True Love

This might be slightly odd to post on the cross so soon after Easter, but I really feel it's necessary to comment on something which I think is all to often forgotten in our faith.

Many priests talk about Love and God's love and how this should give us hope and how God is nice and good. But not many talk about the nature of God's love. What do I mean by that?

The Pope the other day as you will see on my Good Friday post, that 'the cross should challenge and question us, because the cross is the true act of Love which is self emptying'. It's an interesting concept that... Self emptying, self denial, to say no to me and yes to God.

Through the cross we understand what it means to Love. Jesus had to die on the cross because 'We' had sinned. He paid the ultimate price which was giving up his own life for us all.

Why did God send his son to the cross? Becuase God loved the world so much that he sent his only son... The Fathers sacrifice of His son and His Son's sacrifice for us show us that when we say 'God loves you' we mean God is willing to give everything for you, willing to die for you, willing to suffer in the most awful way so that you might still share in the New Life of the gospel. That you may one day come to the Kingdom of God, and that you might share in his wonderful gift of Mercy.

We don't mean, that God loves you so you can do whatever you want... Yes, even if you sin God will love you, but you won't be able to reach God unless you repent and unless you allow God to take you where you do not want to go.

Let the cross challenge you, and let it give you hope because ultimately without the cross Jesus could not have saved us. He had to suffer, die and be treated like the worst kind of person, just so that you could have eternal life. And through the cross, death and resurrection we can have that Life and live it abundently.

Pope John Paul II

Karol Józef Wojtyła

Pope John Paul II

18.5.20 - 02.04.05

totus tuus

"i have searched for you, and now you have found me, and I thank you"

Are there any limits today?

I got this from the Orthfully Catholic blog, but I felt the need to comment on it. First of all the story itself...

The Times Thursday March 27 2008, p43'Married man who used to be a woman is pregnant with a baby girl'Who says fatherhood is being made redundant? When it becomes totally unnecessary for men to be present at the conception of a child he will simply carry the child for his infertile wife.

This is a report discovered by James Bone proudly printed in The Advocate an American gay magazine. Tracy Lagondino had a sex change and became Thomas Beatie, married Nancy who was rendered infertile by a hysterectomy operation 8 years ago so, still having 'his' womb and ovaries Thomas inseminated himself and became pregnant with triplets. The pregnancy was ectopic and he lost them with his right fallopian tube.

He tried again and is now 22 weeks pregnant with a baby girl. The insemination had to be done at home as they couldn't find a doctor who would help them due to religious reasons.

I'm rather sickened by this article. This is a classic, albeit extreame example of the moral relativism we find ourselves in today.

Where does it ever end? What are the moral limits? This is also a complete disregard for the welfare of the child. Imagine asking Daddy where babies come from... That would be a fantastic birds and the bee's talk to hear.

The body is the revelation of the person... Nuff said.

We are all sinners!

On Good Friday, the Holy Father seemed to shock the Catholic world by appearing in a fiddleback... Most were pleased, some rainbow loving Von Harnack Fans weren't to happy at all. But it was rather sad that nobody really picked up on what the Holy Father actually said.

A while ago, I had a conversation with a friend about contraception. She was formed in a time were most priests were telling people that contraception was fine. 'It's your own conscience'. When I mentioned to her about contraception being wrong, she said that I was implying she was a sinner and she thought she was a good person, who wouldn't be judged for being sensible for family planning.

When Pope Benedict spoke on Good Friday, he was talking about how Christ challenges human certainties. He spoke of how Our Lords death on the Cross should question us and challenge us. That those who seek only Love and Libery that exclude God cannot allow the Cross to question us, because we don't understand the meaning of self emptying love such as that demonstrated on the Cross.

Jesus is, as the pope described Jesus as the truth that makes us free to Love. 'Let us not be afraid' was the banner of the Gospel and of John Paul II, and our Holy Father Pope Benedict used that banner so well when he said:

'Let us not be afraid. Upon dying the Lord destroyed death and saved sinners, that is us all'

The reality is, nice person or not, we all have the tendancy to sin. Thus we are all in need of God's grace and His guidance not our own. The Bishops of the Phillipines said sorry to their people because they had let them be formed in their own consciences, without realising that their consciences had to be formed by God, not by themselves.

Let's take the challenge and the question of the Cross seriously, that event was all for us; because nice man or not, we are all sinners and we all are in need of the Lord and his merciful Love.

Nothing is impossible to God

In 1992, a young man struggeling to know what to do with his life decided with his brother to take aid to Bonsnia. When he came back, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, decided to take a year off and drive aid to the Balkans; that year he made 21 journeys alone.

The fruit of this work is Scottish International Relief or SIR. Through the Mary's Meals Project Magnus and his team feed over 300,000 children every single day.

SIR works with some of the world’s poorest people and children whether providing family-type homes for abandoned children in Romania or through the ground-breaking Mary’s Meals project that is now feeding 100,000 children daily at school in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

You can read more about SIR and their history and the amazing storys all shared at www.sircharity.org.

This was born of one simple act of faith, by simply listening and responding to the will of the Lord, and staying close to Our Mother, Mary. Nothing like a good bit of inspiration to keep us going when it all seems a bit daunting.

Blog Gap

Just to let you know that there might be a blog gap of a day or so whilst I get everything moved down to Suffolk... Please pray for me and for my work here.

Oremus pro Invicem!

A word from a Father

I had some spare time this evening and I thought I'd use it wisely by having a look at what the Pope has been saying over easter.

I'm a real fan of the Pope... Not just because he's the Pope, as a Catholic I would always have a special reverance to those God chooses in the Petrine Ministry; no i'm a fan because the Pope is such a Father and he writes in a way which moves me in my inner most being.

I have most of his works in my collection and at times I'm moved to tears because of the way he describes Jesus. He brings the Word of God alive in his theology and you can clearly see why our Holy Father values beauty in the liturgy... He certainly gives us beautiful theology.

You can read his homily here http://www.zenit.org/article-22144?l=english

So in the words of Fr Stan, if you've not got it, get it... If you've not read it, read it... And if you've read it, then read it again!

Here is just a little taster!

We must not allow this light of truth, that shows us the path, to be extinguished. We must protect it from all the forces that seek to eliminate it so as to cast us back into darkness regarding God and ourselves. Darkness, at times, can seem comfortable. I can hide, and spend my life asleep. Yet we are not called to darkness, but to light. In our baptismal promises, we rekindle this light, so to speak, year by year. Yes, I believe that the world and my life are not the product of chance, but of eternal Reason and eternal Love, they are created by Almighty God. Yes, I believe that in Jesus Christ, in his incarnation, in his Cross and resurrection, the face of God has been revealed; that in him, God is present in our midst, he unites us and leads us towards our goal, towards eternal Love.