The Hermeneutic of Continuity

My friend is urging me to say the Rosary but I find it very difficult to concentrate. Aren’t these devotions optional? Should I persevere with it? It is true that outside the sacred Liturgy, we are left free to pray in different ways. However the Rosary does have the recommendation of Our Lady herself at Lourdes, Fatima and on many other occasions, and has been encouraged by the saints and most of the Popes of the past 500 years. Therefore I would encourage you to persevere. The Rosary combines both vocal and mental prayer. At times, we might focus on the words of the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be, repeated lovingly as to a dear friend. We are also invited to ponder the great events of Our Lord’s life, death and resurrection, raising our minds and hearts to God in praise and thanksgiving, and drawing new resolve for our Christian lives. Both the vocal prayers and the mysteries on which we meditate, draw us directly to Christ. Our Lady does not ask for attention for her own sa

May I recommend to you the Filial Appeal to our Holy Father Pope Francis, requesting him to reaffirm the chaste and fecund family model taught by the Gospel and in accordance with natural law. Signatories include Cardinal Burke and Bishop Schneider.

People travel to visit Margate, but not usually over a distance of 9,000 miles. To be fair, Fr Michael Rowe has been in Europe for other reasons, notably the international conference in Rome of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy which I was so sorry to miss in January. Nevertheless, he took the train down from St Pancras today to visit one of the oldest missions in the Archdiocese of Southwark and it was great to catch up on news from Australia and many friends there. I was mortified to discover, after hearing confessions in the school, that it was actually snowing when I went down to the town centre to meet him. I thought that a good lunch was in order after such a journey and we were well looked after by the excellent bastion of good honest British restaurant tradition, Bentley's Lounge and Grill , at the bottom of the High Street. Father Rowe is Rector of the Traditional Latin Mass Centre at St Anne's in Belmont . I promised to post a photo for his people as he told

For young adults in Scotland (aged 16-25), the Faith Movement offers a series of Thursday evening talks on the theme of "Friendship with Christ." These talks take place at 7.30pm in Turnbull Hall, University of Glasgow Chaplaincy, 13 –15 Southpark Terrace, Glasgow, G12 8LG and are followed by refreshments and Night Prayer. The nearest subway is at Hillhead or Kelvinbridge. 5th Feb ‘Seek the things that are above’ (Col 3:1) – Prayer at the Centre of our lives Fr Stephen Brown 19th Feb ‘Lord, Teach us how to pray’ (Lk 11:1) – The Our Father Fr Michael Kane 5th March ‘Things both Old and New’ (Mt 13:52) – Finding Christ in Scripture Canon Luiz Ruscillo 19th March ‘The seed that fell on good soil’ (Mt 13:8) – Christ and Culture David Kerr 16th April ‘Planted in Love & Built on Love’ (Eph 3:17) – The Family: school of prayer John Deighan

The Faith Movement is running a series of talks on The Church and other beliefs. They offer a great opportunity to deepen our faith and to connect with other Catholics. The talks are folllowed by wine and pizza. All are welcome. Talks take place on alternate Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm in the Crypt of Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church (entrance via basement steps to 24 Golden Square, London, W1F 9JR).Nearest tube station is Piccadilly Circus. The list of talks remaining in the series is as follows: Tuesday 10th February Are all religions equally valid? Anna-Marie Treloar Tuesday 24th February Can I love Christ but not the Church? Sr Andrea Fraile Tuesday 10th March The cosmic meaning of the Eucharist Fr Roger Nesbitt Tuesday 24th March Should the Church impose lifestyle choices? Edward Hadas