Saturday, 13 March 2010

Confession

We all went to confession today (except Ant who is away at University these days); and learning from past experience were all particularly careful immediately afterwards not to start bickering etc.

We have learned the hard way that you only have to be cleansed from sin to become an immediate target for silly temptations...

AGF - Global Gender Change

Never mind about Anthropogenic Global Warming , we’ve a new crisis on our hands: Anthropogenic Global Feminisation. The huge volumes of oestrogen being deposited in the water supplies through urine, thanks to the Pill and HRT, is apparently causing some fundamental changes in the biology of both humans and animals. Read the story here.

At this rate we won’t have to worry about global warming (if we ever did) because we will die out due to a lack of fertile men...

H/T Joanna Bogle.

Friday, 12 March 2010

A Bright Idea

I received this email recently - sounds like a good idea...

The reason for writing is that I wanted to inform you of an initiative which is designed to raise funds for those organizations who work so hard to protect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death in the UK.

The idea itself is simple. Earlier this week, we (Catholic Values Ltd) launched a non-profit making price comparison website - www.catholicvalues.co.uk  You may be familiar this type of service, where lots of different suppliers of services (such as car insurance) are brought together so you can compare their prices side by side and get the best value.

www.catholicvalues.co.uk does this too, only we’re different. We’re a non-profit making organization and as such will be donating all our income (less any admin costs) to pro-life charities. 

We make our money through the commission generated every time someone buys a service via the website. So from the customer’s perspective, on the one hand they’re saving money on their household bills and on the other they’re able to pass funds onto causes they care about, without actually spending a penny more. It really is that simple.

Anyway, the hope is that the not only will you give the website a once over but also you’ll help me spread the word about our services by writing about us and forwarding this email to as many people as possible.

I have attached a few items that help explain our service – Press Release, Q&A, Price Comparison Guide and a flyer that is ideal for noticeboards.

Many thanks in advance and feel free to come back to me with any questions at enquiry@catholicvalues.co.uk
Kind regards
 
Agostino Di Falco
Director
Catholic Values Ltd
07771 847601

--

Worth a look, I think!

Human Love and the Devil part two

The fundamental problem with human sexuality is that we are all damaged. This is the great truth that springs from a correct understanding of Original Sin, and it is largely untaught.

The reasons for it not being taught are many. I suspect some are:

1 that it entails belief in the Devil, which is not very fashionable;

2 that people think it engenders fear and guilt, which are not very fashionable.

However, with regard to 1, it is clear that Our Lord believed in the Devil - and indeed met him. With regard to 2, fear and guilt are appropriate responses to, respectively, the prospect of eternal damnation, and sin. They may not be the best or highest motivators to the devout life, and inappropriate fear or guilt can be very destructive, but to negate them all together is folly.

Moreover, Original Sin makes sense: we need to understand that at the start of the human race, our first parents ceded power in the world to a malevolent and powerful fallen angel (‘the Lord of this World’) and also did damage to themselves and their offspring. Then we can make sense both of natural disasters and of human frailty.

We are particularly damaged in the area of sexuality precisely because the Devil hates it. He hates love and he hates our ability to co-operate in the creation of new life. So he has focussed his attack there and caused great damage. Hence abortion, contraception, infidelity, homosexuality, paedophilia, pornography, promiscuity, frigidity,and every other destructive tendency in human sexuality: all spring from this fundamental damage - and we are all vulnerable to one or more of them...

Saturday, 6 March 2010

Human Love and the Devil (part one)

What even the Catholic Church won’t tell you about sex is the role of the Devil, Original Sin and the Fall of Man.

One sometimes gets the impression that if we could quietly discard all that stuff about the Devil, Original Sin and the Fall we would do: and in practices one never hears them mentioned in classroom or pulpit. It all seems so harsh and rather out of date.

There are (at least) a couple of problems with that approach: one is that Our Lord clearly believed in the Devil - and indeed met him on ore than one occasion. The other is that Original Sin is a compassionate doctrine that makes so much sense of our actual experience.

I will go on about this over the next few posts, but for now, I will simply remark that the Devil hates human love: it is where in our nature we are closest to God. So it is unsurprising that he attacks it with a particular vehemence. I think that marriage preparation should include this simple fact: that by getting married a couple are placing themselves in the front line, they will be attacked, and they need the strength of the sacraments, not just of matrimony which of course gives them the grace of state, but also of frequent confession and holy communion, if they are to have the best chance of repelling these attacks.

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Sex Education - what’s it really about?

This is the question that is rarely asked. But it should be, because in the answer to it lies the unease (to say the least) many of us feel about the government's dictatorial approach to the subject.

What it is not about is fairly easy to see: it is not about teaching kids how to have babies. Oddly enough, humans are pretty good at that. Nor is it about teaching kids the context within which sex is healthy, life affirming, life giving and ever more joyful: that is in a lifelong marriage, open to chiildren.

So what is it about? Looking at what it entails, as currently practiced, only one sensible conclusion can be reached: it is about normalising promiscuity and deviance (because we must take a non-judgemental approach), and trying (ineffectively) to limit the damage caused thereby.

That is why the collusion of the CES (an official agency of the Catholic Church, which knows the truth about human love and sexuality) with the government on this issue is such a scandal; and it is why all parents should take seriously their responsibility to educate their children properly in this field and remove them form the line of fire if necessary - whether or not they are 'allowed' to do so.

Sunday, 28 February 2010

Resurgence of Chant

I attended the initial meeting of the Gregorian Chant Network at the London Oratory recently. It was heartening to meet so many committed to Chant, and to learn how much is going on around the country (and beyond, with representatives from the other home nations).

Meanwhile, up North where we are, there are three Chant Workshops planned:

Wakefield, 24th April
North Ormesby, 8th May
Lancaster Cathedral, 26th June

More details here: http://tinyurl.com/ycewjjc

Please spread the word.

Don't forget the weekend course 9-11th April in the Oratory School, near Reading: http://tinyurl.com/ygskqty

To find you r local Schola or Church where Chant is sung regularly, contact the Gregorian Chant Network.