Free Speech?

He (the King of Brobdingnag) said, "he knew no reason why those, who entertain opinions prejudicial to the public, should be obliged to change, or should not be obliged to conceal them. And as it was tyranny in any government to require the first, so it was weakness not to enforce the second: for a man may be allowed to keep poisons in his closet, but not to vend them about for cordials."

Wise king!

Barking up the Wrong Stick of Rhubarb

2014-02-22 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis sent a heartfelt message to a Pentecostal conference, held in the American state of Texas this past week. In his seven-minute message, the Pope said he would speak the language of the heart, which “is simpler and more authentic”. It is a language with a special grammar that has two rules, he said, to love God above all and to love the other.
News of the conference, he said, brought him both joy and longing—joy in the knowledge that the participants “have come together to worship Jesus Christ, the only Lord” and longing for Christian unity and an end to the separation between faith communities. Forget all that guff about the "One True Church".
“We must encounter each other as brothers,” he said. “I am speaking to you as a brother…in a simple way… Let us allow our longing to grow.” He concluded by asking his listeners for their prayers.

So, St Paul, St Thomas Aquinas, and others too many to mention, you were barking up the wrong stick of rhubarb, no less...

Blarrrt! Blarrrt!

Inspired by that worthy successor of Bach and Mozart, Mr P. Inwood, and his wonderful  Alleluia ch -ch, I have composed the following so that liturgical dancers, after their terpsichorean exertions, can give praise with their armpits as well as the rest of their persons:

We have danced before the Lord (Blarrrt! Blarrrt!)
We have danced before the Lord (Blarrrt! Blarrrt!)

We have danced before the Lord
While you listened to His Word
 We have danced before the Lord (Blarrrt! Blarrrt!)
(Blarrrt! Blarrrt!)

Note: The (Blarrrt! Blarrrt!) sound can be produced easily by perspiring liturgical dancers, simply by placing the hands under the opposite armpits and sharply raising and lowering the elbows.

Monte Cassino

Tragedy of Polish soldiers is perhaps best summarized in the inscription that can be seen at the cemetery on the slopes of Monte Cassino:

We Polish soldiers
For our freedom and yours
Have given our souls to God
Our bodies to the soil of Italy
And our hearts to Poland.

BBC "The People's War"

Contributed by 

amateurromuald

People in story: 

Romuald E. Lipinski

Location of story: 

Monte Cassino, Italy

Background to story: 

Army

Article ID: 

A7351724

Contributed on: 

28 November 2005

As St Thomas Aquinas wrote, "Tantum ergo (ch - ch)"

“Alleluia, (ch - ch) alleuia! (ch - ch)”

Paul Inwood

It must be real: the man owns up to having written it.

A LETTER FROM PADRE PIO TO POPE PAUL VI

A LETTER FROM PADRE PIO TO POPE PAUL VI

A short time before his death, Padre Pio, having In mind the Audience which the Chapter Members of his Order would have in the course of their General Chapter, wrote a letter to Pope Paul. In the letter he expressed his firm adherence to the Magisterium and its teachings, particularly mentioning the recent encyclical, "Humanae Vitae". Padre Pio also expressed his obedience, devotedness and filial sharing in the anxieties of His Holiness. The full text is as follows: Your Holiness: Availing myself of Your Holiness' meeting with the Capitular Fathers, I unite myself in spirit with my Brothers, and in a spirit of faith, love and obedience to the greatness of Him whom you represent on earth, offer my respectful homage to Your August Person, humbly kneeling at Your feet. The Capuchin Order has always been among the first in their love, fidelity and reverence for the Holy See. I pray the Lord that its members remain ever thus, continuing their tradition of seriousness and religious asceticism evangelical poverty, faithful observance of the Rule and Constitutions, renewing themselves in vigorous living and deep interior spirit—always ready, at the least gesture from Your Holiness, to go forward at once to assist the Church in her needs. I know that Your heart suffers much these days on account of the happenings in the Church: for peace in the world, for the great needs of its peoples; but above all, for the lack of obedience of some, even Catholics, to the lofty teachings which You, assisted by the Holy Spirit and in the name of God, have given us. I offer Your Holiness my daily prayers and sufferings, the insignificant but sincere offering of the least of your sons, asking the Lord to comfort you with His grace to continue along the direct yet often burdensome way—in defense of those eternal truths which can never change with the times. In the name of my spiritual sons and of the "Praying Groups" I thank Your Holiness for the clear and decisive words You have spoken in the recent encyclical, "Humanae Vitae", and I reaffirm my own faith and my unconditional obedience to Your inspired directives. May God grant truth to triumph, and, may pence be given to His Church, tranquility to the people of the earth, and health and prosperity to Your Holiness, so that when these disturbing clouds pass over, the Reign of God may triumph in all hearts, through the Apostolic Works of the Supreme Shepherd of all Christians. Prostrate at Your feet, I beg you to bless me, my Brothers in religion, my spiritual sons, the "Praying Groups", all the sick—that we may faithfully fulfill the good works done in the Name of Jesus and under your protection. Your Holiness' most humble servant,                                                                          PADRE PIO, Capuchin San Giovanni Rotondo, 12th September, 1968.

Taken from: L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English 10 October 1968, page 9 L'Osservatore Romano is the newspaper of the Holy See. The Weekly Edition in English is published for the US by: The Cathedral Foundation L'Osservatore Romano English Edition 320 Cathedral St. Baltimore, MD 21201 Subscriptions: (410) 547-5315 Fax: (410) 332-1069 lormail@catholicreview.org

Please protest against Harvard Black "Mass"

A Satanic Black Mass at Harvard University is scheduled for Monday, May 12th – we cannot remain silent!

So send your protest message now:

Stop the Black Mass Protest Petition

I regret to inform you that according to news reports, emails and flyers posted at locations around Harvard University:

The Satanic Temple will perform a Satanic Black Mass at Harvard University on Monday, May 12, at 8:30PM.

This is a most grave sin.  And a direct insult and act of defiance against God.  And Catholics must SPEAK OUT before it happens!

So, in protest and reparation to God,  I urge you to:

Sign this petition against the Satanic Black Mass at the Queen’s Head Pub at Harvard University.

http://www.tfpstudentaction.org/tell-harvard-university-stop-black-mass.html?utm_source=petitions&utm_medium=ty-email&utm_campaign=SAE0250

If You Are.....

Anonymous,

A supporter of ACTA,

A placer of flowers on heathen altars,

Someone who thinks there are two sides to any moral question, other than the right and the wrong,

Fond of saying, "Two wrongs don't make a right.",

An unbeliever in Transubstantiation,

A smirking, hurting, permanent-waved, de-habited nun,

A lover of liturgical experiment,

Proud of being homosexual, lesbian, whatever,

Convinced that the words of the Son of God are of less weight (in such matters as divorce, Divine Justice, or Transubstantiation, to name only a few) than the opinions of politicians, journalists, Tina Beattie, Greg Pope, Basil Loftus, Grant Toilets or any other public pundit,

An idiot,

Then do not waste pixels and electricity commenting here. Instead, be so good as to spit up your left trouser leg and betake yourself to The Hermeneutic of Cool, Bishop Smirk's very own blog. He is so lonely, that there you can post comments to your heart's content.

Understood?

Hah! Greg Pope, the inaptly named, again speaks for the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, but not for me.

Lifted from Deacon Nick Donnelly's Protect the Pope:

Two weeks ago Lifesite news reported Bishop Egan as saying that excommunicating Catholic politicians who were pro-abortion or same-sex marriage was an act of mercy. This week the Daily Telegraph reports that Greg Pope, the Head of Parliamentary Relations at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference has written to Catholic MPs and Peers to assure them there are “no plans to deny communion to those who supported gay marriage”.  In fact Bishop Egan was only re-iterating the Church’s discipline expounded by Pope Francis (when Cardinal of Buenos Aires), Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Cardinal Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura.

Hah! Greg Pope, the inaptly named, again speaks for the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, but not for me.

NOT FOR ME!

Shooting Yourself in the Foot

What sort of future does the Catholic Church see for itself, with a Pope who shoots from the lip, causing embarrassment and confusion, and with senior clergy who promote disobedience, heresy, or syncretism while silencing Catholics who dissent from this new "orthodoxy"?

Any thoughts, Your Holiness, Mgr Loftus, Cardinal Nichols?

Sinister! Have I Been Hacked?

My post Mgr Basil Loftus on the Resurrection has been deleted, but not by me. The comments still exist.

Very strange. Sinister, even.

So, here it is, once again.

What a bore the man is with his so very unoriginal views almost identical with those of our protestant R.E. teacher at school 55 years ago.

Why doesn't he clear off and join the Quakers?

"Father Jim" is not enough.

I would no more allow on these pages a comment which I consider heretical, irreverent, sacrilegious, or blasphemous than I would knowingly allow the author of such a comment into my house.

I will delete such comments as soon as I become aware of them, as I will such comments as may leave me open to litigation.

If you are commenting as a Catholic Priest, please give your surname. "Father Jim" is not enough. 

If you are a minister of another ecclesial organisation, please also say which.

God bless!

More Catholic than the Pope?

 Sadly, it seems that now, as in earlier times, there may be no shortage of people who fit this description.

“It must be observed, however, that if the faith were endangered, a subject ought to rebuke his prelate even publicly.” St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II, II, q. 33, a. 45

That's all!

The Fruits of Vatican II

Into the fields to harvest
The fruits of Vatican II!
We are the Easter People
Who will the Church renew.
"What are these fruits," you ponder,
"That you so keenly reap?"
We've Joy and Love and Wonder, so
Let Faith and Reason sleep!

There were no fruits from doctrine
Or from obedience blind,
But we are now so fruity,
It sometimes blows our mind.
We speak in tongues and prophesy
"Yah! Bliffer Blaffer Bloo!"
The Spirit so baptises us,
That all we say is true.

We don't need popes and bishops
We've each got Direct Lines
To our heavenly Big Daddy,
So we are all divines.
When Roma loquitur, we know
Causa is not at end
We might accept Rome's opinion
If it matches the latest trend.

The Fathers of the Council
Said, "From the experts, seek
The wisdom of the worldly
The freedom of the freak!"
We've done it:  See how worldly
And freaky are we all!
At every Mass there's schmalz and slop -
Don't we just have a ball!

Oh let the Rhinish water
Into the Tiber flow,
And Luther's vermicular food
On us his strength bestow.
Huss, Henry 8, Barth, Nietzche, Pan,
Mohammed, Buddha, Kung:
They offer us their treasures -
Let us their glories tongue.

That lovely lady Brosselmans
Said Mass is like Diwali
Or Eid ul Fatr festival - 
That's really up our alley.
Our Mass is a complete shebang
With loud and joyful praise.
Who needs old-fashioned reverence
When we our voices raise

In Gibberish and rigmarole,
"Oh wazza wazza whizz!"
And pogo up and down the aisle
While the celebrant does his Biz.
Oh sweet to the Ears of Abba dear
Is our loud hullabaloo,
A glorious Harvest Home for us,
We fruits of Vatican II!

Have I got this wrong?

I make no apologies for reposting these stanzas. Lawrence England's post today prompted me.


When Christ explained the Eucharist
Many followers fled.
The Truth was unacceptable
“Too hard! Too hard!” they said.
Our Clergy are of subtler stuff
They nuance things instead.

We once believed - I still believe -
That bread becomes our God
That wine becomes the Blood He shed
Is this so very odd?
Aquinas gave us words to clothe
Belief, but now we nod

Assent at clerics who recoil
From such crude credal vigour
And think they’d better water down
Aquinas’ divisive rigour
“Our Lord is present in a very
Special way,” they figure.

From fudge and nuance and half lies
And German exegesis
They sound-byte forth a statement that
Has as its central thesis
Whatever is acceptable
Whatever your belief is.

Like slippery salesmen they predict
The punter’s predilection.
Street cred is what it’s all about
Not Nicene Creed conviction.
“Our faiths are custom-made," they smirk
"Just choose from our selection.

"Don’t like Hell? Don’t fret, dear sir,
It’s a discontinued line.
No Purgatory? a wise choice,
Heaven ok? That’s fine!
And now, how would you like to pay,
Up front? Or down the line?"

His Holiness, Cardinals Nichols and Kasper, Monsignor Loftus, Tina Beattie,

One of my hopes on becoming a Catholic 25 years ago was that it would be the end of the "misunderstanding and confusion" endemic in the Church of England.

Thanks, your Holiness, Cardinals Nichols and Kasper, Monsignor Loftus, Tina Beattie, and others too many to list, for making the Church such an exciting place of uncertainty.

I would rather be wrong with Torquemada than right with you.