My biggest regret this Christmas is that it snowed and we never built a snowman - there was a rather tragic afternoon when I took Leona to the shops to buy a sledge and they had all sold out. I am resolved. The next time I see a decent sledge in a shop I will buy three - even if it is June.

If that's the worst I can think of then you know we had a good Christmas and I hope you all did to.

It was very hard to buy Satsumas in the shops this year so when Ella put Satsumas on the shopping list I bought Clementines instead - lot's of Clementines. They were buy one get one free so I bought six bags. That's 30 or so tasty oranges.

When I got home it turned out Ella doesn't like Clementines and I have ruined her Christmas. Personally I think Clementines are far superior to Satsumas but Ella thinks they are disgusting. Eventually I went back to the shops and found some Satumas. These are kept in a seperate bag in the fruit bowl and are for Ella only while me and the girls attempt to eat loads of Clementines before they go off (fortunately, they have lasted quite well).

The important thing is that the girls found a small orange in their stocking. This is an essential part of Christmas - is this the case in other people's families or just ours?

Speaking of the girls, they are now enormous. Baby Joanne is now crawling all over the place and getting in to everything - her favourite toys are electrical outlets, plastic bags and probably barbed wire if she could get hold of it, that girl likes danger. Leona meanwhile is a little person and is definitely not a Baby (she told me), you can hold basic conversations with her and tell her off for not saying please and thank you.

Hope you had a great Christmas, I would tell you about my New Year resolutions but there are too many and I have broken several of them already.

There are loads more Christmassy pictures to be seen here.

I've done a degree in Physics and I can tell you that as romantic as astrophysics might seem at first sight it's actually one of the most tedious subjects known to man so respect to the dudes who made this video possible. You have a greater capacity for enduring boredom than I do...

Catholic Education Services say that...

the work of the Connexions Service is making an increasing impact on young people in Catholic schools and colleges. It is a service to be welcomed.

[link]

Connexions is a brand (the government uses this language) with a distinctive logo and when we tell young people in Catholic schools to listen to and trust Connexions advisors we are selling them that brand. It's like telling them to go to the McDonalds advisor for dietary advice.

When they go to Connexions they are going to find things like this...

Yes. Clearly a service to be welcomed.

You can view the full video here.

Sorry, but I just thought this was something you should see.

Newsweek have a History of Birth Control in pictures which you might find interesting but to be honest you've already seen the best bit (above) which pretty much sums up our societies attitude to babies.

I don't know if you read The LION & the CARDINAL but you should because it is an excellent blog filled with all the things I miss out on by being born in a modernist liberal progressive wing of the Church where (I kid you not) we had no incense on Christmas day while the Baptist Church down the road did!

I thought this Ars Morendi was really cool, we should have pictures like this in RE books...

The Ars moriendi is the work of a monk or priest who had seen many people die. In this little book we have the somber experience of a man who had collected together many last words, barely spoken... The text was often striking, but it was the astonishing woodcuts above all that spread its fame throughout Europe. Here it is indeed a question of Christian hopes and fears: death appears not as a farcical dance, but as a serious drama played around the bed of the dying man; angel and devil stand at his side, contending for the soul that will soon depart. Formidable moment! The Christian needed to know in advance the temptations and anguish of the terrible dark hours to come in order to learn how to triumph over them... The dying man is exposed to five principal temptations. God, however, does not abandon the Christian, and five times sends His angel to comfort him.

[link]

Of course, we don't need this sort of thing anymore because we are all going to heaven and haven't done any real sins (a priest told me).

Better to worry about over filled kettles.

Update: Just to be clear - the priest who told his congregation that they were all going to heaven and haven't done any real sins is not my present parish priest.

Tragedy averted!

I was very worried I wouldn't get to build a snowman this year but then this morning it snowed and snowed and snowed. Beautiful, fluffly, white flakes of snow flowing down and down for hours until the snow was a good few inches thick and perfect for snowman building! Unfortunately I was at work, fortunately my boss is a very nice man and he let me take the afternoon off as a holiday at very short notice.

As if my head wasn't to big to fit through the door already, it turns out I am awesome at building snowmen...

Next time the Catholic Blog Awards come up there had better be an award for the blog with the best snowman.

Leona was loving it...

Anybody who is hungry for photos (who wouldn't be) can see some more here.

Well I might as well go to bed because best blog entry of the day award has been well and truly won by Matthew at Creative Minotrity Report...

Experts have noticed the problem. There's a shortage of people willing to step up and do the job. And because of that, the limited number of those who have joined are stretched thinner and have to work harder. Experts have noticed that their average age is climbing rapidly. And they've noticed that many of our best and brightest young people aren't interested in joining.

While I could be talking about priests, actually liberals are worried about the graying of abortionists. Poor things.

All I can think is that if only they let abortionists marry, none of this would happen.

[link]

From B3ta of course...

Not to be taken seriously!

Ella and I found these oldie worldie marital rating charts funny enough to fill them in and see how we did.

We found these charts on a blog entry about how if men expect these things of women these days they are being sexist but it is still apparently perfectly reasonable for women to expect these things of men.

You can read that here if you like.

I know we're pushing it a bit for Christmas things (the three wise men have been and gone, twice) but I wanted to share the wonderful cake Ella made...

I think she did a great job. There are a few more photos here

Yesterday evening we got more snow and cycling home from work was a bit, um, scary. Today being a Saturday meant I had plenty of time to spend in the garden with Ella and the girls adding to our little snow family...

I made the Snowgirl...

Ella made the Snowman's best friend...

Tip of the day: Go to a sports shop and shell out a bit extra for some proper ski gloves. Very effective at keeping the hands warm and dry when handling snow and only the fraction of the cost of a Wii game.

I stumbled across this mushy video on another blog...

Mushiness aside, it got me thinking. Not about the video itself but about how lonely I feel as a dad sometimes.

I know three seminarians in their twenties from Hull. Three! They can go down the pub and have seminarian chats together about what it's like being a seminarian.

How many twenty-something Catholic dads do you reckon I know in Hull?

How about NONE?

Okay so there are Polish and Indian Catholics in their twenties with kids, but those three seminarians I know grew up in Hull, we went to the same schools. Where are the Catholic dads that I grew up with? There are none.

Do you still think it's just a priest shortage we need to be worrying about?

Back in January 2008 I blogged about a chapter of the book Spirit of the Liturgy by Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI).

In that book he writes that...

a common turning to the east during the Eucharistic Prayer remains essential. This is not a case of something accidental, but of what is essential. Looking at the priest has no importance.

And he makes a suggestion...

Where a direct common turning toward the east is not possible, the cross can serve as an interior "east" of faith. It should stand in the middle of the altar and be the common point of focus for both priest and praying community.

You can read that full blog entry here but the main point I made is this: That the Pope didn't just suggest this when he was a cardinal, he is doing it now that he is the Pope... Should we not be doing what the Pope is doing?

Last week the Papal MC (the guy looking over the Pope's shoulder in the picture above) gave an address at a clergy conference in Rome. He spoke about a great many things but I've sliced it right down for the lazybones among you... (you should really read the whole thing - it's excellent)

...one conviction has always remained clear within the Christian community, almost down to the present day. I am referring to praying facing east, a tradition which goes back to the origins of Christianity.

...

...we would like to reaffirm that prayer facing east, more specifically, facing the Lord, is a characteristic expression of the authentic spirit of the liturgy.

...

Hence the reason for the proposal made by the then Cardinal Ratzinger, and presently reaffirmed during the course of his pontificate, to place the Crucifix on the center of the altar, in order that all, during the celebration of the liturgy, may concretely face and look upon Lord, in such a way as to orient also their prayer and hearts.

link

There are two highly significant things here. The first being that "prayer facing east, more specifically, facing the Lord, is a characteristic expression of the authentic spirit of the liturgy".

In other words, it's not an optional extra for a small minority of people who happen to like it. It's characteristic. You should be able to see it in most places and if this characteristic expression is missing, there's a good chance your parish priest is missing something in his interpretation of the liturgy.

But even more important is this, that the proposal to place the crucifix in the center of the altar is being presently reaffirmed during the course of his [Pope Benedict's] pontificate.

This leads us to the obvious question...

If the Pope suggested it, and the Pope does it, and the Pope's MC says that the Pope intends to reaffirm it, why don't we do it?

It is because we are deaf?

I like optical illusions, I like puns and I've been known to imbibe a bit of religion from time to time as well. So, as you can imagine, this made my day...

Which pair of sisters is bigger?

The answer is.... 'Nun' (boom boom), they're in fact the same size!

If you don't believe me, hold a ruler (or a pen or something) against the screen and measure them. Weird huh?

Almost as weird as the word weird. I before E except after W?

As seen on Catholic with Attitude

You keep on using those words, I do not think they mean what you think they mean...

Mullier Fortis cheerfully bangs a few more nails in to the "active participation means we all do something" coffin...

Because, if active participation does mean "we have to do something, preferably on the Sanctuary, but whatever it is, call it a collaborative ministry anyway" then, frankly, the majority of the People of God are not participating, and the circle of "active participants" or "ministers" has merely been changed from "the priest" to "the priest and the few people he has chosen to help."

link

She is writing in response to a new website "standup4vatican2" and frankly she's done such a good job of laying the smackdown on them here and here that there's not much left for anybody else to say.

That said, I can't resist actively participating by sharing this fantastic horror story I found on their website...

Currently we seem to be experiencing a significant growth in the activities of people who would like to take us back to the fifties. They claim that they are seeking to build on the work of Vatican 11. My experience however, suggests that they want to take us back.

In a parish it starts quietly, ministers of the Eucharist are deemed not sufficiently reverent at main services so are relegated to weekday services. Altar rails are introduced and people are encouraged to kneel for Communion. The occasional Mass in Latin is introduced, before long it is included as part of the main services once a month and then more frequently. Before you know it the priest is saying Mass with his back to the people. And so it grows.

All of this without any consultation with the people of the parish who are told when they object “I will not discuss the liturgy”. Is this coming to your parish? It might be and it might be nearer than you think.

[link]

I do hope so...

This is brilliant...

Another beautiful picture from the LION & the CARDINAL.

St. John of Damascus writes...

I may not have many books, nor much time to read, but, strangled with thoughts, as if with thorns, I come into the common surgery of the soul, the church; the luster of the painting draws me to vision and delights my sight like a meadow and imperceptibly introduces my soul to the glory of God. I have seen the perseverance of the martyr, the recompense of the crowns, and as if by fire I am eagerly kindled to zeal, and falling down I venerate God through the martyr and I receive salvation.

[link]

Good job he didn't live around here...

Joking aside, there is a clear and definite link between the lack of beauty in our Churches and the lack of people.

The other day I blogged the words of St John of Damascus who wrote...

I may not have many books, nor much time to read, but, strangled with thoughts, as if with thorns, I come into the common surgery of the soul, the church; the luster of the painting draws me to vision and delights my sight like a meadow and imperceptibly introduces my soul to the glory of God.

I said that it's a good job he didn't live around here because in my view, there is a clear and definite link between the lack of beauty in our Churches and the lack of people. Fr Massie responded to ask "In that case, why aren't most Anglican churches bursting at the seams?"

It's a reasonable question, so I gave him an unreasonable answer and then thought better of it and decided I should probably write this blog entry...

The words of St John of Damascus put me in mind of a passage from GK Chesterton in which he discusses the difficulty most people have in understanding the rational compared with the ease with which they understand the mystical...

...to judge of the aims of a thing like the Salvation Army is very difficult, to judge of their ritual and atmosphere very easy. No one, perhaps, but a sociologist can see whether General Booth’s housing scheme is right. But any healthy person can see that banging brass cymbals together must be right. A page of statistics, a plan of model dwellings, anything which is rational, is always difficult for the lay mind. But the thing which is irrational any one can understand. That is why religion came so early into the world and spread so far, while science came so late into the world and has not spread at all. History unanimously attests the fact that it is only mysticism which stands the smallest chance of being understanded of the people.

[link]

For example, it would take me a very long time to explain to my two year old daughter that it is a very difficult thing to build a huge Cathedral because it requires many people to spend a lot of time planning, understanding physics and architecture, carving stone and so on. At the end when I told her that such things exist she would probably yawn and as me to let her watch a Pingu DVD. She would not be terribly impressed.

But when we went to Beverley and walked around the corner and the great Minster loomed in the sky above her, two towering pillars of golden sandstone in the crisp autumn sun, she stopped in her tracks and said "wow".

Forgive me if I bold my own paragraph but this is important...

Despite the fact that the modernist liberal church prides itself on having broken free of the tedious dry dogma of the past it has in fact achieved the very opposite. It is now in fact, almost impossible to wander in off the street in the middle of a Catholic Mass and say, with all the wisdom of a two year old, "wow".

In order to have a sense of wonder at the Mass now we must go the intellectual route, it is all they have left us. St John of Damascus was without many books but before we can see anything special about the elderly gentleman with the bread and wine we must read many books, listen to talks, go on courses and study our Bible. You will point out that most people don't do that sort of thing, I will point out that most people are not saying "wow" to the Mass.

Trying to get young people to be impressed at the Mass is like trying to get them to be impressed at the technology inside a laptop computer. The fact that entire libraries of information can be stored in a space the size of a pen lid is hardly impressive because it just works. We have done something similar with the Eucharist, we have placed it inside a plastic case and made it a simple matter of pushing a button.

Our liturgy is as impressive to the untrained eye as a beige box with a whirring fan and a small group of excited nerds crowded around it crowing about how much RAM it has.

If the Church is ever to grow beyond a small band of nerdy bookish people it is vital that we re-learn how to speak the language of the soul. We need to make it clear at first sight that this is a thing that is special, holy, important and impressive. It is not enough for the computer scientists to understand that the modern microchip is a marvel of engineering, it is not enough for the theologians to be impressed at the symbolism in the way they have laid the chairs out in a half circle...

This is why things like art and incense, vestments and kneeling are so important, because you don't need to be a technical person to understand.

I am reminded of the time we went with young people to visit the Church with the frescoes in Pickering and more than one of them said "why isn't our Church like that?" Any healthy person can see that a 20ft high painting of St George slaying the dragon must be right. It takes a special kind of madness to think a clever abstract painting that has to be explained is preferable.

So when I say there is a link between the lack of beauty in our churches and the lack of people - this is what I am getting at. We have removed the things that are obviously good and right and left something that only those who are already "in" (or willing to make the effort) can begin to look at and say "this is important", "this means something".

Not long ago on this blog I bemoaned the lack of incense on Christmas day and somebody said in the comments...

Whatever happens in your parish and however discouraged you may be remember the incense is a symbol but Our Lord in the Eucharist is real, despite the faith of the priest confector.

I know that and you know that but unless the signs and symbols and trappings scream out "this is the most important thing in the world" it is unlikely that the bloke down the road who didn't learn to read properly at school and now sits at home all day playing on his PS3 is ever going to work it out.

In Salisbury Cathedral they have an interesting font with running water. It's not even very ugly (compared with most things that get built these days).

If people really want to be cutting edge in the font department (and I'm not sure I do) they should really get themselves one of these...

If you don't have long, skip to the five minute mark when the gothic arches come in...

Optical Shmoptical...

Play the video twice... How clever is that?

I still struggle to do my daughter's hair sometimes, maybe I should build one of these...

Maybe I should start listening to music from westerns while I do her hair...?

Remember how I was saying that some things are just right?

Make the entire front page of your website be your terms and conditions...

By using the St Mary’s Cathedral website you agree to be legally bound by these terms, which shall take effect immediately on your first use of the site. If you do not agree to be legally bound by all the following terms please do not access and/or use the St Mary’s Cathedral website.

[link]

I wonder how you are supposed find out that you disagree with the terms and conditions in order to know not to access the website?

Still, it's probably a step up from our own parish website that still has a photo of our old priest... shame on me.

(I'd better airbush out the altar cross in the photograph as well, the new priest doesn't do that sort of thing)

I thought the following post by Fr Dwight Longenecker was relevant to my recent blog entry about the language of the soul.

Why does a lofty Gothic church inspire and a carpeted church with drop ceilings does not?

...

I think a lofty church inspires because there is something sacramental about it. Everything in a gothic church points up. When you enter the heart lifts because the building lifts. The gothic structure of solid stone seems to be made instead of something lighter. The delicate tracery, the pointed arches, the finials and filigree transforms the stone and suddenly I am longing that my heart of stone might be re-made and transformed into a heart of fire and light.

Then as the pointed arches rise I see my hands placed together in prayer like little pointed arches themselves and I want to be a sacrament of stone and light. I want my heart to arch up to heaven and become a temple of the Holy Spirit--a dwelling of peace and beauty that speaks silently of grace and welcomes sinners home.

...

This is why Catholic Churches should be high and clear and beautiful. This is why churches that look like shopping malls or parking garages should be...shopping malls or parking garages.

[link]

The whole thing reminds me of couple of years ago there was a bit of controversy when Manchester Cathedral was used as a setting for a level of a first person shooter video game...

I can't help wondering why the makers of the game didn't choose a more modern Church to appeal to today's youth? Perhaps because they wanted today's youth to be able to easily identify it as a religious building?

Normal service will be resumed shortly.

Please talk among yourselves...

I know, I know. You poor bloghungry dears. Especially my friend in the Middlesbrough Diocese Curial Office who has a little peek most afternoons around 2pm though last Wednesday it was more like 4pm. Busy day?

Anyways, We've been away on our first family holiday since, well, since we had a family I suppose - that's nearly three years now, scary huh.

We went to Scarborough Castle which is a fantastic ruin, honestly. I spoke to some people from Scarborough and they were all down on the castle "there's not much left, it's okay I suppose" - dudes! Your castle is awesome...

You have beautiful views...

We went for walks. Joanne was loving the old baby back pack...

While Leona was loving the Hermitage. It's not a real Hermitage but a folly carved out on the instruction of a local school teacher...

You can't see Leona in that picture because she is inside the cave. Duh. Ella loved the waterfall itself, Falling Foss...

We visited Helmsley Castle with it's imposing keep...

Then, on the same day we went to Rievaulx Abbey (which is just down the road) and saw the most beautiful Abbey Ruins in the world...

Of course, we went to Whitby as well. While Rievaulx may be the most beautiful, Whitby clearly has the edge when it comes to pure awesomeness.

What else did we do? We visited Fr Massie in his new home (he seems to be settling in nicely) and we also visited the wonderful community at Madonna House in Robin Hood's Bay where they cooked us a great meal. Speaking of food, there's a brilliant indoor market in Scarborough where you buy way too many vegetables and then stop because you think you've spent all the money on enormous carrots, juicy red peppers, a pineapple and a load more besides and then the man says £3.50!

All in all, a great week. So, now you know where we've been. More photos here.

My interview with Bishop Terence Drainey will be in the coming issue of the Catholic Herald. This should especially be of interest to anybody in Middlesbrough Diocese. The Bishop speaks on...

• The fearful task of being a Bishop
• His relationship with the Bishops Conference
• The lack of porridge at World Youth Day
• Signs of traditionalism from Pope Benedict
• Where new Priests are going to come from
• Sex education in schools
• Latin and Gregorian Chant

Plenty of stuff to wave in the face of your parish priest. Especially if you want less porridge in your parish and a bit more Gregorian chant.

I thought you might find the following information useful...

Find an analog watch (the kind with hour and minute hands) that is set accurately. Place it on a level surface, such as the ground, or hold it horizontal in your hand.

Point the hour hand at the sun.

Bisect (that is, find the center point of) the angle between the hour hand and the twelve o'clock mark (the number 12 on the watch). The center of the angle between the hour hand and twelve o'clock mark is the north-south line. If you don't know which way is north and which south, just remember that no matter where you are, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. In the northern hemisphere the sun is due south at midday. If your watch is set to daylight savings time bisect the angle between the hour hand and the one o'clock mark instead.

Further methods (like what to do at night time) are available here

Regular readers can read my interview with Bishop Drainey here.

Welcome to any new visitors this weekend, especially if you found my link in the Catholic Herald. I'm a 27 year Catholic old young dad of two who goes to Mass every week because he wants to and not just because his wife drags him along, there are about six of us in the whole country - do let me know if you meet any more. I grew up in a Church designed do destroy faith in God and for most of my generation it's worked very well. Fortunately I have a rebelious streak in me and worked things out for myself, not because I'm clever but because like Gandalf, God likes to work with the most unlikely creatures imaginable.

I've been blogging on the state of the Catholic Church in England since 2002 and in that time I've written a lot of stuff. Here are some recent highlights:

On the Sex Abuse Scandals (we've learned nothing)...

• The Catholic Church: A Culture Favourable to Abuse
• How the Catholic Church Creates a Culture which is Favourable to Abuse
• The Sword of Damocles?The Culture of Abuse in the Diocese of Middlesbrough

On Criticising the Clergy (it's okay to do it)...

• Should Catholics criticise priests?
• Pope: Laypeople should shut up, keep their heads down and let the clergy get on with the job...

On Archbishop Nichols (picks on traditionalists, doesn't do his job)...

• Throwing his weight around
• Inexorably Distancing: The Movie
• Turning Their Back on the Church's Ordinary Pattern of Prayer
• A Joke...
• Nobody is going to anything about anything?

On Kieran Conry (The Bishop for Youth)...

• How to avoid the parts of Christianity you don't like: A beginners guide from Bishop Kieran Conry

There's lots, lots more to be found via the Tag Cloud on the left. Try my posts on Bishop Drainey or if you fancy a laugh, Middlesbrough Cathedral.

The best way to keep up to date with the latest goings on is to subscribe to the free email updates or if you are a bit technical, try the RSS Feed