Apostasy, heresy, disobedience, war, famine, persecution...it's great to be a Catholic!

Through this arch lies redemption -

it leads to the Coliseum's arena

It was never going to be an easy ride. We never expected anything else. We know, do we not, that redemption comes from sharing the carrying of that very heavy cross? That's why we shrug off serious illness in ourselves and our loved ones, we cope with redundancy and business failure, we pray more when our children leave the faith or suffer hardships, we take casual persecution in our stride and pray even harder when it becomes physical persecution. We know that bereavement is hard to accept but all part of the process.

We do our duty in times of war but hate war nonetheless, we take a stand against abortion, euthanasia, homosexual practices, all serious sin; and when our priests fail us we pray for them and the Church; when our Bishops and Cardinals fail us we write to Rome and keep on praying....we say the Rosary...we go to Mass - nothing in this world can hurt us. God is our Father, Our Lady is our Mother; we have a Guardian Angel and the Communion of Saints behind us!

Bring on the heresy and the apostasy; give us more persecution, if there is schism in the Church we will be on the right side. If the economy of the world should fail we will survive, maybe we will become stronger and better as a result.

And when the brimstone falls from the sky we will be prepared.

You see? These are great times in which to be a member of Christ's one and only true Church.

Easy to be a Catholic when we are all well fed and nothing threatens your existence.

But when times are hard we come into our own....we are one, we are holy, we are apostolic....................we are CATHOLIC!

New Protest Song Alert: The Eye of a Needle

I don't have sound on my computer, so I'd be interested whether the sounds levels regarding vocals and guitar on this are about right, or, indeed, not. Regardless of whether this song is good or whether it is something that wouldn't make a Pete Doherty B-side, I don't imagine I'll ever get a job working for the Leisure and Tourism department of Brighton and Hove City Council. Lyrics below...


The Eye of a Needle

You’re down and out in Brighton
So now what you gonna do?
Though there’s ‘To Let’ signs everywhere
This city’s got no room for you
You’ve got some cash
But the agents they want more, more, more
You need a flat
But brother you are poor, poor, poor

So you go and see the Council
Maybe they’ve a room for you?
You drag your belongings
Down Crack Central avenue
You were full of hope but now that you’ve arrived-rived-rived
You see the room and you break down and you cry, cry, cry

There’s a soldier up above who’s been beating on his wife
He left Iraq but now he can’t cope with civilian life
And there’s a sad man rapping at your door, door, door
Asking, “Here, do you know where I can score, score, score?”

Then you lay on your mattress,
Out the corner of your eye
You spy a used needle that an addict’s left behind
You’ve never stayed anywhere like this before-fore-fore!
There’s a dry patch of blood upon the floor, floor, floor, floor, floor!

Oh this is Brighton
Brighton
Welcome to Brighton
17/19 Grand Parade
Brighton

There’s a sad man rapping at your door
His arms are cut to shreds and now he’s asking for your support

You get a letter from the Council
Telling you the room’s price
You ask, “How can it cost that for this squalid little dive?”
Then another letter comes up to your door, door, door
You’ve got to pay 'top-up' or you’ll be out in the morning

You ask who runs this joint
You find out that its Baron Homes
They’re making money out of you
It chills you to the bone
The owners making loads of cash, cash, cash
You see another tenant in a body bag, bag, bag

[Audacious key change]

You’re down and out in Brighton
So now what you gonna do?
When the eye of a needle is just what you’re passing through
You tell the Council but they don’t really mind, mind, mind
Do they care if you should live or die?

You wait for 7 hours at the Council
Maybe there’s another room
“There must be more to Brighton than Crack Central”, Oh , but you?
You’re not welcome in this town because you’re poor,
"Here’s a ticket to the town where you come from,"
The rich they are welcome here, that’s all
But not you, no, you are not really their sort,
Then a stranger walks straight through your door, door, door
He’s got the keys he’s the tenant from before-fore-fore!
There’s a bad man rapping at your door, door door!
Asking, “Here brother, do you want to score, score, score?”
The Council ask, “Have you ever considered Eastbourne?”

This is Brighton
Brighton
Brighton
Welcome to Brighton
Brighton
17/19
Grand Parade
Brighton

[Repeat to Fade]

The "Wandering Jews" of Today

1937 German anti-Jewish propaganda

I just had a phone call from George and Diane who have been staying in Worthing, the Council having relented mercifully from their original decision to abandon them to the streets, following some assistance from Brighton Housing Trust's solicitors.

I have to say, following my post yesterday on anti-semitic prejudice and resentment, that George and Diane experience first-hand a similar kind of stigma.

Apparently, yesterday the owner of the hotel in which Brighton and Hove City Council placed the couple, in Worthing, entitled the Wolsey Hotel, insulted George yesterday, this time not for "anti-social behaviour" but for "reckless caring".

Scandalously, George had committed the great crime of allowing Diane to cross the road in order that she may fetch something from her hotel room. Diane is not a toddler, nor is she unable to walk, but when the couple returned to the hotel George was castigated by the owner of the hotel for being a "reckless carer" for allowing Diane to cross the road unattended. The owner was so affronted by George's sin of omission that she said she wanted to cancel the room and put them on the street.  Diane then spoke up and told the owner thank you for her concern but she is able to walk across the road unattended. The owner responded that this should serve to them as a warning and that if she sees any more "reckless caring" then she will cancel the room. It sounds rather like she just doesn't like the couple and is looking for any excuse to get rid of them.

The couple are all too aware of the precarious nature of their housing situation. They are pretty much afraid to talk where they live lest they raise their voices too loud and be evicted for "anti-social behaviour". They feel they are walking a tightrope.  George is convinced there is a "conspiracy" against the couple, but in reality the conspiracy is that of the stigma of poverty, and, in Diane's case, mental illness. In general, evil forces do tend to conspire against the poor in society, as evil forces conspired to condemn Christ towards His trial, His judgement and His eventual Crucifixion. It is almost as if the poor of this World are sharers perhaps not so much in the redemption of mankind but in Christ's judgement at the hands of sinners and crucifixion. They are faced with cruel and harsh judgement and treatment at the hands of the wicked and have a heavy weight placed upon their shoulders. Usually, that weight is the ignorance, foolishness and even the sins of the rich and worldly wise.

When Our Lord talks of the 'eye of a needle' it is almost as if he is not just referring to how 'hard' it is for the rich to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. It is almost as if the 'eye of a needle' is His way, His road, along the Via Dolorosa, with the heavy beams of the Cross upon His Shoulder. This is a way which means being misunderstood, judged, despised, rejected, crucified and spat upon in this life. That is the way that the poor follow, not out of choice, but out of coersion and a lack of real choice. The stigma of poverty is very real. The stigma of addiction is very real. The stigma of mental illness is very real. Christ, the Stigmatised, who bore in His wounds every scandal and every offense of sin, bore also in His Body, the stigma and shame of the very poor. His Way, the Way of the Cross, is their way: that is why it is so 'hard' for the rich to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Apostles are scandalised by the 'eye of a needle', asking Our Lord, "Who then, can be saved?" The Lord answers mysteriously that for man it is impossible but everything is possible to God. How ironic it is that these Apostles were scandalised when the vast majority of them, too, would be rejected and martyred! Yet we, who are unlikely to be martyred, can take solace from Our Lord's words. He has walked through the 'eye of a needle' for us. What is impossible for us, is possible for Him, for He is both Man and God!

WHY IS THE HUMAN RACE SO SCARED OF THE CROSS?

No cross no crown!

The cross is the prime symbol of all time and will remain so until the end of time but it seems to be an object of fear among the secular world.

The latest incident involves a group of atheists who are campaigning to have a cross that was erected on the site of the Twin Towers 9/11 atrocity, removed. The cross was constructed from two of the steel girders salvaged from the debris and found already fused into a cross formation.

There have been many incidents of nurses or others wearing  a cross worn on a chain or as a brooch in the workplace and even of a van driver who displayed a Palm cross in his vehicle. All of them were subject to dismissal type procedures.

There has been agitation in Italy and other mainland European countries, to have the crucifix removed from classrooms and public sector offices. What is eating at these people?

If the humanists or atheists wanted to put a logo on their advertising and poster hoardings I wouldn't bat an eyelid; if they wanted to erect 3 dimensional logos on their own land that would be fine provided that it complied with planning regulations.

So why does the material world throw a hissy fit when a cross is displayed?

Of course, we know that a cross without Christ is a contradiction anyway; you can't have the cross without the victim. You cannot have Easter Sunday without first having Good Friday. The bare unadorned cross is really a Protestant emblem but, sadly, there are quite a few Catholic churches who have also opted for the sanitised version - no saving victim.

Archbishop Sheen called the bare cross "effeminate" and so it is. Take away the Man and you are left with two cross sections of wood.

There is an old but good story of a woman who walked into a jewellers store and asked to be shown a chain with a cross on. "Certainly" Said the jeweller. "Would you like a plain one or one with the little man on?"

We have moved so far away from knowledge of the truth, in another twenty years most of the educated world will not even know who Jesus Christ is.

The world is drifting away from the reality of the crucified Christ and adopting a format that does not challenge or require thoughts of redemption, suffering and sacrifice.

That is what the American atheists are scared of......the reality of God's kingdom made apparent through the ordeal, humiliation and torture of His sacrificial Son. And that is why the world fears the cross. The world wants success, triumph, self promotion: it does not want to be reminded of the Good Friday element of redemptive pain, suffering and humiliation.

Bizarre Anti-Semitic Emails...

Moses: "I'm leading you out of Egypt to a land of milk and honey."

Israelite #1: "I hope there are no Jews there."

Israelite #2: "Wait! I'm dairy intolerant!"

I've had someone sending me emails with various quotes attributed to Popes down the ages slagging off the Jews.

I've not really known quite how to respond to him as he clearly has the bit between his teeth and doesn't want to let go of his virulent anti-semitism. I don't think I'd put up here anything of what he's sent me, but a great deal of it sounds like something one might have found pinned up in Nazi Germany shop doorways.

Does he really think Moses, Elijah, St Peter, Our Blessed Lord and Our Blessed Lady, Our Lady's parents St Joseph and all the Apostles are sitting up there going, "I hate Jews," "Yeah, I can't stand Jews", "Accursed Jews." I sent him an extract in an email from 'Jesus of Nazareth II' about Christ's Blood being the blood that is not poured out against, but for all. He then goes onto slag off our beloved Holy Father for his clemency and charity.  Presumably he is angered against him for not issuing decrees against the Jews and calling them all the names under the sun. I think he (or she, but I expect he) wants His Holiness to banish the Jews to the Isle of Wight or something, perhaps something worse. Bizarre and more than a little frightening...

Even if someone could prove to us that there was a worldwide conspiracy and that the whole World's financial and political system were run by an international network of scheming Jews, we should still answer that Our Lord said that His Kingdom 'is not of this World'. Of what do we have to be jealous and of whom? Let's face it, some Catholics, of that more traditional bent have to hate some group of people. I've pretty much made up my mind that its all the Freemasons fault, others spend their time hating the Jews, others the gays, others the Muslims. I think its safer to hate the Freemasons, personally, because if ever there were a great persecution of the Freemasons and they were driven out of Brighton nobody would know where to find them. Wicked, accursed Freemasons with their funny handshakes and their local government contract deals! Give us back our Council!  Stop ruining our high streets with your national chains!

Has anyone got the release date for 'Jesus of Nazareth III: The Second Coming' yet?

Support SPUC Campaign Against Abortion Ads

John Smeaton has issued an appeal for Catholics and all people of good will to write in protest against a new proposal by the Broadcasting Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) that will allow abortion providers hitherto unparalleled access to TV advertising opportunities.

Pray for Pope Benedict to celebrate the EF Mass

In this month of the Feast of the Assumption please join the prayer petition by the act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary asking for her intercession for the Holy Father to celebrate, in public, the Tridentine Latin Mass.

A good date would be the Feast of the Holy Cross, 14th September and the anniversary of Summorum Pontificum....but really any time soon would be good.

Here is the petition, please pass it to other bloggers and feature it on your blog.......

Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

O Mary, Virgin most powerful and Mother of mercy, Queen of Heaven and Refuge of sinners, we consecrate ourselves to thine immaculate heart.

We consecrate to thee our very being and our whole life; all that we have, all that we love, all that we are. To thee we give our bodies, our hearts, and our souls; to thee we give our homes, our families, our country. We desire that all that is in us and around us may belong to thee, and may share in the benefits of thy motherly benediction. And that this act of consecration may be truly efficacious and lasting, we renew this day at thy feet the promises of our Baptism and our first Holy Communion. We pledge ourselves to profess courageously and at all times the truths of our holy Faith, and to live as befits Catholics who are duly submissive to all the directions of the Pope and the Bishops in communions with him. We pledge ourselves to keep the commandments of God and His Church, in particular to keep holy the Lord's Day. We likewise pledge ourselves to make the consoling practices of the Christian religion, and above all, Holy Communion, an integral part of our lives, insofar as we shall be able so to do. Finally, we promise thee, O glorious Mother of God and loving Mother of men, to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the service of thy blessed cult, in order to hasten and assure, through the sovereignty of thine immaculate heart, the coming of the kingdom of the Sacred Heart of thine adorable Son, in our own hearts and in those of all men, in our country and in all the world, as in heaven, so on earth. Amen.