The Communion of Saints

I've always been Catholic but rarely any good at it. Acknowledging the faith - giving intellectual assent - comes easy to me but believing in it, that is, actually living it, has often eluded me. 

The Communion of Saints is a good example of something that I've always believed but rarely practised (apart from the rosary and formal prayers to saints).

I've probably spent more time arguing that it's OK to ask the saints to pray for us than actually doing so. 

This changed in October 2007. I had booked a holiday in Venice in Italy - I was meant to go with someone else but due to circumstances I ended up going alone. This was one of the most difficult periods of my life. 

The beauty of the City captivated me - it gave me a sense of deep lonliness and yet deep joy. I was in the Piazza San Marco, all alone on my birthday and looked ahead to the Basilica of Saint Mark. 

I looked up and felt called to ask Saint Mark to pray for me.  I then had a sense of peace and an awareness of what he had suffered to bring the Gospel to others. This gave me courage. 

Later during that trip, visiting the beautiful church named Santa Maria della Salute, I looked up before entering and asked our Mother to pray for me and to give me health.  

When I walked inside, I prayed asking each of the saints to pray with and for me.  Inside I found a painting which I guessed was Saint Mark - I also recognised Saint Sebastian and asked him to pray for me. 

I had no idea who the other saints were but asked them to pray for me too. Little did I know that one of them was my patron, Saint Damian*, along with others. I then later walked through streets named after saints and again asked their intercession. 

My experience of the Communion of saints at one of the toughest times in my life gave me a great sense of not being alone but part of something bigger than myself. It was an insight into how amazing it is to be Catholic - part of something truly universal - the Church Militant that exists on earth, the Church Suffering in purgatory - those being cleansed for eternity and the Church Triumphant - those saints in heaven itself. 

*St Damian is actually my patron saint's patron saint but I'll take as many prayers as I can get. 

Why Catholics should all become evangelicals

The purpose of the Church is to evangelise. We do not exist to make each other feel nice, have a hug on Sunday morning or to dress up on Sundays and and make polite conversation. 

The boxer, Manny Pacquaio from the Philippines tells the story of how he deepened his commitment to Jesus Christ and how his life was transformed. 

He used to lie, cheat and get drunk and he now loves Jesus and puts Him first. 

Unfortunately, Manny didn't seem to hear the message of salvation at his Catholic Church but from a Protestant pastor. I would not like to judge the parish he used to attend, but did the priest or fellow parishioners challenge him about his lifestyle? Did they preach about the four last things? Did he ever hear a sermon about death, judgement, heaven and Hell?

Sadly, all too often the saving Gospel of Christ is reduced to meaningless niceties:  "You're not ok, that's ok."  "Everyone come up to Communion in rows and have the special bread."  "We don't talk about the devil or confession or salvation anymore."

The Church exists for salvation and outside of Christ and His Church there is no salvation. There is a Heaven, there is a Hell. Unless we all become evangelicals - in the proper sense of the word - then our churches will be emptied and should lost. 

It would be wonderful if all of us - very much myself included - could witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ in our families, our workplaces and yes, our churches so that when Catholics hear that Jesus Christ died and rose again to save them from sin and death, it won't come as a surprise. 

Jesus, Mary and Joseph

We named our son Joseph because we want him to love Jesus and Mary. This morning I took my 15 month son to Mass and we did our usual ritual of saying a Hail Mary at Our Lady's statue, praying briefly in front of the Blessed Sacrament and doing a toddler version of the Stations of the Cross where he points and I tell him, "Jesus loves you."

It's both a privilege and an honour to raise a child as a Catholic Christian but hoping that these little rituals help to give him hints of the Faith at an early age. 

On the way to Mass we passed an evangelical church and he points at the cross and said "Jesus". Each time he sees a cross, I tell him that Jesus loves him. Of course he won't understand the concept of sin and redemption at an early age but why not share the good news in any case?

My proudest moments this morning though were when he dipped his hand in the holy water and touched his forehead (has to start somewhere) and when I held him as we knelt down for the Eucharistic Prayer and he actually genuflected!

As Christians we are commanded to evangelise. The family is a good place to start. 

Speaking of grace with Baptists

I was asked recently to speak at a lunch in Hong Kong - a Baptist evangelical outreach to non Christians and those who need encouragement in their faith. 

As the time of my talk approached I felt a little nervous. Did they know I'm Catholic?  Would I be booed off the stage or would there be awkward questions as to whether I would renounce propery and accept salvation?

My fears were unfounded. I began by asking prayers of all present and I didn't hide the fact I'm Catholic - quoting heroes from Saint Jerome to others who in more recent years inspired me such as Fr Hilary Carter, an Assumptionist priest in the parish I grew up in and Fr Allen Morris who was my tutor in seminary at Allen Hall. 

It shouldn't amaze me but we asked the Holy Spirit to come and He did. I had baptists telling me that they had experienced and encountered grace in a powerful way and me, a Catholic, felt a little ashamed at by fears beforehand. 

False ecumenism is sometimes about ignoring truth but true unity has to be based on truth and witness combined with love. Every story I shared was summarised by biblical quotations to emphasise the points made. 

My main focus of my talk was to share what the bible teaches us about grace and then to invite people to allow their lives to be transformed by grace. As always when I'm asked to speak to a Christian group, the main person I'm speaking to is myself. 

10 Reasons I'm proud to be Catholic

There is a good friend of mine, an evangelical Christian who asked me to share with him why I am Catholic and so I am sharing ten reasons I'm proud to be Catholic:

1. Jesus Christ. 

Our Lord, Jesus loved the Catholic Church so much that He gave His life for her. She is His creation, His bride, the one for whom He paid the ultimate price. If our savour loves her and sacrificed Himself for her, how can I not?

2.  The Bible

The Catholic Church isn't just a Bible believing church but THE Bible compiling Church. It was the Catholic Church that wrote the New Testament, protected those books of the Old Testament that those who didn't accept Christ wished to do away with and decided which books did or did not belong to the New Testament  

The scriptures were lovingly copied (by hand) century after century and the Church loved the Bible sufficiently to stop bastardised translations being produced that would contaminate the Word. The sacraments, which all preceded the Bible, are rich in scripture and the Mass itself (in each of it's 23+ rites) is rich in biblical readings, quotations and allusions. 

3.  The Crusades

It is fashionable to criticise the crusader movement today and historians rightly point out that there could be greed and excesses as well as scandals such as the horrific sacking of Constantinople BUT in their purest form they represent Christ's people sacrificing themselves for the weak and innocent - the pilgrims who wished to worship in peace in Jerusalem. In a world where men often fail to be manly and sit by when the weak are oppressed it is wonderful to think of a time when men would, like Christ, sacrifice themselves for others. 

4.  The sinners and the saints. 

Oscar Wilde once said that: "The Catholic Church is for saints and sinners, for respectable people, the Anglican church will do."  Apart from Christ Himself and His Mother, every Catholic  was and is a sinner.  We recognise our faults and rather than wallowing in guilt we turn to Christ and His Church and seek forgiveness - in baptism and after this, in the sacrament of Reconciliation. So called "Catholic guilt" should be renamed, "cafeteria catholic guilt" - a true Catholic will experience joy (not always happiness) in being forgiven and reconciled. 

5. Confession

Having already alluded to this - the sacrament of Reconciliation, Penance, Confession is a powerful experience of grace that Christ is longing to bring to us. He is waiting for us patiently - why would we leave it a whole month when we are able to enter into deeper relationship with Christ and His Church?  I accept that we can be forgiven by God directly when we confess to Him directly with perfect contrition but our sins harm His body too and so we need reconciliation to the Church.  

6.  The Eucharist

The Mass may seem boring or irrelevant to many people but this is because they may well not have realised that they are present at the Sacrifice of Calvary and, if in a state of grace, able to be consumed by the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord and saviour. 

Sometimes in Hong Kong I haven't been able to attend my usual church and some people were amazed I would go to Mass in Cantonese. I didn't understand the words but surely these are secondary to the miracle taking place here. Unless the Mass is in the older form of the Roman rite, I rarely "get anything out of it" in terms of spiritual uplift but this isn't what is most important. 

7.  Tradition and continuity

It is amazing to think that the Catholic Church existed at the time of the Roman Empire which killed it's sacred Founder and tried to stamp it out and exists to this day. So many empires, kingdoms and secular republics have fought it from Nero to Bismark, from the Saracens to the Obama regime and yet it has survived and will survive all. 

8.  In recent years

There are many reasons we could have doom and gloom about life in general and the Church but I see many signs of grace and hope - we have just a click away on our iPhones and computers wonderful prophetic documents such as Humanae Vitae by Pope Paul VI expounding his wonderful teaching on human life. There are documents such as Veritatis Splendor by Blessed John-Paul II and the wonderful encyclicals by Emeritus Pope Benedict on love and hope and with Pope Francis on faith. We just always remember that our faith is in Christ and He is our saviour and our hope. 

9.  Science. 

The Catholic Church is a protector and supporter of science and always has been. Its monasteries were staffed with monks who preserved and encouraged learning. Some of the greatest scientists of all time have been Catholic priests and the Church has never insisted on a readong of scripture that would undermine true scientific discovery. In fact the current Pope Francis is himself a scientist and there is no contradiction - as Faith reveals eternal Truth, science seeks material truth. 

10.  Beer

Although not strictly compulsory for Catholics the Church has had a long history of brewing and blessing beer and sanctioning it's consumption in moderation. Many of the ancient inns of England were built by churches and named after biblical or sacred events. The "salutation" inn for example would nowadays show a dour faced soldier saluting another it originally referred to the annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Beer is even today produced at Ampleforth Abbey, following in great monastic tradition and the older form of blessings, before Vatican II, specifically contains a blessing of beer. 

Reflections on my son's baptism

My son has become a born again Christian in a Bible believing Church - that's right he was baptised in the older form of the Roman Rite as a Catholic at 22 days old. 

The anniversary of the date my son was baptised will always be a sacred day in my family. It was a wonderful coincidence that the Gospel reading at our traditional, Latin Mass on that day, the fourth Sunday in Advent, spoke of the baptism of John the Baptist and that the "O Antiphon" for the day was "O Rex Gentium" on the day he was adopted into Christ's Royal Family. 

I was reflecting on what message to share with him today and to remind him of every time this anniversary comes around:

"My son, my prayer for you is that as you grow you will seek Our Lord with your whole mind, heart and soul and commit your life to Him and love His Church. May you gradually understand what Christ did for you on the cross and respond by being gracious, forgiving others and accepting forgiveness when you fall.  Your mother and I love you very much and we always will but His love is so much greater. Trust in Christ and allow Him to transform you daily. Amen"

I pray that he will always treasure Christ as St Joseph treasured Him and will love the Blessed Virgin Mary too as his patron did and still does.  My prayer that he will always love the Catholic Church, His bride for whom He gave up His life. Please say a quick prayer for my son and for my family at this most joyful time. 

"Think about such things"

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." - Philippians 4:4-8

If you had spoken to me six years ago about the power of positive thinking I might have thought you were a new ager with a naive and unrealistic view of life.  St Paul's words to the Philippians however show that focusing our mind on what is pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy is not only a good thing but thoroughly Christian.

There are a number of Catholic writers whose orthodox, traditionally minded views I share but I am repulsed by some of the venom they hurl upon other people.  Rather than stating the truth with kindness they hurl ad hominem insults, attack swathes of people and fire denunciations before understanding what another person is trying to say.

I was recently looking at some Catholic blogs and they were criticising the Pope, not for what he has said but because of what other people said he had said based on second hand reporting.  They were attacking the Pope for courting popularity and presuming to understand his motivations for his recent interview - and thinking the worst.  

The writers didn't ask others to pray for him or suggest any practical course of action but left me feeling irritated and downcast. Perhaps if Pope Francis' detractors spent as much time in prayer as he does (including an hour's adoration of the Blessed Sacrament daily) they would experience - and exude more joy.

In this blog I am determined to focus on what is true, noble and admirable and seek to encourage rather than condemn.  This is not due to naivety but heeding the words of St Paul.   Where I disagree with others, I seek to bear in mind the words of Saint Augustine:

“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”

"Francis, rebuild my Church!"

Pope Francis' election by the College of Cardinals last week has sent shockwaves around the world.

The media seem to love him - although the bigoted Guardian, of course, tried to spread, discredited lies about him, but the consensus seems to be that he is loved for his simplicity, humility and sense of humour.

Now that it has been confirmed that he took his name after Saint Francis of Assisi, it brings to mind not only St Francis' poverty and love for peace and the environment but also the words he felt Christ speaking to him, "Francis, rebuild My Church!"

Let's pray that with the Saint's intercession he might help reform the Church and evangelise the world.

A radical new Pope?

Over the last few weeks the media has been buzzing with bizarre ideas about what a new Pope could do.

The fact is - a new Pope can NEVER change the dogma of the Catholic Church as he simply wouldn't have the authority. The Church will never change its mind about the immaculate conception, women priests, the sanctity of human life or the number of Persons in the Trinity.

What the new Pope could do however is make truly radical changes in policies in other areas such as social justice, the liturgy and clerical abuse.

In the unlikely event a radical new Pope were to read this, here are my suggestions:

Social Justice: If the church wants to truly show that it's on the side of the weakest members of society how about amending canon law to impose an automatic excommunication on anyone who votes to destroy innocent lives? Whether abortion, euthanasia or an immoral, unjust war those who use their power to kill the innocent could be resisted.

Liturgy: The Second Vatican Council refers to all of the faithful as the pilgrim People of God. A powerful way of demonstrating this would be for the priest to celebrate Mass facing the same direction as the people (except on those few occasions he is addressing them). This would focus our hearts and minds on Christ and His sacrificial love for us and not the person of the priest.

Abuse: The new Pope could "invite" all bishops who have abused their position by cosying up to anti-life politicians or covered up child abuse to retire to a life of prayer and penance. Any who are even suspected of breaking the law should be reported immediately to the police.

Now let's pray.

Benedict XVI - the most inspiring Pope in my lifetime

Having lived through four Popes in my lifetime, two of which I can barely remember, there is no doubting that  for me personally the current one has inspired me most.

I am only just about getting over the shock of hearing that our beloved Pope, Benedict XVI, is to resign. My thoughts and feelings have included not only shock, surprise, sadness but also joy that he will, God willing, have some peace in his final days (let's hope years).  Pope Benedict XVI has in many ways, been a Pope of surprises right up until the end including his resignation.

He chose a name honouring a predecessor from before the Second Vatican Council - which in itself was a sign that he is someone truly aware of the hermeneutic of continuity of the Catholic Church before, during and after the Council.  This choice of name, choosing to honour a predecessor who was a man of peace undermined the idiocies of those who either think that nothing good happened before the Council or nothing good happened afterwards.

Pope Benedict's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est reinforced the core of the Gospel message opening with the words, 'God is Love.'  All of his writings have been Christ-centred - including his series on Jesus of Nazareth - and bring our focus on the core of the Gospel message.

As an Englishman, albeit one living in Hong Kong, I shall never forget the first ever State Visit of a Pope to the UK.  The site of him speaking in Westminster Hall, where St Thomas More was condemned to death reminding us that the church and state can work together for the common good.

The media, including some that are nominally Catholic, have sometimes accused the current Pope of persecuting nuns in the USA.  The truth, as Fr Z reminds us, is that some, let's hope a minority, of religious sisters in the US have moved very far away from Catholic teaching with some opposing the sanctity of life and others openly saying that they have moved beyond Christ.  It is right to at least investigate and take action where necessary.

Pope Benedict's outreach to Anglicans who wish to become Catholic but without losing the beauty of their own liturgical and cultural traditions was a stroke of genius.  Others may talk about Christian unity but he helped deliver it in this way.

One of Pope Benedict's decisions that affected me most personally was his decision to liberate the traditional Latin Mass, which as he pointed out hadn't been abolished anyway.  The beautiful, Christ-centred nature of the extraordinary form of the Mass transcends cultures, reaches across divides of time and language and focuses our attention on the tabernacle and cross rather than the priest. My wife-to-be, a non-denominational Christian at the time, accompanied me to a Latin Mass in Hong Kong before we got married and said that this was a key factor in her understanding of what the Eucharist really means.

It may seem ironic but a Pope accused by the ignorant of being an arch-conservative was in fact, perhaps one of the greatest defenders of Vatican II.  As recently reported in the Catholic Herald, he has defended the true meaning of  the Council against those who have consistently tried to undermine it - including those who hate all things truly Catholic and false traditionalists who object to its authentic teaching.

Let us thank God for Pope Benedict and pray for him as he retires in a few days time.  We cannot understand the pressures that are upon him and we do not know the extent to which he is suffering.  May our Father in heaven give him peace and comfort and may the prayers of our heavenly mother be with him.

Good News

Almost two years ago (on the feast of the Holy Rosary no less in 2010) I had the idea of a Catholic Social group in the city in which I live.

I had lived there for over a year and met some great people at my church but the sheer volume of numbers of people teeming into Mass on a Sunday meant that it was not always easy to get to know people personally to socialise and pray with them.

Inspired partly by Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati I had a vision of groups of people engaging in activities such as hiking, cycling, grabbing dinner together etc where we could enjoy each other's company, meet others of the same beliefs and pray for each other.

Many, many people told me that this wouldn't work. One lady invited herself on a hike I organised and told me I shouldn't suggest prayers in case it offended people - I invited her not to come along! Other people said that I shouldn't organise regular meals as it would be too much for people and others said they'd come along but wouldn't co-operate.  They too had to be invited not to come along.

Fortunately, encouraged by a few people including my amazing wife-to-be, this took off and over the last couple of years I have seen God cement friendships, increase people's faith and see Catholics - and other Christians - get together regularly to share a meal, read and reflect on the scriptures together and intercede for one another.

It is easy to be negative - but I have seen what a difference God can make in our lives when we refuse to listen to those who undermine us but press on and do our best to co-operate with him.

How to protect the flock?

Following on from my last post about sheep stealing I wished to share what I believe are vital ways to protect the flock from being poached by others.

At Mass today, the priest spoke gently and kindly, explaining the faith with a sincerity that leads to understanding.  At Mass today no one could doubt the reverence, joy, orthodoxy and integrity of the priest and others present.  The Mass was in the Ordinary Form, in English, but there was reverence and joy.  The parish is clearly one that takes social justice seriously, with prayers for the poor and needy but not forgetting the widespread crimes against the unborn condemned so strongly in Vatican II - i.e. abortion, as well as euthanasia.

My wife and I are new to this parish but every time we attend Mass here we have been treated with respect and kindness.  When I went to see the priest the other day, he greeted me wearing clerical dress and was not ashamed of this witness to our faith.  He was kind, listened and prayed with me.

Throughout my life I have noticed that in many cases two things seem to go together - orthodoxy and kindness.  The priests and other members of the church who are faithful to Christ in what they teach are also so very often the kindest and most genuine in the way they behave.

As a child I remember being laughed at scornfully by a catechist who in the "spirit of Vatican II" (itself nothing to do with Vatican II) mocked me for suggesting that the 'special bread' we were to have at our community meal (by which she meant the sacrifice of the Mass) might actually be the Body of Christ.  It was only because of the kindness and orthodoxy of my parents and a minority of others that I was to be taught the true faith. How can we be surprised when droves of people leave our Church if we are afraid to teach the Truth?

A remedy for sheep being stolen or simply limping off into the wilderness?  Orthodoxy and kindness.

The irony of the sheep stealers

One of my passions is ecumenism - built on a belief that all followers of Christ have so much in common that we should celebrate this and pray, evangelise and work together for unity in love.  The sad truth that often strikes me though is that some Christians use inter-denominational events to entice and convert people from one denomination to another.

I know a number of friends and acquaintances brought up in the Catholic faith but due to poor teaching never knew the truth and beauty of the Faith.  Sheep stealers are those who will undermine the Catholic Faith of those they meet and seek to convert them to a denomination instead.  

 The sheep stealers seem to be consistent in the following steps:

1.  They will ingratiate themselves with Catholics and be friendly to them but start subtly undermining their faith - ridiculing aspects of faith that they disagree with.  The sheep stealers will almost always claim that the Catholic Church hates scripture and is just interested in money.  Quite rightly - most people of goodwill will realise that this is not the way a true Christian Church would behave.

2.  The next ploy is to invite Catholics to their places of worship where they are told that Catholicism is about guilt and they instead preach freedom. They will be introduced to people who say they were "raised Catholic, but found Christ." - quite often they will be people who were simply nominal Catholics, went to a Catholic School or happen to have had Irish or Italian parents and the odd religious image in their home.

3.  Thirdly they will be invited to "be baptised" regardless of whether they are already baptised or not or perhaps to sign a form professing their membership of a particular church.  They will of course also be invited to take part in various courses and made to feel more and more part of their new spiritual home.

4.  It is only when the Catholic is firmly an ex-Catholic that they are then introduced to the importance of parting with as much of their money as possible to their newly found church and how God will bless them so much for this.  

The irony of those people who have left the Catholic Church for another "bible believing church" is that they have left an organisation that compiled and wrote the Bible and uses scripture as the greater part of the Mass for assemblies that on the whole have nothing more than one or two verses of the Bible and a lot of one person's interpretation of it.

The greater irony is that having been told that the Catholic Church is rich and obsessed with money they may end up in a community that spends  more time asking for money than it does on proclaiming scripture.  

Let us pray for genuine Christian unity and protection against those that would undermine Christ's Church.