Hello!

It was earlier this week that I was added as an author to this blog. With the duties of the real world having rather slowed to a halt updates on here I decided to offer my services.

Am I immune to pressures of the reality outside the blogosphere? Well, yes to be honest. As a student my times is very much my own. And with a dissertation to write, exams to prepare for and my future career to consider a distraction which does not involve alcohol is necessary.

"A sound practice of daily prayer is essential for our well-being."

These are the words of the Archbishop of Westminser Vincent Nichols. And he is entirely right. The spiritual benefits of prayer are obvious - it deepens and stengthens our relationship with our creator and redeemer. It is through prayer, particularly through praying the Mass, that Gods gives us the sanctifying which we most desperately crave in every aspect of our being.

Less obviously, we know it brings with it great physical benefits. It is in prayer that we offer up to God our worries, problems, anxieties, fears and sins. It is our Lord who takes these burdens off of us and carries them upon his shoulders, such is his love for us his children.

For us to make the most of these benefits freely available to us in prayer we must bear in mind two things. First, that our prayer must be heartfelt. St Therese of Lisieux wrote that prayer is a "surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." Simply reading the words on the page (if one is saying the office or using traditional prayers) is not enough. Meditate on each word and savour it. There is nothing to be gained from reading through like a novel.

The second important point to note about prayer is its place in the public life of the Church. Often one sees figures trotted out that churchgoers live longer than those who attendance is less than regular but why is this? It is His Eminence's opinion that the reason for this is our need for community and feeling and being a part of a community. The best expression of this is found in the Church when we prayer together. This can be the Mass or any other kind of public celebration but communal prayer is of the utmost importance. It is one reason for compulsory Sunday Mass attendance - it is good for us.

Prayer is hard and spiritually challenging and for some may never get any easier. One may wake up on a Sunday morning and much rather, in that moment, to go back to sleep than go to Mass. One may dread the prospect of prayer because one fears what may come - acknowledgment of our own sinfulness before God or because God may have a difficult plan for us.

These are all natural feelings to have in prayer. What matters is our co-operation with God's plan for us and our fidelity to Him.

America's Faithful Colleges

In the wake of Notre Shame, the Newman Society has announced its new and expanded guide to America's Catholic colleges.

The guide allows students seeking a truly Catholic college education and formation to find it and not to be confused by those, such as Notre Dame, who claim a Catholic ethos but in reality provide nothing of the sort.

It also has various other pieces on the affordability and benefits of a Catholic education, as well as the importance of studying philosophy.

In addition to the printed guide, for which the Newman Society charge, it is available online.


Newman Society's Guide to Catholic Colleges

Porn and a sleazy American politician

His Eminence has learned that New Gingrich, former Leader of the House of Representives, recently offered an "entrepreneur of the year" award to Allison Vivas, a Californian smut-peddler.

Why is there such a fuss in the palace?

Mr Gingrich was received into the Church March 29th 2009.

Source: Here (Some bad language is featured in the article in quotation marks)

Obama and Abortion

His Eminence would like to draw your attention to this: Abortion: Which Side is Fabricating?


In answer to the question "Will the healthcare proposals lead to government funding of abortion?" factcheck.org gives a resounding "yes."

President Obama said Wednesday that’s "not true" and among several "fabrications" being spread by "people who are bearing false witness." But abortion foes say it’s the president who’s making a false claim. "President Obama today brazenly misrepresented the abortion-related component" of health care legislation, said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee. So which side is right?

The truth is that bills now before Congress don’t require federal money to be used for supporting abortion coverage. So the president is right to that limited extent. But it’s equally true that House and Senate legislation would allow a new "public" insurance plan to cover abortions, despite language added to the House bill that technically forbids using public funds to pay for them. Obama has said in the past that "reproductive services" would be covered by his public plan, so it’s likely that any new federal insurance plan would cover abortion unless Congress expressly prohibits that. Low- and moderate-income persons who would choose the "public plan" would qualify for federal subsidies to purchase it. Private plans that cover abortion also could be purchased with the help of federal subsidies. Therefore, we judge that the president goes too far when he calls the statements that government would be funding abortions "fabrications."

There follows a transcipt of comments made by Obama. 

The White House did not post any transcript of the president’s words, but sponsors of the conference call, a coalition of faith-based groups supporting an overhaul of the health insurance system, posted the full audio of the president’s call on its Web site. His words come near the very end of the recording, and we transcribed them from the recording.

Abortion foes quickly denounced Obama’s statement as untrue. The NRLC’s Johnson said "the bill backed by the White House (H.R. 3200) explicitly authorizes the government plan to cover all elective abortions." And our analysis shows that Johnson’s statement is correct. Though we of course take no position on whether the legislation should allow or not allow coverage for abortions, the House bill does just that.

We can’t say what anyone will do in the future. But Obama himself said on July 17, 2007, that "[i]n my mind, reproductive care is essential care" and would be covered by his public insurance plan

. . . 

Obama did not use the word "abortion," but a spokesman for the campaign said later that abortion would be included, according to the Chicago Tribune. The NRLC has posted an unedited video of Obama’s response on YouTube (along with some comments which are the group’s opinions and not necessarily those of anyone at FactCheck.org)

. . .

As for the House bill as it stands now, it’s a matter of fact that it would allow both a "public plan" and newly subsidized private plans to cover all abortions. 

Cardinal hits out at euthanasia supporters

Keith Patrick Cardinal O'Brien, a brother in the college but with a much better nickname (Kick-Ass Keith) has hit out against moves to introduce euthanasia in Scotland. Now that Cardinal Murphy O'Connor has retired to tinkle his ivories for the rest of his life O'Brien is Britain's only active Cardinal. He has taken his new responsibility very seriously.

A campaign under the slogan of "Don't Kill Your Granny" has been launched following concern amongst the Scottish hierarchy about the growing support amongst the population for the moves.

"Don't kill your granny."

He said, "A new battle lies open before us... Every move to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia in the United Kingdom must be opposed. I know that my own Catholic community is not alone in this forthcoming battle."

Keith Patrick needs our support and prayers.

Sarum Missal

A rather nice little video piece on the display of a 15th century Sarum Missal printed by William Caxton.