25 March 2009

The Apprentice

A lot of my friends watch the tv programme, The Apprentice. Although I know what it is about, and have heard of it, I've never really watched it. I hardly watch tv anymore, I mainly use my set for listening to the radio stations available on satellite. There's been a lot of advertising for this series, on radio and elsewhere, so I thought I'd tune in.

I wish I hadn't.

I found the whole thing very uncomfortable, the contestants come across as greedy, and selfish. The whole attitude is money, money, money. One of the contestants in his bio even said "making money is better than sex" Pretty pathetic really.

At the end, after much squabbling, accusation and counter-accusation, one contestant got fired. Not nicely done, poor girl even said thanks, for being fired! I can't imagine myself in that situation, at all, I wouldn't last. I'm not competitive enough, not motivated by money. I wouldn't get fired, I would have quit already. Nasty programme, really.

22 March 2009

March 22nd 2008

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008. About the same time that I am now writing this blog post, in fact, I was received into the Catholic Church, Confirmed and took my first Holy Communion. So, today is my full one year calendar anniversary as a full member of the Catholic Church!! It has been an amazing year since then in my life, my Faith grows stronger each day, my love for the Lord keeps growing, and despite the many times I fall and get it wrong, He keeps on picking me up, dusting me down, and helps get me moving again.

I wrote about my journey into the Church last year, just after Easter, which is here I hope to have many more years in which I can celebrate the greatest moment of my life, when I was fully received into the Church!

19 March 2009

The Oath Against Modernism

I, Jay Augustine, firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day.

And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (cf. Rom. 1:90), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated:

Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time.

Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time.

Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely.

Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our Creator and Lord.

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion. I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality-that of a believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful.

Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm. Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact-one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history-the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labour, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles.

I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the Faith of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God. . .

18 March 2009

AIDS, Condoms and the Church

I missed this last night, but Joanna Bogle from the blog Auntie Joanna writes was on Channel 4 news talking about comments Pope Benedict XVI has made concerning condoms and AIDS. You can see a clip of the event here. I personally thought Joanna did a wonderful job of passionately defending the Church's teaching here, so I was dismayed to read on her blog that some people have been criticising her, saying they were ashamed of her because she appeared to lose her cool.

Well, blow them, is all I can say. Being passionate is not a crime, and she did a wonderful job of putting the woman from Christian Aid and the interviewer in their place. It was noticeable when he (Jon Snow, I think he is) couldn't contain the passionate responses from Joanna he fell back to the old cliche "Well, you are not being very Christian, are you?" Like he would know what being Christian is all about!

I think it would be a great thing to pop over to her blog and give her some much deserved messages of support.

Go Joanna!

01 March 2009

It Really bothers Me....

...When people who claim they are Catholic live a life and preach a belief that is contrary to Catholic teaching! It grates me, it twists up my insides and it causes me pain. If you are a Catholic, then you live the Catholic life, you accept the authority of the Church and the teachings of the Faith. If you can't do this, at *least* be honest, and stop calling yourself Catholic.