Friendship with Christ - Frequent Confession

I just read a great article by the late Fr Ronald Lawler, a Franciscan and one of the leading American theologians of the late 20th Century. He underlines how frequent Confession is necessary for a true friendship with Christ. Frequent confession not only brings its own grace but also releases the great grace of mutual love found in Holy Communion. Frequent Holy Communion without frequent Confession has little hope of giving us a deep friendship with Christ. What sort of friendship - on a purely human level - would it be where one of the friends carried on enjoying meeting up and sharing times with the other friend, while ignoring the huge wrong that they have done to that friend? For a truly honest friendship with Christ we need to have frequent Confession. Anyway here is what Fr Lawler said:

Happily, many people are discovering again the rich peace and the great blessings of frequent Confession.

For a while, things were very bad. In many huge parishes, thousands of people went to Communion every week, while almost none went to Confession. There were serious reasons to wonder it many anxious and unhappy people were going to Communion, and even that there were too unworthy and
sacrilegious Communions.

Many more were communicating without the peace and deep friendship with Christ they really desired. For many, Communion no longer seemed to bring growth in faith and friendship with the Lord, because they ceased to have repentant hearts. They ceased to have that peaceful friendship with Christ, that we sinners can have only when we have tasted personally and deeply of his forgiving mercy.

Confession deepens personal faith. But it takes faithful energy to be faithful to go to Confession regularly. And many fell away from Confession. First, they went less often. Then much less often. Then hardly at all. Only gradually did they begin to realize that they were losing the warmth of their friendship with Christ and ceasing to be entirely honest in their relations with their God. Only gradually did they realize that they were drifting into the worldly and sensual ways of the mass media,
the broken ways of the world and losing the joy of a strong life of faith.

[...] There are many excuses for not going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We can say (even though it is not true) that the Second Vatican Council discouraged frequent Confession. We can say (though the Church and the saints and the Scriptures always taught the opposite) that mortal sin is very rare, and that people as good as I need never worry about falling into grave sin.

Since it does take effort to go to Confession, I can pretend that it is useless at least for those who now have no mortal sins to confess. The saints have always reminded us how important it is to receive this
sacrament often. The Church has always urged its priests, religious and faithful to confess their sins often. In Confession, we learn trom Christ Himself that repentance which deepens our faith and gives deep roots to our love. But we can say (why always tell ourselves the truth?) that there is no special advantage in going to Confession. Then we will be able to escape the bother of it all. But we lose much more than bother. [...]

In this sinful and broken world there is much mortal sin. People, even Catholics, do commit horrible crimes: abortion, adultery and terrible crimes with the power of money and the cruelty of drugs. But there are also mortal sins of a less spectacular kind: lustful deeds deliberately undertaken and deliberate lustful desires to which this fallen world leads one. Ordinary people sometimes do hateful and cruel deeds. They are surprised at themselves for falling into these things, especially if they stop receiving the Sacrament of Penance regularly, which gives them the power they need to keep from sin.

If we have committed mortal sin, Catholic Faith teaches that the only ordinary way to escape the tragic separation from Christ that mortal sin means is by a good Confession. Even perfect contrition does not help, if we do not accompany our sorrow by a willingness to do what Christ requires: to get promptly to Confession, and to confess and receive from Christ (through his priest) the absolving words of forgiveness... We who have the gift of Catholic Faith possess in the Sacrament of Reconciliation a great personal gift of Christ - this best way of coming back to grace. And this is the one way we have to get back to grace, as all Catholic Tradition insists rightly. There are rare exceptions: when Confession is impossible for us, God makes other ways possible. But Confession is the only ordinary way. Those who have sinned mortally after Baptism must go to Confession if they wish to come back to the Lord in the Eucharist.

Even when, happily, God's mercy keeps us from grave sin, we benefit immensely from frequent Confession. As Pope John Paul reminded us, the frequent use of Confession is in many ways the safeguard of love and peace. We must not lose the sense of sin or we will rationalize all our selfishness and wrongness of heart. But it is also true that we must not focus too much on sin or we will become bitter and harsh. What we need to do is remember our sins in the very sacrament of healing in which Christ touches us with mercy. Here He teaches us to turn sorrow into love and our own being healed into the forgiving of others.

Confession leads us to the kinds of acts that make hearts repentant: to remember honestly before the good Lord how frail we are, so that we can trust in his mercy with greater determination. Confession requires us to make serious resolutions in our hearts not to offend those we love, to forgive those who hurt us and to do those things our life needs, but the world does not incline us to do.

Confession creates personal friendship with Christ. In this sacrament He personally touches our lives. We speak to Him and He makes us realize (as we seek more faithfully to receive the sacrament well) how deeply concerned He is to bless our lives with grace and healing. When the priest speaks words of absolution, our faith knows that it is the Lord who now, personally, speaks mercy and does mighty and merciful deeds in our lives. He enables us to see through the deceptive images woven by the media
world, to begin to realize the really important things of life. He enables us to taste his power: to see that it is not impossible or saddening to keep his Commandments and to walk in his ways. [...]

For each one of us, it is important that we seek out and find a good confessor and learn again, as the Church urges us, to confess our sins with faithful frequency.

Remember, the power to walk God's ways and find his peace; the power to turn from selfishness and sin; the power to forgive those we want to love - all this power is a gift of God, not a natural endowment of our nature. And Christ, touching us in his sacraments, is the one who heals us
and gives us his mighty Spirit to give grace and joy to our lives. Nothing substitutes for thc sacraments. In them the Lord personally touches our lives and heals us. [...]

As you can see from my italics frequent confession is necessary for a true friendship with Christ. Someone asked me recently if 'friendship with Christ' were not a crypto-Protestant anti-sacramental or charismatic theme. I think Fr Lawler shows here in this excellent article, which I have reproduced almost in its entirety (the full text is here), that the sacraments are vital for a true friendship with Christ, and far from being a wishy washy idea, it is key to a real living of those sacraments.

People often ask me how often to go to Confession. I used to be timid and say maybe four times a year. But really that's not enough. If we take our friendship with Christ seriously we should be aiming at monthly Confession at least.

The Epiphany gifts - seminarians and friendship with Christ

Just something for any seminarians who might drop by to the blog. Here our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, speaking to seminarians in Cologne during the World Youth Day gathering in 2005, speaks of the need to have a holiness based on friendship with Christ. The reference to the gifts of the three wise men is because of Cologne having those three as patrons, but it is especially good in this time of Epiphany how they relate to the gifts we can bring:

The secret of holiness is friendship with Christ and faithful obedience to his will. Saint Ambrose said: "Christ is everything for us"; and Saint Benedict warned against putting anything before the love of Christ. May Christ be everything for you. Dear seminarians, be the first to offer him what is most precious to you, as Pope John Paul II suggested in his Message for this World Youth Day: the gold of your freedom, the incense of your ardent prayer, the myrrh of your most profound affection.

Baptism, Holiness and Listening to Jesus

The essence of good friendship is the ability to listen. If we are to have a true friendship with Christ then it means listening to him. This means listening to his Word, and to the teaching of his Church. That's a both/and. I am always impressed by the way Ven Cardinal Newman spoke of Church teaching in his hymn 'Firmly I believe and truly': "And I hold in veneration, for the love of Him alone, Holy Church as His creation, and her teachings as His own." We cannot have a friendship with Christ which contradicts the truths of Faith, and indeed the Faith helps us to grow in our personal faith. So does prayer. That means not just speaking to Christ or resorting to the formulas of prayer that we know, but also spending time in silence listening.

Over the weekend, at the Friends with Christ retreat, the time of personal Lectio Divina on the Passion narrative from the Gospel was something which gave great fruit. The girls on the retreat, who knew the Passion story, had not really done something as intense as doing a prayerful reading in silence for a prolonged period of time. The results were amazing. The things that the Holy Spirit helped us to see in the text of the Scriptures were true evidence of Jesus speaking to us through his Word. One thing which really struck me was the figure of Judas Iscariot, who went to the chief priests and asked 'How much is it worth for me to betray Jesus?'. And they weighed out 30 pieces of silver (Mt 26.14-15). This is how Judas repaid Jesus' friendship. My startling reflection was that that is exactly what we do when we sin - whatever the pleasure or self-interest we get out of sin is the price that we rate the death of the Son of God at. Now that's something to think about. But Jesus still calls Judas his friend. In the Passion of St Matthew, he is the only one whom Jesus calls 'Friend' (Mt 26.50), at the very moment when Judas had betrayed him with the sign of friendship - the kiss. We are friends with Christ even when we sin. But then Judas gets a bad conscience and is racked with guilt. So where does he go to? Not to Jesus where he would find mercy. He went back to the chief priests. When he expresses his grief, they basically say "So what? What's it got to do with us?" (Mt 27.4). He gets no mercy there, and falls into total despair. The thing is that Judas still calls Jesus "Rabbi", even at the moment when he is betraying him. We can find that although we are friends with Christ we can be betraying him by our sins. It is often the worst enemies of Jesus that are actually found within the Church. So we need to be careful not just to be friends with Christ in name, but to be so in fact, and trust in his mercy.

Today in England we are celebrating the Baptism of the Lord. I was interested to see the words of the Holy Father yesterday, linking the Baptism of the Lord with his Passion and Death: "Jesus' baptism in the Jordan is the anticipation of his baptism of blood on the cross, and it is also a symbol of all the sacramental activity with which the Redeemer would enact the salvation of humanity." I had not actually realised that this feast day was the most ancient after Easter actually! Then the Holy Father goes on to speak of the link between the Baptism of Jesus and our Baptism. Just as, for Christ, the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit was poured forth, and the voice of the Father resounded, so in our Baptism we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit in abundance, and the Father adopts us as his own children. The Holy Father goes on: "The commitment that arises from baptism consists therefore in "listening" to Jesus, that is, to believe in him and follow him docilely doing his will, the will of God. In this way, each one of us can aspire to holiness, a goal that, as the Second Vatican Council reminded, constitutes the vocation of all the baptized. May we be helped by Mary, mother of the beloved Son of God, to always be faithful to our baptism." I always remember the great question of Pope John Paul II to the people of France: "What have you done with your baptism?" We should be careful to guard the fruit of our Baptism, that is, sonship of the Father, friendship with Christ, and life in the Holy Spirit. We should be on our guard that we don't become enemies of Christ while being called his friends, such as happened to Judas. We should seek to rid our lives of the evil which brings us down, through seeking mercy and grace from Jesus. We should live our lives listening to Jesus in prayer.

The second FWC Retreat

“The ‘Friends with Christ’ retreat has been an awesome experience. I feel as though I have really developed my relationship with Jesus and trust in his love that he has for me. On top of this, I also had the opportunity to spend time with close friends and taste what has to be the most exquisite and ‘unctuous’ food I have ever tasted. Courtesy of Fr Richard of course. I definitely recommend it” (Rachel Moran)

“An opportunity to enter into a more personal friendship with Christ- something that is fundamental to any young person seeking true faith. I encourage everyone who is able to do their best to participate in the next one!” (Hermione Fawcett)

“It’s been wonderful staying in this peaceful place with Jesus’ true presence surrounding us. The small scale of this retreat has allowed for greater concentration and focus on the mysteries in which we have been ensconced.” (Chloe Fawcett)

“This retreat has been a new and refreshing experience. It has been a marvellous opportunity to spend time with Jesus and to meet with some lovely new and familiar friends. Fr Richard and Fr Julian have been friendly, welcoming and the food and house
are life enhancing and lugubrious. The talks have been helpful and filled with advice and some time of experience for friendship with our Lord and friend, Jesus.”(Alanna Cheshire)

“The grace has flowed like water dripping into us and it has been a great delight to be here and share time with the Boss well renowned Padres of the new evangelisation. If you want to be a friend of Jesus, here we learnt together, So COME and take part yourself and receive his invitation to love him and give him your life! We have been fed in body, soul and mind!” (Holy Granny)

“I believe having the opportunity to participate in a retreat like this is truly a blessing. Having such a small group really enables one to be able to focus on the topic of the retreat ‘Friendship with Christ’, we have been able to spend time with Jesus Christ, entering into a deeper relationship with Him. I would strongly urge anyone thinking of attending one of these retreats in the future to do it. Come with an open heart and the grace’s will pour.” (Lanie Hallett)

New Year's Retreat...but not this New Year

What wonderful things you can find on the internet...the very first Balham Youth 2000 New Year Retreat (only two years ago, but it seems like longer) caught on camera, with an accompaniment from Fr Stan Fortuna...You can see your two blogmeisters looking younger but just as venerable (tongue well and truly in cheek).

The Second Friends With Christ Retreat begins today

Few souls understand
what God would accomplish in them
if they were to abandon themselves
unreservedly to Him
and if they were to allow His grace
to mould them accordingly.

~ Saint Ignatius of Loyola ~

Today we begin the second of our Friends with Christ retreats. Please pray for us - the group of girls who are on the retreat, and Fr Richard and myself. The picture here is may be a bit old fashioned, but is an image of Christ and St John, who lay on Our Lord's breast at the Last Supper, and felt the very beating of his Heart while he instituted the Blessed Eucharist. Never was there such friendship with Christ than that of the Beloved Disciple and Our Lord (except of course the ultimate friendship with Christ that Our Lady had). So pray that through coming to know the Heart of Christ we may have friendship with Him, especially through receiving and adoring the Eucharist.

Funnily enough I was trawling the internet last night and found an excerpt on friendship with Christ from a Parish bulletin in the States:

While our friendships are parochial, needs-based and satisfiable in their purposes, a friendship with Jesus has to be universal, grace-driven and insatiable. Because we are beings of limited potential and capabilities, we prosper quite well with a limited number of friends. We cannot be friends with everyone. We pick and choose according to our likes, wants, common interests, and a sense of fulfillment that the relationship yields. Our "friend in need is a friend indeed."

Jesus, on the other hand, because He came to share everything that was told to him by the Father, truly looks to every single person on the face of the earth, past, present and future, as someone with whom to share His love.

Finally, just a few words of the Holy Father from the summary in English of yesterday's Wednesday audience catechesis:

In our own day, there are many who reject him or reduce him to a mere “teacher of wisdom”, stripped of his divinity. But Jesus is truly God and truly man, tirelessly proclaiming the Gospel to all people and challenging us to open our hearts to him. “To all who received him, he gave power to become children of God” (Jn 1:12). What is our response to him? Let us follow the example of so many holy men and women throughout the history of the Church who have welcomed Emmanuel into their lives, becoming beacons of light and hope. At the start of this new year, let us once more open our hearts and minds to him, so as to spread the joy of discipleship to those around us.

Searching for inspiration

During the Youth 2000 New Year Retreat a number of young people asked us to recommend books for spiritual reading. I'm not sure how well we replied, but, I have updated a tasteful Reading List on www.communityofgrace.org.uk and have added a section on "Lives of the Saints". I'm happy to add to this list if you have any other worthy titles to suggest.

Top Ten skills for the New Year

What are the top ten human skills which we should all have? Please send in your ideas.

(This is inspired by Declan's Workshop on the Spiritual Life at the Youth2000 New Year Festival.)

• Being able to speak well
• Being able to write well
• Cooking
• Lighting a fire
• Swimming
• First aid
• Being able to grow vegetables
• Sewing
• Living without a television
• Map reading

What are the top ten spiritual skills we should all have?

• Prayer
• Being grateful to God
• Honesty
• Being able to make decisions
• Dependability
• Cultivating friendships
• Hospitality
• Patience
• Openess to other people's advice
• Listening

New Year's Resolution at Balham

The Youth 2000 New Year retreat - which goes under the name 'Resolution' - is well under way at Balham's Holy Ghost Parish. The food's good, the venue is great, and the flowing of grace is magnificent as usual. There are plenty of priests here for confession - so why not get down here? The Eucharistic Healing Service begins at 8pm tonight, followed by Holy Mass at 11pm (bit late for me I'm afraid, but still - not a bad place to be at midnight). Mass for New Year's Day is at 12noon.

What a flaming liberty!

What a liberty that the liturgical terrorists (whoever they are...Bishops, Liturgical Commission) have downgraded St Thomas of Canterbury to a commemoration when it had been a feast since the liturgical reform. St Thomas is the patron saint of the pastoral clergy of England. At a time when we need priests with courage and certainly of their identity, surely we need the prayers of this great saint. Maybe we should have a show of people power and petition the Holy See to make it a feast in England again.

Just reading in the office of readings today the reading from St Thomas' letter shows that he is also a great intercessor and example for the New Evangelisation in this country: 'Many are needed to plant the word, and many to water it.The spead of the faith, the increase in population demand this. God's people of old, who had but one altar, still needed many teachers. How much greater now are the needs of this rich gathering of the nations... But whoever waters or plants, God gives no increase except to him who has planted in Peter's faith, and who has assented to his teaching.'

St Thomas represents the true English fidelity to the Church of Rome, which the English Church exemplified before the cruelty of the Reformation: 'Who can doubt that the Church of Rome is the head of all the churches, the source of Catholic teaching? Who does not know that the keys of the Kingdom were given to Peter? Is not the whole structure of the Church built up on Peter's faith and teaching, so to grow until we all meet Christ as one perfect man, united in faith and in our recognition of him as Son of God?'

Sometimes we think the Protestant evangelicals are so much more successful at evangelising. And it is true that they have many people who they draw to themselves. But often their faith is planted in shallow soil of 'sola Scriptura' - Scripture alone without Tradition. There are many who, for example, are drawn to faith by Christian Unions, in University and by the time they get to their late twenties, life has outgrown this form of faith. We need to be more courageous, and less inward looking. We need to be upfront about spreading the Faith, and bearing witness to it. For the Catholic faith is the rich soil in which the individual faith can grown abundantly. So, the message of the day: Have courage, you have a great message.

PS Don't forget that the Youth 2000 Balham retreat starts this evening at the Holy Ghost Parish in Balham. Do come along if you're in the area. The big evening will be on 31st with the Eucharistic healing service and late night Mass for the new year.

We still need a Saviour!

What a tremendous message the Holy Father gave before giving the great blessing Urbi et Orbi, to the City of Rome and to the World, yesterday. It just needs to be read. To read the full version, go here. It shows how he's got his finger on the pulse of the New Evangelisation. Have a look:

But does a "Saviour" still have any value and meaning for the men and women of the third millennium ? Is a "Saviour" still needed by a humanity which has reached the moon and Mars and is prepared to conquer the universe; for a humanity which knows no limits in its pursuit of nature’s secrets and which has succeeded even in deciphering the marvellous codes of the human genome? Is a Saviour needed by a humanity which has invented interactive communication, which navigates in the virtual ocean of the internet and, thanks to the most advanced modern communications technologies, has now made the Earth, our great common home, a global village? This humanity of the twenty-first century appears as a sure and self-sufficient master of its own destiny, the avid proponent of uncontested triumphs.

It isn't that technological advance or scientific insights are a barrier to evangelisation, though you have to be prepared to be able to 'give an account of the hope that is in you' (I Peter 3.15). It is the life which technological advance has produced which has caused people to think that they no longer need a Saviour. The safe, comfortable, every bodily comfort provided for environment which we have created leads most people to the false sense of security that they are self-sufficient and certainly don't need a God, never mind a Saviour. They may say they believe in God, while not being religious - but actually they believe (faith shown in action) in shopping. Let's get this inconvenient religious feast of Christmas out of the way, so the shops can open again, the great basilicas of consumer religion. Indeed the religious feast of Christmas has become a mere focus, for most people, for consumer frenzy - leading up to Christmas with extravagant present buying, food shopping and alcholic consumption, getting over Christmas with shops opening at 5am on St Stephen's Day to flog off the tawdry goods nobody wanted before Christmas. The Saviour has hardly had time to be born...

But the comfortable existence that we experience in the western world, the product of technological and economic advance, has not removed the human need for a Saviour. Consumerism may anaesthetise our feeling of sin, and weakness, and vulnerability, but just look around and you will easily see the need for the Saviour is greater than ever. All this consumer happiness...and yet drug use is endemic, the rate of suicide among the young grows year on year show that the happiness is only skin deep. People giving themselves over to relationships and sexual expression - and young people doing this at an age when they don't have the personal maturity to deal with it - is a symptom of the search for fulfilment in love, but so often ends in a broken heart and the growth of mistrust.

People continue to die of hunger and thirst, disease and poverty, in this age of plenty and of unbridled consumerism. Some people remain enslaved, exploited and stripped of their dignity; others are victims of racial and religious hatred, hampered by intolerance and discrimination, and by political interference and physical or moral coercion with regard to the free profession of their faith. Others see their own bodies and those of their dear ones, particularly their children, maimed by weaponry, by terrorism and by all sorts of violence, at a time when everyone invokes and acclaims progress, solidarity and peace for all. And what of those who, bereft of hope, are forced to leave their homes and countries in order to find humane living conditions elsewhere? How can we help those who are misled by facile prophets of happiness, those who struggle with relationships and are incapable of accepting responsibility for their present and future, those who are trapped in the tunnel of loneliness and who often end up enslaved to alcohol or drugs? What are we to think of those who choose death in the belief that they are celebrating life?

That last question is really chilling for me: "What are we to think of those who choose death in the belief that they are celebrating life?" That is a question which should cause us sleepless nights, a question which should get us dedicating ourselves to the New Evangelisation with all ourlives. We cannot be content to sit around and watch people around us choosingthe culture of death - and not just in its extreme forms of abortion,euthanasia, suicide, terrorism but even in its more pathetic form of throwing your life into the consumer culture - when we have the message of life. This is why the message that a Saviour has been born for us is more necessary thanever.

Today "our Saviour is born to the world", for he knows that even today we need him. Despite humanity’s many advances, man has always been the same: a freedom poised between good and evil, between life and death. It is there, in the very depths of his being, in what the Bible calls his "heart", that man always needs to be "saved". And, in this post-modern age, perhaps he needs a Saviour all the more, since the society in which he lives has become more complex and the threats to his personal and moral integrity have become more insidious. Who can defend him, if not the One who loves him to the point of sacrificing on the Cross his only-begotten Son as the Saviour of the world?

Happy and Holy Christmas

A Very Happy and Holy Christmas to all our readers.
God bless you all.
Fr Richard & Fr Julian

Second FWC Retreat

Early in the new year Fr Julian and myself are offering the Friends with Christ retreat to young ladies, 4th - 7th January. More details are available on www.communityofgrace.org.uk. Book soon as places are being filled.

Give your computer a heart

I really like this as a wallpaper for my desktop, and thought I'd share it with you:

http://archivalladolid.org/centrodeespiritualidad//descargas/wallpapers/Cor.jpg

If you want to use it just right click it and save it, and then go to control panel on the start menu, choose display and set it as your wallpaper.

It originates from the website of the Centro de Espiritualidad of the Archdiocese of Valladolid. The centre there is a great centre of the New Evangelisation in that city. When I was a seminarian I used to go for spiritual direction, courses, retreats etc there. Loads of young people went and still go. The priest who directs it is Fr Francisco (Paco) Cerro Chaves and is a great priest - he seems to have time to do so much work! There is a lay community of women there who are great and who help to run the retreat house. The highlight of the week there is the Thursday evening Holy Hour in the Basilica next door, dedicated to the Sacred Heart. It is full of young people from the University who go there after lectures. The spirituality of the Centre is centred on discovering the Heart of Jesus, and entering into friendship with Christ. It is where I learnt alot of what I put into practice now, and was the first place I ever heard of such great things as the Theology of the Body.

Maybe we need somewhere like that in the centre of one of our large cities in England.

Another witness to truth.

Fr Julian has brought to this Blog an important concern which was approached very courageously by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor. Speaking on the BBC's Sunday AM programme last week, the cardinal said it would be 'much better' if money for the increased distribution of condoms was spent on anti-retroviral drugs instead. And he said Catholic bishops in African countries had told him their dioceses were 'flooded' with condoms which had led to 'more promiscuity and more Aids.' His comments followed a call from Tony Blair for religious leaders to 'face up to reality' and drop bans on condoms. The Cardinal stressed that the way to combat Aids was 'behavioural change, monogamous partnerships between a man and a woman. 'During the interview, the cardinal said he could see the Catholic Church coming into conflict with the government in several areas, including education and the new Sexual Orientation Regulations which come into force next April. He said laws being passed would limit the religious freedom of Catholics and other Christians. He added that it was vital for the Church to be involved in politics, especially in issues concerning the rights of the individual and the family.
Are you aware about the controversy over the use of condoms to counter the Aids epidemic or about the Church's teaching regarding contraception? There is obviously confusion here and the Cardinal has inserted the light of truth into this increasingly political issue.
However, the charity CAFOD is also a cause of confusion in this matter. The CAFOD website publicly esposes the use of condoms in the fight against Aids saying that this "reconciles solid science and good community development practices with established and evolving moral theology and Catholic social teaching." This approach seems to be an entirely contrived one, since the Bishops of African countries have made it clear that condom use is directly linked to promiscuity and, consequently, to the spread of the Aids virus. Whatever the effect is that the condom has on preventing the transmission of the virus during sexual intercourse, it does not change people's behaviour, but actually promotes promiscuity.
That is not all. CAFOD's website publicly dissents from the teaching of the Church concerning the use of contraception within marriage: " ... the prohibition of Humanae Vitae on the use of artificial contraceptives as disrupting the intrinisic connection between the unitive and procreative dimensions of the marriage act does not seem to apply. In these practices there is no truly unitive act to disrupt."
Humanae Vitae is an Encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI, written in 1968, which declares that the use of artificial contraception within marriage is an intrinsic evil. It also teaches about the nature of human love and responsible parenthood. You should read it.
With such confusion it is not surprising that the Holy Father has convoked a Commission to look into the matter of condom use between spouses where one spouse is infected. However, the position which the charity CAFOD has taken is wrong.
First, as a Catholic Charity it should not dissent from the Church's teaching nor pre-empt clarification about this matter which the Church will provide in due course.
Secondly, CAFOD's position lends credence to the International project to impose condom culture on African countries.
Thirdly, CAFOD teaches illogically that there can be a form of sexual intercourse between spouses which is non-marital! It is strange that after 8,000 years of recorded human history, that CAFOD has just discovered this form of behaviour. No, the use of condoms in marriage makes sexual intercourse between spouses non-marital.
The Christ the Healer Project is a great venture of taking truth into human lives. Perhaps there are many others with the pedigree of truth. The influence that our Government and CAFOD will have upon the lives of many in the world is that of taking truth out of human lives. Courage in the storm!

HIV, AIDS, Africa, Condoms, and Pope John Paul II

More and more recently I've come across nice middle class Catholics espousing 'justice and peace' but not really interested in pro-life issues. It confuses me. As Blessed Teresa of Calcutta said often, there can be no justice while the lives of the unborn are destroyed, and no peace while such a silent holocaust of violence against the unborn continues. But I don't want to talk abortion today. I want to talk condoms. Well I don't exactly want to, but I feel the need to raise this.

The Church in our country seems to have ditched talking about sexual issues publically - what one might call 'from the pulpit' if our churches actually had pulpits any more - just at the time when sex has become the one thing everyone else talks about. The lack of teaching in the public forum means that many people think that, although they know that there is official Church teaching on these moral issues, they can make up their own version to live by. And having made up their own version to live by, they then keep to it dogmatically, and impose it on everyone else. So, a young Catholic might think it's OK to use contraception, and so not only is it right for him or her to use it but it is wrong for anyone to try and say that it's wrong.

The issue which has been coming up in my conversations recently is the matter of condoms and AIDS, with the focus generally being on Africa. I have come across Catholics who think it's an absolute necessity to promote the Church's teaching on peace and justice, but who think that we can't possibly proclaim the teaching of the Church on the use of condoms. Without going into a complete diatribe, I'd just like to bring up two things. First, was an 'Any Questions' recently on Radio 4, where the question was put "Do you think Tony Blair has the right to tell religious leaders to change their teaching on the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS in Africa?" The target of that comment by Tony Blair was obviously the Pope. The first person to respond on the panel was the commentator, Matthew Parris. Now, he being gay and either atheist or agnostic didn't bode well for an answer that I was going to like. But hats off to him! He put his finger right on the button. He said that Tony Blair had no right at all to make any comment. The Pope, for example, does not proclaim what he proclaims because it is good world health policy - said Parris - but rather because he believes that what he proclaims is in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ, and that he is proclaiming virtue.

Just to put more flesh on the bones, I also recently read an article by Michael Cook, entitled "Was Karol Wojtyla the Greatest Mass Murderer of the 20th Century?" I recommend it - it's a good read.

Before coming to Birmingham University as chaplain, I was over in Erdington as Parish Priest, and chaplain at St Edmund Campion School. I had the great privilege of working alongside Jim Meehan, who taught RE at the school, but has now retired. He introduced me to the work of Fr Matthias Nsamba, the youth chaplain in the Aliwal Diocese in Eastern Cape of South Africa. Fr Matthias has put together a programme called 'Youth Alive' for the young people of his Diocese, with workshops which help them to gain self-respect, to give each other support, and to change their behaviour as the only sure way to avoid HIV/AIDS. The programme is growing. In this country Jim Meehan has founded an organisation called 'Christ the Healer Project' to raise funds for Fr Matthias. I recommend it to you.

First FWC Retreat

Friends With Christ created the opportunity for the pondering of uncomplex faith issues and thinking of deep thoughts that allowed us to meditate upon what it means to have a relationship with Christ. The spirit of peace and fellowship flowed throughout the retreat creating an enjoyable and friendly atmosphere, especially during the shared meals, allowing for a very enjoyable time all round - Patrick :)

Friendship with Christ is exactly that--developing a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. The sessions are very practical to our lives in the world. The retreats are a wonderful opportunity to meet Jesus in each other, but most powerfully in the Blessed Sacrament; and to go back out into the world wearing the armour of Christ, proclaiming the Faith of the Church in the Friendship of Christ. --John

Friendship with Christ helps focus our attention on what really matters - loving the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind, and loving one another as Jesus loves us. These fews days here have encouraged me to want to build up my own parish community, and I now feel strengthened in my faith to share the Gospel at a new level through weekly bible studies and prayer evenings with the Rosary and Eucharist Adoration. Unless we share our faith as a community we will never fully appreciation what it means to be a lamp in a dark world. Jesus as the bread of life, never calls us to be alone, but always to share just as he did at the last supper.

John H.

This retreat begins right after my autumn term. During these four days, there wasn't a single concern about assignments, future uncertainties, or anything that bothered me. Each moment spent happened naturally, peacefully. The retreat had been helpful in relaxing myself, bringing my being back into its orginal state, where ego and self-importance have no place. In this house of our Mother, my meditation on the Words of Christ had not only deepened in my heart, but always grown the meaning of His Love in my heart... It had been like a pit-stop in my study life and earthly concerns. It had recharged me, spiritually, and stimulated the growth of faith in me... And its effects echo on...

Thank you Father Richard and Father Julian for all the love and care, guidance and sharing, and this opportunity to be closer with Christ. Thank you Peter, John H., John Browne, Patrick for your friendship and sharing in this warm and relaxing retreat.

=Xiang=

I, Peter L Jones was on the friends of Christ retreat. Though the title had concerning undertones, the characters at the helm of this operation did not. Indeed i was most impressed by Messieurs Fr Julian and Fr Richard, their formula and content shone by virtue of its simplicity and tradition. I found myself readdressing founding matters of the faith, opening myself to change so that they might guide me more to Christ's way in today's world. Most notably i enjoyed the introduction to battling sin by way of listening to our human design.

Go the next one! 'am tellin' ya'!

Good reasons to be Catholic

A friend sent me this link...they are certainly good reasons to be a Catholic.

New Evangelisation - what's it all about?

I thought I'd try a rose pink font especially for Gaudete Sunday! A few posts ago I said I'd give some ideas on what the New Evangelisation is. I was just going through some old bits I collected when I was in seminary and came across an article on the New Evangelisation written by the then Archbishop of Valladolid, Mons. José Delicado Baeza, so as an introduction to what I mean by New Evangelisation - which I suppose will take a few posts - I thought I'd put this up first, which is a translation into English of what Mons Delicado said then. He relies heavily on the Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici. So here goes...

'"The hour has come for a new Evangelisation" writes Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici: "Whole countries and nations where religion and the Christian life were formerly flourishing and capable of fostering a viable and working community of faith are now put to a hard test, and in some cases, are even undergoing a radical transformation as a result of a constant spreading of an indifference to religion, of secularism and atheism." All this is weakening the vigour of Christian life, reducing it to mere practices, empty traditions or cultural manifestations, even for many who call themselves believers, but who have not experienced personal relationship with Christ and are not able to feel admiration for the newness of the Gospel, and so are, as it were, vaccinated against conversion and entering the Kingdom. So the Pope insists: "Only a new Evangelisation can assure the growth of a clear and deep faith, and serve to make these traditions a force for authentic freedom."(ChL 34)

'This is what the Pope said to the young people at Santiago de Compostela: "The hour has come to begin a new Evangelisation; and you cannot fail to respond to this urgent call. In this place, dedicated to St James, the first of the apostles to give witness of faith in martyrdom, let us commit ourselves to welcoming the command of Christ: 'You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth' (Acts 1.8). What does it mean to give witness to Christ? It simply means living in accordance with the Gospel: 'Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind... Love your neighbour as yourself' (Mt 22.37-39). The Christian is called to serve his brothers and society, to promote and support the dignity of every human being, to respect, defend or favour the rights of the person, to be builders of a lasting and authentic peace, based on fraternity, in liberty, in justice and in truth."

'This has to be done from the conviction of being loved by God, in that this is the new and simple message of the Good News for all men. "God loves you, Christ came for you, Christ is for you 'the way, the truth and the life!' (Jn 14.6). This new Evangelisation is directed not only individual persons but also to entire portions of populations in the variety of their situations, surroundings and cultures. Its purpose is the formation of mature ecclesial communities, in which the faith might radiate and fulfill the basic meaning of adherence to the person of Christ and his Gospel, of an encounter and sacramental communion with him, and of an existence lived in charity and in service."(ChL 34)

'Afterwards the Pope refers to the necessity of a systematic catechesis for the new generations and for adults...'

What Mons Delicado (and Pope John Paul II) picks up on here that I like as a basis for thinking about the New Evangelisation is this:

• The emptiness of the outward forms of religion where there is no real conversion to the person of Christ.
• The aim of the new Evangelisation is 'personal relationship with Christ' ie friendship with Christ.
• The call to young people to be at the front of this new Evangelisation.
• Personal faith in Christ has to be backed up by action.

Next time I'll post on the New Evangelisation as seen from a historical perspective.

New Year Resolution

As you know, the Youth2000 New Year Festival is taking place (29th Dec - 1st Jan) at the Holy Ghost Parish, Balham, south London. This is an opportunity of grace. We need the atmosphere of Christmas to bouy us up at this time of year. Even more we need a lightening-hot prayer festival to help create in us a new decision for Christ. Come to the Festival. Not only will you find a community of priests, like these before Mass in the sacristy at the Holy Ghost, but you will find a small army of young people glad that the Holy Spirit is demanding their company. Find out more on www.youth2000.org