Archbishop Sample on Youth and Tradition

His Excellency Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon underlines the importance of the witness of the youth which are awe-inspired by the transcendent beauty of the classical form of the Holy Mass and are captivated by tradition. 

Introíbo ad altáre Dei. Ad Deum qui lætíficat iuventútem meam!

Protesting Trump’s Visit Will Do More Damage to Britain than to Trump

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump (Getty Images)

 From the Catholic Herald

It does not look good to invite someone into our country, and then protest when they arrive

On Friday 13^th July, the President of the United States will be visiting the United Kingdom for what is described as a working visit. Details are still sketchy at this stage, but already certain people are lining up to make their displeasure clear, among them the Mayor of London, Sadiq Kahn, and the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow. We can expect an awful lot more of this sort of grandstanding and virtue signalling as the date of the visit approaches.

It is beyond any dispute that Donald Trump is a divisive figure, hated by many but loved by many as well. That is, it has to be said, his brand of politics. However, if some of us do not like the Donald, that does not mean to say that we should make a huge song and dance about it, or, worse, orchestrate protests against his visit, when such protests may well not harm him, but rather damage the United Kingdom.

It does not look good to invite someone into our country, and then protest when they arrive. If they come as the invited guest of our government, and the representative of their country, protest looks puerile and potentially insulting to the country they represent. Moreover, the fact that someone comes on a visit does not mean that we automatically agree with their country’s political culture. This applies as much to the President of the United States as it does to the King of Saudi Arabia, the President of China or (for some people) the Pope.

If one wishes to protest about these state or working visits – and I am never happy to see the Chinese President here, or the King of Saudi Arabia, for they certainly deserve to be international pariahs – then the protest should be aimed at our government that invited them in the first place. The British government would never ever (one hopes) invite Mr Putin here, but there are plenty of others who deserve to be on the ‘not to be invited’ list.

The Donald, I hasten to add, should not be on any such list. In fact, quite the opposite. He should be invited, and this visit is overdue, and I am sorry that it is not a full state visit, which, however, may come in time. America is our friend and ally, and we are bound together by close bonds of culture, language and history, and a presidential visit strengthens those bonds. At this juncture in British fortunes, our alliance with America has never been more important. And let us not forget that by inviting the American President here, we are paying a compliment to the whole of America, not just to him personally.

As for the protestors, they should enjoy their privilege of free speech, and the opportunity to remind the world that Donald Trump is not universally popular, and that America has its critics. But they will not be speaking for all of us. Mr Bercow and Mr Kahn in particular need to think carefully: London welcomes thousands of American visitors every year. We want them to feel welcome, surely? Will one more American visitor, albeit of a special kind, really be so very objectionable?


Alexander Lucie-Smith is a Catholic priest, doctor of moral theology and consulting editor of The Catholic Herald. On Twitter he is @ALucieSmith

Singing Priest’s ‘Britan’s Got Talent’ Performance Goes Viral

From Catholic Herald >>

Fr Ray Kelly is now tipped for stardom

 

A singing priest and contestant on Britain’s Got Talent has become something of a YouTube star. Fr Ray Kelly, 64, of Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland received a standing ovation last weekend on the talent show after performing REM’s Everybody Hurts.

Fr Kelly received plaudits from judges Simon Cowell and Alesha Dixon who described his performance as “beautiful” and backed his appearance in the next round of the competition.

The priest said: “I knew I could put in a fairly good performance but I was amazed at the (judges) comments. I am in awe and humbled by it, I really was not expecting it.”

Fr Kelly acknowledged previous Catholic contestant Susan Boyle as an inspiration saying it is his “dream” to sing a duet with her. The priest already has two albums to his name thanks to a previous musical career and achieved social media fame in 2014 after a video of him singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah went viral, receiving over 60 million views.

Fr Kelly was applauded by parishioners at Sunday Mass after his performance. He has broken into song at a wedding mass he celebrated at St Brigid’s Chapel in Oldcastle.

Fr Kelly will progress to the next round of the competition and compete to progress to the semi-finals.

Britain’s Great Rosary Revival

On Sunday April 29, more than 10,000 Catholics will gather around Britain's coast to say the rosary

The total currently stands at 247, but every few hours it increases. By next week, as many as 300 locations could be preparing to host the Rosary on the Coast, which takes place on Sunday April 29. At 2.30pm, Catholics will gather at St Ninian’s Isle in the Shetlands, at Hugh Town on the Isles of Scilly, and all around the coast of England, Scotland and Wales to say the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, along with a selection of prayers and hymns.

“New locations are coming thick and fast every day,” says one of the organisers, John Mallon, who adds that they have been “very strict” about what they put on the map, so there will probably be many more groups. Some sites have 20 attending; some over 100. The minimum overall attendance is estimated at 10,000, “but that’s very, very conservative,” Mr Mallon says.

Read more at Catholic Herald >>

 

Father Rutler: The Triumph of Divine Love

Father George W. Rutler

While it is easy to identify bold personalities that enjoy a good fight, and others that shrink shyly from any kind of confrontation, psychologists do not find it easy to define the middle type that tries to control without seeming to do so. If it is hard to define “passive aggression,” you can recognize the indirect expression of hostility when you see it at work: sullen, procrastinating, self-pitying, cold and silent in a way that is far from golden.
 

It is wonderful that the Risen Lord did not say to the trembling apostles in the Upper Room, “I told you so.” There is no tone of vengeful vindication or even the slightest condescension. He just serenely explains how these events had to be. The Lord has an assignment for the apostles, just as he offers each of us a plan for life. And he takes us seriously, only asking that we take him seriously in return. That is why he shows his wounds. They have not vanished in the glory of the Resurrection, for they are reminders that the new course of history will be fraught with challenges for which the Church must be prepared.
 

On June 28 in 1245, Pope Innocent IV convened an Ecumenical Council in Lyon, France, where he would stay for several years for safety from the emperor Frederick II. He opened the Council with a sermon on the Five Wounds of the Church. They were: 1) public heresy growing out of personal immorality; 2) the persecution of Christians by Muslims; 3) schism in the Church; 4) the invasion of Christian countries by unbelievers; and 5) attempts of civil governments to control the Church. Does this sound familiar?
 

In his day, lax and immoral Catholics were trying to justify their lifestyle by “paradigm shifts” in doctrine, Muslims were terrorizing Christians in the Middle East, the rift between Western and Eastern churches was growing and would not be checked even by the attempt of a second Council of Lyons some thirty years later, Mongol hordes were invading Hungary and Poland, and the Holy Roman Emperor was claiming political authority over the bishops.
 

The French philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal, said: “Jesus will be in agony until the end of the world.” Having risen from the grave, he can die no more, nor can he suffer as he once did. But the Church is his body and “inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these little ones, you have done it to me.” Christ’s supernatural agony is a triumph of divine love for those whose salvation he bought with his own blood. He is not passively aggressive, because his confrontation in every age is a direct one against “the Devil and all his pomps.” There is no need for revenge, for to get even is never to get ahead.

Laurence England Sings "Let's Shift Again"

Chubby Bergoglio's one, not-so-holy, mutable, new religion presents "Let's Shift Again"!

Saint Patrick's Church, Huntington, New York - "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today"

This is the parish of my grandparents, parents, and where I received Baptism, First Holy Communion, Confirmation and a love for our holy Church.  Here are the Youth Choir, Adult Chorale, and Brass Quartet of the  St. Patrick's Church, Huntington, Long Island, New York.  Matthew Koraus, director and organist from their CD recording, "A Year in Music: The Choirs of the Church of St. Patrick, Huntington, NY."