The Holy Irritant

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Images That Open Your Eyes

on November 13, 2025

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Singing My Way Through Catholicism

Saturday March 8th this year marks the 72nd anniversary of my baptism at the Church of St John the Evangelist in 1953. Part of Catholic culture at the time of my birth was to name children after great saints This was my parents choice rather than dedicate me to Troy Donahue or even " Bing Crosby " one of my father's idols. Family lore tells that I was entitled to be called "Alexander" in the custom of my father and grandfather as a first born son. However, Irish Catholicism won the day and I was named in honour of St Anthony (of Padua) and St Gerard Majella. Both these men have been associated with working among the poor and being pretty passionate about most things in life except sex. Pity most of the popular images of such men portray them as insipid blokes with total disinterest in the world around them. My parents initiated me into a Catholicism that continues to be a core community of faith and ...

Bonding time the Nativity in Townsville. Artist Jan Hynes.

Bonding time: the Nativity in Townsville. Artist: Jan Hynes. The location of this picture is a service station, as stables are no longer found in our urban environment. Garage workers replace the shepherds as they tend the newly born baby Jesus. One carries a light (the light that Jesus is to bring to the world); the second carries a tool of his trade, hinting at the instruments of the birthing process; and the third mechanic carries oil (a reference to the handmaiden oil lamps, the good oil spiritual grace, illumination and benediction, the anointing of kings and the perfumed oils mentioned in the New Testament on several occasions). Oil is a symbol in many cultures of consecration, dedication and wisdom. The golden Shell logo, symbolic of birth (Botticelli's Birth of Venus, 1482) is commonly used in religious paintings. In many cultures it is linked with conception, regeneration and baptism. It is also a reference to Christian pilgrimage (St Christopher's attribute)....

Welcome Downunder Ray!

Raymond Leo Burke (born June 30, 1948) is an American Cardinal [1] of the Holy Roman Church . [2] He is the current Cardinal Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura , having previously served as Archbishop of St. Louis (2003–2008) and Bishop of La Crosse (1994–2003). And thus begins the bio of Ray Burke on Wikipedia. The dress conscious cleric is gracing our weather beaten shores for a flying visit to deliver a speech The Fall of the Christian West I wasn't aware of any fall. more like a sinking under the weight of the cover up of sexual abuse, the personality cult of the Papacy in recent times, the extravagant lifestyle of senior clerics, the dismantaling of Vatican 11 and some such as The Legionnaires of Christ and the Society of St Gerard Majella . As well as the speech Ray Cardinal also made a cameo appearance at St Brigid's Church Marrickville to perform one of those al...

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