Portsmouth Roman Catholic

  Dear Friends, With the COVID restrictions being eased this week, I am sending a special message to everyone in the Diocese, welcoming everyone back to Mass. Of course, the pandemic continues, so, we still need to be prudent and to take care in our churches and parishes: see the guidance the Diocese is offering. This last week, I was away, recharging the batteries and catching up on prayer and reading – but now back, all of a sudden there’s lots of news! There is news about Grandparents' Day next Sunday, about new regulations from the Holy Father on celebrations of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form and news from Bamenda. There are also a number of exciting invitations: to the Alton Day of Renewal, to an Ignatian Staycation, to the Fanning the Flame Summer Camp, and to the National Justice and Peace Network conference. There’s an Environmental Survey to complete and a new book to order. But this is above all a period of great joy, as we look forward to the ordinations in two weeke...

 The Council declared in its first General Norm that the “regulation of the sacred liturgy depends solely on the authority of the Church, that is, on the Apostolic See, and, as laws may determine, on the bishop” (a principle frequently ignored with results we have all witnessed).  When I was looking into Vatican II, I came across the above norm.   Now the Bishops of the Catholic Church came to no definite conclusion on Vatican II, some saying that perhaps the laity could join in with the responses given by altar servers, recite the Gloria in English which I did at school, along with the Holy, holy, holy...    But since there was no conclusion by the bishops, the Holy See took into its own hands, according to the above norm, the changes they thought necessary for the Mass.   Now I have never argued against this in principle, and was happy with the Mass in English.    I would have continued to be happy with the Mass in English if certain o...

 I grew up in the Catholic Church in the 1940's.   When I went to school, I was not threatened with hell fire if I was not good.    Yes, there was some mention of Hell because Jesus Christ taught of its existence, but Jesus Christ gave us so many other beautiful things and we were taught that he asked us to be good, and if we obeyed his Commandments we would prove our love for Him.   We were taught form the Catechism, 'Where is Jesus Christ' and the answer was 'As God Jesus Christ is everywhere, but as God made man He is in Heaven and in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar'    Did I understand?  No, but with the promptings of Grace and the Holy Spirit, with talking to him in the Tabernacle on the Altar, I grew to believe He was there, though understanding how he was there was impossible.   How coud a piece of bread contain Jesus I still ask myself.  When the enemies of Christ appeared in my Church Jesus was removed from the...

 Ever since the Covid restrictions were removed on the 14th August, I have been to my Grandson's Birthday Party which was held in a village hall hired for the occasion.    There were about  sixty children there and their parents.    There was no spacing, no masks being worn, and at the end of the party there was no requirement for the family to go around the hall and dining area furiously cleaning and defecting.   I also went to a restaurant where I just sat down at a table after placing my order.   There were no disinfecting of tables as people left, and there was no requirement for mask wearing either entering or leaving the restaurant.    Since there is no high infection rate in Basingstoke from Covid, and the majority of people have been vaccinated, life is returning to pre-covid days.   Indeed since a double vaccination makes a person 90% safe, many clubs and pubs are opening up, why should anyone fear If you wat...

Another of the things my Catholic Faith is missing at this time, is the joy and comfort of going to Church and praying to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and begging the intercession of my Mother Mary with my fellow Faithful Catholics.     This is a time when the world really needs to turn to God, for evil is winning in every part of life and in every part of the world.    From young girls being taught how to participate in their own sexual abuse, to the warring soldiers of Satan in every part of the world.     When we say that we fear for our young in he future, it is not just Climate Change we should be speaking about.    What we do know, as our Christian Faith should remind us, is that more than any other need the world has, is the Need for the Love of God.   Yes, we sing of that love, yes we profess that love, but how deep is that love within us.     To be a Christian is to follow Christ, so let us apply the t...

 Every time I attend Mass I join in a Sacrifice.   Christ through his representative the priest renews  in our day the Sacrifice He made on Calvary.   We then partake of the Sacrifice by eating His Body.   "Unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you cannot have life in you"  John 16..  Some may say that is not what the Bible really means, but then they are relying on their own interpretation of the Bible, I go back to the Early Church and when I do I find the earliest Fathers such as Clement the third Pope and Ignatius of Antioch, both contemporaries of the Apostles, believed as the faithful in the Church believe today, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church of today teaches. What a truly remarkable gift then Christ has given us.   His very Self, humble and loving, and full of mercy and compassion for us.   Should we not want to receive this gift daily, or even twice or three times a day....

 One of the things I remember well from my youth are the Parish Retreats.   At that time Catholics gazed in awe at the Divine Mystery of the Body of Jesus living among us.    No University modernists had been sent by bishops to tell us that the Body of Jesus was not to be adored.  It was not meant to be, they said, it was a practice from the Middle Ages, etc, etc. ad nauseam.    You did not dare to talk about the beliefs of the Early Church, after all they were 'experts'.     But back to my youth,    Because the bread being turned into the flesh of Jesus was clearly taught, many people conscience that they had not lived up to the commandments that Jesus had told us was a sign of our love for Him, did not come forward for Holy Communion.  To make them faithful again the priest would call on a religious order to conduct a retreat in his Parish.   They happened very often.   Two, in Glasgow, usually P...

 Let me say at once that I attend the Mass in English.   The reason is that it does help me understand the Mass better as I reflect on what the priest is saying, and that goes for the majority of parishioners.   However I do love to attend a Latin Mass because of its beautiful liturgy and because you will participate in what Mgr Eric Barr has confessed to despising.  The Mgr having made some doubtful comments in his introduction, goes on to what can only be called a misguided and foolish rant, which I am sure will embarrass his superiors.    I am not a member of the TLM, but I do not believe that they believe the Sacrifice of the Mass in Latin is superior to the Sacrifice of the Mass in English.    The Mass is offered by Christ Himself and He is offering Himself to the Father and The Father accepts the offering whatever language.   What the Mgr meant to say, I am sure, is that the liturgy of the Mass in Latin is superior to wha...

 T his opinion piece will not be tactfully phrased. Many essays in the past few days have tried to balance both positive and negative views of   Traditionis Custodes , the new motu proprio issued by Pope Francis concerning the traditional Latin Mass. This article reflects my experience from the trenches. (I was my diocese’s vicar for clergy when Benedict issued   Summorum Pontificum .) It may  help some understand the issues that motivated Francis. In 2007, when  Summorum Pontificum  was issued, it looked like the golden days of Tridentine Masses were back. Pope Benedict really wanted to help heal wounds that stemmed from the Vatican II Council’s reform of the liturgy and allow people who had a special affinity for the traditional Latin Mass some relief at their sense of loss of a liturgy that meant so much to them. He was well intentioned, but his effort simply didn’t work. Here are four reasons why. Little Growth and Glory Not Found The TLM is not widely ...

 What a beautiful dream I have.    The Church of St Justin has survived to the present day and Catholics are following Christ.   When the Church is attacked for not approving of sexuality outside marriage, or gay relationships, or allowing divorce, its answer is that it is not our way of life, our way of life is following the commandments of Jesus Christ.   Like Justin we simply state who we are.   Alas there has arisen in our ranks false Christs and Prophets who are causing dissent within.   "The Church has got it wrong" they say as they embrace the culture of the secular state and destroy the work of Jesus Christ to satisfy their own lust and selfishness.    So we have a Church where the teachings of Christ are laughted at and those who are faithful to Christ 'have not moved on' Jesus and Mary help your suffering children.   Especially those who live a life of misery, through the fault of others.

  He said to his disciples "Causes of falling are sure to come, but alas for the one through whom they may occur, it would be better for such a  person to be thrown into the sea with a millstone round his neck than to be the downfall of a single one of these little ones.  Keep watch on yourselves"    Luke 17. I have in previous blogs made an account of the lives of St Justin and St Hippolytus.    They demonstrated that the Early Church was faithful to the Commandments of Christ on celibacy and divorce.    You remember Christ who said "If you love me, keep my commandments"   It is of course for each one of us to decide if we are truly in love with Christ or just living a life which seems to approximate with his teachings, but nevertheless we excuse ourselves by keeping mature in this mature time.    Fine you can choose heaven of hell, be you bishop, priest, or lay person, but if yo have taken responsibilities for others, es...

 Another saint in the early Church shared by both the Orthodox and Catholic Church is St John Chrysostom.   Chrysostom means 'golden tongue' for his sermons were so well received and this name was given to him. Let us hear him on the Mass. "It is not man who causes what is present to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but Christ Himself who was crucified for us.  The priest is the representative when he pronounces those words, but the power and the grace are those of the Lord.    'This is my Body' he says', the word changes the things that lie before us, and at that sentence 'increase and multiply' once spoken extends through all time and gives our human nature the power to reproduce itself, even so that saying 'This is my Body' once uttered, does in every table in the Churches from that time to the present day, and even till Christ's coming, make the sacrifice complete".  Now I am not a scholar but what I believe he is saying is that...

 In a previous blog  I referred  to St Justin, one of he Fathers of the Church, and his teaching on Marriage and Chastity.   He was telling the pagans that celibacy was a way of life in the Catholic Church.   Children who did not marry grew up still celibate into old age for love of Jesus.   He also taught that marriage was for life and there was no divorce or second marriages.   The conclusion must surely be that this was how the Early Church surrounded by pagans and sexual perversion of all kinds attracted so many followers, weary of the world around them.    They lived according to the teachings of Jesus and in showing their obedience demonstrated their love for Him. Since the Secular Society of today has returned to paganism, am I really being stupid in wanting the Church to return to the ideals and teachings of Jesus to which the early Church was faithful.  Why ca our children not be taught that keeping chaste is...