Portsmouth Roman Catholic

The new head of the Jesuits is a man with a great intellect.   Apparently when we read the Gospel and what Jesus said we must remember that the actual words of Jesus of Scripture may not be what the evangelist said he said because he was not there.   So the solution lies in discerning what he MEANT  to say and using our conscience to decide..   Of course in most cases our conscience will strangely correspond to our will  Perhaps the best thing is to forget the Jesus of Scripture altogether and be guided by men of outstanding intellect like the Head of the Jesuits.

As I read through the Bible and the words of the Jesus of Scripture I came across Matthew 28 where Jesus said "All AUTHORITY is given to me in heaven and on earth, go therefore to al nations baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all I have commanded you.   And I am with you always even till the end of the world" If you follow the Jesus of Scripture you will know that he is a very authoritarian person and indeed it is said in scripture that many followed him because he taught with authority not like their own scribes and Pharisees.  So in this MATTHEW 28 we see Jesus passing on his authority to the disciples and telling them that he will be with them in their teachings until the end of the world.   Perhaps our young people do not come to Church because that authority is no longer there.  Instead we have too many bishops and priests more interested in teaching their own Gospel and their own Christ ...

I heard a discussion the other day.  It was about why so many young people do not come to Church.  The difficulties of keeping First Communicants coming to Church and the difficulties experienced in Confirmation.  Those who spoke had tried everything but nothing worked.  There seems to be no way forward. I remember being present one Saturday morning at the local school listening to the new catechism that was being brought in.  It was called 'Here I Am'  and there was no doubt that because it was in the Spirit of Vatican II era it just had to be successful.   Only those living in the past would dare to question this.  So  i questioned it.   Knowing that whatever I said would be appreciated by some parents but ignored by the teachers I restricted myself to pointing out that there was no mention of the Blessed Sacrament and added "If you do not mention or teach the true Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament you will destroy the faith...

The subject of Hell is not an easy one.     In Matthew 25:41 the Jesus of Scripture says to the wicked "Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire which was prepared for the Devil and his Angels"   So we have two important points here.  There is something called 'everlasting fire' and that God has already put beings there.   The third point seems to be that God has put them there, or has He?   I was educated in a Church that followed the Jesus of Scripture.   Remember the Jesus that said to Pilate that he had come to bear witness to the truth.   If we say we believe in Scripture then we must believe in the Jesus of Scripture and not the false Christs of human invention that makes the Church the kind of place we feel comfortable in, and if we are not comfortable it is the Church that is to blame.   So let us look further into what Jesus had to say about Hell and what the Church had to say about Hell.    Remember the Church th...

When the Sermon on the Mount is discussed there is great enthusiasm about the Beatitudes.  It would seem however there is little enthusiasm for reading the rest of Matthew 5 and although last Sunday it was a joy for priests to read Matthew 5 and preach on the Sermon on the Mount this Sunday there will be a great deal less enthusiasm as the Sermon on the Mount talks about sin.   Few priests in the UK and Ireland will want to preach the Jesus of Scripture as he talks about sin and hell and the need to avoid sin to the point of sacrificing self.  It would upset the Community if the Jesus of Scripture rather than the merciful Jesus, who would condemn nobody and does not really care how we live as long as we give to the poor, was  preached.   No, all that stuff about adultery even if we look at a woman, or plucking out an eye if it condemns us to sin, and worse making those who go to receive Communion feel guilty when  their conscience is clear even though He wa...

If we follow the Jesus of Scripture we will know the story of the Rich Young Man who asked him what he had to do to earn eternal life.  Jesus replied that he had to keep the Commandments.  He made no further comments about conscience or rigidity.    Keeping the Commandments is not an easy thing to do, I for one have been guilty of many sins and great sins and only managed to improve by putting my weakness into the hands of Jesus and asking his constant help when I am tempted.   I can see no rigidity in doing this since it brings me closer to God. I am astonished therefore to find in high places an almost mocking tone for those who love and honour the Commandments.   It is not just about me however, and the rich young man, it is about the desire of Jesus that everyone should earn eternal life.   That means that everyone should love and honour the Ten Commandments, but not just the Ten Commandments every further command that the Jesus of Scripture gave...