• The Crucifix Prayer

    Blessed are you, Lord God,
    Father all-holy,
    for your boundless love
    The tree, once the source of shame
    and death for humankind,
    has become the cross
    of our redemption and life.

    When his hour had come to
    return to you in glory,
    the Lord Jesus,
    Our King, our Priest, and our Teacher,
    freely mounted the scaffold of the cross
    and made it his royal throne,
    his altar of sacrifice, his pulpit of truth.

    On the cross,
    lifted above the earth,
    he triumphed over our age-old enemy.
    Cloaked in his own blood,
    he drew all things to himself.

    On the cross,
    he opened out his arms
    and offered you his life;
    the sacrifice of the New Law
    that gives to the sacraments
    their saving power.

    On the cross,
    he proved what he had prophesied:
    the grain of wheat must die
    to bring forth an abundant harvest.

    Father,
    we honour this cross as the sign
    of our redemption.
    May we reap the harvest of salvation
    planted in pain by Christ Jesus.
    May our sins be nailed to his cross,
    the power of life released,
    pride conquered,
    and weakness turned to strength.

    May the cross be our comfort in trouble,
    our refuge in the face of danger,
    our safeguard on life’s journey
    until you welcome us to
    our heavenly home.

    Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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  • The Prayer of St. Ephrem

    {Making a prostration}

    O LORD, Master of my life,
    grant that I may not be infected with the
    spirit of slothfulness and inquisitiveness,
    with the spirit of ambition and vain talking.

    {Making a prostration}

    Grant instead to me, your servant,
    the spirit of purity and of humility,
    the spirit of patience and neighborly love.

    {Making a third prostration}

    O Lord and King,
    grant me the grace of being aware of my sins
    and of not thinking evil of those of my brethren.
    For you are blessed, now and ever, and forever.

    Amen.

    Lord Jesus Christ, King of Kings,
    You have power over life and death.
    You know what is secret and hidden,
    and neither our thoughts nor our feelings
    are concealed from You.
    Cure me of duplicity;
    I have done evil before You.
    Now my life declines from day to day
    and my sins increase.
    O Lord, God of souls and bodies,
    You know the extreme frailty of my soul and my flesh.
    Grant me strength in my weakness, O Lord,
    and sustain me in my misery.
    Give me a grateful soul that I may
    never cease to recall Your benefits,
    O Lord most bountiful.
    Be not mindful of my many sins,
    but forgive me all my misdeeds.
    O Lord, disdain not my prayer –
    the prayer of a wretched sinner;
    sustain me with Your grace until the end,
    that it may protect me as in the past.
    It is Your grace which has taught me wisdom;
    blessed are they who follow her ways,
    for they shall receive the crown of glory.
    In spite of my unworthiness,
    I praise You and I glorify You,
    O Lord, for Your mercy to me is without limit.
    You have been my help and my protection.
    May the name of Your majesty be praised forever.
    To you, our God, be glory.
    Amen.

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  • PWJ: S4E103 – Bonus – “Season Finale” (Part 2)

    David, Andrew, and Matt wrap up Season 4 with the Season Finale. This is Part 2 of that Finale. Listener Survey: https://forms.gle/X4zq7Uk69KmYo1v3A

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  • PWJ: S4E102 – Bonus – “Season Finale” (Part 1)

    David, Andrew, and Matt wrap up Season 4 with the Season Finale. This is Part 1…

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  • PWJ: S4E101 – Bonus – “Jack vs Tollers”

    After the previously-planned interview fell through at the last minute, David sat down to record a solo episode to talk about his newborn son, Sidecar Day, blue flowers in Narnia, and also to make his tongue-in-cheek case as to why C.S. Lewis is better than J.R.R. Tolkien.

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  • PWJ: S4E100 – AH – “After Hours” with The Gray Havens

    The Gray Havens are an American Christian folk pop husband and wife duo, David and Licia Radford, from Crystal Lake, Illinois. On October 8th they will be releasing their new album, Blue Flower, so David Radford came on the show to talk to Andrew and David about how C.S. Lewis inspired their recent work.

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  • PWJ: S4E99 – AH – “After Hours” with Mike “Gomer” Gormley

    As we approach the end of Season 4, David is joined on the show by Michael “Gomer” Gormley. Among other things, they discuss Ted Lasso, tea, and the Atonement. Also, find out what Gomer would do if he ever became the Pope!

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  • PWJ: S4E98 – AH – “After Hours” with Patti Callahan

    New York Times bestselling author, Patti Callahan, returns to the show to talk about her forthcoming book, “Once Upon A Wardrobe”, which will be released on October 19th.

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  • PWJ: S4E97 – AH – “After Hours” with The Tolkien Road

    A few months ago, John and Greta from The Tolkien Road podcast did a series of episodes on religion in Tolkien’s Legendarium. David invited him onto the show to talk about those episodes and to encourage the Pints With Jack listeners to listen to them.

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  • PWJ: S4E96 – AH – “After Hours” with Rod Bennett

    Author Rod Bennett joined David to talk about a presentation on he gave at a big Christian rock festival about C.S. Lewis’ relationship to “Pulp Fiction”.

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Wise Words On Wednesday: Time Restrictions

“Time makes the combination of pleasures impossible. Because we live in time we cannot simultaneously listen to Cicero, Demosthenes and Bossuet; because the clock of our life is wound but only once, we cannot at one and the same moment enjoy the snow of the Alps and the refreshing  sunshine of the highlands of Kenya; because the heart beats out the lease on life, one cannot, despite the advertisements ‘dine and dance’ at one and the same time” – Archbishop Fulton Sheen

Friday Frivolity: Excommunicating The Pope

A few days ago, there was an article over at Shameless Popery which asked the question What if a Bishop (or the Pope) is Morally Wrong?  It was a superb blog entry, up to Joe’s usual high standard. If you haven’t read it, you really should… you are subscribed to Shameless Popery right?!

I’ve often come across Protestants who think that the Catholic Doctrine of Papal Infallibility means that every word that comes out of the mouth of the Pope is 100% true and orthodox. This is not true! Joe’s article explains this in more detail and looks specifically at an example from the life of Pope John XXII.

When I read the article I had flashbacks to a YouTube video I stumbled upon a while ago so I went and dug it out again. I feel a little bad for posting this for Friday Frivolity, but there are so many things in this video which are just so…so….well, watch it….you’ll see…

If that’s not enough for you today, I’d suggest you go watch the “Pope Michael” documentary

Sunday Lectionary: Arise and shine!

4th Sunday of Lent, 18th March 2012

In our First Reading last week we read about the giving of the Ten Commandments and this week we continue our Lenten tour through the high points of Old Testament Salvation History.

Our First Reading begins on a rather somber note. The Kingdom of Judah had abandoned God’s Law and, as a result, the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed and the people led into captivity. All of God’s promises to King David seemed to be lost! We hear the people’s song of lament in today’s Psalm.

However, because of God’s mercy and through His divine providence, the pagan King Cyrus decides to grant the Jews their freedom, releasing them from bondage.

In the light of the New Testament, we know that God’s promises to King David were not forgotten, but that they all found their fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth, both Son of David and Son of God! The freedom granted to God’s people by King Cyrus was simply a foreshadowing of Jesus’ work of salvation. It is through the King of Kings that we are released from the bondage of death and brought to new life.

In our Second Reading, St. Paul tells use that because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, [He] brought us to life with Christ”.  These words of St. Paul are themselves only an echo of the Master’s teaching. In this week’s Gospel Reading, during His discourse with Nicodemus, Jesus reveals the heart of the Father: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

Full of confidence, therefore, in God’s mercy and love, let us approach this week’s Eucharistic liturgy with the joy of those who have been granted new life 🙂

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