Beware genre films helmed by a prestige director. When filmmakers retool their style for the material, you get films like Tim Burton's Batman or the Coens' True Grit. More often a self-professed auteur thinks he's too good for a mere spy flick/horror film/superhero movie, injecting it instead with muddled "meaning" and irritating artistry. Witness John Frankenheimer's Prophecy passing off homicidal bear jerky as a profound ecological statement.
Joe Wright's Hanna (2011) is Exhibit B. What highfalutin nogginhead thought attaching the director of high-toned Oscar bait Pride and Prejudice and Atonement to a violent spy thriller was a good idea? The movie received modest acclaim but this blogger found it insufferable, a half-digested mixture of stomach-turning style, facile story and misused actors.
In the Finnish wilderness, teenager Hanna (Saorise Ronan) is raised by Erik Heller (Eric Bana) to be a self-reliant killing machine. Hanna's decision to see more of the outside world brings fateful consequences. CIA Agent Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett) knows Erik has damaging information on the agency and enlists freelance thug Isaacs (Tom Hollander) to kill him. But Hanna proves an even bigger threat, especially when she learns of her twisted origins.
Hanna contains all the careful, considered craftsmanship of a bad music video. Wright crams the film with circling camera angles, hard dissolves, dizzying colors, international locations (Morocco, Finland, Germany) and strange imagery (headless dinosaur statues, Isaacs' gauche nightclub) but it's all ostentatious, empty preening. Long, pointless scenes and annoying dialogue proliferate. Coupled with the Chemical Brothers' roiling techno-score, the overall effect is nausea.
The story is even worse. The "fairy tale structure" (informed I guess by Hanna reading a Brothers Grimm book) seems a convenient excuse for endless clichés, plot holes and one-note characters. Hanna's baffled by light switches and kitchen appliances yet quickly masters a laptop? Hanna skipping from continent to continent without notice or interference is equally hard to swallow. Similarly, the last-act revelations about CIA genetic experiments come out of a screenwriter's handbook.
Wright and writers David Farr and Seth Lockhead fail further handling Hanna. She's a blank slate lacking the self-awareness of Hit Girl or Katniss Everdeen's rounded characterization, all meaningful glances and fancy gun tricks without substance. Wright pointlessly adds a family of hippie tourists for cringe-worthy character non-development. Then again, even a better-realized character couldn't overcome the twee disconnect between Hanna's self-discovery and barehanded neck breaking.
Saorise Ronan struggles to wring any humanity from an ill-conceived part. Eric Bana is merely bland, but the bad guys are pathetic. Cate Blanchett mixes cartoon villainy with a laughable Texas drawl, while Tom Hollander sporting frost blond hair and a Hogan's Heroes accent is terrifying in the wrong way. And these are actors I ordinarily like.
Hanna is just a gloppy mess. Joe Wright's attempts to transcend the pulp story merely inspire incredulity. No matter how many close-ups of Cate Blanchett's bleeding gums you insert Joe, it's still a teenaged assassin flick.
At first glance, this may seem a presumptuous question. What right has anyone to try and determine the outstanding qualities that one looks for in a parish priest.
Don Camillo comes pretty close to the ideal in my book
Unfortunately, the ravages of liberalism have brought a lower calibre to many who have received the sacrament of Holy Orders.
There is now a free for all in terms of clerical dress (or non clerical dress), liturgical ad libbing, improvised practices on the sanctuary, disregard for home visits and a definite no-no on all blessings of the home, the sacrament of Penance reduced to a cosy chat in a sacristy ante room under the banner of Reconciliation (was there ever a more PC word?) and.......a suspected lack of belief in the Real Presence.
I say suspected because, I cannot prove anything in this respect, other then a long litany of examples of disrespect and even sacrilege towards the Blessed Sacrament - I do have a hazy recollection of some research carried out c. 1985 ish where parish priests were asked to fill in an anonymous questionnaire with their views on this and other topics.
I do distinctly recall the main statistic as being 48% of priests actually not believing that the bread and wine becomes the Body and Blood of Christ.
But, we are blessed today with a resurgence (albeit limited) of the faith amongst the priesthood - so, without naming any and causing embarrassment I thought it would be interesting to draw up a 'hit list' of the most desired qualities that you would wish to find in a priest. I am leaving aside the reverence factor per se, as, presumably, we would all wish for our PP to be deeply spiritual and holy in all respects.
Here is my attempt at defining the desired qualities; I have included what the dating agencies call a GSOH. The advertising agency, Saatchi and Saatchi used to place humour at the top of their employee specification list and I like that. You need humour in this life, especially if you are called to be a servant of God.
The list is not exhaustive, feel free to add any facets that you see as being vital:-
1. Orthodox - meaning a knowledge of and love of all things regarding Church doctrine and moral and social teaching.
2. Ability to communicate clearly and simply - using all of the technologies available.
3. Power of oratory - no referring to notes, ability to project the voice, hold a thread and complete in less than 6 minutes
4. Love of God by which I mean, among many things, the desire to spend at least one hour each day kneeling before a crucifix.
5. A strong sense of humour - I learnt long ago that you can say what you like to people but, for your message to have impact, you need to smile, even when on the phone.
6. Gravitas. A priest needs to know when to call a halt to a conversation or when a meeting takes the wrong route. He must tread the line that cuts between teacher and friend.
7. An overwhelming desire to save souls. That should be the prime goal of all priests.
8. A lack of fear with regard to giving evidence to the external aspects of the Faith (wearing black and white clerical garb, saying grace before meals in public and speaking out at public meetings where moral issues are debated).
9. Obedience to the Holy Father first, and the bishop second.
10. An awareness and love of tradition in terms of liturgy, vestments and procedures - no guitar Masses, no Frank Sinatra songs at funerals, no call me "Jim" tacks and definitely no standing to receive the Eucharist by hand.
And, if I was looking for a number eleven, I might choose aversion to a certain magazine as fitting the bill.
Most people will have heard by now that the much loved and admired priest, Fr Hugh Thwaites, a man who, for all of his priestly life, celebrated the Tridentine Latin Mass, is to be buried at a concelebrated Requiem Ordinary Form Mass.
That is a cruel trick; a vile and nasty attempt to wipe the eye of a dead priest.
Dare I say that it is typical of many liberal Catholic priests and laity alike.
The LMS claim that they feel certain that Fr Thwaites would have held a Society 'card' stating that the holder wishes to be buried according to the Rites of the Extraordinary Form of Mass.
That is not enough to guarantee that this will happen.
I have seen many good traditional Catholic friends, who would not have attended a Mass in the Ordinary Form if you had held a gun to their head, being assigned to the Novus Ordo after their death.
What is needed is for one's last will and testament to contain the wish to have a TLM Requiem Mass - with no deviation or exception.
That will ensure that you receive the required graces that a Latin Mass carries.
Juventutem London has a Facebook petition for Fr Thwaites (whose burial is tomorrow, I believe). NB: I have since been informed that this page has nothing to do with JL although I did receive an email from them purporting to be running a petition. It does show that Facebook cannot be trusted.
Piers Darcy also suggests emailing the Head of the Jesuit Order in England and Wales; here are the details:-
A number of you have responded to my message (below) expressing 'disquiet' about the fact that Father Thwaites' wish will be frustrated. I would suggest that you send a 'nice' message to the Jesuit Provincial at curia@gbsj.org His name is Father Dermot Preston SJ
Some years ago we used to attend Sunday Mass at Ty Mair, a chapel on the English/Welsh borders more commonly known as 'Courtfield' ancestral home of the Catholic Vaughan family.
Ty Mair, "Mary's House" at Courtfield near Ross on Wye
The then matriarch of the family, Mrs Vaughan, produced a book on the history of Courtfield and, in it she described how Vaughans of an earlier era, when returning by horse drawn carriage back to Courtfield would commence saying the Rosary just as the carriage turned off the road onto the Vaughan estate.
There would then be a one mile journey down a track to the main house itself.
Their Rosary recitation became known as 'The Rosary Mile' and they would complete the five decades just in time as they drew up outside Courtfield.
It is a good habit and one that we, as a family, adopted many years ago both on leaving on a long journey by car or, upon our return.
It gives us not only spiritual protection but also physical protection against accident and tragedy and, it's another part of the fabric of traditional Catholicism.
For some concept of the history of the Vaughans (who, of course, gave us Cardinal Vaughan) this brief extract from 1880 goes just a little way to show what a spread of vocations went through that famous family:-
"Colonel John Francis Vaughan, of Courtfield, Herefordshire, whose death is announced as having happened on Friday last at Biarritz, at the age of 72, was one of the oldest and most respected members of the English Roman Catholic body. He was the father of the Bishop of Salford and brother of the Bishop of Plymouth. The eldest son of the Late Mr William Vaughan, of Courtfield, (who was deputy lieutenant for Herefordshire), by his first marriage with Teresa, daughter of the late Mr Thomas Weld, of Lulworth Castle, Dorsetshire, he was born in the year 1808. He was a magistrate and deputy lieutenant for Monmouth and a magistrate for Herefordshire and Gloucestershire &c. Colonel Vaughan was twice married - first in 1830, to Eliza Louisa, daughter of the late Mr John Rolls, of the Hendre, Monmouthshire; and, secondly, to his cousin, Mary Charlotte, only daughter of the late Mr Joseph Weld, of Lulworth castle."
The Sun newspaper joked that while they are there, maybe those doing the clean-up job could do something about our politicians. Funny, but as the quote on the left suggests, politics is impossible to clean up until the overlords of the politicians are at least challenged on the banking system that allows debt to escalate to such a scale and for the ordinary man in the street to be lining the pockets of those who are rich beyond most people's wildest imaginations.
Readers will also be aware that I'm becoming rather worried about the amount of sheer propaganda that is pumping out of the media on a range of issues. Whether it is attacking the family and marriage, through the proposal to introduce 'gay marriage', or whether it is an incessant effort on the part of media to keep 'assisted dying' in the public spotlight and on the agenda, as someone living in Britian and as a Catholic, I feel depressed at what feels like a consistent campaign of psychological warfare on its citizens by the State.
The power of the media is immense. Immense. Belloc and Chesterton recognised it but also recognised that media ownership was concentrated, even in his day, in the hands of a few capitalists who exploit the Press for their own agendas, be they for good, or ill. In my mind what I keep coming back to is this...
Throughout the 20th century and the early part of the 21st it becomes more and more obvious that the liberal social experiment has failed so dramatically. Whatever good men thought would come from abortion law relaxation has been proved to be fatally naive. Whatever good men thought would come from a liberal attitude towards sex and sexuality, marriage and divorce, has been proved beyond doubt to be a disaster for individuals, marriage and the family. The rate of social breakdown is evident all across society and in people of all social backgrounds. The Press's constant running down of the Church and glorification of atheism has been breathtaking. Yet, while I understand that every generation of politicians is pulled from an electorate whose views shift with the changing times, it still seems to me to be quite apparent that the effect of so much bad legislation and decision-making has been a disaster for the citizens of the United Kingdom. I mean, what kind of a State actually makes plain its support for the killing of its own citizens in the womb and appears relatively open to the idea of killing them in their infirmity as well? Are we really just commodities that can be bought, sold and thrown away when our productivity 'slows'? Is that how we are viewed and if so, why? Why is our humanity not respected?
I can't shift this feeling that there is a concerted effort being made by powers within the State against us - not just Catholics - but against the people of the United Kingdom. Why would any State promote the collapse of the economic, moral, religious and social ties that bind us together?
The only answer I can arrive at in my mind at the suicidal or brutal tendency within the British State in its policies towards its own people is that actors are not working on our behalf but for the benefit of others. It is within this context that one reads about gatherings like the Bilderberg group and you hear that Government ministers and members of commerce and industry gather (with members of the media of course) annually to discuss matters. Well, what matters, we wonder? Yet, when they meet, little of these meetings are reported in the mainstream press. No minutes are produced despite the fact that we elected these men and women to serve us, not billionaire globalists who could never put our interests first. It is as if the very Fourth Estate itself is in the pockets of a group which is global in thinking - rather than local or national. You look at the behaviour of men like Tony Blair in office and then in research learn that he was at a Bilderberg meeting just a year or two before his stunning rise to power. It is as if our politicians treat being in politics like a moral vacuum where it doesn't really matter what happens at work - as long as the work gets done.
Everything seems to be about money or the acquisition of it at the expense of others. It all seems to be about the commodification of the human person. It does not help that many of the dynastic families whose interests are represented at these meetings have a history of enthusiasm for eugenics and population control. It is the very antithesis of what the Holy Father discusses in Caritas in Veritate. Nobody elected David Rockerfeller, Lord Rothschild or David de Rothschild (now swanning around the World on his eco-campaign), Bill Gates and his contraceptive implant-promoting wife. Nobody elected these people or the people who set up the UN Population Council, yet the very rich and powerful in the World seem to exercise a great deal of influence over politicians and the media - so much so, in fact, that any critical inquiry of their influence is never discussed.
We are shocked and horrified when our economies implode or crash, but all it takes is a little bit of a search on YouTube and we find that all the Western economic models involve Government borrowing from huge private banks who are able to create money out of nothing - banks to which we are then in debt to the tune of billions or even trillions.
I don't know whether I buy what people describe as 'illuminati bloodlines' because I don't think I know what the so called 'illuminati' is even as a concept. Regardless of what I think, one does get the distinct impression that we are not viewed with any great sense of sympathy by the extremely rich and powerful of this World - the opposite, in fact - we are seen as 'useless eaters' by some of them. I don't buy the idea of important bloodlines at all, but one gets the distinct impression that the rich and powerful dynastic families who apparently own our central banks do. One gets the impression that even the Royal Family as well as these dynastic families view themselves as genetically superior to the rest of the human race despite the fact that many of these families are said to interbreed.
Politicians are meant to work for us, even if they cannot bring themselves to work for God. The media are meant to inform us, not be the carriers of propaganda designed to rob us of our humanity and dignity. Yet, both of these checks on great power have gone AWOL. Politicians, whether good or corrupted are made, they are broken and they disappear, usually into commerce or industry. Journalists live and they die taking with them whatever good or ill they have done in their work. We deserve politicians who serve their people selflessly and we deserve journalists who are not agents for forces which do not have our interests at heart. Since Blair, since the expenses fiasco and since phone-tapping by News of the World, both the credibility and respect afforded to these two professions has fallen through the floor. Take this lovely clip, for instance. There is a BBC interviewer with an incredibly rich 'bankster', a Rothschild financier no less, and he's almost fawning towards him. You would think the 'left-wing' and 'anti-capitalism' BBC would be operating a poll on what method of torture would be most appropriate for City of London financiers, but no, instead the newscaster leads the financier into a discussion on whether people like the Rothschilds should be in charge of regulating the City's trading entirely. 'Yes', says the interviewee, 'and they should be well paid!' You couldn't make it up. Then, to top it all off, he leaves the room as if he owns the joint!
There is a darkness descending over the nation which speaks of the crushing of the weak by the mighty, the poor by the rich and the boot of which Orwell spoke crushing the face of both cleric and citizen underfoot. Conspiracy theorists believe that the events that we've seen down the last 100 years have not been accidental, but that much has been planned and orchestrated by unseen characters who constitute the power behind the throne. It is because these men are so rarely in the limelight and so rarely undergo any kind of public examination that they are the Untouchables, despite the feeling that the entire banking system has been used not just to bankrupt nations, but that the very rich desire not just money, but power also. Conspiracy theories are born because the Press never consider it worthwhile investigating whether these people desire power and use power and influence over Governments, or not.
Conspiracy theories are born not because the people are nuts, nor because the politicians and journalists are rats. Conspiracy theories are born when it becomes apparent that politicians do not work on our behalf and that journalists either decide not to investigate (do their job) or have doors of investigation closed off to them. Conspiracy theories are born when it becomes clear that the only people you can trust are the people working for free. We no longer trust bankers. We no longer trust politicians. We no longer trust journalists. Money, power, intrigue and corruption appears to have destroyed the credibility of all these professions. The only institution we can trust is the Church, despite the errors or sins of Her members (including my own errors and my own sins, of course!).
Perhaps we should be grateful, in a strange way, to live in an age when it feels like we can only trust in Jesus and Mary. That appears to be the singular reason why the 21st century, more than the 20th century, is the age of the conspiracy theorist. The conspiracy theorist would also say that Damian Thompson is right when he says this is the age of addiction. It is, of course, but the conspiracy theorist would just say that that was how it was planned all along, citing such institutes as the Frankfurt School and the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations. After all, didn't Huxley suggest that is how the future would be?
I was just calming down after having gone to Benediction this evening and having spent an hour before the Lord of Heaven and Earth. I shouldn't have gone back to my computer because the first advert I saw on The Daily Telegraph site was an ad for a website called Bullion Vault. For those wishing to invest in gold, there is a video below. Naturally, I looked up Bullion Vault on Wikipedia. Guess who owns it? Go on...can you guess?No wonder the price of gold is so high!Looks like that's the gold market cornered, despite the fact that Lord Rothschild claims to be'getting out of gold'.
If anyone wishes to 'open an account' with Lord Rothschild at Bullion Vault, I'm sure some speculator out there will be able to tell you whether now is a good time to buy gold, or not.
The capitalist Press rely on the exceedingly rich and powerful for advertising and perhaps ownership too, so no investigation of them is ever done since to do so would be a huge conflict of interest.Only the Free Press can do that.If that is the case, however, why even bother being a paid journalist?
Boy, that company is big! The biggest employer on the stock market with a truly 'Global Presence'! And in charge of getting the mentally and physically ill off benefit and into work in Brighton too! Just to think some of my friends could end up manning the security at US nuclear facilities or perhaps in maritime operations battling pirates over the seas! The opportunities for travel are endless! Better watch out for those nuns, mind! So, the Rothschilds own the central banks, the vaults, the diamonds and the gold? No wonder 'conspiracy theorists' think they own the politicians and the Press as well.
Hmm...I wonder who owns the majority stake in G4S? I'll check on Reuters, which is apparently owned by the Rothschilds as well. Well, whoever owns it, Lord Rothschild, I'd like to dedicate this song to you, because your commodities need it! Hmm...maybe I do too...No wonder this guy gives financial advice to the Queen. He must be totally minted, if you'll excuse the pun. We only ever hear good things of these dynastic families. They are such benevolent 'philanthropists'. Come to Brighton, Lord Rothschild, and see a society fragmenting deep and wide, drug and alcohol addiction rife, the shops and even high street banks and employment agencies closing down. You must know Brighton, Lord Rothschild, since one of your family is mentioned at the beginning of Brighton Rock...
In the great and massive Diocese of Brentwood they have just one Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary Form - and that's at 4pm on a Sunday!
There have been more sightings of the now infamous "Essex Lion" than there have of a Latin Mass; pity those poor Brentwoodians who know little or nothing of the Motu Proprio, or the fact that the Holy Father wishes for guitars and similar instruments of the street to be cast out into the street or that he wishes for the Faithful to kneel and receive the Body and Blood of Christ by mouth.
Just for the record, Brentwood has 131 parishes and Mass Centres. One out of one hundred and thirty one is pretty dire. I would have sacked any staff member who showed a similar lack of achievement.
The Waterfront is over there. It's only a matter of going.
I've spent the past week trying to cobble together information about Lawrence of Arabia's October 4th re-release. Thanks to user Bob on the AMC Theaters community page, I've finally found definite information.
Fathom Events' page on Lawrence can be read here. Sadly it's only a one-day event, but there are other perks, including a filmed intro from Omar Sharif, several vintage featurettes, a Martin Scorsese tribute and an intermission! Be still my beating heart.
Not sure if Lawrence will play near you? Here is a complete list of participating theaters.
Thankfully, the AMC theater in Homestead will be showing it, which means I'll be seeing it! I might even be able to drag my friends along. The real question is: can Groggy survive the next five weeks without exploding?
Provisional wallpaper/banner/t-shirt design. Yes, Groggy's a nerd.
Noon – Angelus and Solemn Mass at the National Shrine
2:30pm – Holy Mile and Rosary Procession to the Anglican Shrine.
3:15pm – Sprinkling at the Anglican Shrine
Pilgrims are invited to bring a picnic lunch.
This pilgrimage will be led by Monsignor Keith Newton.
I have two questions. One, what are they doing at the Anglican Shrine?
And two, what is sprinkling? Do they mean "Asperges"?
I trust that it does not have a sinister meaning (?) and, I do not wish to pour water (aherm) on this pilgrimage but it would be good to have a clarification of sorts.
The nub of what I am trying very clumsily to say is that, if the Ordinariate members have converted to the Catholic Faith shouldn't Anglican language and customs be ditched in favour of Catholic ones?
"It was all going so well....and then Catholic bloggers came along"
Unborn children are slaughtered out of hand, men "marry" men and women "marry" women whilst supposedly good Catholics in the public eye (and out of it) reject the teachings of Holy Mother Church to further their political ends.
Priests and Bishops trip over themselves to give witness at the altar of political correctness and climate warming and the guidance of the Holy Father is scorned and ignored by many who should know better.
The devil is having a field day and must have taken up golf having so much free time on his hooves.
The world is going to hell in a handcart (whatever that may mean) and Satan is considering early retirement, job done!
But....not just yet, Sonny Jim, there are a few actions that we can take that will ensure that the fightback will commence in earnest.
Just ten simple steps and you reduce Satan to a quivering blob of iniquity; here they are:-
1. Say the Rosary - daily
2. Renew your baptismal vows every week before Mass*
3. Say the St Michael prayer daily
4. Make a daily penance, just a simple act, nothing along the flagellation lines
5. Buy your parish priest a copy of the CTS 'Manual of Minor Exorcisms'
6. Abstain from buying/reading The Tablet/Cath News/National Catholic Fishwrap
7. Pray for the Holy Father
8. Keep a font of holy water in your home
9. Display a crucifix in your home
10. Pray for those who, in their last days on earth, fear death so much that they reject the Last Rites of Holy Mother Church
I know, of course, that there is a "Speak like a Pirate" day, every September 19th and, no, you will not get me falling into piratespeak, oh no me hearties no ye won't!
"Sit iecundus tibi dies"
So, it seems very logical that we Catholics should indulge ourselves in a "Speak like a Roman" day - quid?
Now let me quickly explain, I am not a Latin scholar, I have forgotten what little Latin I did learn (but I can say the responses at Mass faster and more fluently in Latin than I can in English).
So, please disregard my following attempts.....
Loquerisne Latine?
Hic tibi placuitne?
Mea lingua latine est mala
Nauseo!
Opus est mihi medico!..........................Valete!................................Vobis pluramas gratias ago
Or, maybe we should stick to "Introibo ad altare Dei...."
Fr Bede Rowe is keeping all of us up to date (by the minute almost) as the pilgrims wend their way, via few good pubs, by all accounts, to give honour to Our Blessed Mother at the Walsingham Shrine.
It seems only fitting to pray for those on the pilgrimage and to give them this hymn to send them on their way.
EF Pastor Emeritus left a recent comment regarding the excellent Catholic Truth Society and, in particular, their book entitled 'A Manual of Minor Exorcisms'.
This, according to the good Father, is something no priest should be without...and I am certain he is right.
Mind you...I'm a bit uncertain as to what constitutes a minor exorcism; all exorcisms seem to me to be fairly major things but perhaps I am being influenced by The Omen and other films of that genre.
The CTS website is well worth a visit, you may view it HERE.
And you might like to buy a copy of this reasonably priced book as a gift for your Parish Priest; if he already has one he can give it to a seminarian.
Gentle Jesus, grant him eternal rest. May the soul of Tony Nicklinson rest in peace.
I've read, in my time, a few good pieces by Peter Stanford, in various publications. This should hardly be surprising given that Peter is a former editor of The Catholic Herald.
I have to say, however, that his latest piece for The Telegraph is a bit of a let down for a Catholic reader. Sensitively and with a great deal of human compassion, Peter describes the anguish and plight of the now deceased Tony Nicklinson. The good thing about the article is that Peter conveys empathy with a man who suffered a great deal and who felt trapped by his condition. It should be hard for a Catholic to be unmoved by human suffering. Another good thing that he conveys is that a Catholic man visited him, fulfilling what Our Lord asked of us to visit the sick.
The bad thing is that Peter goes on to say that the plight of Tony Nicklinson 'converted' him to coming around to the idea that assisted suicide should be made an option for those who see no way out of their condition but death itself. To say this is a considerable own goal on behalf of someone who in writing as a Catholic surely represents, albeit as a layman, the Mystical Body of Christ to the rest of the English-reading World.
It goes without saying that with Mr Nicklinson's body not yet cold, elements both in politics and media are already saying that there should be a 'Nicklinson's Law' recognising the 'right to die'. Lord Joffe, who has previously tried to introduce assisted dying legislation has already made political capital out of Nicklinson's death, saying that the locked-in sufferer's death should pave the way to a change in the law.The Times, covering Mr Nicklinson's death, suggested, outrageously, that 'pro-lifers' were among those 'prolonguing' Mr Nicklinson's suffering, when, in fact, 'pro-lifers' only insist that the law should not be changed because it is there to protect the vulnerable - indeed, to protect all.
Unhelpfully, Peter frames the debate around his Catholicism and therefore frames assisted suicide as a religious debate when it is not. It is a political debate - for it is Parliament that would have to change the law - which centres on the wisdom or lackthereof of granting to the State the power to kill its own citizens. Unhelpfully, too, Peter describes the Church as 'my Church', but perhaps it was just a rushed piece. It wouldn't be the first time that a Catholic in public life has claimed ownership of the Ark of Truth despite the fact that it was Christ who said, 'Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church.'
It is perhaps true that the life and death of Mr Nicklinson, who was so determined in what became a very public campaign for personal autonomy over his life and death, does not present Catholic writers with an easy opportunity to defend the Church's teaching. In the face of such suffering and pleas for the 'right to die' it is quite easy for the Church and those who support the teaching to be painted as cruel and indifferent towards suffering. What needs to be said, however, is that despite all the pain and the suffering of individuals, the law is there as it stands to protect individuals from other individuals who are cruel and who are indifferent to human life.
We have seen how nurses can become so indifferent to human life that they neglect to change the dirty sheets of their patients or attend to even their most basic needs. We have seen that doctors, despite their oaths to protect life, can become so indifferent to human life that they trade in their hippocratic oaths in order to devote their entire life to killing the unborn just because they are girls. We have warnings from history in the Nazis and the other regimes for whom human life meant absolutely nothing and for whom a cold eugenic mentality became a way of life. We have warnings in British history from such doctors as Dr Harold Shipman. How much more easily he would have slipped through the profession unnoticed were there a relaxation of the law!
We know that there are forces both within and without the State who, far from empathising with human suffering, view the elderly, the sick and the poor as an economic burden on society. Peter, as a Catholic, should understand and be able to communicate that despite the fallen and suffering state of the World due to Original Sin, Saints and Blesseds like Mother Teresa recognised in the suffering of their brothers and sisters the Victim Who suffered and died for mankind. Peter, as a Catholic, should be able to communicate that, because of Original Sin, human nature, too, is flawed and the temptations presented to family and relatives of those suffering could lead these same people to encourage someone to die in order to gain their property or wealth, or simply desire to end the life of someone they have come to view as a burden, or simply because they can't bare to see their loved one suffer. It is grossly naive to think that no family member or relative or doctor would abuse the relaxation of the law in order to advance purely financial or economic motives, either personally in the case of family or for the State, in terms of doctors.
Why is it, too, that so few public Catholics come forward to say that, as far as Catholics are concerned, Death is only an improvement on a condition of suffering if a person goes to Heaven. For all their 'rational' bluster, atheists have zero evidence that Hell or Purgatory do not exist. The quality of life in Purgatory is apparently not that great and in Hell the suffering and torments of the damned are worse than anything in this life and they are both intolerable and eternal.
These are just some of the objections that Catholics and others have to assisted suicide and the majority of these objections are also shared by many people who are not religious. That a Catholic should publicly declare his 'conversion' to the assisted suicide cause because he met a man suffering who wanted to die is worrying not just because he displays ignorance of 'his' Church, and not only because his audience is wide when he announces that he is losing his religion, but because on focusing on how one man changed his mind, he forgets entirely the others who are at grave risk of being exterminated having been made to feel like they should be exterminated in the future because 'nobody likes to be a burden' and everyone fears the day when their 'quality of life' may drop to a degree that is almost intolerable. What would emerge would be a society that does not tolerate weakness at all.
Of course, those working in the media and politics who support assisted dying as an answer to economic crises, or who generally despise our humanity, want us to concentrate on the 'hard cases' so that we do forget not only the general principle underlying the law, but everyone else who would be affected by a potential change in that law.
Pray for the repose of the soul of Tony Nicklinson and for his bereaved family. Pray, too, for Peter Stanford, that he may 'recover' like his patron did, after he denied his Saviour thrice.
Thanks to a good priest friend and following my post of yesterday, I have been pointed in the direction of Rome.
Of course, where else would one look for guidance?
I only hope that those movers and shakers in the Vatican who are helping the Holy Father in his plans for breathing the flame of the Holy Ghost into those of the Faithful who might be better described as the "Faithless" also look to this same source, right on their doorstep so to speak.
A certain Monsignor Raffaello Martinelli, Rector of the International Ecclesiastical College, San Carlo and Primicerio of the Basilica of SS Ambrogio il Carlo al Corso, set about re-educating the great unwashed.
His method was to produce concise leaflets, roughly A5 in size and covering key elements regarding Catholic Doctrine and Social Teaching.
These leaflets he left at the back of the Basilica and, within two years, he found that he had distributed over 2 million of them. Two million leaflets! What an achievement!
Now, just think...these leaflets are all online.......all within reach of every parish priest AND every member of the Church (we are all bound to be teachers of the Faith are we not?)
And here is one of his leaflets on the subject of the devil - of course, these would need some trimming on the translation front as, at present, they are Google translations:-
What power does the devil have over us?
In the First Letter of John we read: "The whole world lies in the power of the evil one" ( Jn 5:19). Saint Paul speaks of our battle against spiritual powers (cf. Eph 6:10-17). It 'also because of his sin and its consequences (disease, suffering, cataclysms, and especially death) entered the world.
The devil generally acts through temptation and deception, he is a liar, "father of lies" ( Jn 8:44). He can deceive, mislead, or deceive. As Jesus is the Truth (cf. Jn 8, 44), so the devil is the liar par excellence. The French writer Charles Baudelaire said that the most perfect cunning of Satan is to persuade us that does not exist.
The devil has great power of seduction:
seduced Adam and Eve, of all the works done by the devil "the most serious in its consequences was the mendacious seduction that led man to disobey God" ( CCC , 394);
tried to seduce Christ directly (cf. Lk 4:1-13) or using Peter (cf. Mt 16:23);
tries to seduce the disciples of Christ. The strategy followed to achieve this is to convince the man that a life lived in disobedience to God's will is better than living in obedience. Deceives the people persuading them that they do not need God and are self-sufficient, without the need of Grace and Salvation. Even deceives men falling, even by removing the sense of sin.
"The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that it is pure spirit, but still a creature can not prevent the building up of the Kingdom of God "( CCC , 395).
His action, in addition to being limited, "is permitted by divine providence, which guides the history of man and of the world with strength and gentleness. Providence should permit diabolical activity is a great mystery, but "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God" ( Rom 8:28) "( CCC , 395).
Because God "allows" Satan to "harass" the man?
Life on earth is a time of trial, during which God allows the devil to groped and 'test' the man, but never beyond his strength. But we know by faith that God is able to bring this evil a greater good because, by his grace, my heart goes out purified by the test and faith becomes stronger.
How Jesus acts with demons?
He first speaks frequently of the devil (see eg. Mt 4:10; Mk 4:15; Lk 10:18; Jn 8:44).
He also acts against the devil:
see the temptation of Jesus in the desert, he reacts strongly (cf. Lk 4:1-13). "The temptation in the desert shows Jesus, the humble Messiah, who triumphs over Satan by his total adherence to the plan of salvation willed by the Father" ( CCC , 566);
in the Gospel of St. Luke, we read that Jesus commands the demons, who recognize him as the Son of God (cf. Lk 4.41, 8.28 ...);
between the miracles that Jesus performed, there is liberation of diabolical possessions (cf. Mk 1.25 to 26, 5.2 to 20): realizing such healings, he "took our infirmities and bore our diseases" ( Mt 8:17);
several times the Evangelists tell us that Jesus practice various exorcisms , by which free people from the torment of the demons, thus anticipating the great victory that he will implement the prince of this world (cf.Mk 1.25 to 26), with his death and resurrection;
Jesus preached the coming of the kingdom of God, which is the defeat of Satan's kingdom: "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God has come upon you the kingdom of God" ( Mt 12:28);
devolves power to cast out demons even to his apostles (cf. Mk 3:15; 6,7.13; 16:17);
wins the whole world of evil with His death and resurrection. Jesus Christ defeated Satan and has definitely broken the rule of the evil spirit (cf. Col 2: 15; Eph 1, 21, Rev 12, 7-12), he is "the stronger one" who won "the strong" ( cf. Lk 11, 22). "Trust - says the Lord - I have overcome the world" ( Jn 16, 33);
when, after his death, descended into hell , Jesus reduced "impotence, through death, he who has the power of death, that is, the devil" ( Heb. 2:14).
How do you win the devil?
In many ways, complementary
First with a genuine life of faith, characterized by trusting abandonment to the fatherly love and providence of God (cf. Lk 12, 22-31), and obedience to his will (cf. Mt 6, 10), in imitation of Christ the Lord. This is the safest shield.The most beautiful victory over Satan is the ongoing conversion of our life, which has its own special and continued implementation of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, by which God frees us from sins committed after our baptism, he gifts us his friendship , and confirmed with us the grace to withstand the assaults of the devil.
With a permanent vigilance "Watch. Because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking someone to devour "( 1 Peter 5:8).
Welcoming and witnessing, increasingly, by word and deed, the Gospel. This requires a full and courageous announcement of the Gospel: we must not be afraid to speak of the devil, and especially the victory that Christ has already reported on it and continues to bring in the person of his faithful.
Struggling against her seductions and temptations. "The whole history of man is in fact pervaded by a monumental struggle against the powers of darkness fight started from the beginning of the world and will continue, as the Lord says, until the last day. In this conflict, the man has to struggle continuously to be allied to goodness, nor can he achieve his own integrity without great effort, with the help of God's grace "( Second Vatican Council , Gaudium et Spes , 37, 2).
Fleeing to avoid sin, which "is an offense against God:" Against you, you only, have I sinned. What is evil in your sight I have done "( Ps. 51.6). Sin sets itself against God's love for us and our hearts away from him. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become "like God" ( Gen 3:5), knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus love of oneself even to contempt of God "( CCC , 1850).
Using discernment. "The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, necessary for the growth of the inner man with a view to "perseverance," and the temptation that leads to sin and death. We also need to distinguish between "being tempted" and "allow" the temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears is "good, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable" ( Gen 3:6), while in reality its fruit is death "( CCC , 2847).
Praying. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" ( Rom 8:31). The same Lord, the prayer of the Our Father taught us to pray to God the Father: 'Deliver us from evil. " "Ask to be delivered from evil, we pray as well to be freed from all evils, past, present and future, of which he (the devil) is the author or instigator. In this petition, the Church brings before the Father all the misery in the world. Along with deliverance from the evils that overwhelm humanity, she implores the precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance in Christ's return.Praying thus, anticipates in humility of faith the gathering together of everyone and everything in him who has "the keys of Death and Hades" ( Rev 1:18), "who is and who was and who is coming, the ' Almighty "( Rev 1:8) "(CCC , 2854).
Sometimes even resorting to exorcism.
What is an exorcism?
Exorcism is an ancient and particular form of prayer which the Church uses against the power of the devil.
Is called an exorcism "When the Church asks with his authority, in the name of Jesus, that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion" ( CCC 1673).
It is "a kind of sacrament prayer" ( Rite of Exorcisms , Praenotanda , 11). The sacramental "are sacred signs instituted by the Church, by which sanctify different circumstances of life. They include a prayer accompanied by the sign of the cross and other signs "( Compendium of the CCC , 351). Among the sacramentals which occupy an important place blessings (of persons, meals, objects, places), the consecration of persons, the dedication of things to the worship of God, the blessing of holy oils, exorcisms.
In what forms is practiced exorcism?
In two forms: simple and solemn.
The simple form is one in which ordinary exorcism is performed at the celebration of Baptism. "Since Baptism signifies liberation from sin and from its instigator the devil, are pronounced one (or more) exorcism (i) the candidate. These are anointed with the oil of catechumens, or the celebrant imposes upon him the hand, and he explicitly renounces Satan. Thus prepared, he may profess the faith of the Church which will be "delivered" by Baptism "( CCC , 1237).
"The solemn exorcism, called a major exorcism can be performed only by a priest and with the permission of the bishop. In what must proceed with prudence, strictly observing the rules established by the Church (cf. Canon Law, can. 1172). Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church. Very different is the case of illness, especially mental, whose care falls within the scope of medical science. It is therefore important to ensure, before an exorcism is performed, which is dealing with the presence of evil, not a disease "( CCC , 1673).
What other features does the solemn exorcism?
"The exorcism should take place in an atmosphere of faith and humble and trustful prayer, so as to avoid any impression of effectiveness automatic: the liberation from the influence is evil if and when God wants. If, as indicated in 35 of the Preamble, are some of the faithful, they are encouraged to pray intensely in accordance with Rite.
Despite the confidence with which it is usually celebrated the rite of exorcism is not a private matter, but an event that involves the whole community. The Exorcist is in fact a member of the community, acting in the name of Christ and in the name of the Church, has a specific ministry. Even the faithful asking for exorcism is a member of the community, one of those members of the community must love of a preferential love: when it is in the power of the Evil One, in fact, he is the poorest of the poor, in need of help, understanding and consolation "( Rite of Exorcisms , Presentation CEI , nn. 13, 16).
Every act of exorcism is yes prayer for the release of the person possessed by the devil, but at the same time is the announcement:
the Kingdom of God and of Christ, who takes upon himself our infirmities, and that, as the only liberator and savior, delivers us from evil;
of total liberation (spiritual and physical) and mediated (through the Church) by the influence evil;
of the eschatological reality: a sign heralding the final victory of Christ over Satan, illness, death.
How do you become exorcists?
The Exorcist (a term related to the greek verb exorkízein = ward) is a man of prayer, acting on behalf of the Church with the power of the Holy Spirit. A ministry that is God's gift, conferred by the bishop exclusively to priests in the diocese, and thus they exercised through the Church. Piety, knowledge, integrity of life, balance, discernment, theological and spiritual experience, listening skills are the essential requirements for a ministry that is also a path to holiness particular it leads to direct confrontation with the devil. In particular, the exorcist prudence is required to detect the presence of the evil one, and to observe the rules laid down by the Church.
The ministry of the exorcist, as well as liberation, it is also a ministry of consolation.
How to recognize a demonic possession?
Certainly. In fact:
"The extraordinary diabolical phenomena of possession, obsession, of harassment and infestation are possible, but in fact, according to experts, are rare" ( Rite of Exorcisms , Presentation CEI , 7).
The ritual of exorcism noted several criteria and clues that allow you to arrive with prudent certainty, the conviction that we are faced with a demonic possession. It is then that the exorcist authorized can perform the solemn rite of exorcism.
Some of these criteria are:
speak with the tongues of many words or understand;
disclose distant or hidden things;
prove forces beyond their condition;
vehement aversion to God, the Virgin Mary, the Saints, the Cross and the sacred images.
There are prayers to be recited in minor cases of influence of the devil?
Certainly. In the Rite of Exorcisms are also:
prayers to be recited publicly by a priest, with the permission of the bishop, when judging wisely that there is an influence of Satan on places, objects or people, but without reaching the stage of a real possession;
a collection of prayers to be recited privately by the faithful, when they suspect with the merits of being subject to evil influences (cf. . rite of exorcism , Appendix II, Prayers of the faithful for private use ).
What other tips gives the Church in regard to the influence of the evil one?
Here are a few:
"Do not search for the sensational and avoid both foolish credulity that sees evil actions in each event and difficulties, and rationalism bias that excludes any form of intervention of the evil in the world;
be on guard against books, television programs, information media, which for profit exploit the widespread interest in unusual phenomena or unhealthy;
never use those who practice magic or profess to holders of occult powers or mediumistic or presume to have received special powers. When in doubt about the presence of an evil influence is necessary to apply first of all to the discernment of the priests and exorcists support of grace offered by the Church especially in the sacraments;
know the true meaning of the language used by the Sacred Scripture and Tradition and develop a proper attitude about the presence and action of Satan in the world;
remember that superstition, magic and, a fortiori, Satanism are contrary to human dignity and rationality and faith in God the Father Almighty and in Christ Jesus our Savior "( Rite of Exorcisms , Presentation CEI , 8).
Of course, this is a little more than my friend MC was suggesting; we are now getting on to CTS territory but to think that this resource is there just at a few clicks of the keyboard........
