De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

The Rt. Rvd.  Mark Davies, 11th  Bishop of Shrewsbury. On Saturday afternoon, Pope Francis proceeded with the presentation of the official Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy,  Misericordiae Vultus  (The Face of Mercy) , set to begin December 8. The purpose of this special Jubilee year is to highlight Christian teaching on God’s mercy that the witness of believers might grow stronger and more effective…opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness. The wonderful Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury Diocese has struck while the iron is hot, with this brilliant Pastoral Letter , in which he does just that. I have reproduced the text below in red, along with my own thoughts on it in black. My dear brother and sisters, I write to you on this Divine Mercy Sunday with the happy news that Pope Francis formally announces today a “Holy Year of Mercy” to begin on 8 th  December 2015 under the patronage of Mary...

Following on from my post yesterday on praying for the dead, Fr. Kevin's homily at Mass today shone more light on the subject: If you go think back over the history of the film industry over the last fifty years, in every decade there has been an ever increasing number of films made about the end of the world, and they often contain the word Apocalypse . The genre has included everything from the world being overtaken by aliens, to global diseases obliterating mankind, to natural disasters of every kind. For the people in the Philippines – our brothers and sister in the Faith – the events of last weekend will have been nothing less than apocalyptic for them. For the Church at this time, the end of the year brings with it thoughts of the end of the world: apocalypse . It’s a Greek word that means uncovering; rather in the same way that the Latin equivalent – revelation – means also an unveiling, a taking away of the veil. Something of great significance is being disc...

James Tissot-  Prodigal Son, The Return (1882).  If you want to get the most out of this journey with me, you'll need your Bible. Go on, go and get it now. You'll be glad you did, because if you don't you'll just feel frustrated...No, no-- don't worry, I won't start until you come back. OK, ready? Got your Bible? Then I'll begin. As human beings, we exist in a web of relationships - links to nature, people and to God. These links can be traced out. Some links are strong and easy to follow. Some links are twisted or broken. As Aristotle pointed out 'Man is a social animal' and as such, cannot be happy without human love and friendship. However, it's not all a bed of roses. There are givers and takers in this life. People who, solely concerned with the happiness of those around them, give effortlessly and with great love, who radiate joy and enthusiasm and whose happiness is infectious. And people who consider that the world revol...