Benefits of Anglican converts...

Great lead in for an article entitled Evangelical Anglican Catholics?:

What happens when former Evangelicals find their way home to the Catholic Church through the Anglican Church? They bring with them into the Catholic Church a whole range of gifts from their former traditions. They bring the zeal and dedication of the Evangelical. They bring wide and deep knowledge of the Scriptures. They also bring the Anglican love of fine preaching, excellent hymns, reverent worship and beautiful language and liturgy.

We were discussing this after a somewhat heated discussion at the last PDT (current buzzword for Parish Council). As a convert, my stance is "Catholic first, Christian second" - the Catholic church has so much more depth to it and Catholics need to firstly understand their church better and secondly to take advantage of those aspects of faith that are uniquely theres. On the opposite side of the debate was someone who feels that "We are all Christians after all" and "we don't want to return to the old days of parochialism".
I would love to see more "fine preaching, excellent hymns, reverent worship and beautiful language and liturgy". I would also appreciate less of the wandering around the church during the homily which guarantees that (a) half the church can't hear the sermon and (b) half the church can't see the priest…

Rose, not pink!

This set of beautiful vestments often gets overlooked but Fr. Bolt was
happy to wear them...

Bondi in the morning

Christmas in Australia - sunshine and beaches ...

You must be Anglicans...

I have been enjoying "The Serrano Succession" (by Elizabeth Moon, available at BAEN Books) on the bus and I came across a passage that appealed to my sense of humour. The main character in this quote is Texas Ranger Kate from a distant future where there are actually a number of "Texan" planets (some good, some bad). She is on a mission to explain the perspective of a "good" Texan:

"Not really." Kate settled into lecture mode. "The Lone Star Confederation was organized for space exploration back on Earth, and most of its members then were North Americans—many of them from the exact region then known as Texas. But most of the people in Texas came from somewhere else, all over North America. Sure, there were some hard-shell Texans among them—people whose families had been in Texas just about forever—but a lot of them weren't. And Lone Star has always welcomed immigrants who share our philosophy—"
"Which is?"
"Fear God and nobody else, ride tall, shoot straight, never tell a lie, dance with who brung you, and never renege on a handshake."
Another silence, this one slightly shocked, but responsive.
'Dance with who brung you?'
"Another way of saying honor your earlier obligations—don't just look at current profit."
"Interesting."
"And your philosophy?" Kate asked.
For a long moment no one answered, then young Lt. Serrano spoke up. "If I understand yours, it's much the same. Tell the truth, keep promises, stand by friends, don't turn your back on an enemy."
"I notice you didn't mention God," Kate said. "Is that because those NewTex nutcases have you scared, or what? Any of you folks got religion?"
This time the captain spoke up. "The Familias legal codes—and those of the Regular Space Service—allow freedom of belief, and freedom of religious practices which are not directly harmful to others. Because of the wide variety of beliefs, many held strongly, we do not generally discuss religion with those we do not know."
Kate cocked her head and gave him her best mischievous kid grin. "In other words, it's bad manners to talk about God?"
"Something like that," he said.
"You people must have been descended from Anglicans," Kate said. "Well, I'm not here to make you nervous, though I don't see why a good argument about God should do anything but keep your digestion going. It's one of our favorite forms of entertainment."

Then vs Now….

Check out Modern Tech vs the Past:

We have: Facebook
They had: Dinner parties
You remember that bit in the Stephen King film Misery where Kathy Bates' character ties up an author and smashes his feet to pieces? It's the perfect metaphor for Facebook. The login window is the snowy car crash, your home page is Kathy Bates' bedroom, and the status updates are a sledgehammer hobbling you. Only Facebook doesn't hobble once: Facebook hobbles you every minute. Forever. Let's keep that image fresh in our minds, and compare it to a dinner party. In times past, people would have these delightful gatherings where they would sit and talk to each other.

Right, so on one hand we have Kathy Bates smashing your feet to pieces, and on the other we have a quiet gathering of friends, a tender chicken lightly dappled with provençal sauce, a zesty white wine and some topical conversation. Think about it. Really think about it. Now make your choice.

Best thing about Facebook: Divorce proceedings.
Best thing about dinner parties: Pudding.

Winner: Dinner parties.

Eric Genuis

The better half and one of the youngsters went to a fantastic concert in Surrey Hills. This guy is absolutely amazing, check his music out on iTunes...

Today is …

Chapel, Seminary of the Good Shepherd

We were very privilidged to attend the final profession of faith and commitment to life-long celibacy of six seminarians. They will become deacons next month followed by priestly ordination next year. Please join us in praying for John and Simon.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart: 150 Years

A special mass was celebrated at the National (Australian) Shrine of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart by Fr. Mark McDonald MSC (Superior General of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart).

The church was packed - well over 1000 communicants. There were banners from all of the MSC schools in Australia and priests from MSC communities everywhere concelebrated - including the esteemed Rev Dr Paul Stenhouse MSC (editor of Annals Australasia) and Fr Peter Hearn (parish priest of Randwick who joined the choir for the Latin hymns).

Sydney Hospital

I have always wondered why this pig was outside the hospital instead
of one building north along the street where the "bear pit" and the
"pig trough" are...

Anglican Conversions….

Pope announces plans for Anglicans to convert en masse

The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict is setting up special provision for Anglicans, including married clergy, who want to convert to Rome together, preserving aspects of Anglican liturgy. They will be given their own pastoral supervision, according to this press release from the Vatican:

“In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.”

More on this very important story later. But this is clearly a historic gesture by Pope Benedict which will encourage thousands of disaffected Anglicans to become Roman Catholics.

Wow. I am lost for words. I found the story via DOMINE, DA MIHI HANC AQUAM!

Ancestors...

The handsome gentleman in this picture arrived in Australia in 1788 -
as a convict. He married and settled down and became quite prosperous.

Name: John Small
DOB: 30 Nov 1761
RIP: 2 Oct 1850

Mystery Photo

Can you guess what this is?

Haymarket, Sydney

Ooh look, there are trams in Sydney too. Not sure that they go
anywhere useful though...

Well that explains it ...

Fr. Roderick and Cardinal Pell

Outside St. Marys.

Fr. Roderick in Sydney

Reading the gospel at mass. Well, actually he sang it - very beautifully.

Holy Spirit Catholic Church, North Ryde

We are hoping to be present at am ordination tonight...

Taronga zoo

Cupcake anyone?

A colleague had this on his desk. Would you try it?