Friends with Christ: the new season

The "Friends with Christ" initiative is holding two events this October - let the graces of the summertime flow! Perhaps you were at Walsingham "Youth2000" or "New Dawn", perhaps you joined the World Youth Alliance for their "Viviamo" in Romania, perhaps you took part in a local prayer festival, or maybe you were waiting for your results to come through or for a reply for your job applications. Perhaps you are steeling yourself to burn for Christ at the beginning of a new term. Look out for what is on offer and embrace every opportunity of grace that God gives you.

Fr Julian and myself have timetabled two events which go to the heart of our Faith and which we offer to you:

Friends with Christ Retreat in Birmingham, Fri 19th- 21st October. A retreat led by Fr Julian and myself for young people and University students aged 18 - 25. The Retreat will begin on Friday evening with supper at 6.oopm.
There will be help on how to pray, Holy Mass, Adoration, talks, Spiritual Exercises, good food and relaxation, and individual guidance for deepening your relationship with Christ. The retreat will end after lunch on Sunday at about 2.00pm. No charge - donation please. Come and stay or come each day! Floor space available for those who wish to stay - please bring sleeping bag/ground mat. Otherwise come in and take part in the sessions each day. Contact either of us for a booking form.

A Friends with Christ Day of Recollection for dating couples, led by Fr Richard Aladics and Alan and Anne Morton. Saturday 13th October near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. This day is for young people, aged 18 to 25, who are beginning a relationship or who are already thinking about marriage, and who are looking for a time to pray and discern together - hearing the call to marriage and putting Christ first. No charge - donation please. If you are coming by train we can offer lifts from Retford and Newark stations. Contact Fr Richard for a booking form.

Credible witnesses

Following the pilgrimage to Craiglodge I drove south to Walsingham in order to take part in the Youth2000 International Prayer Festival. There at England's National Shrine to the Blessed Mother, Our Lady helped both priests and a thousand young people to celebrate and adore the Eucharist.

During four days this great company of young people, priests and religious took part in an experience of the life of the Church. Christ was at the centre of this experience and His presence drew from us all our own witness to His action in our lives, in prayer, in desiring anew His life, in celebrating the Sacarments, in sharing and in testimony. It was an experience of grace; of being built up together to be his witnesses, credible witnesses.

A pilgrimage of grace

Last week I led a group of young people, most of them from Leeds, on a pilgrimage to CraigLodge in Scotland (my first visit there). Our intention was to spend three days together in prayer and friendship, and we chose The Family House of Prayer as our place of pilgrimage (as so many young people before us have done). It was a superb three days of grace.

We were welcomed at Craiglodge by the Community and given extensive freedom in taking part in the life of the Community and preparing our our framework of prayer and adventure. Fr Stefan joined us from his Augustinian community in Edinburgh and we were indebted to him for his lack of local knowledge during the first day's adventure - wading across a Highland river was, in fact, a source of grace for our company.

On the second full day after a morning of adoration and reflection we climbed into the Lost Valley in Glen Coe, arriving in Oban in the evening sunlight for a meal by the harbour.

I gather that during the three days we spent there, Scotland had its best weather so far this year. This pilgrimage, made together by young people and priests, was a great blessing for us this summertime. We were able to pray together in a way which would not have been possible otherwise, and we were able to share together so much of our life in Christ. We were another company of builders for the Civilisation of Love.

A feast of Grace

We've got a 12-Star General. She's leading us into Eternity!

Her story, which has been 'gathered' by the Church is extraordinary. We hear about so many people, in magazines, on the radio, on the television, who have absolutely nothing to tell us. Very occasionally we hear a person speaking to us (in the media) who shines a ray of light, this rare ocurrance is a great blessing.

But this person is quite different from the mindless mass-media "personality"; her life is utterly informed and transformed by grace. She can tell us about the whole of her life, about the meaning of the most simple event in her life. She introduces us to the whole panarama of life. Her story is the most accesible story, because it is cherished and preserved by God himself, and because she is our Mother.

She is the first, among many (saints), who can tell us the truth!

A priestly movement in the heart of Europe

During the past ten days the "Societe Jean-Marie Vianney" has been holding its annual general summer Session; first in Ars (near Lyons) and then in Lisieux (in Normandy). About sixty priests together with some seminarians from Europe and Canada took part in this gathering.

The "Societe Jean-Marie Vianney" is a priestly fraternity of Pontifical Right whose purpose is the development and exercise of the interior life of the diocesan priest for his apostolic and missionary life. This fraternal and spiritual endeavour is inspired by the witness to priestly holiness of the Cure d'Ars, St John Vianney.

At the heart of this movement is the Holy Eucharist, celebrated and adored, by the priest. A second dimension is built upon priests sharing together their own experience of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A third aspect of this movement is the study of the Teaching of the Church undertaken as a shared responsibility.

It is unusual to see priests in public, and large numbers of priests at that, especially in the UK. Perhaps Europe is unaware at this stage, that its true heart is still beating. Europe certainly possesses the material wealth to develop itself; it also possesses spiritual wealth and the John Vianney Society is called to be at the forefront of of this mission.

A very poignant moment for me was the singing of Midday Prayer of the Church on the cliffs by the Batterie de Longues which overlooks both "Gold" and "Juno" beaches (D-Day landings). Here in view of many tourists we prayed together for the unity of Europe. For, as the Moderator of the Society said as he opened the prayer: "A Europe without God will be a disaster!"

We were graced throughout the Session with the spiritual company of St Therese; in fact we stayed in Lisieux just over the river from the Carmel wall where she was perfected in holiness. We visited the Noman coast and Bayeux with its thousand year-old Tapistry, ending that day with a splendid Norman BBQ.

This society, still so new - it was given Pontifical Right in 2002 - is a flower at the heart of the Church. Please pray for the Society, that it may lead to the holiness of priests, that it be a strong platform of the New Evangelisation and that promote and guide many, many priestly vocations; it is already at the heart of the renewal of the Diocesan Priesthood.

Revisiting a Rising

Recently I visited Lincolnshire and some of the sites associated with the Lincolnshire Rising - the precursor to the Pilgrimage of Grace. The Rising occured in response to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the taxing of the Church and Governmental involvement in clerical life. It began because of a sermon given by the Parish Priest of Louth, Fr Thomas Kendall, on 1st October 1536, who called upon the people of Louth to defend their rights against the King. This photo shows the interior of St James Church in Louth - the original pulpit replaced by this Victorian piece.

The Rising gained great momentum throughout Lincolnshire, bringing together a great army which mustered first on Hamilton Hill (pictured) just outside Market Rasen in the first week of October. It was here that Robert Aske first made a public appearence; he was to become the principal Captain of the later Pilgrimage of Grace.

The Host finally made its way to Lincoln where they met with Henry VIII's envoys who managed to suppress the rebellion and then to execute many of its leaders.

Lincolnshire had much to lose - principally its faith and its numerous religious houses. Newstead Priory, pictured here, is situated on the banks of the River Ancholme. It was a Gilbertine House - the Gilbertines were a uniquely English Foundation. The "Priory" is now a venue for civil weddings and civil partnerships.

Finally I visited the site, which for me, is the most evocative remnant of the Dissolution of the Monasteries: Thornton Abbey. Only the Gatehouse of this Augustinian House remains, but as you approach the Gatehouse you can begin to imagine the "city" built for the honour of God which lay beyond. Thornton Abbey (just the Gatehouse) is well worth a visit; it is on the south bank of the Humber close to Immingham.

All that took place in Lincolnshire during October 1536 prepared the way for the Pilgrimage of Grace (I'll post about this later), and for the hardening of attitudes in Government against the "old religion". The Dissolution of the Monasteries continued, a new "church" was established, and as we know, the country has become more and more spiritually impoverished.

What a plan!

Cardinal Pell of Australia is envisaging a comprehensive renewal of his Diocese in the light of the blueprint letter of JPII: "Tertio Milennio Ineunte". At last there is a clear response from the Church of the Anglo-Saxon world to the New Evangelisation. Here is one "local Church" to keep your eye on - there will be many lessons for us to learn in the UK about how to become the Church of the New Evangelisation.

Take a look at the Home page of the Archdiocese of Sydney here and click on the Logo on the right hand side titled "Draft Pastoral Plan".

It is great to see what the plan heralds for young people: a local concrete response to next year's World Youth Day and for every parish to have the resources to lead young people in the Christian Life!

Let's remember Cardinal Pell, his Diocese and its renewal, and the plans for World Youth Day in our prayer.

Pelagianism in Leeds

In the UK we live in a deeply neo-Pelagian culture, one in which life is self or state-made and one for which Christ is present only as a reminder of how to be nice. It is a culture which has been forged through the presence of its national church - a church which is, by its nature utterly Pelagian, and by today's secularist movement. Neo-Pelagianism is today evidenced amongst other things by supermarket culture, Sunday shopping, condom and Court Order culture, drug and alcohol abuse, free unions and "living together", the welfare state mentality, middle class resort-enclaves - all of which declare "we can make it through on our own, we don't need Christ!"

I recently came across publications from two Catholic colleges in Leeds which reveal the influence of neo-Pelagianism in their ethoses (is that the plural of "ethos").

College "A", in its end of year Mass used the following prayers:

"Lord, peace always starts with ourselves. Help us to go forward ... and to promote peace in our homes, workplaces or wherever we find ourselves ... " "Let us celebrate all human beauty caught in colour, form and faith. Celebrate the human body made to move with speed and grace. Friendship found in common focus, effort turned to common goal." "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us ... and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from ur own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

This is just a little snippet, there is a lot more! Our young Catholics are being patronised terribly by this vapid nonsense.

College "B" in one of its Scriptural Course prospectus declares:

"The course will interest those are searching within English literature to sustain a personal quest for spiritual meaning." "It provides an understanding of the ways in which the English Bible was claimed, explained and proclaimed by institutions and individuals, and how it came to inspire other forms of literary expression." "You will have the opportunity to choose from a range of optional modules; Catholic Novelists, Dissent, Faith and Feminism ... " Why choose "Religious Studies" asks another prospectus? "So you can analyse and explore such issues as environmental ethics, gender and sexual ethics, Darwinism and debates about human nature ... and to discover new approaches to ethical reflection."

Catholic students and prospective students beware! Christ is not the centre and focus of these colleges, and the drip, drip, drip of neo-Pelagianism has taken hold here. The truth is that Christ is the definitive Revelation of the Father, that He has come to us because human nature is wounded, and that the Life of Grace, which He offers, is the unique opportunity for human beings to find fulfillment in God.

"Lord, look upon our troubled times, which need preachers of the Gospel, witnesses to you, persons who can point the way toward 'life in abundance'! Look upon our world and feel pity once more! Look upon our world and send us labourers!" Benedict XVI

The second leg of my break brought me to Hertfordshire and Essex. First I went to visit the town where I was born and took this photo of its ancient Cathedral:

Then eastwards to the old Catholic stronghold of Ingatestone Hall of the Petre family. Here St John Payne worked until his capture and execution at Chelmsford. The house has two remarkable priest holes. Neither of them were ever discovered during the penal days and both could provide ample space for the hiding of priests and Mass stuff.

I then went to the other side of Essex to see "Braddocks" or "Broadoaks". This house belonged in penal days to the Wiseman family - Catholics - and contains the finest priest hiding-place in the country. There is a detailed record of the search made in 1594 for the Jesuit John Gerrard who was hiding in this hide. The search lasted four days and was unsucessful, so cleverly had the hide been made by Nicholas Owen (now a saint).

You might imagine that something had inspired these visits - it had. For my holiday reading I took with me Alice Hogge's new book - "God's secret agents". She has writen a popular historical novel about the life of Catholics during Elizabeth I's reign. The book has been extensivly researched and is really well written. I recommend it to you as an immensly inspiring account of the lives of our forebears, priests and lay people, who offered themselves so that the Catholic Faith would continue in England.

Another world

The first leg of my break brought me to Provence - I like this country more than any other. The first thing to notice was the weather - very different from ours. 28C and dry. The second thing to notice is that the village where we stayed - Villecroze - was just like "Minas Tirith" in "The Lord of the Rings".

Even the house where we stayed called to my mind the lodgings where Gandalf and Pippin were housed just before the siege of Gondor.

We had a superb week, cycling, swimming in fresh water and salt, and praying all the while for the new evangelisation of the UK.

The Dawkins Delusion - the interview

Having been challenged by some secularists the past few days, I came across this tongue in cheek little item on You Tube...

An extraordinary occasion

Here's a picture taken during the Mass I celebrated yesterday evening. Sorry about the quality of the image.

Parity

I'm back. And what extraordinary news from the Holy Father. We used to speak of "parity for the old rite" in the late seventies but the new "Motu Proprio" is stunning! Thank you, Holy Father.

I don't know whather this Motu Proprio will mean that more Tridentine Masses will be celebrated, but I think that it will have a huge psychological amd theological impact: the Mass is the Mass!

This Act, together with "Redemptionis Sacramentum" and "Sacramentum Caritatis" means not only that the period of liturgical experimentation is over, but that reality of the Mass, as the unchanging and saving action of Christ in history, is now again at the forefront of the Liturgy. And that the Church is actively drawing us into the action of the Mass (whether old or new rite), so that we might be formed by Christ and so that the Liturgical Movement might be better grounded.

On Monday I celebrate my 19th Anniversary of Ordination. I will be offering Mass, using the 1962 Missal, at 7.30pm in Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Huddersfield. (It's the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.) Refreshments afterwards in my Presbytery. If you can come, please do.

Good bye Mr Blair

Untill fairly recently, those who took an active part in fashioning society for the good of all, and fashioning it in an organic way, communicating and trasmitting both human and Christian values in a way which only they could - was the family. This has been the case down through history - such was the value that society and governments gave to fathers and mothers. The acknowledgment, by Govenments, of the relationship between the family and society down through the ages - with occasional hicups - we find finally enshrined in the Charter of Rights of the Family.

Mr Blair's Government however, has dedicated itself to the destruction of the family - to destroying marriage and to transferring the values of Fatherhood and Motherhood on to itself as the power which determines what values are to be transmitted and how they are to be transmitted. His Government has been aided in this by the neo-pagan media which mocks marriage and the family and teaches falsehood.

Why have they done this? Why have we let them do this?

This Government has condoned abortion, embryo research, stem-cell research, cloning, hybridisation, civil partnerships, gay-adoption. It has introduced sex information and pornography into schools, including primary schools. It has inserted agents of the new pagan orthodoxy into schools as nurses and councellors. It has promoted aggressive contraception drugs and condoms in schools. It has set up councelling centres in the midst of communities so as to diffuse the new orthodoxy. It has introduced the Mental Capacity Act, and tried to introduce the Assisted Dying for the terminally ill Bill. It has flooded so called "third world" countries with condoms. It has condoned and promoted the vastly inflated property market which prevents young couples from housing themselves. It has promoted the building of new housing which is couple-friendly but not family-friendly .... to name but a few. But please do add to this list if you can remember more.

The family, as an organic human reality and a God-given reality, has never been under such threat in this country. The natural anthority and dignity of fathers and mothers has never been denied in this country before. No Government has done so much to change the way we live by tampering with the essential elements of human life and society. We should all realise what is taking place here - as John Paul II did - and seek to release the forces contained within the family. Never before has the Church been called upon to help in this regard. Let us wake up from our apparent slumber!

Good bye Mr Blair.

I'm taking a break now - so I wont be posting for another ten days or so.

Another era ends

Our Lady Mother of Grace House is closing down this summer. This house, where I live, is no longer required in a reorganisation of the Church in Huddersfield which is taking place; I shall be moving to Leeds. Yet for almost three years this house has been a place of prayer, light and grace for many. These images will be a reminder to a lot of people of the many formation and evangelisation events that took place here since Autumn 2004.

The chapel, where so much Adoration and grace has flowed:

The large reception room which hosted many gatherings and many unctious meals:

The atrium-lit upstairs landing with its five bedrooms which have accomodated so many different mission teams:

The homely kitchen - much loved becuase of the conversations and meals which have occasioned so many apostolic events:

The screen in the "cinema of grace" which has been enjoyed by so many groups:

This house, which was in a seriously delapidated state when I moved in, was transformed, as you can see. It enabled me, Fr Julian and other agents of the New Evangelisation to offer so many formation and evangelisation initiatives for young people; the house has been the cause of so many blessings. Is there a possiblity of establishing a new, independent, house of prayer and evangelisation for young people? I would like to do just that - but I need a lot of help. First of all prayer, then people who are committed to such a venture, then financial help, for we would need a property and the means to resource it. So, I put a serious petition before you: can you help me to open a house of prayer and evangelisation for young people?

Gap year

Alton Castle in Staffordshire is looking for a couple more gap year volunteers. See the website www.altoncastle.co.uk for more information. Contact Giovanna at the castle or Paul on 01538 703224.
See what you think, it's the best paid Gap Year opportunity: monthly wage, food and accomodation, working in a team, evangelising and living in a real castle.

Cafod and the 'new' morality

Cafod states that it does not distribute condoms and that its programme partners may not use Cafod money for condoms. Yet, the project of western-based agencies is, as we know, to supply condoms to the third world. Cafod money may not be used for condoms, but Cafod money frees us other monies to be used for the supply, dirtibution and promotion of condoms in the third world.

Furthermore, Cafod teaches the "ABC" approach to combatting AIDS. This "third way" promotes first, abstinence, then fidelity, but if these fail, then "use a condom".

In order to defend the promotion of condoms, Cafod as a Catholic Charity, is constructing a 'new' ethics, based on "solid science and good community development practices [together] with established and evolving moral theology and Catholic social teaching." (cf Cafod's website - Feature: Positive thinking on HIV)

Cafod therefore states publicly that the teaching of Humanae Vitae regarding the intrinsic connection between the unitive and procreative dimensions of the marriage act "does not seem to apply" for people who are under threat from AIDS, and that their using contraceptives is in fact therapeutic. Moreover, Cafod states that all this is based soundly on Catholic teaching - even though Cafod "does not have a catechetical role with regard to sexual ethics."

The root of this 'new' morality which Cafod is constructing is the careful work done by Cafod's moral experts and advisors who have divorced sexual ethics from social ethics - they have separated the question of combatting AIDS with condoms from the arena of universal morality. In the question of condoms, Cafod is overtly making distinctions from the Teaching of the Church.

Now first of all, sexual and social morality cannot be separated from one another - they are essentially linked in the human person and in society. Secondly, the only possible therapeutic use of condoms would occur when the sexual act is not involved. Thirdly, a pastoral situation does not create a new morality or new moral principles. The AIDS situation certainly requires a pastoral approach - however difficult that may be to bring about and to teach.

Cafod has shown itself to have bought into the new secular morality which promotes promiscuity, infidelity and the culture of death. It is a contrived and false morality in which grace and virtue are disregarded. Fr Matthias Nsamba has said that "sending condoms to South Africa is like pouring petrol on the fire of the HIV epidemic." Can we not support those agencies - such as the "Christ the Healer Project" - which do not distribute condoms and which teach behaviour change?

The aid offered by the West to developing countries has been purely technically and materially based, and not only has left God out of the picture, but has driven men away from God. And this aid, proudly claiming to "know better", is itself what first turned the "third world" into what we mean today by that term. (Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Chap 2)

Cafod is in urgent need of renewal; other charities, such as "Mary's Meals" seem to be in that process right now!

In the frootsteps of the martyrs

The annual meeting of the Valladolid Association took place this week; both Fr Julian and myself are members of this association since we both trained for the priesthood at the English College, Valladolid in Spain. The College was founded in 1589 during penal times and, as you may know, six of the students were named as Saints in 1970 among the 40 Martyrs; many others have been named as Blessed.

Our meeting took place in Droitwich in Worcestershire; the photo shows us - about sixty priests - celebrating Mass in the beautiful church of the Sacred Heart and St Richard in Droitwich. (My namesake was born in Droitwich and, in fact, we stayed in a Hotel which stands on the site of Droitwich Manor in which he was born.)

The fraternity which we share is tangible since, most of us having spent six years of our lives at the college, have a lot in common. But since there were so many martyrs from the college there is a poignancy to our priesthood. We were all ordained to serve the mission in this country; we know that it is with humility that we must proceed and we know that holiness is our greatest calling.

There is an Englishness to this group of priests which is almost unique - our outlook and our culture have been formed in a college whose inheritance is an awareness of how to build the Kingdom on English soil.

81 covers

This past week I have been on full thrabber with lots of stuff going on. But Thursday was a day of exceptional thrabber! Fr Julian and myself have done a lot of cooking together since 1998, but last Thursday saw the realisation of our greatest culinary project to date. We were called upon to cook the Birmingham University CathSoc Annual Dinner; and eighty one people sat down to eat a formal four-course meal.

In the past I have cooked for gatherings of up to about forty people - but cooking for eighty is hearty endeavour! We were at it all day.

My special thanks go to Dominic, the President of CathSoc who helped me throughout the day, and who hosted the Dinner with great style, to Miriam who undertook the preparation of unctious food with great dedication, to Tomas, Paul and Marek for the hard days work which you put in, and to David (who I have cooked with before) who laboured over the hot griddle in the final moments of the cooking.

The Dinner was a great achievement and I think that Fr Julian is very blessed to have such a great host of Catholic young people working with him. You worked with me magnificently, and the Natalie and the girls who decorated the dining room are to be commended highly.

This event is a sign of the New Evangelisation in Birmingham University - may you all go from strength to strength.

Cooking for young people is a great joy for me - you show such great appreciation and there was so much grace bouncing around.

Bread of Life part 3

The third and final part of the reflection by Fr Sylvester CFR

Bread of Life…Culture of Death :

We arrive at our present time with its own unique set of problems rooted, as we said, in secularism. Our starting point was the question of whether or not Eucharistic piety, especially in its most solemn form, the Feast of Corpus Christi, is relevant for us here and now. The answer is a resounding YES! This “yes” is echoed in Pope Paul VI’s encyclical, Mystici Corporis, canon 944 of the 1983 Cod of Canon law; John Paul the Great’s final encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia and its follow-up document, Redemptionis Sacramentum, which was written in collaboration with the future Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger). All of these strongly promote expressions of Eucharistic piety, especially the solemn celebration of Corpus Christi, as an extension of the graces of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Perhaps even more persuasive is the number of conversions and vocations emerging out of Eucharistic movements such as Youth 2000 (essentially a “Forty Hours” devotion adapted for teens and young adults) and the transformation and renewal experienced in those parishes that have started perpetual adoration. Eucharistic Congresses have also been a source of renewal in the Church. The proof is in the pudding. These grassroots Eucharistic movements reverberate a clear and convincing “yes” that Eucharistic piety is not only relevant, but more necessary and, therefore, more powerful than ever.

History teaches us why Eucharistic piety remains an essential and vital force in the clash between Christ and contemporary culture. Jesus says, “I Am the Bread of Life.” Jesus was crucified 2000 years ago, and for 2000 years His Mystical Body, the Church, has been sharing in His passion and death. Yet, the Bread of Life is our sharing in the Resurrection of Jesus, “the Living Bread come down from heaven.” There can be no better weapon to destroy the culture of death than the Bread of Life where He Who trampled down death by death is alive, truly present and all-powerful. Indeed, Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and at the same time, He no longer calls us servants but friends. Like the Christians of old, we can find peace and strength with our Friend, Jesus, in quiet, prayerful adoration. Like the Christians of old, we cannot wait to be “tolerated” before we declare the universal kingship of Jesus publicly, for instance, through Eucharistic processions of the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Jesus was never tolerated, neither will His Church be, nor us as His members. Besides, if we are aiming for mere tolerance, then we are shooting at the wrong target. Our goal is much loftier and more sublime, the conversion of sinners, the salvation of souls. This can only be accomplished through prayer and Christian witness, both privately and in public. There is no other way, and the Way is a person, Jesus Christ, forever present and powerful in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, the Bread of Life. God is alive. The godless culture of death is already destroyed. Let us not be afraid to stand victorious with Jesus in a Eucharistic culture, a culture of life-giving, sacrificial and ultimately Christian love.