De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

On August 24th, I was contacted by a concerned parishioner from Arundle & Brighton Diocese, who was shocked and concerned that ACTA were advertising a meeting at Sacred Heart Parish in Caterham. Further, the Parish newsletter states that "Five of our members met with Bishop Kieran recently, and he has approved meetings within his diocese." As a result of this, I wrote to Bishop Kieran, asking him for clarification. I have not, as yet, received any response. This morning, I was contacted by another incredulous parishioner, concerned about ACTA's infiltration of Arundle & Brighton, who pointed me toward St. Dunstan's , Woking, and their newsletter , which states: A Call to Action – ACTA - at the Sacred Heart Church, Caterham. Saturday 28th September 2-5 pm. (Vigil Mass for Sunday to conclude). Guest Speaker: Fr Tom O’ Loughlin. A call to action is simply a movement within the church of England & Wales to keep alive the principles and spirit of ...

On the 7th September, the Liberal Democrat MP for Brent, Sarah Teather, announced she would not be standing for Parliament in the next General Election. Sarah is a Catholic and has featured on my blog before because of her eloquent polemic against Same-Sex-Marriage  which bravely flew in the face of the bigot label, since her track record is one of defending the rights of people with homosexual tendencies. I was initially disappointed, because I feel that we need more politicians like Sarah, not less. Rather than simply towing the party line on SSM, she voted, and argued, for what she believed to be right. Her arguments are intelligent and well reasoned, and can only add to a proper debate. I do not agree with her position on every issue; I believe she is a member of ACTA  for example. She has also been part of a call for more contraception and sex education in response to higher rates of teenage pregnancies in some parts of the country. Whilst on the whole, I agre...

I was sorely tempted to title this post "Know Your Local Heretic". Recently, I drew attention to the fact that Jean Riordan, the Chair of A Call to Action’s National Steering Group, has sent out an email to its 1,200 registered members encouraging them to form a group in every diocese to spread its mission of dissent, or as they frame it, ‘dialogue and openness’. Jean Riordan also wants ACTA members to tell other parishioners about ACTA and invite local priests and members of religious orders to join as well.  Are our bishops happy about a dissent group establishing diocesan groups with representatives pushing their agenda in every diocese in our country? I noticed a comment on Protect the Pope's post regarding Bishop Conry's alleged endorsement of ACTA where the poster said they were unaware of any ACTA activists in their diocese, so, in order that we can all be clear, here is their own public list of people they term diocese coordinators, and which w...

When Apple brought out the first iPhone, it was the first phone in a long while I actually wanted . As soon as it was launched, I bought an unlocked one from Ebay. This was about a year before they were available at all here, and I really liked it. It was beautiful, functional and, most importantly, exclusive. Now of course, everyone has got one. That's not entirely the reason why I've changed though (although it is quite a big part of the reason if I am honest). I started to fall out of love with Apple when they introduced the 4s. There had been several annoying upgrades, which didn't seem to bring much benefit and I hadn't bothered with them. Then I ended up with a free upgrade and got a 4s. Siri was so irritating I very quickly lost patience. Whatever number of sophisticated and nuanced speech patterns it was programmed to deal with, Estuary English is clearly not one of them. Then iCloud came out. Suddenly, my thousands of contacts were merged with everyone els...

So, it was a record-breaking transfer window in the world of English football (that's soccer to my American readers) this year in more ways than one. Premier League clubs spent a record £630m this summer as a result of the injection of £5.5 billion spent on tv rights.  Tottenham received a jaw-dropping £85m from Real Madrid for 24 year old Gareth Bale who will be paid an incredible £300,000 a week. His transfer fee was a world record. The £630m laid out by English top-flight clubs was a 29% increase on the equivalent figure of £490m in 2012, and £130m more than the previous record set in 2008. The Premier League might have spent more than any other, but Europe's nouveau riche in France, and the 'old moneyed' in Italy, also made headlines. All in all the 20 premiership teams spent £630,000,000. Am I alone in feeling repulsed at that figure? Am I the only one wondering what good that amount of money could in a world where children starve to death every d...

This morning we heard the sad news that Louise's Great Auntie, Kathleen Vatcher, passed away peacefully last night at the age of 96. She was a wonderful lady whom it has been my great privilege to know for the last 24 years. During that time she has been a grandmother to my wife and her sisters, their own parents and grandparents all being deceased. She has been a source of counsel and of wisdom as well as the link they desperately needed to the history of the family and a great source of stories of the youth of their parents. Auntie Kath loved family and was a wonderful entertainer. She was amazing with our children and I thank God that she has been part of our, and their lives. I feel most especially grateful that she got to meet Mary. Mary at eight months and Great Auntie Kath at 1152 months!  It is always a great sorrow to lose someone so loved and who has been a part of the fabric of your family for so long, and yet there is great peace in the knowledge of a life wel...

"Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."  Ps 119:105 Welcome to this, the fifty-eighth of my reflections on the theology of the Sunday readings at Mass. I have undertaken this project, regularly posting background information on the readings at Sunday Mass as part of my own prayer life. I have found it helps me to do a little study before I go to Mass about the readings, what the theme of the week is, how it follows on from the previous week's readings and what is being said. In sharing this, I hope to help you too get more from the Bible and Sunday Scripture readings. Perhaps it might give you confidence in the value and legitimacy of the Bible, or perhaps it might inspire you to pray the Divine Office or investigate the weekly readings for yourself. I see this as very clearly part of what the Church teaches about the Bible: This heaven-sent treasure Holy Church considers as the most precious source of doctrine on faith and morals. No wond...