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The Liturgy section of the forum has been locked so no further posts will be accepted. I am sorry that this has happened but a very small minority of posters seem to have nothing better to do than appoint themselves as custodians of 'proper liturgy' without understanding anything about it.

Hardly a week goes by without at least some contacts from around the globe from those discerning a vocation to the Catholic priesthood. Usually, our contacts want to know what to do next. If you are considering becoming a diocesan priest, you should seek to contact your vocations director. But what qualities is he likely to want from a candidate and what does the seminary expect? Our Editor, John Bender has been reading "To Save A  Thousand Souls" by Fr. Brett Brannen who was vocations director in the Diocese  of Savannah, GA and is now the vice rector at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in  Maryland. In what may well be the most important page on our site, John will be offering some insights from the book to help guide potential vocations - coming very soon!

We are beginning to build a homiletics section in our resources page. OK, we are too young and unable to preach, which is reserved to the ordained ministry, but we have to speak sometimes, inspired by sacred Scripture, and we need to prepare for next Sunday's liturgy. These sites will always help. When you become a priest, don't just copy and deliver. If you have other sites, please let us know via the contacts page.

One of the most stunning poems I have come across! Written by Charles Peguy (a Frenchman who was killed during WWI), he was a non-believer who became a Catholic. It is unusual it that it describes the Father's reaction to the prayer that Jesus gave us as the model of all prayer. Read it and absorb the beauty......

Each month we receive a lot of responses from our 'Contact us' page (so far this month Ghana and Bangladesh are represented). We love to hear from you! Why not send a quick and easy message, and possibly your own story of discernment? We promise to keep you in our prayers.

John Bender has given us kind permission to reproduce his beautiful 'Morning Offering' prayer. It is truly inspired and so good that I printed it off and use it each day. The prayer is here but you should also visit John's Blog.

The Catholic Church in Ireland has become a scandal and a disaster zone. Is it any wonder that Ireland's vocations have dried up? First, we had the terrible scandal of child abuse which was covered up by an inept and inadequate hierararchy - numerous Bishops have been forced to resign and rightly so. They neglected to protect abused children and were wicked shepherds, unworthy of Christ. Now we have the total disgrace of Bishops who knew that a Catholic priest (Fr Chesney) was allegedly an IRA bomber who murdered 9 people in Claudy - some Protestants and some Catholics. He escaped justice because the Cardinal colluded with the British Government to simply move him to another parish. As a result of episcopal nonesense and injustice the entire Catholic Church is now ridiculed. It is time the Vatican revised the useless process by which Bishops are appointed - they have neglected the flock of Christ!

In the UK, we now have an internet radio station which will cover the Pope's visit here in September. You can try it out now!

Take a look at the following comment on the BBC 'Have Your Say' site. It was inviting comments on the ordination of women as bishops in the Anglican Church, but as usual the sad secularists and inane atheists managed to jump in to ridicule religion.

"If mankind manages, despite the best efforts of the religious kooks, nutters, extremists (i.e., the whole lot of them), to survive for the next hundred years, I have no doubt at all that the act of indoctrinating any child (including their own child) into any religion will be treated as an extremely serious criminal offence, carrying a sentence equivalent to that for RAPE. For that is what it is - mental and spiritual rape of minors".

What can we observe from such pathetic posts? First - secularists are as bigoted as the people they flame - even brainwashed. If religion is intolerant, securarism has shown us why Stalin was a monster! Secondly, if all religious people are 'nutters' it only serves to demonstrate how shallow secularists have become. I assume they are unable to read, because if they could, they would know that a significant number of scientific inventions have been produced by religious men and women. And this bunch of nutters would then have to re-write history - write out Bach, Vivaldi, Tallis, Byrd, Mahler, Messiaen, write out major authors (Elliott?), write out philosophers and politicians!

But I would rather be a brainwashed religious person than a secularist living in his/her tiny fish bowl, imagining that since all I can see is water and breadcrumbs, then that must be the the sum total of the universe and because I can't get my fish-brain around certain monumental truths, then they must be fables and myths for the weak-minded.

As with any country in our world, there is always the lunatic fringe. In the UK, a small and insignificant number of latter-day Puritans are protesting against the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict. These range from our sad Securarists (we don't want to pay) to Peter Tatchell and his inability to grasp even the most basic moral code. So it is heartening that the British Government has responded to these minority factions with a firm put-down. Here is the official response from our Government:-

Pope Benedict XVI will visit the UK from 16 to 19 September at the invitation of Her Majesty The Queen. The visit is described as a Papal Visit with the status of a State Visit. The programme will include a number of pastoral events, which are the responsibility of the Catholic Church, as well as some significant official events, which will provide opportunities for issues of common interest to the UK Government and the Holy See to be discussed at the highest level.  

The Holy See has a global reach and so is a valuable international partner for the UK Government.  Our relationship with the Holy See enables us to address jointly a range of foreign policy and development issues.  These include working towards delivery of the Millennium Development Goals, addressing the impacts of climate change, preventing and resolving conflict, and finding ways to encourage disarmament.As with any bilateral diplomatic relationship, there are issues on which we disagree.  The Holy See is clear on our positions on these issues. However, we believe that Pope Benedict’s visit will provide an opportunity to strengthen and build on our relationship with the Holy See in areas where we share interests and goals, and to discuss those issues on which our positions differ.  

Since the visit has the status of a State Visit, and some parts of the programme are being organised by the British Government, a proportion of the costs of the Visit will fall to the Government.  The costs can be divided into two categories: policing costs, which will be met by the State from existing policing budgets, and non-policing costs, which will be split between the Catholic Church and the Government.  The total size of the costs at this stage is not confirmed but discussions are currently under way to decide the appropriate levels of contribution from the Government and the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of England and Wales, and of Scotland.  Other parts of the programme, such as the Masses and other pastoral events, are the responsibility of the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences.  The direct costs of these events will therefore be borne by the Catholic Church.

Listen! John Bender (our editor) discussed "A Vocation to be a Priest" on Friday 23rd April on Relevant Radio 100.1 FM. John spoke brilliantly on a lengthy interview and the feedback has been really great. The program is available from their archive (hour 2 about 30 minutes in on the RR (Milwaukee) site, or here's John's interview in mp3 format (right click and save as...). Thanks to Doug at Relevant Radio for kind permission to place the audio file on our site.

The audio file is (c) Relevant Radio and may not be posted elsewhere. Here's the link to us from their site:

John also took part in a Vocationfest and writes:

In preparation for the visit of the Pope to Britain later this year, we have been publishing short extracts from the lives of some of our saints and spiritual masters. However, there are other very important British contributions, such as the Mappa Mundi located at Hereford Cathedral. It is a stunning C13th creation by an English cleric which shows Jerusalem at the centre of the earth (there is a figure of Christ crucified just above the city). Jesus is clearly seen at the top of the map. In a very impressive BBC TV series, one segment was devoted to the map. If you search the internet for 'The Beauty of Maps' you may find the video. One historian in that film said, 'The map shows one thing clearly - we are only pilgrims on this earth ... the next life is the only certainty'. Follow this link to find our more about the map. The map does not follow modern conventions of north to top, but rather east to top.

John in England writes - I want to visit Hereford Cathedral as soon as I can to see the map and eventually upload some more information and pictures.

We pray for the abused that they will find wholeness and healing in You and peace and belonging within our faith community.  Shower them with the gift of hope and give them the courage to walk through their fear towards Your healing Light.

We pray for those who have abused another that they may be able to accept not only the truth of what they have done but also the truth of Your unconditional love so that they may become reunited with You and with us.  As we pray for their transformation, we also pray that we will be able to forgive and accept them as Yours. 

We pray with gratitude for our clergy who serve as a light for us through the gift of their ministry and Your sacraments.  Protect them from any discouragement, shame or fear caused by this scandal.  May they find love and support from those in their care.  Above all may they find love and guidance from You by a willingness to walk with You and to let You walk with them throughout their ministry, all day, everyday.

We pray for the leadership of our church that through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit they may know Your loving mind and heart.  Grant them the spiritual strength to be willing to let this wisdom be the foundation of every decision they make as they guide us towards unity with You and one another. 

We pray for those in our community, whose own faith has been damaged by this scandal.  We ask that they will be open to your call and be blessed with a personal faith to guide them back to You.  We desire that you help us to truly be a light to others so that they may, again,  find your presence within our community and the sacraments.

God of All Hope,  Hear our Prayer.

prayers used with permission from Let-Us-Be-A-Light Ministry

From the very outset of this site (see FAQ), we have attempted to address the issue of abuse of children by priests. As young men who desire to become priests we are sickened by the abuse of trust, the scandal it has caused, the hurt caused to children and parents, the venom it has given to enemies of the Church, and the gross neglect and ineptitude shown by some elements of the hierarchy who imagined that the reputation of the church deserved all their efforts rather than the cries of children. We are ashamed of some elements of the church and we vow to protect children and be true pastors who follow the example of Christ the Good Shepherd. There must be zero tolerance of rotten priests who have betrayed Christ and their brother priests and caused the laity to leave the church. All priests reported as offending must be declared to the police and social services. When found guilty, they should not be allowed to continue as priests, nor should they be offered retirement plans and accomodation. Bishops and members of the Curia who know about these crimes and do nothing, or prefer to cover the matter up, should be removed from office. For a priest to abuse any child is disgusting and a crime - for a Bishop to plead ignorance or to place him in yet another post is a betrayal worse than that of Judas. A new generation of vocations is urgently required to restore the credibility and integrity of the Church - individuals who are holy! There is no more exciting time than the present to consider your vocation.

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