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Showing posts from 2013

Ask Sister Mary Martha: Sister Mary Martha Wins the War on Christmas

Ask Sister Mary Martha: Sister Mary Martha Wins the War on Christmas : There! I believe I have answered all the questions in our queue. It's Advent! My favorite time of year! And time to address, once ag...

Yom Kippur

The Day of Atonement has deep theological significance in the New Testament.   It points forward to Christ’s role as high priest. The Jews have recently celebrated Yom Kippur on September 13 th and 14 th .   It is also known as ‘The Day Of Atonement’ and is the holiest day of the year for the Jews.   There are a lot of days to celebrate in September for the Jews.   They include Rosh Hashana – the Jewish New Year and Sukkot – the Feast of the Tabernacles.   September is a month of beginnings for us too.   We celebrate the beginning of autumn and often the Harvest Festival falls at this time.   The full moon in September is called the Harvest Moon because it allowed extra light for bringing in the harvest.   We have the autumn equinox when the days and nights are of equal length.   The days will now shorten until we reach the winter solstice in December.   This used to be the beginning of the year too for farming communities and is reflected in the beginning of new school terms a

The Book Of Enoch

The Book of Enoch (also 1 Enoch ) is an ancient Jewish religious work, traditionally ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah. It is not part of the canon as used by  Jews mainly.  It is recognised in Ethiopia. It dates from 300BC.  The first part of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the  Watchers, the angels who fathered the Nephilim. The remainder of the book describes Enoch's visits to heaven in the form of travels, visions and dreams, and his revelations.  The book is referred to, and quoted, in  Jude 1:14-15: "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." The introduction to the Book of Enoch tells us that Enoch is "a just man, whose eyes were opened

Rosh Hashanah

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Rosh Hashanah ( Hebrew : ראש השנה ‎, literally "head [of] the year"), is the Jewish New Year . It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im ("Days of Awe") which usually occur in the early autumn of the Northern Hemisphere . Rosh Hashanah is a two-day celebration, which begins on the first day of Tishrei . The day is believed to be the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve (or Adam and Lilith ), the first man and woman, and their first actions toward the realization of mankind's role in God 's world. Rosh Hashanah customs include sounding the shofar (a hollowed-out ram's horn) and eating symbolic foods such as apples dipped in honey to evoke a "sweet new year". A shofar - symbol 2013 date sunset , September 4 – nightfall , September 6  

Can We Cana? A Community to Support Catholic Marriages: Letting Your Child Go With God: A First Communion ...

Can We Cana? A Community to Support Catholic Marriages: Letting Your Child Go With God: A First Communion ... : I cried at my eldest daughter's First Communion, but promised myself that I wouldn't cry for my middle daughter's. No such ...

Maundy Thursday

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Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) Woodlands Junior School is in the south-east corner of England Maundy Thursday 2012 falls on 5 April  What is Maundy Thursday? Maundy Thursday - also called Holy Thursday, is the  beginning of the three day celebration of  Easter  - the most important time in the year for Christians. This period ('T he Triduum ') is one big celebration, remembering the last supper, the crucifixion and the death of Jesus, and the Resurrection to new life. Maundy Thursday  commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles . The Last Supper On this day, Christians remember the Last Supper. During the meal Jesus took bread and wine and shared them with his disciples. Christians continue to share bread and wine as part of their worship in church. The Last Supper was probably a Passover meal – the meal which Jewish people share together to celebrate the time when God delivered Moses and the people from slavery in Egypt. The night of Maundy Th

Spring

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At the equinoxes, the tilt of Earth relative to the Sun is zero, which means that Earth’s axis neither points toward nor away from the Sun. (However, the tilt of Earth relative to its plane of orbit, called the ecliptic plane, is always about 23.5 degrees.) See your local  Sun rise and set times —and how the day length changes! Find last spring  frost dates. Vernal Equinox Questions and Answers Question:  Why doesn’t the vernal equinox (equal night) on March 20 have the same number of hours for day and night? Answer:  Our former astronomer, George Greenstein, had this to say: "There are two reasons. First, light rays from the Sun are bent by the Earth's atmosphere. (This is why the Sun appears squashed when it sets.) They are bent in such a way that we are actually able to see the Sun before it rises and after it sets. The second reason is that daytime begins the moment  any part  of the Sun is over the horizon, and it is not over until the last part of the Sun h

St Joseph

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Tomorrow is the feast of St.Joseph... Glorious Saint Joseph, foster-father and protector of Jesus Christ, to you I raise my heart and my hands to implore your powerful intercession. Please obtain for me from the kind Heart of Jesus the help and the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare. I ask particularly for the grace of a happy death and the special favor I now implore. (Make your petition here...) St. Joseph - Pray for us!

God Given Right?

I see all the ‘Catholic Bashers’ are out in force today – must really annoy them that we have such a beautiful Holy Spirit filled Pope.  I am so tired of people who think they have a right to bash the Catholic Faith when they would be first up in arms if we were ‘gay bashing’.  I respect everyone’s religion – Muslim, Atheist, Buddhist, Hindu – so why can’t people respect the Catholic faith?  Why do they think they have the right to post ill-informed and sometimes simply ignorant information?  Yes there have been sexually abused children in the faith and we are rooting them out.  There have also been sexually abused children in the secular society (more here than anywhere!)– most cases the police will tell you are known to the family member – a relative.  Did you stop listening to music or watching TV because Jimmy Saville and others like him abused hundreds of children?  Did you stop having families because you were abused by a family member?  No you try and have good families and tr

HABEMUS PAPAM

"We have a Pope."  White smoke billows from the Sistine Chapel Chimney.

Poem

Boxing Battered and bruised he stood his corner Words pummelled his face, his heart She remained resolved, cruel The wrestling ropes closed around her mind He had fallen at the first round.

When We Were Young

When we were young When we were young We didn’t need food We lived on love and feasted On fresh air, a smile, a wave of brown curly hair Our energy was fuelled By our emotions The blue in a stranger’s eyes Sharing a sweet on a bus With green shoes Life was for living We absorbed the summer sun And drank the sea in the cool of the evening We made up stories of the people in the flats While the lights were on And your mouth consumed mine But when you are old Life revolves around a cup of tea A drama on TV And a custard cream Jane Frances

Topsy Turvy

Topsy Turvy I am all back to front today And my afternoon has become my morning Then evening will have shortened my day If only the alarm clock would wake me earlier The Shipping Forecast and the Bells Sandwiched between Coffee and Toast Somalia is vomiting its citizens out And Syria is blowing away with the sand dunes The Arabs are hiding their true colours under their Keffiyeh The red and the white match my kitchen tablecloth And Radio Four does a drama once more As dishes and ironing come by the score Soon I will be left with the world wide web And reduced to a single SIM card And cocoa and aspirins before I end up in bed But when did the world start to turn on its head And Arabs become red and white instead of England And how did the church at the end of the street Become a place where Muslim groups meet Though to be honest I much prefer to wear a scarf on my head It keeps me warm in the cold And reminds me of my mother Who covered

Domestic Bliss

Domestic Bliss There’s wet washing to hang up in the kitchen I need a cup of tea You could crack open a hard-boiled egg between us Your mother hasn’t seen me for a while No doubt she is immersed in drama and dust Among the sofas I settle for a packet of cheese and onion crisps And lie on the bed I made Too much water under the mattress While you sleep in front of the TV Nothing between us now Except an ironing board And a row of clean pressed shirts No longer on my phone We wait to see who will leave first You in a box Or me on a train Jane Frances

Association of Catholic Women Bloggers: Blog Author required

Association of Catholic Women Bloggers: Blog Author required : Hi fellow Bloggers - I am looking for someone to take over as editor for the Association of Catholic Women Bloggers - a Catholic Women Blogg...

Bags

Bags Once I was a shiny new satchel on its way to school.  The universe was full of glittering galaxies. Or a bright red handbag with a new purse and a copper penny. The shop windows were full of possibilities. Matching shoes eager for adventure and in search of cosmopolitan. A travel bag with badges and stickers and labels for far flung countries. Undiscovered islands. A maternity bag with expectations. A shopping bag full of hope. A backpack of exercise. A trolley of library books. Now I am just a battered old briefcase. Wrinkled and worn. Disillusioned with life and its empty metaphors. A life lived in bags. Hand me another drink. Jane Frances

St Augustine

Augustine His theology, it was not the least He used to make Africa his conquest Robed in righteous red and gold Crowned in silver, linen of old The greatest thinker of the Romans then He studied what was to become of Man Stopping to talk to a boy Running near the pebble shore Reminded Augustine of a time When he was free and wild and prime He cannot empty the sea of its salinity Or change the doctrine of the Trinity Yet changed the Christian faith for that The Empire would worship one in Spirit He made the ancient Faith all powerful Like Jesus healing at the stirring pool He turned away from fornication And even those times of insufflation The world stopped going round the Sun And the angels played their Carillion To bring all those saints and sinners back home The merits of Augustine’s ocean of wisdom

The Cross

“ I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit. ” Khalil Gibran   The Cross Weight bore down Almost unbearable Joy and sadness combined  “For now you shall know in part Then you shall know in full.” Almost consumed by the Spirit Such ecstasy Tears and sweat mingling The intense pain and all-pervading joy The suffering and the hope Slowly He gives Himself up To higher things Blood trickles down His companions, one with him His Mother bereft As a sword pierces her soul John takes her head and lays it on his breast In comfort They cut him down and Wrap him in clean cloths Like He was a baby In a manger Joanna Bennett

Musing at the Sea

Musing at the Beach Where shall I start?  An azure sea? So many can describe it – Better than me Indigo and Emerald Green Purple horizon And Silver seam Cloudless sky Dogs playing Fish-fry Kite flying High in the sky A solitary seagull Soaring by Peace Calm Sea Sand Sun Tide creeping in Fingers drumming a tune Time too soon Where shall I start?  An azure sea? So many can describe it – Better than me  Joanna Bennett

Breakfast Christianity

Flicking through the God Channels on Sky TV I am aware that Christianity has become one big Commercial.  I doubt very much this is the Christianity of St Francis or St Padre Pio.  It is like breakfast Christianity - fills you for a few hours but not sustaining.  Most of the Channels are either asking for money or selling their products.  I am sure it is not Biblical to sell a gift that God has given you freely to support some multi million pound consumerist company.  In fact there are some strong Biblical warnings in the Bible about selling what belongs to God.  God has freely given - we should freely give too.  Not that we should stop writing and selling books for edification or making films.  But some of the 'God' channels - there sole (soul) purpose seems to be selling their products.  Also some of them have been selling these products for years.  In different forms.  These products are not what you need to fulfill a Christian life but prayer, the Sacraments of the Church an

Medley Minute with Fr Sam: St John Bosco Teaches Us How to Shepherd Wolves to...

Medley Minute with Fr Sam: St John Bosco Teaches Us How to Shepherd Wolves to... : Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket   or under a bed,  and not to be placed on a lampstand? Listen to my homily...

Train Journey

Through square windows the scenery flashes Train lumbering through the countryside Past fields of frost bitten grass And plows set aside for the winter Canal banks and rivers wide Railway sidings And factories Clouds like sheep in their pasture Layers of colours on the landscape Walls made of stone and mortar Forest edges and foxes scared Rabbits in the burrows there Cows waiting by the gate For milking time to come around Past a castle, past a farm Little boxes where people live Train persists up the hill Soon at the destination The journey part of the recollection

Ode to a Prince

Sought he the King’s daughter and paid a fee Of his true love he was sure she was worth She was beautiful and of noble birth Prince would he not take any liberty He waited patiently till she was free Her pureness he would not violate he Needed her desperately as a mate Prince came he sailing from across the sea As his light of youth began to fade from The life he led had set in decay with Out a wife he would need to pay the bride Price and seven years to the day he came Her beauty left him in the shade but yet He took his bride away and kept his pride.

Retreat

Wherever a Monastery is I find there my earthly Paradise Our Father and the Hail Mary Good fellowship and Angel’s Glory Red wine and blessed Bread Becomes our precious Jesus Christ Priests bestow on us their Blessing Our Souls cleansed by our admission Retreats give us time to think Nuns to comfort poor and sick Life’s twists and turns seem strange But faith in God remains the same When built within a sure foundation Mortals too can reign with Creation

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah

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Association of Catholic Women Bloggers

Association of Catholic Women Bloggers