The best game I've played in ages. Simple but clever, retro pixels, short enough to be finished in fifteen minutes. What more could a guy want?

Marvellous.

This is the Director of Catholic Education Services favourite quote in the world. It's Ed Balls (Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families) speaking in the Houses of Parliament...

The decision to make sex and relationship education statutory is, I think, supported by all political parties, but it is essential that it is taught in line with the ethos, including the faith, of the school. That is clear in the legislation: it is clear that parents as well as school governors will have a say in how the subject is taught, while there is also a parental opt-out, which will apply to pupils until they are 15. I can thus give the hon. Gentleman the complete assurance that the school will be in charge of how to teach SRE, but the fact of teaching it will be in law and guaranteed to all children.

[link]

So, how does he tally that up with this? Here's Ed Balls again...

If their faith has a view in scripture, they can inform pupils of that. What they must not do is teach discrimination. They must be absolutely clear about the importance of civil partnerships

[link]

Must is a pretty strong word. It sort of contradicts his earlier comments about "the school will be in charge".

Then there's another Ed Balls quote...

You can teach the promotion of marriage, you can teach that you shouldn't have sex outside of marriage, what you can't do is deny young people information about contraception outside of marriage."

[link]

Again... strong language... "What you can't do", sort of contradicts "parents as well as school governors will have a say".

Catholic Education Services quotation of the statement that "the school will be in charge of how to teach SRE" is misleading because it gives the impression that schools will be able to choose what to teach when they will not.

But then we look more closely at the first paragraph and we we discover that Mr Balls makes no assurances whatsoever about what may be taught. Only how.

Presumably parents, governors and schools will have the freedom to choose between a Powerpoint Presentation and a DVD?

"They must be absolutely clear about the importance of civil partnerships"

"what you can't do is deny young people information about contraception"

In short. Catholic Schools are going to have no choice about what to teach at all.

On the contrary, it is the right of all of Christ’s faithful that the Liturgy, and in particular the celebration of Holy Mass, should truly be as the Church wishes, according to her stipulations as prescribed in the liturgical books and in the other laws and norms. Likewise, the Catholic people have the right that the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass should be celebrated for them in an integral manner, according to the entire doctrine of the Church’s Magisterium. Finally, it is the Catholic community’s right that the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist should be carried out for it in such a manner that it truly stands out as a sacrament of unity, to the exclusion of all blemishes and actions that might engender divisions and factions in the Church.

Redemptionis Sacramentum 11

But we don't have a right that Bishop's do anything about anything? Do we?

Christ’s faithful have the right that ecclesiastical authority should fully and efficaciously regulate the Sacred Liturgy lest it should ever seem to be “anyone’s private property, whether of the celebrant or of the community in which the mysteries are celebrated”

Redemptionis Sacramentum 18

It is the right of the Christian people themselves that their diocesan Bishop should take care to prevent the occurrence of abuses in ecclesiastical discipline, especially as regards the ministry of the word, the celebration of the sacraments and sacramentals, the worship of God and devotion to the Saints.

Redemptionis Sacramentum 24

Do we have the right to a decent liturgy?

It is the right of the community of Christ’s faithful that especially in the Sunday celebration there should customarily be true and suitable sacred music, and that there should always be an altar, vestments and sacred linens that are dignified, proper, and clean, in accordance with the norms.

Redemptionis Sacramentum 57

All of Christ’s faithful likewise have the right to a celebration of the Eucharist that has been so carefully prepared in all its parts that the word of God is properly and efficaciously proclaimed and explained in it; that the faculty for selecting the liturgical texts and rites is carried out with care according to the norms; and that their faith is duly safeguarded and nourished by the words that are sung in the celebration of the Liturgy.

Redemptionis Sacramentum 58

Any clergy reading?

Have you respected our rights?

Let each one of the sacred ministers ask himself, even with severity, whether he has respected the rights of the lay members of Christ’s faithful, who confidently entrust themselves and their children to him, relying on him to fulfil for the faithful those sacred functions that the Church intends to carry out in celebrating the sacred Liturgy at Christ’s command. For each one should always remember that he is a servant of the Sacred Liturgy.

Redemptionis Sacramentum 186

[Image Source]

Pope Benedict sums up everything that is wrong with the Catholic Church in England and Wales...

In a social milieu that encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises, it is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate.

It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free.

link

In other words... Goodbye Terry Prendergast?

I explained that most young people in Middlesbrough diocese don't know the Our Father in Latin. "Well," he replied. "I think that's very sad if that's the case. It's part of our heritage and I feel very strongly about that."

[link]

He is going to need to feel very strongly if he is going to do anything about it. He is not up against one or two hippy priests, he's up against a cultural phenomena, as Jeffery Tucker describes in his preface to Msgr Marini's address...

Every Catholic has experienced it at some level, that culture of disdain for the past that has afflicted Catholicisim in the postconciliar period. It happens at our parishes, when a special guest lecturer talks about the supposed horrors Catholic school back in the day, or of how ridiculous it was that the Mass was in Latin, that we attempted to sing chant and did it so poorly, or that we went to confession behind a screen. We read about it in our catechetical materials, that contempt for what has gone before in the great age of ignorance and oppression that was finally swept away in the liberating Age of Aquarius. How unfortunate those people were and how fortunate we are in this enlightened age.

Or so we've been taught. So pervasive has this attitude been that we can speak of self-hating Catholics as a widespread cultural phenomenon. Even in our own parishes, the absence of a positive self identity seems almost required as an ground rule for every conversation. "I don't want to go back to the past of course," we are expected to say before adding any critique of the present. This attitude - this hermeneutic of discontinuity, this positing of a great divide between preconciliar and postconcilar faith - has cut us off in a strange way. Wondering used book stores we find pre-1965 books on the faith and read them like relics. We don't recognize the pictures, understand the words, or even see a familiarity in the disciplines then and now.

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You don't fight a culture by quietly pottering away in the Cathedral and making sure Masses there contain the occasional bit of Latin. You fight a culture by doing things openly and publicly in such a way that it becomes a widely known fact that, as Bishop Drainey said to me: "It's part and parcel of being a Latin Rite Catholic to at least know the Our Father or to be able to sing the Creed and the basic things [in Latin]."

Welcome to any new visitors this weekend, especially if you found my link in the Catholic Herald. I'm a 27 year Catholic old young dad of two who goes to Mass every week because he wants to and not just because his wife drags him along, there are about six of us in the whole country - do let me know if you meet any more. I grew up in a Church designed do destroy faith in God and for most of my generation it's worked very well. Fortunately I have a rebelious streak in me and worked things out for myself, not because I'm clever but because like Gandalf, God likes to work with the most unlikely creatures imaginable.

I've been blogging on the state of the Catholic Church in England since 2002 and in that time I've written a lot of stuff. Here are some recent highlights:

On the Sex Abuse Scandals (we've learned nothing)...

• The Catholic Church: A Culture Favourable to Abuse
• How the Catholic Church Creates a Culture which is Favourable to Abuse
• The Sword of Damocles?The Culture of Abuse in the Diocese of Middlesbrough

On Criticising the Clergy (it's okay to do it)...

• Should Catholics criticise priests?
• Pope: Laypeople should shut up, keep their heads down and let the clergy get on with the job...

On Archbishop Nichols (picks on traditionalists, doesn't do his job)...

• Throwing his weight around
• Inexorably Distancing: The Movie
• Turning Their Back on the Church's Ordinary Pattern of Prayer
• A Joke...
• Nobody is going to anything about anything?

On Kieran Conry (The Bishop for Youth)...

• How to avoid the parts of Christianity you don't like: A beginners guide from Bishop Kieran Conry

There's lots, lots more to be found via the Tag Cloud on the left. Try my posts on Bishop Drainey or if you fancy a laugh, Middlesbrough Cathedral.

The best way to keep up to date with the latest goings on is to subscribe to the free email updates or if you are a bit technical, try the RSS Feed

Find an analog watch (the kind with hour and minute hands) that is set accurately. Place it on a level surface, such as the ground, or hold it horizontal in your hand.

Point the hour hand at the sun.

Bisect (that is, find the center point of) the angle between the hour hand and the twelve o'clock mark (the number 12 on the watch). The center of the angle between the hour hand and twelve o'clock mark is the north-south line. If you don't know which way is north and which south, just remember that no matter where you are, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. In the northern hemisphere the sun is due south at midday. If your watch is set to daylight savings time bisect the angle between the hour hand and the one o'clock mark instead.

Further methods (like what to do at night time) are available here

• The fearful task of being a Bishop
• His relationship with the Bishops Conference
• The lack of porridge at World Youth Day
• Signs of traditionalism from Pope Benedict
• Where new Priests are going to come from
• Sex education in schools
• Latin and Gregorian Chant

Plenty of stuff to wave in the face of your parish priest. Especially if you want less porridge in your parish and a bit more Gregorian chant.

Anyways, We've been away on our first family holiday since, well, since we had a family I suppose - that's nearly three years now, scary huh.

We went to Scarborough Castle which is a fantastic ruin, honestly. I spoke to some people from Scarborough and they were all down on the castle "there's not much left, it's okay I suppose" - dudes! Your castle is awesome...

You have beautiful views...

We went for walks. Joanne was loving the old baby back pack...

While Leona was loving the Hermitage. It's not a real Hermitage but a folly carved out on the instruction of a local school teacher...

You can't see Leona in that picture because she is inside the cave. Duh. Ella loved the waterfall itself, Falling Foss...

We visited Helmsley Castle with it's imposing keep...

Then, on the same day we went to Rievaulx Abbey (which is just down the road) and saw the most beautiful Abbey Ruins in the world...

Of course, we went to Whitby as well. While Rievaulx may be the most beautiful, Whitby clearly has the edge when it comes to pure awesomeness.

What else did we do? We visited Fr Massie in his new home (he seems to be settling in nicely) and we also visited the wonderful community at Madonna House in Robin Hood's Bay where they cooked us a great meal. Speaking of food, there's a brilliant indoor market in Scarborough where you buy way too many vegetables and then stop because you think you've spent all the money on enormous carrots, juicy red peppers, a pineapple and a load more besides and then the man says &163;3.50!

All in all, a great week. So, now you know where we've been. More photos here.

Please talk among yourselves...

Why does a lofty Gothic church inspire and a carpeted church with drop ceilings does not?

...

I think a lofty church inspires because there is something sacramental about it. Everything in a gothic church points up. When you enter the heart lifts because the building lifts. The gothic structure of solid stone seems to be made instead of something lighter. The delicate tracery, the pointed arches, the finials and filigree transforms the stone and suddenly I am longing that my heart of stone might be re-made and transformed into a heart of fire and light.

Then as the pointed arches rise I see my hands placed together in prayer like little pointed arches themselves and I want to be a sacrament of stone and light. I want my heart to arch up to heaven and become a temple of the Holy Spirit--a dwelling of peace and beauty that speaks silently of grace and welcomes sinners home.

...

This is why Catholic Churches should be high and clear and beautiful. This is why churches that look like shopping malls or parking garages should be...shopping malls or parking garages.

[link]

The whole thing reminds me of couple of years ago there was a bit of controversy when Manchester Cathedral was used as a setting for a level of a first person shooter video game...

I can't help wondering why the makers of the game didn't choose a more modern Church to appeal to today's youth? Perhaps because they wanted today's youth to be able to easily identify it as a religious building?

By using the St Mary’s Cathedral website you agree to be legally bound by these terms, which shall take effect immediately on your first use of the site. If you do not agree to be legally bound by all the following terms please do not access and/or use the St Mary’s Cathedral website.

[link]

I wonder how you are supposed find out that you disagree with the terms and conditions in order to know not to access the website?

Still, it's probably a step up from our own parish website that still has a photo of our old priest... shame on me.

(I'd better airbush out the altar cross in the photograph as well, the new priest doesn't do that sort of thing)

Maybe I should start listening to music from westerns while I do her hair...?

Play the video twice... How clever is that?

If people really want to be cutting edge in the font department (and I'm not sure I do) they should really get themselves one of these...

If you don't have long, skip to the five minute mark when the gothic arches come in...

I may not have many books, nor much time to read, but, strangled with thoughts, as if with thorns, I come into the common surgery of the soul, the church; the luster of the painting draws me to vision and delights my sight like a meadow and imperceptibly introduces my soul to the glory of God.

I said that it's a good job he didn't live around here because in my view, there is a clear and definite link between the lack of beauty in our Churches and the lack of people. Fr Massie responded to ask "In that case, why aren't most Anglican churches bursting at the seams?"

It's a reasonable question, so I gave him an unreasonable answer and then thought better of it and decided I should probably write this blog entry...

The words of St John of Damascus put me in mind of a passage from GK Chesterton in which he discusses the difficulty most people have in understanding the rational compared with the ease with which they understand the mystical...

...to judge of the aims of a thing like the Salvation Army is very difficult, to judge of their ritual and atmosphere very easy. No one, perhaps, but a sociologist can see whether General Booth’s housing scheme is right. But any healthy person can see that banging brass cymbals together must be right. A page of statistics, a plan of model dwellings, anything which is rational, is always difficult for the lay mind. But the thing which is irrational any one can understand. That is why religion came so early into the world and spread so far, while science came so late into the world and has not spread at all. History unanimously attests the fact that it is only mysticism which stands the smallest chance of being understanded of the people.

[link]

For example, it would take me a very long time to explain to my two year old daughter that it is a very difficult thing to build a huge Cathedral because it requires many people to spend a lot of time planning, understanding physics and architecture, carving stone and so on. At the end when I told her that such things exist she would probably yawn and as me to let her watch a Pingu DVD. She would not be terribly impressed.

But when we went to Beverley and walked around the corner and the great Minster loomed in the sky above her, two towering pillars of golden sandstone in the crisp autumn sun, she stopped in her tracks and said "wow".

Forgive me if I bold my own paragraph but this is important...

Despite the fact that the modernist liberal church prides itself on having broken free of the tedious dry dogma of the past it has in fact achieved the very opposite. It is now in fact, almost impossible to wander in off the street in the middle of a Catholic Mass and say, with all the wisdom of a two year old, "wow".

In order to have a sense of wonder at the Mass now we must go the intellectual route, it is all they have left us. St John of Damascus was without many books but before we can see anything special about the elderly gentleman with the bread and wine we must read many books, listen to talks, go on courses and study our Bible. You will point out that most people don't do that sort of thing, I will point out that most people are not saying "wow" to the Mass.

Trying to get young people to be impressed at the Mass is like trying to get them to be impressed at the technology inside a laptop computer. The fact that entire libraries of information can be stored in a space the size of a pen lid is hardly impressive because it just works. We have done something similar with the Eucharist, we have placed it inside a plastic case and made it a simple matter of pushing a button.

Our liturgy is as impressive to the untrained eye as a beige box with a whirring fan and a small group of excited nerds crowded around it crowing about how much RAM it has.

If the Church is ever to grow beyond a small band of nerdy bookish people it is vital that we re-learn how to speak the language of the soul. We need to make it clear at first sight that this is a thing that is special, holy, important and impressive. It is not enough for the computer scientists to understand that the modern microchip is a marvel of engineering, it is not enough for the theologians to be impressed at the symbolism in the way they have laid the chairs out in a half circle...

This is why things like art and incense, vestments and kneeling are so important, because you don't need to be a technical person to understand.

I am reminded of the time we went with young people to visit the Church with the frescoes in Pickering and more than one of them said "why isn't our Church like that?" Any healthy person can see that a 20ft high painting of St George slaying the dragon must be right. It takes a special kind of madness to think a clever abstract painting that has to be explained is preferable.

So when I say there is a link between the lack of beauty in our churches and the lack of people - this is what I am getting at. We have removed the things that are obviously good and right and left something that only those who are already "in" (or willing to make the effort) can begin to look at and say "this is important", "this means something".

Not long ago on this blog I bemoaned the lack of incense on Christmas day and somebody said in the comments...

Whatever happens in your parish and however discouraged you may be remember the incense is a symbol but Our Lord in the Eucharist is real, despite the faith of the priest confector.

I know that and you know that but unless the signs and symbols and trappings scream out "this is the most important thing in the world" it is unlikely that the bloke down the road who didn't learn to read properly at school and now sits at home all day playing on his PS3 is ever going to work it out.

St. John of Damascus writes...

I may not have many books, nor much time to read, but, strangled with thoughts, as if with thorns, I come into the common surgery of the soul, the church; the luster of the painting draws me to vision and delights my sight like a meadow and imperceptibly introduces my soul to the glory of God. I have seen the perseverance of the martyr, the recompense of the crowns, and as if by fire I am eagerly kindled to zeal, and falling down I venerate God through the martyr and I receive salvation.

[link]

Good job he didn't live around here...

Joking aside, there is a clear and definite link between the lack of beauty in our Churches and the lack of people.

Mullier Fortis cheerfully bangs a few more nails in to the "active participation means we all do something" coffin...

Because, if active participation does mean "we have to do something, preferably on the Sanctuary, but whatever it is, call it a collaborative ministry anyway" then, frankly, the majority of the People of God are not participating, and the circle of "active participants" or "ministers" has merely been changed from "the priest" to "the priest and the few people he has chosen to help."

link

She is writing in response to a new website "standup4vatican2" and frankly she's done such a good job of laying the smackdown on them here and here that there's not much left for anybody else to say.

That said, I can't resist actively participating by sharing this fantastic horror story I found on their website...

Currently we seem to be experiencing a significant growth in the activities of people who would like to take us back to the fifties. They claim that they are seeking to build on the work of Vatican 11. My experience however, suggests that they want to take us back.

In a parish it starts quietly, ministers of the Eucharist are deemed not sufficiently reverent at main services so are relegated to weekday services. Altar rails are introduced and people are encouraged to kneel for Communion. The occasional Mass in Latin is introduced, before long it is included as part of the main services once a month and then more frequently. Before you know it the priest is saying Mass with his back to the people. And so it grows.

All of this without any consultation with the people of the parish who are told when they object “I will not discuss the liturgy”. Is this coming to your parish? It might be and it might be nearer than you think.

[link]

I do hope so...

Which pair of sisters is bigger?

The answer is.... 'Nun' (boom boom), they're in fact the same size!

If you don't believe me, hold a ruler (or a pen or something) against the screen and measure them. Weird huh?

Almost as weird as the word weird. I before E except after W?

As seen on Catholic with Attitude

In that book he writes that...

a common turning to the east during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential. This is not a case of something accidental, but of what is essential. Looking at the priest has no importance.

And he makes a suggestion...

Where a direct common turning toward the east is not possible, the cross can serve as an interior "east" of faith. It should stand in the middle of the altar and be the common point of focus for both priest and praying community.

You can read that full blog entry here but the main point I made is this: That the Pope didn't just suggest this when he was a cardinal, he is doing it now that he is the Pope... Should we not be doing what the Pope is doing?

Last week the Papal MC (the guy looking over the Pope's shoulder in the picture above) gave an address at a clergy conference in Rome. He spoke about a great many things but I've sliced it right down for the lazybones among you... (you should really read the whole thing - it's excellent)

...one conviction has always remained clear within the Christian community, almost down to the present day. I am referring to praying facing east, a tradition which goes back to the origins of Christianity.

...

...we would like to reaffirm that prayer facing east, more specifically, facing the Lord, is a characteristic expression of the authentic spirit of the liturgy.

...

Hence the reason for the proposal made by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, and presently reaffirmed during the course of his pontificate, to place the Crucifix on the center of the altar, in order that all, during the celebration of the liturgy, may concretely face and look upon Lord, in such a way as to orient also their prayer and hearts.

link

There are two highly significant things here. The first being that "prayer facing east, more specifically, facing the Lord, is a characteristic expression of the authentic spirit of the liturgy".

In other words, it's not an optional extra for a small minority of people who happen to like it. It's characteristic. You should be able to see it in most places and if this characteristic expression is missing, there's a good chance your parish priest is missing something in his interpretation of the liturgy.

But even more important is this, that the proposal to place the crucifix in the center of the altar is being presently reaffirmed during the course of his [Pope Benedict's] pontificate.

This leads us to the obvious question...

If the Pope suggested it, and the Pope does it, and the Pope's MC says that the Pope intends to reaffirm it, why don't we do it?

It is because we are deaf?

Mushiness aside, it got me thinking. Not about the video itself but about how lonely I feel as a dad sometimes.

I know three seminarians in their twenties from Hull. Three! They can go down the pub and have seminarian chats together about what it's like being a seminarian.

How many twenty-something Catholic dads do you reckon I know in Hull?

How about NONE?

Okay so there are Polish and Indian Catholics in their twenties with kids, but those three seminarians I know grew up in Hull, we went to the same schools. Where are the Catholic dads that I grew up with? There are none.

Do you still think it's just a priest shortage we need to be worrying about?

I made the Snowgirl...

Ella made the Snowman's best friend...

Tip of the day: Go to a sports shop and shell out a bit extra for some proper ski gloves. Very effective at keeping the hands warm and dry when handling snow and only the fraction of the cost of a Wii game.

I think she did a great job. There are a few more photos here