St Patrick and the New Arenas of Evangelisation of our Times

St Patrick, an Englishman, was kidnapped and enslaved to work as a shepherd in Ireland.  Tending the sheep he discovered the Good Shepherd looking after him.

Listen to my homily for today:

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Gospel for today Luke 10:1-20 (National Calendar of England)

In the solitude and prayer of the green Irish hillsides, he heard the call of God to shepherd his people.  He escaped and went back to England, where he studied for the priesthood, and was ordained a bishop.  Sent back to Ireland he converted the entire nation quickly by a very strategic approach: he converted the chieftains, bards, and poets, the political and cultural leaders - from the top down.

It is a great mystery to be sent as a missionary.  For God so loved Ireland that he sent his beloved son Patrick.  God loves you and sent you into your family relationships, your workplace, your school, your particular sphere of influence.  Each baptised person has a missionary vocation.  Each baptised is sent by God to spread the Gospel.

There are more fruitful mission fields, or arenas upon which we will have a very fruitful harvest:

Conscience- We must live the teaching of the Second Vatican Council to end the dictatorship of relativism that sits upon the throne of many consciences like a tyrant, destroying the potency of the Catholic faith, and making many people who sit in the pews, unbeknownst to themselves, worshipers of relativism.  The teach of Dignitatis Humanae, the Declaration on Human Freedom is:

"This one true religion subsists in the Catholic and Apostolic Church, to which the Lord Jesus committed the duty of spreading it abroad among all men...

"On their part, all men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and His Church, and to embrace the truth they come to know, and to hold fast to it... 

"Government is to assume the safeguard [NOT VIOLATOR] of the religious freedom of all its citizens, in an effective manner, by just laws and by other appropriate means...

"The disciple is bound by a grave obligation toward Christ, his Master, ever more fully to understand the truth received from Him, faithfully to proclaim it, and vigorously to defend it.

To sum up: we owe each conscience He for whom it was made - CHRIST!  We are bound in conscience to proclaim Christ as the Truth for which all men are created and bound to follow once they see it, especially in the proclamation of the lives of the disciples.  N.B.  THIS is the real teaching of the Second Vatican Council.  No one can say in the name of conscience to be a relativist catholic, worshiping the idol of self in place of the only King who should sit on the throne of man's inmost sanctuary, Jesus Christ the Lord.

The violation of the conscience which the Obama administration attempts in its HHS healthcare, in which it seeks to force Catholic institutions to go against the natural law in providing abortions, contraceptives, and sterilizations is not fighting the Catholic Church.  Let's be clear: Obama fights God.  Bring it!  We know who is going to win.

Family Life - There needs to be a clear proclamation of marriage as a one-man one woman covenanted union which is meant for the procreation and upbringing of children.  Same-sex unions can never match the same psychological health, wholeness, and blessing of marriage between one man and one woman.  For more info, read here.

The UK attempting to redefine marriage between same sex partners is ludicrous and the first consultation showed this.  70% said no and 78% said it's not a priority.  However, the government has discarded the first consultation for redefining same-sex marriages and made up a new three month long one, or they need to "redefine consultations before they redefine marriage."  Clearly this is so they can try to shake the tree until the fruit they want will fall from it.  Not going to happen.  Time for Catholics to sign the petition to stop this madness and write their MP's.  Please do this now if you are reading this.  It is so easy.  Just a single email with a few lines.  Click here for a directory.

There has to be a very clear proclamation from every Catholic Church and the life of every Catholic about the culture of death and the lies of contraception, abortion, sterilization, in vitro fertilization, same-sex unions, cohabitation, and everything that attempts to present itself as a legitimate form of family life that is really the seed of destruction of human civilization.

Digital Arena- You can watch live the Holy Father on a digital device.  You can know the teachings of the Church in a few clicks.  You now have no excuse to not know the Church's teachings.  You are not alone.  There is so much help for you and so much encouragement online to preach the Gospel.  The Holy Father said in his Message for World Communications Day a few years ago that especially priests, but all need

"to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.  Using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the Church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of Christ."

Social Teachings of the Church - The teachings of Christ about economics, politics, and civic life need to be lived and shared by Catholic to the world that is in desperate need of reordering.  The collapse of the economic order is because it is now based on materialism and greed, when it needs to be based on charity and solidarity.  There is an excellent online resource, the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.  Read it!

May Our Lady help us to answer the call from our baptism to spread the Gospel with maximum fruitfulness.

What was it like after Vatican II Daddy?

Much as it pains me to say it, I was around in 1970 and have quite a vivid recall of events at the time. I was actually all for a folksy type Mass (I was very young) and having it in English was a novelty for me because, being an altar boy since the age of five, I knew the latin backwards, upside down and inside out. English was a novelty. And, also, we did not have an awful translation, we had the straight translation from the latin; "I will go in unto the altar of God, unto God who gives joy to my youth". Beautiful even in English!
But it was a time of flux and the faithful (as well as the clergy) were confused and somewhat dazed at the disparate way that the liturgy was being chopped up and reconstituted.

Not a Bass Guitar - a Mass Guitar!

Strangely, my siblings, were very anti the changes whilst I was all for them. Now, the situation is reversed and I am the only one to pursue the EF Mass, everyone else opts for the OF Mass. I owe this change to my wife whom, when we met was a Church going Anglican - and a very strong one at that. Each Sunday, she would set off for Canterbury whilst I made my way to Rome. I do believe that it was this that strengthened my faith, without that challenge of having to 'fight my corner' I am sure that I would have joined the ranks of attrition - and those ranks were very full at that time.
After two years of marriage, my wife announced that she was interested in being catechised in the Catholic faith. This was something of a shock to me but, recovering swiftly, we made our way to our parish presbytery (where the incumbent priest was the Diocesan Catechist no less). Explaining the situation at the door we were met with the response: " Why don't you go away and find some books to read on the Catholic faith". Not so good and very humiliating for me the alleged Catholic partner. Next, we phoned up a neighbouring parish under the control of the Discalced Carmelites. There we were met with the rolling Irish accent of Fr Patrick who welcomed us with open arms. This was more like it.
We attended the Lord knows how many sessions with Fr P who had a most infectious laugh and, after making some outrageous statement such as: "I don't think anyone commits mortal sin these days" would turn to me and say: "Was that heretical?" "Yes, Father", I would reply and we would all fall on the floor laughing hysterically. We were very young, all of us.


After my wife was received into the faith (and was subjected to no less than four sacraments that night) we attended the 'house Masses' that were all the rage then. Somehow, it was deemed desirable to forsake the church building and take the Mass into the village community; it does have a certain attraction, but, let me tell you, it soon wears off. Kneeling in Mrs Boddington's front parlour with the television set in the corner and Mrs B's cat purring around one's nether regions is not good for the soul.
Now house Masses are a thing of the past; a bit like Peter and Gordon - they were great pop singers at the time but, eight weeks after they started, no one could remember them.


After some years, the Novus Ordo became an established and well loved Mass. With small children at heel we found ourselves on the fringes of Ross-on-Wye, where, just a couple of miles away was the Mill Hill Fathers' base of Courtfield and a beautiful chapel with a Welsh name (Ty Mair) - Mary's House. For a few years, all was sweetness and light; the Novus Ordo was celebrated with extreme reverence by Fr Hughes and we even formed our own choir under the strict eye of John Bevan (Catholic Books).
And there, I shall leave it. This was meant to be a snapshot of Catholic life in England in the 1970s and it will remain precisely that.
 Not contentious, just a small fragment of Catholic history that may be worth recording or, alternatively, no worries, may be chucked in the round file!

Posted By Richard Collins - Linen on the Hedgerow