If This Man is Not Irritating Then Why Does He Have This ASBO?

I've asked The Argus this question - no answer.

They say that Bishop Kieran Conry does not read the blogs of his priests. Perhaps he should read the blogs of his laity.

This man, Jason Evans, has been sent by God to test the love, patience and and holiness of Christians. If you don't believe that aspect of Christianity, because you are an unbeliever, or a Protestant, read the letter of St James about 'faith and works'.

Jason Evans has been sent to test my holiness, or, perhaps as a better explanation of what holiness is, to test whether my faith is real and sincere - whether I love God and my neighbour or whether I do not. I do not always pass this test. In fact, I regularly fail it. I've sworn at him, told him to go away, get out of my life, thrown him away from my door and the rest. I'm a sinner who falls short of the glory of God.

Every now and then God will send him to me at 2am in the morning to shout "I'm cold" up at my window. Sometimes I respond and at such time I win merit, at other times, to my shame, I do not. Sometimes I do that which I should and sometimes I see the good that I should do and do not do it.

"Exhibit A, your honour - so incredibly irritating!"

Please note, Mr Gardner: Jason was on this occasion thrown out of St Bartholomew's not because he was quietly saying the Rosary, but because he was going around irritating people in the Church. I know this because I asked people in the Church after I did the interview. After setting his own head on fire in this Church while lighting a candle for a dead friend, I believe he was banned from this Church. Because of his unruly behaviour and manner, the Church of Christ the King do not allow him in to their meals on a Monday evening, instead giving him some food at the door. Despite disturbing St Mary Magdalen's sacred liturgy on several occasions, he is still allowed in the Catholic Church of which Fr Ray Blake is parish priest.

This man has also been sent by God to chastise Brighton, since it revels in vice, hedonism and immorality, He sends a poor little one who does the same as other Brighton hedonists who are protected by their wealth, to show Brighton the natural result when this lifestyle is embraced and to reveal the double-standards and hypocrisy of the wicked, since when the rich embrace a life of vice and endless pleasure for its own sake, they are lauded, but when the poor man does the same he is crucified, mocked, derided and cast out by the wicked. All the while his cause is with the Lord, Who is Just as He is merciful, whereas the lot of the wicked is destruction.

None of this alters the fact that he is an irritating little ******d. You don't get an ASBO like this without being so.

And yet, despite this, Jason Evans has never trashed the reputation of those who help him, love him, provide for him, shelter him, clothe him, feed him and give him money, often against their better instincts. Defamation, slander, malice, wicked speech are all far from him. He makes his money from begging, not ruining the reputations of others! Messy, lying little irritating little ******d. Anyway, enough about Bill Gardner!

Mr Gardner: Enjoy your success while you have it - it may not last too long.

Only unscrupulous journalists take pleasure in malicious slander, gossip and defamation of the character of those who take pity on the poor. Only unscrupulous journalists will write any destructive, sensationalist rubbish in order to denigrate the reputation of others while making a fast buck, in the vain and ambitious hope it might get them into a daily national newspaper. Mr Gardner's ruthless ambition, slackness in getting the full story and his lack of journalistic integrity, which should always be grounded in getting to the truth of a matter will not go in his favour.

Sadly for him, when the dust settles on this, and national newspaper editors look up Bill Gardner on Google, they'll see my blog and a host of others detailing why his brand is now, or should be, toxic. The cause of the just is with the Lord, Who never fails them, Who has the power to turn even the evil that happens to their good. Even bad journalists are sent to try us.

The wicked are ruined by their own sin. What they prized and treasured becomes their downfall. The just man is remembered for the good and charity he has done. The wicked are blotted out from the memory of men, their names forgotten, their treacherous words and deeds going with them to the grave, and having found no rest in this life in their insatiable pursuit of money, power and worldly gain, so too, in the life to come there is no rest, for there can be no rest for the wicked. Their arrows and attacks on the just come to naught, they are confounded, for the cause of the just man is with the Lord, whereas theirs is not, since they never thought to call upon Him.

Do not give up, Fr Blake. Keep hope and trust for your cause is with the Lord. Jason isn't allowed within 5 yards of a cash point. Bill Gardner failed to mention that, perhaps not knowing of whom you were talking. Bill Gardner shouldn't be allowed within 5 yards of a newspaper - local or national! As a journalist he failed abysmally because he didn't want the full story - just a bit of juicy, sensationalist soundbite that he could spin around in order to make you look bad or uncaring or un-Christian. He has no love for the truth - an unhelpful habit if one really wants to be a serious journalist.

A few years ago, Jason stole an engagement ring from my car when I allowed him to sleep there for a while. He pawned it and sold it for smack having discovered it in the glove compartment. Thieving little ******d. He denied it at first but came clean in the end. I'm still thinking about who to have as best man at my wedding to my fiancee next Spring...I think I've made my choice.

He lost his brother at Hillsborough.

At least...That's what he told me.

Bill Gardner.

Enjoy your success while you have it.

It will not last for long.

The Argus Editorial Team on 'Automatic Reply' Mode

How The Argus deals with letters to the editor...professional, eh?

I've just received a reply from The Argus from Lucy Pearce, Assistant News Editor. It is the exactly same as that received by other readers who have sent the reply they received to my inbox. It appears The Argus are on auto-reply, failing to address any of the issues I actually addressed in my letter or those addressed by others in their letters, instead, justifying to themselves and others why they went ahead with the hit-piece.

They're obviously afraid to address the points made by those writing in complaint (and there will be plenty of them) and have a universal reply to all the inaccuracies, misrepresentations and accusations present in their article because the truth of their hatchet job is so obvious to them, there is 'one reply for all'.

Amateurs.

I'd send Jason and his friends round to The Argus to confront Bill Gardner with my video camera to record the conversation, but I think one of his friends might have stolen it off me while he was giving me a hug last night. He said he needed a hug. Funny. I had it on me when I was with them last night, but suddenly it disappeared. By the time I got home it was gone. Today they all ended up denied any knowledge of having seen it. One of them, the one who hugged me said that he knows where it is, and he can get it back to me if I gave him forty quid. I called him a joker and then he suddenly realised he thought I was talking about a mobile phone.

Perhaps its fallen down the back of the sofa or something because they are honest, salt of the earth poor incapable of telling lies. Oh and my fags. I had them on me when I left them this evening. They seem to have disappeared from my pocket as well tonight. I guess they must have fallen down the back of the sofa too.

You think I'm joking? Nope!

As if to illustrate Fr Ray Blake's point: The poor, eh? Innocent, cuddly and upright the lot of 'em! Lord, bless 'em!

I've got St Anthony of Padua on the case, so I'll let you know if he finds my camera for me. I'll check in Cash Converters over the next few days.

Unlike the Local Authority, At St Mary Magdalen's We Treasure and Love Our Irritating Little B******

It wasn't the Church or Fr Ray Blake that ordered a stringent ASBO on this man, banning him from central Brighton and anywhere he may 'upset the tourists' or the shoppers and consumers of this  'diverse' city, where all but the poor are welcomed with open arms. This man is so irritating, so drunk, so regularly off his nut and so very intrusive in his beggging techniques, that he is not allowed in vast areas of Brighton itself. At St Mary Magdalen's Church, however, he is welcomed, often against our own interests and the safeguarding of the dignity of the Sacred Liturgy,

It wasn't the Church or Fr Ray Blake that evicts him, regularly, from homeless hostels. It wasn't the Church or Fr Ray Blake that hounds him from pillar to post, who sees him as a 'problem to be solved' by punishment or draconian action, monitoring him, inhibiting his movement, freedom, rights and dignity. No. That will be the local authorities - that will be the Council, the Probation service, the Social Services, Alcohol and Substance Misuse Services and Mental Health Services (exactly where are they when you actually need them!?) and all those charged with a statutory duty of care for someone classed as a 'vulnerable person'! Does Fr Ray ban him from his parish Church? No. Who bans him from the streets of inner Brighton? The loving arms of the State, at a local level, of course! Who wants him out of Brighton? The Council, the rich, the powerful!

Bill Gardner, sir, and all you lousy daily national journalists, who thought it might be fun to bring down the reputation of a good and holy priest by taking out of context his thoughts on the duties Christians have to the poor, I challenge you to spend ten minutes with this man and not feel in any way 'irritated' and to think or say anything that does not offend holy charity. I've tried it a million times. I am convinced it is impossible to all but God. I challenge you to get the real story here - how one man survives each winter - against all the odds, when the local authority abandons him to the rain, cold, sleet and snow. How one man keeps going despite his many setbacks in life, despite his horrific childhood, despite his addictions to drugs and alcohol, despite being beaten up regularly on the streets by other homeless people. There's a story. The man is a living story, an embodiment of the Gospel message to us, and a challenge to all of us, Christian or not, to respond with love, 'tough love' perhaps, but love nonetheless, to a poor man rejected by nearly all in society but the Catholic Church (He's not allowed in CCK you know - those 'welcoming' Protestant evangelicals) and those who adhere to Her teachings on the love of Christ served in the poor.

After this interview, I asked this man whether he thought that, at times, he could be described as 'irritating'.

He agreed.

Pray for the public vindication of Fr Ray Blake against the malicious slander that has been sent in his direction, not merely in the local pathetic excuse for a newspaper, but now in the national daily press as well. Of course, just because this man is, as virtually all of Brighton knows, an irritating little ******d, does not mean we do not care for him, treasure him, love him, cloth him, feed him and give him some loose change when we have it because these are actions of love. This is what Jesus tells us to do.

Pray too for Jason. He says that he is only evicted for a night or two. Of course, the Council's hostel have said that before...

Open Letter to the Editor of The Argus

Dear Mr Beard

I was astonished to read on The Argus website the disgusting hit-piece written by Bill Gardner on Fr Ray Blake parish priest of St Mary Magdalen Church.

I have been a parishioner at this church for ten years and in all that time, Fr Blake has been nothing but kind to the poor and homeless of Brighton and Hove.

His original blogpost on which he discussed the poor and the Church was, I thought, excellent. Why, then, was it that Bill Gardner neglected to link to it in his article for The Argus?

In fact, the man who Fr Blake spoke of as someone who, if unrestrained, would indeed take a hat out and do a collection is known to me and I can vouch that he is indeed difficult to cope with. Despite my asking him to desist, he calls at my window at midnight, disturbing me and my neighbours.

He has disturbed Mass several times (a very serious sin in the Catholic Church known as sacrilege) and I believe he has been banned from St Bartholomew's Church, London Road for disturbing their services.

The fact remains, however, that though this person is both irritating and 'messy', that he is still welcomed at St Mary Magdalen Church and finds kindness among its parishioners, as do the homeless and poor of Brighton.

It is also true that while he is given sanctuary at the Church, that he is actually banned from 44 streets in Brighton since he was given a never-ending ASBO. So, in fact, he finds a welcome at the Church whereas he is rejected by the local authorities and the vast majority of Brighton people. The Church offers him charity - a charity which is seldom to be found in the Council, the Police, the probation services and the Courts.

Fr Blake also helps other poor and homeless people who come to his door. They are not all honest and some do indeed lie in order to get money. I know this is true because I am the secretary at the Church and often respond to callers and give from the poor fund established by the Church for their relief. Despite this, if you read his post, it was about how Christians should respond to the poor, not an attack on the poor themselves.

I would like to see The Argus print an apology on their destructive and slanderous piece of journalism and to see Bill Gardner, especially, make a formal apology to my parish priest in the newspaper, since he clearly does not know what he is talking about. He has taken comments made by Fr Blake out of context and not even linked to his original post in order for people to make up their own minds. This I would like to see because The Argus have denigrated the character of a good man who is only kind to the poor of Brighton and Hove, who established one of the two soup runs in the region (no soup runs provided by the Council, you'll notice) in order to feed them and who has to deal with the homeless who come to his door on a daily basis.

This denigration of the character of Fr Blake has now made it into the headlines of the national press, despite the fact that the priest has said nothing wrong and done nothing wrong. He was writing as someone who has to greet the homeless who come to his door every day and night and who even allows a man (an irritating little ********!) who committed sacrilege in his Church to come to Mass and disturb the prayers of his Church while Mass is taking place. By rights, he should have been forcibly removed and forbidden to re-enter as he has been from an Anglican Church, St Bartholomews, since he accidentally set his own head on fire last Christmas while lighting a candle.

I have responded to Bill Gardner's piece here at the link below.

http://thatthebonesyouhavecrushedmaythrill.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/support-fr-ray-blake.html

I think that he should read it and accept that he is in the wrong. He should also try to restore the damaged reputation of Fr Blake, who has done nothing but good for the homeless of Brighton and was only openly discussing how Christians should respond. If he cannot bring himself to do this, then the least he can do is link to Fr Blake's original post - something he notably failed to do in his article - thereby distorting Fr Ray's message and thoughts on the subject of the poor and the Church.

Yours sincerely

Laurence England
Parishioner of St Mary Magdalen Church, Brighton

UPDATE: 

I have just heard that the individual who disturbs Mass has just been evicted, once again, from his hostel in St James's Street, Kemptown, Brighton, so I guess it is not just the parish priest of St Mary Magdalen who finds him irritating and it is not just him who believes he disturbs the peace of those around him. It would appear the homeless hostel funded by Brighton and Hove City Council agree with him.

This morning I wrote a post on the poor......

....and how Fr Blake has been so scandalously treated by a stringer on his local rag, The Argus.

But, it seems that the Catholic blogging world and his friend have leapt to the defence of the good priest.

So, I have deleted my post because it was not as good as anybody else's and there is nothing worse than poor repetition.

But, you might be interested to know about the Argus.

The Argus is, (as any fule kno) a monster with one hundred eyes whose main task in life appeared to be to guard the white heifer.

Pray for Fr Blake who has this monster to contend with

Hermes did a good job by polishing him off with a stone.

This, story, of course, leads to the old chestnut.....

"What is the difference between a stringer on The Argus and a pilchard?"

Answer: One is oily, smelly and has poppy eyes.....and the other is a fish"

Traditional Misconceptions

Fr Pat Brennan: 'Avoid' blogs by 'some' Catholics

I've been following a blog discussion taking place between Fr Ray Blake and Juventutem's Sean Wright concerning the rise of what Fr Blake described in his comment on the blog as "the Benedictine generation" - an apt phrase - since it is really the excitement generated by Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate and the release of Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae that has unleashed upon the Church a new breed of traditionally minded Catholics who are willing to wear Catholicism on their hearts and sleeves while challenging heresy and tragic liberal wooliness in the Church.

I think that the discussion raises some very interesting questions and ends up challenging some prejudices that presumably many in the Church have against those, especially in the blogging community, who hold fast to the Magisterium of the Church, hold onto tradition, love the beauty of the traditional Rite and who are willing to stand up and be counted as Catholic while not dishing out condoms, advocating contraception, promoting or defending horrific liturgical abuse or abortion or setting up gay meeting venues in Catholic Churches.

Fr Blake asks whether those loyal to Tradition in the blogging community are redefining in any sense what it means to be a Catholic. I personally do not think they/we are. I do believe that Catholicism is, perhaps rapidly and frighteningly for some, being reclaimed from the new definitions which flourished in the wake of the Second Vatican Council - when Catholicism began to be viewed as everything and yet nothing. I see Juventutem and the Latin Mass Society as exemplars of Catholicism that is profoundly satisfying because it is challenging - rather than profoundly self-satisfying and unchallenging. This is because both Juventutem and the LMS tend towards, if not necessarily the ascetic, then at least towards the bold proclamation of the Catholic Faith rooted in love for Christ in the Sacraments, especially Confession and Blessed Sacrament, Our Blessed Lady and loyalty to the Holy Father, rather than a new brand of Catholicism which really seems to be all about wavering in the changing winds of modern times and thought and embracing nearly any opinion as worthy of being called 'Catholic' even if it turns out to be objectively Buddhist.

Yesterday, a blogging Catholic Priest called Fr Patrick Brennan of Humble Piety, in commenting on one of his own posts said of 'some' Catholic bloggers...

'Some "Catholic" blogs present a very narrow interpretation of the Catholic faith, with a hint of elitism, a pinch of snobbery, a modicum of intolerance for other views, sprinkled with a air of smug superiority, some try questionable humour to mask their lack of charity. All in all quite disappointing! But I have come to learn to take them for what they are opinions... not fact! Some are so far up their own backsides they are quite funny without intending it! My advice is to avoid those blogs that do not help the spiritual life to flourish.(or read them for what they are opinions not fact) It is rather tedius all this which side are you on business are you liberal or Trad! As if that is what Christ came for! There is an incredible amount of insecurity out there!'

Paul Priest took the Priest in question to task on just whom, he wonders, Fr Brennan is referring in his mini diatribe. Having spent quite a long time with members of Juventutem and the LMS rather recently (though I know we are still unsure of which blogs the blogging Priest is talking) I must say that I did not and do not consider any to be particularly proud, conceited, wrapped up in themselves, superior, smug, vicious or any of those things - I can only say that because I know them.

Personally, I can be one, some, if not all of those things at times, but I really do think that the greater conceit lies within those who embrace dissent within the Church as valid 'opinion', when the Holy Father himself has said that one of the things that strikes at the heart of the modern Church and weakens Her message is an inability or unwillingness by important figures in the Church to 'recognise dissent for what it is and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate'.

This unwillingness to call out heresy, error and falsehood is particularly weakening for the Church when especially Clergy and senior Hierarchy fail in their duty to do so. It just so happens to be one of the driving forces behind men like Michael Voris and notable Catholic bloggers. Liberals therefore must take their share of the blame for the creation of this monster. Not only that, but a Church in which senior figures and leaders appointed by Christ to be teachers for Him are unable to differentiate between 'opinion' and outright dissent leaves the Church's evangelical mission stunted and debilitated. The problem is that while some opinions are personal opinions that Catholic bloggers offer, many, perhaps most, are expressions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and are in tune, so to speak, with the thought, writings and expressed desires of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. Many of these opinions are only reiterating, or re-presenting that which the Church has already defined to be true and unalterable. These are not opinions - these are truths of the Faith, so it is disturbing that a Catholic Priest should be so offended by so many 'traditional' Catholic blogs.

How teddyfying...

For me, the exciting thing about the traditional Catholic World is not that I am in any sense hanging around with 'Super Catholics' who are high performance religious people who do Catholicism in hyperdrive. The exciting thing is that they all seem to place their hope and trust firmly in Christ, His Blessed Mother, are supportive of and loyal to, the Pope, pray to the Saints, and believe everything that the Church teaches to be true and to have been revealed by God. They are recognisably Catholic. Most, if not all, are only too aware of their weaknesses and need for God's mercy. I don't find Catholics loyal to tradition to be conceited at all, but then that's just my 'opinion'. I guess it is only 'fact' when the slur is made by a blogging Catholic Priest. The one thing that I have noticed is that 'traddy' Catholics are usually hopping mad to get to Confession because they have a huge respect for the Blessed Sacrament and are as likely be seen impatiently waiting for the Sacrament of Reconciliation as they will be seen kneeling to receive Our Lord because they are aware of their need for Him.

In some respects traditional Catholics can be like John and James, 'sons of Thunder' - but this is because many are impatient and zealous and really believe in Salvation and the necessity for the Church for Salvation. Many, like myself, have discovered the beauty and reverence of the ancient rite and believe that wider exposure to it will increase the Faith and Love of the Church. Theirs is distinctively the message of the Church whereas others are, if not blithely oblivious to the true mission of the Church, woefully inept at communicating it. It is that message which will win souls to the Church and no other message will satisfy human hearts.

I doubt very much that my blog is particularly edifying for readers striving towards the spiritual life.  At the end of the day, I'm not a Benedictine monk. I know of certain blogs which I do find edifying. At the end of the day I'm just a rather sinful Catholic writing about matters pertaining to the Faith but I have looked at Fr Patrick Brennan's blog and I don't find his blog particularly edifying either. The Pope Benedict XVI teddy bear is cute, mind, if you like that kind of thing. His comments yesterday seem a little rash and a little contradictory in terms of his blog description, which reads, "Don't ride roughshod over the piety of the Faithful".

The piety for many of the Faithful is still devotional and traditional, indeed of a kind which 'has been held sacred for generations' and is still held by many to be sacred today, so let's hope that Fr Brennan is charitable and humble enough to heed some of his own good advice. I expect that, deep down, the greatest fear of some Priests and Bishops is that in turning back towards the Lord and celebrating Mass towards the East and distributing Holy Communion on the tongue, kneeling, it would be like a total admission of past failure, an admission of their own neglect of their custodianship of the Holy Eucharist and a public admission that their ministry for the last 20,30,40 years was far from perfect and that what they have been teaching has been, if not wrong, then incomplete or impaired truth. They were only following orders after all. I hope and pray that all Priests and Bishops will be open to the renewal of the liturgy undertaken by Pope Benedict XVI, but, so far, apart from a minority of brave Priests the response has been...'all in all quite disappointing'.

Fr Brennan has updated his blog and depicted me as some kind of a sinister judge. Well, Father, I'm not the one telling readers to 'avoid' any blogs. His response is interesting, especially his own sarcastic judgement upon "brave" Priests who have "turned their backs on the people for Mass". He says of his own preference to celebrate facing the people, which is perfectly licit, "I know the people are grateful for this."

Of course, because the celebration of the Mass is all about the Priest and the people, isn't it? Surely, in every Priest's ministry, there must come a time when knowing that the people are "grateful" and considering what makes the Lord Jesus "grateful" conflict with each other. If Mass is really all about the people and the priest congratulating each other and affirming each other, then at what point is the Mass about the Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ? This is what is really at the heart of the liturgical rewewal. Pope Benedict XVI's writings address this explicitly. As I say, Fr Brennan's response is well worth reading. Let us now draw a line under it and 'bear' with one another charitably.
_________________________________________________________________________

GOOD NEWS FROM A GOOD BISHOP!

Not just good news....outstandingly good news! Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury Diocese is, apparently, in talks with regard to dedicating one of his most traditional of Churches, St Peter and Paul on the Wirral, to The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.
That means that Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be routinely (if that is the word) offered there. This news came yesterday from Father Ray Blake and Fr Z and now, its veracity has been confirmed by my Macklin Street mole. It is still not fact, however so remember the Bishop in your prayers.


Photo: Fr Ray Blake's blog
 Ss Peter & Paul, New Brighton, Wirral


 This decision, if fulfilled,  is a good one and one that, hopefully, will be emulated by others.


This is the first parish (I believe) to be assigned to the ICKSP in England and Wales - I will refrain from cracking open a bottle of something fizzy until Easter Sunday but it is a great cause for celebration!