Through our participation in the Sacraments particularly in the Eucharist, where we accept God into our very being, our holiness is honed and enriched. The more we choose to set ourselves aside from the world (hagiosyne) and dedicate ourselves to God (hosiotes), trying not to be influenced by for example, secular morality, the more we achieve this holiness. The parable of the talents makes it clear that the more we strive to do God's work the more gifts and graces He bestows on us helping us to achieve more for His glory.

We are justified in our attempts to achieve holiness through our salvation through Christ's Paschal sacrifice, which we partake in through baptism. This “Justification includes the remission of sins, sanctification and the renewal of inner man” and it is that renewal that is the honing of holiness within us. The call to holiness requires us to model our lives on Christ, who separated Himself from worldly ties and persuasions, focusing on God and the mission God had for Him. We must follow this example of separation and focus on the mission God has for us, we must "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" and strive "to be holy in all conduct" because we have been told that, “without holiness no one will see the Lord”. God gives us gifts with which we can use to achieve this perfection for us and others but it is important to remember that what might seem like a nice gift from God is intended to be used as a tool... "This is the will of God, your sanctification".

It is also important to be aware that “The ways of holiness are many” because of the variety and skills of the laity. We do not have to achieve this holiness by struggling on our own merit, there is a call for "training in holiness", to be adapted to people's needs. The main source of this training can be obtained through deepening our prayer lives, the apostles saw this when they asked "Lord, teach us to pray!", but this is not enough on it's own the “primacy of holiness and prayer is inconceivable without a renewed listening to the word of God” which we receive in during the mass. As Christians we strive to live our Christian life in the fullest possible way and are therefore able to live our lives for the glory of God. Though this is no easy task we can strive to achieve it to the best of our abilities after all as St Gregory of Nyssa states “Christian perfection has but one limit, that of having none”.

If like me you were wondering exactly what Catholic Education Services and the Bishop's Conference are playing at, if you've ever thought "what are they thinking??!?" then this letter should hopefully explain all.

Not that it will make you feel any happier...

Dear Mrs [name removed on request],

Thank you for your email of 22 February 2010.

The Children Schools and Families Bill which is presently passing through Parliament has been amended in important ways by the patient and thorough work done by the CES. As a result, the policy for Sex and Relationships Education in a Catholic School will be determined by the governing body. This means that the religious character of the school will be reflected in the delivery of the subject to the pupils. Furthermore, parents will have the right to withdraw their children from SRE lessons up to the age of 15 years.

In the face of a Government with a very large parliamentary majority, the CES considers that it gets the best results for the Catholic community by negotiation. I believe that this is the responsible stance for the CES to take and has protected the rights of Catholic parents and families. To oppose the Bill outright would have put Catholic Schools in a position where they would have lost out on the concessions gained by the CES.

Yours sincerely,

Rt Rev Malcolm McMahon OP

Bishop of Nottingham

Message sent on behalf of Bishop McMahon

Catherine Campbell

Bishop's Secretary

So there we have it. CES have chosen not to oppose the bill because they consider they will get the best results by negotiation.

I'm pretty sure that doesn't make any sense at all.

How do you negotiate over a bill you do not oppose? What do you say? "I have no opposition to this but I need a concession because..." Because what? Because you feel like it?

Is Bishop Mc Mahon, or his secretary, or the CES, or whoever it was in the maze of Bishop's Conference beurocracy that penned this letter... Are they saying that they do oppose the Bill but have decided to be silent as part of a deal? It rather sounds like it. If that is the case then it also sounds like an admission that they have knowingly kept silent about serious problems with government legislation, that they have intentionally not publicly taught that which should have been publicly taught.

It would mean that when Ed Balls (a senior government minister) said of Catholic Schools "They must explain civil partnership. They must give a balanced view on abortion, they must give both sides of the argument, they must explain how to access an abortion, the same is true on contraception as well." the resulting silence was not an accident.

It would mean that when Ed Balls went on to say "To have the support of the Catholic Church and Archbishop Nichols in these changes is, I think, very, very important" the resulting silence from Archbishop Nichols himself was not an accident.

Hey guys, if we oppose King Henry VIII he might chop our heads off, better to negotiate some concessions... wot?

"If the Church were to accommodate herself to the world in any way that would entail a turning away from the Cross, this would not lead to a renewal of the Church, but only to her death."

[Joseph Ratzinger]

And it worked so well for the adoption agencies...

The York Aquinas Reading Group have asked me to pass on the following...

A group of us over in York (with the generous help of the English Dominican Province) have started up a reading group dedicated to studying the summa theologiae of Thomas Aquinas. We meet on the third Friday of each month at 7:30pm at English Martyr’s Church in York.

We have set up a blog to support the reading group and also to make available a discussion forum for those not able to reach York but interested in following and joining in our progress through the summa.

So, visit the York Aquinas Reading Group blog and if you are in the area pop along.

You you luckly, lucky York people. Not satisfied with having a Minster, a regular EF Mass and those Rudgate singer people, you get to have an Aquinas Reading Group as well. Meanwhile, we in Hull have to watch latin on YouTube to stay sane.

It's really not fair.

A few days ago I blogged about an online poll by the people at Marie Stopes. They were asking "Should abortion be legal in Ireland?, Yes or no."

The result? 94% said no, abortion should not be legal in Ireland.

A great result, so naturally they have removed the poll from their website.

Did I ever mention that our parish youth group has a blog?

Check it out!

The inimitable Jackie Parkes has hung up her quill and stopped blogging for a period of prayer and to better focus on the more important things in life. She asked me to put this message for you all on my blog...

In order to concentrate on Almighty God & my family & friends more I have decided to cease blogging for at least Lent. I received wise counsel & guidance from spiritual directors & trusted friends & family in making this decision. Thankyou so much sharing my blogging journey & God bless you all. Please pray for me as I pray for you. Mrs Jackie Parkes

Pray for Jackie, she's been facing quite a few difficult situations recently. I look forward to her return.

When Christ completed His mission for our salvation He sanctified us, making us holy that we might live full lives in God. He instituted the Church to carry on His work on earth, He made the Church His bride, sanctifying her making her a sacrament, Holy as He Himself is Holy, setting her aside from the worldly influences (hagiosyne) for the work of God (hosiotes). Therefore participation in the sacraments, the mass etc. are holy acts because they separate us from the world for and by God. Regardless if the participant is worthy or not, the participation itself is holy. The guidance that the Church gives is also holy, rooted in Sacred Tradition as well as Scripture. We cannot ignore or be selective about the parts we choose to listen too, as this guidance helps us in both our own call to holiness and that of the whole Body of Christ of which we are members.

When I said I didn't know this, the Bishop said "shame on you". He said that "It's part and parcel of being a Latin Rite Catholic to at least know the Our Father".

In our parish there is no Latin ever. That's because the opinions of our Bishop are largely irrelevant here. If I want to experience things that are "part and parcel of being a Latin Rite Catholic" I have to go on YouTube...

Isn't technology wonderful.

I hope you will enjoy this optical illusion...

They are both the same picture, but one of them appears to be tilted more than the other.

[source: Richard Wiseman]

Is it only the baptised Christians who can take up this call of holiness? Gregory of Nyssa states “An image is not truly an image if it does not possess all the characteristics of the pattern” If God is holiness and if man was created in the image of God, the image of that holiness, then he is set aside from the world (hagiosyne) for God's work (hosiotes), therefore all humanity is called to holiness.

When Christ died for the salvation of humanity, He died that all might be saved, we see this in action at Christ's crucifixion when Jesus assures the thief a place in paradise, even though he had not been baptised. Jesus clearly states that Baptism is necessary for salvation, this applies to those who have heard the Good News and therefore could not refuse themselves this sacrament.

There are many people who are ignorant of the Gospels but who strive to search for the truth. Gaudium et Spes talks of how God created us in love, inscribing on our hearts a law, the way that brings us to Him. It discusses how man chooses to observe this law that he will be judged. Those who have not heard the Good News, and therefore are not baptised, may still be saved if they truly search for truth and follow the path God calls them on; they may unknowingly become partakers in the Baptism of desire. If one can obtain salvation without having received baptism then as Paul informed the Hebrews without holiness no one will see the Lord We can only conclude that all mankind has been called to holiness because we are all called by God to Himself, which requires all of us to separate ourselves from this world in search of the truth that is God (hagiosyne), in love/desire for Him (hosiotes) whether we are aware that our love is for Him or not.

It is important to remember that it is not only those who are baptised Christians whom God has chosen to do His work (it is the Pagan King Cyrus who is chosen to re-build the Temple in Jerusalem). James states faith without works is dead and John states “everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it […] the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light […] that what he does is done in God”. Therefore those who do “good works”, who follow those laws God has inscribed on his heart are striving to find the truth that is God.

This may mean that even though a baptised Christian may have a fuller understanding of the call to holiness, because “All of us who are human beings are in the image of God, but to be in his likeness belongs only to those who by great love have attached their freedom to God”, that is to say through our baptism the Holy Spirit fulfils this natural call to holiness with a sacramental sign of our separation from the world and dedication to God. There are some who may be ignorant of God's message who still manage to achieve part of that call to holiness without necessarily realising it!

Because “we are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it”, it is therefore imperative that those who are baptised Christians take up the call to evangelization and being witnesses of the faith seriously, as we understand more fully the call to holiness which encompasses the whole of humanity. It is our duty as part of the covenant we have undertaken that we make sure our family, friends, work colleagues and strangers on the street are aware of the holiness we are all called to.