De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

A bit more following on from yesterday's post as I have been thinking and praying about this a lot. First of all, I would say that this is thinking aloud and not a personal attack on Mr. McGuinness - God rest his soul & have mercy on him. However due to the particular nature of his office and life and the stances he took publicly on a number of issues, I feel this is worthy of further discussion. If only to tease out the socio-cultural challenges faced by the Church today in regard to these issues.

The first issue is his terrorist/ freedom fighter legacy. Broadly it seems clear that all are capable of redemption if they acknowledge their sins and repent. This change - metanoia in the Greek of the Bible - is the principle of Christ's preaching and it conveys the power of the Gospel. It is the action which follows the word. The difference being Christian makes.

I know that Mr. McGuinness did not public repent of his murderous IRA activities, but he did become a peace broker,…

Building on yesterday's conversation about the fundamental link in the Gospel between mercy and conversion, and the ministering of that mercy through the Sacraments (specifically Confession), which seemed to be starkly missing from the narrative in Sunday's Pastoral Letter from Archbishop's Nichols and Smith, I found this video of my own bishop, Alan Williams, who presented a workshop at the recent Proclaim '15 event (see here for more on this somewhat lack-luster initiative) entitled: "How to make prayer the foundation of your missionary parish".

What's interesting is that Bishop Alan starts off (as Jesus did) by marking out the central focus on conversion (μετάνοια) and its relationship to a personal encounter with Christ. He also markedly points out the importance and need of prayer at the centre of our action, its efficacy and the need to convince people of this reality in order they might have faith and utilise the gift of prayer in their own lives.

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Perhaps this is the perfect antidote to my last post. 10 priests from the diocese of Arundel & Brighton, UK, speak of their JOY in priesthood as part of the diocesan Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Their love for the priesthood is moving and inspiring. Particularly of note is what they have to say about the importance of Confession, both the humbling experience of hearing Confession and the way in which this leads them to their own Confession. This is the metanoia which is at the heart of the Gospel and which we seem to be missing from much of our experience of faith these days. This Greek word is associated with the English word "repentance", but in psychological terms, relates to the process of experiencing a "break down" and subsequent, positive psychological re-building or "healing". When we hear the Good News of Jesus, we "change our minds" and recognise our own need for healing. This awakening to our need for grace drives us to examine ou…

I haven't blogged this week. It's not that there hasn't been lots going on in the Catholic world but just that I have been very busy, for one thing, but I was also quite deeply affected by some discussions which took place over last weekend. These discussions started in a reasonably good-natured manner. It seemed the protagonists were enjoying it initially, but unfortunately it deteriorated, first into sort of (at least perceived) petulance (I was boring or stupid), then into hurt and aggression, and ultimately it seemed, regret.

I feel quite bad about this, because the conversation was with a couple of young priests who were blatantly pushing ideas at odds with Church teaching. When they were questioned about the justification for what they were saying, one said it was none of my business, the other immediately appealed to unity.

Appeals to unity always set my alarm bells ringing. What I mean is, "unity" is the plaintiff cry heard from criticised theologians &a…

I spent a lovely couple of days at Buckfast Abbey on the 24th & 25th March at the Guild of Our Lady & St. Joseph's day on the New Evangelisation (see here). Archbishop Rino Fisichella was due to give a talk on ‘A new phase of Evangelisation in the thought of Pope Francis’ but was unwell and so couldn't make it. Instead, the text of the talk was delivered by our wonderful Chaplain, Fr. Guy de Gaynesford and you can read the full text here.

Fr. Guy, addressing the Guild on Tuesday night, spoke of it existing in itself as an act of love for God. It is our action, our love for Him that has created it. This got me thinking about discipleship, relationship with God, and the necessity of capitulation in our spiritual lives in general. This process of metanoia is the first call of the Bible. In Genesis, we see how it is man's arrogance before God that leads to The Fall. The pivotal story between the Old Testament and the new is one of a garden, a tree, and man reaching ou…

The main criticisms I have heard aimed at Pope Francis seem largely motivated by a love and concern for the liturgical reform instigated by Pope Benedict. I cannot help but wonder whether this constitutes a somewhat insular concern in that, 1. I think it is very early to be making any judgements and 2. although many of us loved what we saw Pope Benedict trying to gently do, most people didn't even notice, or understand.

We can learn much about Pope Benedict's papacy by reflecting on this I think and I have to wonder who was actually switched on to what he was doing liturgically and theologically. I know I have enjoyed discussing and teasing out lots of the little signs and symbols he has given us over the course of his papacy, and I have been deeply enriched as a result. But I have engaged in a lot of defence and a lot of explanation as well.

I want to continue a discussion began here because I don't want anyone to mistake my points therein as criticisms or even disregard …