Search Page

Whenever Mass is clebrated in our country, it's as if Calvary appears at the heart of England. Those of us who did not live with Christ in his lifetime or stand beside his Cross in history can nevertheless unite ourselves with Him and with His once-for-all Sacrifice, as it is re-presented at every Mass, where Christ is truly Present, praying on our behalf.

Even when Catholics in England are looked upon as being different from 'ordinary' people, as the Amish are in the USA, we must still persevere in our faithfulness to the Church and God's laws.

The Lord invites the Bishops to remember that England was Catholic for a thousand years. They ought not to be afraid of a few vocal atheists in our day.

If we examine the amount of rubbish which our society throws away daily, we are not surprised any longer by the rubbish by the roadside, the boxes of plastic, or the mountains of newspaper; but we should be surprised that in England about 550 little babies are thrown away every day, killed in abortion clinics.

Abortion, here in the UK, kills six hundred babies each day. It is a national tragedy, that a barbaric practice such as abortion is commonplace in England, funded partly by the National Health Service, permitted by legislation, carried out by doctors upon women who have chosen to have their unborn babies killed: swept out of sight, because inconvenient.

The Lord wants everyone to know that abortion is loathsome, in His sight. If only one unborn baby were deliberately swept away, denied life, and denied the possibility of Baptism, it would be a tragedy. But tens of thousands are killed every few weeks, in England, though each baby is a real, living person with an immortal soul.

When St. Augustine came to England in 597 AD, he came because he had been sent by the Pope. No Christian, in any era, acts wisely, if he ignores the Pope, and the constant teaching of the Pope and the other Catholic Bishops on matters of faith and morals, or ignores their guidance about discipline, the liturgy, and other matters.

It is a tragedy, greater than most Catholics realise, that in Europe, including England, it is almost seen as normal Catholic practice to be opposing the constant teaching of the Church, founded by Christ to teach us, and complaining about the disciplines imposed by those in the Church, especially the Pope, who have authority from Christ to impose them.

Heroic people in England and Wales have defended the truths of the Catholic Faith, throughout fifteen hundred years - St. Thomas More and St. Margaret Clitheroe amongst them. In our day, brave witness is necessary if people are to realise that it is wrong to kill unborn babies, and that marriage requires a man and a woman to keep their vows, and live together in charity, open to life, in an exclusive relationship which is life-long.

The history of the Catholic Church is one of struggle, then joy. Christ asks us all to be hopeful, no matter how dire the problems we see in the Church in our era. Some people in past ages have gone to their deaths, not knowing how a terrible crisis would be overcome, for example, at the Reformation, in England, and more recently in the chaos following the Second Vatican Council. But there will soon be great improvements in the Sacred Liturgy, and then in Catechesis.

As I sat up in bed that night, reading, I read "the Mass was abolished" in England. I discovered that it was the Catholic Church, not the Anglican communion, that continued to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass just as it had been offered throughout Christian history. I had to be Catholic.