WARNING

Please avoid contact with a blog "Catholic Left" who responds directly to your home email without the courtesy (or courage?) to sign his emails. Like many other cowards he utilises the excuse that his job is security linked & he must not divulge his email address or identity.
He has responded to a blog on this site months after it was posted (posted November 2011).
Anyone who considers that it is necessary to acknowledge that they are not just 'Catholic' but 'Catholic Left' is a concern in my book 

Hurrah for 'Alma Mater by the Tyne'!!

Yesterday (21st October 2011) we celebrated Founder's Day of St Cuthbert's Grammar School - now St Cuthbert's High School - in Newcastle upon Tyne. Due to Half Term holidays the day was celebrated 1 week early.

It was in 1881 that Bishop Chadwick founded this school for boys of the Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle. Several moves later - including to the country during WWII - the school settled on Denton Bank. During my years at the school - 1949-1954 - we had boys from as far north as Alnwick, as far south as Darlington, as far west as Hexham and as far east as Tynemouth & South Shields.

My  Headmaster was Canon (later Monsignor) JJ Cunningham whose office was situated at the top of the '13 steps' on the right & immediately opposite the chapel. In which order did one visit them? The Head Prefect - in charge of discipline - was Fr Gerard (Ged) Crumbley. It was quite a shock to come from our (mainly) avuncular parish clergy to these cassocked figures who were now among the teaching staff. Fr Ged left to go to parish work & arrived at my home parish of St Michael's in Newcastle where his brother, Fr Raymond, was already a curate. What a change!

Following Fr Ged we had the (in)famous Fr (later Canon & Headmaster) Cassidy. Who can ever forget his saying through tightly clenched teeth "Every time I open my mouth some fool speaks."

Whilst every day at St Cuthbert's was not a bed of roses I can say with honesty that my schooldays were happy, that - although no star pupil -, I had a good education and that my Faith was strengthened, my sense of discipline was formed and I was readied for adult life.

To quote the school song:

"Come then boys come rally round her
Let our hearts with hers entwine
Come and laud her to the echo
Alma Mater by the Tyne"

Travellers

I have been following closely recent stories regarding the travellers who occupy sites at Dale Farm in Essex. One of our bishops supports them as they claim that if moved of this - illegally occupied - site they would be homeless. Let us look at the actual situation as widely reported in the media.
Their occupation of most of the site is & always has been illegal. A small number of sites were initially allowed but (almost secretly) large numbers of others moved onto the site over a bank holiday weekend suspecting (rightly) that the authorities would not be there. Following the decision of the planning authorities to uphold the law of the land & protect the longstanding local (legal) residents of the area the travellers offered to move for £3m.
Looking at their "homelessness" we are told that a number of them own expensive properties in Rathkeale i Ireland. One traveller owns Bally-William Close a development of some 30 houses while another is developing 44 houses near Rathkeale called Castle Park Estate. A large number of other travellers own properties in that area which for 11 months of the year are locked up with steel grilles being opened up only over the Christmas period when the owners return home. These same people are registered in that area of Ireland for voting in local, national and European elections.
Please let's not be sympathetic to a bunch of lawbreakers intent only on circumventing the law of the land in England without contributing anything to our country.

Receiving Communion

There were two articles in Catholic Herald this weekend on this question.

The first was by Archbishop Vincent Nichols in which he posited the idea that both forms of reception - kneeling on the tongue and standing in the hand were of equal value. He then went on to, in my opinion, shoot himself in the foot by suggesting that receiving kneeling and on the tongue, as practiced by Pope Benedict when he distributes Holy Communion, we are "aware of coming to be fed  with the Food of Life, conscious of our utter dependence on the Lord. We know the Holiness of the One we receive, beyond our touch." "When we receive Holy Communion kneeling, we present ourselves with humolity and reverence, submitting our strength to Him, recognising that He is Lord of all." This must surely be the better way to receive our Lord and God.

His explanation for Communion standing and in the hand is that "we show we are ready to receive the Lord and to walk and act in His name."

Can we not, after kneeling before our God, stand renewed and then walk and act in His name?

The second article was Catholic Dilemmas by Fr Tim Finigan whose writings I have read before.

He tells us that, although the Holy See gave permission in the 1970s for Communion to be received in the hand "..it remains the case that receiving on the tongue is the universal practice in terms of liturgical law." Whilst the permission was implemented by the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales any diocese may revert to reception on the tongue and, as more dioceses examine the situation, many throughout the world have reverted to the 'universal practice' of receiving on the tongue. Again Fr Finigan cites the lead given by the Holy Father.

Some bishops have in the past refused Communion to Faithful who approached for reception kneeling and on the tongue and my wife and I were shocked to be told by a senior prelate in the diocese that he would 'bless our hands' to enable us to go against our deeply held beliefs that lay hands are totally unworthy to touch the Body of Christ. He did, eventually, relent but insisted that we approached for Holy Communion after everyone else.

I find this dichotomy troubling and wonder whether anyone would help by commenting.

Requiem for Bishop Ambrose Griffiths OSB, KC*HS

Yesterday (1st July) we had the Requiem Mass for Bishop Emeritus Ambrose Griffiths OSB, KC*HS in St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle. This was the third such Mass (previously in Leyland, then here on the day of the reception of his body) & was to be followed by yet another at his home monastery at Ampleforth where he is to be buried.

The Mass was (thank God) quite orthodox without the dancing & clapping to which Bishop Ambrose was attracted. Nor did we have official representation from the YMT which he founded. They were otherwise engaged.

Strange to say the Introit (in Latin) was from the Missa pro Defunctis as was the In Paradisum. It seems as if someone noticed late in the day (the night before actually) that the cathedral choir couldn't sing these items and so a small schola of Peter Locke, Lawrence Valentine & Gerry Langley were quickly recruited to fill the gap. Sad to say the In Paradisum wasn't good.

As Bishop Ambrose had been Prior to the Northumbrian Section of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem during his episcopy there was a small contingent of the Order (4 Knights and 1 Dame) present (including myself) to form a Guard of Honour as the hearse left after Mass. Although Bishop Ambrose was also a Member of Honour of the Knights of St Columba there was no official presence but 2 Brothers were in attendance personally.

Mgr Marini speaks out

Mgr Marini is the Papal MC and at a  recent conference spoke out regarding several points relating to how we, as Catholics, should be showing our focus during Holy Mass and Communion.

In the first instance he reminded us of the ancient tradition of focusing on Christ either through eastward orientation during the Eucharistic Prayer or towards a crucifix or other image of Christ which stood in for the eastward orientation.

We are in danger of losing this focus as, in the past, everyone (including the priest) prayed towards the same point - showing that the Lord was coming and that together we all looked towards Him.

He also posited that kneeling before the presence of the Lord makes it all the clearer that it really is Jesus and implies our adoration of Him.  Not just that we receive Him but that we kneel in worship before Him.

Mgr Marini also asked us to listen anew to what the Holy Father says both in his writings and through his example in the Papal liturgies.  The Pope distributes Communion to communicants who are always kneeling and who receive always on the tongue because - Indults and Permissions aside - this remains a law of universal character.  We should look on these examples not as the Pope's personal preference but rather that this is how he intends priests and people to follow his lead.

A Liturgy no longer familiar with kneeling would be sick to the core

 Thus said our Holy Father when still Cardinal Ratzinger. A photograph shows Pope John Paul II, shortly before his death, kneeling to receive Holy Communion from Cardinal Ratzinger.

I have personal experience of a high ranking diocesan priest chastising me for wanting to receive Communion on the tongue. He offered to 'bless' my hands so that they would be like those of a priest or deacon whose hands had been anointed to permit him to touch the Real Presence.

Let us pray that Pope Benedict forbids the reception of the Sacred Species  than on the tongue & kneeling.