The Hermeneutic of Continuity

Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva have published a paper in the Journal of Medical Ethics with the title After-birth abortion: why should the baby live? They argue that newborn babies are not persons and therefore do not have a right to life. I suppose this is consistent in a ghastly way. If a baby in the womb is deemed to be unworthy of life, there seems no logical reason to say that newborn babies have a right to life. Perhaps we will now have an ecclesiastical statement saying that we recognise the reality of legal abortion and see no prospect of repealing the Abortion Act, but that we oppose this new development. That seems to be the approach taken to the progression from civil partnerships to gay marriage.

Here is the text of the sermon that I gave on Monday evening at the Votive Mass of the Holy Ghost as part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the parish of St Mary Magdalen, Brighton. We speak of the Holy Spirit as the soul of the Church. The first to use this analogy was St Augustine. In one of his sermons, he said: What the soul is for the body of man, that the Holy Spirit is for the body of Christ, that is, the Church, The Holy Spirit operates in the whole Church that which the soul operates in the members of the one body. (1) Pope Pius XII in his encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi , said that the Holy Spirit is “the principle of every supernatural act in all parts of the Body.” (2) Of course we also speak of the Church as the Bride of Christ and the Body of Christ, we affirm with St Augustine that: Peter may baptise, but this is He that baptises; Paul may baptise, yet this is He that baptises; Judas may baptise, still this is He that baptises. (3) The role o...

The Church is empty in the picture (H/T Mulier Fortis ) except for the parish priest, but it was standing room only by 7pm when Mass began. Here is the procession out, after singing the Te Deum : Fr Blake has organised a number of events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the parish of St Mary Magdalen, Brighton. Last night it was a V High Mass of the Holy Ghost with Schubert's Mass no. 2 in G major, Bruckner's Locus iste , and the world premiere of Tom Bennet's Tu es Petrus . Fr Blake was celebrant, I was deacon, and Fr Simon Heans of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was subdeacon. I preached the sermon. To be honest, I was not really satisfied with it and wondered if people might find it a bit boring; I was surprised at the number of enthusiastic comments. I think this was one of those times where God teaches us as priests that it is not our own skill that matters but how he moves people. I'll post the text tomorrow as it is getting late tonight...

Happy to post information on this piano recital at our Cathedral of St George this Thursday. Full size flyer here .

This is a really cool graphic illustration of the scale of different things in the universe . The start button takes you to a scale of 1 metre and you can slide up or down from there. It is a helpful illustration of the magnificence of God's creation. O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! For thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens. (Ps 8.2) And remember: Jesus Christ is the master key to the meaning of the universe.

Thanks to Jennifer's Favourite Links for this fun video with a magician doing tricks with an iPad. As Jennifer says: It's in German, but you don't need to understand the language to understand the coolness.

Lent: a time for repenting of our sins and battling against the devil - something we are reminded of when we take Holy Water. Lent: a time for meditating on the death of Christ - something we are reminded of by the crucifix. Lent: a time for following Christ in his Passion - something we are reminded of by the Stations of the Cross, especially on Fridays. Fr Z reports on three dumb ideas for Lent: Removing Holy Water and replacing it with sand (explicitly reproved by the CDW) Removing the Crucifix (a tradition in the parish, apparently) Not celebrating the Stations of the Cross on Fridays (because the priest thinks that it's against Vatican II) These examples remind me of Christopher Derrick's definition of a liturgist: A man sent by God so that in times when there is no direct persecution, the people of God may not be denied the opportunity of suffering for their faith.

An examination of conscience I was reading spoke of looking at various ways that we are prone to the seven capital sins. I wondered how much sloth is a problem now that people are so busy. Sloth is still alive and well, though it causes many people to be neither of those things spiritually. Doctors call high blood pressure the hidden killer. In spiritual terms, that description could be given to sloth. When we examine our conscience, we might indeed dismiss the idea of sloth, thinking that because we are very busy and have lots of work to do, it does not apply to us. Paradoxically sloth can be associated with the stress and overwork that many people experience: we can become averse to all other effort, reluctant to spend our spare time on anything of genuine value, and particularly indifferent to prayer. The gravity of this sin varies according to the duties that we neglect. It often affects the generosity with which people devote time to their spiritual life. For example, the Rosary...

This photo came via a priest friend from Matthew who was visiting Cincinnati. Matthew writes: Cincinnati is the most Catholic city I have been to, there are so many Churches and Mass times, maybe not as much Poland but still a lot and people seem to talk about Church a lot more. There was a beautifully sung Mass this morning at 7.15 which had 50+ people at it.  Also, I saw the attached sign in a Fastfood place; I was ordering some food in the bar and they read off the menu and said "Oh for the Catholics as it's Ash Wednesday we have..." and read off some non-meat options".  Of course if any service provider offers food it is normal to ask for any special dietary requirements. It's our fault that if these are specified, offers are made for halal, kosher or vegetarian. We should be more confident about saying "I'm Catholic and it's a Friday so please could I have a non-meat option."

The Sodality of the Five Holy Wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ will be meeting at Blackfen on Friday 16 March at Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen . There will be a Missa Cantata at 8pm (or shortly after - we have Stations of the Cross at 7.30pm to which all are, of course, welcome.) The Mass will be a Votive Mass of the Five Holy Wounds and will be offered for the intentions of all members of the Sodality. Everyone is welcome to come. There will be tea, coffee and other refreshments afterwards in our Small Hall. I have taken on the role of Spiritual Director to the Sodality after consulting with Fr Southwell who has stepped down from this role. After the Mass, we will discuss possible future events and activities for the Sodality. Devotion to the Five Holy Wounds is a very English thing, popular among our martyrs and others who suffered during penal times. I look forward to taking a role in this Sodality. The above picture is the new logo, designed by Catholic illustrator...

On Thursday 1 March I'm giving a talk to the London Oratory's "Call to Youth." (8pm in St Wilfrid's Hall) The title is "Was Christ tempted ‘just as we are’?: Understanding the temptations of Christ". These talks are open to people from 18-35 years old. This work with young adults at the Oratory has been remarkably successful and I am looking forward very much to the occasion. If you are tempted to fire off in the combox the Jerusalem Bible translation of Hebrews 4.15, do be aware that the meaning (and therefore the proper translation) of that verse is one of the principal points at issue. Key dogmatic point: Jesus did not suffer from concupiscence. Here is a list of some other events for Call to Youth during Lent from their email today: On Thursday 29th March from 8pm in the Little Oratory: An Evening of Recollection for Lent Prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament & Lenten meditations Both evenings will end with the usual sandwiches ...