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December 17, 2015

Some years ago I was challenged by a bishop regarding an article I’d written. We were talking in his office and the tone eventually got a little testy: “How can you write something like that?” he asked. “Because it’s true,” was my blunt reply. He already knew it was true, but now, realising that, he

Ed West: The year the Pharisees came back

December 17, 2015

This was the year that social media caused identity politics to reach absurd new heights that future generations will find much easier to laugh at than we do. It was the year that the Spectator’s James Bartholomew coined the neologism “virtue signalling” to describe the act of asserting one’s moral superiority by expressing right-on opinions,

Prize Crossword 0419

December 17, 2015

Cryptic across 1 Astound, stagger, a good guy in Arezzo (7) 5 Poke around firm in 16 (5) 8 You text this call sign? (7) 9 Drowsy, nodding partly, in a meeting at Whitby (5) 10 First person to view the joint uttered is an Iron Age Briton… (5) 11 …early British missionary, not to park

Pictures of the week

December 17, 2015

1. Joe McNally, grand president of the Catenian Association, is invested with the insignia of a Knight Commander of the Pontifical Order of St Gregory the Great at a Mass in Sheffield in the presence of two bishops and a number of clergy with support from his confreres. 2. Students at Saint John Houghton Catholic

The Week Ahead

December 17, 2015

Ordinary Form Divine Office Week IV Sunday, December 20: Fourth Sunday of Advent Mi 5:1-4A; Ps 80; Heb 10:5-10; Lk 1:39-45 Monday, December 21: Weekday of Advent, St Peter Canisius Sg 2:8-14 or Zep 3:14-18A; Ps 25; Lk 1:39-45 Tuesday, December 22: Weekday in Advent 1 Sm 1:24-28; 1 Sm 2:1-8; Lk 1:46-56 Wednesday, December

Pastor Iuventus

December 17, 2015

To St Patrick’s, Soho, for another Nightfever at the start of the Year of Mercy. I approach through throngs of Christmas shoppers on Oxford Street and groups of young men in Santa hats outside pubs and bars, many already worse for wear, though it is barely 7pm. I feel anxious for the missionaries, those young

Saint of the week: St Peter Canisius (December 21)

December 17, 2015

A Dutch Jesuit, Canisius was known for the restoration of the Catholic Church in much of Germany after the Reformation. He was born in 1521 in Nijmegen, the son a wealthy local magistrate. At 19, he earned a Master’s from the University of Cologne. There he met Peter Faber, one of the founders of the

Lectio Divina

December 17, 2015

Luke 1:39-44 39 Soon afterwards Mary got ready and hurried off to a town in the hill country of Judea. 40 She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby moved within her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and said in a loud voice, “You

Omnium Gatherum

December 17, 2015

In the traditional Roman liturgical calendar December 21 is the feast of “doubting” St Thomas the Apostle, who put his finger into the Risen Lord’s side and exclaimed, as so many of us do at the Host’s elevation during Mass, “My Lord and my God!” Speaking of Thomas’s finger, on the Second Sunday of Advent

Word this Week

December 17, 2015

“You, Bethlehem Ephratha, the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is to rule over Israel.” As Christmas approaches, our thoughts turn to Bethlehem and the birth of our saviour. Bethlehem is, in itself, a worthy focus for prayer. Throughout her long history Christ’s birthplace

Briefly noted

December 17, 2015

Going Up the Holy Mountain by Gary Hastings (Columba, £12.50). Hastings, currently rector of St Nicholas Collegiate Church, Galway, has written a spiritual guidebook for those in quest of God, using Croagh Patrick as an extended metaphor for this pilgrimage. Each chapter is divided into subsections for readers to explore. These should be seen as

Poetry that begins with a firing squad

December 17, 2015

Windharp Edited by Niall MacMonagle, Penguin, £20 The Irish poetic tradition stretches back to the first fili, a class of elite poets that existed until the Irish caste system was demolished by the English in the Renaissance. Top-ranking fili were known as ollams – the first Chief Ollam of Ireland was Amergin Glúingel, whose status