Peter Blog a few random thoughts

Tuesday, 31 January 2012 SAINT JOHN BOSCO Priest (1815-1888)         Born in the diocese of Turin in 1815, and brought up in poverty, John Bosco devoted his life to the education of working youth.         He founded religious congregations -the Salesian Order, and the Congregation of the Helpers of Mary -to carry on his ideals.         He fell asleep in the Lord on January 30, 1888 at the age of seventy-two.         John Bosco  (Italian:  Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco ; 16 August 1815 [1]  – 31 January 1888), was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer of the 19th century, who put into practice the convictions of his religion, dedicating his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth and employing teaching methods based on love rather than punishment, a method that is known as the preventive system. [2]  A follower of the spirituality and philosophy of Francis de Sales, Bosco dedicated his works to

650 years of the English Collage Rome: The Venerable English College, located in the heart of the Eternal City, has been of invaluable service to the faithful of England: welcoming her pilgrims, forming her priests, and -- during the age of persecution -- giving her martyrs.  Friday through Sunday, the Venerable English College celebrated its 650th anniversary of service to Catholic faithful of England and Wales. The oldest English institution outside of England, it was originally established as a hospice for pilgrims on Jan. 27, 1362. When it became illegal to train as a priest in England, the hospice was converted into a seminary, preparing men to serve the faithful as priests in their home country.  The celebrations began Friday with Mass presided over by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who served as rector of the College from 1971-1977. At the conclusion of the Mass, the cardinal intoned the Te Deum, the traditional hymn which, during the persecution of the Churc

Last year Fr Dominic and I on our visit to Jerusalem took some time to go to the Holocaust Memorial and Museum. It is on a hill that overlooks the main city of Jerusalem and is a permanent reminder for all people what the wrong use of power and authority can do to those around them.  We have also seen in our own country and Church what can happen when people use their power and authority for their own means rather than for the great good of others. It is no wonder that many people in the world have a great mistrust of those in authority. This gives then a great c hallenge for today’s Gospel when we hear that Jesus had power and authority. So what is different? Mark shows us that Jesus is invested with the power of the Holy Spirit at his baptism and so acts with authority. So through his words and actions he is acting on the authority of God himself. So what the people see is that the difference between the teaching of Jesus and other religious figures of the time is that wi

The Third Sunday of the Year B When we look at the news or the Newspapers we may get the feeling that there is little or no Good News out there. We may get an understanding that there are so many bad things going on in the world that there is no room for Good News. And what we do is to get sucked into this world of Bad News.  I think that this has been highlighted with the advent of the rolling news on TV. We are asked in this weekend’s Gospel to “Repent and believe the Good news.” The word Repent means to think again the people of Nineveh in the first reading were asked by Jonah to think again about their behaviour and the way they treated each other. We must constantly think about the way that we treat each other and the way that shows itself as good news for others or as bad news for others. And keep seeking the Lords Forgiveness and return to his love.  But, I think that the problem goes deeper than this. For we are asked to “Repent and believe the Good news.” The ke

I have to say that this weekend I said something different from what I actually prepared but these are the notes from which I drew  my inspiration.  This weekend we have an opportunity to explore what is the meaning of being called by God. It is also a chance to look at what our response might be in the midst of this call. So I thought that I would reflect with you what this call has been like in my life and where I am today as a priest. I remember my Mum telling me at the age of about 7 I came down from upstairs after a night’s sleep and I told her that I wanted to become a priest. When I she asked me why I explained to her that it was because they only worked on Sunday. My Vocation to the Priesthood came because I was being invited to come and see and for me also to avail myself and say “here I am.” Both must work together but yet sadly many are put off either by no invitation because of negativity about the Church that they receive from others or because of the busin

Today we see that Jesus is made manifest for all peoples and all nations. The wise men coming from all corners of the globe follow a star to meet Jesus bringing three significant gifts of Gold Frankincense and Myrrh. Three gifts to represent his kingship, divinity and also pointing towards how he was to die. It must have felt quite an odd thing to happen for Mary and Joseph but we are told that Mary kept all these things in her heart. Both Mary and Joseph made these rather mysterious characters welcome and allowed them to worship Jesus. This story has got me thinking about our parish community and actually how we treat the stranger who comes into our Church. For the house of God is for everyone no matter who they are and where they have been. As a parish community we should extend the welcome out to everyone because we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord. And we may think that we are a welcoming and warm community but when we go deeper what is the reality. I have witness