One under the eight - that is, seven of the best posts!

Well, it was a week of high peaks and drama. Cardinal O'Brien made a welcome statement on gay marriage but then went into rant mode which does not help to make a good case but then, who am I to comment?

President Obama rolls on with his anti Catholic campaign and the sleeping giant of Catholic America begins to yawn and wake up to the fact that the world is now well and truly set against us...and then, Rick Santorum bounces back once more while, at home, the good, staid and sensible Conservative Party turns into a Stalinist mob out to get Christians in whatever shape or form, but most especially, in the shape of a cross.

So, in a sense, it is good to return to the good battles within the Church, much more homely.
And Stuart at Ecumenical Diablog reminds us that a very special anniversary took place on 6th March, that of the approval of reception of Holy Communion by hand, just a mere thirty six years ago.
What were you doing in 1976?

But the conditions surrounding the approval (or many of them) do not appear to have been met. Good to be reminded of them though.

Second on my list is Chris Gillibrand at Catholic Church Conservation (rumour has it that CG has moved to Wales, in the same Diocese as me - if that is true I do hope that our paths will cross ere long). But the other good news is that Cleveland Diocese in the USA has had a rap over the episcopal knuckles direct from Rome. 13 churches due to be shut down by the Diocese have received a reprieve thanks to intervention from the Vatican.
Middlesborough, please take note.

Third in line is a book review on the Hilaire Belloc blog. Of course, the book is about HB but I wanted to draw attention to both the book and the great man.
His poetry is especially wonderful and portrays a very Catholic sentiment.
The book is called 'Old Thunder' and the author is Joseph Pierce. Something for the birthday list, yes?

The man who would be Knight blog has an excellent piece on what is meant by knighthood. This is something that we Catholics seem to have forgotten about today but, if you believe that all chivalry towards women stems from love and reverence for the womanhood of Our Lady, you will enjoy this post.

Demetri lives......excellent coverage from Umble Pie. Who was behind this ad? They deserve a medal. It is the same sex marriage subject but, it is different.

Matthew D'Ancona wrote a scruffy piece in Sunday's Telegraph in which he spoke up for homosexual marriage and twisted GK Chesterton into the plot quite scurrilously. Catholic and Welsh has leapt to GKC's defence and given Matthew D a bit of a pasting, well deserved.

Finally, the last post goes to those strong men of the North, the community on Papa Stronsay. The Transalpine Redemptorists have a video clip with a priest speaking out, he has his say and it's worth watching.


Posted by Richard Collins - Linen on the Hedgerow

Seven of the best!

                 
                              We have not yet reached this stage in the West
                                                       but Iran has!


This week in blogging sees yet more persecution of the faithful, those midwives who refuse to be complicit in the killing of infants, those in the USA who, in the public sector, face court if they do not proclaim same sex marriage, abortion, birth control and so on.

Bishop Finn famously said, in a pithy sentence: "We are at war!" And at war we are although, as Catholics, we have always been at war with the world.
Not in an Islamic sense, that of Fatwas and violent actions, but in the Christian sense of prayer and submission.

Submission is fine except when it affects our core values.
The martyrs of Nagasaki did not submit, neither did the Ugandans or the English and Welsh.
They knew that the time had come to take a stand and they did so.

Here are the week's top posts:

Number one spot goes to Cristina Odone, journalist and ex Editor of the Catholic Herald. I admit to having been a little ambivalent to Cristina in the past, believing her to be a somewhat liberal Catholic, but, this week sees her stepping up to the Catholic mark and taking flak for it.
The comments made after this post are, in the main, spiteful and malicious and, whenever I hear or read of such a backlash my support goes out to the person brave enough to have stood up to be counted.
You may read her excellent post HERE.

Are we Catholic or Roman Catholic? And does it matter? Yes, of course we know we are the 'Roman Rite' but we are not "Roman Catholics" we are just plain Catholics.
Introibo ad Altare Dei tells why.

Three is for Monsignor Charles Pope who posts frequently and wisely. He announces the very good news that a US Cardinal has started a blog. Yes, really. I guess you could count the number of Cardinals who have a blog on half the fingers of one hand so it is heartening to see this development. You may read the Monsignor's post HERE and visit the Cardinal's blog on this site  
http://cardinalsblog.adw.org/

The rather attention grabbing blog title Unveiling the Apocalypse carries, as one might expect, some pretty worrying reading.
Worrying that is, until you recall those words of St Matthew:
"But as for that day and that hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of Heaven, nor the Son, no one but the Father alone". 

 I normally steer clear of modern attempts to prophesy the final days but this post is interesting, read it HERE. The author incidentally, is one, Emmet O'Regan - Mullach a-bu!

Five brings us to Ches at The Sensible Bond and his good post, again on persecution.
Of course, this week we had Archbishop Nichols stating that the Church in England and Wales is NOT persecuted and, to a degree he may be right.
 But try telling that to the man or woman who has a Mason or Orangeman as their boss.
 Or to the worker who wishes to leave early to attend Mass; or the receptionist who wants to wear a miraculous medal around her neck.
OK, we are not being chopped up in little pieces but our livelihoods, our reputations and our Catholic society are.

Number six goes to our own and also our latest blogger, Jimin Kang who asks if Our Lady fasted. Enigmatic questions are good for encouraging us to kickstart our brains (or, at least, my brain) into thinking more deeply about the faith. Jimin certainly has great perspective in his posts.

Seven, goes to The Anti Modernist (I think the clue may be in the title) who carries a video post (what's the name for that? Vidpost? Vidclip?) regarding Holy Communion on the Tongue. Bishop Schneider is the key person so you know it is going to be straight, factual and correct.
Preaching to the converted, I know.

The Brandsma Seven!

                                              Blessed Titus - Ora pro nobis


The pick of the week's top posts from the Catholic blogosphere......


1. What is the link between poultry and Catholicism?

Well, as a poultry keeper myself, my eye was taken by this intriguing post from Katie Sciba.

Sadly, Katie is referring to our Christian courage rather than advice on how to get your hens laying more eggs but she does go on to quote from St Francis – are you an ostrich, chicken, swallow or eagle?

 Read the post and find out HERE

2. This one is for priests who want to celebrate Ad Orientum (Usus Antiquior) but who need the assurance that it's kosher, well, not quite kosher but it's OK.

Thanks to The Eponymous Flower for an interesting post.

3. It's good to know that we have some strong Bishops out there; men who boldly state the truth. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia is one such man, bravo! This is a news agency report on him HERE

4. At first you might say: "Oh, no, not more on Vatican II!" but this piece on how it is being misinterpreted is sound and interesting. Thanks to Jay Boyd of Philothea on Phire.

5. One for the brick by brick file as Fr Z might say. Roma Locuta Est reports on Liturgical Changes - but good ones, doing away with the 'greeting' at the start of Mass and calling a halt to the removal of infants for whatever it is they do when they are Hamelined off backstage. More to follow, hopefully.

6. Our very own Fr Simon Henry reports on Catholic education and how Cardinal Bertone is locked in a tussle with the University of Peru who wish to move things along in a manner foreign to Holy Mother Church's teachings. They have until Easter to submit before His Eminence brings the Canons to bear.

7. Finally, for those who enjoy theological enigmas, here is one from

 Fr Ryan Erlenbush. "If Christ could not sin, how was He tempted in the Desert?"

Discuss.

Posted by Linen on the Hedgerow