant and healthy looking greenery. I sought and found confirmation that radish leaves are indeed healthy and deliciously edible..
Here is where I first landed. A panoply of radishy options for the frugal chef.
And this is what I did for supper:

Radish leaf pesto.

It was delicious. And frooogal!
Into my blender I threw the radish leaves (that would ordinarily have been binned)
a generous handful each of hazlenuts and almonds,
a remnant of Grana Padano that was too old and hard to be grated over pasta,
three cloves of garlic ( more than was called for in the recipe, but I love garlicky pesto)
and some glugs of extra virgin olive oil.
The smell! I was swooning!

I stirred the sticky, fragrant deliciousness into some pasta along with peas and stood back and watched my family polish off the lot and beg for more raw radish leaf pesto pasta.
Ahh.
Can I add that pudding was a kefir smoothie into which I pitched the remnants of a leftover raspberry coulis,
one wrinkled peach ( mouldy bit cut off)
A kiwi fruit,
a few frozen strawberries and blueberries( I always buy the organic ones when they are on offer and freeze them straight away for smoothies)
a brown banana
and the remains of a tub of just expired double cream.
Again, the children begged, whined and pleaded for more.
Gentle reader, I feel complete.

Praying for my Parish Priest.

2011-07-15T23:44:00.003+01:00

Lately I have been hearing some wonderful stories about the intercession of the saints.

One recent example is the story of baby James Fulton, on whose behalf parents and friends ( including long distance blog friends such as myself) sought the intercession of Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

That story is here.

Now my Parish Priest, Fr Alan has cancer. In two places. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

In a recent letter to the parish he said:

Now of course I have to practise what I preach! Yes, God speaks through events. So I hope I am hearing well everything he is saying to me through this unexpected illness.
And how often have I spoken about the cross!; saying that when it appears in our life, we should, like the crucified Christ, continue to call God Abba , Father. Now I hope this word will be fulfilled in me.
Early in 1999, when our former Archbishop, Cardinal Hume, was diagnosed with inoperable cancer, Pope John-Paul II wrote to tell him of his prayer and support. He told the Cardinal that his illness had been allowed by the Lord in his ‘ALL-SEEING PROVIDENCE’.
It is with trust in this ‘all-seeing providence’ that I want to live these days and face the future.
I really hesitated to write this about myself, knowing that some of you know more about suffering, pain and illness than I do. But still, I wanted to share it with you.

You can read the whole thing here.

His illness is a blow to the entire parish, where he is his greatly loved and his absence is being very keenly felt.

Encouraged however, by stories like that of baby James Fulton, I am

praying for complete healing for Fr Alan, and asking specifically for the intercession of Blessed John Paul II.
Please would you consider printing out this short prayer and saying it devoutly for this intention?
And also it would be great if you would send it on to others,
I am hoping that we can storm heaven together for Fr Alan.
Please pass it on!

O Holy Trinity,
we thank you for having given to the Church
Pope John Paul II,
and for having made him shine with your fatherly tenderness,
the glory of the Cross of Christ and the splendor of the Spirit of love

He, trusting completely in your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary, has shown himself
in the likeness of Jesus the Good Shepherd
and has pointed out to us holiness
as the path to reach eternal communion with You.

Grant us, through his intercession,
according to your will, the grace that we implore:

Fr Alan's complete healing and a full return to health
in the hope that he will soon be numbered among your saints.
Amen.

Twitter For Dummies

2011-07-10T20:48:00.001+01:00

Another question for my fanbase*:

Does anyones know how Twitter works?

A few months ago I met Peter Williams of the video debate I posted a couple of days ago ( I'll post it again here because you all ought to watch it) . It was at a private parliamentary screening of a film called Doonby. (eek. I have long intended to do a blog post about that. More about Doonby later)

I recognised him, and congratulated him on his stellar performance in the debate and we high fived and fist bumped** and agreed to keep in touch.

He suggested that I friend him on Facebook. I do have a Facebook account but I just don't use it, and I feel a bit, um, I don't know, "averse" to sending someone a friend request.

Maybe I have been traumatised by too many playground rejections.

So I had a great idea and thought that I'd stalk him on Twitter for now.

But I've found his Twitter account and it's not making any sense.

It's all him talking "@" other people.

But I can't see what the other people are saying.

Gaah!

It's like listening in to someones mobile phone conversation on the bus. Only worse, because the conversation comes in all sorts of truncated bits and pieces.

It's a mystery to me how Twitter has become so huge. I must be missing something. How come I can't work it out?

I'm feeling a bit thick, and that old funny, familiar, forgotten playground feeling is walking all over my mind. Again.

I need to get with the programme.

I want to get with the programe baby.

Can anyone out there explain the mystery of Twitter for a Twit like me?

Do yourself a favour and watch the debate. You'll thank me.

Catholic Voices: Peter Williams debates in Revelation TV from Jack Valero on Vimeo.

PS.

*Corapian irony! settle down!

**metaphorically speaking. This was the house of Commons and we were all tremendously on our best behaviour.

Difficulty with comments on Blogger?

2011-07-10T15:30:00.000+01:00

Anyone else having problems?
I am having difficulty in posting comments elsewhere, and also in approving comments ( sorry Richard, I will approve your comment pronto, but at the moment "it" won't let me. I'm constantly getting bounced into an error message).
I've taken to copy pasting comments onto a notepad in advance so that I don't lose my finely crafted gems to the Blogger gremlin.
This has been going on for a while now. Anyone else experiencing this?

A little night music

2011-07-10T01:05:00.000+01:00

Dominic introduced me to Johnny Flynn and Laura Marling and now I keep singing this song in my head.
Dominic plays the guitar well, and I have asked him to let me record him singing this. He wasn't keen, even when I said I'd duet with him. The boy's shy.
Anyway, we sound exacty like this, except where Laura goes a bit flat here and there, I'm pitch perfect.
But this video will have to do because we are modest about our talents and shun the limelight.
So close your eyes and imagine this is me singing you a lullaby.

Corapi and Catholic tribalism

2011-07-10T00:12:00.000+01:00

I saw this at Mark Sheas blog.
I think the response, at least initially, to Fr Corapi's fall from grace, did highlight a double standard amongst many conservative, orthodox catholic bloggers who had seen Corapi as one of their own.

When he was first suspended a comment I left on a blog was deleted because it was thought that it "may cause scandal",or "detraction"or words to that effect.
The blogger was convinced of his innocence and was also upset that EWTN had dropped him.
My offending comment expressed the view that when a priest dyes his beard and talks about his female personal trainer something is very wrong. Those two things were massive red flags for me.
They were also very public, Fr Corapi wasn't hiding his new black beard, and he openly spoke about his personal trainer.
I also got an anonymous comment telling me to "go to hell" after I had left a similar comment somewhere else.

Michael Voris of thevortexwhereliesandfalsehoodsaretrappedandexposed excoriated , the nasty uncharitable bloggers who had been critical of Corapis disobedience to his superiors.
And this is the same Michael Voris of thevortexwhereliesandfalsehoodsaretrappedandexposed who routinely criticises bishops for not being obedient to their superior in Rome ( that would be the Pope).
I think the bloggers Voris was denouncing were, in fact, attempting to alert the "Corapians" to the danger of following him over the edge of a cliff.

Some Catholic blogs seem to find their raison d'etre in Bishop bashing and in fault finding and heterodoxy hunting.
And yet Corapi got a pass, even when his behaviour was getting stranger and stranger and the warning klaxons were going off so loud you could barely hear what he was saying.in that melodramatic, manly man stage voice of his.
And yesterday he showed up in a Harley Davidson leather jacket that screamed "male menopause", and a ridiculous dyed black merkin on his chin, and announced his next big idea for fleecing his sheep.
There's a fire sale at his old Fr Corapi website where you can bag your bargains quick, because when they're gone they're gone.
Oh and there's an autobiography in the works.
And his new website is branded with a dark demonic looking creature that is meant to be a black sheepdog, but is in fact a wolf, with an image of lambs reflected in one eye.
I think that says it all.

And so the metamorphosis from Fr Corapi to the grotesque Black Sheepdog appears to be complete.
At least it's brash and not subtle.
I'm thinking that Fumare's post of last year, comparing his new look to that of Anton LaVey was closer to the mark than any of us knew.

Some things I miss about our old evangelical CofE church

2011-07-09T01:09:00.000+01:00

Are the wonderful times we had at annual church holiday week away by the sea.
And listening to J John, who was usually a headline speaker, which was always a joy.

I met him a couple of times in the canteen and was very struck by him as someone who is entirely authentic and determinedly "ordinary" in the very best sense of the word.
I got the impression that he really did enjoy meeting and getting to know people. whoever they were.
I remember that he bothered to chat with and get to know the name of the old gentleman who used to check our name tags as we went into the canteen.

I like that he doesn't appear to have an "on stage" persona or any odd rhetorical devices or flourishes, like a "stage voice" . He speaks well, but in his own voice, and doesn't emotionally manipulate the audience with tricks.
I remain hugely impressed by him and I really think he is a great advert for that part of the Church of England which is very vibrant and exciting and far,far from the moribund image that seems to get touted around in the press ( and unfortunately in some catholic blogs too).

Watch this and I'm sure you'll agree.

This is an excerpt, or rather a number of excerpts from his excellent series on the ten commandments.
"TEN":

A video debate worth watching

2011-07-08T03:09:00.005+01:00

Back in 2007/2008 I was moving towards a return to the church..
I was also still attending a small midweek bible study in a friends house.
My Catholic leanings were preturbing a couple of the ladies there who tried to help me to see the grave mistake they felt I was making.
For a while, every week I got a new challenge or a tract offered to me to read.
I always agreed cheerfully to read the tracts and listen to the objections. I still have one which is called "The Error of Rome".
I went away and read it and looked up all the references and claims and searched for the Catholic rebuttals to see if they could hold water.
The following week I would return the tract with little pencil markings and notes in the margins and explain what I had learned about the catholic position as a result of researching the claims made in the tract.
Over the weeks the warmth and friendship of these two women, and the keen interest they had shown in me started to cool to a quiet froideur.
They became disinterested in me to the point of rudeness.
When I cracked a joke, they no longer even smiled ( such iron self control! )
I was hurt by their coldness towards me and felt, and still do, that their earlier interest in me had been because they saw me as another scalp for their collection of people they had managed to get "saved".
They were, I think, angry with me for not responding to their challenges in the way they had hoped and expected I would.
In fact, to their frustration, each challenge seemed to be driving me further into the bosom of Rome, or, more correctly (in their view) to the Whore of Babylon.
I'm pretty sure that I'm right in guessing that their friendship was conditional on me accepting their message, and when they saw that I wasn't compliant, they washed their hands of me.
Both of them were baptised Catholics themselves and had considerable personal issues and anger with the Catholic church.
But many of their objections were just not intellectually credible. Often the pieces they gave me to read were badly written and flaky. When we had a discussion they quickly got heated up and emotional and so I have few memories of any really rational or interesting exchanges.

I wasn't angry or hurt by their attempts to save me from Popery. I felt that they probably sincerely felt my soul was in peril and were trying to help me. I was more hurt by their stubborn refusal to have a proper discussion about it and their subsequent cold shouldering of me.
It seemed to me that they just wanted me to be persuaded by the strength of their second hand arguments without putting any effort in themselves.
They wanted to tell me that the Popes hat was fashioned after the pagan fish god "Dagon" ( or dagon the pagon to his mates) and for me to simply accept that and ask no further questions.
I'm not an intellectual snob, I'm not even an intellectual, but it was all so unintelligent.
Some of it was unintelligent to the point of being cretinously stupid.

Nothing is wasted though, and it was a very useful time.
I learned a bit about some key anti catholic influences.
typically the same sources would crop up: The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, A Woman Rides The Beast by Dave Hunt and Roman Catholicism by Loraine Boettner.
After those weeks of back and forth in the bible study home group, I had covered most of the key objections to Catholicism and I can honestly say I gave the objections a fair crack of the whip.
The more I read, the more impressed I was by the coherence and scriptural solidity of Catholic doctrine.
It was very helpful to me in helping me to explore some difficult questions and to see if they held up under scrutiny. They did.

At around the time of the Popes visit last year, I saw this video on the Catholic Voices website.
I have been meaning to post it here ever since, but it just stayed at the bottom of the "to do" pile.
I finally found it and watched it again tonight with the husband and one of the boys.
It is a debate between Duncan Boyd of the Protestant Truth Society and Peter Williams, a "Catholic Voice".
The motion under debate is "We believe the Popes visit will be good for this country". Which was a little strange to me as it was pretty obvious that that was not a sentiment shared by the Revelation TV studio audience .
I was hugely impressed by the way Peter handled himself in this discussion. The audience was overwhelmingly on the side of his pugnacious opponent, who only needed to shift in his seat, or cross his legs to get a round of applause.
There were only three catholics in the audience. I know that because one of them was a friend of ours ( he makes a point about the deuterocanonical books at about 00.53)
Many hoary old anti catholic chestnuts were tossed around and Peter Williams deals with each one with the efficiency and poise of a champion batsman.
I got the impression that most of the audience weren't really listening and had turned up expecting to see their man hitting some easy and straightforward home runs and giving the catholic a scripture lesson he wouldn't forget.
I'm pretty sure they weren't expecting to see the rather haughty Mr Boyd of the Protestant Truth Society being put so firmly on the back foot.
And to see it done with such good grace and finesse, well, for me it was just a pleasure.
Even a particularly aggressive question from the audience at 01.22 fails to throw him and he responds with the same patient good grace.
It's well worth watching, and learning from. I hope we see more of Peter Williams.

Catholic Voices: Peter Williams debates in Revelation TV from Jack Valero on Vimeo.

Put not your trust in princes,

2011-07-06T02:54:00.001+01:00

Fr Corapi

I can't find the post which Terry Nelson put up which first alerted me to his dramatically altered appearance.
But when I saw it I was stunned and couldn't believe that so few people seemed bothered by it.
I couldn't have been more shocked if Mother Angelica had had a boob job and botox.

After reading Terry's post I saw this one which gives a composite picture of his changing appearance over the last 10 years.

Maybe, behind the scenes, his superiors were frantically worried about him and trying to help.
Who knows, but I hope they were.
Aa a commenter on the Fumare blog calling himself "Warning Signs" presciently opined:

When ministers and priests are into their looks and themselves, trouble is ahead. Sad, sad, very sad.

So when the news broke that he had been suspended I was not surprised.
What surprised me more, was the tenacious defensiveness of those who Fr. Corapi refers to as his "fans".
How could anyone liken a priest with a California tan, a dyed goatee and a personal trainer to St Pio of Pietrelcina?
Fr Corapi was the darling of conservative catholics.
I observed a double standard in the blogosphere among some who are routinely, sharply critical of ecclesiastical authorities and normally happy to name and shame woolly liberal prelates for liturgical infractions.
A great deal more benefit of the doubt was extended to Fr Corapi, even when the evidence was becoming overwhelming.

I don't know what happened to Fr Corapi, but I don't believe "the devil did it" .
At least not in such a simplistic way.
We are free moral agents.
We co operate in our fall from grace.
And this is what clutches at my guts like a cold hand when I consider it.
Every day brings a thousand different ways in which I chose to conform myself to Christ,or the world.
And I cannot say with confidence, that at the end of each day the balance is tipped in my favour.

I am sincerely praying for John Corapi tonight. Perhaps this humbling is the mercy of God towards him.
I hope, for the sake of his soul, that he accepts this mortification from Gods hand and throws himself on the mercy of Christ while he still has time.
I'm praying for priests . They need our prayers and I am sorry that I neglect to pray for them as I should.
I intend to remedy that and make them, along with my children, my priority.
We need holy priests.
More than ever I appreciate the quiet and hidden sacrifice of the ordinary and outwardly unexceptional priest.

And I am praying for myself too, that I am able to throw off every encumbrance and run the race that has been marked out for me.
It scares me how quickly I become lazy and satisfied.

A little post to be going on with

2011-07-02T02:54:00.003+01:00

Colmcille made his first Holy Communion on the feast of Corpus Christi.
We actually were all very cheerful about it despite the above photo which looks as though it was taken after we'd been given some bad news.
I'm sure there are better photos, ones in which we look more perky and animated , but this is all I have for now. It is one that a friend sent us since we didn't get round to taking any ourselves.
There was one designated photographer who was allowed to take photos during the Mass, and took some nice group shots afterwards, but we haven't received those yet.
The night before I finished reading the story of Blessed Imelda Lambertini to Colmcille.
She's the little patron of first communicants since she died in ectasy following her first communion.
When I got to that bit I did wonder if it was a slightly strange story to be reading a boy about to recieve the Blessed Sacrament for the first time.
But Colmcille didn't seem a bit bothered by young Imelda's demise at the tender age of eleven.
His eyes grew big and round and he gasped "She died of joy!"
Which was just the ticket and reassured me that my choice of story wasn't going to put a dampner on his big day and make him lose sleep worrying whether he might actually make it to his second Holy Communion.
Needless to say Colmcille did not die of joy himself, but he was very emotional and had a little cry which then made Pat and I shed a litle tear too.

It was an emotional day for us also, because our beloved parish priest, Fr Alan, who is being treated for cancer, returned to say mass just for the occasion.
It was a momentous act of love, given his very frail state of health at the moment. He looked pale and tired. And yet, his preaching, although with a little less vigour, was every bit as stirring as ever. Without any rhetorical device or flourish, and just a quiet certitude he makes the Word come alive.
When he preaches I am reminded of the unwitting companions of Jesus on the road to Emmaus, who reflected that their hearts burned within them when the scriptures were explained.

Please, please pray for him.

Here is an excerpt from his letter to the parish in which he explains his current circumstances.

Now of course I have to practise what I preach! Yes, God speaks through events. So I hope I am hearing well everything he is saying to me through this unexpected illness.
And how often have I spoken about the cross!; saying that when it appears in our life, we should, like the crucified Christ, continue to call God Abba , Father. Now I hope this word will be fulfilled in me.
Early in 1999, when our former Archbishop, Cardinal Hume, was diagnosed with inoperable cancer, Pope John-Paul II wrote to tell him of his prayer and support. He told the Cardinal that his illness had been allowed by the Lord in his ‘ALL-SEEING PROVIDENCE’.
It is with trust in this ‘all-seeing providence’ that I want to live these days and face the future.
I really hesitated to write this about myself, knowing that some of you know more about suffering, pain and illness than I do. But still, I wanted to share it with you.
Meanwhile, you are being treated to a wonderful variety of priests celebrating Mass in Ogle Street. They will be rewarded.
I want to give a special word of thanks to Vincent Harrington, who in my absence has truly become our ‘Parish Administrator’. He will be rewarded too!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, again I thank you and continue to count on your prayer, love and support. I hope that in his ‘all-seeing providence’ the Lord will make it possible for me to return to the parish soon.

Dear Jesus, Divine Physician and Healer of the sick, we turn to you in this time of illness. O dearest comforter of the troubled, alleviate our worry and sorrow with your gentle love, and grant Fr Alan the grace and strength to accept this burden. Dear God, we place our worries in your hands. We place Fr Alan under your care and humbly ask that you restore your servant to health again. Above all, grant us the grace to acknowledge your will and know that whatever you do, you do for the love of us. Amen.

St Charles Borromeo
St Therese of Liseux
St Jean Marie Vianney
St Peregrine
St Pio
St Philomena
Blessed John Paul II

Pray for him.

A plague on my laptop

2011-07-02T01:45:00.000+01:00

Just a brief post to say that normal service will be resumed pronto.
My laptop was afflicted with all manner of worms and trojans and bears oh my!
Well, I'm making up the bears, but the trojans and worms were apparently real, and they did the divil of a job on my machine.
Ghastly business.
Were it not for a visiting young seminarian friend who happens to be a bit handy with 'puters I might still be in blogging limbo.
I shudder to think...

Explaining the catholic church to an atheist: Al responds

2011-06-17T01:04:00.003+01:00

Following on from this post.

Al responded to my answer with this:

I can see the logic of a church acting as a kind of keeper of standards like a professional association. (Just like homeopaths really do need an authoritative body to tell their members that they must not tell people not to take anti-malaria vaccines.) I get all that. (Leah’s blog).
But how on earth does one get from a position of deep scepticism to one of regarding a church as ‘a truth-telling thing’? That is the area I am interested in.

Honestly. I don't really know.
That's like telling someone how to fall in love. I'm not sure how to break this down. I don't think I can.
I'm sure this is where faith is a gift of God's grace, a work of the Holy Spririt enlightening the mind and quickening the heart.

Here's how I answered him. I don't think it's aa very satisfactory answer, and I don't expect it will satisfy him. Again, any thoughts out there, please chime in!

I think there are maybe two simultaneous routes.
Firstly, the Catholic church itself.
If there is such a thing as Truth, then we ought to recognise it. It has a power that we should feel when we come across it.
When I read the writings of the Church they have the ring of truth. I find them stirring some inchoate sense of truthfulness that leaps inwardly at the sound of it.
Perhaps you have read pieces of wonderful writing that evoke a similar response in you. A sort of gratitude that the writer has articulated something that you feel to be 'true'.
There is some reading here but it is very heavy.
And the Catechism is here.
I don't think it is necessary to be a catholic, or even a believer of any sort, to appreciate the weight of the words, which, at the very least demand our attention. There really is little point reading it in a cynical frame of mind though.

The other route, which could be undertaken simultaneously, is to discern whether the God of the bible is true. And therefore also, whether the Jesus of the bible was who he claimed to be. That's a big one, and obviously a huge stumbling block for someone who is an avowed atheist.
I will say that there are innumerable very sane and level headed atheists and agnostics who came to believe through being persuaded by the biblical account of the resurrection.
Once that falls into place, you can accept the idea of a God who entered space and time and remains with us in some way.
All Christians accept the concept of a church, but they have different concepts of what that means. Some Christians see the church as being a purely spiritual thing. An invisible body of believers, rather than an actual institution.
Catholics see it as both.
The catholic concept of church however, is much more congruent with the scriptural accounts and also with the historical church, about which we know a great deal.
I'm wrapping up quickly here because it's so late and I need to get off the computer .
There is a great deal to say about this and I can't put it all in one comment.
More anon, but feel free to add any other objections etc.

(Edited to add this video by Fr Robert Barron.)
I just came across it this evening.
He makes some very interesting points contrasting the weighty and serious existentialism of Satre and Camus with the new atheism which he sees as more frivolous and shallow.
He also presents an argument from desire.
He says that our restlessness and seeking after happiness, even when we get all the material satisfaction that we want, proves that we are wired to seek God.:

" That we desire something which transcends the limitation of this world means that we have within us a sort of participation in the eternal..
Hunger is not a sign that food is a projection, in fact hunger proves the existence of food.
Your hunger proves the reality of food.
It doesn't mean that food is some sort of subjective projection, or an illusion.
So our desires are not misleading us, our desires order us to reality."

My next project

2011-06-17T00:07:00.000+01:00

I've got this little statue of Our Lady in a corner in the back garden.
But although it's only a year or so old, already it is showing a few signs of weather damage.

I've just seen this video of the little home made shrine that taylor Marshall made with his children.
I think this is just the ticket to save my poor little statue from any further deterioration.

And it looks so pretty. I think it would be fairly easy to knock something like this up, and the more rustic the better.

Holding the press accountable: Please complain!

2011-06-16T02:02:00.002+01:00

I have just submitted my first ever complaint to the Press Complaints Commission.

For background read here.

A recent article appeared in the Guardian newspaper, written by Clare Murphy who is head of public policy for BPAS. In her article she claims 'protesters waved their banners of dismembered foetuses at women as they entered our British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) clinic in London.'
40 Days for Life held a recent prayer vigil over 40 days outside BPAS Bedford Sq. It was peaceful and prayerful. We informed the police, and they informed BPAS. The vigil was a great success, and at least 7 women rejected aborting their child. These are the ones we know about but there could be others.
We would like to categorically state that 40 Days for Life and those who have joined our prayer vigil have never used images of aborted foetuses and waved them in the faces of women going into BPAS. A particular feature of 40 Days for Life is precisely that we do not use any graphic images of abortion. We would also like to add that we held a peaceful prayer vigil, not a protest.
We do have a set of 9 artistic images showing the development of the child in the womb. These images were on display during the vigil. You can see the images for yourself here. They are excellent and very well made, with useful information about child development at various stages during pregnancy. We highly recommend them and encourage individuals and groups to invest in a set. We found that passers-by, mothers, and couples going into BPAS were intrigued by such an educational and touching display. Along with these poster images, we also think that child development model sets are very useful for educational purposes in a variety of contexts. An example is 'How you Began' which can be viewed here. We will be investing in a child development model set for our next vigil.
We would very much like Clare Murphy to inform us whether: she has been badly misinformed on this matter, or has problems with her eyesight, or has simply written lies against 40 Days for Life and discredited the peaceful, prayerful and compassionate nature of what we do and the good intentions of those who have participated. We also expect Clare Murphy and the Guardian to withdraw the section saying we used images of aborted foetuses. It is utterly unacceptbale to write and print something so patently false.
We encourage our supporters to make a complaint to BPAS, the Guardian Comment is Free editors, and the Press Complaints Commission.

I have just emailed ALL the editors on the Comment is Free section, and submitted a formal complaint to the Press Complaints Commission.

Please do likewise! Lets let them know that we will hold them accountable for inaccurate and unfair reporting.

Here is the letter I submitted to the editors. It is very short. and I really don't have time to put together anything punchier because it's late and I need to get off the computer, but I couldn't let this pass.

I have just read this article by Clare Murphy in the Guardian online "Comment is free" section.
I cannot let such a grossly innacurate article go uncorrected.
Clare Murphy starts her article by saying:

"There is a moral divide between freedom of speech and deliberately intimidating women at a difficult time – as we found when protesters waved their banners of dismembered foetuses at women as they entered our British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) clinic in London last month."
She is referring to a peaceful prayer vigil organised by a group called "40 Days For Life", which is in no way a protest.
One of the principle features of this group is that they NEVER have any gruesome pictures such as the one Clare Murphy describes.
She must know that this is a flat out untruth and is playing to the stereotypical, and rather repugnant images that many people have of anti abortion protests.

This very serious distortion of the truth has prompted me to submit my first ever complaint to the Press Complaints Commission.

Yours sincerely (etc).

Home ed: free stuff online.

2011-06-14T01:10:00.000+01:00

I've just printed out this fantastic, free PDF art study based on the popular Mike Venezia books on famous artists. I found the link on Elenas blog and I'm so glad I did. It's a treasure trove, look at all these printables!

The artists covered in this study are: Picasso, Van Gogh, Pollock, Monet, Matisse, O'keefe, Michaelangelo and Da Vinci. It looks great, and just what I need as our art study has been drifting a bit of late.
I'm really looking forward to starting on it with Colmcille.

I am astounded at the quality of work that some blogging homeschooling mothers come up with. Not to mention the generosity with which they share their hard work with the rest of us less talented numpties.

Speaking of sharing resources, one of my favorite bloggers is Shell, of Thinking Love No Twaddle.
She hits all the bases: politics, catholicism, mothering, frugal household management and of course lots and lots of posts about how home education works for her.
In addition to all this she creates great worksheets which she shares online through this website
I have recently printed off her "Brief history of the priesthood". It is VERY very good.
It isn't for small children. In fact, I have been reading it prior to giving it to Gabriel ( who is 13) and I have found it fascinating and informative.
I will use it for Colmcille, but I need to read it properly myself first so that I can modify it a bit for his level of understanding. It is PACKED with information.

Shell also happens to be living with a debilitating illness to which she occasionally gives little more than a passing mention.
I don't know how she does it, she's a powerhouse.
To Shell, and Kalei and this blogger whose name I don't know, and all the other blogging mothers out there who generously share their hard work with the rest of us: Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

Korea's Got Talent

2011-06-10T01:41:00.002+01:00

This makes my heart ache for suffering humanity, and all the children who never make it off the streets.
This young man has a great voice, and a heartbreaking story. His rather downcast expression, and very quiet and humble responses only hint at the suffering that he has endured.
It also makes me smile to see a Korean And and Dec though.

HT: Mommy Life

The dictatorship of relativism: Dawkins vision unfolds.

2011-06-07T11:11:00.001+01:00

Old Ma Dawkins, scourge of the faithful, has announced Year Zero for secularism.
Yesterday I read about his new college which will be like Oxford, but not, and yet twice the price.. So only for the children of very wealthy people who didn't manage to get in (The shame! And dash the pesky meritocracy!)

Oh and it will be led by devout atheists and will naturally be free from the taint of Thor or Zeus or any other god.

Today I read in the Irish Times:
FREEDOM OF expression and of religion “should be limited only by the need to respect the rights and freedoms of others”, according to the Dublin Declaration on Secularism and the Place of Religion in Public Life, adopted unanimously at the World Atheist Convention yesterday.
The declaration also states that “the sovereignty of the State is derived from the people and not from any God or gods”.
Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, well-known atheist Prof Richard Dawkins said the Irish Constitution should be reformed to “remove all influence of the Roman Catholic Church and all other churches . . . incorporating tolerance for all religions”.
Referring to the oath that must be taken by Irish presidents and judges, he said they might as well take an oath “to Zeus or Thor” as to God.
He “rejoiced” at the growth of secularism in Ireland and when he read the papers “about the pathetically diminished number of priests”.
He hoped the churches would “wither away”, describing the Catholic Church as “an evil institution . . . by far the worst where the churches are concerned”.
The three-day convention also launched Atheists Alliance International, a newly restructured umbrella group for atheists worldwide, whose first chairwoman is Tanya Smith of the Atheist Foundation of Australia.
Keynote speakers included Labour Senator Ivana Bacik, American science blogger PZ Myers and Iranian activist Maryam Namazie, of the British Council of Ex-Muslims.
Other speakers included Prof Dawkins, Danish neurobiologist Lone Frank and Indian author Aroup Chaterjee.
Organised by Atheist Ireland, the convention was attended by 350 delegates, many of them Irish, with a preponderance of young people in their 20s.
On education, the Dublin declaration says State education should be secular and “children should be taught about the diversity of religious and no-religious beliefs in an objective manner, with no faith formation in school hours”.
Children should also “be educated in critical thinking and the distinction between faith and reason as a guide to knowledge. Science should be taught free from religious interference.”
It says “freedom of conscience, religion and belief are private and unlimited” and that all blasphemy laws should be repealed. “There should be no right ‘not to be offended’ in law.”
Under the heading “Secular Democracy” it says: “The only reference in the Constitution to religion should be an affirmation that the State is secular.”
Public policy “should be formed by applying reason, not religious faith, to evidence” and “the State should be strictly neutral in matters of religion, and its absence, favouring none and discriminating against none”.
Religions, it says “should have no special financial consideration in public life, such as tax-free status for religious activities, or grants to promote religion or run faith schools” and that “membership of a religion should not be a basis for appointing a person to any State position”.
Where law is concerned it says “there should be one secular law for all, democratically decided and evenly enforced, with no jurisdiction for religious courts to settle civil matters or family disputes”.

I have some questions:
It seems that according to Dawkins secularist vision, we must in our ethical decision making, dispense with the religious values which have always informed them until now.
Since our ethical values are, at the ground, JudeoChristian, how do we make decisions on ethics?

The declaration also states that “the sovereignty of the State is derived from the people and not from any God or gods”.

If the will of the people is paramount, what does an avowedly secular state do when the majority want religion?

Is this a further step towards what His Holiness Benedict XVI, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church calls "The Dictatorship of Relativism"?

Explaining the Catholic Church to an atheist: my response to Al

2011-06-05T23:19:00.005+01:00

I wrote here about a question that was put to me on a local neighbourhood forum by a very convinced atheist called Al.

I won't bother copying here the preamble, in which I explain that the following answer is only partial, but will likely be best fleshed out in response to any questions, or objections he has.

As I said in my earlier post, I got some great input from some posters at The Catholic Spitfire Grill .

Here's how I responded to Al:

Firstly, I want to briefly address the doctrine of infallibility.
Infallibity is not to be confused with impeccability ( although it usually is)

Catholics can acknowledge the shameful episodes in church history, bad priests and wicked Popes and still see the Church as an institution that is divinely ordained and inspired ( Dante, who was a devout Catholic and believed that the Pope and the church were divinely inspired, placed at least one Pope in hell).
The doctrine of infallibilty refers to a negative protection. It holds that the Magisterium ( that is, the teaching authority of the church that rests in the College of Bishops, in communion with the Bishop of Rome) is infallible when it teaches on matters of faith and morals that have been passed down in unbroken succession from the apostles. In other words, our faith does not change. Our understanding may deepen...but teaching must always come DIRECTLY from the teaching of the Apostles as it has been passed down to us in unbroken succession.
So the church can be in error, and they can make mistakes ( like electing a Borgia) and get things wrong ( the Crusades and the inquisition were not the churches finest hours) But even if these things were bad ( although, in the context of the times, it is possible to make a reasonable defence of the Crusades) they did not result in a corresponding change in doctrine/dogma.
Even the very wicked womanising, murdering Popes did not attempt to change church teaching in order to make their bad behaviour permissible.
So a catholic can be sharply critical of the church, and yet also be faithful to the Magisterium of the Church. In fact we have some famous saints who rebuked their Popes.
Actually, considering the history of the church, catholics often regard the fact that the Catholic church is still here 2,000 years later as something of a miracle in itself.
We do not see the authority of the Church as earned, but rather that it is a gift that no human institution, by itself, could ever live up to.

Leah is an atheist who blogs here.
She is a student at Yale who is dating a catholic boy. Her blog strapline says " A geeky atheist picks fights with her catholic boyfriend"
It's a fascinating read. Some of it is a bit over my head, but I really love following the conversations of egg heads like these.
During the course of her blog she has had many conversations about catholicism and has aquired an impressive grasp of some very complicated catholic issues.
She belongs to an email list that I am a member of and I was interested to know how she would explain the need for church authority.
I really liked her answer so I am going to c&p it here:

Even as an atheist, it makes a lot more sense to me that Christianity would be better served when people were anchored in a church rather than left to their own devices. It's an error check, at the very least. You might tell your atheist friend that belonging to a church isn't that much different that the idea of peer review in science. Both systems substantially delay the acceptance of any new idea, to prevent large numbers of people from suddenly going wrong. A new teaching has to clear a high standard of evidence and be convincing to the people with the most experience and relevant knowledge. The scientific process of peer review is constituted the way it is because people so frequently go wrong on their own. And, presuming Christianity is true, the consequences for going wrong on your own are a lot smaller if your field is theoretical physics instead of theology/ethics.

It may take a lot more doing to convince your interlocutor that the Catholic church is 'a truth telling thing' as Chesterton said, but it might help to convince him that Christianity, like any field of study, needs some kind of regulatory institution.

To that, I want to add that sometimes the authority of the Church is compared to that of an umpire or a referee. You can see that the authority that rests in the umpire, or referee, does not require him to be personally without any fault or flaw, but nonetheless the game depends on his authority in order to avoid descending into chaos.

Al has responded to say that he is reading through it and will take his time, and will give me his thoughts in due course.

I'll post here when he does.

I just want to add that I'm keeping a copy of the discussion here, not to heap scorn on Al's position, but to keep a copy of an interesting exchange, and perhaps also because it might be of interest to other readers.

My thanks to Patricius and Part Time Pilgrim for their thoughts on the first post.

Again, if anyone has any thoughts on this I would be interested to hear them.

Theology of the Body: Third International Symposium 2011

2011-06-05T02:43:00.002+01:00

I'm having a busy weekend.
Amongst the usual domestic obligations and weekend activities, I have managed to steal away and attend a few of the talks at the Theology of The Body symposium 2011, Which, this year is taking place this year at St Mary's college, Strawberry Hill, in Twickenham, my husbands old Alma Mater,.

I think it's a great venue. Near enough to central London, but far enough out that there is plenty of space, and parking isn't a problem. And I hope the visiting Yanks, who usually appreciate a bit of ye olde historye, will enjoy Horace Walpoles magnificent, and slightly spooky, Gothic castle.

The weather has been glorious as well which is a great bonus. Although our visitors probably all packed their kagouls and fleeces expecting London drizzle, not this continental heatwave.
We Brits like to surprise our American friends.
Surprise and fear, fear and surprise. No one expects to pack for the Costa del Sol when they come to England.

I've taken so many notes and I really want to take a moment to blog about it so that I can remember some of the points that really made an impact on me.

I will say that Christopher West is a great speaker. He does an excellent job of presenting his material in a way that those unused to the rather fusty language of academia can easily grasp.
I am very glad that he is back in the saddle after his sabbatical.

Tomorrow, husband dearest is going in the morning on his own, and then I plan to follow a bit later with the children. If I'm lucky I might manage to leave the youngers with the older ones for a bit, and nip in to hear another speaker and then we'll all go together to the closing Mass at 12.30.

Explaining the Catholic Church to an atheist

2011-06-01T02:33:00.003+01:00

I have been having a discussion on a local forum about belief in God. As far as I can tell, I seem to be the only one who is an out-of-the-closet theist. There may be others lurking, but no one else posting apart from me.
It's a very small neighbourhood forum , but nonetheless it's interesting that the overwhelming concensus appears to be agnostic/atheist.
There was one Christian called Laurence who posted for a while. But we tangled a bit over doctrinal issues ( I felt that he just couldn't help taking side swipes at the Catholic church, even when he thought he was being reasonable) and I think I got the better of him and he seems to have decided to lie doggo for a while.
In all honesty, I think that's probably a good thing because he really was inclined to be a bit of a cartoon fundie and grist to the atheist mill. He spoke in the lingo that felt completely normal to him but often sounded quite alienating and patronising to anyone outside that milieu. As a consequence, some of the responses he elicited were quite sharp put downs and then he'd get huffy, and the conversations that ensued tended to generate more heat than light.
Anyway, he seems to be taking a back seat for a while, so I'm the resident Christian.
That suits me fine.
I have the 'joie de combat' and I enjoy a fesity back and forth, and tend to feel more exhilarated than wounded by the opposition. I think it's been good for me to cut my teeth ( apologetically speaking) in this way, on a small forum, but one where the people are mostly known and therefore tend to be a bit more accountable for their words.

It's a very local forum and they meet up fairly frequently in local pubs. Although I've only gone along once, I've met a few of them and will be going again in a few weeks time.
The most recent discussion has been about belief in God, but it's just about to morph into a discussion about the Catholic Church in particular, and the rather audacious claims that she makes regarding herself.

I thought I'd make copies here of the conversation as it unfolds from this point.
If anyone is interested in reading the earlier parts of the conversation you can find that by clicking here which is where it starts.

Al is a pretty conscientious secularist, friendly with Keith Porteous-Woods and Terry Sanderson of the National Secular Society and was very supportive of the "Protest the Pope" campaign just prior to the Papal visit last year.
I like him very much and I can appreciate that most of his objections to religion in general, and to the Catholic church in particular, are grounded in a rather noble ethical perspective. Nonetheless, I believe he is quite mistaken about the Catholic church, and I hope that I can begin to show him reasons that will lead him to reconsider his opposition.
His objection reminds me of Archbishop Fulton Sheens observation that "there are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church — which is, of course, quite a different thing."

So here's the comment I made that Al took issue with:

The concept of being a bible believing christian without an authoritative church doesn't stack up at all.
A bible only christian runs into the sand very quickly when he tries to maintain an infallible bible without an authoritative church.
You can't squeeze infallible bible juice out of a fallible catholic orange.
The church came before the bible. The early christians weren't wandering around with a bible tucked under their arms going off to bible study groups on wednesday evening.
The early church was Jewish and the Jewishness of Christianity is still very present in catholicism and in the catholic mass.
That is not the case in 21st century nu church which tends to revolve around a stirring sermon and worship songs.
That is the short answer, but I will try to put more flesh on the bones later.

Al responded:

I have as much difficulty with this as I do with bible-believing Christians of the fundamentalist persuasion. If I believe in anything it is the need for critical thinking, the necessity of questioning authority and orthodoxy, so the concept of an 'authoritative church' that includes a Pope who can be 'infallible' is, for me, well beyond the pale. And I don't want to get into a slanging match about your church, but with things like the Inquisition in its history, its record is a long way from impeccable and so I would have thought its 'authority' has simply not been earned.

I wrestled a bit with how to answer him. Not because I was stumped ( ha! as if!) but because I was a bit daunted by even beginning to answer.
There is simply so much to say and so many ways to say it.
I posted a question on an email list I belong to ( The Catholic Spitfire Grill) and asked for some thoughts about how I could answer this in a way that would make sense to an atheist.
I think that part of the problem I was having is that the question of the churches authority, presupposes a belief in God.
I'm quite used to having a discussion like this with other Christians, but Al doesn't believe in God.
The conversation was moving away from answering questions about the existence of God, and why theists are well within their rational rights, to specifically defending the Catholic Church and her claims to be a divine institution.
That felt a little strange to me, as I could see that, without believing in God to begin with, that could all easily sound deeply potty.
I got a couple of answers from the Spitfire Grill that really helped kick me off in the right direction.
In the next post I'll talk about how I responded to Al,
And meanwhile,I'd really like to hear any thoughts that anyone else has about how they would answer a question like this, and especially if there are any points that you think ought to be included!

Hitchens discusses abortion with Josef Mengele

2011-05-19T00:46:00.000+01:00

(or his latter day counterpart.)
This atheist scientist says he "works" with fetuses and they "look human but they are not".

"I have worked with aborted fetus's during the course of my scientific studies, and I DON'T believe the things that I have dealt with in the lab situation which have come from abortions are human beings. They LOOK like them they resemble them physically, but they are not human beings."

Where have we heard that line of argument before?
Hitch the Younger nails every one of his fallacious "arguments" for murder and exposes the piffle that smart people will reduce themselves to in order to justify murder as a moral good.
Save The Whales!
Save The Trees!
Save The Seals!
Save The Planet!
(And if you change your mind and want to kill them after all, give them their latin name instead and pretend that they are something else)

(HT: Robert at Love Undefiled )

Ireland

2011-05-16T00:53:00.004+01:00

Since getting home I've been having a pig of a time trying to upload most of my photos . Technical gizmos defeat me. So consequently I sulked and went on a blog strike.
Because that'll show technology to mess me around.

I think I've sulked long enough now however, so I'm going to give in and run with the few photos I've got.
We had such a great time in Ireland. The weather was untypical to say the least, and the sun shone every day. It didn't rain even once. I don't think I can remember a week in Ireland without at least some mizzle (mist/drizzle)

We got to spend time with some family.
My Aunt Kathleen came up from Cork with her husband and stayed for a couple of nights with us, and on Wednesday of Holy Week we had some more family ( my uncle Val, his wife Joan, my cousin Peter and Uncle Seamus) over for lunch.
We attended the Easter Triduum services at the lovely little church in Glasson, where my Uncle Seamus is PP.

We adore him. He baptised Colmcille and Honor in this church.
Of three brothers who became priests, Seamus is the only one still living.
Fr Paddy and Fr Peter both died far too young. Peter only less than two years ago, and Fr Paddy died very suddenly 7 years ago.
My father has also lost two other brothers: John and Tony.
All these deaths came far too early to strong, wonderful men who should all have lived well into old age. The loss of each of them has dealt a terrible blow to my father and his remaining brothers and sisters.

I miss Paddy terribly. He lived in England and I often used to talk with him in the evening when I had put the children to bed. His house in Dorchester was a lovely country retreat for us.
Death is so final.
When I was a child I remember Paddy coming to stay at our house and I wanted to follow him everywhere. He was huge fun and incredibly easy company. When he would retreat to his bedroom to read his Divine Office I followed him and climbed up on his knee and watched his lips mouthing the prayers.
I would pretend to do likewise and move my mouth and mutter under my breath as though I could read the words. I thought he'd be impressed.
If he noticed my pretence, he didn't let on.
When my Uncle Val gave me Paddy's very battered Breviary last week as a keepsake I felt very emotional and lonesome, for all those wonderful memories.And thankful too.

Anyway, mindful that my wonderful family are all on loan to me I want to make the most of dear Seamus while I have him. It's wonderful to have the opportunity to stay near enough that we can visit him quite often when we are in Ireland.

It's a lovely little church in a peaceful corner of the Irish countryside. The graveyard is beautifully kept .

Fr Seamus says that this is where he will be "planted".

Although we managed to attend all of the other Triduum services, the parish Stations of the Cross were scheduled to start a bit late for us, so we decided to do our own with the children.
The church's garden has very beautiful Stations with brief readings carved on each one:

The fifteenth station, the resurrection, is set beside a huge ancient bog oak which a local farmer dug up in his field and gave to Seamus to erect here. He dragged it behind the tractor, sparking off the road like a flint.
It is as hard as a diamond .
I think, if my memory serves me right, he said it was at least 6000 years old. So it grew in Ireland 4000 years before the birth of Christ. That's old.

The bog oak points to the crucifixion, the 11th station, which is both fitting, and slightly eerie.
How can anyone imagine 6000 years, let alone infinity?

We adore you O Christ and we praise you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

( Edited to add:
PS Did anyone notice the very elementary maths error in my original post regarding the age of the bog oak? Perhaps it slipped under the radar of most speedy readers, I hope so.
Thank goodness for the edit function. Seriously!)

Off to Ireland

2011-04-15T18:57:00.001+01:00

We are leaving shortly for Ireland, where we will spend Holy Week, rusticating in the arcadian hinterlands of Co.Offaly, far from the decadent fleshpots of the metropolis.
And the internet.
Wishing you all a happy Pascha!
xxx

Happy Mothers Day to me!

2011-04-04T00:56:00.002+01:00

I have this random collection of fairly recent photos that need an excuse to be posted.
I'm going to call it my mothers day indulgence.

These are my darlings, my jewels
The sweet pulse of my heart.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,

And to mothers, I heartily recommend this beautiful mother's day post by Lucy at an abundance of rainbows:

Today I also want to send flowers to all the mamas in the world.
May you see the beauty and dignity of your vocation reflected back to you in the eyes of your children. May you believe in yourself, in your wisdom and capacity to be the mother your own babies need. May you find all the grace and tenderness you share with you children poured back into you as your children grow and learn and become the men and women they were born to be.

May your children know to the depths of their souls how much you love them and may you always have patience and perseverance for the work of motherhood. May the days of little ones pass slowly for you, every moment treasured up in your heart, and may your big ones never completely untie that last apron string. May you find great joy in watching every step of your children's lives, from the first wobbly attempt to stand up all the way to making their own journey as parents or in some other adult vocation.

May you find comfort and mothering for the little girl who still looks out through your eyes and needs to be loved, to know herself truly precious. May you find support to strengthen you, whatever point in your mothering adventure you are in. And may the Lord God bless you and be with you as you share in His great task of creating and nurturing life.

Hey look at me!

2011-04-03T01:45:00.001+01:00

As a middle child I identify with this lion.:

America's Got Talent 1967

2011-03-31T01:47:00.000+01:00

Someones crying Lord

Oh wait, no, someones laughing Lord...

Hang about, someone is watching with mouth agape Lord, kumbayah

Someones peeping through their fingers Lord kumbayah

Someones wincing Lord, kumbayah

Ooh Loord Kumbayah.

Someones choking Lord, kumbayah

Someones LOLing Lord, kumbayah

Someone's ROFLing Lord, kumbayah

Ooohhh Looord kumbayaaah

(HT: The prolific Fr Zed)

I just nipped out for a pint of milk...

2011-03-28T00:02:00.006+01:00

It's been rather a while.
Has it really been three months?
Incroyable!
I got distracted elsewhere.
I found a new online place to play and being a shallow, fickle flibbertigibbit(sp?) with only so much time to spend online, I just wandered off and left my blog hanging in suspenders.
Humble apologies to anyone who's been wondering if all's well chez battlementsofrubies.

Here's what happened:
I was invited to join a new local neighbourhood forum. The sort where people mostly post about what's happening on Coronation Street, or The Archers, or ask questions about decent local restaurants and hairdressers.
Long story short ( and I'll get round to some of the long story later) I fell in. Like Alice down the rabbit hole.
Down, down, down.

And being the scrappy controversialist that I am, and delighting in the opportunity for a bit of swashbuckling , I got embroiled in all sorts of discussions which were very far removed from the usual more pedestrian fare.
Like Alice, I've gone among mad people. It was quite absorbing.
And I've only recently emerged blinking into the sunlight. Where did the time go?

This local forum has a bit of history because it was started in response to a growing frustration with an already well established but very badly run other local forum.

So the new forum was born, and I was invited to join.

And then shortly after, someone posted a comment about how the Pope "thinks condoms are good now"
And then someone responded and said this:

"Most of what the Catholic church (as well as other churches) says has a political aim as well as a religious purpose. I don't follow the news about the Pope, tbh, so I can't comment on the reason of his move and its timing, but I'm reasonably sure it's not because the church has suddenly come round to the right way of thinking.
I used to have several practising catholics among my friends when I lived in Italy - they all used contraception, sometimes more than one method at the same time. "Religious but not stupid", in the words of one of them."

A red rag to my bull. I couldn't let that go.

It was like letting the hare out of the trap.
And that's where it all kicked off.
You can go and read the conversation that unfolded here.

We covered a lot of stuff. At some point we were joined by a chap who works as a full time evangelist for the local Baptist church. He was very indignant by my defense of the churches teaching on contraception and wanted to know where all that was in the bible ( such grist to my popish mill!).
Later, when things had become quite convoluted, a newcomer asked for a precis of the discussion up to that point.
One of my interlocutors said this:

"Clare thinks her ability to string a sentence together in an effective manner will disguise the fact she is basically an RC supremacist standing in the way of sensible precautions for Africans likely to contract HIV"

Charming.
I responded by graciously thanking him for the compliment regarding my wordsmithery. I noted that the appellation "RC Supremacist", when spoken, becomes "arsey supremacist" which isn't necessarily so wide of the mark as it happens.

It was feisty, and reasonably good natured, mostly.
Only a fellow swashbuckler could understand my interest in discussions like these. Some friends of mine are completely mystified by why I would want to engage in an exchange that they would find draining and even hurtful.
But I don't. As I said, I enjoy the parry and lunge. I find it energising.
And having to answer my critics means that I learn a lot too.
It's a good discipline to have to be very careful about the claims one makes when ones audience is hostile and ready to seize upon innacuracies or exagerrated claims as proof of my idiocy.

At times I fancied I was one of those scrappy little karate kicking girls in Japanese films who end up taking on, and taking out , a roomful of men. As soon as one is dispatched, another pops up.

It was exhilarating at times, and frustrating at others.

One of my most challenging objectives was to make a point pithily without using too many words. That was hard. There is so much to say!

Mostly I struggle with brevity and want to cram too much into my response.

At one point I was told:

"Whether you like it or not if humans had (or do) follow the Catholic church's teaching on contraception there would be a total disaster. "

This was fairly typical of the general point of view.
And it did get a bit wearing constantly explaining why it was that, whether they liked it or not, if everyone followed the catholic churches teaching on sexuality, HIV would burn itself out within a single generation.

It should be obvious that the Catholic church is not simply telling people to cast off their condoms and carry on regardless.
And it should be easy to see how a catholic living a chaste life is at far less risk of catching HIV, than the sexual incontinent who puts his trust in the salvific power of the mighty condom.
But it isn't obvious at all to those who have been thoroughly inculcated with the slick marketing of the condom alongside the concept of "safe sex".
The condom is defended with a religious fervour.
Any criticism of the "safe sex" credo and the condomistas go spastic.
My interlocutors, who mostly saw the church as the enemy of poor Africans and women everywhere, seemed to imagine that hordes of sexually incontinent risk takers will mysteriously become obedient to the churches teaching in one area only: that of condom use.

It was an interesting conversation. But if you don't have time to read it, watch this video instead for a short nutshell presentation of why the Pope was right about condoms not being the answer to the problem of AIDS:

Anyway, in the three months I've been away from here, it's because I've been busy over there.
We went from condoms to arguments for the existence of God, to discussions between the Baptist evangelist and I about Sola Scriptura and free will ( he doesn't believe we have it) to the authority of the church.
Inevitably we ended up with the hottest of hot potatoes: abortion.
I went out to meet the culture, as Fr Barron would say, with musket, fife and drum.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to online lately.
I'm sorry I've been gone so long .
It's nice to be back.

Story time with Grandad: Little red Riding Hood.

2010-12-04T00:07:00.001Z

While my father was reading to the girls last week, I sneakily nipped into the utility room, fired up the mobile phone and took a video. I'm not usually very good at being on the spot with technology to capture the moment when it presents itself. But I'm glad I managed to catch this for posterity.

I love hearing my father read stories, and it's adorable to see the girls enjoying it too. Funnily enough, I don't 'hear' his accent when I'm speaking to him, but I notice it on a recording. Don't know why that is.

( Memo to self: Pipe down when recording, ones voice is awfully loud and annoying)

More snow news

2010-12-03T23:39:00.000Z

The urchins are loving the snow.
Dominic and Colmcille went out for a fight and Colmcille came off worst. In fact I don't think he managed to land even one on the far too fleet of foot Dominic.
It wasn't a fair fight really.

I meant to take a photo when I opened the door to them but the phone was on video mode.

Boys. You have to love them.

And for Gabriel ( because I know he'll enjoy this, and he's under the weather with flu at the moment) here's a video of the Irish Dominicans having a snowfight :

(HT: Fr Tim)

From your 24/7 rolling news service...This just in

2010-12-03T23:20:00.002Z

Snow news.
A woman dialled emergency services today after thieves made off with her snowman.
She had given him pound coins for eyes and teaspoons for arms ( hmmm, teaspoons?) and the brigands made off with those too.

Listen here to the audio of her frantic call for help.
"There's been a theft from outside my house." She said.
"I haven't been out to check on him for five hours but I went outside for a fag and he's gone."
When she was asked who had gone, the woman replied: "My snowman. I thought that with it being icy and there not being anybody about, he'd be safe."
She was then asked whether it was an ornament, and answered: "No, a snowman made of snow, I made him myself.

It ain't a nice road but at the end of the day, you don't expect someone to nick your snowman, you know what I mean?"

The police did not really know what madam meant and were not amused.

"I went outside for a fag and he's gone"

Honors first haircut

2010-11-23T00:42:00.002Z

Honor had her first haircut last week.

Auntie Shirley is hairdresser by Royal appointment to all of us, and proper clever with the old shears.

Until a few years ago I used to take the children in to Carnaby St where she worked and get us all sharpened up and then we'd go off on a visit to a gallery somewhere. That was fun.

But since Shirley had Riley four years ago, and then I had the girls, the getting there became hard work, and less fun.
So now we go round to Shirleys in the evening for our makeover instead.

Colmcille was first up for the chop ( no pictures of him mid chop, but some after shots to follow)
which gave Honor enough time to settle and even feel slightly envious of the attention being given to his over grown barnet.
A little barnet envy was the aim at any rate. Three year olds are tricky and one has to be one step ahead of their trickiness if one hopes to secure their co operation.

So although Honors haircut was the Main Event, I affected cool disinterest in Honors hair, and oohed and aahed over Colmcilles while she sat on my lap and buried her head in my shoulder, all the while stealing glances at Colmcilles diminishing bush whenever she thought no one was looking .
If at this point I had told her how lovely it would be if she had her haircut too, or cajoled her to look at the lovely haircut Shirley was giving Colmcille, and didn't she want one too? all bets would have been off.
But like I said :taps nose: ...
one step ahead...

Softly, softly catchee monkey...
By the time Colmcilles turn in the chair came to an end she was practically begging to be shorn.
She sat very still (mostly) and was pleased to wear the crinkly adult sized gown which she kept fingering lovingly .

When she had warmed up, Mark took these snaps of her. These last three, taken after the gown came off, are great.

She completely lost her earlier self consciousness and was delighted with herself.

Marie-Aibhlinn is still quite a long way off needing a haircut. I love nuzzling her little baby head.

She's almost walking and this is her favourite spot. Standing beside me holding on to my lap.
She's a little kitten.

And while I don't have any "before" pictures of Colmcille, but he was starting to resemble cousin Itt

This is a vast improvement.

( Backing Up) My Daddy Taught Me Good!

2010-10-24T16:49:00.000+01:00

I can relate to this lady.
Although I've never been interviewed by the press after a robbery, I think this is how I might tell the tale:

I'm not sure how they made a song out of it, but it's catchy:

HT: Creative Minority Report.

40 Days For Life in London

2010-10-22T15:05:00.001+01:00

This post was originally part of a 7Quick Takes, but I gave it a post of it's own when I re read it and realised that it was too long and didn't really belong there.

Never a dull moment.
Outside the Marie Stopes clinic again yesterday with the children when a Volvo estate drew up alongside us. The window lowered and the smart looking lady driver, addressed Colmcille in clipped tones "Where's your mother?" I responded with a slightly wary, stiff smile that she was standing right beside him.
Without missing a beat, or acknowledging me at all, the driver continued to address him. Gimlet eyed she leaned out of her window glaring at him "Do you know what that means?" ( I presume she was referring to the sign which said "Pray to end abortion".)

I stepped forward to her car to answer her, and to deflect her attention from Colmcille, but she leaned past me and said again to him, this time in a louder voice "How old are you?"
And then again, in a voice that was growing more shrill " Do you know what that means?". despite the twinset and pearls and the Volvo estate, it was pretty clear to me that some violent emotions were simmering below the surface that could just bust out at any time. This is where a little experience both in A&E and on Labour ward came in handy. You meet a lot of people on the edge there.

Mindful of the old adage of a soft word turning away wrath, and not wanting an exchange to get out of control, especially infront of the children, I kept my voice as quiet and steady as I could manage.
I told her that I would answer her question but that she mustn't address him please. She responded that in bringing my son with me I had made him a "public voice". I repeated that he was no such thing and that she was absolutely not to speak to him, that her tone was hostile and I would answer any questions she wanted to ask. She snapped back that she was a mother and knew how to speak to children ( I mentally congratulated myself for not rolling my eyes at this). I noticed she had a sleeping toddler in a car seat in the back of the car.
This time she craned her neck out of the window and shouted at him "How old are you?"
Poor Colmcille. He had immediately perceived that this was a mean and angry lady from the outset and was consequently, and quite sensibly, saying nothing. I turned to him and told him that I would answer this lady's questions and that he was quite right not to say anything at all.
Every time I tried to respond to her, she would shout me down with a new accusation. Each time she did that I stopped talking and waited for her to finish. After this had happened four or five times I asked her if she wanted to hear my answer because I was having a hard time finishing a sentence owing to the fact that she kept interrupting me. At this she appeared shocked and said "Oh you're rude! You're not setting a very good example for this..." she waved her hand at the three people standing on the pavement praying the Stations of The Cross and searched for the right term " this...cause" She dropped that word out of her mouth as though she was spitting out something nasty she just ate.

Much of her objection seemed to centre on what she saw as my "brainwashing" of my son, and "using him" to "push my own agenda" on people. I explained, at least when she wasn't talking over me I tried to explain, that I believe that it is a parents vital function to pass on their values to their children. And that among our most cherished values is the passionate belief that all human life is most precious and worth defending.I also tried to explain to her that I believe it is possible to be truthful in what we say to our children about sensitive or "adult" matters, without giving them the whole unvarnished facts.
I think "appropriate" is the word here.
So he knows that when we are talking about abortion we are talking about mothers who, for whatever reason, are scared and feel unable to cope with having a baby ( and by the way, I think there are many good reasons for feeling scared and unable to cope and I don't minimise that one bit. These mothers should never be caricatured as heartless or cold) So I haven't explained the full meaning of abortion, the heartbreaking reality that it kills a baby before it is born and the various means by which this is done. And I would have tried to explain this to her. But she really didn't hear me, and she wasn't prepared to listen anyway.

At some point during our fruitless exchange a couple of cars were backed up behind her and she needed to move off. "I'm aborting you" she snapped as the window slid up and she moved off.
After she had gone, the other three, who had been quietly continuing to pray, were very kind and encouraging and commended me for having remained calm during the exchange. I was glad that they had stayed out of it rather than being tempted to chime in .
I was pleased with the way I had managed to respond to her, in as much as I hadn't lost my temper or said anything that I regretted, but I was surprised that I was a bit shaken inside.

The week before a man on a Boris bike had come past and sounded off at me for the "immorality" of taking children along to the vigil ( at that time I only had that baby and the toddler so they weren't really aware of what he was saying)
He was incensed at the presence of pro lifers outside the clinic and ranted, mostly pretty incoherently, about everything from the catholic church to paedophilia to homophobia. Myself and another chap answered all his questions and responded to many of his allegations, and when he'd had enough he pointed to each of us in turn and gave us his expert diagnosis: "You're a f***ing idiot, and you're a f***ing idiot" and so on, until he got to me and said "and YOU, you're a f***ing immoral, irresponsible idiot".
It was oddly satisfying to be singled out for a little extra abuse.
And with that he jumped on his bike and cycled off, and with a final flourish he showed us all the finger and shouted over his shoulder "You're all f***ing lunatic idiots!"
And the funny thing is, that hadn't bothered me at all. In fact it was quite invigorating.
But this woman was different.

And 20 minutes later she came back.
The window drew down and she said to me, this time with a taut smile "I just want to let you know that I'm reporting you to child protection".
There was a pregnant pause as we regarded eachother. At this point my impulse was to giggle, because honestly, it was such an absurd threat, but when I did find my voice, I confined myself to saying, with a straight face " How are you going to do that? You don't know who I am"
To which she responded seriously, as she indicated down the street "My friend took your photograph".
I half imagined La Femme Nikita was out there in the shadows, observing us from behind a telephoto lens
Perhaps I was meant to believe that even as we spoke, an All Ports Alert had been issued with my photograph attached. " Mother forcing her incorrect views on her child! If you see her do not approach!".

As one of the others observed afterwards, it seems that we are expected to keep our children as empty, value free vessels for the state to fill up as the culture dictates. Parents values = "evil brainwashing".

7 Quick Takes

2010-10-22T13:18:00.003+01:00

1.)

I excised Quick Take number one because it was too long to be a Quick Take.
If you want to read it go here!

2.)

I found this video for childen about the Fatima story and wanted to keep it somewhere so that I could show it to the children later. So I thought I'd put it on my blog since it's the best way of ensuring that I'll be able to find it again. Please ignore ( unless a cartoon of the Fatima story is your kind of thing! )

3.)

My son showed me this. For some reason the last line just cracks me up. It's the sort of thing a 3 year old would say.

4.)

This is something to keep you ( or the children) fascinated for hours:
World clock

A friend sent it to me. Here's what he says:

"Not only does it tell the exact time anywhere in the world but also thousands of other bits of information based on right now. The more you check through and analyse all of the info available the more absorbing it becomes.

It updates information automatically every fraction of a second and runs on a yearly, monthly, weekly or daily basis covering not just time anywhere in the world but also things like births, deaths ( + cause ) , cereal crops grown, cars and bicycle built, no of spam mails sent worldwide, Nigerian scam mails (an interesting one to include) crimes and types of in the US etc etc etc

Once you have exhausted all of the buttons on the front page make a click just to the right of the arrow bottom left and a new page opens with further icons along the top.

Clicking on ALL APPS opens a whole raft of more specific ones including on page 3 a page for the number of deaths in the Holocaust by this date in October in 1944.

An interesting, and very telling and sad one is to compare the number of deaths from war since Jan 1st 2010 with the number of abortions and suicides

Glancing just now I could see

WAR 146,000

DROWNING 309,000

SUICIDE 674,000

ABORTION 33million 200,000 "

5.)

My friends 15 year old daughter has had enough of the aggressively sexualised images that clothing companies use to market their brand at her and her friends.
Jack Wills have attracted some controversy in the past over their use of partial nudity ( and smoking, although personally that's the least of my worries) in their seasonal "handbooks".
They have rather cynically found a way around this by requiring customers to be 18 or over to be able to sign up to recieve the handbook. Of course this in no way means that the handbook won't find it's way into the hands of fashion conscious, cool hunting young tweens and in fact increases it's allure for them.
This makes them cynically manipulative gits in my opinion.
Here's Veronicas letter:

Dear Sir/Madam
Honestly, I have so far been a fond buyer of your “fabulously British” clothes. Yet receiving the termly handbook brings me to a dilemma as to whether I should continue to support your stores. The advertisements you produce, especially in this Autumn Handbook 2010, seems far too shallow for the expensive smart clothing you produce. Is it really necessary for you to publish such explicit and Graphic imagery of two almost nude youths in bed or two young women passionately kissing? I personally do not give these images any artistic merit as these images are close to pornographic, involving as they do, highly sexualised scenes. You should consider that young girls read these handbooks.
I wonder what your intention is in encouraging young girls to see such sexualised images; and this at a time where paedophilia seems to be the worst of all crimes. Your implicit claim that these images are “Fabulously British” and something to aspire to is offensive to the patriots!
I would be more likely to purchase from Jack Wills again if I were not concerned that I might be supporting such cheap and shallow minded imagery.

Yours Faithfully
(signed)

Good for her!

6.)

Two very good articles on contraception this week in the blogosphere.

This one,which I came across over here.

And this one over at the always readable and thought provoking Conversion Diary.

Here's a teaser:

When people see me out and about with my four young children, one of the most common questions I get is, “Do you want more?” (Or, more accurately, “DO YOU WANT MORE?!?!?!?!“)

I’m never sure what to say. “Yes” doesn’t sound quite right. Our fourth baby in four-and-a-half years is only eighteen months old, so I can’t say that I’ve spent a lot of time yearning for another baby lately. In fact, I’ve never really been a baby person. I’ve never had that moment other women talk about of holding a newborn and thinking, “Oh, I want one!” On the other hand, “no” doesn’t encapsulate what I’m feeling either.

I’ve thought about this a lot over that past few months, and I eventually realized that I have such a hard time coming up with the answer simply because it’s not the right question. Here’s why:

6 reasons why “Do you want more?” isn’t the right question

1. It’s not all about me

When I used to think about pregnancy and babies, I wouldn’t think a whole lot further than the first couple years of new life and how it would impact me. My first thoughts would be along the lines of, “But I don’t feel like being pregnant!” or “I don’t want to deal with all the work of the baby period!”

Thanks in part to my conversion and in part to watching my children grow, I’ve since had the epiphany of realizing that those high-maintenance pregnancies and fussy newborns are actual human beings! I know this sounds crazy, but I had a total mental disconnect where I kind of forgot that all the adults I know and love were once fetuses and newborns themselves. I hadn’t internalized the fact that a new pregnancy will lead to a full human being, just like me. Now that I get it, when I evaluate when and if to have more children, I try to remember to consider the life of the potential new man or woman as much as I consider his or her impact on my own life.

2. It’s not all about what I want

One of the biggest revelations of my conversion was this:

Doing what I want ≠ Happiness

All my life I thought that if I could just spend enough time meditating on what I feel like doing and then amass enough control over my life to go do it, I’d finally have lasting happiness. I was shocked when I found out that that assumption was wrong. I was more shocked when I realized what is the path to lasting happiness: serving others.

I used to think that if I could just hurry up and stop having kids so that I could get back to living “my” life, I’d be happy. Now I see that, not only is serving others the right thing to do, but it’s the only path to joy and peace. So the ideas of not having more children vs. having more children aren’t all that different: either way, I’ll be sacrificing and serving.

It's a great piece. I really recommend clicking over and reading the rest over at Jens blog.

7.)

I thought this was funny. A friend of mine ( the same one that sent me the clock) recieved this unsolicited email from someone rejoicing in a most beautifully apt name:

How are you today, I hope all is well with you .I am sorry to worry you with my Proposal for a relationship with you, but I know that you will grant my request in good sense and understanding, My name is miss Shady I saw your contact today in the internet forum site and became interested in you, I will also like to know more about you. I’m hoping to hear from you soon so that I can send you more details about my self including my picture. I believe we can move from here. Bear in mind that friendship and Love has no colors barrier, no educational back ground barrier, no social-economic barrier, religious, language, nationality or distance barrier, the only important thing there is love.

Yours Sincerely
Shady

OK. I totally realise that I am incapable of making my takes "quick".
Mea culpa.
To see Quick Takes properly done, go here.

On my mind

2010-10-20T12:18:00.000+01:00

I'm heading out of the door shortly, and so in haste. But if anyone passes this way please, go here.
Pray for this little boy and his mother.

Little baby James Fulton is on my mind a lot lately, especially when I get a quiet thinking moment here.
His mummy is a weary, anxious champion.
It's hard to trust when we are afraid and tired.

When I was afraid and tired I sat down on the battlefield, complained a lot, and let the tanks roll on over me.
It's pretty crushing.
That's all.

My smiling and beguiling one.

2010-10-19T00:48:00.001+01:00

Marie Aibhlinn was a year old on the 13th of October.

For a whole year our family has revelled once again in the special sweetness a new baby brings to the home.

My dear ones, my darling ones, my smiling and beguiling ones.

How much I love them all.

To live this life, with these people, is such an incredible gift. My heart is so full I can feel it. It sometimes feels as though it might burst .

My husband and children are an immense blessing.

I know God has been kind to me.

Another birthday.

Observant Catholic apparitionistas will recognise the 13th of October as as the anniversary of the day on which the sun danced and spun in the sky at Fatima in 1917.

An auspicious date on which to celebrate the anniversary of our own little darling ray of sunshine.

Inspired by this post at Catholic Cuisine, I made my own version of a spinning sun cake:

It's not easy to see the icing in this picture, but there were psychedelic swirls of acid lemon and orange in the buttercream.

And for extra razzle dazzle I put a sparkler in the middle along with the candle.

Always safety conscious, Pat was worried that an enthusiastic little hand might reach out to grab the sparkler so he made everyone stand back.

Honor wanted another blow at the candle ( Marie-Aibhlinn wasn't keen on going anywhere near the cake after the mini fireworks display)

And we sing another chorus of "Happy Birthday!"
Cheers and applause, slices of cake, lots of jammy crumby messes around the high chair and on faces, slightly queasy full up tummies and happy hearts. Bathtime, teeth and pyjamas. Sleepyheads carried and chivvied to bed.
Simple birthdays at home are the stuff of beautiful memories.

She's my dear my darling one

Her eyes so sparkling, full of fun

No other, no other, is like the likes of her

Oh she's my dear my darling one
My smiling and beguiling one

I love the ground she crawls upon

My darling Irish girl

Marie Stopes: No Children Allowed

2010-10-06T02:38:00.001+01:00

The children and I went again to the prayer vigil outside Marie Stopes House.

I had been thinking about how to explain the purpose of our trip to Colmcille ,who is old enough to read the signs, but too young I feel, to need to understand what it really means.
He is a very innocent and optimistic child and I want to protect that while I can. So I just explained that some mummies are very scared when they find out that they are having a baby and worry that they won't be able to cope.
When we pray to end abortion, we are praying for all those mummies and their babies.

Initially, because I was concerned about offending his innocence, I was undecided about taking him along, But I became very determined to attend these vigils with the children when I can because I think the sight of children is a strong rebuke to the culture of death. And also I think it is very encouraging to other pro lifers to have mothers and children join them.

The parish Priest of my local church told me that when he attended the vigil a man turned up with his pregnant wife and young child. He was quite adamant that this new pregnancy should not continue. It seems that when the wife went in for her appointment, the husband was asked to wait outside the clinic with the child.

Whilst he was waiting on the pavement Fr. John managed to have a conversation with him. He pointed out to him that it was unusual treatment to ask a husband and child to wait outside in the street whilst the mother is being seen. Ordinarily the person accompanying the woman would at least expect to be able to wait somewhere inside, and little comforts might be provided, like toys for the children.

But this is an establishment where the visible presence of children is an unwelcome and discomfiting reminder of the nature of their business.

This struck a chord with the husband who agreed with Fr John's observation.

When I heard this I became determined to attend the vigil when I can with the children.

Although the older ones are at school during the day , I home educate the youngers, so it's reasonably easy, in theory, to find a bit of time to go up there.

The tricky bit is going on the underground. I think next time I'm going to go to Tottenham Court Rd and walk. It's further away, but at least I could get straight there without having to change lines.

But whenever we've gone it's been fine. Colmcille pushes Honor up and down the road in her buggy holding a little 40 Days For Life sign over his head. I manage with Marie-Aibhlinn in the sling. Passers by smile at them. We get doughnuts on the way home.

(These photos were emailed to me by Claz , an enthusiastic young catholic who also blogs. Nice to meet you Claz! ).

Last time I was there I agreed to be interviewed by Greg Clovis for EWTN. I'm eyeing the pro life websites a little trepidatiously in case I see myself, but nothings come up yet. Perhaps they won't even use it.

At one point while I was talking on camera, I gestured dramatically with my hand to the clinic over the road, just as a man came past me with his takeaway coffee and sandwiches. I half walloped him, but he ducked like a ninja without spilling his coffee.
That little bit of "pro life aggression" could be interesting on the video. Signs and cute children are eye catching, but nothing grabs the attention like a little wallop round the chops .

"Let me tell you why I believe abortion is the crucial issue of our age. First, because abortion, too, is about living within the truth. The right to life is the foundation of every other human right. If that right is not inviolate, then no right can be guaranteed. Or to put it more bluntly: Homicide is homicide, no matter how small the victim."

~ Most Reverend Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver, CO, Living within the truth: Religious liberty and Catholic mission in the new order of the world, August 24, 2010

(Update: Kate from At Home In My Fathers House has also posted about her vigil outside the London clinic, read about it here.)

A Random Act of Kindness

2010-10-02T01:33:00.002+01:00

In hindsight I should have taken the tube in to the home ed National Gallery visit on Wednesday.

But, feeling a bit daunted by thoughts of navigating vertiginously steep escalators and negotiating yawning mind-the-gap leaps with buggy, bags and children, I decided to hang the congestion charge and let the Caravelle take the strain.

Problem one became apparent as I was sailing down the Marylebone Road.
I had forgotten that I have a completely appalling sense of direction.
Ever remember playing Blind Mans Buff? When they blindfold you and spin you round and you grope around, not knowing what's up or down let alone left or right? That's the feeling I have when I'm on less familiar roads.
I find my way around by recognising landmarks, so if I'm thrown off my usual track I'm lost. I have no sense of the geographical relation of one place to another.
Actually, that shouldn't have been such a problem since husband dear has equipped his directionally challenged wife with a satnav. And satnav will get you there in the end. But satnav is no respecter of the peculiarities of London traffic.
So husband dear is trying to direct me over the mobile phone ( hands free, no worries!) away from the traffic hotspots of Oxford Circus and Regent Street.
But it's no good. I was as one drawn by an unseen hand into the vortex. And I was late already.

Problem two emerged as The Knowledge ( which is what we call husband dear owing to his intimate knowledge of every corner and alley of this city) was helping me to find a place to park. He directed me to St James's Square and, just as he said there would be, on my left was permit only parking and on my right were the pay and display spaces.
Wow, I couldn't believe my luck. Apart from some white lorries, almost every space was empty!
This was too good to be true I thought.
And it was.
The parking bays were suspended for filming. The only parking bays in use were occupied by humungous film catering behemoths. At this stage I was resigned to being late.
But I was grinding my teeth at having to pay the congestion charge, plus parking ( when I found a space) for the privilege of sitting in traffic getting tension induced lock jaw instead of being at the gallery hearing about Canaletto's Stonemasons Yard with the rest of our group..
Long story short, I did eventually find a space after some cruising around. And after putting £9.50 in the ticket machine and strapping the baby into the Ergo, and Honor into the buggy and loading up Colmcille, my little pack mule, with bags,I was ready to hit the gallery. Even if we'd missed the first half of the talk we could still jump in half way.
But feeling blindmans buffish, I didn't know if the Gallery was behind me, or in front.
So I saw this very smart looking lady walking towards me, and this is where the story gets to the good bit..
As I start to ask her for directions I notice she is speaking on the phone, and she gestures to me to wait. She tells the person she is speaking to that she has to go and then she hangs up and beams at the children as she says hello to them.
As she's giving me directions she explains that it's going to take 15, maybe 20 minutes to walk there.
My heart sinks. I think that we will have missed almost the entire guided tour by the time we catch up with our group.
And then, she see's something over my shoulder and pauses, she waves her arm and changes tack.
"I'm going to put you in a taxi" she says decisively as she walks over to the black cab she's just hailed.
I follow her slightly confused and she calls out "get in, I've paid him"
Before I know it, we're all inside, baby and buggy and all.
It all happened so quickly, I just got the chance to jump out and give her a hug before we drove off.
The driver was amused and touched when I told him that I didn't know her, that I'd just stopped to ask her for directions. He said he'd never seen anyone do that before.
I have no idea why she did that. Perhaps she liked the look of us and acted on impulse, perhaps she was "paying it forward".

But that one random act of kindness from a stranger was enough to nullify all the frustrations and tensions of my journey up until that point. It turned my day into a good day. A wonderful day.

And in case you're wondering, we did catch up with our group at the gallery in time for the second half of the talk. Afterwards, we had lunch in the car, and then crawled in stop start traffic and heavy rain to Whitfield Street where we spent half an hour under umbrellas with the 40 Days vigil outside Marie Stopes house before heading home.

A very good day after all, and a lesson in the impact of kindness from a stranger.
So now I'll be looking for an opportunity to "pay it forward".
But, unless husbands driving, I'll be taking the tube in future.

20 Questions Maries Stopes won't answer

2010-09-30T02:35:00.005+01:00

Back in May following the controversial airing of a Marie Stopes abortion ad on TV, their spokesperson Judy Douglas said that they aimed to open up the debate, promote honest discussion, and break one of societies last remaining taboo's.

"Abortion has been legal in this country for more than 40 years and we believe it is time to open up the debate,"

She said.

We like it when we hear that organisations seek to be transparent. We feel it means we can trust them more because they have nothing to hide.
And they know that we like it. That's why you'll be hard pressed to find an election manifesto, from parliament to the PTA, which doesn't include the words "open" and "honest".

I'm cynical about an organisation whose foundress was a fanatical supporter of eugenics and an admirer of Adolf Hitler; whose slogan "Joyful and Deliberate Motherhood, A Safe Light in our Racial Darkness."doesn't appear on the Marie Stopes promotional bumph today; who set up birth control centres to deal with the problem of what she referred to as "human weeds" and "morons, misfits and the maladjusted...over running the human garden". So this quote made me cock an eyebrow:

"Research indicates that 42 percent of adults have no idea where to go — apart from their GP — for specialist advice about an unplanned pregnancy, even though one in three women in the U.K. will have an abortion in their lifetime," Judy Douglas, from Maria Stopes, told Sky News Online.

Kerching! Think of the untapped market out there. Come on people, come out of your myopic NHS mindset. You have choice! Get out your Visa card and consider the marketplace of options you have to destroy your children.:

Marie Stopes Abortion fees:

Pregnancy test            £5
Telephone consultation     £80
One to one consultation     £80
(This is separate to the fees for any treatment. Every person having an abortion has a consultation first, so the total fee is for the consultation fee plus the treatment fee. You can choose to have either a telephone consultation or a one to one consultation at the centre).

Medical abortion (abortion pill) up to 9 weeks     £440

Surgical abortion
Up to 12 weeks, non anaesthetic     £510
Up to 14 weeks conscious sedation     £585
Up to 14 weeks general anaesthetic     £640
Over 14-19 weeks conscious sedation     £740
Over 14-19 weeks general anaesthetic     £785
Over 19-24 weeks general anaesthetic     £1720
Please note that an additional £35 fee is charged for all abortion services
carried out during weekends.
Abortion aftercare service     free

Sterilisation with abortion up to 13 weeks     £1500

Depo-Provera     £40
IUD fitted at time of treatment     £70
Mirena IUD fitted at time of treatment     £150
Implant (Implanon) at time of treatment     £160
Contraceptive pill supplies are free for clients attending for abortion

The cost of a face-to-face initial consultation is £80 or you may wish to use our telephone consultation service at a cost of £80. This fee is for the consultation part of the service only and is non-refundable.

For the face-to-face consultation you can pay this when you come to the centre. Please see paying for the procedure for details about how you can pay.

For the telephone consultation, you must pay for this at the time of the consultation.

We can take the following credit / debit cards: Mastercard, Visa or Switch, Delta, Solo, and Electron.

Paying for the procedure

On arrival at the centre you will be asked for payment. Please note that an additional £35 fee is charged for all abortion services carried out during weekends.

You can choose to pay by cash, Mastercard, Visa, Switch, Delta, Solo, or Electron.

Well I don't know much about the cost of an abortion, but that doesn't look like "charity prices" to me.
But nota bene:

"A registered charity, Marie Stopes International also works around the world in 43 countries. Surplus funds from the UK clinics, help support vital sexual and reproductive healthcare programmes in some of the world’s poorest regions. So by using Marie Stopes International services in the UK, you are also helping improve the lives of nearly 6 million people every year."

So, when you give your money to the open and honest, brave taboo smashing Marie Stopes, it does double duty. You can feel good knowing that you're helping women in poor countries to get abortions too. Warm glow!

Well Mike Gilbart-Smith, who is a pastor of a Baptist church in Fulham, decided to take them up on their offer to open up the debate.
He sent MSI a letter asking them 20 questions that he couldn't find answers to on their website.
This is the letter he sent:

Dear Tony,

I’m writing as a pastor of a church who is going to be addressing the issue of abortion in my teaching and in some upcoming articles in the light of your recent advertising. I want to make sure that I would not be misrepresenting you in any way at all, though I should make clear to you that I do believe that abortion, and particularly providing abortion is immoral.

However, I also want to be as courteous as I can with those with whom I disagree. I do not want to assume bad motivation for what you are doing. I understand the arguments of wanting to provide “safe” (obviously for the mother and not the baby) abortion when your fear is that if “safe” abortion were not provided, then back street abortion would inevitably be sought. The compassion you show to mothers I believe to be genuine, but misplaced.

I do happen to agree with what I heard a Marie Stopes spokesperson say when she was hoping that there would be a removing of the taboo about speaking about abortion. I too hope that this taboo will be removed so that there can be an honest public debate about abortion.

To contribute to this debate I hope to write some articles about abortion and about Marie Stopes in particular. There is much information on your website, but there were some questions that I didn’t find answers to, which I would be very grateful if you’d answer.

I must also be clear that intend to distribute your answers.

If you would rather meet in person to have a face to face conversation, I would also be very glad to do that.

(I will use the term “mother” for the pregnant woman). Feel free to exchange the term for “Pregnant woman” if you would prefer that term, or to use another term of your choosing.

1)      When speaking to a mother will you always make it clear exactly what help is available to mothers who decide to keep the baby.
2)      What ongoing support do you offer to mothers who decide to keep the baby?
3)      Do you always ask mothers if they are feeling pressurised into having abortions from others (e.g. boyfriends, husbands, parents, or the general expectations of society)?
(Several women whom I have spoken to who have had abortions have told me that they felt immense pressure that in a society where abortion is legal, there will be people telling them that having an abortion is “doing the right thing” and that it is irresponsible to have the baby.)
4)      Do you always suggest to mothers that it is never irresponsible to carry a baby and give birth once they are pregnant?
5)      I’ve noticed in your FAQ’s that in more than sixty questions there is a lot of information about abortion, but there is no information on the development of the foetus. Do you think that the developmental stage of the foetus should be a factor that a mother should be informed about in order to have adequate information in making a decision as to whether to have an abortion?
6)      I understand that you must legally have a sonographic scan before an abortion is carried out. What details from that scan will you always communicate to the mother so that she might make a correctly informed decision?
a.      Will you always tell the mother the estimated age of the foetus?
b.      Will you always tell the mother what this corresponds to in terms of development?
c.       Could you outline the detail that you would go into as to the development of the foetus, with the following being a suggestive rather than an exhaustive list?
i.      Will you tell the mother whether there is a heartbeat?
ii.      Will you tell the mother whether the child has a brain?
iii.      Will you tell the mother whether the child has a limbs and fingers and fingernails?
iv.      Will you tell the mother whether the child has ears eyes and a nose?
v.      Will you tell the mother which internal organs of the child are functional?
vi.      Will you tell the mother the gender of the foetus if that is discernable?

d.      If you don’t volunteer that information do you always ask the mother if she would be interested in knowing the facts about the foetus’ development in order to help her make her decision?
7)      Do you have a policy in training staff that they avoid the terms “baby” or “child” in reference to the foetus?
8)      Do you have a policy encouraging staff to use the term “pregnancy” instead of “foetus” or an equivalent term that would point to the fact that there is an organism other than the mother involved in the pregnancy?
9)      Do you have a position as an organisation about when a human embryo/foetus becomes a human being?
10) Do you think that it would be morally acceptable to provide abortion even if you believed the foetus was already a human being?
11) If infanticide were legalised in some country, would you offer that as a service?
12) What is the minimum time allowed for a proper counselling session to look through all possible options before going ahead with an abortion?
13) How much did the NHs pay you last year to carry out abortions?
14) Do you think that there is any conflict of interest in Marie Stopes providing advice on whether a mother should have an abortion when Marie Stopes is paid for providing abortions?
15) In order to get your email address I phoned the 0845 300 80 90 number. Will my call automatically be counted in your statistics as being from a woman who called for advice but didn’t receive an abortion?
16) If a woman calls your line twenty times, will they be “counted” on your statistics of the number of women you’ve helped once or twenty times?
17) If after an abortion, the baby (I assume we can now use this term without controversy as she is outside the womb) shows some signs of life, do you have a policy stating that the medical personnel present should act to resuscitate? Do you have a policy saying that they may not act to resuscitate?
18) Would you carry out an abortion if the stated reason given by the woman was that she wanted a boy, and this foetus is a girl?
19) If asked would you carry out a selective abortion in order to remove the healthy girl from the womb and leave the healthy boy in the womb?
20) In your five abortion clinics in China, what proportion of those who are aborted are girls?

Thank you so much for your willingness to answer these questions. In removing the taboo from conversation about abortion I trust that you are wanting honest, open and informed debate. I hope that you taking the time to answer these questions will add to the honesty and help to remove the taboo from the abortion conversation.

Perhaps if you want to add to the honesty of the debate you’d also be happy to post the answers you give on your own website?

Many thanks,
Sincerely,

Mike Gilbart-Smith

That was back in May.
He's still waiting for an answer. So much for opening the debate.

The trouble is, for Marie Stopes, and all abortion providers, the taboo's work in their interests.
So it looks like they don't really want to bravely break taboo's and have the debate at all.
Actually, it looks like they really just want a lucrative slice of the NHS's "reproductive health" pie.

Remember to take a look at the website for 40 Days For Life, and consider participating.

( Edited to add a belated hat tip to Maria Stops Abortion, where this letter was picked up)

How to save a life

2010-09-24T01:48:00.002+01:00

I really need to fire up this blog again. I've got SO many things I want to post about I think I've got a kind of "bloggers block". I just don't know where to begin.

This great initiative is probably a good place to start

YOU can help save lives!
From September 22 - October 31, our community will be one of many cities joining together for the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization in history -- the 40 Days for Life campaign.
40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life effort that consists of:

40 days of prayer and fasting

40 days of peaceful vigil

40 days of community outreach

We are praying that, with God's help, this groundbreaking effort will mark the beginning of the end of abortion in our city -- and throughout the UK.

Take a stand for life

While all aspects of 40 Days for Life are crucial in our effort to end abortion, the most visible component is the peaceful prayer vigil outside the local abortion facility.
You can help make a life-saving impact by joining our local vigil at:
108 Whitfield Street, Marelybone, London, W1T 5EA. Nearest tube station: Warren Street.

BE BOLD!
Go over to the website and sign up for the vigil!

I was planning to go tomorrow, but all my plans are still a little up in the air, so I haven't signed up for Friday yet. But I've put myself down on the rota to be there on Sunday evening after mass. Why don't you join me?

It can be a little daunting doing something like this for the first time. It's such a sad and painful matter and I know that sometimes well intentioned people stay away from it because they don't want to hurt people who are already hurting.
But this is a very quiet and loving vigil. And you'll be in good company, all the nicest people will be there! ( I met Rosamundi at a pre launch event in Farm Street)

I'm so pleased that this unique initiative is coming to my city. Big props to Robert Colquhoun of Love Undefiled, a dedicated champion of the gospel of life, who has been working his socks off to bring this to London.

Please pray for the success of this initiative, and for all those whose lives will be touched in the coming weeks.

Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord: Lord hear my voice.
Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.
If Thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
But there is forgiveness with Thee: because of Thy law I wait for Thee, O Lord.
My soul waiteth on His word: my soul hopeth in the Lord.
From the morning watch even until night let Israel hope in the Lord:
For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plentiful redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel, from all their iniquities.