Showing posts with label Catholics who blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catholics who blog. Show all posts

Thursday, 18 October 2012

How can an army fight if it has no generals, no mission, no idea who the enemy is?

Well, it can't. It can only wander around with the various units bumping into one another with a few officers yelling "Charge!" and the bulk of them telling the troops how they should recycle their bathwater and buy fairtrade fags.

The enemy will, of course, be having a field day; taking his time, picking off the easy targets, avoiding the slightly troublesome ones and distributing leaflets saying: "You have plenty of time...."

                                          Liberal Catholics taking on the enemy

And the troops, God bless 'em, they are parading and drilling and marching except that they have forgotten the finer elements of all three so they are out of step, buttons undone on uniforms and tripping over each other.

That, in case you had not quite got there yet, is an allegory for the modern Catholic Church (I do know that most if not all of you will have made the connection, it's just that occasionally the odd liberal Catholic wanders on to this blog only to hitch up their skirts and run screaming for the delete button).

Now this post, believe it or not, is meant to be about the sensitive topic of re-evangelisation; how the Church informs and educates those within its walls to the reality of Catholic spiritual (and secular life).

Father Ray Blake had an excellent post a few days ago that provided us with an admirable hit list of that we might consider adopting for our own spiritual development but, I am speaking of educating the masses, the troops who have forgotten how to dress by the right and quick march.

Some time ago I posted on how, as Catholic bloggers, we have the nettle of evangelisation within our grasp but the problem is that most Catholics know little or nothing of the existence of Catholic blogs; it's rather like shoving a book under the nose of one who cannot read - a connection needs to take place before knowledge can be implanted.

A good friend (MC), whom I have yet to meet over a pint of Bateman's, has his own programme for reaching out to his fellow parishioners. MC has produced a series of newsheets (that hardly does them justice) in which, in short, pithy posts, he opens up topics for discussion.

For example, he covers current affairs illustrating that the 'brick by brick' progress is actually taking place and he also includes facts of Catholic life that many will have forgotten.

Here is his post titled: "Five lost Catholic practices currently being re-instated by faithful Catholics"

1. Sprinkling of Holy Water around the home
 2. Catholic home altars
 3. Once again calling our Church 'the One True Church'
 4. Kneeling for Communion
 5. Increased attendance at Pro Life vigils from all age groups

All truly excellent stuff - I just wish that I had the know how to reproduce the whole newsheet here.

Maybe, he will post it on his own blog.........he should because, the rest of the concept relies on those interested parties in printing off each newsletter and leaving them at the back of their local church avec permission from the PP, of course.

This idea has, as they say, got legs.

What it needs now is some of the blogging community to run with it.





Tuesday, 11 September 2012

Which would you choose?



This coming Saturday, the Feast of the Seven Dolours of Our Lady, let us imagine, for one wild instant, that you are in or around London and have a choice of events that you could attend.

You are only allowed one choice from the following:-


1. Front row seat at a lecture on 'The Tablet and its place in Catholic Society' given by Dr Tina Beattie

2. Free place at a music workshop based on 'The Tibetan nose flute and its place in Catholic liturgy'

3. Mass in the Extraordinary Form at The London Oratory at 10.30am followed by a brief informal address by Fr Rupert McHardy, in turn followed by Catholic type refreshments at The Hourglass Pub, Brompton Road - feel free to join at any stage, it's the Guild of Blessed Titus assembly.


Decisions, decisions.............and if I was to impart a matter most secret and confidential to point 3 (in the strictest confidence)......it is that (among several other well known and highly respected priests from the UK and Singapore, even), the group will be joined by (whisper) Fr John Zuhlsdorf - hush!

That's Fr Z don't you know?

That's right....

Father Z!