Father, Father, wherefore art thou?

We are looking for a priest and, get this, he must be a modern priest, not one who celebrates the Tridentine Latin Mass.



Sorry Romeo, I was actually
looking for a Catholic priest!


The poor old boy has finally cracked I hear you say: He's a few beads short of a decade, but please hear me out.

Here in dry old Menevialand we only have two brace (or less) of priests who are able to celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Now, I don't know the square mileage of the Diocese but it must run into something like a modest 5,000 square miles...that means we only have .00001 of a Latin Mass priest per acre (don't try to check the maths!).

So, in the aftermath of our good Bishop Thomas Burns appointing Fr Jason Jones as EF Mass Coordinator for the Diocese, a most wise move, we now have a lay group called The Confraternity of the Holy Cross whose aim it is in life to support the few priests we have, pray on behalf of the Bishop and to aid the development of the Latin Mass in the Diocese.

Some in the CHC have been very busy and aided the recent and magnificent Corpus Christi Mass and procession, others support with the daily Fraternity prayer (We adore Thee O Christ and we praise Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World) and some, great souls have even chipped in a few pounds (quite a few in some instances) to a special fund to help priests in the Diocese learn how to celebrate the EF Mass. This does not cut across Latin Mass Society work, in fact, it complements it as we plan to assign priests on to the LMS Training Programme. In fact, LMS members might be more forthcoming with donations to the training fund if they knew that the money they raised would go towards supporting a priest from their own Diocese, but I digress.

So far we have raised the sum of £305 - Huzzah! That means we can send 1.24 priests for training, although we might wait until we have a round £500 and send two whole ones!

Now we hit the rockface - are there any priests out there who wish to put themselves forward? It would be especially good if we had one from the Western boundaries of the Diocese as this is Indian country (literally) as far as the old Mass is concerned. We have Mass in the Syro-Malabar rite and we have it in Polish, Tagalog and even Welsh (attended by 2 people and one sheepdog) - I jest - please don't burn me out! But we do not have, or at least only on a wobbly once a month basis, the Latin Mass.

It is a big problem......some priests just do not wish to go down that route and I respect their wishes but believe them to be wrong; some are too immersed in their Indian or Phillipino culture and some, I suspect, would like to do it but are a bit concerned about how they will be perceived by their fellow priests, Deans (especially the Deans) and, possibly, the Bish.

That leaves us up whatsit creek without a paddle - so please pray that we find a priest who will shoulder the cross and go forward to be trained.
Would you please offer a Rosary for this cause?

It will, as my mother used to say when one of us had to undertake some chore or other: "Put another jewel in your crown in Heaven"

PUT A PALM CROSS IN YOUR CAR!

Or, in your office, on your work station, on the tea trolley, put one anywhere (respectable, that is) and show that you are proud of your faith.

64 year old electrician, Colin Atkinson has a palm cross on the dashboard of his company van and now faces a disciplinary hearing because of it. Is it perhaps a health and safety issue? No....it does not obscure anything but it DOES reveal something..it shows that he is a follower of Jesus Christ and that appears to be something that his employers will not stand for despite the fact that his boss, by the name of Mr Doody (change your name man!) has a Che Guevara poster on his office wall. Now, to say that I am rather opposed to Che Guevara is something of an understatement. His bearded face looks out from just about every student bedroom but few seem bothered by the fact that, among his many misdemeanours, this thug machine gunned some 300 men women and children in a brutal act of murder most foul.
I am not familiar with Mr Atkinson's company premises but, if I know electricians, I would wager that a few walls will also have the odd saucy calendar or porno pin-ups decorating it.

Of course, that's all OK....but when it comes to a palm cross in your van or wearing a crucifix chain...then it's you for the high jump!

So maybe we Catholics should fight back and show some solidarity with Mr A. You do see one or two cars with a rosary hanging from the rear view mirror however, I don't think that is particularly good. But a rosary or small crucifix discreetly bluetacked to the dashboard might be a habit worth cultivating.

Or a "Tenner" slipped over an indicator switch (my preferred mode) is also good, one does not need to be blatant about it.

That does provide me with one headache, however, do you think that a four foot high statue of St Therese de Lisieux is a bit OTT?

When did you last speak to your Mother?

Concept adapted from Stella Borealis