A time for celebration…

and humility!

The celebration being that my wife is to be received into the Church at the Easter vigil on Saturday!  The humility is something that I have come to realise over the last few days and weeks that I am in great need of.  

So, as I prayed earlier before the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapel of Repose:

O, Lord, please give me the strength to be humble!

My previous post about Benedict XVI resigning was also somewhat lacking in humility:

Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me, 

a sinner

Good evening, Holy Father!

Tu es Petrus!

We did not have to wait too long.  The initial signs are encouraging, but we will find out more very soon.

I don't know much about the man, or indeed - as this is the first time I've experienced a "Habemus Papam moment" as a Catholic - about getting used to a new Peter.

One initial thought is how Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio reminds me of Albino Cardinal Luciani.  The one apparently took the bus to work, while the other had his butler take his clapped-out Lancia to the garage for repairs during the Conclave so it would make it back to Venice afterwards; both are from humble origins - working-class backgrounds; one lived among the people while the other rejected the trappings of high office, resenting the fact that as Bishop, Archbishop and then Cardinal it became increasingly difficult for him to visit the sick in hospital and the poor, etc.

Let's hope Pope Francis reigns gloriously for a lot longer than Pope John Paul I...

João Cardinal Braz de Aviz

I have adopted João Braz de Aviz for the forthcoming Conclave:

João Braz de Aviz is a 65-year-old Brazilian papabile and is the current prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life since his appointment on 4 January 2011.  He was made Cardinal on 18 February 2012.  As a young priest he survived being shot three times in crossfire during a robbery.  Paddy Power have him currently at 66-1 to be the next Pope, however, his presence in the conclave as a cardinal elector of the next Pope, whoever he may be, is the most important thing right now, and therefore, with the incumbent need for prayer and fasting is the reason for me adopting a cardinal.

Adopt your own Cardinal or find out more about such things, here.

More details (adapted from Wiki):

João Cardinal Braz de Aviz was born in Mafra, Diocese of Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil on 24 April 1947. He has four brothers and three sisters.

He was ordained priest 26 November 1972 and the diocese of Apucarana, serving as a parish priest in several parishes, as Rector of the Major Seminary Apucarana and Londrina, and as professor of dogmatic theology at the Theological Institute Paul VI in Londrina.  He was also member of the Council of Priests and the College of Consultors and General Coordinator of the Diocesan Pastoral Apucarana.

On 6 April 1994, he was appointed to the titular bishop of Flenucleta as auxiliary of the Achdiocese of Vitória, and received episcopal ordination on 31 May of that year. He was transferred as ordinary of the Diocese of Ponta Grossa on 12 August 1998 by Pope John Paul II. He was promoted to archbishop of Maringá on 17 July 2002 where he served until he was appointed archbishop of Brasilia on 28 January 2004.

On 4 January 2011, Archbishop Braz de Aviz, who is not a member of a religious order, was appointed to his current post. Since 1973, prelates ordained for religious orders and for dioceses have alternated in holding the post of prefect of the congregation overseeing religious in the Catholic Church. In the past 100 years, 11 of the 18 prefects did not belong to a religious order.

As a young priest Braz de Aviz was once on his way to a village to say Mass when he stumbled upon an armored car robbery. He was shot during the crossfire, with bullets perforating his lungs and intestines and one eye. Although he survived and surgeons were able to save his eye, he still carries fragments of those bullets in his body.

H/T A Reluctant Sinner

Pope Benedict should ***

Wherein I rant out of ignorance, impetuosity and selfishness:

Where does rupture come into the ‘Hermeneutic of Continuity’?  Is it possible to take anything that Pope Benedict has said about the hermeneutic of continuity seriously when he deems it possible to walk away from the papacy?

It is not a ‘job’ that one can retire from.  It would be like Peter turning to his fellow apostles and telling them, “right, chaps, I’ve decided to go back to plain old Simon.  I’ll remain in Rome, do a bit of fishing from now and then, but, as for being the rock upon whom Christ founded His Church, I’m past it.”  Being Pope is being Peter!

What was Jesus’ reaction when, at Caesarea Philippi, having recognised Christ for who He really was, Peter tried to tell Jesus that ‘it was not for Him’ to die?  “Get behind me, Satan!” was Jesus’ response.  Given that Jesus said that, ‘if any man would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me’ and that Peter is to lead the rest of us in dying to self to live for Christ it is incomprehensible for Pope Benedict to give up. 

It doesn’t follow that the man is giving up dying to self to live for Christ on a personal level, but it says loud and clear to the Church (as well as to the world that can’t help its fascination of the Church despite its unbridled hatred and its ignorance) that the Papacy is a job one can retire from, the Church is just a club, the Pope is just a CEO…

My first reaction to the news was one of horror.  I thought of the conspiracy theories, the apocalyptic stuff that exists out there.  We are now getting mud slung at the Church from without and from within (with the Cardinal O’Brien thing – call me cynical, but we have a man who has stood up courageously to defend the Church’s teaching on marriage (against state redefinition) and days before the Conclave some allegations are made – pull the other one!).  I don’t really believe the Malachy prophecies, but the whole thing is a worry, and so unnecessary.

This whole rant is verging on disobedience (but I feel that renouncing the Papacy is no different), but my current thoughts on the matter I should ask forgiveness for: namely, that it would be best for all concerned if Pope Benedict XVI died between now and Thursday evening…

But it does feel like you are abandoning us, Holy Father!

To put it another way (and to reiterate my starting point): Popes should die; that's what happens to them.  How can it be that we should have a Holy Father as well as a Holy Grandfather?  And on a personal note, JPII’s death and funeral affected me as a backslidden Protestant so much that I became a Catholic (it certainly put me on the way, anyway).  There is nothing edifying, or nothing that evokes the sacrificial nature of the position of Pope first and living as a Christian second, about standing aside.

I love the Pope.  He has made the Church a little bit more like what I expected the ‘One, True Church’ to look like when, having recognised the Church as such whilst still outside it, I ventured within its doors and (in some cases) found a Protestant service with the Hail Mary stuck on (until +Conry banned it!).  Not only that, but I saw him in Hyde Park where I prayed with him.  My friends went to Rome on honeymoon and received a blessing from him at a Papal audience in front of all those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.  I have a rosary blessed by him that they brought back, that I pray with daily.  Not only that but I like the fact that non-Catholics think and say of him, ‘he hasn’t done much’.  Well, he might not have done much if you’re expecting him to pop up all over the world in his popemobile every few weeks or declare contraception and abortion ok and start ordaining women, etc.  Unfortunately, however, there remain things that he hasn’t done, that, I suppose I would have hoped he would have got round to later if he had stayed longer (and, perhaps, if his health were not fading).  I’m talking about doing the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary rather than just admitting that it hasn’t been done. And other such things.

Yes, I love the Pope, but, sincerely, it seems to me that it would be best if he died soon.  

Forgive me.

Please, Papa Bene, ...

if you have to leave us so soon, 

before you go, 

would you,

in union with all the Bishops, 

Consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary?

What shockwaves there would be!  Kind of like the opposite of the lightning strike in the aftermath of that terrible news – but much more powerful (against the forces of evil in the world, that is).

Can you imagine the power that the Consecration would unleash on the world? Maybe this was in preparation...

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us

Anything you can do

A reluctant sinner has posted about the necessity of writing to one’s MP to urge them to vote against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill.  The second letter in his post explains more clearly than I possibly could that this situation and the proposed Bill are both farcical and that the electorate effectively have no voice.  In my own letter I asked my MP whether, if the Bill were passed, it would give a precedent allowing a Prime Minster to do anything once in power, regardless of the will of the electorate.

Then I remembered a similar situation a few years back.

The current situation has notable similarities to when Tony Blair took the UK into illegal military action in Iraq, ignoring hundreds of thousands of people marching upon Westminster as well as contravening a UN resolution and the conditions of a 'Just War'.

This time Dave is ignoring hundreds of thousands of people, proposing a law on the grounds of ‘equality’ that would introduce more inequalities than either exist at present or would be introduced as a result of the Bill as well as ignoring Natural Law and any number of other considerations on the basis of history, anthropology, sociology, let alone religious.  We even have Peter Tatchell saying that the law is anti-equality – but Dave doesn't seem to care even what his lead policy-maker on all things “conservative” says anymore.

So the precedent is already there for the Prime Minister to do whatever he wants regardless of the consequences or whether there is an electoral mandate.  Perhaps this is precisely what the redefinition of marriage is all about: David Cameron saying to Tony Blair,

“anything you can do I can do ‘better’, 

I can ignore the vast majority of the British electorate better than you!”

I've yet to fathom any other reason for it...



Some links:
A reluctant sinner's post and example letters, here
A good example of a letter to one's MP, here.  There are lots of follow-up posts on the same blog.
Lots of resources and the petition still available to be signed (for what it's worth) at the Campaign for Marriage site, here

Pret à Manger Humble Pie

As a customer who had always been satisfied by the sandwiches, etc. at Pret, I made a complaint earlier through their website about the blasphemous name they had chosen and had been approved by their Catholic CEO for a packet of crisps.  This was their speedy response:

We are extremely sorry that the crisp name that we had selected has offended you.  This wasn’t our intention.  After receiving a number of comments similar to yours, Clive (Pret's CEO) has taken your advice and decided to remove all of the crisps from our shops with effect from today. 

We will be donating the unsold crisps to homeless charities that we support across the country. 

Thank you for writing. We do listen and we have tried to react quickly 

Kindest Regards

 If only the MPs listened as keenly to those who pay their wages, keep them in a job, etc....

H/T to Richard who cajoled me into writing my first post in ages!