De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Supporters of pro-life groups like SPUC stand up for unborn children in many ways. One of the great successes in recent years has been the witness given by pro-life groups across the country through peaceful vigil outside abortion clinics. Last night the BBC attacked ‪#‎prolife‬ pavement-counsellors. Watch this SPUC video for the true side of the story and then sign the petition against buffer-zones here .

Our Bishop, the Right Reverend Alan Williams, has been slowly discerning the best way to re-organise and govern certain areas of Diocesan life and administration.  Some people have expressed concern over the amount of time this has taken, but as the Managing Director of a not inconsiderable organisation myself, it seems very sensible to me that anyone coming into such an important role would need to take a great deal of time to discern the issues facing the Diocese and get to know the people within the organisation. Inevitably, this process of discernment has resulted in some changes at the Diocesan Offices in Brentwood including a rationalisation of staffing. This caused some disquiet, after many years of stagnation, some of the people there had been around for a long while. Some unscrupulous journalists tried to portray this in Machiavellian tones in the dreadful Tablet . But the reality was nothing more than what one might logically expect for any new pair of hands taki

Welcome to my reflection on this week's Sunday readings at Mass, where I look at the Scripture we will hear at Mass on Sunday in its historical, social and theological context to see what wisdom can be gleaned. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I sincerely hope that this reflection will inspire you, answer some questions you may have, help you to see how fantastic Sacred Scripture is and perhaps begin to share some of my love and passion for the Bible as you begin to comprehend how layered and multi-faceted, and what a carefully considered part of the Mass the readings are. If you want to know how these posts came about, please read my first post in this series here . This Sunday the theme for the readings might be summed up as: The Lord Who Works Marvels Jesus Heals the Blind Bartimaeus, by Nicolas Poussin, 1650 The readings are: Jeremiah 31:7-9 Psalm: 125; Response: v. 3. Second Reading: Hebrews 5: 1-6. Gospel: Mark 10: 46-52. First, a li

If, like me, you are wondering why such prominence was given to the views of ACTA in the representations made by Cardinal Nichols to the Synod , this email I received today might explain. Yes that's right people. A whopping great 100 British Catholics have booked for their conference. I rest my case.

Thank God for Cardinal Pell! In this interview he gave yesterday we learn a number of things I think. We learn that the 13 Cardinals did indeed have enough concern about the potential plot to attempt to change doctrine that they wrote to the Holy Father about it. We also learn that they were equally concerned about what has been referred to as "Synod Rigging" or the "deck stacking", especially at the last meeting. Divorced and remarried is a small part of the Synod according to the Cardinal, and he doesn't even mention homosexuality, which makes one wonder about Fr. Rosica's portrayal of the discussions?!? It would appear that there is enough concern that whatever the Pope concludes and delivers in the final document on the Synod will bear "controversial issues" that may obscure the clarity of Church teaching for Cardinal Pell to mention it, although he says he will have access to the document and will be able to vote on whether it accurately

Joe Shaw has written a brilliant blog here which articulates my own concerns about the Synod perfectly. They are not that doctrine will change, but more concerned with the reality that popular piety seldom follows the mainstream of theology in any case. Especially in this media mad world, most people just hear the gist of a story and match their conclusions to suit their own prejudices. This has been the huge issue I have with the "messy" style of Pope Francis.  The problem as I see it, as someone who tries to preach the faith in my community, is when people contradict the revelation or the teaching of the Church, saying it doesn't matter or has been superseded somehow. I think the work of Evangelisation was greatly aided under Pope Benedict XVI in that everyone was pretty clear what we were about. That encouraged people to talk about it, to share it, and to study it more. Joe cites Vatican II as an example of the way the truth becomes distorted, as at that Counci

With Synod fever gripping the Catholic world, there is a great deal of talk of "mercy", the Holy Spirit (who only seems interested in progressive change, if those that invoke him are to be believed) and "meeting people where they are". As someone who has a little understanding of Theology, what surprises me most about what I am hearing, is the lack of systematic approach, the amount of inconsistent waffle. The phenomenological approach evidenced by this process contradicts the Thomist/ Aristolean ontological approach long endorsed by the Church. This article is well worth a read to remind us that what the Church has always taught is right and good and true and does not need changing. I think it is important to acknowledge that we must, as Church, be a welcoming family. As Cardinal Wuerl said a father and mother try to speak very clearly to their children. But if they don’t understand you offer to help them understand, you don’t start by saying: ‘you are

Welcome to my reflection on this week's Sunday readings at Mass, where I look at the Scripture we will hear at Mass on Sunday in its historical, social and theological context to see what wisdom can be gleaned. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I sincerely hope that this reflection will inspire you, answer some questions you may have, help you to see how fantastic Sacred Scripture is and perhaps begin to share some of my love and passion for the Bible as you begin to comprehend how layered and multi-faceted, and what a carefully considered part of the Mass the readings are. If you want to know how these posts came about, please read my first post in this series here . This Sunday the theme for the readings might be summed up as: Jesus Our Saviour, Our Life The readings are: Isaiah 53:10-11 Psalm: 32:4-5, 18-20, 22; Response: v. 22. Second Reading: Hebrews 4: 14-16. Gospel: Mark 10: 35-45 First, a little preliminary survey of each of the books.

I'm still catching up with blogging about last week really! I feel I have to write something about the incredible event we attended as a family last Saturday, 10th October. We travelled up to London on the train and met an incredible 3,000 other Catholics at Westminster Cathedral for the Rosary Crusade of Reparation. We had no idea that there would be so many people in attendance. We walked all the way to Brompton Oratory, singing hymns and praying the Rosary with Our Lady of Fatima being carried in the lead. Is that Tom Kennedy helping to carry Our Lady? The inspiring nature of this event was made more joyful when social media allowed me to realise that many friends were also in attendance, some from my own Parish even! Other people I only see rarely at Catholic events, and some famous bloggers ( Fr. Ray Blake for example) were also in attendance! There were prayers and Benediction at Brompton Oratory at the end of our march and the Basilica was absolutely packed to

On Friday I was invited to attend a beautiful Mass at Our Lady of the Assumption & St. Gregory in Warwick Street. This is the Ordinariate Church, the Parish is dedicated to the life of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. The main celebrant was Mgr Keith Newton and the Mass was a solemn Mass in the Ordinariate use. It was beautiful and included some lovely prayers for the congregation to say in anticipation of receiving Holy Communion. Mass was ad orientem and the first time I have been to a Mass using the Ordinariate use. This new text for the Catholic Mass integrates centuries old Anglican prayers into the Roman Rite and was specifically devised for the personal ordinariates – the structures set up by Benedict XVI to allow Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Pope, while preserving elements of their distinctive Anglican liturgical and pastoral traditions. The Mass contains words from the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer, first unv