The Good Shepherd

I've not posted in sometime, but I promise I haven't forgotten about you at all. I see my brothers here have been doing a splendid job though, so I'm sure I've not been missed!

As its Good Shepherd Sunday, I thought I'd talk a little about what this day means to me. Today, the Church invites us to committ to praying for vocations - yet it doesn't end there - Holy Mother Church also asks us to look deeply into our very selfs and ask some serious questions:

• What are we doing about the fact, that today, there are so few candidates presenting themselves for service in the priestly ministry?
• What would we say if one of our own has discerned that God is calling He/She to the priesthoold or religous life?
• Are we willing to let this trend continue, or do we want to do what God is asking of us and beg for Him to send Labourers into the Harvest?

The list of questions you could ask is endless, but these three are important because they get right to the heart of the problem. One of the major issues guys coming to the seminary find now is that people often look at them in a different light when they say, "I think God is calling me to be a priest". Instead of the person thanking God, immediately what comes to mind is the "Oh, that means you wont get married, have children," we dwell on the loosing out that we don't think God has blessed the person. We treat them as if God has cursed them. I don't deny that what we are called to is a sacrificial calling in so many ways, yet that calling is such a great gift from God.

That invitation to come and see or rather, come and experience is something to rejoice over. God is asking the person to consider further, the calling to priestly ministry. A calling to serve in the very person of Jesus Christ, feeding his people and bringing the "Good News" of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Is that not a good call, is that not noble? I think its marvelous, but so many worry that we'll be lonely or over worked that they forget the joy of what the priesthood brings to so many people, including the priest himself.

Also, how many of you actively encourage people to think about the priesthood? I'm not saying throw guys into the seminary, but do you ever say to someone "Why don't you consider the priesthood" or "have you ever considered the call to serve as a priest". Both questions are gentle and they might get little reactions, but they plant a seed, which then allows God to nuture it and to make it grow. A lot of priests are so because of this kind of approach.

Another serious problem we have is the culture we live in. I believe the phone is ringing off the hook with God asking people to become priests, but I think in todays culture vocations can so easily die, because they are not nourtured in in a Christian or better Catholic environment. In a time of our local elections, we should consider the parties or candidates that will strive to bring back Christian values into families, schools and communities because ultimately, we need to ensure that our people are able to live and work and pray without being persecuted. At the moment we are, yet it seems to me as if we are happy to sit back and take the blows. Thats not right and its going against the spirit of the Church right through the ages. Those early Christians who were killed in the Collesium in Rome or throughout the persecutions went to their death singing because one they knew they were going to Heaven, and two because it showed the world the Christians were serious about the truth of their faith. They died so that we might be able to worship, live and work as we ought to be. Its an insult to let this trend of secularization go on without a fight. Its its up to every single one of you to take a stand!!

The Good Shepherd is not some mythical figure that is a nice image for the Church, it is Jesus Christ himself who invites us to lay down his life for his sheep. To stand at the Alter and to bring the creator of the world into our very hands so that His people may receive Jesus each day to bring nourishment and strength and the forgiveness of our sins.

Please pray for us all who are training, but also pray for those who God is calling, support them and give them the encouragement they need, so that they might be better prepared to say "Yes" to the Lord.

Pax

FLI Catholic Conference 2007

I don't know if anyone went to this as a result of my previous post advertising it but I just wanted to share with you all my experiences of yesterday.

It was an incredible day, there were five inspirational talks given by five inspirational speakers.

The first was Fr Linus Clovis the Spiritual Director of Family Life International and eldest of five Clovis boys who basically run FLI. Fr Clovis single-handedly fought pro-choice legislation in the Caribbean. His talk was 'Marriage: a reflection of the inner life of the Blessed Trinity'. It was so obvious when you think about it but you need someone to say it, the relationship between husband and wife should reflect the relationship of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity who are perfect Love, Life and Truth.

The second was the most inspirational for me, Professor Thomas Healy, a retired Anaesthiologist, gave a powerful personal testimony of his experience with modern medicine in this country and how it is geared toward anti-life ethics. His talk was originally called 'Abortion! The silent Holocaust' but he changed it at the last minute to 'The child who has no tomorrow and the mother who cannot take back yesterday'. This talk had such an effect on me I have given him a seperate post below.

Third was Antonia Tully, wife of Paul Tully and mother of their 6 children. She was talking to us about the work of SPUC in schools to fight against the modern sex education programmes which have even infiltrated Catholic catechesis in this area.

Fourth was Patricia Morgan who herself isn't Catholic but uses her position as secular journalist to promote Catholic Family Values. Her talk was entitled 'What's wrong with gay adoption?' and basically said the list would be shorter if the question was 'What's right with gay adoption?' She told us about the Gay Liberation Front Manisfesto of 1971, which at the time was laughed at but has now, under Tony Blair's leadership, become the norm and anything contrary to it is 'homophobic'. She gave an example of Patricia Hewitt who in the 60's and 70's was considered one of the most dangerous feminist activists in the country, now she's in government and we are wondering why feminism is spiralling out of control!

The fifth talk was the most inspiring spiritually. It was given by Fr Fidelis Moscinski, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, and he said all we need to do is read the Popes, especially Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, obey them and pray. We can do nothing else! Without prayer and conversion pro-lifers will be quashed. You could tell how inspirational this talk was at the end when the compere invited any questions and there was silence!

FLI do a lot of fantastic work and provide these conferences every year. I urge you to visit their website www.flionline.org and to come to next year's conference.

Professor Thomas Healy

This second speaker at yesterday's conference was the most inspirational talk I have heard concerning practical bioethical issues.

He began with a personal experience he had when he arrived at work one morning to find two abortions on his list. He went straight to his computer and typed out his letter of resignation in the likely event he would be fired for what he was about to do. He went straight to his superior and said, 'I will not be available for these operations.' The Lord was looking down on him because she replied, 'That's OK, I'm free then, I'll do it!' Later he told a story of an interview he was taking of a young Catholic Anaesthetist in which he asked, 'How would you feel if you were asked to be available for an abortion?' The interviewee answered, 'I'd be fine, I'm not performing it I'm only providing the anaesthetic.' The Professor refused him the position.

Professor Healy went on to give some very interesting facts:

'If you think 6 million abortions in the UK since 1967 is bad, try over 47 million since 1972 in the States.'

'Fertilising the ovum of a cow with the sperm of a human isn't new! Since the discovery of IVF they have been testing the viability of human sperm by fertilising Guinea Pig Ova.'

'My brother-in-law went into hospital for a simple procedure during which it is expected that the patient will become unconsious. When my brother-in-law did become unconscious they immediately sedated him and wrote DNR (Do Not Rescitate) on his notes. If I hadn't discovered this and demanded the removal of the DNR threatening them with immediate national newspaper coverage I wouldn't have enjoyed a skiing holiday with my brother-in-law last month.'

He also commented on the latest news that doctors are refusing to perform abortions and abortionists do not talk about their job in public (see Fr Tim's blog for some very good posting on this) saying the reason for this is that performing an abortion just doesn't give the job satisfaction any other procedure does. When a surgeon has the choice between saving a life in a quadruple bypass and ending a pregnancy by murdering an unborn child he/she will choose the former.

Another story he told was when he was talking to a fellow medic about when life begins and his colleague said life begins at birth. The Professor's response to this was, 'Then you must be God! Last week you performed a Caesarean Section on a 32 week pregnant woman. Therefore at the moment you removed the child from her womb you created life because there are other women in the Maternity Ward who are 32 weeks pregnant who, according to your logic, don't have living humans in their wombs!'

I have saved the Professor's most important story for last.

He told us that whenever he entered a theatre after an abortion had just been performed he would automatically clean the equipment even if it had already been cleaned by the previous anaesthetist because of what it had just been used for. He also told us that whenever he entered the theatre he could feel something but couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. One day as he entered theatre the usual feeling went through him and his assistant asked, 'Professor, whenever you enter the theatre after a termination do you feel a strange sensation?' He replied, 'Yes, but I can't quite work out what it is.' She wrapped her surgical gown around her and said, 'Its cold, so cold, so very cold!' He told us 'That was exactly it, the temperature hadn't changed but it was freezing cold! Why? Because God wasn't there! The Holy Spirit had left to take the soul of the murdered child to Our Lady!' He continued, 'The only other time I have felt that sensation was just after the war in Belsen Concentration camp.'

Unique Interview with the Holy Father

See Valleadurni (third from bottom in blogroll on left) for this fantastic post!

Tough Times: Serious Prayer

Late last night I was speaking with a fellow seminarian and orthfully Catholic blogger. We were talking about the state of the Church and the state of morality in this country and in the world in general. I learnt alot from him about several issues, one of which was the situation with abortion and pro life issues. I won't tell you his story since he is going to share with you something very powerful and interesting. Suffice to say that what he told me last night about what is going on in this country left me very close to tears.

What we need more than ever is a real commitment to Jesus and His mission. That can only come through prayer. These are tough times.
I was in Medjugorje recently with this very seminarian. Whilst accepting the final decision of the Church I have to testify: It changed my life.
Over the past few days I have felt the message of Medjugorje slowly penetrating my soul: Be converted!
I also realised that what I received there, and it's just beginning to show, is an increased desire to pray. I now realise more that prayer is absolutely vital.
The strange thing is that when I was in Medjugorje I felt all lovely and nice. It's only now that the urgency of it all is hitting me right between the eyes: Pray, Pray, Pray! Be converted!

I trust the final decision to the Church. But I will say that I believe Our Lady in Medjugorje is urging us to convert.
This, my second pilgrimage, let that message penetrate more deeply into my heart.



Please look out for the articles that my fellow blogger is going to write. What you will hear is shocking, disturbing, powerful and urgent. These are tough times. As Karl Rahner said: The Catholics of the future will either be mystics or nothing at all.
So just how well am I striving to co-operate with God's grace through prayer?

Shocked response

I wrote an article yesterday on Liberalism and lacking love. Someone commented that their traddie friends are bitter too.

Well I have to confess something before I answer any of the comments I have received.
The original inspiration for the article was a homily that I heard from a priest here in the seminary. It was later re-triggered in my reflections when a friend of mine, a fellow Orthfully Catholic blogger bought a book: Liberalism is a sin.

In that homily the priest also said: If you are a Traditionalist you don't love Jesus.

I can see a few shocked readers now.
This is NOT meant to offend but to challenge. What the priest meant is quite simple: These people love their agendas far more than Jesus. He also said that if you don't love orthodoxy you don't love Jesus. What he said was very sound and balanced.

I have noticed that there is also a tendency to confuse the terms orthodox, traditional and traditionalist. In my understanding and usage they are NOT interchangeable terms.
An orthodox Catholic is one who strives to uphold all the teachings of the Church. Traditional means that you love Tradition and all connected with it. Strictly speaking all Catholics should be traditional in the proper sense of the word.

A Traditionalist Catholic strictly speaking is one who is wholly and entirely attached to Pre- Vatican II worship and devotion. Many (though not all) look askance at the Council itself. Some go further and reject it. Like liberalism it is a highly contentious position. And is a term frequently abused by the Catholic press itself. Especially when they harp on about "spin".
THIS is what the priest was talking about. I had intended to write an article about it.
This blog is dedicated to fidelity to the Magisterium and desires to be no more or less Catholic than the Pope.
I really believe that we must be careful with the terms we use to describe ourselves. I have been/am guilty of this.

What I was trying to say is: Are we in love with our own agendas? Or are we earnestly seeking to serve Christ's Church?

I, for one, would love the Holy Father to release a Motu Proprio. I pray for it. I think it would greatly aid a genuine liturgical renewal. BUT I also accept his decision. I EQUALLY rejoice in the new translation of the Novus Ordo in English. All I can cry out from the bottom of my heart is Alleluia, thank God!

All I care about is Christ and His Church. Within that I am passionate about fidelity. I am annoyed and frustrated at groups, traditionalist and liberal, who think they know better than the Magisterium.

I am sorry if people are offended. This is absolutely NOT my intention.
But we need to evangelise and help save souls. We are called to serve JESUS and His Church, not an agenda. Things go pear shaped when it all gets politicised. What we need, in my opinion, is a radical orthodoxy and fidelity to the Magisterium based on a radical dedication to Jesus through prayer.
If the Tridentine Mass coupled with a good translation of the Novus Ordo can do it: Yippeeee!

Love orthodoxy because you love Jesus. That's what I try to say to myself. Forget agendas. Souls need saving for crying out loud!

I don't want to spark a debate. These are my personal reflections and may or may not be shared by my fellow bloggers here.

As a final point: I have had very deep contacts with Opus Dei. They absolutely hated being called conservative, traditionalist etc. They kept on telling me: We are Catholics. We serve the Church. We live Her teaching and we love Her Lord. Nothing more, nothing less.

Liberalism: Lacking love and faith

A friend of mine bought a book recently called Liberalism is a Sin by Fr. Felix Sarda y Salvany. I have been reflecting on this recently. If you are a Catholic and call yourself liberal then you have little faith. You don't love Jesus as you should because you don't fully believe in His Church. Jesus said: "Whoever hears you hears me" (Luke 10:16) If you are a Liberal Catholic you don't believe that. You lack faith and you don't love Jesus as much as you should because you lack love for His Church.

I have come across a number of Liberal Catholic who state "The Church is wrong" on several issues and doctrines. My question is always the same: So who is right, you? Isn't that pride and arrogance, the antithesis of Jesus Christ?

If you are a Liberal Catholic you need to convert. You are disobeying Jesus, His Church, doing damage to your immortal soul and not helping with the current shortage of vocations.

There is a basic fact: The religious orders and seminaries that are beaming with vocations are the orthodox ones. Liberalism doesn't work. It empties out seminaries and convents and is old fashioned.

So get with it. Convert and be radical. Love and live the teachings of the Magisterium. Stop cherry picking. Put your hand on the plough and look ahead. You're doing damage to the Church and only shooting yourself in the foot.
And finally, if you obey the Church you'll get rid of that bitterness that liberals have from being constantly at war with their Mother.

God bless