There is speculation as to whether Jesus' last supper was a passover seder meal. More on that here

Though I would never substitute the Maunday Thursday Mass with a passover seder meal I do think that there are some interesting points to be made.

Whether it was a passover seder or not I still feel there are points that can help our understanding of the wonderful mysteries of the Mass...

We all know the story of the Passover, the Hebrew people were enslaved by Pharaoh and Worked as slave labour making bricks until God sent Moses to free His people. Pharaoh did not want to loose His slave labour so God sent a series of plagues to try to persuade him, the last being the death of all first born sons. God did not want to kill the first born of the Hebrew people so he asked for a lamb to be sacrificed instead, with its blood spread on the door posts so the angel would 'pass over'. This celebration of freedom was commemorated every year by the Hebrew/Jewish people.

The meal is celebrated in the family and was a re-actualisation of the event, not a commemoration – the same as our celebration of the Pascal Mystery.

The first pretty obvious thing is that they eat unleavened bread. This is because before the Passover the houses were cleaned of all the yeast. Firstly, because at the first Passover they didn’t have time to let the bread rise, before they left in haste and secondly the way you got yeast was by leaving a little piece of the dough you used to one side. The yeast would grow in the dough and you could mix it in with the next batch of bread. Therefore clearing out all your yeast is symbolic of a new start, like leaving Egypt. Just as we have new life in Christ.

So at this re-actualisation that Jesus is celebrating with his followers he holds up the bread, what he would usually say is:

“This is the Bread of affliction, which our forefathers ate in the land of Egypt. All who hunger let them eat. All who are needy, let them come and celebrate the Passover with us”

But Jesus holds up the unleavened bread and changes the words:

“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. And he said. “Take this, it is my body.””

To be continued...

Hum... You have a point Patricious (see comments) but then there is this, how does this fit in?

If Jesus is instituting the new liturgy, calling himself the bread of affliction. Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life in John 6. He is identifying the bread of affliction with the bread of life. The actualisation of the passover event also confirms that “This is my body” is not just a symbolic thing but a statement of fact.

Then looking at the Cups of Wine again this could be significant for Catholics

“Then he took a cup and after he had given thanks, passed it to them and they all drank from it. And he said, “This is my blood, the blood of the Covenant, which is to be poured out for many.””

At the passover they drink from four cups. The cup of sanctification, the cup of deliverance, the cup of blessing (or redemption) and the fourth cup is the cup of completion.

In this passage it is very significant which cup Mark is talking about. We have a couple of clues as to which it is:

“ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ?”

“After singing psalms of Praise, they went out to the mount of Olives.”

The singing of psalms does come directly after the third cup therefore they have just drank the third cup, the Cup of Blessing.

After this there would normally be some more prayers and the drinking of the fourth cup, the cup of consummation, the Cup of Completion and then the service ends. But Jesus does not do this, after the third cup he says:

“Yes, I say to you: I will not taste the fruit of the vine from now until the day I drink new wine with you in my father’s Kingdom”.”

And then they go to Gethsemane as we see in Matt 26:30 above. There He begs that he does not have to drink of the cup, that it be taken from him. The he refers to is the cup of Completion of the Passover sacrifice. This is because the sacrifice has not been completed. Jesus is then arrested, and crucified the next day. John’s Gospel especially describes Jesus’ death in Passover terms. Jesus' legs were not broken, just as the Passover Lamb's were not in the passover account in Exodus.

Ponders to continue...

Hum... You have a point Patricius (see comments) but then there is this, how does this fit in?

If Jesus is instituting the new liturgy, calling himself the bread of affliction. Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life in John 6. He is identifying the bread of affliction with the bread of life. The actualisation of the passover event also confirms that “This is my body” is not just a symbolic thing but a statement of fact.

Then looking at the Cups of Wine again this could be significant for Catholics

“Then he took a cup and after he had given thanks, passed it to them and they all drank from it. And he said, “This is my blood, the blood of the Covenant, which is to be poured out for many.””

At the passover they drink from four cups. The cup of sanctification, the cup of deliverance, the cup of blessing (or redemption) and the fourth cup is the cup of completion.

In this passage it is very significant which cup Mark is talking about. We have a couple of clues as to which it is:

“ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ?”

“After singing psalms of Praise, they went out to the mount of Olives.”

The singing of psalms does come directly after the third cup therefore they have just drank the third cup, the Cup of Blessing.

After this there would normally be some more prayers and the drinking of the fourth cup, the cup of consummation, the Cup of Completion and then the service ends. But Jesus does not do this, after the third cup he says:

“Yes, I say to you: I will not taste the fruit of the vine from now until the day I drink new wine with you in my father’s Kingdom”.”

And then they go to Gethsemane as we see in Matt 26:30 above. There He begs that he does not have to drink of the cup, that it be taken from him. The he refers to is the cup of Completion of the Passover sacrifice. This is because the sacrifice has not been completed. Jesus is then arrested, and crucified the next day. John’s Gospel especially describes Jesus’ death in Passover terms. Jesus' legs were not broken, just as the Passover Lamb's were not in the passover account in Exodus.

Ponders to continue...

Here is the last of my ponderies...

“A jar full of bitter wine stood there; so putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a twig of hyssop, they raised it to his lips.”

This would mean Jesus drinks the cup of completion on the cross. Completion of the new covenant. He even clarifies it by saying “It is finished” or “It is complete”

Jesus drinks the new wine in the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Love that was displayed most perfectly with his sacrifice on the Cross

But there is more still, the hyssop stick, this was used to spread the blood on the door posts, on that first passover night, now at the last supper Christ has already declared during the meal that the wine is his blood, therefore when they raise the wine on the hyssop stick to Jesus it is like this spreading of the wine on the door post's. Jesus is the gate to heaven, we can only go to the Father through Christ!

It is also important to notice that at the first passover God did not just demand a sacrificed lamb from the Hebrews but a first born son from the Egyptians, through Christ's sacrificed on the cross as both the sacrificial lamb and the first born of son God he redeeming both Jews and Gentiles with His new covenant, and just as the sacrifice of the passover lamb was not enough for the Hebrews, they had to eat it, so too do we become part of the sacrifice of Christ, as we consume Him as the Blessed Sacrament.

I think it is important and so exciting to see how Christ completed his revelation to his apostles, by really understanding what those last moments would have meant to the apostles who would have understood all of the passover symbolism.

You learn something new every day... It turns out there are two Bishop McMahons. Bishop Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham Diocese and Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood Diocese.

This makes it a risky business to google for "Bishop McMahon Address" and then assume that whatever you happen to find applies to the Bishop McMahon you had in mind, especially if you are googling for his postal address. This is how I managed to write a letter for Bishop Malcolm McMahon but sent it to Bishop Thomas McMahon.

Fortunately, I began my letter with the words "Dear Bishop McMahon" and included nothing at all to suggest to Bishop Thomas McMahon that I had actually intended to write to Bishop Malcolm McMahon, though given all the information I included about Catholic Education Services I reckon he might have guessed... he replied on April 1st

Anyway, here is what Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood Diocese had to say about the whole Children, Schools and Families thing...

This is the first time I've ever received a postcard from a Bishop. Just in case the handwriting is hard to see on your screen, it reads:

Dear Mr Preece,

Thank you for your letter. The Bishops have campaigned very vigorously on these points & been given every assurance by legal advice & our own agency Catholic Education Services, that these clauses will not coerce schools into teaching anything which is against the teachings of the faith.

Every blessings for Easter

+Thomas McMahon

The Bishops have campaigned very vigorously... anybody remember that because I don't.

I'm kind of touched that he took the time to send a hand written response, but it's a bit dissapointing when you consider that my letter included a critique of Catholic Education Services about which he says nothing.

Let's see if Malcolm McMahon does any better... If I can manage to get his address right!

Fantastic news from SPUC...

Now that the election has been called, the Government have been forced to negotiate with the Opposition Parties in order to get as much of their legislation through as possible. This is known as the "wash up".

...

This means that when the House of Lords passes the Children, Schools and Families Bill tomorrow evening, it will be minus the PSHE provisions. A huge pro-life victory.

Credit is due to all those who lobbied against a bill which SPUC has said would have been the biggest expansion of the culture of death through thousands of state schools in England - promoting abortion provision for children and simultaneously sounding the death knell for parents' right and responsibilities to be the primary educators and protectors of their children.

I would also pay tribute to over 100 Catholic headteachers and governors, three Catholic bishops and over three hundred clergy, both Catholic and from other denominations/faiths, who signed a letter to the Sunday Telegraph opposing the bill. The initiative was led by Norman Wells of the Family Education Trust. The massive support the letter received from leading Catholics showed just how out of touch the Catholic Education Service (CES) is with the concerns of the Catholics community in England and Wales.

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I'm not entirely sure this should be construed as a victory. We lost. The Bishops did nothing and even the three who did speak out did so only after the bill had made it through the commons. It's only by chance that an election turned up before they could get it through the lords.

This is the equivalent of having lost most of your pieces in a game of chess, your opponent is a few moves away from checkmate and then somebody knocks the table over.

We didn't win. We avoided defeat.

Thank God.

When first looking it appears that the two accounts of creation contradict each other. The first account emphasises that God is the creator, He merely says the words and creation springs into being, He does not toil and labour as man does. We note the order of creation, the first three days he creates areas or regions:

Day 1: Light and Dark Day 2: Sea and Sky Day 3: Land and Plants

He then fills these regions respectively:

Day 4: Sun, Moon and Stars Day 5: Fish and Birds Day 6: Animals for the land and Humans

God creates order. This is just as meaningful today as when it was written, when God took the Israelites out of the chaos of pagan cultures and brought them to the order of the Jewish faith, awaiting the Messiah; we also turn to him to find order and peace in a world that is secular in nature and chaotic in it's understanding of morals, such as the dignity of human life and justice. We see there are ten occasions when “God said” as he created, this reminds us of the ten commandments. Just as the people in exile were being encouraged to keep the commandments, as hinted in this creation story, the moral sense to keep this call is just as important in the secular world in which we live. If we follow the commandments for living we are drawn closer to God for as we read anegogically God saw that all creation was good, and we are called to live in the fullest way as God intended.

In the second account again we see the ease at which God creates, though in this account God creates man first and then causes the plants to spring from the ground, creation does not occur in several days or in a particular order. We see that God creates man first to till the land and then once man is there to tend it plants begin to form.

When read in an allegorical sense we can see how this applies to our lives today through Christ's institution of the Church. God “said”(using the Greek word “Logos”) and things came into being the Word of God is Christ himself and is God incarnate, John reminds us “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”(again using the word “Logos”) Though Christ removed the bounds of original sin through His Paschal sacrifice He did not leave us to struggle on our own, His Advocate the Holy Spirit guides us through the Church. By order and guidance it is the Church that helps us keep focused through the chaos of life. This is represented by man being required to till the land in the second account. Creation and order cannot occur without being tended and nurtured just as the Church tends and nurtures us today.

How is it that Chesterton knew so much about life under New Labour?

The old morality, the Christian religion, the Catholic Church, differed from all this new mentality because it really believed in the rights of men. That is, it believed that ordinary men were clothed with powers and privileges and a kind of authority. Thus the ordinary man had a right to deal with dead matter, up to a given point; that is the right of property. Thus the ordinary man had a right to rule the other animals within reason; that is the objection to vegetarianism and many other things. The ordinary man had a right to judge about his own health, and what risks he would take with the ordinary things of his environment; that is the objection to Prohibition and many other things. The ordinary man had a right to judge of his children’s health, and generally to bring up children to the best of his ability; that is the objection to many interpretations of modern State education. Now in these primary things in which the old religion trusted a man, the new philosophy utterly distrusts a man. It insists that he must be a very rare sort of man to have any rights in these matters; and when he is the rare sort, he has the right to rule others even more than himself.

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Uncanny.

I don't know how many of you heard about The Manhattan Declaration which was an American project to make a general statement in support of Christianity. Well now we have our own.

It begins...

Protecting human life, protecting marriage, and protecting freedom of conscience are foundational for creating and maintaining strong families, caring communities and a just society. Our Christian faith compels us to speak and act in defence of all these.

So far they have 9,972 signatories. To read the declaration and sign it click here.

The creation account can be understood allegorically as a model for the way in which God works in His creation. This pattern can be seen throughout His works in scripture: God Opens, God Commands, God Fulfils, God Judges and God names.

The table below shows how God uses this pattern throughout his many works and callings both in the Old Testament e.g. when calling prophets, and in the New Testament e.g. the feeding of the five thousand and the institution of the Church:

Pattern	Genesis	Jeremiah	Mark	Church
God Opens	“God said”	“I formed you”	“He said”	“A sound came from heaven”
God Commands	“Let there be”	“I appointed you”	“He divided the two fish among them all”	“Tongues of fire […] rested on each one” “They were filled with the Holy Spirit”
God Fulfils	“And so it was”	“See, I have set you this day over nations”	“They all ate and were satisfied”	“I shall pour out my Spirit; they shall prophesy”
God Judges	“God saw that is was good”	“You have seen well for I am watching”	“He looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves”	“But God raised Him up”
God Names	“Evening came and then morning”	“You have seen well”	“He dismissed the crowd”	“The patriarch of David […] is with us today”

This pattern also reveals God's Trinitarian nature, we see it is God as a unity in the creation account (God the Father creates by speaking, for God the Son, the Word through God the Holy Spirit). God the Father is revealed in the Old Testament, God the Son speaks to us in the New Testament and God the Spirit is left as our guide in the Holy Church. We may also see how God has applied this pattern to our own lives. As part of creation, we the created can look for judgement at the end of time having been created, named, guided by His commands, and having witnessed His fulfilment in the covenant of the paschal mystery of Christ. We are reminded that just as man spoke to God in the garden, listening to His guidance. We must speak to God and listen to His guidance for our own lives so that we can live a full life on earth as walk along the path to eternal happiness, fully united with God.

We see hints of the liturgy coming through in this passage, God creates for six days and the seventh He “blessed and hallowed”. Again if read in a literal sense, we are called to spend the seventh day in worship of God the creator of the majesty as set forth in this passage. Seven is the biblical number for perfection, and we see God has made holy this day and just as we are all called to grow in holiness and perfection by going to mass we grow in unity with our creator.

Today's Friday fun is highly appropriate for Easter...

If that was too cute, you might enjoy Terry's best chops...

But if you like birds, perhaps you will like Two Handed Simultaneous Origami!

The occurrence of the creation of man seems to be contradictory in the two accounts. In the first account man is created last of all things created. Mankind is created last as the ultimate climax of God's creation, mankind is above all other things created for they are created in God's image and likeness, with free will.

In the second account we see that man is created first. He is made from the dust of the land and God breathed1 His life giving Spirit into him. God brings the creatures to man to be named. In the Jewish tradition naming is very significant, meaning is given to the name so this part of the passage reminds us of Jesus incarnation, it was God who names Jesus, “God saves”.

That man is created both first and last in these two accounts shows the two great points of his creation. Mankind was made first, as we were made for Christ, being built in His image and likeness therefore we were also made last as the pinnacle of creation, because it is through His incarnation, we might be saved and reunited with Him as adopted sons emphasising the allegorical sense of being the image of Christ and anagogical sense how through salvation we share in adopted sonship in heaven.

This is an important reminder to us of our duty as Baptised Catholics to spread the Good News for all mankind are all built in the image and likeness of God and we are all called to holiness, that we may participate in adopted sonship. We must radiate the image of the trinitarian God who is love throughout our lives as God intended.

This is not a spiral...

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Not sure how I didn't know about this before but I didn't so maybe you don't either but there are free talks in MP3 format to be had here including fifty talks from Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

How handy.

It would appear that there is a discrepancy when woman is created. In the first account we see that man and woman are created simultaneously, in the image and likeness of God. This is of great importance and is iterated twice “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”. This shows that through the unity of man and woman all the gifts of God are bestowed, man on his own does lacks some of the “likeness” of God as does woman, it is through their unity that the best likeness of God is revealed not least demonstrated in their ability to partake in creation, which their unity of love brings. By being able to create mankind is partaking in that original creation itself. It is therefore important to clarify that this does not mean that priests and religious are not called to the fullest likeness of God, as they are married to the Church and therefore reflect Christ, who is part of the Holy Trinity of God.

In the second account it is not until after man and the animals have been created that woman is created, this again is not without significance. It is to show the importance of the unity of marriage between man and woman, God saw that it was “not good that the man should be alone”. Though we see that the unity of the two are the completed image of God, here we see the importance of marriage coming through. Adam the bridegroom mirrors Jesus and Eve the Bride mirrors the Church. Man should not be alone, and Christ sees that he is not, man has the Church to guide him back to unity with God our Father and Creator. We also see woman is made of the flesh of Adam, reminding of the incarnation, the only way we can hope to be saved, through Jesus as true God and true man, through His death and resurrection that we then have eternal life. God says that man should have a helper, but not as an term for inferior but as a genuine partner, God Himself is often referred to as helper. It is through his unity with woman that the fullest image of the trinitarian nature and love of God is reflected. We also see the importance of fertility both on land and in the waters, reminding us that Trinitarian nature of God being love, God the Father who loves, God the Son who is loved and God the Holy Spirit who communicates that love. The fertility of land, of man made of land, who is called to participate in the creative act through love and the fertility of water, the waters of baptism by which we are saved through Christ the “image of the invisible God” by His selfless love for us.

Understanding this passage allegorically, there are two vocations one may choose from. Marriage, where man and woman are united and partake in God's creation and Religious life, committing yourself to the Church which is the bride of Christ. The moral sense tells us we must listen to which vocation it may be that God is calling us too both are just as important as the other.

Very good work from Tony at the Muniment room who has put together some useful notes regarding the latest wave of sex abuse scandals in the Church. He says it's no more than a start, but it's a good start.

3 Those within the Church who discovered what had happened and did not deliver the abusers to the civil authorities did a great wrong.

3.1 In some cases this was done purely to protect abusers: in these cases the protector is as culpable as the abuser, because he created an objective circumstance in which the abuse could continue.

3.2 In some cases, this was done to protect the reputation of the Church. While laudable as an aim, the damage done to children and the need to remove the abuser from a position in which he could continue to abuse were so much greater that the judgement of these men must be called into question.

3.3 In some cases, this was done because the discoverer could simply not believe that such abuse could be committed by a priest. With hindsight, it is clear that these people should not have been put into a position where they were responsible for such decisions.

4 Anybody who uses a position of power to entice or procure an under-16 for sexual gratification is guilty of the same crime of abuse as has been committed by some Catholic priests.

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I wonder when the people earning many thousands of pounds to work for the Church as media people are going to get up off there bottoms and start doing this sort of thing.

Or are the bloggers expected to do their work for them indefinitely?

I was reading the news today and I saw more shocking news of another Roman sex scandal in which a thirteen year old girl was drugged and raped. This time however I'm not talking about a Roman Catholic Priest, I'm talking about Roman Polanski.

Like many abuse cases, this one takes place in the seventies. This time the accused, tried and conviced Polanski had no help from the Catholic Church and instead fled from his trial in California to France where the French government have refused either to send him back for sentencing or to do anything about his crime themselves. Maybe Richard Dawkins should arrest Sarkozy?

On a trip to Switzerland to receive a Lifetime Achievement award at the Zurich film festival Polanski was arrested by Swiis Authorities. Now the people of Holywood are rallying to his defense...

We have learned the astonishing news of Roman Polanski’s arrest by the Swiss police on September 26th, upon arrival in Zurich (Switzerland) while on his way to a film festival where he was due to receive an award for his career in filmmaking.

His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals.

Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him.

A case of morals. That's where we've been going wrong. We haven't had a clerical abuse scandal, we've had a case of morals.

They continue...

Roman Polanski is a French citizen, a renown and international artist now facing extradition. This extradition, if it takes place, will be heavy in consequences and will take away his freedom.

Filmmakers, actors, producers and technicians – everyone involved in international filmmaking – want him to know that he has their support and friendship.

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The list of actors who signed the petition includes Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese, you can read the full list here

So there we go, when a Bishop decides to give a Priest their support and friendship in avoiding civil charges for raping a child that's a sex abuse cover up scandal but when actors decide to give a director their support and friendship in avoiding civil charges for raping a child that's apparently fair enough.

"Cuz" as Mark Shea points out, "they Care about The Children."

The news is spreading across the blogs like wildfire. Archbishop Nichols' office is taking legal advice and considering possible court action against The Times

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster is considering legal action against the Times newspaper over its allegation that he tried to protect a paedophile.

The story, published on the front page on Saturday, marked a new low in relations between the Church and the British media.

The paper alleged that the Archbishop "protected" a priest who abused children at a Benedictine school in west London - even though, as then Archbishop of Birmingham, he had no involvement in the case.

A Church spokesman said: "The attempt to saddle the Archbishop with responsibility for this tragic case is completely unfounded and is an unwarranted slur. His office is taking legal advice."

Sources close to Westminster have confirmed that one of the options being considered is a possible court action for defamation.

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Ah yes, the heroic Archbishop is finally standing up to those media scoundrels.

Oh, hold on.

Does anybody else find it a tad on the slimeballish side that he suddenly finds a penchant for legal action when he is personally attacked?

It's just, I can't help noticing that when the Holy Sacrament of Marriage was attacked by one Terry Prendergast almost a year ago the Archbishop did absolutely nothing.

For those who don't remember, Terry Prendergast is the head of an organisation called "Marriage Care" that receives funds from the Catholic Church and provides Marriage preparation, guidance and other services to Catholic couples. Terry Prendergast said (among other things) that it makes no difference to children whether their parents are married, unmarried or homosexual. What a great attitude for the head of an organisation called "Marriage Care". Archbishop Nichols (who happens to be president of Marriage Care) did nothing.

Defend Marriage? No. Defend himself? Yes.

What a guy.

Last April I was on The Big Questions discussing the question "Is Pope Benedict liability?". This April Jack Valero was on the Big Questions discussing the question "Should Pope Benedict resign?".

I wrote a blog entry about my experiences here and another one about condoms in Africa. It seems Jack Valero felt a similar compulsion and has written a piece entitled The mob should lay off. The Pope is completely innocent.

Jack writes...

On Sunday I appeared on The Big Questions on BBC1 to discuss whether the pope should "resign". It quickly descended into a heckling circus where calmly reasoned argument fell victim to unfocused outrage. Afterwards, two representatives of the Protest the Pope Coalition told me menacingly I had "no right" to defend Benedict XVI's record on abuse.

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Back when I was on I wrote...

The simple fact is if I had defended the Pope in a pub, instead of on TV, I would have met with the same opposition. Resentful lapsed Catholics, angry gay people, confused Anglican feminists... The story would have been the same. You don't have to put a lot of effort in to find people who disagree with the Church.

I don't mind that I went on TV and it was a hostile environment, I knew exactly what I was letting myself in for and if I fell on my backside then I deserve all I get. What bothers me is that all over Britain young Catholics are leaving school and finding themselves in equally hostile environments such as universities and the workplace and they don't have the first idea what they are letting themselves in for or how to deal with it.

That needs to change.

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You can still catch Jack on iPlayer if you hurry here until Sunday morning when it will be replaced with the next episode.

Man is given dominion over creation, this emphasises the point that man is different, he is created in the image of God but the animals are created according to their species. Man is put in charge of caring for God's creation again this is an aspect of the likeness of God, man wishes to nurture and care for what is left in his charge. This shows the nature of love being a sacrifice and God the Son shows this ultimate sacrifice on the cross through which He brings us back into redemption with God the Father. The creation story shows us that before man had fallen man's role is to be ultimately giving, as is the nature of love. In the first account it is emphasised that God has given man every plant in the second account we see that God commands man regarding the tree of life, “in the day you shall eat of it you shall die”. We have life through God but only God can give life it is no surprise then that death comes from eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge and the tree of life, for man is only man and can never hope to be God.

At the time the creation story was written, the people would have remembered when the Temple stood. It contained the Holy of Holy's, with two lights one on either side of the temple. There are words of encouragement again from this passage, allegorically the light of the sun and moon on either side of the world represent the lights on either side of the temple, that is God's creation for God is present in all His creation through the love which He built it. Though during the exile the temple had been destroyed it was a reminder that God is always present. When this is combined with the part of the passage regarding the rivers flowing from Eden we see that this is part of a much larger picture for these rivers flow from the temple, that is the garden, this is reflected in the Jewish traditions on the feast of the tabernacles when water is poured like a “a spring of living water” and then fulfilled in the water flowing from Christ's side, Christ the temple from whom the living waters flow. The living waters that we see in Baptism and that are spoken of in revelation, the sanctuary, the river flowing from Eden, the tree of life and also Jesus and the Church and Bridegroom and bride. Therefore we have the hope of returning to a state of grace and unity with God. We see that man had a perfect relationship with God in the beginning, this is damaged when Adam eats the fruit and now we struggle to communicate with God, similarly man and woman are in perfect unity but this and the dominion over nature are also damaged by original sin.

This passage does not only show God's omnipotence but also His saving help. God separates the seas and creates dry land6, just as the Hebrews were saved from the Egyptians at the parting of the Red Sea. Again this passage speaks to us today of the salvation and adopted sonship obtained through the sacrament of Baptism.

Here we see all the senses of scripture , we see the literal sense of scripture in the living water in the garden, the allegorical sense, finding the living water in Christ, a moral sense, as we are given instruction to partake in the sacrament of Baptism, and an anagogical sense, as this will lead us to our true homeland.

On this Feast of St Bernadette it seems only right to recall the wonderful work the HCPT do in their many pilgramages to Lourdes.

I could tell you all about how I have been to Lourdes on several occasions and it is just so wonderful, which it is but I notice that many people never seem to say why, it just is.

Lourdes is a place where you can feel Christ's love. It is an honour to take the sick and needy to a place where you can still feel the effects of the miracle which happened there many years ago. When the secular country which we live in spends so much time telling us to think of ourselves it is refreshing to go to Lourdes and realise that any suffering we may have ourselves is nothing. I remember one year I went as a helper and by the time I arrived my dodgy knees were in agony but that seemed like nothing in comparison to those suffering around me. After quing in the rain for over 3 hours in a hope to enter the baths I can claim my little miracle and yet you are left thinking don't waste it on me heal those who need it.

Mary the Mother of God reflects Christ to all who come to her and whether you go as a helper or for your own spiritual pilgramage Lourdes does not leave you wanting. It is true to say that the jolly japes with friends are great fun but of all the children I have gone with the memory that sticks with them all is the silent prayer at the grotto and why? Because that is where heaven and earth came together for a short while and through His mother God has claimed this place for healing His people and thought it does not always promise a physical or even mental healing it can certainly promise spritual relief.

I often hear people say if only we could have that here but I have news for you – though it may not be as popular there are many marian shrines in England and for those who have a serious devotion to Mary, which is only proper, it would only be fitting to pilgramage to local shrines as well as that in Lourdes or even Fatima and Guadalope etc.

By honouring Mary we are loving Christ and to love Christ is to reconcile ourselves with our creator. What would be greater than to take those who are suffering to such a place which is what the HCPT do you can find out more on their website.

I know that our parish is preparing to send their groups in May but some have already been check out Joe's pilgramage here

Man is different from all other created species because he is created with free will as read in a literal sense. God wants man to love Him, He could easily have created man to love Him like the other species but God wanted a deeper relationship with man. Therefore man can choose to reject God's command and eat the fruit but by eating the fruit realisation comes into being and man realises his nothingness, his nakedness and has separated himself from God. As Irenaeus of Lyons said “for communion with God is life and separation from God is death”. Though God commands, man is still left to choose (here we see the moral sense), God encourages the man to choose life. Though man chooses to eat from the tree separating himself from God, God turns even this act to his glory for by choosing to be followers of Christ (allegorical sense) we know our reliance on God our saviour and the omnipotence and Glory of God the Father, through God the Spirit we can say with St Augustine “Oh happy fault which merited such and so great a Redeemer” By knowing we have a choice we must strive to discern God's plan for our lives we may not like the sound of what God has in store for us but we must trust that if we follow the path He lays out before us it will lead to His greater glory (anagogical sense) and that evil will being us nothing but pain and suffering.

As we approach our fifth wedding anniversary, allow us to share some of the secret sauce that keeps this marriage tasty.

Ker-Ching!

This evening the Bishops of England and Wales celebrated mass together in Leeds Catheral to mark the fifth anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI. For once they have managed to do something right.

Five years ago today, I sat in my girlfriends parents home watching the TV when the announcement was made, I was very happy. Five years later and though some may say that Pope Benedict is moving slowly, to me it seems he moves with lightening speed. Only five years ago it seemed unthinkable that a Pope would do this:

Or this:

To those of us living outside of trad-land in regular ordinary form parishes, those photos are ground breaking and revolutionary. He might as well be floating seven inches off the floor, so unthinkable are his actions among the clergy in Middlesbrough Diocese.

I feel a pang of sadness when I see the photos above. When I realise that my eldest daughter is already three years old and probably less than five years away from her First Holy Communion. It seems unlikely that Bishop Drainey will move so far as Pope Benedict in five years.

In September Pope Benedict will visit England and in Coventry Airport of all places, somebody will receive communion kneeling from a Bishop on English Soil - albeit the Bishop of Rome and not one of our native prelates. Perhaps I will take that as my cue to begin kneeling myself.

But there is more to Pope Benedict than liturgical change, he is a theological giant and herein lies his appeal. To a generation of twenty-somethings raised on gruel, here is Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.

How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking… The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves – thrown from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, and so forth. Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error (cf Eph 4, 14).

Having a clear faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas, relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and “swept along by every wind of teaching”, looks like the only attitude (acceptable) to today’s standards.

We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one’s own ego and one’s own desires. However, we have a different goal: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. Being an “Adult” means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today’s fashions or the latest novelties.

A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to judge true from false, and deceit from truth.

[link]

One only has to look at the history of the Church to know that Popes are just as capable of being seriously damaging to the Church as the Bishops of England and Wales. We really are truly blessed to live in a time where we have such a Pope.

To me, Pope Benedict really is the proverbial lamp that cannot be hidden. Living in a secular country, working in an office where I can easily go twelve months without hearing any mention of God, going to a Church where the priest thinks the Tabernacle ought to be in another room. Pope Benedict really does stand out as a sign of contradiction.

It's not an easy thing to be the odd one out, to be the only Catholic Dad in the village. To be in disagreement with most of the priests and laypeople I meet, to know that in the eyes of a Diocesan Youth Service established with the express intention of supporting and "empowering" young Catholics such as myself, I am considered a problem.

I couldn't do that off my own back. I have neither the self confidence nor the arrogance to stand in the face of all that and say "I am right and they are all wrong". I would begin to wonder if I was perhaps going mad, like the man who thinks that he is the king of the potato people.

When things get hard, when uncertainty looms, when I begin to wonder if maybe I'm just an idiot with a blog who doesn't know what he's talking about, I lean and wobble and I find myself propped up on a rock. A rock that says "No James, kneeling for communion isn't just for nutters, the Pope does it".

While I might sometimes feel relatively speaking like some kind of wierdo, I am actually in line with the only waymark that can be relied on, with Peter the rock.

Thank God for Pope Benedict XVI and thank God for the internet which makes it possible for me to see him at work.

Pray in earnest for five more years.

He is coming!

It is made very clear in both accounts that all of creation is good therefore God did not create evil, evil is outside of creation. We see this when it is the snake who tempts Adam and Eve, it is the snake who brings evil into the perfection God created. This also reminds us that though mankind is fallen it was created naturally good. These two accounts of creation set the picture of God almighty creator, goodness, harmony and order, dignity of humans. The serpent brings sin into the garden and man is given the choice, to listen to God who created all that is Good or to go against God by following the snake whom they know to be wrong. This reminds us of the freedom of choice which man alone of all God's creation has, therefore man is responsible for his actions. We can use this free choice to strive to better ourselves even though we are tempted by sin because God makes good everything. God the Son instituted the Church and sacraments such as the Sacrament of Confession where we can offer to God the Father our sins to help purify ourselves, and God the Father fills us with graces through God the Spirit that we may be brought back Him.

The place of sin again links in with all the senses of scripture. We know that everything God created is good, this is a literal sense of scripture therefore we must also read the passage in light of the three spiritual senses of scripture, allegorically focusing on Christ, our only means of salvation, on the moral sense, our decisions on how to live our life, rejecting sin and anagogically, how this will bring us to eternal life.

I just wanted to draw your attention to the following from Alan Houghton who shared this in the comments yesterday but I thought it deserved posting somewhere a bit more prominent...

Yes it is dreadfully hard as a man to try and live the Faith in these lands;

So hard to be converted to the Truth of the Catholic Church and then learn that so many bishops, priests and laity dissent from the beautiful teachings of Christ.

So hard to go to seminary and find that many of those responsible for your formation - and many of those training with you - are against pretty much everything the Church teaches...

So hard to gradually become destroyed by the experience and find no support from those who should care about it.

So hard to find - having discovered one's true vocation to marriage - that many of those who work for English dioceses as marriage preparation catechists teach foul lies about the Magisterial teachings of the Church - and in one case even despise the Holy Name of Jesus...

So hard to write to a bishop about all of these things and receive an inadequate response and then to witness the continued employment of the said dissenters to confuse another generation of young people.

So hard to work for a diocese in a Justice and Peace dept and then be bullied by a liberal nun for being pro-life and for trying to evangelise at work... and finally to have to leave because a priest is pushing one to work in a youth centre where abortion, contraception, 'safe drugs' and homosexual culture are being promoted...

So hard to then work in a pro-life charity - which takes the Catholic Ł - and then learn that they also take a fudged stance on contraception and 'non-directive counselling' and then ban one from speaking about God or promoting the teachings of the Church on marriage and family; whilst all the while presenting a face of orthodoxy to the Pope and the masses...

So hard to try and get work in a diocese in marriage preparation - backed up by two 1st class degress in theology and vast pastoral experience - and be prevented by liberals with an anti- Magisterium mentality...

So hard to seek Youth Work posts and find that they are line-managed by wacky liberals and Cafod workers...

So hard to try instead to teach the Faith as a Catholic teacher and discover that our bishop's have fudged the issue so much that one will be required to take part in government sponsored and anti-life sex education and moral relativism...

So hard in all of this to have bills to pay - unlike so many liberal priests who despise the Church but like to live off of her fat - and to find it hard to get work because (due in no small part to the silence of our leaders on so many moral issues) many jobs now require Sunday trading/ cooperating with the Culture of Death...

So hard to realise that holding orthodox views now makes one an outsider even in many parishes...

Yes indeed it is hard to live as a Catholic man in these times.

Sometimes, I think I am not angry enough.

I am so very lucky to have a livelihood which is entirely independent of the Church. I can blog what I like, meanwhile I have friends who are priests or diocesan employees who must keep slient and go with the flow or risk repercussions.

There is a need for people like me, people outside the system who can afford to be unpopular with all the right people but there is even more need for the many priests and lay employees I know who work inside the system. Those people make sacrifices daily that I can barely imagine while I go off and get paid to play with computers.

Please pray for guys like Alan and all the people I can't name because doing so would well and truly drop them in it. They need our prayers.

Though we were made for Christ it is through His incarnation that we are fulfilled, that we are redeemed and brought to the Father as adopted son. We partake in adopted sonship through our Baptism where we are called to participate in the ministries of Priest, Prophet and King. It is through these ministries that Christ was foreshadowed by the High Priest Melkizadec, King David and Jesus. As we share in adopted sonship we take on these roles in our own way and we see these ministries coming through in both the creation accounts.

In the first account we see the Priestly office, through caring for God's creation as we were called to in the passage, the image of God's created world being a temple as stated above. The Prophetic office, by being called to be fruitful and multiply, we teach our children of God. The Kingly office, by having dominion of creation.

In the second account we see again that Adam is charged to guard the sanctuary partaking in the Priestly role. The theme of the importance of baptism, the river that flowed out of Eden, the water of life which we partake in through the sacraments. This helps us share in the prophetic role as we become witnesses of the good news that should flow out like the rivers to the corners of the earth and again the importance of man being created to keep the garden1 sharing in that kingly role.

The creation accounts were written at very different periods in history, the first written in 6th century BC, a time when the chosen people were in exile. They would be encouraged not to give up hope and to hold fast to God's commands and guidance. The second written around the 10th century BC (interestingly before the first account was written). This was a time when the people of Jerusalem were being reminded that God fulfils His promises. It is written in a language that speaks of God's closeness to humanity.

When these passages are initially read they appear to be written contradicting each other but with a closer look we see that their individual messages support and deepen the other account reminding us today that God is omnipotent, that He creates order from chaos and it is His Church that helps us through the chaos of a secular world. It reminds us of the Trinitarian nature of a God who is love and the importance in participating in the liturgy and sacraments as well as being a witness for the truth fulfilling our roles as priest, prophet and king as we were charged with at our baptism. But ultimately it reminds us how God “manifested Himself to our first parents” from the very beginning defining the focus of all salvation history as the mission of Jesus Christ in God's master plan for man's redemption.

It is clear to see therefore that though the creation story did not literally happen parts of the passage can be read in a literal sense. The passage is mainly read in a spiritual sense, where we can read the message in an allegorical sense, finding it's significance in Christ, a moral sense, as we are given instruction, and an anagogical sense, as they lead us to our true homeland. As Pope Benedict wrote when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, regarding our faith in creation “We may not conceal it, for only if it is true that the universe comes from freedom, love and reason, and that these are the real underlying powers, can we trust one another, go forward into the future, and live as human beings.”

There has been a lot of demand for the full story of my "run in" with Catholic Voices, I've read a few things about this on various blogs and I want to set the record straight.

Catholic Voices is, in their own words "a project to create a bureau of well-informed Catholic speakers able to articulate with conviction the Church’s positions on major contentious issues in the quick-fire environments of media interviews and public debates". The point of the project, as I understood it, was to train ordinary average every day Catholics (such as myself) in how to speak to the media effectively. Having appeared on TV myself in a rather, shall we say, wing and a prayer fashion, the idea of receiving training and getting some idea of how to do these things appealed.

So I applied...

Hi There,

I'm a 27 year old father of two blogger who occasionally writes in the Catholic Herald and defended the Holy Father last year on Nicky Campbell's show "The Big Questions", the question was "Is Pope Benedict a liability". I've also appeared in The Times defending the Catholic position on sex education. I'm regularly involved giving talks to our local parish youth group.

As you will see from my blog, I have some serious issues with some aspects of the English heirachy - I am more than capable of burying these "internal" issues away when speaking to the public at large about the Catholic Faith.

My blog is at www.lovingit.co.uk

Regards,

James Preece

My application was rejected and lets be clear, if that was the end of the story this blog entry wouldn't exist. I'm a big boy and I can take a bit of rejection and as you may have noticed at the time, there was no "Catholic Voices won't play with me, boo hoo" blog entry back in February. I was mainly rejected for living too far away to be in London regularly for the training which is hardly something to get upset about.

I would have left things there, but I have reason to be very concerned about Austen Ivereigh's involvement with a project so intimately linked with the Papal Visit in September. It wasn't long before I got a taste of Austen Ivereigh's rudeness - after a short email exchange he responded:

Why not add us to the lengthy list of Catholics and their institutions your blog deplores? Vincent Nichols, the Tablet, the CES ... Now you can add us.

Austen Ivereigh

Austen has since apologised for that particular sarcastic outburst but I think it's important to include it here to make it really, really clear that on 16th February when he wrote that, Austen Ivereigh was very clearly aware of my blog. So anybody who thinks he discovered my dark side at the eleventh hour is mistaken.

In spite of that, I still didn't write a blog entry and was actually really, really nice about it, sending a few more grovelling emails (along with a bit of string pulling by a mutual friend) I explained to Austen that I wasn't too fussed about joining the team. It was the training that I was really interested in.

Austen said "Why don’t you join our media skills workshops? Let me know. We can fit you in." and then...

James, it’s 24 April plus either 22 May or 12 June. The 24 April session is an introduction, the other(s) are in the studio. You’d be very welcome.

Austen Ivereig

That was February 22nd. Almost two months later on April 20th I sent this...

Hi Austen,

Just a quick note to confirm that I will be in London for the training this weekend.

Can you confirm that the training is still going ahead? Also, I could do with some information about the exact times and location of the training.

Regards,

James

On April 21st (Wendesday evening, I was due to travel to London on Friday afternoon) he responded with the following one line reply:

James, I’m sorry – I don’t think, after all, it would be right for you to come. We have a meeting with +Vincent, etc. Sorry.

A

So on February 22nd I was "very welcome" despite Austen's knowledge of my blog. On April 21st I was dumped at the eleventh hour on account of Archbishop Vincent Nichols. Did the Archbishop or his team request it? Did Austen himself forsee trouble? I will probably never know (because of how open and transparent they are).

A clue is to be found in the comments on Fr Ray Blake's blog where we read that "Vincent was coming to speak to the Catholic Voices team and it's very important for the project to work that people are free to speak and probe without having to worry about anything being 'leaked." Assuming that the commenter in question knows what they are talking about, it sounds pretty obvious what is going on.

Before you get to upset on my behalf rememeber that I lost very little, think instead of guys like Alan for whom this kind of treatment can mean losing a job and facing serious financial difficulties. For me it mean't a day out in London in the sunshine.

Whatever way you spin it, dumping somebody at the eleventh hour isn't the nicest way to treat somebody but I still didn't blog about it (hows that for trigger happy?).

However, In a serious breach of confidence (not realising that I was visiting MI5) I had already *gasp* told people that I was planning to go to London and *shock horror* I had even told them why I was going to London. These people took an obviously sinister interest in my actions and said things like "Hey James, how did that training go?" but I failed to realise that I was under some kind of coded oligation to keep secrets on behalf of Austen Ivereigh so I told them what had happened.

Mulier Fortis asked if she could blog it, I said "sure, whatever" and so she did. Austen was not happy.

I’m very disappointed that our email exchange has ended up on a blog -- http://mulier-fortis.blogspot.com/2010/04/real-catholic-voices-being-silenced.html. I have no idea whether you intended to make it public, and are doing so through this blogger, or whether she has done so without your authorisation. But it’s a good illustration of why you weren’t invited Saturday.

Catholic Voices is open and transparent – as a quick glimpse at our website shows. But we also have rules about confidentiality in our sessions, to allow people in sensitive positions to speak freely. Someone who can’t even keep emails private is not someone capable of grasping this. Thank God you didn’t come.

Perhaps you’d like “Mulier Fortis” to publish this email too? It would only be fair.

Austen

Mulier, feel free to publish that email...

This email follows a classic format I am very much familiar with. The old "If you were our friend you would have kept quiet - P.S. we have nothing to hide" routine. I get it all the time. I must confess myself a little puzzled by any organisation that claims to be "open and transparent" but then ejects bloggers on the basis that they might be, well, open and transparent.

Austen went on to insult Mulier Fortis and generally dig a bit of a hole for himself, but you still haven't heard the worst of it...

Back when I first applied for Catholic Voices I got in to a short exchange with Austen Ivereigh on the subject of Catholic Education Services and Condoms. He wrote:

On CES, and the Connexions programme. You cannot deny children information which is out there, simply because you worry what use they might make of it. It’s the Church’s job to teach children about purpose of sexuality, commitment and mutual love (and how contraception interferes with that); but it is right for schools to teach how condoms help to reduce transmission of STDs.

Did you catch that? He's in favour of telling kids about the benefits of condom use.

Bearing in mind how freely the press throw around phrases like "papal spokesman" and "vatican official", have a guess at the headlines come September...

"Head of Papal Media Team says Pope Wrong on Condoms".

That's going to look really good that is.

This is why I was hesitant to write this blog entry in full - because I don't think this should be just about my having been dumped last Wednesday. Austen Ivereigh is a liability and his presence on the staff at Catholic Voices poses a serious risk of further embarrassment and scandal during the papal visit.

If he seriously wants what is best for the project, he needs to resign and let Jack Valero get on with the job.

This is old news to anybody who reads more than one blog but I discovered yesterday that many people still don't know about this.

The new deputy-director of Catholic Education Services is retiring Labour MP Greg Pope who has voted in favour of abortion.

This sort of thing makes life very difficult of those of us who enjoy the occasional parody - how are people supposed to tell the difference between comedy and reality.

It's worth reproducing his voting record in full:

Abortion
Greg Pope voted for amendments to lower the 24-week time-limit for abortions done on social grounds to 22 weeks or to 20 weeks but voted against amendments to lower the same limit to 16 weeks or to 12 weeks. (20 May 2008).

Abortion and contraception for school-age children
Greg Pope:

• voted against a bill which would have required practitioners providing contraception or abortion services to a child under the age of 16 to inform his or her parent or guardian (14 Mar 2007).
• signed a parliamentary motion praising a condom manufacturer for helping schools host “National Condom Week” (11 May 2004).

Abortion of disabled children
Greg Pope voted against an amendment which would have required doctors to provide pregnant mothers with certain information and an offer of counselling before any abortion of an unborn child on grounds of disability (20 May 2008).

Abortion groups
Greg Pope signed parliamentary motions praising the leading domestic and international pro-abortion organisations:

• All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health (24 May 2005)
• All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Choice and Sexual Health Group (15 Jul 2004)
• Family Planning Association (15 Jul 2004) (9 Feb 2006) (21 Feb 2007) (9 Feb 2009)
• International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) (1 Jul 2004)
• Marie Stopes International (1 Jul 2004)
• United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) (16 Dec 2002) (1 Jul 2004) (9 Jun 2005).

Abortion rights
Greg Pope signed parliamentary motions promoting:

• “reproductive health” (16 Dec 2002)
• “sexual and reproductive health” (24 May 2005) (9 Jun 2005) (20 Oct 2006)
• “sexual and reproductive health and rights” (1 Jul 2004)

According to the British government and to the US administration, these terms include a right to abortion on demand.

Contraception
Mr Pope signed parliamentary motions promoting:

• “Contraceptive Awareness Week” (9 Feb 2006) (21 Feb 2007) (9 Feb 2009)
• “contraceptive choice” (20 Oct 2006)
• “contraceptive needs” (8 Feb 2006)
• “family planning” (16 Dec 2002)
• “National Condom Week” (11 May 2004) (11 May 2004) (9 May 2007)
• a tax reduction on condoms (30 Nov 2005)

Euthanasia
The Mental Capacity Bill (now Act) enshrined euthanasia by neglect into English statute law. Greg Pope:

• voted for the bill at second (11 Oct 2004) and third readings (14 Dec 2004)
• voted against amendments motivated by pro-life concerns (14 Dec 2004) (14 Dec 2004) 5 Apr 2005).

Homosexual* activity
Greg Pope voted to:

• reduce the homosexual age of consent to 16 (to equalise it with the heterosexual age of consent) (21 Feb 1994) (22 Jun 1998) (22 Jun 1998) (25 Jan 1999) (1 Mar 1999) (1 Mar 1999) (28 Feb 2000). He also signed a parliamentary motion in the same vein (24 Mar 2004).
• reduce the homosexual age of consent to 18 (21 Feb 1994)
• allow active homosexuals in the military (9 May 1996). He also signed a parliamentary motion in the same vein (24 Mar 2004).

Homosexual* parenting
Greg Pope:

• voted against amendments which sought to retain the requirement for doctors to consider the child’s need for a father (20 May 2008) or male role model (20 May 2008) before a woman is given fertility treatment.
• voted against amendments restricting adoption to heterosexual couples (20 May 2002) and married couples (4 Nov 2002). He also signed a parliamentary motion in the same vein (24 Mar 2004).

Homosexual* unions
Mr Pope signed parliamentary motions promoting homosexual unions (7 Sep 2004) (13 Oct 2004) (20 Jul 2005).

Marriage
Greg Pope voted against:

• an amendment to reject plans for a no-fault divorce system in England and Wales (24 Apr 1996)
• amendments to extend the cooling-off period for divorce from one year to 18 months or to two years (24 April 1996).

Mr Pope also signed a parliamentary motion arguing that “unmarried couples should receive the same benefits as married couples should one partner die”. (16 April 2002)

Parents’ rights
Greg Pope:

• voted against a bill which would have required practitioners providing contraception or abortion services to a child under the age of 16 to inform his or her parent or guardian (14 Mar 2007)
• voted for the Children, Schools and Families bill at second (11 Jan 2010) and third readings (23 Feb 2010), which would have restricted parents’ rights over their children’s education, especially regarding sexual matters.

Population control

Greg Pope signed parliamentary motions promoting population control (16 Dec 2002) (1 Jul 2004).
Sex education
The Children, Schools and Families bill, as debated by the House of Commons, would have forced all state-funded schools (including faith schools) to provide sex and relationships education, based on anti-life/anti-family principles. Greg Pope voted for the bill at second (11 Jan 2010) and third readings (23 Feb 2010). He also signed a parliamentary motion in the same vein (21 Feb 2007).

* Pope John Paul II, the great pro-life champion, teaches in paragraph 97 of Evangelium Vitae that it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.

[link]

What else is there to say? In a sane world this would be the final nail in the coffin for CES but we don't live in a sane world and I have a feeling that nothing will be heard from the Bishops.

I was in Fountains Abbey when I first heard Gregorian Chant. It was being piped in through speakers in a room I have since discovered to be the dining room. Oh well. I remember even then as a pre-teen child thinking "this is cool, why isn't the music in our church like this?"

For many years I thought that Gregorian Chant was dead until I discovered that not only is it not dead but it is experiencing something of a welcome revival. Last Sunday we attended Mass in Blackfen where we discovered chant alive and well. Beautifully sung by ordinary people.

The Second Vatican Council was clear...

The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.

Sacrosanctum Concilium

Pope Benedict has since added...

while respecting various styles and different and highly praiseworthy traditions, I desire, in accordance with the request advanced by the Synod Fathers, that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy.

Sacramentum Caritatis

So I am very excited that finally a little bit of the Pope's desires are seeping in to Middlesbrough Diocese.

In this day-long workshop we will learn and sing some of the most beautiful chants in the repertory of Gregorian Chant, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and based around the context of a Sung Mass.

We will immerse ourselves in the sound, technique and language of this ancient musical style, working toward an authentic and beautiful performance at the end of the day. We will also discover the links between Chant and Polyphony.

The music we will study in the workshop will include:

• Mass IX (Cum Iubilo)
• The Propers of the BVM

• Marian Processionals
• Gregorian Hymnody

• Marian Polyphonic Motets

All materials (an introduction to Gregorian Chant, scores and helpful resources) are included in the cost of the day.

Beginners and more advanced singers are welcome.

The workshop is from 9.30 to 5pm on Saturday 8th of May. The registration fee is Ł5 but it's free for students. To register you need to email email@saintalphonsus.org.uk or call 01642 245 043 and further information may be found at www.saintalphonsus.org.uk

If you live in Middlesbrough Diocese and you want to support the Pope: Go.

GK Chesterton writes...

There have been many symptoms of cynicism and decay in our modern civilisation. But of all the signs of modern feebleness, of lack of grasp on morals as they actually must be, there has been none quite so silly or so dangerous as this: that the philosophers of to-day have started to divide loving from fighting and to put them into opposite camps.

There could be no worse sign than that a man, even Nietzsche, can be found to say that we should go in for fighting instead of loving. There can be no worse sign than that a man, even Tolstoi, can be found to tell us that we should go in for loving instead of fighting. The two things imply each other; they implied each other in the old romance and in the old religion, which were the two permanent things of humanity. You cannot love a thing without wanting to fight for it.

...

Wherever human nature is human and unspoilt by any special sophistry, there exists this natural kinship between war and wooing, and that natural kinship is called romance. It comes upon a man especially in the great hour of youth; and every man who has ever been young at all has felt, if only for a moment, this ultimate and poetic paradox. He knows that loving the world is the same thing as fighting the world.

[link]

The Catholic Education Services have appointed to the position of deputy director, a man who voted against ammendments to lower the abortion limit to 16 weeks.

People are outraged.

Oona Stannard has released a statement...

“I am disappointed that Mr Pope’s appointment to the Catholic Education Service for England and Wales (CESEW) has occasioned some very misleading and diverting correspondence from a small number of people.

Who do you think you are kidding? "correspondence from a small number of people". You don't issue "statements" to "correspondence from a small number of people", you send replies.

And Misleading? Diverting? Is Ms Stannard accusing us of lying? What is misleading about this man's voting record?

Allow me to provide an example. In February 2009 the parmiament tabled the following early day motion:

That this House supports Contraceptive Awareness Week from 9 to 15 February 2009, organised by the sexual health charity fpa, and its goal to raise awareness of the full range of contraceptive methods available; notes that different contraceptive methods suit different people and their lifestyles and that increasing awareness means people can make informed choices about their contraceptive method; and calls on all hon. Members to mark Contraceptive Awareness Week by contacting contraceptive services in their constituencies to investigate the range of contraceptive methods available and the challenges of delivering high-quality services.

[link]

Greg Pope voted: Yes

That's not ancient history, that's last year. In May 2008 parliament voted on the following ammendment to the abortion act:

‘In section 1(1)(a) of the Abortion Act 1967 (c. 87) (medical termination of pregnancy), for “twenty-fourth week” substitute “sixteenth week”.’.— [Mark Pritchard.]

[link]

In other words, let's lower the legal limit for abortion.

Greg Pope voted: No

Obviously a really good candidate to be deputy of Catholic Education Services.

Oon Stannard continues...

"At a time when as Catholics we particularly need to pull together, the undermining of Mr Pope saddens me. Mr Pope deserves our encouragement and support in his new role undertaken in the service of the Church."

Awww, poor dear. Saddened.

Not saddened when children as young as nine are shown computer generated images of naked adult men and women. Not saddened when government agencies that promote contraception are welcomed in to Catholic schools.

She's like a naughty little child. Only sorry because she was caught.

I recently lead a discussion group on Marriage and Family life, I had not prepared as I should and so though I would elaborate on some of the points I tried to make...

“The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."”

From the beginning of time Marriage was woven into creation. Being rich in the life of the Holy Trinity it is no surprise the Church has much to teach on this topic.

A look at the creation of Man and Woman in Genesis reveals God's plan for Marriage. In the first account of creation we see that man and woman are created simultaneously, in the image and likeness of God. This is of great importance and is iterated twice “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”. We see the Trinity in the Creation account “let us make man in our image” man on his own does lacks some of the “likeness” of God as does woman, it is through their unity that the image of God is revealed and in the unity of their love Man and Woman are themselves able to create.

In the second account of creation it is not until after man and the animals have been made that woman is created, this is not without significance. In the first man, formed from the dust of the ground and made in the image of we see a foreshadowing of Christ who is “the image of the invisible God” but to show the importance of the unity of marriage between man and woman, God saw that it was “not good that the man should be alone”. Adam the bridegroom prefigures Jesus and Eve the Bride prefigures the Church. Just as it is not good for man to be alone, so we cannot fully understand Christ without the Church . God says that man should have a helper, but not as an term for inferior but as a genuine partner (God Himself is often referred to as helper).

Revealed: The real reason Austen Ivereigh doesn't want me in the same room as Archbishop Vincent Nichols.

Somebody told him I was going to wear this...

Now before anybody accuses me of being imprudent, notice that I (unlike the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham) have seen fit to photoshop in a fig leaf. The original version is, well, not fit for a family blog. In fact, the original version is in full rotating 3D and the camera zooms in on the...

The graphic (and I mean graphic) above is taken directly from the All That I Am Sex Education programme which was produced by the Diocese of Birmingham while Archbishop Nichols was Archbishop there. Despite many letters from concerned parents, he refuses to do anything about it.

This is the title screen on the DVD:

Year 6 (look it up if you don't believe me) means ages 10 to 11. I'm fairly sure the above image wouldn't make it in to a 12 certificate film without the fig leaf.

Go on, somebody tell me that we need to flash 3D animated nudes in front of mixed classes of giggling ten year olds because if we don't do it, they will only see it somewhere else! It's the Catholic way...?

Here are the credits:

For a moment I was almost expecting to see Ed Balls' name there as well.

It's okay though, because the bad guy here is definitely me. What a sicko, putting horrible pictures on the internet next to the poor Archbishop's name.

That's right. I'm the bad guy.

If you want to see it for yourself, the original footage, nudes and all, can be seen here.

Adam was given stewardship of creation, it was his duty to protect it and his wife from profanities. He failed, allowing the serpent to “enter their home”. In his selfishness Adam places his own safety before that of his wife. Adam's selfishness caused creation to be distorted and marriage to be distorted. Relationships are challenged by domination and lust which is why couples should turn to the infinite mercy of God to guide and heal them.