Stand Up 4 Vatican II

I posted a while back on a bunch of fruitcakes claiming to"Stand Up for Vatican II". What they actually mean, of course, is that they don't like the Benedictine renewal that is happening and want us to accept their blinkered vision of "the spirit" of VII.

Now comes a must see.

Have a look here Catholics for a Changing Church

Compare and contrast Geriatrics for a Changing Church

What a hoot!

Football

You've got to love this advert, even if the beer is blech!

@vatican_va on Twitter - or is it?

Seemingly the Vatican have launched a Twitter feed, or have they? From Catholic News Service comes this story:

VATICAN CITY — Over the weekend some media announced that the Vatican had opened a Twitter feed. Intrigued, I quickly went to @vatican_va on Twitter. At first glance, it looked like the Vatican — there was the Vatican coat of arms, the Vatican flag and a link to the Vatican Web site. And hundreds of tweets in many languages, linking to Vatican Radio stories.

Then I e-mailed Father Federico Lombardi, who heads both the Vatican press office and Vatican Radio. I got a response rather quickly, and a surprising one. He said the Twitter feed was news to him, and that neither the press office nor Vatican Radio was doing the tweeting. A call to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications elicited a similar response: it wasn’t them, and they didn’t know who it was.

Hmmm. This was beginning to look more and more like online impersonation.  Perhaps not the first, either: I knew there was already a @vaticanen Twitter feed that also identified itself as “Vatican” without, as far as I knew, any authorization.

A few more calls around the Vatican this morning elicited more surprise and some concern. I have the impression that Vatican Radio may be seriously considering a Twitter feed, and doesn’t like being hijacked like this.

At this point, no one I’ve spoken with here has any idea who’s tweeting for the Vatican. More as it develops…

 Curious indeed!

Saint Timothy and Saint Titus

Saints Timothy and Titus where early bishops and today is their memorial.

The breviary says: Timothy and Titus were disciples and helpers of the apostle Paul, the former being placed in charge of the Church at Epheus, the latter the Church at Crete. Saint Paul wrote his pastoral epistles to them, containing much useful advice for the instruction of the clergy and people.

The Conversion of St Paul

I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant; you are to tell others what you have seen of me today, amd what I will show you in the future. I will save you from the people of Israel and from the Gentiles, to whom I will send you. You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God's chosen people.

Acts 26: 16b-18.

Lost for words

Thought for a Tuesday

And only where God is seen does life truly begin.
Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is.
We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution.
Each of us is the result of a thought of God.
Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.
There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ.

There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with him.

Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, Sunday 24 April 2005

Abortion

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord,
And let perpetual Light shine upon them.
May their souls
And the souls of all the faithful departed
Through the mercy of God
Rest in peace.
Amen

Not in my name!

Thanks to a post on Fr Ray Blake's blog I made a bad mistake and had a look at the Catholics for a Changing Church website.

Without wishing to be unkind and in the spirit of Christian charity - what a bunch of fruitcakes!

How can any organisation calling itself Catholic state: "[We] began as a protest movement against Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s encyclical in 1968, in which artificial means of contraception were banned"?

So, an organisation founded on dissent and disobedience is trying to mandate what should happen in the Church? Truly the words lunatics and asylum spring to mind.

I suspect their understanding of "Catholic" is somewhat different to mine.

These wallopers are now allying themselves with another bunch of bangers calling themselves "STANDUP4VATICAN2". Is that some sort of attempt at txt speak?

The best bit of the website however is the Executive Committee page which proves, beyond doubt, that "the Spirit of Vatican 2" belongs to a bygone era! Ageing hippies indeed!

The aggressive pro-homosexual agenda

Fr Tim Finigan draws attention on his great blog The Hermeneutic of Continuity to the demands of Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, that Faith Schools be required to teach that homosexuality is "normal and harmless".

As Fr Finigan says: "It is an indication of the lack of effective opposition from Churches ... in particular from the Catholic Church, that the leader of one of our mainstream parties feels that it is a politically advantageous move to threaten the persecution of "Faith Schools"..."

Have a look again at Fr Dwight's "Slippery Slope" by clicking here. Point no 10 says: "Tolerance being won, they will not stop. They now demand not only that you tolerate, but that you approve. They've moved from being 'sick' or 'wounded' or 'disabled' by their condition to tolerance, and now they proclaim their condition to be 'good'."

St Michael: Pray for us.

A little reminder

Be calm but vigilant, because your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. Stand up to him, strong in faith.

1 Peter 5:8-9

St Hilary of Poitiers, Bishop and doctor of the Church

St Hilary was born in the early 4th century at Poitiers of pagan parents. He received baptism together with his wife and daughter and was appointed bishop of Poitiers around 353.

He is sometimes referred to as The Hammer of the Arians. Today is his memiorial.

The Catholic Encyclopedia has a comprehensive entry on St Hilary.

The Spirit of VII

Just can't resist this. Pay the man a visit at his extra brilliant blog by clicking the link below:

 Catholic Cartoon Blog

I love this website

I discovered this website - Catholic Cartoon Blog - over the weekend.

It's genius, check it out. Here is a little taster.

What brilliant work!

What's going on in Pretoria?

The Archdiocese of Pretoria, South Africa is where I was baptised (Sacred Heart Cathedral) and where I spent the first 30 odd years of my life. The Archdiocese was established in 1948 and for it's first 60 years, until 2008, only had two bishops, + John Colburn Garner and + George Daniel.

Archbishop Daniel retired in November 2008 and was replaced by + Paul Khumalo CMM. I see now, although the SACBC website still doesn't have the news, that + Khumalo has resigned. Why? That's a tenure of only 13 months! Sounds strange to me.

The Apostlic Administrator is my one time parish priest Mgr Abel Gabuza. His first act was to cause scandal to the church in circumstances that are almost a repeat of the Ted Kennedy fiasco. South African Catholic reports that the pro-death abortionist politician Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (who denied anti-retroviral drugs to millions with HIV) was granted a funeral in Sacred Heart Cathedral by Mgr Gabuza. Moreover I understand there was an oration during the funeral.

Sadly, nothing about this surprises me.

Muslims are conquering Europe

Czech cardinal warns: Muslims are conquering Europe

January 06, 2010

Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, who has served as Archbishop of Prague since 1991, has warned in an interview that “if Europe doesn't change its relation to its own roots, it will be Islamized.”

“Europe has denied its Christian roots from which it has risen and which could give it the strength to fend off the danger that it will be conquered by Muslims-- which is actually happening gradually,” he said. Muslims “easily fill the vacant space created as Europeans systematically empty the Christian content of their lives.”

“At the end of the Middle Ages and in the early modern age, Islam failed to conquer Europe with arms. The Christians beat them then,” he added. “Today, when the fighting is done with spiritual weapons which Europe lacks while Muslims are perfectly armed, the fall of Europe is looming.”

Denouncing Europe’s “pagan environment” and “atheistic style of life,” Cardinal Vlk said that “Neither the free market nor freedom without responsibility is strong enough to form the basis of society. Not even democracy alone is a panacea unless it is embedded in God.”

The Czech press is speculating that Pope Benedict will name a successor to the 77-year-old cardinal within days.

h/t: Catholic Culture

The Epiphany of our Lord

In England at least, today is the transferred solemnity of the Epiphany.

The word "epiphany" translates from the original Greek as "appearance" or "manifestation", hence the ordinary English usage of "having an epiphany" when something becomes clear.

For the Western Church, the emphasis of the Epiphany is the visitation of the Magi to the baby Jesus, while the Eastern emphasis is on Jesus' baptism.

It is clear that the Epiphany is a very old observance, indeed St Gregory preached on the day at least as early 380.

St Basil the Great and St Gregory Nazianzen

Today is the feast day of these two friends, who were both bishops and are now both doctors of the church.

The Breviary says:

Basil was born of a Christian family at Caesarea in Cappadocia in the year 330. Outstanding in learning and virtue he began to lead a retired life but in the year 370 he was appointed Bishop of Caesarea. He combatted the Arian heresy, wrote much of value, especially the monastic rules, which even today are followed by many monks of the Eastern Church; and he was outstanding in helping the poor. He died on 1 January 379.
Gregory was born near Nazianzus in the same year, 330. He journeyed much in order to acquire knowledge and he followed his friend Saint Basil in undertaking a life of solitude, but was ordained a priest and bishop. In 381 he was chosen Bishop of Constantinople. However, because of the divisions he encountered in the diocese he returned to his native Nazianzus where he died on 25 January in either 389 or 390. He was a man of outstanding knowledge and eloquence and was called The Theologian.