Portsmouth Roman Catholic

AND THEN MANY WILL FALL AWAY; PEOPLE WILL BETRAY ONE ANOTHER AND HATE ONE ANOTHER , MANY FALSE PROPHETS WILL ARISE, THEY WILL DECEIVE MANY, AND WITH THE INCREASE OF LAWLESSNESS, LOVE  IN MOST PEOPLE WILL GROW COLD, BUT ANYONE WHO STANDS FIRM TO THE END WILL BE SAVED.   MATTHEW 10 - 13 The above scripture is usually one we skip over because we think it is all about the end times and of course has nothing to do with today.   We would rather not think of the growing hatred and terrorism in our society.  We would rather forget the hatred shown towards those who care for the unborn child or for anyone who upholds that marriage is between a man and a woman.   And of course there is the growing hatred that develop within marriage causing misery and hurt to millions of children - of course we should not think of the children they get through it, of course they do.    There is the growing problem of girls becoming single mothers as a result of the breakdown o...

Every day a priest will offer the Sacrifice of Jesus to the Father on behalf of our sins just as he did on Calvary.   At the same time the Protestants will point out and rightly that the Sacrifice that Jesus made on Calvary is according to Scripture the One and Only Sacrifice and cannot be repeated.   So why does the Catholic Church do something which contradicts scripture or does it? To answer this we must start with the Book of Malachi 1:11.  "From the rising of the sun until its setting my name is great among the gentiles and everywhere there is offered sacrifice - a spotless victim".   Malachi was at  odds with the Jewish priests of his time whom he claimed were breaking the Law by offering injured or infirm animals rather than the best of the flock and  so were making a mockery of the word sacrifice.    The Church recently put this piece of scripture back into the vernacular version of the Mass and the priest reads it just before he offers ...

This is a child receiving her First Holy Communion.  Because it is the very presence of Jesus  Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity great care is taken as she receives.   In humility she kneels, In deep reverence she receives on her tongue.  A plate is put under her chin so that if Jesus slips he does not fall to the floor.   Anyone watching will soon be aware that the host  is something very special to her  the priest and the whole Catholic Church.  Perhaps at a later date she will be brought before this Blessed Sacrament incased in a Monstrance where she will kneel and Adore Him as the God who lives among us and can never be parted from us.  She and the other children will have been sitting in a place of honour and be the first to receive Jesus before the other members of the congregation for it is truly a special day for her.  And everyone has made it a special day not just for the party afterwards but because she now has a new l...

Our Lady at Fatima told us that unless we changed then Russia would spread her errors to the rest of the world.   She never specifically mentioned the errors but if we look at our society today we can come a reasonable conclusion that what she was referring to was a Society where morality was not based on the law of God but on human and atheistic convenience.   We have just had another glimpse of this in the recent British Elections where Tim Farron of the Liberal Democrats was asked his opinion on homosexuality.    Tim declined to answer since his views were well known for he was an Evangelical Christian.    But the pressure was then on him and he was forced to resign.   So we now have one party where no Christian faithful to Jesus can expect to be welcome and indeed I guess that will soon apply to all Parliamentary Parties.  The Godless are on the rise and seeking out and destroying Christians wherever they find them.   What I find curi...

Today the 13 June is the Centenary of the the second appearance of Our Lady to the children of Fatima.   In this appearance when the children asked her if they would go to heaven she said the Jacinta and Francisco would go very soon but that Lucia would stay on earth for some time to spread devotion to her Immaculate Heart.  It was he said the WILL OF GOD not her own that honour would be paid to her immaculate and loving heart.    The two children died immediately after the First World War with the Spanish Flu that raged through Europe.   Lucia lived with constant visits from Our Lady  until she was 95 years old.    The Immaculate Heart of Mary is a devotion recognised by the Church and as I said emphaise4d by God in there Miracle of Fatima that she was to be honoured in this way.  Our Lady at the apparition showed the children in her hand a heart pierced by thorns. But what do we mean by Immaculate.   What did Mary mean when she sa...

As we receive constant reports of Christians refusing to convert to Islam and being executed I wonder how many in this Britain would offer their lives in the same way.   Is our Christianity, and our Catholic Faith in particular, strong enough to make us stand up and say "I would rather die"  I suppose the answer is found in just how much we really believe in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ gave us the litmus test when he said "If you love me keep my Commandments".    He did not say keep my rules, feed the poor, and be kind to one another - he said "Keep my Commandments"   So what are his Commandments?   Yes, we can all say they are there in scripture and we all do our best to keep them but we cannot, so let us talk about something else.   Let us just do what we can and give to the poor.   Now it is a fact that we all fall short of keeping the Commandments but we have to be honest with ourselves.    If we decide not to bother with them b...

NCE AGAIN WE HAVE THE TERRORISTS KILLING PEOPLE IN LONDON IN THE NAME OF RELIGION. I AM SURE THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE MOSLEM COMMUNITY DO NOT SUPPORT THEM WHETHER THEY LIVE IN BRITAIN, SYRIA, IRAQ OR ANYWHERE ELSE. THE TROUBLE IS THAT POLITICIANS SEE SUCVH HAPPENINGS AS PURELY POLITICAL AND A LITTLE DOZE OF BLAMING OURSELVES, AND THEY ARE NICE CHAPS REALLY WHO JUST NEED UNDERSTANDING AND EXPOSURE TO THE VALUES OF OUR SECULAR SOCIETY WILL SOON PUT EVERYTHING RIGHT. THIS OF COURSE IS NONSENSE. THIS IS A BATTLE WITHIN RELIGIIONS, THE BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL. SECULARISM DOES NOT UNDERSTAND GOOD AND EVIL BUT ONLY WHAT SATISFIES SELF AND SO BECOMES ALSO SUBJECT TO EVIL. THE PROGRESS OF ABORTION FROM SAVING MOTHERS IN DESPERATION KILLILNG THEIR BABIES IN THE BACK STREETS TO THE NOW ACCEPOTED VIEW THAT THE BABY IS NOT HUMAN AND CAN BE EXTERMINATED AS PESTS IS ONE SUCH VALUE MOST RELIGIONS WILL ABHOR. THE PROBLEM IS NONE OF US REALLY UNDERSTAND GOOD AND EVIL AND HAVE A UTILITARIAN APP...

I once heard a priest reflecting on a visit he made with about a dozen other priests to a home whee an elderly woman made them an evening meal.   She was a woman of great faith and very much respected by the priest.   At one point the priest said he went upstairs and when he was returning down the stairs he looked over the bannister and saw his host sitting among the priests and telling them about her faith and discussing the problems they faced as priests.   The others were silent and enthralled at her knowledge. Looking at this scene the priest reflected that this was probably just like the scene in the Upper Room in Jerusalem before Pentecost   The Mother of Jesus was there and probably doing the same thing and being listened to intently by the disciples.    She was preparing them for their mission just as she had prepared Jesus for His.    Through the Gospels Mary is always there somewhere in the background and when He was preaching she woul...