A prayer of resignation to God's will

http://www.cfnews.org.uk/ - 21.04.2011

I BELIEVE, my Saviour, that you know just what is best for me. I believe that you love me better than I love myself, that you are all-wise in your Providence, and all-powerful in your protection. My Lord, I will wait on you for your guidance, and, on obtaining it, I will act upon it in simplicity and without fear. And I promise that I will not be impatient, if at any time I am kept by you in darkness and complexity; nor will I ever complain or fret if I come into any misfortune or anxiety.

(Blessed John Henry Newman)

Ain't nobody here but us chickens...

Catholic Paterfamilias blog - 5.4.2011

http://catholicpaterfamilias.blogspot.com/2011/04/aint-nobody-here-but-us-chickens.html

Dedicated to those members of the Oratorian community who have failed to rectify the outrage perpetrated against Fr Dermot Fenlon (and with my apologies to the late and great Louis Jordan).

Olympic Wit from the Oxford Oratory

Catholic and Loving It! Blog - 1.04.2011
http://www.lovingit.co.uk/2011/04/olympic-wit-from-the-oxford-oratory.html

Those fantastic wits at the Oxford Oratory pulled a hilarious April Fools Day prank in which they pretended that Fr Anton Webb has been selected to represent Vatican City at the 2012 Olympics.

The joke is on them of course - everybody knows that Oratorian's are best at...

...The Triple Jump!

In step with Newman

http://www.cfnews.org.uk/
http://www.gloria.tv/

What is to become of Fr Dermot Fenlon?

Catholic Pater Familias blog - 24.03.2011

The Free the Birmingham Oratory Three blog posted the cartoon below yesterday.

I'm copying the cartoon without asking their permission so may yet get a letter from them or a lawyer asking me to remove it. That said, unless that blog is actually a front for the Middlesbrough Diocese I'm guessing I should get away with it.

The cartoon does raise a serious issue. Here we have a man who is a renowned academic and known by many to be a holy and good priest who has been expelled from his home by a process which might, if all the reports in the public domain are correct (see James Preece's blog and the Free the Birmingham Oratory Three blog), at best be referred to as unusual. The less charitable might describe the process used against Fr Fenlon as an abuse of process and politically motivated.


They may not like it but Fr Felix Selden, Fr Ignatius Harrison and Fr Gareth Jones are going to find themselves continually facing questions about what has happened to Fr Fenlon (and their involvement in it). The treatment received by Fr Fenlon is a scandal that will only serve to undermine their individual authority and that of the wider Oratorian community.

As to what will become of Fr Dermot Fenlon, I wish I knew the answer. Having done nothing wrong, he certainly doesn't deserve the treatment he has received so far.

Free the B3: Justice for Fr. Dermot Fenlon asks...

The Birmingham Oratory - what a difference a year makes

Catholic Pater Familias blog - 9.3.2011

Take a look at the links below:

Birmingham Oratory newsletter 6 March 2011
Birmingham Oratory newsletter 12 March 2010

Pretty much a year apart but on 12 March 2010 we had:

"only the Catholic Church also teaches, clearly and consistently, the wrongness of contraception, homosexuality and abortion. What is at stake is her right, in her own schools, to continue to do so, free from State censorship and control."

On 6 March 2011 we get:

"This is because they would refuse to endorse a homosexual lifestyle for children entrusted to their care. They would not stop loving these children. They could not stop them doing what they wanted once they were of age. They simply would not say, as Christians: “This is something we can approve.” Many parents are in the same position on all kinds of issues."

Whilst I appreciate the subject being dealt with in each newsletter is different, there seems to be something of a change of tone. In one we have a clear and concise statement of the Church's position and in the other a degree of vagueness.

I'm not certain where the "all kinds of issues" comes into it unless one is trying to equate religious views on homosexuality with parental views on body piercings and tattoos.

Oh yes, I forgot, Fr Dermot Fenlon, Fr Philip Cleevely and Br Lewis Berry were removed from the Birmingham Oratory a couple of months after the March 2010 newlsetter.