Peter Blog a few random thoughts

It seems that because of the way that we live our lives at such a pace that we have become less patient. Let us look at the reasons why I say this. Have you ever stood waiting at the Bus stop and it has not come exactly on time and you start to tut or you a train is slightly late leaving the platform we start to wonder why. It seems that the world has speeded up and we get caught up in this rat race and we find it very difficult to slow down and therefore I think that we lose patients.   Sometimes we have to be patient. Things do not come to us straight away. We have to prepare and get ready. This is another danger in this Advent season to think that we are already emerged in Christmas. Instead of waiting and preparing for the birth of Christ: Often we are all Christmased out by the time it comes to the 25 th December. So we need to learn to wait patiently and prepare well for the coming of Christ so that the coming of Christ at Christmas does not end in an anti climax. The clu...

The other day I was watching one of my favourite programmes called 30Rock. It is a comedy about film studio. In this episode they had decided to make a charity programme to raise money for a disaster that had not happened yet:  So that their channel could be the first to get on the band wagon when the news of the disaster comes into their rolling news channel. These run on charity programmes raising money for all different causes are part of our national conscience from the recent poppy appeal to Children in Need to Red Nose day. They are all very important and it is good to give money to charity and it helps millions of people not only in this country but in other countries too and it makes us feel good a warm feeling in our hearts that we have done some good. I remember a few years ago listening to this Gospel and feeling quite good about myself because of the charities that I had given to throughout the year. So we had gone into Lunch with the parish priest and tucking into ou...

Vatican cardinal urges priests to spice up ‘dull, irrelevant’ sermons By  MADELEINE TEAHAN  on Thursday, 10 November 2011 Cardinal Ravasi also encourages priests to use Twitter (Photo: PA) A Vatican cardinal has appealed to clergy to liven up “dull, flavourless” sermons in an address at a conference in Rome. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, claimed that homilies had become “irrelevant” to worshippers who were used to the thrill and excitement of modern technology such as the television and the internet. He said: “The advent of televised and computerised information requires us to be compelling and trenchant, to cut to the heart of the matter, resort to narratives and colour.” The cardinal described the theological language used by priests in their sermons as “grey, dull and flavourless” and appealed to priests to use the graphic and dramatic imagery of the Bible to illustrate their sermons with colour and intrigue. The Bible was “cro...

This weekend was Remembrance Sunday so I will post also the poem " The Fallen" as a memorial to those who have died in the two great wars but also those who have in recent conflicts and their families. For The Fallen With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,   England mourns for her dead across the sea.   Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,   Fallen in the cause of the free. Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal   Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,   There is music in the midst of desolation   And a glory that shines upon our tears. They went with songs to the battle, they were young,   Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.   They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;   They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:   Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.   At the going down of the sun ...

THE END IS NIGH. But there is so many things that I want to do. Give me a little time:  The Cats still in the garden. I have not finished the washing. Can’t it wait until there is a little more time to have a think about it? Maybe tomorrow when I am not so busy?  And yet maybe the questions we need to ask are:  Am I ready? Have I done everything that I can? Am I ready to meet Jesus? Is my Soul really longing and thirsting for the God of my life.   The Gospel shows us that sometimes we are not ready to meet the Lord. We are like the foolish bridesmaids who when asked are not ready at all because they were not prepared the story tells us that they had gone out to buy oil for their lamps: and so missed out. It is suggested that we are like the wise bridesmaids who were ready for the bridegroom when he came. So how do we do this? How do we get ready? Well the readings give us a very good clue. The psalmist prays and acknowledges that he is waiting and yearning for God. ...

Yesterday we celebrated the feast of all saints. We remembered all those holy men and Women who have gone before us who are now with God. Today we pray for those people who have also died but their pilgrimage to God is not yet over. They are in the place of purification sometimes known as Purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” So as we hear in the preface of the Mass today that for your faithful people life has changed not ended. Today and during the month of November we pray for those who have gone before who still need our prayers. And so the holy souls depend on the prayers of the whole Church not just the earthly church but also the communion of saints. At Mass we join their prayers with them. This is why it is important to pray and remembe...

Today’s feast celebrates all those holy Men and Women who have gone before us who have never been formally canonised.  The feast dates back to the beginning of the seventh century when the Pope consecrated the Pantheon in Rome, which was a pagan temple. There was a legend that the bones of the Martyrs and others buried at the catacombs were re-buried under its floor. And so the Church celebrates and thanks God for their personal witness to the Gospel. So what is a Saint? I want to use a piece that the Holy Father used when he was here in September last year as he spoke to the pupils at St Mary’s Collage Twickenham.   When I invite you to become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best. I am asking you not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all the others. Having money makes it possible to be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own, it is not enough to make us happy. Being highly skilled in some activity or profession is good, but it will n...

Today’s feast celebrates all those holy Men and Women who have gone before us who have never been formally canonised.  The feast dates back to the beginning of the seventh century when the Pope consecrated the Pantheon in Rome, which was a pagan temple. There was a legend that the bones of the Martyrs and others buried at the catacombs were re-buried under its floor. And so the Church celebrates and thanks God for their personal witness to the Gospel. So what is a Saint? I want to use a piece that the Holy Father used when he was here in September last year as he spoke to the pupils at St Mary’s Collage Twickenham.   When I invite you to become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best. I am asking you not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all the others. Having money makes it possible to be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own, it is not enough to make us happy. Being highly skilled in some activity or profession is good, but it will no...