The Hermeneutic of Continuity

The Good Counsel Network have several carol singing sessions at central London tube stations to raise funds. Dates and venues as follows: Monday 14th December at Canary Wharf Friday 18th December at Baker Street Monday 21st December at Waterloo Tuesday 22nd December at Knightsbridge Wednesday 23rd December at Green Park All sessions 5-8pm

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Various celebrations were held in Churches associated with him: in New York, Archbishop Dolan celebrated mass at St Patrick's Cathedral. In Louvain, at the American College of the Immaculate Conception, Bishop Shelton Fabre, Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans, celebrated Mass. I am grateful to a correspondent for information about this Mass and the above photo. In his sermon, Bishop Fabre spoke of Archbishop Sheen's use of the media to spread the word of God: By constructive use of what at the time could still be considered the 'modern' media of television communication, Archbishop Sheen was able both to evangelise Catholics to embrace fully an understanding of their faith and to evangelise non-Catholics, bringing them an appreciation of Catholic teaching and leading many to conversion. We could consider him to be, in every positive sense of the term, the first televangelist. His effective use o...

This looks good: a trailer for "The Catholicism Project" by Word on Fire . H/T @lukecoppen on Twitter.

Each week, a team of ladies in the parish cook a three-course lunch for about 40 people. I would like to get to this more often - for both pastoral and gastronomic reasons. Today was the Christmas lunch and although I was late after celebrating a funeral this morning (please pray for the repose of the soul of Jillian O'Shea), there was some left for me. Background was provided by Mary on the keyboard. She is a regular blog reader and often brings in print-offs for others who do not have the internet, so it is good to be able to feature her here. The Team were keen to be on the blog also - they sent me back into the presbytery to get my camera! Above you can see Maura on the left and Head Chef Tricia on the right. The specifications for the sparkling, state-of-the-art, kitchen was designed especially to make sure the Lunch Club meets all the "elfin safety" regulations. Here are two more stalwart workers, Audrey and Tracey: I have to say that although priests do sometimes g...

Another theme in today's General Audience was the motive of the incarnation. here is a passage which I have translated from the address: Like other theologians of the Middle Ages, Rupert also asked: why was the Word of God, the Son of God, made man? Some, many, responded, explaining the incarnation of the Word with the urgency of repairing the sin of man. Rupert on the other hand, with a christocentric vision of the history of salvation, enlarged the perspective, and in a work of his entitled “The Glorification of the Trinity” held the position that the Incarnation, the central event of all history, was foreseen from all eternity, even independently of the sin of man, so that all creation could give praise to God the Father and love Him as a unique family gathered around Christ, the Son of God. He therefore saw in the pregnant woman of the apocalypse the whole history of humanity which is oriented to Christ, just as conception is oriented to birth; a perspective which would be deve...

Today's General Audience address was a rich and fascinating discourse on the Benedictine theologian and Abbot, Rupert of Deutz (c. 1075-1129) covering a range of topics including the investiture controversy, the heresy of Berengarius, the problem of evil, and the motive of the incarnation. The Holy Father recalled the way in which Rupert opposed the theology of Berengarius of Tours who said that Christ was only symbolically present in the Eucharist and argued that the body of Christ in the Eucharist is the same as the body of the incarnate Word. Pope Benedict then suggested an application for our own time ( my translation ): Dear brothers and sisters, it seems to me that at this point we should also think of our own time; even today there is the danger of reducing Eucharistic realism, that is, of understanding the Eucharist only as a rite of communion, of socialisation, forgetting too easily that in the Eucharist the risen Christ is really present – with his risen body – which he ...

Fr William Charlton at the parish of St Alphonsus, North Ormesby , in Middlesbrough, celebrates Mass according to the usus antiquior every Sunday evening. His programme for Christmas includes not only a solemn High Midnight Mass in the older form, but also first Vespers, Lauds, and second Vespers with Benediction. All of these offices will be sung with Gregorian Chant. (There are also three other Masses in the ordinary form.) The above picture is a screen grab of the parish's poster; here is a link to the full pdf .

There is a recent development at the ever excellent New Advent website. The Bible is presented in parallel columns: Greek on the left, English in the middle and the Latin Vulgate on the right. Navigation is provided by a list of all the books at the top and a list of chapters of the current book underneath. The English version is the Douai Rheims with the comments by Bishop Challoner. I am filled with admiration for Kevin Knight and others who help with the site. Their dedication has provided yet another superb resource for those who wish to deepen their faith. Rather than presume that everybody knows, I should add that New Advent also has the texts in English of many of the major works of the Fathers of the Church , the full texts of the 1909 Catholic Encyclopaedia , and the Summa Theologica in English, as well as many other articles of interest. The homepage is nowadays a blog roundup which offers a useful starting-point for good posts on other Catholic blogs. H/T Patricius at Si...

I'm happy to pass on news of next year's Training Conference, run by the Latin Mass Society , for priests wishing to learn how to celebrate Mass according to the usus antiquior . As well as the tuition, these conferences offer a good opportunity for priests to meet together and offer support to one another. LMS Residential Training Conference for Priests Wishing to Learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at Ushaw College, Durham. The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales (LMS) is organising a residential training conference for priests wishing to learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at Ushaw College, Durham, one of England’s most prestigious seminaries. The conference will run from Monday 12 April to Friday 16 April 2010 (i.e. Low Week) and will feature Traditional liturgies in Ushaw’s magnificent neo-Gothic St Cuthbert’s Chapel together with a Gregorian Chant schola and polyphonic choir. Expert tuition in the...

Jeffrey Tucker at NLM has written a well-deserved Tribute to Shawn Tribe , the founder and editor of the New Liturgical Movement blog which has established itself as a highly respected source of news and comment on liturgical matters. The NLM is reaching its fifth year and so this rare personal post is welcome and appropriate. The standard of writing and the excellence of content at NLM has been consistent, reliable and always in accord not only with the liturgical teaching of the Catholic Church but also with her moral and spiritual teaching. The blog is a model of all that Pope Benedict has said concerning the online apostolate. It has a deserved place high up on every Catholic bloggers blogroll. I heartily second Jeffrey's tribute.

A couple of years ago, our local funeral director, Ashdown Funeral Services , suggested that they would like to support our carol service and give people an opportunity to remember their loved ones as Christmas draws near. It might seem on the surface an odd idea but I felt that it could be an opportunity for evangelisation and links with those in Blackfen who do not normally come to Church. Towards the end of the carol service, I receive a basket of memorial cards, say the De Profundis in English, and prayers for those who have died. We have done this for three years now and I think it has been a success. Previously we had about 80 or so parishioners for the carol service; now we have about 250 people, so the work that the choir put into the service is appreciated by more people. It has also succeeded in creating a link between the Church and the wider community: people are very appreciative of the welcome they receive and of the reception organised afterwards by the Union of Cathol...