Catholic and Loving it!

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Links
  • RSS Subscribe

Ella and James Preece are a Catholic couple living in Kingston Upon Hull in Yorkshire in the UK. This is our blog.

  • ella@lovingit.co.uk
  • james@lovingit.co.uk
  • RSS Subscribe
  • Email Updates

sprites header-background page-background sidebar-backgrounds body-background footer-background-repeater

What do Catholics believe?

God so loved the world that he gave his only son...

Pope Benedict Visit

The UNOFFICIAL Website of the Papal Visit

Bishop Drainey's Pastoral Letter for Advent

Blogged by James Preece on 1st December 2008

The Punmaster Strikes Again...

Our Bishop is a funny man (you know how I love my puns). I did account (though you might want to cheque) but I reckon Bishop Drainey now holds the world record for most puns in a pastoral letter.

Gotta love the gender equality...

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

You might be forgiven for thinking that Christmas has already come and almost gone even before we finished celebrating Christ the King and moved into Advent! Given the present economic and cultural climate I am really thanking God for the blessing of Advent and all it brings - the richness of God’s Word and Promises, which will never go into recession; the teachings of the Church, which increase in value as the days and years pass; the wealth of the liturgy, which, if we invest in it, will give us plenty to live off for far more than the foreseeable future. Certainly here is something on which we can bank knowing that our interest will only grow as time goes on!

Wow. Ella and I are wondering if he did it for a dare...

Anyway, Bishop Drainey stops with the puns a moment to share with us the deposit of faith. The main themes are not sanitising the incarnation...

God in Christ enters into the mess and incompletion of our world and our personal lives too. Left to ourselves all we can do is wallow in the mess and lament all that is lacking, powerless to change either. In Christ a new light has dawned upon the world, in him the divine and the human are united never again to be divided.

...and looking forward as well as backwards...

While Advent is certainly about recalling Christ’s first coming at Christmas, it is also about his coming into my life, and your life and our accepting his promise and gift of salvation and all the graces and blessings that these bring in the here-and-now. However, we must also look to the day when that promise and gift of salvation will come to completion and fullness at the end of time when Christ will come again in glory.

Finally, Bishop Drainey throws a few more puns in for good measure...

We long for Christ to return in glory at the end of time when he will complete all that is lacking in our lives individually and as humanity. Here’s a currency we can count on. Shares in these truths will never decline in value. Invest in this creditable venture and you will never lose out.

A joyful, prayerful, hopeful Advent to you all and, when it comes, a peaceful, fruitful, fulfilling, and above all, a real and genuine celebration of Christmas to each and every one.

+Terence Patrick

Sterling work! It's possible to get carried away with puns but he has a good balance. You can read it in full here.

Feel free to offer your own money related puns in the comments below. I bet you can think up Lloyds of them.

Jesus Saves...

Rate this blogentry:+-

  • RSS Subscribe
  • Email Updates

Make us happy...

  •  Tweet This!
  •  Share via Facebook
  •  Bookmark
  •  Digg it!

Related Items:

  • How to inspire confidence...
  • Feast of the Assumption - Part Deux
  • Jesus asks: "Who do you say I am?"
  • Middlesbrough Diocese: A Culture Unfavourable to Vocations
  • Middlesbrough Diocese: A Crisis of Spiritual Deafness

This Item Tagged With:

  • Bishop Terence Drainey
  • Middlesbrough Diocese
  • Puns

Leave a Comment:

Name: (required)

Email: (required - will not be displayed)

Website: (optional)

Comment: Allowed tags: <a>,<strong>,<em>,<b>,<i>,<blockquote>


Year for Priests

Recent Comments

victor

Tweren't nothing -- your marriage is worth more than a bazillion songs! And I'm really glad you both appreciated it....

Sarah

How lovely. Wishing you many more happy, holy and healthy years together.

Yorkmum

Wishing you a happy holy, wedding anniversary.As it happens the Eremite and I share an anniversary with you... 16 years for us today.

Ella

The song was great - I loved the catechism reference!

Ella

Congratulations anniversary buddies!16 years - now that is worth celebrating!

When someone gives you a gift reply with Thank You Cards. When our Father God gives you a gift reply by living through his will. And acting with kindness and love.

Ceramic Wedding Band

To the Blessed Virgin Prayer for England

O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon England thy "Dowry" and upon us all who greatly hope and trust in thee.

By thee it was that Jesus our Saviour and our hope was given unto the world; and He has given thee to us that we might hope still more.

Plead for us thy children, whom thou didst receive and accept at the foot of the cross.

O sorrowful Mother! intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold they may be united to the supreme Shepherd, the Vicar of thy Son.

Pray for us all, dear Mother, that by faith fruitful in good works we may all deserve to see and praise God, together with thee, in our heavenly home.

Amen.

Couple's Prayer

O God, our heavenly Father, protect and bless us. Deepen and strengthen our love for each other day by day.

Grant that by thy mercy, neither of us may ever say one unkind word to the other. Forgive and correct our faults, and make us constantly to forgive one another should one of us unconsciously hurt the other.

Make us and keep us sound and well in body, alert in mind, tender in heart, and devout in spirit. O Lord, grant us each to rise to the other's best. Then, we pray thee, add to our common life such virtues as only thou canst give.

And so, O Father, consecrate our life and love completely to thy worship, and to the service of all about us, especially those whom thou hast appointed us to serve, that we may always stand before thee in happiness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Babies Bedtime Prayer

Father, thankyou for all the good things that have happened to me today.

Thankyou for keeping me safe and well, thankyou for fun and laughter with my friends, thank you for what I have learned, thank you for all those that I love.

Help us all to sleep soundly tonight.

Amen.

Tag Cloud

  • Abortion
  • Ad Orientem
  • Advent
  • Advent Calendar
  • All That I Am
  • Archbishop Vincent Nichols
  • Art
  • B3ta
  • Babies
  • Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue
  • Bishop Terence Drainey
  • Cakes
  • Cartoons
  • Catholic Education Services
  • Catholic Schools
  • Catholic Youth Work
  • Christmas
  • Clerical Abuse
  • Comics
  • Condoms
  • Confession
  • Connexions
  • Contraception
  • Creation
  • CYMFed
  • Death
  • Digital Things
  • Evangelisation
  • Flash Games
  • Fr Patrick Day
  • Fr William Massie
  • Fun
  • Fundraising
  • GK Chesterton
  • Gregorian Chant
  • History
  • Holiness
  • Humanae Vitae
  • Jack Valero
  • Joanna Bogle
  • Last Supper
  • Latin
  • Lego
  • Lent
  • Leona
  • Liturgy
  • LiveChastely
  • Mark Shea
  • Marriage
  • Marriage and Family Life
  • Marriage Care
  • Married Love
  • Mary Symbol of the Church
  • Middlesbrough Cathedral
  • Middlesbrough Diocese
  • Music
  • National Youth Sunday
  • Oona Stannard
  • Optical Illusions
  • Papal Visit
  • Pope Benedict XVI
  • Prayer
  • Puns
  • Reredos
  • Richard Dawkins
  • Sacraments
  • Sacraments and Sacramentality
  • Saint Marys College Hull
  • Sex Education
  • Sign of the Cross
  • Suffering
  • Terry Prendergast
  • The Big Questions
  • The Tablet
  • Traditionalists
  • Vocations
  • Who do you say I am?
  • Why Bother
  • World Youth Day
  • York
  • Youth Sunday
  • YouTube

Saint Michael - Pray For Us!

Saint Mary - Pray For Us!

We Love Teh Berfs! We Love Teh Little Lambses!

GK Chesterton!

We Love Popple!

Saint Claire of Assisi - Pray For Us! Saint Francis of Assisi - Pray For Us!

We Love Zelda!

St Jerome - Pray For Us!