Tag: featured

Smelling the conciliar coffee

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coffee Since this Year of Faith marks the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, I’d like to publish more posts concerning the Council this year.

Today I would like to share a little anecdote concerning the Council I came across in Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s autobiography, Treasure In Clay:

“Under the two great tiers which seated about 1,200 bishops on each side of the basilica, there were two coffee bars. It was not long before the Fathers found names for them. One was called Bar-Jona, which was part of the Hebrew name for St. Peter” – Fulton Sheen, Treasure In Clay, Page 302

How adorable is that?! Archbishop Sheen later writes that there was a lot of humour at the Council and that there were little poems written and passed around throughout the gathering. At the close of the Council, Bishop John P. O’Loughlin wrote the following:

As we bishops depart from old Roma
We can proudly display our disploma
     At the Council’s finale
     We say “buon natale”
And “goodbye” to Bar-Jona’s aroma

Five (hundred) Gold Rings!

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barnyDuring this Advent and Christmas season, everyone became engaged or got married.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration…but only a bit! Seriously, there were a lot of engagements. It seemed like every day Facebook was announcing yet another one. During one particular twenty-four hour period, four new engagements were announced!

All this is wonderful news, of course. It’s great to see so many of my male friends, both in America and England, manning up, getting down on one knee and popping the question. For the last few weeks my News Stream has been filled with lots of happy pictures 🙂

As the number of engagements and weddings increased I thought about doing something here on the blog to mark the occasion. I’ve written a little bit about marriage before, but mainly focusing on the theological dimension and the exhortations of the Early Church Fathers. This time I wanted to share something of value concerning the day-to-day life in a Christian marriage, some advice on how to lead one another to Heaven and to keep God at the centre of the marriage as the “third strand”.

However, given that I’m not married myself, I don’t think I’m really in a position to give this advice! So I’ve decided to outsource this post, turning it over to my friends who are already married! I am also going to email my married friends and ask them this question:

As a Christian spouse, what piece of advice would you give all my friends who are committing to marriage?

Please comment below…

UPDATE: I put all the advice together into this post here, Wise Words for Newlyweds.

2013 Resolutions

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The other day I did a review of my 2012 Resolutions and it’s now time to write some for 2013!

Resolution #1. Go dancing at least once a week.
Last year one of my less successful resolutions was to dance “more”. This year I’ve decided to continue the resolution, but this time be a bit more specific. I have to go somewhere at least once every seven days.

Resolution #2. Check bank statements once a week.
Like the entry above, this is a resolution carried over from 2012 which has been made a bit more concrete in an attempt to force me to do it properly. Last year I said “Keep better track of finances”. In 2013 I have to log into my Internet banking once a week.

Resolution #3. Complete Reading List
I’ll be publishing my 2013 reading list here later this week.

Resolution #4. Give up Facebook for Lent
Now that I’ve got my blog posts publishing directly to Facebook, I’ll have absolutely no reason not to get that digital monkey off my back…

Resolution #5. Guard free time more jealously
Last year was the “Year of Martha“. My schedule was packed and at times things got quite stressful. My aim this year is to make absolutely sure I don’t take on too much and that I get plenty of time to rest and recharge. This will involve a weekly Holy Hour, come what may. 2013 is going to be the “Year of Mary” 🙂

Resolution #6. Invest more time in friendships
This resolution flows from #5. I have some really good friends. I should spend more time with them.

Resolution #7. Blacklist TV Shows
Also flowing from #5, I’ve got to stop wasting time watching junk on TV. No more Scrubs, Family Guy, Always Sunny in Philadelphia etc.

Resolution #8. Run a half marathon and do a 15 minute plank
Here’s the mandatory fitness resolution.

Resolution #9. Cook a proper meal once a week
I really do enjoy cooking, but I don’t do it nearly as often as I should. That will change.

Resolution #10. Write the book
I’ve had “Write a book” on my bucket list for several years now and this year I’m going to finally cross it off. It’s going to be an expansion on my Leading Bible Study blog series and I’ll probably publish it with Lulu.com (although I will probably also send the manuscript to Ignatius Press just for fun of pretending to be a real author).

resolution

What are your resolutions for 2013?

Rest

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The term “Desert Father” is generally used to refer to the Christian monks, hermits and ascetics who began to appear in about the Third Century. They were often located in the Scetes desert of Egypt, but their lifestyle was subsequently imitated throughout the world. A visitor to Egypt in the 4th Century wrote:

“One can see them in the desert waiting for Christ as loyal sons watching for their father… There is only the expectation of the coming of Christ in the singing of hymns… There is no town or village in Egypt and the Thebaid which is not surrounded by hermitages as if by walls”
– The Lives of the Desert Fathers, Norman Russel

The most famous of these Desert Father was probably St. Anthony The Great whose biography, written by St. Athanasius, inspired many to follow his example to renounce wealth, enter the desert and live a simple life of prayer.

St. Anthony of Egypt

One of the books which I’m reading this year is Sayings of the Desert Fathers, so you can expect to see quite a few quotations from these early Christian witnesses over the course of next year. I’d like to begin with a story of St. Anthony which I hope to set the tone for my 2013…

A hunter happened to come by and saw Anthony talking in a relaxed way with the brothers, and he was shocked. The hermit wanted to show him how we should sometimes be less austere for the sake of the brothers, and said to him, “Put an arrow in your bow, and draw it.” He did so, and Anthony said, “Draw it further” and he drew it further. He said again, “Draw it yet further,” and he drew it some more. Then the hunter said to him, “If I draw it too far, the bow will snap.” Anthony answered, “so it is with God’s work. If we always go to excess, the brothers quickly become exhausted. It is sometimes best not to be rigid”
– Sayings, Anthony, 13

Private Revelation

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In my various wanderings I have, on occasion, come across a certain breed of Catholic who is extreeeeeemely attached to stuff like the Marian apparitions in Medjugorje, as well as medals and other specific prayers and devotions, all of which leave me feeling rather…meh.

Now, I’m not rubbishing any of these devotions, not at all. In fact, some of them eventually won me over and now feature significantly in my spiritual life, such as the Divine Mercy Chaplet. However, I’ve often found the rather overzealous promotion of some of these devotions to be rather off-putting.

I think what I have found unsettling is the unspoken (although sometimes spoken!) assertion that such-and-such a devotion IS Catholicism, or at least a fundamental part of it. My expressions of disinterest, therefore, have been taken almost as acts of apostasy! How could any self-respecting Catholic NOT be absolutely enthralled by this devotion?!

So why am I bringing this up? Well, this morning I was clearing out some of my old browser bookmarks and came across a great article by Mark Shea where he addressed this very question and gave some superb advice:

“[T]he good news is that the Church binds you to none of it… If it helps your devotion to Christ, then great.  If not, or if it gives you trouble, just stick with the public revelation [i.e. the official, binding teaching of the Church] and it will be fine.” – Mark Shea

You can read the full article here:

private revelation

What do you think? Are there any devotions which you follow which you’ve found helpful? Or have you ever been put off by someone’s extremely zealous promotion of one?

Best of British: Part 7

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In my last Best of British post I started to share some of my favourite British comedy shows which have aired more recently.

The Office

Today I’d like to talk about a show with which most residents of the United States will be familiar, “The Office”. However, not all Americans will know that this was originally a British TV show which played its final episode long before there ever was a Michael Scott or a Dwight Schrute.

I’ll admit that, when I first heard that they were making an American version of “The Office”, I became extremely indignant (“Why can’t these Americans handle British comedy?!” etc.). However, after watching the first season of the American version, I was converted. Whereas the British version limited itself to two brilliant seasons, the American version still continues when it should have been put out of its misery several seasons ago…

The original British show’s humour is far drier. You will spend far more time watching the British version through your fingers, trying to shield your eyes from the awkwardness produced by the boss from Hell, David Brent. The clip below is one of the more light-hearted moments though, where David performs the activity dreaded in every office, the performance reviews…

Extras

As I said above, the British version of “The Office” only lasted two seasons. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant then went on to write the show “Extras”, following the characters David and Maggie as they “star” as extras in movies and TV shows. I think it probably nicely captures the boredom of the job which would involve a lot of standing around.

Each week, some celebrity would make a guest appearance, such as Kate Winslet and Patrick Stewart. My favourite though was probably when Orlando Bloom made his guest appearance shortly after “Pirates Of The Caribbean” had been released:

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