Peter Blog a few random thoughts

The Venerable Fulton J Sheen.   In a private audience today with prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato, Pope Benedict XVI approved the “heroic virtue” Fulton J. Sheen, thereby officially opening his cause for canonization. The American archbishop and former bishop of Rochester New York lived from 1895-1979. He was best known his 20 years of evangelical work on radio and television. Before Archbishop Sheen’s cause can advance towards beatification, the Pope must approve at least one miracle attributed to his intercession. Others honored in the same decree as servants of God include the first prelate of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, Alvaro del Portillo y Diez de Sollano (1914-1994), a Canadian widow and founder of the Handmaidens of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Marie of the Sacred Heart (1806-1885), and American founder of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, Mary Angeline Teresa (1893-1984...

Bob Geldof, Gary Barrlow, Elvis Presley, Her Majesty the Queen, Pope Bendict XVI, Wayne Ronney. As I read out this list of names I am sure that most of you could recognize them and put as it were a mental image of what they looked like. Names mean a lot to us for they define who we are and what we are. This is especially true in the times of Jesus. There would have been an expectation that Elizabeth and Zechariah would have chosen a family name and yet they chose John a name meaning “God’s precious gift.” A significant name when you remember that Elizabeth was barren. John this precious gift was to for tell the coming of the Messiah and this story of John we focus on in Advent. So what does this story tell us about ourselves and our own journey? The first question that our parents are asked at our baptism is “What name do you give your child?” It is through this name that God knows us. We become his and part of his community.  We are named and taken into God’s loving communit...

The Other day I had an Conversation with someone about Fashion. I am not sure if many of you know but I used to work in Top shop in Oxford Circus. So I thought I woulds share with you some of the trend that might look good for the Summer of 2012.  First of all I am really pleased to say that there seems to be a little colour back into the high street this season. This must be because of the bad weather that people want to wear bold and primary colours. Although I am not sure about the hat in the lower picture. Am I old fashioned enough to say that hats and woolen hats should be winter wear and not summer wear. Fresh and clean colours are in this year.   Good but loose the hat. The black and grey days are over and we can see that these are both stylish from the ladies but also a Casual look from the lads. But there are some fashions that are clearly wrong and should be left alone. See the Green Jumper down below. I don't really know where to ...

The Second Vatican council was one of the most important moments in Catholic history in the 20 th Century. They looked afresh at the Church and described the Mass as the source and summit of everything that we do. I fear that we have not really understood what this actually means. I think that this has been made harder in many ways with the new translation. So how are we to celebrate the Mass today? When we read the Gospel today there are few things that we can take in consideration. The first thing that we notice is that Mark calls the place where they are to eat “the dining room.”  One of the saddest things in today’s society is the demise of the dining room: Where eating has become functional rather than a time to meet and be community, it is a place to remember to tell stories to be with each other. IT is a time of celebration. When growing up in my own family we always sat at the table to eat it was a place to build family and community. We do the same here we g...

There have been many different ways that the Trinity has been explained in the past. There have been many attempts to explain the significance of the mystery of what it means. The famous attempt and the one that everyone remembers is St Patrick. The one that makes sense to me is the Trinity of love and the more we discover about God the more we unravel the mystery which is his presence and love. The word of course that confuses today’s audience is the word mystery. There are many different ideas about the word and we are also more of a people of certainty rather than mystery.  This means that we can never really define and what it is. This is true with the Trinity and the mystery that is what God is. For us, as Christians, a way to understand the mystery of the: who God is and that is what the trinity is trying to do, is to look at the person of the trinity that we can most identify with and that must be Jesus.  He is the way the truth and the life as John tells us. ...