tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-267848012024-03-27T16:55:00.707-07:00The Holy IrritantThis blog offers an Australian perspective on faith, religion and spirituality. It invites you to join the joys and hope, the grief and anguish of a middle aged Aussie Catholic.
The material reflects my interest in global as well as local issues.My perspective is probably more quirky than orthodox.Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.comBlogger790125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-2930690839396139232024-03-27T03:50:00.000-07:002024-03-27T04:05:08.945-07:00Holy Week Musical Memories<div class="kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>If you thought Christmas had a pretty good musical backing just remember that Holy Week brings out everything from classics to contemporary.</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can chant Gregorian or swoon to Handel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You can hear haunting a cappella or full choral SATB settings of hymns.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">During this week I will feature some of the music that has provided a backing track to my celebration of Holy Week over the past 71 years.</span><div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For Palm Sunday we begin with a classic "folkie" that was in my strumming repertoire as a young musician</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;">.</span></div>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;">For Monday of Holy Week I offer the haunting Sydney Carter tune, <a href="https://www.hopepublishing.com/find-hymns-hw/hw4696.aspx">Said Judas to Mary.</a></div>
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Taize Music For Tuesday</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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Tenebrae on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD8ipTn287g">Spy Wednesday</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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<div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<div dir="auto"><div style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For Holy Thursday I share An Upper Room, a hymn that stretches our theological imagination.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> "For service too is sacrament."</span></div></span></div></div><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For Good Friday I have chosen a song that never featured in my Holy Week collection but has become quite significant in recent years. The Old Rugged Cross is traditionally sung at funerals of First Nations peoples in Australia </span></div>
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<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Holy Saturday Exodus 15:1-18</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our Easter</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/g_1aQvUg9WU?si=C7qGTtFxJ0sohbZz" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-59274439257913372052024-03-27T03:21:00.000-07:002024-03-27T03:21:45.775-07:00Easter Invocation<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDimPnB4g6GlWd8e45yvBMaHu9XySOcDtqpeJ1GUy9vIok_5utBZRlxBlz1tlt1hg640dQ9DnBdAtJqGp7kvcEe3AjQd0jzlSb8orx5zHSncoicltnV0nw9O8V9RML73NNhhubI3jSLw_t2WhVVd9SgODhVxxkBBQHMluYXzytnf-_mLyPA/s960/anastasis%20Chora%20Chuch%20Mosque%20Museum,%20Istanbul,%20Turkey%20%20(1315-1321).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="960" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDimPnB4g6GlWd8e45yvBMaHu9XySOcDtqpeJ1GUy9vIok_5utBZRlxBlz1tlt1hg640dQ9DnBdAtJqGp7kvcEe3AjQd0jzlSb8orx5zHSncoicltnV0nw9O8V9RML73NNhhubI3jSLw_t2WhVVd9SgODhVxxkBBQHMluYXzytnf-_mLyPA/w400-h195/anastasis%20Chora%20Chuch%20Mosque%20Museum,%20Istanbul,%20Turkey%20%20(1315-1321).jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/spirituality/eastern-icons-challenge-western-notion-resurrection">Image Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<span face="'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;"><b>May the blessings of the Easter Season surround us with courage and confidence.</b> May we stand against the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/22Come-Out-My-People-22/dp/1570758921">religion of Empir</a>e and proclaim the liberating anarchy of the teachings of Christ. </span><br />
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<span face="'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;">May the stones of fear and prejudice be rolled away in our lives .May we rise from the darkness of our tombs and walk in the light of justice, compassion and solidarity listening to the <a href="https://youtu.be/LvLX2BQiOjM">cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.</a>.</span><br />
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<span face="'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;">May we sing "Alleluia" with voices that cry out against economic and political exploitation of vulnerable people.</span><br />
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<span face="'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;">May we walk gently on our mother earth in lives of nonviolence and find the harmony of life that is written in the <a href="https://lifeis.org.au/2021/04/05/we-are-stardust/">stardust of our being.</a></span><br />
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<span face="'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;">May the love of the Easter story invade our hearts to welcome those who come to our shores as<a href="https://www.facebook.com/LoveMakesAWayForAsylumSeekers?fref=photo"> Refugees and Asylum Seekers.</a></span><br />
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<span face="'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;">May the mystery of the Easter story call us to live <a href="https://youtu.be/tow2tR_ezL8">"Dadirri"</a> in solidarity with the First Nations people of our land.</span><br />
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<span face="'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; line-height: 18px;">May we proclaim the Risen One by our public commitment to housing the homeless, feeding the hungry and thirsty, liberating prisoners, welcoming the stranger in our midst and standing against the powers of economic and political <a href="https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Newspeak#:~:text=Newspeak%20is%20the%20fictional%20language,(English%20Socialism)%20in%20Oceania.">newspeak</a>.</span><div><span style="color: #37404e;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/UVduV0ustWw" width="560"></iframe></div></span></span></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-52824948333994176802024-03-07T02:57:00.000-08:002024-03-07T17:35:23.323-08:00Singing My Way Through Catholicism
<b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhTJG6ETD46wFrgMXod4gIgcxotE8cc2zU9Jz0H2eEAU-YhRg7NUsFA4TrQf59H9LxpJoh96co9ttML-tgZAT5dRI_spsm5OYtY3awheLLgihXdm8kR86u3svOBvgxJBdJbRlR/s978/communion.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="514" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhTJG6ETD46wFrgMXod4gIgcxotE8cc2zU9Jz0H2eEAU-YhRg7NUsFA4TrQf59H9LxpJoh96co9ttML-tgZAT5dRI_spsm5OYtY3awheLLgihXdm8kR86u3svOBvgxJBdJbRlR/s320/communion.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Friday March 8th this year marks the 71st anniversary of my baptism at the Church of <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Geelong_Roman_Catholic_Church.JPG">St John the Evangelist </a>in 1953.</span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">
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Part of Catholic culture at the time of my birth was to name children after great <a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">saints </a>This was my parents choice rather than dedicate me to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Donahue" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Troy Donahue</a> or even "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Crosby" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Bing Crosby</a>" 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 <a href="https://www.trinitystores.com/artwork/st-anthony-padua-2" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">St Anthony</a> (of Padua) and <a href="http://themotherssaint.org/who-is-saint-gerard/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">St Gerard Majella.</a> 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.</span></div>
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My parents initiated me into a Catholicism that continues to be a core community of faith and challenge in my life. At the heart of this community are relationships that have nurtured and sustained my questions, my passions and my spirituality. Finding these relationships has been a life long journey from the Irish clericalism that dominated my education through the machismo of life at a Christian Brothers College and finally the exposure to a global vision in a community of <a href="http://cyberfriary.blogspot.com.au/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Capuchin Friars.</a><br />
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Much of this journey is now available as a <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/S51QWa9RJxat5EXr9">digital version of my Catholic life.</a><br />
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This anniversary also falls on <a href="http://www.internationalwomensday.com/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">International Women's Day</a>. I acknowledge the women in my family history, those who educated me, my friends and work colleagues. My women mentors in faith have included <a href="https://stephcramer.wordpress.com/2013/11/12/the-angel-of-collingwood/">Margaret Oats</a>, "<a href="http://ia.anu.edu.au/biography/smith-shirley-coleen-mum-shirl-17817" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Mum" Shirl</a> and, <a href="http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Dorothy Day</a>.</span></div>
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<div align="left"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkDCdLu-GUN9edglooFyM9JP8RvhT6ISJ-aRvHneWlV62C3ifHAaLWvoBzRCe4YKDQgK7HMjyL4Xx4ostjuUFyNamPH9YxSwaaDKZiKzZNrFhDHNU8KlfyD94R7REhjUbQGXo/s1317/scan2019-07-05+%25281%2529+0110.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="1317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPkDCdLu-GUN9edglooFyM9JP8RvhT6ISJ-aRvHneWlV62C3ifHAaLWvoBzRCe4YKDQgK7HMjyL4Xx4ostjuUFyNamPH9YxSwaaDKZiKzZNrFhDHNU8KlfyD94R7REhjUbQGXo/s320/scan2019-07-05+%25281%2529+0110.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Star of the Sea, West Melbourne 1984</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">
I have been Catholic across three countries three states, four Archdioceses one religious order, numerous professional associations, groups and everything Catholic!!!</span></div><div align="left"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span>I remain in the Church because I cannot be elsewhere. I have a right by baptism to membership and participation in this community. Its ambiguity and its weakness are part of my reality and give me a context for personal conversion and commitment to maturity</span>. </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;">Peak experiences include:</span></span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Suffering Catholic Trauma at my first communion mass with the anxiety of the host getting stuck in the roof of my mouth</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Endless childhood confessions admitting to sins I could barely pronounce</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Induction into the <a href="http://www.guildofststephen.org/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Guild of St Stephen</a> by the famous <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/young-sir-guilford-clyde-15816" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Guilford Young </a>at our first National Conference for Altar Boys <i>(as we were in those days !!)</i>in 1964.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Taking vows of poverty chastity and obedience with the Capuchin Friars and then discovering that two out of three wasn't a pass.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Falling in love with Bing Crosby instead of Julie Andrews</span></li>
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Acknowledging my Catholicism is made with some trepidation in the current climate. However, there is a spectrum of Catholicism. At one end you will find <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pell">George Pell</a> and at the other, <a href="https://www.benedictinstitute.org/2019/08/andy-warhol/">Andy Warhol </a> You will find <a href="https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Mary-Queen-of-Scots/">Mary Queen of Scots</a>, but you wi<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ll also discover <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=418280321570737&extragetparams=%7B%22__tn__%22%3A%22%2CdK-R-R%22%2C%22eid%22%3A%22ARDE3lDajfGXOcD2CVQqMac1PS41PcKM_XSJ_h1Oj1AtMQIobfpjHJkYHLmc63ctsW9PH1ySgO_eTO8D%22%2C%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/StMaryMackillop/?__tn__=%2CdK-R-R&eid=ARDE3lDajfGXOcD2CVQqMac1PS41PcKM_XSJ_h1Oj1AtMQIobfpjHJkYHLmc63ctsW9PH1ySgO_eTO8D&fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">St. Mary MacKillop</a>. <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=216342268645&extragetparams=%7B%22__tn__%22%3A%22%2CdK-R-R%22%2C%22eid%22%3A%22ARCRIkPzeNzuAGIxp0cki0s1UsO29lsr0GWzrGn8QLhyaJImdquDGPbMJCYZvxqeDbe3FQd5Rf4BqLLY%22%2C%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/TonyAbbottMP/?__tn__=%2CdK-R-R&eid=ARCRIkPzeNzuAGIxp0cki0s1UsO29lsr0GWzrGn8QLhyaJImdquDGPbMJCYZvxqeDbe3FQd5Rf4BqLLY&fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Tony Abbott</a> and <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6197963/Barnaby-Joyce-Vikki-Campion-host-son-Sebastians-christening-theres-no-sign-daughters.html">Barnaby Joyce</a> carry membership cards as did <a href="https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/indigenous/display/107864-%22mum-shirl%22">Mum Shirl</a>. and <a href="https://library.sydneycatholic.org/priests-i-have-known/2019/priests-i-have-known-ted-kennedy/">Fr Ted Kenned</a>y of Redfern. Scoundrels, saints and sinners have filled the pews, written our history and taken us on the highs and lows of human experience.</span></span></div>
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I grew up in a era of Catholicism that nurtured a love of music and singing. "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RHt3ElEvHQ">How Can I keep From Singing</a>" is rarely sung in Catholic Churches but it captures a sentiment that some of us will identify with as we scroll our social media and watch the reports of <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/richard-sipe-pioneering-expert-clergy-sexual-abuse-dies-85">clergy abuse</a> dominate our screens.:</div>
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<i><b>Thro' all the tumult and the strife</b></i><br />
<i><b>I hear the music ringing;</b></i><br />
<i><b>It finds an echo in my soul—</b></i><br />
<i><b>How can I keep from singing?</b></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><i><b><br /></b></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Each year I publish a list of hymns and music that I have sung in Catholic communities from childhood to my adult years. The list now runs to 71 pieces to commemorate this anniversary. If you are Catholic you might enjoy a trip down memory lane. If you have never sung with Catholics, you will probably be amazed at the clips you can find on youtube!!!</span></div>
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I hope the sharing of this post nurtures hope for all of us who live in these days of "tumult and strife"</div>
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Readers are welcome to sing-a-long to their favourites and add comments and stories of their memories of these and similar hymns that nurtured the Catholic baby boomers.</span></div><div style="color: #222222;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgrUFjVcPTc6_1uP_fVLmtjAWNFR9t2WaHrS7qLO0cCazi53mEwB32SZW3RSVSoYZp7vQtONOLEkbWzav1_qU2_aOeQMaSEEQfS1osc2kwOS3UkcFW2xtlaurwQrgwbnkPCW_u/s308/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgrUFjVcPTc6_1uP_fVLmtjAWNFR9t2WaHrS7qLO0cCazi53mEwB32SZW3RSVSoYZp7vQtONOLEkbWzav1_qU2_aOeQMaSEEQfS1osc2kwOS3UkcFW2xtlaurwQrgwbnkPCW_u/s0/images.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;"><br /><b><a href="https://peterkearney.bandcamp.com/track/24-all-aboard-the-ark">All Aboard The Ark</a></b> by Australian singer.songwriter Peter Kearney has a particular significance in 2020.The song celebrates the <a href="https://larche.org/en/web/guest/welcome">L'Arche Communities</a> around the globe. However as the new year begun <a href="http://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2020/02/winter-in-forest-unmasking-of-jean.html">news of the disturbing and abusive practices </a>of Jean Vanier regarded as the founding father of the community in France have shaken many.</div>
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<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAXv8mGM4cQ" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">All Creatures of Our God and King</a> </b>is one of those majestic pieces that sounds best in great Cathedrals and is usually dragged to death in the local parish. Naturally this comes from the Franciscan influence in my Catholicism and I got to sing it in Capuchin and other parishes all over the country.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m7f6IFXsLU" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Allelu Folk Mass</a> </b>is part of the work of Ray <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Repp" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Repp</a> who was one of the first 'folk" style church musicians beginning his publications in 1966.His settings and songs were a regular feature of my weekly singing at Nazareth House Brisbane in 1973. This clip gives you access to hours of happy listening to an era now lost in the archives of most parishes. if you haven't done so go back and read the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Repp" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">bio</a>. No wonder I felt the vibes singing his songs!!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6YnDnW_iGU" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;"><b>Amen</b> </a>was one of those great anthems that we never really got the swing of. We played it twice with no hand clapping and quickly moved on to the Our Father. The 70s could have been so moving!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://youtu.be/CN05QBLf3k4">Ave Verum</a></b> I last sung this with the parish choir at the Church of <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/its-just-a-shell-but-to-collingwood-faithful-its-their-church-20110814-1iszl.html" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">St Joseph's in Collingwood.</a></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CMclLT_Hjg&index=13&list=PL323D9781654AF975" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Be Thou My Vision</a> <o:p></o:p><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Thou_My_Vision" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Rop tú mo baile</a></span></b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">in its original Gaelic.It remains one of those stirring hymns where the old English phrasing sits comfortably.</span></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFCg2zEToVU" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Bring Flowers of the Fairest</a></b> is one of those songs from my primary school days. Once a year the girls got to have their 15 minutes of Church fame with the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GB5YXWIGVs" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">crowning of the statue </a>of Our Lady. This somewhat romantic ritual included the less than workplace health and safety practice of the lucky lass. wrapped in yards of coloured cloth climbing a less than sturdy ladder to plonk a wreathe of flowers on Mary's head.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://youtu.be/wKVeB-7mN2Q"><br /></a></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://youtu.be/wKVeB-7mN2Q">Carry The Dream</a> </span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #030303; font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Coleman held a benefit concert for L'Arche Seattle at St. Ignatius Chapel, Seattle University on June 15th. 2012 He was returning to Australia after the L'Arche International Federation Meeting in Atlanta. This video, set to the theme song of the Federation meeting which John composed, was put together by his friend, John O'Donnell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhQ0_XMUtvQ&index=32&list=PL323D9781654AF975" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Christ be Our Light</a> </b>has been one of the standards at <a href="http://stmaryssouthbrisbane.com/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">St Mary's in Exile.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw2xRsxmqjg" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Christ The Lord Is Risen Today</a></b> One of the great numbers from the <a href="http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2013/aug/10/living-parish-hymn-book/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Living Parish Hymna</a>l that made up my choral work in Geelong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKw3YUuj6Pg" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Come Back To Me</a></b> This became a classic in my collection for for Lent from the days when Gregory Norbett was a member of the <a href="http://www.westonpriory.org/music.html" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Monks of Weston Priory</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnhk4oUhOuQ&index=37&list=PL323D9781654AF975" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Come To The Water</a></b> A beautiful clip of a choral movement. A classic John Foley hymn from the St Louis Jesuits. It was the gathering hymn for my Dad's funeral mass. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO7cD6qmydo" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Dominique</a>.</b> Long before Janet Mead rocked the charts, the anonymous Singing Nun was in the charts. <span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singing_Nun" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Jeanne Paule Deckers</a></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singing_Nun" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;"> </a> life is one of tragic love and the upheaval that marked the 60s. Stay on this channel to check the <a href="https://youtu.be/SNyL-dM1O9E" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">1982 release </a>of this one.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n96oOaWdFqQ" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Dona Nobis Pacem</a></b>. My first public performance of this great piece from the pen of Mr Mozart himself was at my <a href="http://cyberfriary.blogspot.com.au/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">first profession ceremony</a> in the chapel of Nazareth House Brisbane in 1974</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkW7Oq_OHZE" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Dream Lady</a></b> No collection like this would be complete without a reference to St Mary of the Cross,. This piece was written by another Australian hymn writer, <a href="http://www.kevinbates.com.au/">Kevin Bates SM</a>. He gets included because he also comes from my birth city of Geelong in Wathaurong Country.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYFTO4VlKn6zLIyBIoXhSaXF-MqWQXbuuKv0QorUY8Hzi8WUzw5RET6OvS77sxmj27n5WwI4NRCa9PRChJ23GAoCtJhtCsor96lQmWX2mPCuS_wcynnaT5r3fTN1_N8MrkDH03/s600/R-6485093-1420350379-7649.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYFTO4VlKn6zLIyBIoXhSaXF-MqWQXbuuKv0QorUY8Hzi8WUzw5RET6OvS77sxmj27n5WwI4NRCa9PRChJ23GAoCtJhtCsor96lQmWX2mPCuS_wcynnaT5r3fTN1_N8MrkDH03/s320/R-6485093-1420350379-7649.jpeg.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.discogs.com/The-Choir-Of-St-Patricks-Cathedral-Melbourne-Conducted-By-Rev-Dr-Percy-Jones-Under-The-Supervision-O/release/6485093">Source</a>/ <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/jones-percival-percy-27039">Burl Ives Connection</a> </td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Xr5MAt_AE" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Faith of Our Fathers</a></b><span style="color: #222222;"> Bing Crosby was the second most important man in our house after Dad. His "White Christmas album was a sacred relic brought out for the season. Among the tracks was this version of the classic patriarchal hymn. Local Catholics will of course recognize this tune as the popular </span><span id="goog_588258631" style="color: #222222;"></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-cBBzXfP3g" style="color: #222222;">O Bread of Heaven</a><span id="goog_588258632" style="color: #222222;"></span><span style="color: #222222;"> from the Living Parish Hymnal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The mothers, sisters, aunts and parish housekeepers were all left in the back row for this one. Testosterone with incense. Watch this rendition of </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvnCNpDq430" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;"><b style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Faith of Our Fathers</b><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;"> </span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">from Dublin carefully. You will notice the nice young man behind Mr Patterson does not open his lips once. I bet the producers had a word or two to say to him. In his defense he may have been a Presbyterian!!</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28wU2PyYfps" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Filipino Mass Songs</a> </b>In 1979 I spent a month in the Philippines where the music and passion of a people living under a repressive martial law sang boldly and loudly of their faith.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab-gLmGnt7E&list=PL8wV9wEHEkgSeN-SxSz0S_KGdixBC_cAG" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Frank Anderson msc</a> </b>is here because almost every Australian parish has sung one of his songs at some stage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lq-_uU99tM" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Glory and Praise to Our God</a></b> is now one of the standards that we sang even though it was canned by Thomas Day when he wrote <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-Catholics-Cant-Sing-Catholicism/dp/0824511530" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Why Catholics Can't Sing.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4W_CLRW9Lo" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">God of Mercy and Compassion</a></b> was in the Lent pages of the <o:p></o:p><a href="http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2013/aug/10/living-parish-hymn-book/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Living Parish Hymna</a>l</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw5UOmNNwXo">God Gives HIs People Strength</a> </b>A choral version of a folksy tune!!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7H4HumAbTU" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Hail Glorious St Patrick</a></b> comes from my six year stint as a primary student at <a href="http://www.spgeelongwest.catholic.edu.au/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">St Patrick's in Geelong West.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZOnJgc7KnE" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Hail Mary Gentle Woman</a></b> comes from the great Catholic warbler, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZYcEb74UUc" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Carey Landry.</a> From 1972 his songs became a staple in schools parishes retreat centres and I bet the members of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference even sang along at one of their gatherings.So, what happened to Carey when the St Louis Jesuits arrived? Well, he upped and married his travelling companion, <a href="http://www.ocp.org/artists/698" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Carol Jean Kinghorn</a> and they have been singing happily ever after as hospital chaplains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouacvQWASFw" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Hail Queen of Heaven</a></b> is one of those "Are you really Catholic" hymns. You can tell that young Regina singing in this clip failed the test. She is reading the words!!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8swy9cM4XAE" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Hail Redeemer King Divine</a></b> is another one of those "real men" hymns from the Holy Name Society. My Dad used to take me along to this religious testosterone gathering every month at Ss Peter and Paul's Church in Geelong West. Love this version with its images of <a href="http://www.chch.catholic.org.nz/?sid=2720" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Christchurch Cathedral </a> prior to the 2011 earthquake.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2GDb0u23cxJuiy6aFStAJPcXgsio9wf1agYwZ5N2Xi6GD5dOZidbL3F9OExpehukt7kD2Bci5KdNC1Aipan_s7pG6zvgYpcylA_1MLFRP3YiLfyVM5cZy2mVRWwGXFy5KGkI/s1608/Hymn_Book.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1608" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2GDb0u23cxJuiy6aFStAJPcXgsio9wf1agYwZ5N2Xi6GD5dOZidbL3F9OExpehukt7kD2Bci5KdNC1Aipan_s7pG6zvgYpcylA_1MLFRP3YiLfyVM5cZy2mVRWwGXFy5KGkI/s320/Hymn_Book.png" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk2CHhjlFj4" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Here I Am Lord</a> </b>is one of those contemporary obligatory songs for major events. To be sung properly it should alternate between a soloist and the community. However most Catholics like to be God in this one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DII6ap7bj0Q" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Holy God We Praise Thy Name</a></b> is another great anthem that rang out from the <a href="http://www.therecord.com.au/news/in-depth/whats-in-a-name/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Holy Name Society</a> gatherings in my childhood parish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLpIexoF-1A" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">I'll Sing A Hymn to Mary</a></b> probably rubs shoulders with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsLXoekyFJA">O Purest of Creatures</a> for the most sung Marian hymn from the <a href="http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2013/aug/10/living-parish-hymn-book/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Living Parish Hymnal</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR8upiNVKrY" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Jesus In Your Heart We Find</a></b> comes from the Year of Faith collection of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_McAuley" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">James McAuley </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Connolly_(composer)" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Richard Connolly.</a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzTo-8pusSQ" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Jesus Remember Me</a></b> from the Taize Community.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL6zvsRxpMo" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All</a></b> Another great sing-a-long from the <o:p></o:p><a href="http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2013/aug/10/living-parish-hymn-book/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Living Parish Hymnal</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzyymORMxfU" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Joy is Like The Rain</a> i</b>s one of the now archived songs of the 60s that most of us have agreed never to inflict on unsuspecting congregations again. However, listening to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzyymORMxfU">the story behind the song</a> from one of my favourite feminist theologians gives me second thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIykoEyLeE0" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Kyrie Eleison</a></b> One of the beauties of Catholic singing is that you get to learn several languages including Greek.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwRMT2_pi9c" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Laudate Dominum</a></b> I have thrown in a few of the Latin chants from the <a href="http://www.taize.fr/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Taize community</a></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span><a href="https://youtu.be/0tCkCfyg5bU">Laudato Si O Mi Signore</a> the 2022 addition to celebrate the Laudato Si movement i the Church.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZzKLZITZ0Y" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;"><b>Lead Kindly Ligh</b>t</a> was rarely sung in my youth but it is a standard as an adult from the inspiration of John Henry Newman.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://johncoleman.bandcamp.com/track/let-us-drink-from-the-river">Let Us Drink From the River</a> Another John Coleman song from the L'Arche Australia collection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoydfOKaGBM" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Litany of the Saints</a></b> is a chant that has featured in all my choral experiences from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP0hE1qPhqg" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">plainchant </a>to the newer settings such as this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtM8BRF7Bd0" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Lord of the Dance</a></b> gets a mention not only because it comes from the great Sydney Carter, but also because it featured in <a href="http://holyirritant.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/travelling-to-freedom.html" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Travelling to Freedom,</a> the 1971 replacement for the LPH.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://youtu.be/kfat_YiZ6v0">Love is His Word, Love is HIs Way</a> Usually belted out with full voice this recording is a gentle solo work</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rwYlFAdWVz1mhc3FDsJLjvuQ9AdAGwo6DB6_JccSclzzUchUAb_hsZqQNlQTefrEVmPd3jpBAfhvtBX7k8ewHYWZVNVnLRjNrRv7bmrlQTr6lDacHz_ZqY2d23UAK66QjzmY/s1900/74762-Theodore-Marier-Photograph-KR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="1900" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rwYlFAdWVz1mhc3FDsJLjvuQ9AdAGwo6DB6_JccSclzzUchUAb_hsZqQNlQTefrEVmPd3jpBAfhvtBX7k8ewHYWZVNVnLRjNrRv7bmrlQTr6lDacHz_ZqY2d23UAK66QjzmY/s320/74762-Theodore-Marier-Photograph-KR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOvQLMfppN8" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Make Me A Channel of Your Peace</a></b> was never written by St Francis, but lets not let the facts get in the way of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_Saint_Francis" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Peace Prayer of St Francis</a>. I've sung it in lots of places and sang along with the TV when it featured at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IckBKIeTFEI" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Diana's funeral.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToNb-02n3KY&list=PL4F8CAE4847997A9F" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Missa Luba</a> </b>One of the great musical discoveries of my youth was this mass Setting. I still love singing it</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span><a href="https://youtu.be/0T7AF61912Y?si=pdBEAlAKT2ST7iGT">More Than Memories</a> In memory of Kevin Bates RIP 31 January 2024<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyuB_hYCqQ" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Music from Papua New Guinea</a></b> For two year I worked as a volunteer in the Diocese of Daru-Kiunga in Papua New Guinea. here is a set of images and hymns from their 2012 anniversary celebrations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7gMDXylzW8" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Now Thank We All Our God</a></b> was there in the <o:p></o:p><a href="http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2013/aug/10/living-parish-hymn-book/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Living Parish Hymna</a>l but I couldn't resist giving the Mormons a chance to feature.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7uhbiUs6eY&list=RDsEywsTk_cNA&index=3" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Now the Green Blade Rises</a></b> A wonderful Easter song which I learnt from the <a href="http://holyirritant.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/travelling-to-freedom.html" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Travelling to Freedom </a>collection</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IActLJH8xHs" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">O Sacrament Most Holy</a></b> Another one where the <o:p></o:p><a href="http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2013/aug/10/living-parish-hymn-book/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Living Parish Hymnal</a> opens automatically.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG9T8UmN6VY" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;"><b>One Bread, One Bod</b>y</a> a contemporary standard loved and sung in many parishes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://youtu.be/sNXAUlYhuy0">On Sacred Ground:</a>Maeve Louise heaney and Toni Janke. This piece </span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">featured in prayer at the Plenary Council </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0lC3o-0BFg">Only A Shadow</a> </b>The Catholic version of shadow boxing religion from Carey Landry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://youtu.be/zUg8B1VA0Bs" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Our Father</a>:</b> How could I not include the song that still crops up in the most unexpected liturgies. And I got to meet the good lady many years later but didn't get her autograph!!</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Aboriginal <b style="color: #222222; white-space: normal;"><a href="https://youtu.be/IEnTJLskrgk" style="font-family: inherit;">Our Father</a> </b>sung at the 2015 National Aboriginal Torres Strait Island Catholic Council Assembly in Darwin July 2015</span></div><div style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0a0a0a; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVUtX2jhX67rXxMCTX41cbyfMr9gBPpCfdMoOPDZ7s79wCO4QRxqQitA2P8qzWIy0-btGmTxqcBx8Btv8D0-BcuGNwWKNzbY0i6q2j7Bdbhr5rR7YL5egYQaUwv_XInGjmBM_Z/s607/R-6407038-1493223908-3162.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVUtX2jhX67rXxMCTX41cbyfMr9gBPpCfdMoOPDZ7s79wCO4QRxqQitA2P8qzWIy0-btGmTxqcBx8Btv8D0-BcuGNwWKNzbY0i6q2j7Bdbhr5rR7YL5egYQaUwv_XInGjmBM_Z/s320/R-6407038-1493223908-3162.jpeg.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.discogs.com/Sister-Janet-Mead-The-Lords-Prayer/release/6407038">Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3H5f7oePQE" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;"><b style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Pange Lingua Glorious</b><span style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">i</span></a> It usually only got an airing on Holy Thursday but that was enough to have it firmly planted in the memory bank.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvC6TccVzlQ" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;"><b>Peter Kearney</b> </a>has been called a pioneer in contemporary religious song. His earliest hymns '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ue8XYmGtJQ" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Fill My House</a>' and 'The Beatitudes' published in 1966 became internationally known. From 1982 Peter made music his work. As well as writing and publishing he has toured in all Australian states and overseas in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the USA to present his workshops and concerts. I have sung Peter's material for years in many settings. See his <a href="http://www.peterkearneysongs.com.au/bio/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">bio</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rk3pIRHN2g" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Priestly People</a> </b>For a brief time before SLJ (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Jesuits" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">St Louis Jesuits</a>) everyone in Catholic parishes sang the music of the gifted <a href="http://www.ocp.org/artists/717" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Lucien Deiss.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1ADxbqwkq4" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Shalom Chaverim</a></b> got in as the most popular Hebrew text in Catholic parishes in the 1970s.</span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8oPQTyyJlw&list=RDa8oPQTyyJlw" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Sons of God</a> </b>is one of those 60s songs that most of us have left behind in the archives of forgettable songs of the era.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j9ilIUyuqc" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Soul of My Saviour</a></b> is in the top ten selection from the <o:p></o:p><a href="http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2013/aug/10/living-parish-hymn-book/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Living Parish Hymna</a>l</span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EYMoTyVWYI" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Spirit of God</a> </b>was blown all over Churches and schools in the 60s and 70s. I just love the reference to Sr Bubble .<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzeRgaWVYWQ" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;"><br /></a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7wtoMnY92A">Sr IreneO'Conner</a> </b>also predated Sr Janet Mead, but never broke into the charts. Irene was a member of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary with an aunt, <a href="http://holyirritant.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/prayer-request.html" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Majella Tracey.</a>I sang some of Irene's songs in my days as a <a href="http://cyberfriary.blogspot.com.au/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Capuchin Friar.</a></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijd0GVYQGVZ3gHidV8q6h1gQ_3t5XCSYJKMsz8NMdmceEvmojlPf670udJBoSqE_CRfF2aIUftQuV3fx7dG_YlSYXI9FodFcaEeLRA06qcgVx9YSMNQAnYSFQKRuvvGvRECAvx/s1024/BHUWN8038-1024x703.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1024" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijd0GVYQGVZ3gHidV8q6h1gQ_3t5XCSYJKMsz8NMdmceEvmojlPf670udJBoSqE_CRfF2aIUftQuV3fx7dG_YlSYXI9FodFcaEeLRA06qcgVx9YSMNQAnYSFQKRuvvGvRECAvx/s320/BHUWN8038-1024x703.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who remembers Leo? <a href="http://leowatt.com/aboutleo/">Answer</a> <a href="https://youtu.be/omv2zoDJauM">Go Now You Are Sent Forth</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHk9-tec9fM" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Sweet Sacrament Divine</a> </b>Concert performances of these classic hymns from my childhood days overwhelm the memories of our local parish choir.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsgfucCdcqg" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Take Our Bread</a></b> has been sung to death and should now be quietly put in the dusty cupboard in the sacristy or vestry if you are reading from the USA.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSMx8jZ-4DA" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Tantum Ergo</a> </b>That pre-conciliar Latin just gets in you and every verse comes back from Sunday arvo Benediction.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://youtu.be/8I7HnJjgTJw" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Taste And See The Goodness of The Lord</a></b> A great Australian piece from <a href="https://jesuit.org.au/celebrating-fr-chris-willcock-sj-music/">Christopher Willcocks SJ.</a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcs6WPjZi0k" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">The Lourdes Hymn</a> </b>Another great classic that sorts the real from the wannabees. If you need to read the words you aren't really Catholic.</span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxSTzSEiZ2c" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">The Rose</a></b> A Catholic hymn? It's presence in the list is again personal. In the late 1970s a friend's sister was tragically gunned down by her police co-workers in an accident. The rendition of The Rose sung at her funeral haunts me to this day.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzdC20bfV2c" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">The Spirit of God</a> </b>From the work of the great <a href="http://www.ocp.org/artists/717" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Lucien Deiss.</a>. Check out the other examples of his work on the sidebar of this clip.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-tyGIQ4xaY" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">To Jesus' Heart All Burning</a></b> Another fave from the <o:p></o:p><a href="http://www.ccwatershed.org/blog/2013/aug/10/living-parish-hymn-book/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Living Parish Hymna</a>l</span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9e_QO1ATho" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Ubi Caritas</a> </b>another beautiful chant form <a href="http://www.taize.fr/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Taize</a>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7EaOlCMPWU" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Veni Creator Spiritus</a> </b>The haunting Gregorian chant that I was taught as a young member of our parish choir in Geelong West. </span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFg9GwVPySM" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">We Stand for God</a> </b>Another one of those "if you are really Catholic" hymns. Another anthem of the old <a href="http://www.therecord.com.au/news/in-depth/whats-in-a-name/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Holy Name Society</a> from our family parish of Ss Peter and Paul's in Geelong West.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGn3uENUEec" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Wherever You Go</a></b> A lost treasure from the <o:p></o:p><a href="http://www.westonpriory.org/music.html" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Monks of Weston Priory</a>.</span></div>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFcEHfA7W4E" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration: none;"><b>Yahweh, I Know You Are Nea</b>r</a> is now consigned to the "naughty corner" of Catholic hymns. See <a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/yahweh_not_to_be_used_in_liturgy_songs_and_prayers_cardinal_arinze_says/" style="color: #7c93a1; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none;">this instruction </a>from Rome in 2008.<span style="font-size: 13.2px; font-weight: 400;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpKZxnhC4vrhJgUPhgTr7K4DSlws5Rhj0uughKGDmjWGslG9rCoWC1HT0ZLuXqY4lbdPYacOqPOjDUUlGOggAqcLOKnc6dyJUV1qZj8mzcWcMeeMm9V2UPiuYVN0a_mFBmYgK/s320/help-of-christians-guard-this-land.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="251" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpKZxnhC4vrhJgUPhgTr7K4DSlws5Rhj0uughKGDmjWGslG9rCoWC1HT0ZLuXqY4lbdPYacOqPOjDUUlGOggAqcLOKnc6dyJUV1qZj8mzcWcMeeMm9V2UPiuYVN0a_mFBmYgK/s0/help-of-christians-guard-this-land.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.godsongs.net/2017/05/help-of-christians-guard-this-land-from-assault-or-inward-stain.html">Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-13190444697092543192024-01-24T16:27:00.000-08:002024-01-24T16:27:14.061-08:00Shameful Statement from Archbishop Anthony Fisher on January 26<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From the Facebook Page of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/anthonyfisherop">Archbishop Anthony Fisher </a>26 January 2022</b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8Cpt0FOkeGbsMSWCvQc94J89YOh06hSeRcQW8ie6zIqqf1du3ZN784RagI3fvaTUtNthuNd2MncMUncVDk1QcyoMnPD05DZbI0YT1DnwC65bxpDJVWJnpANOC8npZGwq7-QmzgRryd_luyFe2PWrhiXagWGo566uATXddsKejRpcZNz7AUQ=s1442" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1442" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh8Cpt0FOkeGbsMSWCvQc94J89YOh06hSeRcQW8ie6zIqqf1du3ZN784RagI3fvaTUtNthuNd2MncMUncVDk1QcyoMnPD05DZbI0YT1DnwC65bxpDJVWJnpANOC8npZGwq7-QmzgRryd_luyFe2PWrhiXagWGo566uATXddsKejRpcZNz7AUQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image used on the Archbishop's Post without credit</td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Friends, I am looking forward to celebrating an Australia
Day Mass later today at Domus Australia in Rome.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">During the Mass, we will include what is sometimes called a
lost verse of our national anthem, Advance Australia Fair. It is the only
openly religious verse and I share it with you today as we pray that our nation
might imitate the Christian values of truth, goodness and beauty, fidelity,
sacrifice and love:<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">With Christ our head and cornerstone,<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">We'll build our Nation's might.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whose way and truth and light alone<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Can guide our path aright.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our lives, a sacrifice of love, reflect our Master's care.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">With faces turned to heaven above, Advance Australia Fair.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>In joyful strains then let us sing, Advance Australia Fair.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a Catholic I find this post from </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl gpro0wi8 q66pz984 b1v8xokw" href="https://www.facebook.com/anthonyfisherop?__cft__[0]=AZVw0dJShW8q7rSMms-5CyjJO2XjtUd2MiyA0k_1h3V2qD7wDIX99jPmSFHWhqEMC8YpdeTX-dqUKsucR27gL7JFe81XtyDYT-WMER64WgDWmL_Ot_QjYIPcJC28AbKFfOC38Q9fSw-8E8WpIKFHuqU82FlE79BYxZd2X3AYEqu5ow&__tn__=-]K-R" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="nc684nl6" style="display: inline;">Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"> offensive in the extreme. He fails to acknowledge the First Nations peoples in his text and adds insult to the community by the pseudo-patriotic image he has chosen to use. </span></span></p><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As for this claim to be promoting a "lost verse" of the National Anthem I say "bollocks your grace"!!! He has not quoted any source for this verse which by the way fails to honour the religious diversity of Australia.The verse is also demolished in <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/forgotten-verses-of-advance-australia-fair-wed-be-embarrassed-to-sing-today/news-story/3426a3ac2512611ef7392cf5a2d5e5f5">this article</a> about the histor yof the song.</span></div><div dir="auto"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Commonwealth owns copyright in the words of the Australian National Anthem as proclaimed. It also holds copyright to particular arrangements of music of the Australian National Anthem. <span>As such those who include this verse in </span><span>public singing of the anthem are in breach of copyright . Not a good look for </span><span>the Archbishop of Sydney to be promoting.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Shameful leadership indeed!!!<o:p></o:p></span></p><span style="font-size: 15px;">
</span></div></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-46580008602176781552023-12-29T15:50:00.000-08:002023-12-29T16:24:01.241-08:00The 12 Days of Christmas<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCOyCwgLrz686SiJ4IsXhFVD9gRkuJluF6csdt8JLJ-3W8PKRavriqoLVn92byrl2UZZWF37tl4Au79nS3W8XWTLCEt6tskLQiEQJC1LyI78srPeet46i-jSQ8nIDX87d6NnyOQADruGdL7Rs8Em_6_4l6AHgyHKwSmShlGTy3-jB9orurSJT/s1099/12-days-of-christmas-1099x640.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1099" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCOyCwgLrz686SiJ4IsXhFVD9gRkuJluF6csdt8JLJ-3W8PKRavriqoLVn92byrl2UZZWF37tl4Au79nS3W8XWTLCEt6tskLQiEQJC1LyI78srPeet46i-jSQ8nIDX87d6NnyOQADruGdL7Rs8Em_6_4l6AHgyHKwSmShlGTy3-jB9orurSJT/s320/12-days-of-christmas-1099x640.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.augustafamily.com/a-meaningful-celebration-of-the-12-days-of-christmas/">Image Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Welcome to my readings for the 12 Days of Christmas. Here you will find a bit of history, some quirky insights and all the reasons you need to celebrate Christmas beyond the commercial drive for tinsel and gifts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This series was originally posted in 2012. I hope you enjoy them and invite your response. Come back each of the 12 Days to read a new post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2017/12/christmas-day-2017-first-day-of.html">First Day of Christmas</a>: Christmas Day</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2021/12/second-day-of-christmas-boxing-day.html">Second Day of Christmas</a>: Boxing Day</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2017/12/third-day-of-christmas-holy-day-for.html">Third Day of Christmas</a>: A Holy Day For Queers</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2017/12/fourth-day-of-christmas-holy-innocents.html">Fourth Day of Christmas</a>:The Holy Innocents</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; color: #2c3e50; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2017/12/fifth-day-of-christmas-st-thomas.html">Fifth Day of Christmas</a>: St Thomas Beckett</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2019/12/sixth-day-of-christmas-nativity-around.html">Sixth Day of Christmas</a>: Bing and David</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2011/12/sixth-day-of-christmas-putting-stamp-on.html">Seventh Day of Christmas</a>: Putting the Stamp on Christmas</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2017/12/eighth-day-of-christmas-beware-of.html">Eighth Day of Christmas</a>: Beware of the Cutters</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2021/01/ninth-day-of-christmas.html">Ninth Day of Christmas</a>: World Peace Messsage</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/01/tenth-day-of-christmas-time-to-take.html">Tenth Day of Christmas</a>: Time to Take Stock</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/01/eleventh-day-of-christmas-epiphany.html">Eleventh Day of Christmas</a>: Epiphany Chalking</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/01/twelfth-day-of-christmas-swap-clothes.html">Twelfth Day of Christmas</a>: Swap Clothes For The Misrule is here.</span></div>
Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-75880152861032626802023-12-29T15:36:00.001-08:002023-12-29T16:02:27.083-08:00Twelfth Day of Christmas: Swap Clothes for the Misrule is Here!!<center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Today is a great day for a party and the rules call for frivolity, cross-dressing and wonderful recipes for food and drink. It is the day to rediscover "<a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/wassailing.shtml">Wassailing and Mumming"</a>.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the start of <a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/12daysofchristmas.shtml">Twelfth Night </a>the Twelfth Night cake was eaten. This was a rich cake made with eggs and butter, fruit, nuts and spices. The modern </span><a href="https://www.whychristmas.com/fun/recipe_panettone.shtml" style="color: #cc0033;">Italian Panettone</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is the cake we currently have that's most like the old Twelfth Night cake.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A dried pea or bean was cooked in the cake. Whoever found it was the Lord (or Lady) of Misrule for night. The Lord of Misrule led the celebrations and was dressed like a King (or Queen). This tradition goes back to the Roman celebrations of Saturnalia. In later times, from about the Georgian period onwards, to make the Twelfth Night 'gentile', two tokens were put in the cake (one for a man and one for a women) and whoever found them became the the 'King' and 'Queen' of the Twelfth Night party.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In English Cathedrals, during the middle ages, there was the custom of the 'Boy Bishop' where a boy from the Cathedral or monastery school was elected as a Bishop on 6th December (St Nicholas's Day) and had the authority of a Bishop (except to perform Mass) until 28th December. King Henry VIII banned the practice in 1542 although it came back briefly under Mary I in 1552 but Elizabeth I finally stopped it during her reign.We keep this a remnant of tradition alive in Australia with the current Catholic <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?q=archbishop+anthony+fisher&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi8oNWjlMDYAhXIFJQKHcuSAAEQ_AUICygC&biw=1843&bih=989">Archbishop of Sydney</a> affectionately known as "<a href="http://fatherkevinlee.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/did-i-upset-you-boy-george.html">Boy George</a>".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's a busy day as it's time to take down your Christmas decorations and install those missing three kings to the Nativity set at least for the day. When you have completed your Christmas duties and feasted with great gusto you will probably be ready to sit back and watch the midnight hour <center>approach with a good dose of Shakespearean comedy:</center></span></span></div><br />
<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tUIUU3iwmKY" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center><br />
<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8Lf_6gferME" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from <a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html">here</a>.</div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-92179393244787376422023-12-29T15:36:00.000-08:002023-12-29T16:03:27.132-08:00Eleventh Day of Christmas: Epiphany Chalking<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFF4Gt7UhCezeorhnqUHguu0r8EfdM-qoJyeuvCUddAa_ySvQRHRfnW0YiPJTLkpxsjSVJN7IVp-twhsoVLPl7Yfsmj9a39bRsaIkYdjoZcWrZzu_s19EYJ5Uiu0o3AAIsulGNzFndcJUtwMiGjkqfI3pnu1p1lgn7917gdLxIk2Ez_Hlmw/s805/2023-EpiphanyHouseBlessing.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="805" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFF4Gt7UhCezeorhnqUHguu0r8EfdM-qoJyeuvCUddAa_ySvQRHRfnW0YiPJTLkpxsjSVJN7IVp-twhsoVLPl7Yfsmj9a39bRsaIkYdjoZcWrZzu_s19EYJ5Uiu0o3AAIsulGNzFndcJUtwMiGjkqfI3pnu1p1lgn7917gdLxIk2Ez_Hlmw/s320/2023-EpiphanyHouseBlessing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />In case you miss the opportunity for another great Christmas custom you have a couple of days to go out and buy the chalk you left off your Christmas shopping list.</b></b></div></b></b></div></b></b></div>
<br />One of the lost customs of the season is the "Chalking of the Door" at Epiphany. The ever reliable <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalking_the_door">Wikipedia t</a>ells us:<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Either on </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Night_(holiday)" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Twelfth Night (holiday)">Twelfth Night</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (January 5), the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Twelve Days of Christmas">twelfth day</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmastide" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Christmastide">Christmastide</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> and eve of the feast of the Epiphany, or on </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(holiday)" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Epiphany (holiday)">Epiphany Day</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (January 6) itself, many Christians </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> chalk their doors with a pattern such as this, "20 † C † M † B † 19", with the numbers referring "to the calendar year (20 and 23, for instance, for this year, 2023); the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_cross" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Christian cross">crosses</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> stand for </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Jesus">Christ</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">; and the letters have a two-fold significance: C, M and B are the initials for the traditional names of the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magi" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Magi">Magi</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> (</span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Caspar" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Saint Caspar">Caspar</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">, </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melchior_(Magus)" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Melchior (Magus)">Melchior</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> and </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balthazar_(Magus)" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Balthazar (Magus)">Balthasar</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">), but they are also an abbreviation of the Latin </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blessing" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Blessing">blessing</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Christus mansionem benedicat</span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">, which means, </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">May Christ bless this house</span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">."<span style="font-size: 13.3333px; white-space: nowrap;"> </span></span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> In some localities, but not in all, the chalk used to write the Epiphanytide pattern is blessed by a Christian priest or minister on Epiphany Day; Christians then take the chalk home and use it to write the pattern.</span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> This Christian custom of chalking the door has a biblical precedent as the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Israelites">Israelites</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> in the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Old Testament">Old Testament</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagues_of_Egypt#Biblical_narrative" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Plagues of Egypt">marked their doors</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> in order to be saved from death; likewise, the Epiphanytide practice serves to protect Christian homes from </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unclean_spirit" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Unclean spirit">evil spirits</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> until the next Epiphany Day, at which time the custom is repeated.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalking_the_door#cite_note-3" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[3]</a></sup><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> Families also perform this act because it represents the hospitality of the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Family" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Holy Family">Holy Family</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> to the Magi (and all </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentile" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Gentile">Gentiles</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">); it thus serves as a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_blessing" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="House blessing">house blessing</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> to invite the presence of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Christianity" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="God in Christianity">God</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> in one's home.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;">Blessing the Chalk</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;">V. Our help is the name of the Lord:<br style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;" />R. The maker of heaven and earth.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;" />V. The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in:<br style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;" />R. From this time forth for evermore.</em></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; margin-bottom: 1em; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;" /></i><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;">Let us pray .</em></strong><em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;">Loving God, bless this chalk which you have created, that it may be helpful to your people; and grant that through the invocation of your most Holy Name that we who use it in faith to write upon the door of our home the names of your holy ones Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, may receive health of body and protection of soul for all who dwell in or visit our home; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;">Instructions for Blessing the Home</strong><br style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;" />Using the blessed chalk mark the lintel of your front door (or front porch step) as follows:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">20 + C + M + B + 23 while saying:</span></div>
<em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1b1b1b; font-family: inherit; outline: none;">The three Wise Men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar followed the star of God’s Son who became human two thousand and seventeen years ago. May Christ bless our home and remain with us throughout the new year. Amen.</em><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;" /></i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then offer the following prayer: <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;">Visit, O blessed Lord, this home with the gladness of your presence. Bless all who live or visit here with the gift of your love; and grant that we may manifest your love to each other and to all whose lives we touch. May we grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of you; guide, comfort, and strengthen us in peace, O Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen</em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;" /></i>“Chalking the door” is a way to celebrate and literally mark the occasion of the Epiphany and God’s blessing of our lives and home. With time the chalk will fade. As it does we let the meaning of the symbols written sink into the depths of our heart and be manifest in our words and actions the Latin words, <em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none;">Christus mansionem benedictat</em>, “May Christ bless the house.” (<a href="http://www.carmelites.net/news/chalking-door-epiphany-house-blessing-2015/">Source</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of my favourite <a href="http://liturgy.co.nz/epiphany-chalk-house-blessing-2">Liturgy</a> sites from </span><span style="color: #1d1a1a;">Aotearoa-New Zealand includes more prayer choices for this ritual. And for the more visual there is even a youtube tutorial:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course for the more adventurous there is the Greek custom of the dive for the Cross which is much more challenging in the Northern Hemisphere while our locals get to take advantage of a decent summer dive.</span></div><div style="color: #252525; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
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</div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html" style="text-align: center;">here</a><span style="text-align: center;">.</span></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-71268199871503704752023-12-29T15:35:00.000-08:002023-12-29T16:04:01.882-08:00Tenth Day of Christmas: Time to Take Stock<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-__lxvNPaXUU/Tv7Qo8aYejI/AAAAAAAAIdI/27cYR2AhE9o/s1600/tl_stocktake-sale.png" style="clear: left; color: #009eb8; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-__lxvNPaXUU/Tv7Qo8aYejI/AAAAAAAAIdI/27cYR2AhE9o/s200/tl_stocktake-sale.png" style="-webkit-border-image: url(data:image/png; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 9; border-image-source: url(data:image/png; border-image-width: 9px; border: 9px none; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; margin: 10px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><b>It hasn't taken long for the "Christmas Sales" signs to be replaced by "Stocktake Sales" in the major stores around our cities. </b>These sales are basically incentives to add to our consumer appetite at bargain prices</span><span face=""helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">.</span><br />
<span face=""helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><span face=""helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">T</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: small; line-height: 19px;">oday can also be a great day to "take stock" of life as the year draws to a close. Our </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_resolution" style="color: #009eb8; display: inline; line-height: 19px; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span>new year resolutions</span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-size: small; line-height: 19px;"> are best informed by the reflection of the previous year.</span></span><br />
<span face=""helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: small; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span face=""helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: small; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">These early days of a new year invite us to take stock of core values and commitments. It means I place my commitment in small communities such as <a href="https://www.larche.org.au/">L'Arche</a></span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">, in the activism of groups like </span><a href="http://www.amnesty.org.au/qld/" style="color: #009eb8; display: inline; line-height: 19px; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span>Amnesty International </span></a><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">and </span><span><a href="https://www.oxfam.org.au/">Oxfam</a>,</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"> in the commitment of NGOs like </span><a href="http://www.palms.org.au/" style="color: #009eb8; display: inline; line-height: 19px; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span>Palms Australia</span></a><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"> to bring about social change.</span></span></span><br />
<br />Here are some of my favourite sites where I look back and review the past year:<br /></span><ul><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6ZBj9SN57E">ABC Year in Review 2023</a></div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/year-in-review">ABC News 2023</a></div></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2023">Notable Deaths 2023</a></li>
<li><a href="https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/FIW_World_2023_DigtalPDF.pdf">Freedom In The World 2023</a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/impact/2023/12/celebrating-the-human-rights-wins-of-2023/">Human Rights Wins 2023</a></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;">And if you need something a bit more interactive you can take the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/quizzes/">ABC Quizzes</a>. </span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">When I take stock of my core values I recognize my duty to use social networking tools for raising awareness of justice and peace concerns and building solidarity with those who </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_movement" style="background-color: white; color: #009eb8; display: inline; line-height: 19px; outline-style: none; outline-width: medium; text-align: justify; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;"><span>occupy our citie</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">s for the cause of justice.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">I invite you to share the story of your "Stocktake" of 2023</span><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; text-align: center;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html" style="text-align: center;">here</a><span style="color: black; text-align: center;">.</span></span></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-81294124676377808992023-12-29T15:28:00.000-08:002023-12-29T16:04:22.283-08:00Ninth Day of Christmas: World Peace<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAeHVLq7dCJI1rXqcLCfDjkRg8OUjaHQBwejSEdHyPqLOWtgmGNb0i6so1xlJdfaBo9wKNWjLbbk8Zzrf5MtQf7P5a9TI-Q3_EQrQpivFc93xbTbbGWBphLH_kAW7GawLFK7K3/s1136/1st-world-day-of-prayer-of-peace-st-popepaul-VI-1-jan-1968-1-jan2019.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAeHVLq7dCJI1rXqcLCfDjkRg8OUjaHQBwejSEdHyPqLOWtgmGNb0i6so1xlJdfaBo9wKNWjLbbk8Zzrf5MtQf7P5a9TI-Q3_EQrQpivFc93xbTbbGWBphLH_kAW7GawLFK7K3/s320/1st-world-day-of-prayer-of-peace-st-popepaul-VI-1-jan-1968-1-jan2019.jpg" /></a></div><b>Many social change activists and educators are aware of the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace">International Day of Peace </a>celebrated each year on September 21st.</b><div><br /></div><div> However, I bet <a href="https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/blog/article/113/#:~:text=In%20the%20folklore%20of%20Australian,are%20very%20short%20odds%20indeed.">London to a brick </a>that very few Catholics know that the <a href="https://www.wikiwand.com/en/World_Day_of_Peace">World Day of Peace</a> was <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif;">established by Pope Paul VI in 1967, being inspired by the encyclical </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lora, serif;"><a class="mw-redirect int-link" href="https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Pacem_in_Terris" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1559b5; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.15s ease-out 0s;" title="Pacem in Terris">Pacem in Terris</a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif;"> of </span><a class="int-link" href="https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Pope_John_XXIII" style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1559b5; font-family: Lora, serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.15s ease-out 0s;" title="">Pope John XXIII</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif;"> and with reference to his own encyclical </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lora, serif;"><a class="mw-redirect int-link" href="https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Populorum_Progressio" style="background: 0px 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1559b5; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.15s ease-out 0s;" title="">Populorum Progressio</a></i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lora, serif;">. The day was first celebrated on 1st January 1968.</span><p></p><p><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #777777; font-family: "Gentium Book Basic", serif; text-align: center;">The Catholic Church, with the intention of service and of example, simply wishes to “launch the idea”, in the hope that it may not only receive the widest consent of the civilised world but that such an idea may find everywhere numerous promoters, able and capable of impressing on the “Day of Peace”, to be celebrated on the first day of every new year, that sincere and strong character of conscious humanity, redeemed from its sad and fatal bellicose conflicts, which will give to the history of the world a more happy, ordered and civilised development.”</em></p><p><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #777777; font-family: "Gentium Book Basic", serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/messages/peace/documents/hf_p-vi_mes_19671208_i-world-day-for-peace.html">Full text of the 1st World Day of Peace<span style="font-size: 18px;"> address by St Paul V</span></a>I</em></p><div class="abstract text parbase vaticanrichtext" style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"><p style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><span class="color-text" color="rgb(102, 51, 0) !important">MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE<b><br />FRANCIS<br /></b>FOR THE 57th<br /></span><b><span class="title-1-color" style="color: #663300; font-size: 18px;">WORLD DAY OF PEACE</span></b></p><p style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"><span class="color-text" color="rgb(102, 51, 0) !important">1 JANUARY 2024</span></p><div class="clearfix" style="zoom: 1;"></div></div><h1 style="background-color: white; color: #240f03; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: bolder; text-align: center;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><i><a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/20231208-messaggio-57giornatamondiale-pace2024.html">Artificial Intelligence and Peace</a></i></b><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><i></i></b></h1><div class="text parbase vaticanrichtext" style="background-color: white;"><p style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-align: center;"></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbW5PsYc-6bZApNCzeZ8SOETqqCOUnbf4SjkdQrcckqNPW1HHh4QF5X4gBVhKdjmx-Ijy_-j10ue5cqrRqQTxuBkvTRxjvyPsSHff7xSMm8GpPInrAFfKa7oVbaUJr6ZviQPEZZbcHRffjR_D5M_U4z1NG2qYTN5duWHFNIiOYZvpAiW1jEFaO/s1080/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbW5PsYc-6bZApNCzeZ8SOETqqCOUnbf4SjkdQrcckqNPW1HHh4QF5X4gBVhKdjmx-Ijy_-j10ue5cqrRqQTxuBkvTRxjvyPsSHff7xSMm8GpPInrAFfKa7oVbaUJr6ZviQPEZZbcHRffjR_D5M_U4z1NG2qYTN5duWHFNIiOYZvpAiW1jEFaO/s320/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.humandevelopment.va/en/news/2023/message-pope-francis-for-world-day-of-peace-2024.html">Resources</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from <a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html">here</a>.</div><p style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"></p></div><p></p></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-53748095925821121182023-12-29T15:21:00.000-08:002023-12-29T20:04:08.286-08:00Eighth Day of Christmas: Beware of the Cutters<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-left: 1em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DKk8xM5c-Ow/Tv-u7o06qaI/AAAAAAAAIdg/A4EcmZhJwOY/s1600/circumcision-of-jesus-ted-drake.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #5dc2c0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DKk8xM5c-Ow/Tv-u7o06qaI/AAAAAAAAIdg/A4EcmZhJwOY/s320/circumcision-of-jesus-ted-drake.jpg" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://emmock.com/2011/01/01/bible-blog-335/" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">http://emmock.com/2011/01/01/bible-blog-335/</a></td></tr>
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<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">Welcome to January 1st. In the "</span><a href="http://terra-australis-culture.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/australia-land-of-long-weekend.html" style="background-color: white; color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Land of the Long Weekend</a></b><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>" </b>This is the day to recover from the NYE parties and celebrations. It's a day at the beach or home with a BBQ.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Back in the days before the <a href="https://dailyhistory.org/How_did_Vatican_II_change_the_Catholic_Church%3F">Vatican Council </a> moved the goal posts Catholic Tradition celebrated this day as the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Circumcision_of_Christ" style="background-color: white; color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord</a><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Yes, it is the only Catholic feast for a medical procedure. As with all great Biblical accounts there is a </span><a href="http://www.google.com.au/search?q=the+circumcision+of+the+lord&hl=en&site=webhp&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=j7L_TuXoNKmaiQe1sOj-Cg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CB4Q_AUoAQ&biw=1680&bih=906" style="background-color: white; color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">picture gallery</a> <span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">available on google. As with all great Catholic and Orthodox Celebrations there is a <a href="https://hymnary.org/text/christs_birth_and_circumcision_too">hymn</a> or <a href="https://www.lychnos.org/dismissal-hymn-of-the-feast-of-the-circumcision-of-our-lord/">two </a>for the feast.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Circumcision gets some pretty good press in the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_male_circumcision" style="background-color: white; color: #7c93a1;">Scriptures</a><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> as a popular practice and metaphor. By the time you have worked through the Hebrew Scriptures and made your way to some of Paul's letters you get to the most cutting of his statements: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">"Beware of the cutters," (<a href="ph.3:2" style="color: #7c93a1; text-decoration-line: none;">Ph.3:2</a>). So there you have it, time to stop infant circumcision. If Paul was around today he would probably join one of the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=stop%20infant%20circumcision">Facebook pages </a>to stop infant circumcision.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span>Circumcision has made its way into the public forum. SBS Insight hosted a public forum. Two of my good friends appeared as guests <a href="https://www.facebook.com/elwyn?fref=ts" style="color: #7c93a1;">Elwyn Moir</a> and <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/transcript/503/The-First-Cut" style="color: #7c93a1;">Sharon Orapeleng</a>. By strange coincidence they were seated near each other for the recording.</span></p><p><br /></p><center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mm2sX9BP5dE" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center><p></p>
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Thanks to this feast we also have a great new word for scrabble: prepuce.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Prepuce" style="background-color: white; color: #7c93a1;">The Holy Prepuce</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> or the story of the foreskin relics is another contribution of Catholicism to the religious entertainment industry. It seems that we can also learn a bit from </span><a href="https://chariotjournal.com/2018/10/29/circumcision-in-italian-renaissance-art-a-hellenistic-influence/">Michelangelo</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><a href="https://chariotjournal.com/2018/10/29/circumcision-in-italian-renaissance-art-a-hellenistic-influence/"> </a>about this practice.</span><br />
<span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"></span><span style="color: #222222;">And so a new year is upon us. May you "<a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/make-the-cut">make the cut"</a> in whatever you do in 2024!!</span></span><br />
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<span><span style="color: #222222;">May this new year bring you blessings of peace and happiness. May we work together to build a community of hope and justice in our neighbourhoods and on our planet.</span></span></span></div><div><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: black;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html">here</a><span style="color: black;">.</span></i></span></span></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-81800602379261161122023-12-29T15:20:00.000-08:002023-12-29T16:05:29.817-08:00Seventh Day of Christmas Putting the Stamp on Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6a3kdLADta4/Tv0OeL2gSlI/AAAAAAAAIcw/boXbQ0ssIQw/s1600/stock-photo-australia-circa-a-christmas-stamp-printed-in-australia-showing-an-image-of-a-girl-praying-66660907.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6a3kdLADta4/Tv0OeL2gSlI/AAAAAAAAIcw/boXbQ0ssIQw/s320/stock-photo-australia-circa-a-christmas-stamp-printed-in-australia-showing-an-image-of-a-girl-praying-66660907.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Often when doing an online search for material I use the Google Image search tool as I am a visual type of person and love the images that take me to text. </b>During these 12 Days of Christmas I suggest you visit the Google Image site for <a href="http://www.google.com.au/search?q=australia+post+christmas+stamps&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=Ywz9TqWnKfGuiQeV67GaAQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CBUQ_AUoAQ&biw=1680&bih=906">Australia Post Christmas Stamps.</a><br />
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The history of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_stamp">Christmas stamp</a>s is rich and diverse. The Wikipedia article notes that:<i> "<span face="sans-serif" style="line-height: 19px;">The choice of secular or religious designs is frequently a bone of contention; church leaders often see secular designs as diluting the meaning of the holiday, while postal officials fear that overly religious designs could lead their secular customers to avoid the stamps, leaving millions unsold, and even expose the postal administration to charges that they are violating laws prohibiting the promotion of a particular religion.</span></i></span></div>
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<span face="sans-serif"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><i><br /></i></span></span><div style="line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.4em;"><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the United States, annual discord over "secular" versus "religious" designs was resolved by issuing some of each; typically a group of 4-6 related secular designs, plus a <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_and_Child" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Madonna and Child">Madonna and Child</a> design. To avoid difficulties attendant upon contracting for original designs with a religious theme, the designs are based on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Master" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Old Master">Old Master</a> paintings hanging in U.S. galleries, thus qualifying as depictions of art. The British Royal Mail resolves the difficulty by issuing "religious" and "secular" themed designs in alternate years."</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQGIh9CptA-TNK3YqbZCC_23y_sU7Xlyh_5nzrtUFCqJWQy3g95RinAWZpsiYehkr6eWxrHBkI_t8Bo0AicB_dS0l6cnLm1wlEDAxk1Xas24SzniRLdXXGKyloXGEmPoLll4X/s1600/christmas-2017-religious-domestic-stamp.png.auspostimage.180_0.low.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQGIh9CptA-TNK3YqbZCC_23y_sU7Xlyh_5nzrtUFCqJWQy3g95RinAWZpsiYehkr6eWxrHBkI_t8Bo0AicB_dS0l6cnLm1wlEDAxk1Xas24SzniRLdXXGKyloXGEmPoLll4X/s1600/christmas-2017-religious-domestic-stamp.png.auspostimage.180_0.low.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>The 2017 Australian Christmas Stamp set included a Madonn</span>a and Child image that<span> has great personal significance."<a href="https://australiapostcollectables.com.au/stamp-issues/christmas-2017"> </a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #382f2d;"><a href="https://australiapostcollectables.com.au/stamp-issues/christmas-2017">The 65c Christmas-card-rate stamp </a>shows a projection from the 2013 Lights of Christmas display. The painting is a copy of a now lost work by Italian artist <a href="https://australiapostcollectables.com.au/stamp-issues/christmas-2017">Roberto Ferruzzi</a> (1853–1934). The much loved original painting, known as the Madonnina or the Madonna of the Streets, was awarded a major prize at the 1897 Venice Biennale. Often reproduced as a devotional image, it survives in countless copies."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #382f2d;">This is an image that sat on my mother's kitchen window sill for most of her 85 years. It sat in a small circular frame above the sink where she spent many quiet hours while the rest of the household were at work or school. Behind the image is a fascinating <a href="https://parrocchiamarone.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/briciole-la-madonnina-del-ferruzzi/">family story</a> (Use a translation tool to read an English version)</span></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">
My childhood Christmas memories include the never ending series of cards that my parents received from relatives and friends. I think we even swapped (posted) cards to the neighbours. I'm not sure we followed the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/debretts-2017-guide-christmas-etiquette-gifts-dinner-family-friends-drinks-a8083156.html">Christmas etiquette </a>although I suspect the posting was done in time for cards to arrive before Christmas Day.<br />
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Here is the set for <a href="https://auspost.com.au/shop/product/christmas-2023-set-of-stamps-22270671?fm=recommendations:shop:2">2023</a></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9oNxr5ltC6bQRqYUb0erU32g10m8dLYALO3ceg-H_4HhRz3eP1JWi4nMn0x95_r8_mMyGRLEI38QFQWpwRpOJqoeLE79GWtF0BaBATuovRcfihW_P_x5oNjE4HYs6baqI0VzVIf0VUhZgJ6Cu__KyeDxkQf-EWUIb-c3xU6O25_YZLnOcXTV/s538/Screenshot%202023-12-30%20091733.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="538" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9oNxr5ltC6bQRqYUb0erU32g10m8dLYALO3ceg-H_4HhRz3eP1JWi4nMn0x95_r8_mMyGRLEI38QFQWpwRpOJqoeLE79GWtF0BaBATuovRcfihW_P_x5oNjE4HYs6baqI0VzVIf0VUhZgJ6Cu__KyeDxkQf-EWUIb-c3xU6O25_YZLnOcXTV/s320/Screenshot%202023-12-30%20091733.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html">here</a><span style="color: black;">.</span></i></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-41234356588924019732023-12-29T15:16:00.000-08:002023-12-30T15:24:51.495-08:00Feast of the Holy Family<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiYmNEZMCmddKr5jaXh7l8H7rRmZQlAN-m_A9p-XrZ9HUbvCLl8SRACCQNWwR4c611Vz6m7wWojV80Qr3yyht8XEfADM2FTltjmsN5Lx49HKs55t1plJD9d3ScxFAUCmRFudU/s1600/3484f506392d645ed8ec095d99f9720c.jpg.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="391" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiYmNEZMCmddKr5jaXh7l8H7rRmZQlAN-m_A9p-XrZ9HUbvCLl8SRACCQNWwR4c611Vz6m7wWojV80Qr3yyht8XEfADM2FTltjmsN5Lx49HKs55t1plJD9d3ScxFAUCmRFudU/s320/3484f506392d645ed8ec095d99f9720c.jpg.png" width="248" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.janetmckenzie.com/">Janet McKenzie</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>This year the seventh day of Christmas in the amazing world of Catholicism falls on a day celebrated as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Family">Feast of the Holy Family</a>.</b> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Again this year I pay tribute to Sr Wendy Beckett who died on Boxing day 2018 with her reflection on Janet McKenzie's <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2010/01/18/sister-wendy-beckett-meditates-janet-mckenzies-holy-family">The Holy Family.</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="http://www.churchyear.net/holyfamily.html">history of the Feast</a> can be traced back to Canada in the 17th Century. Since that time various "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archconfraternity_of_the_Holy_Family">Confraternities of the Holy Family</a>" have been founded and you will even find a slightly off beat version available via <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Holy-Family-Confraternity-of-Christian-Mothers-and-Ladies-Guild/187711407943901">Facebook</a> <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;">In his Pulitzer Prize winning memoir </span><i style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela%27s_Ashes" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080;" title="Angela's Ashes">Angela's Ashes</a>,</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_McCourt" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.2px;" title="Frank McCourt">Frank McCourt</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;"> writes of his experience in the Confraternity in </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick,_Ireland" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.2px;" title="Limerick, Ireland">Limerick, Ireland</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;"> as a schoolboy.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Feast eventually made into into the Liturgical Calendar listed for the Sunday in the Octave of the Epiphany. In 1969 just after the release of <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html">Humanae Vitae</a> it was moved to the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Long before the feast was added to the liturgical calendar images of the Holy Family were a popular theme of <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/search-results?q=holy+family">European art history</a> In 2012 he US Postal Services issued a <a href="http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2012/pr12_113.htm">Holy Family</a> stamp. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.2px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 19.2px;">As a single gay man with no children of my own I belong to those who are usually overlooked in the preaching of today's celebration. So here are a couple of challenging readings I discovered that make this day inclusive and joyful for those who cannot 'fit into" the image of the traditional "Holy Family":</span></p><ul><li><a href="https://queerchurch.wordpress.com/?s=Christ%27s+queer+family">Christ's QueerFamily</a></li></ul><ul><li><a href="http://faithjustice.wordpress.com/2007/12/30/the-danger-of-family-olotry/">The Danger of Family-olitory</a></li></ul><p></p>
Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-20135529975436718552023-12-29T15:14:00.000-08:002023-12-29T19:59:32.354-08:00The Sixth Day of Christmas<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lCpXMy5GalI" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>I</center>
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<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">To celebrate the sixth day of Christmas I have chosen the carol of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Drummer_Boy">Little Drummer Boy</a>.In recent weeks my news feed has featured the haunting rendition by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ_MGWio-vc">Pentatonix </a>which is one of the best contemporary renditions available.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, "lucida grande", tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;"><span style="line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></div>
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However the version I share with you today is one that speaks of my own life. My father was a big fan of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Crosby">Bing Crosby</a> and the era he represented. I was very much a child of the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bowie"> Bowie </a>era and the differences are beautifully expressed in this amazing cl<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ip of the two greats singing the Little Drummer Boy.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, "lucida grande", tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><br /></span></div>
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My father and I both loved music and each Christmas the old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merry_Christmas_%28Bing_Crosby_album%29">Crosby vinyl </a>would come out be played throughout the season.I don't know that Dad ever listened to Bowie as he wasn't part of the amazing collection of records lovingly collected over a lifetime.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 6px;"><br /></div>
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We were far apart for our last Christmas in 1991. I was in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me3-d01eTXo">Papua New Guinea </a>and he was in Geelong. The following November our music stopped and we played Bing's <a href="https://youtu.be/aw9B49epS_M?si=J9bxLyvpV3ZSqFkv">Irish Lullaby</a> as his funeral was celebrated. Bing's "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYnJSBhm8wQ&list=PLXgUstcYt9KuLMQ1gt9jKmQB5ZSMqs9HF">White Christmas</a>" album remains a treasured memory and Bowie remains a memory of things we were never able to share. </div>
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<i style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html">here</a><span style="color: black;">.</span></i></div>
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Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-54716984506577379552023-12-29T15:13:00.001-08:002023-12-29T19:12:53.179-08:00Fifth Day of Christmas: St Thomas Beckett<b>Today the theme of martyrdom again dominates the liturgical calendar for those of us with English connections.</b> Mind you some of those connections are traced to anecdotal stories of previous generations of faithful Catholics being driven from our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_in_England_and_Wales">Celtic lands</a> by the religious zealots of the British monarchy.<br />
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Anyway, back to the stories of the day which are dominated by a couple of English Monarchs.. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England">Henry 11</a> is the first English Monarch to have an Australian connection way back in the 12th century. His mum's name was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Matilda">Matilda</a> and she waltzed around town as the Empress Matilda for a few years.<br />
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Henry 2nd other claim to fame is his establishing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Tales">Canterbury</a> as a a massive pilgrimage site after one of his tantrums resulted in the rather bloody murder of <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14676a.htm">Thomas Beckett</a> on December 29 1170 Tom was canonised in record breaking time on 21 February 1173.<br />
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Henry and Tom were having a bit of a barney over Church rights and as usual, property rights. Unfortunately for Henry, Thomas's death set off the Catholics in a frenzy and all of Europe was suddenly afire with devotion to the new saint. Henry was in a bit of political bother so he agreed to do a <a href="http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Henry_II_and_Thomas_a_Becket.htm">dose of penance</a> and in the style of reality TV he had himself flogged at Thomas's tomb.As a reward for this public humiliation Henry was awarded the right to be called King of England rather than the rather pythonish <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITJFfUptaGo">King of the Britons</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">History in England continued on its merry way with the usual family disputes, the odd war and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta">Magna Carta</a> However a few centuries down the track and another Second, Charles of England was chopping heads off any peer he suspected of participation in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popish_Plot">Popish Plot </a> the best of the 17th century conspiracy theories. Among those peers was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Howard,_1st_Viscount_Stafford">William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford</a> who lost his head at Tower Hill on December 29 1680. Bill was beatified in 1929 and is still in line for canonization.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823;">When I was studying for my HSC in 1970,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxA_3qyN1lk" style="background-color: white;">Murder in the Cathedral </a><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823;">by T.S. Eliot was one of the set texts on the theme of Authority and the Individual. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823;">Today's feature image is my appearance as the herald in Eliot's play. The performance was staged at </span><a href="http://saintanthonys.org.au/" style="background-color: white;">St Anthony's Church Marsfield</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823;"> in about 1976.</span></div><div><span style="color: #141823;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK_7vVDk4XgWZaxYaIhSgcORzeSMFn1LueYdlKXZMtBzhFaVUfmXgsyIyWFNFlmPP_WOCFsMLPsP6-7qceGGK_3Lwkyrb2LZZPl-t9FY-s-DyHZQqfUOi55n1aOAPLTLJDjonT/s1600/10828134_10153030062907033_3981115678076083343_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="967" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK_7vVDk4XgWZaxYaIhSgcORzeSMFn1LueYdlKXZMtBzhFaVUfmXgsyIyWFNFlmPP_WOCFsMLPsP6-7qceGGK_3Lwkyrb2LZZPl-t9FY-s-DyHZQqfUOi55n1aOAPLTLJDjonT/s320/10828134_10153030062907033_3981115678076083343_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The tension between politics and religion has been one of the formative features of the Westminster model of Government that we have inherited. Our history has been played out in the theatre of controversy between the interests of the State and the Church.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">me of my earliest memories of this conflict was learning that the Irish Archbishop of Melbourne, <a href="https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/rising1916/conscription">Daniel Mannix</a> stood in public opposition to the conscription of young men to the First World War by the Government of Billy Hughes.</span></span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; display: inline;"><div style="margin-bottom: 6px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html">here</a><span style="color: black;">.</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-51784473723537204362023-12-29T15:13:00.000-08:002023-12-29T19:06:39.634-08:00Fourth Day of Christmas: The Holy Innocents<center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QfYHhGGfjZs" width="560"></iframe></center><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Carol">Coventry Carol</a></b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">By by, lully lullay, thou little tiny child,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">By by, lully lullay.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">O sisters too, How may we do</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">For to preserve this day</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">This poor youngling,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">For whom we do sing,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">By by, lully lullay? </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">By by, lully lullay, thou little tiny child,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">By by, lully lullay.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">Herod, the King, In his raging,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">Charged he hath this day</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">His men of might,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">In his own sight,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">All young children to slay. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">By by, lully lullay, thou little tiny child,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">By by, lully lullay.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">That woe is me, Poor child for thee!</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">And ever morn and day,</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">For thy parting</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">Nor say nor sing</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "verdana" , sans-serif">By by, lully lullay!</span><br />
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The Boxing Day sales are over and life returns to "normal" and there seems to be little to do but wait for the festivities of the New Year. However on this day the Church recalls the feast of the <a href="https://paxchristiusa.org/tag/readings-for-the-feast-of-the-holy-innocents/">Holy Innocents</a><br />
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In the Coventry Carol. a text dating from the 16th century a mother laments the the fate of her child according to the massacre of the first born in the second chapter of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Innocents">Matthew's Gospel.</a><br />
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Today we remember that the context of the Christmas story is one of the exploitation of the vulnerable by State power. We have changed little from the bystanders of Herod's massacre as we watch reports from <a href="https://www.savethechildren.net/what-we-do/emergencies/ukraine-crisis">Ukraine</a> and <a href="https://www.savethechildren.net/what-we-do/emergencies/gaza-and-west-bank-emergency">Gaza</a> detailing the impact of the war on children and read the findings of the <a href="https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/final-report">Royal Commission into Institutional responses to Child Sexual Abuse</a>. <br />
<br /></span><div style="color: #141823; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yet in the midst of all this ancient and contemporary horror a cry goes out from our Christmas celebrations that "God is with Us'. For the one who comes among us as a vulnerable child has broken the cycle of human violence in the image of a man on a cross.</span></div><div style="color: #141823; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Mothers will weep for the lost children of our history and fathers will grieve with heavy hearts. But our belief is that the killing, the abuse, the exploitation and neglect of children is a political situation we can change.</span></div><div style="color: #141823; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is also a religious moment when we recognize that God is there in the midst of suffering, bleeding, crying and abandoned because the cycle of violence has been broken by the prince of peace.</span></div><div style="color: #141823; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">
I chose the Joan Baez version of the Coventry Carol rather than a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIvH5GdY4JE">Church Choir </a>as a reminder of the call to public protest against war and the exploitation of the poor on this day. Children are still the most deeply affected by <a href="https://www.savethechildren.org.au/getmedia/98385cfa-950c-4e0f-b561-cabb932e49ef/stopthewaronchildren_gendermatters.pdf.aspx">wars around the globe</a>: 149 million children – that’s 30 times the number of children living in Australia – faced life amid high intensity conflict zones in 2019, On this day I hold in sacred memory and social solidarity those who had their childhood taken from them in <a href="https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/inside_life_in_childrens_homes_and_institutions/home">Institutional Care </a><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html">here</a><span style="color: black;">.</span></i></div>
Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-4785044561150472272023-12-29T15:12:00.001-08:002023-12-29T19:08:07.544-08:00Third Day of Christmas: A Holy Day for Queers<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4d8Z9q9J3P2N4xADBpDlgf-pXAcIqmXMW576jE1FnBCd1NkDQkDdxBg3hqR4CGHedMgouI-S_AJBdbIVgCIJ24in9S5kP-F7znxFZwnDTlQqHiqlKajhkywuvj_cv0k9Rk0uz/s1600/Johannesminne_BNM+Swabia+Lake+Constance.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="290" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4d8Z9q9J3P2N4xADBpDlgf-pXAcIqmXMW576jE1FnBCd1NkDQkDdxBg3hqR4CGHedMgouI-S_AJBdbIVgCIJ24in9S5kP-F7znxFZwnDTlQqHiqlKajhkywuvj_cv0k9Rk0uz/s320/Johannesminne_BNM+Swabia+Lake+Constance.jpg" width="232" /></span></a></td></tr>
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“John the Apostle resting on the bosom of Christ,” Swabia/Lake Constance, early 14th century.<br />
Photo by Andreas Praefcke. (<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johannesminne_BNM.jpg" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; font-size: x-small; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wikimedia Commons</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-size: xx-small;">)<br /><br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #666666;"><span>The third day of Christmas is the feast of St John. Popularly known as the evangelist and the "<a href="http://qspirit.net/john-evangelist-beloved-disciple/">disciple whom Jesus loved</a>", John is the author of a <a href="https://queerchurch.wordpress.com/tag/gay-jesus/">Gospel </a>and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8yCkYT50No">Book Of Revelation.</a></span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666;"><span>The unnamed “disciple whom Jesus loved” is referenced five times in the gospel of John (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:22, 21:7, 20). Church tradition identifies him as John himself. </span></span></span><br /><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?q=beloved+disciple&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifrY_Q26jYAhXEfLwKHe4rC6gQ_AUICigB&biw=1536&bih=710">Beloved Disciple </a>reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper, resting his head on Jesus’ chest. He was the only male disciple present at the crucifixion. From the cross, Jesus entrusted the Beloved Disciple and his mother Mary into each other’s care.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is even a medieval European tradition that <a href="http://my-queer-spirituality.blogspot.com/2010/08/water-into-wine-jesus-gay-wedding-at.html" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ea3f2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">John and Jesus were the bridal couple at the Cana wedding feast</a>. The story of Jesus' first public miracle as told in John 2:1-11 does not name those getting married. In this feast there is a subversive undercurrent that invites us in the spirit of the traditional Christmas story to encounter humanity with open eyes and hearts. As we celebrate this feast in Australia we are called to add our recognition of same sex marriage to the angelic chorus of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLS6qZt9WLQ">"Gloria in Excelsis Deo</a>" </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">St John has a special place in my personal history. Two weeks after my birth in 1953 I was taken to the Church of <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Geelong_Roman_Catholic_Church.JPG" style="color: #7c93a1;">Saint John the Evangelist in North Geelong </a>to be baptized by Fr Bernie Payne. My parents being of good Catholic stock chose two reliable male patrons for me in <a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2006/06/celebrating-patronal-feast-day.html">Anthony of Padua</a> and <a href="https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=150">Gerard Majella.</a> Both died young and lived celibate lives as religious. I have outlived both of them in years and have been blessed by a life of human intimacy.</span><div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242;">The lovely little Spanish Mission Church of my baptism stands overlooking a popular beachside spot, <a href="http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/parks/item/sthelens.aspx" style="background: transparent; color: #729c0b; text-decoration-line: none;">St Helen's</a>. By the strange quirks of history and the preferences of the current pastor, the <a href="http://www.freewebs.com/latinmass/" style="background: transparent; color: #729c0b; text-decoration-line: none;">liturgy</a> of the Church remains pretty much the way it was when I was baptized. I don't think they had any hymns at my Baptism. I am pretty sure that the popular <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUk59Xmrr7o" style="background: transparent; color: #729c0b; text-decoration-line: none;">Perry Como 1953 releas</a>e was not on the Hymn sheet. Perhaps St John had a quiet smile on his celestial lips on that day!!</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #424242;"><br /></span></span></p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5cwJQ5K5x-fJn2qfNxihiugf-XdYRoZCaPmc3fPQwq6qezZB-jQtF7T0YxEmTxhzpmU_YzV_qDAafPQ3fl-NCQBpjtfWMkzpcIQ0W7dhD5yXC5hDmUYIdtmZq2Ed2H-JNF1Ld/s1600/16864414_10155137611367033_2515978819652117409_n.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5cwJQ5K5x-fJn2qfNxihiugf-XdYRoZCaPmc3fPQwq6qezZB-jQtF7T0YxEmTxhzpmU_YzV_qDAafPQ3fl-NCQBpjtfWMkzpcIQ0W7dhD5yXC5hDmUYIdtmZq2Ed2H-JNF1Ld/w240-h320/16864414_10155137611367033_2515978819652117409_n.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><a href="https://www.stjohnscathedral.com.au/">St John's Anglican Cathedral</a> in Brisbane. is an intentional inclusion space for LGBTIQ people. This welcome was most evident at the 2017 funeral service for Brisbane singer, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155137607057033.1073741965.652752032&type=1&l=a89563b3d1">Carol Lloyd.</a></span><br />
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<b><span>Resources</span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://queering-the-church.blogspot.com/2010/12/st-john-evangelist-beloved-disciple.html" style="font-family: inherit;">A queer reading of St John the Beloved</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> December 27th.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Henry Newman : </span><a href="http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume2/sermon5.html" style="font-family: inherit;"> </a><span style="color: navy; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume2/sermon5.html">Sermon 5. Love of Relations and Friends</a></span><br /><a href="http://queertheology.blogspot.com/2010/11/queer-inclusion-in-church-evangelicals.html" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;">Queer Inclusion in Church: Evangelicals Ask, “What Would Jesus Do?”</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><br /><a href="http://myqueerscripture.blogspot.com/2009/12/st-john-evangelist-beloved-disciple.html" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;">St John the Evangelist, the “Beloved Disciple”: December 27th</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><br /><a href="http://queering-the-church.blogspot.com/2010/08/was-jesus-gay-mark-and-young-man.html" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;">Was Jesus Gay? Mark, and the “Naked Young Man”.</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://myqueerscripture.blogspot.com/2010/03/queer-bible-beyond-family-values.html" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;">The Queer Bible: Beyond Family Values</a><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html">here</a><span style="color: black;">.</span></i></span></span></div>
</div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-2755353314243076042023-12-29T15:12:00.000-08:002023-12-29T16:08:06.067-08:00Second Day of Christmas: Boxing Day<p> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoCgUYtYJVaW6dxT6cYm-Aj4Fab5ogUDByzM2xVEadYp6jBKOj6dMU5mnYI4ZKrmc-ftcHQFTtAk4uQ6uanubSmleYou7Z9ejTsGPqohqwJQrlkDUyzWzdwitHix4Gtmksf6K_kiVxN9snFTAljG6yOd-MBLF6kfXsIM_7fST-G2U5dGXosQ=s320" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="320" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgoCgUYtYJVaW6dxT6cYm-Aj4Fab5ogUDByzM2xVEadYp6jBKOj6dMU5mnYI4ZKrmc-ftcHQFTtAk4uQ6uanubSmleYou7Z9ejTsGPqohqwJQrlkDUyzWzdwitHix4Gtmksf6K_kiVxN9snFTAljG6yOd-MBLF6kfXsIM_7fST-G2U5dGXosQ" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://foottalk.blogspot.com/2005/12/boxing-day-and-shoes.html">Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">From the earliest beginnings of monasticism in Western Christendom, December 26th, </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">St Stephen's Day</span></b><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><b> was the day when the alms boxes from the monasteries and churches were opened and the money given to the priest or used to help the poor and needy.</b> </span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">This is the origin of our "Boxing Day" </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"> </span><i style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><b>Good King Wenceslas</b></i><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">, is set on </span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">St Stephen's Day</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"> and outlines how the Catholic King of Bohemia in the 10th century made charitable attempts to give food to the poor. (Source: <a href="http://www.catholica.com.au/ianstake1/067_it_print.php">Ian Elmer</a>)</span></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><br /></span><span>In Ireland it is a good day for <a href="https://www.rte.ie/sport/racing/2019/1225/1103058-leopardstown-day-1-tips-take-note-of-novice-notebook/">racing </a>to honour the saint's role as a <a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1330">patron of horses. </a> According to the good old <a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1330">Catholic Culture page</a>, i<span style="background-color: white;">t was a general practice among the farmers in Europe to decorate their horses on Stephen's Day, and bring them to the house of God to be blessed by the priest and afterward ridden three times around the church, a custom still observed in many rural sections. Later in the day the whole family takes a gay ride in a wagon or sleigh (St. Stephen's ride).</span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><span style="background-color: white;">In Sweden, the holy deacon was changed by early legend into the figure of a native saint, a stable boy who is said to have been killed by the pagans in Helsingland. His name — <a href="http://legendsofthenorth.blogspot.com/2019/12/staffan-stable-boy.html">Staffan</a> — reveals the original saint. The "Staffan Riders" parade through the towns of Sweden on December 26, singing their ancient carols in honor of the "Saint of Horses."</span></span></span><br /><br />Another Celtic tradition of this day is that of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wren_Day">wren boys</a><br /><br /><span face=""helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fov5HTEJDdk" width="560"></iframe></div></span></div> <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html">here</a><span style="color: black;">.</span></i></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-36977022476518849202023-12-29T15:11:00.000-08:002023-12-29T16:08:28.029-08:00Christmas Day 2023 The First Day of Christmas
<div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmkZnkMzJYr1s7QqwjztLwF4UkNcrXsXMNNd8J8Jhvv33k6ddyGhv5Kwqn9qtVcBamNx83-k2JIFIz5-xttUUAishq40Gt17RTdIguoCIlPjiptyd5hwwgKeItL-CMinT8G8t6iFBzOIuCQd_xQC8_MXGSoCbGs3iTL0S7bfswzAhZRY4fFHSq/s1617/10856663_10153019711577033_8383575882960058865_o.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="1617" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmkZnkMzJYr1s7QqwjztLwF4UkNcrXsXMNNd8J8Jhvv33k6ddyGhv5Kwqn9qtVcBamNx83-k2JIFIz5-xttUUAishq40Gt17RTdIguoCIlPjiptyd5hwwgKeItL-CMinT8G8t6iFBzOIuCQd_xQC8_MXGSoCbGs3iTL0S7bfswzAhZRY4fFHSq/s320/10856663_10153019711577033_8383575882960058865_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://knightcartoons.com.au/">Mark Knight</a> The Herald Sun</td></tr></tbody></table>There are quite a few things I really like about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholicism">Catholicism</a>.</b><span> It has nurtured in me a love of theatre and ritual in my life. The cycle of religious festivals with appropriate colours, symbols and texts provide a rich stimulus to imagination as well as feeding the never ending questions of life.</span> </div><div><br /></div><div>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMgEJF89EzQ">Christmas</a> is, without doubt far more exciting than Easter. I know the liturgical police and the theological prudes will chase me through the corridors of fidelity for uttering such a heresy. But, let’s face it, cribs, carols, trees, candy cane and the spirit, if not the presence of St Nick all work together to provide a lot more excitement than an empty tomb. And we get <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-15/the-12-days-of-christmas-a-secret-code-for-persecuted-catholics/8123428">12 days</a> to celebrate as well. I always use this as an excuse for sending Christmas Cards right up until January 6th. Wish someone would tell Australia Post about the 12 Days deal so we could continue using the <a href="https://auspost.com.au/shop/collectables/stamp-issues">Christmas stamps</a> after December 31st</div><div><br /></div><div>So, on this first day of Christmas I will share some of the images of the Nativity that have inspired me:</div><div><br /></div><div>.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbIs1yYNGdPDxHJBQUzf8GR7joSnP01elfQtFN_8_0_6_-EjANnIHP43bCvXM4FWQy11nTJ00l23k5uEHzPVnqDSZOWNbjskikaC8kuB063oZadoYO3fkce9J53GOMTbfCFNPZIijMJN2snuXaoHD4FgpwEn3PYFuEXXM7yRPeRIPwq_6nDLj/s840/49089377_10157118007587033_2717535368499953664_n%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="840" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbIs1yYNGdPDxHJBQUzf8GR7joSnP01elfQtFN_8_0_6_-EjANnIHP43bCvXM4FWQy11nTJ00l23k5uEHzPVnqDSZOWNbjskikaC8kuB063oZadoYO3fkce9J53GOMTbfCFNPZIijMJN2snuXaoHD4FgpwEn3PYFuEXXM7yRPeRIPwq_6nDLj/s320/49089377_10157118007587033_2717535368499953664_n%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.8); color: white; font-family: Montserrat; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2021/12/bonding-time-nativity-in-townsville.html">Bonding time: the Nativity in Townsville. Artist: Jan Hynes.</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlPH_NYT-YZLYYJcoHYZ23U7sw6Dg7eXnXg0gTYynrMgk_Mac3K9b7EGlxxAZ1GV0_kjnlUFBK3eWrs-aPV1BsJdLInToavwgTYko5BGVFBQUsDdkSOulU3ZU2Kab3tXqIGu-jiqd52456lt_8hwggTo_dRuD_ziNsuhVQlHwP1sLHyOoHrz1/s461/80605180_10158148152777033_5837777127054770176_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="461" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUlPH_NYT-YZLYYJcoHYZ23U7sw6Dg7eXnXg0gTYynrMgk_Mac3K9b7EGlxxAZ1GV0_kjnlUFBK3eWrs-aPV1BsJdLInToavwgTYko5BGVFBQUsDdkSOulU3ZU2Kab3tXqIGu-jiqd52456lt_8hwggTo_dRuD_ziNsuhVQlHwP1sLHyOoHrz1/s320/80605180_10158148152777033_5837777127054770176_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; text-align: start;"><a href="https://boomalli.com.au/artist/greg-weatherby/">Greg Weatherby</a>, Dreamtime Birth, 1990s? 51 x 64 cm.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4f1noNBA9QR6xKg-1sN_KMaKroZMWv28IKdQMlBWX-Vk-GpIhKl3N0haHliao1Si_GuC4Re3LjOczPrCW9emvRZsnE2n9JJGnMfBLyWtUiu8I3sl2pRJoP6HDhZAbZaFO_tYaOD10wplkJAMN2BUwVQ-hPO8PcFtezvRaom6hkW0fGSjihPk/s564/Miree%20Nativity%20Scene.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="564" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4f1noNBA9QR6xKg-1sN_KMaKroZMWv28IKdQMlBWX-Vk-GpIhKl3N0haHliao1Si_GuC4Re3LjOczPrCW9emvRZsnE2n9JJGnMfBLyWtUiu8I3sl2pRJoP6HDhZAbZaFO_tYaOD10wplkJAMN2BUwVQ-hPO8PcFtezvRaom6hkW0fGSjihPk/s320/Miree%20Nativity%20Scene.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nativity by <a href="https://www.saatchiart.com/artbymirree">Miree</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxADJ98wYiXmlWwaxIeHX2SJwypFmnnD5ryBEV3Onvf4VdpCUMu_PSH_z2i0hRmPQ6yiZ4pzZyuIJR2eIjI9Dtvd5Yzl2UzjOopgOqvq9zQUG0VmLqkCc0ol9gWV4TQxT0bJ5i_5WBzZd7G_BzODHB0rrVOrNLQDpoyWdwf8zXqLeD6NHlBkRD/s798/Screenshot%202023-12-30%20085717.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="798" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxADJ98wYiXmlWwaxIeHX2SJwypFmnnD5ryBEV3Onvf4VdpCUMu_PSH_z2i0hRmPQ6yiZ4pzZyuIJR2eIjI9Dtvd5Yzl2UzjOopgOqvq9zQUG0VmLqkCc0ol9gWV4TQxT0bJ5i_5WBzZd7G_BzODHB0rrVOrNLQDpoyWdwf8zXqLeD6NHlBkRD/s320/Screenshot%202023-12-30%20085717.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Way to Bethlehem <a href="https://slimanmansour.com/">Silman Mansour</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gRJ4slu19HpuqPDbWPoty1rPpvD_IKSz0B7xMdWV0g9zviP4IXMl5m1NJMU6RKkg5ay8DIwbr1t1Rf-t5hWClstFqiMtq4Hdw3OYv9fH0fLev8dLRV56XdkRZz2sfW0-LNTwZmzSJkyt2cBkQEI38jJixB40aBY5wO0odWXuuFVt4x3LU4xH/s400/Williams,%20Jesus%20has%20two%20daddies%20by%20Andy%20Williams.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gRJ4slu19HpuqPDbWPoty1rPpvD_IKSz0B7xMdWV0g9zviP4IXMl5m1NJMU6RKkg5ay8DIwbr1t1Rf-t5hWClstFqiMtq4Hdw3OYv9fH0fLev8dLRV56XdkRZz2sfW0-LNTwZmzSJkyt2cBkQEI38jJixB40aBY5wO0odWXuuFVt4x3LU4xH/s320/Williams,%20Jesus%20has%20two%20daddies%20by%20Andy%20Williams.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://jesusinlove.blogspot.com/search/label/Q-Nativity%202011">“Jesus has Two Daddies</a>” (2011) by </span><a href="http://www.andrewcraigwilliams.com/" previewlistener="true" style="background-color: white; color: #6723a3; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-decoration-line: none;">Andrew Craig Williams</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br />So, I hope you are blest with friendship, compassion and solidarity with vulnerable people on the 12 days of Christmas which take us into the New Year with our commitment to joy and peace</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">Read each of the 12 Days of Christmas from </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-12-days-o-christmas.html">here</a><span style="color: black;">.</span></i></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-83835342256102671102023-12-15T14:19:00.000-08:002023-12-15T14:22:53.334-08:00Quirky Religious Trivia: Happy St Adelaide Day to the Crows!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAv4MxY9ighuriPESEu4xEQOTlk5T-yqQ_9fOf1BWTGkX0GhMUjdxQmr8kegS7_G2dZwWjgkrr7twc7QSxZ_9zppmeUiz5AWLaSNBwiv2ml9fkhNopX6emRJ0nMHGPCsRW-OYh/s1600/525.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAv4MxY9ighuriPESEu4xEQOTlk5T-yqQ_9fOf1BWTGkX0GhMUjdxQmr8kegS7_G2dZwWjgkrr7twc7QSxZ_9zppmeUiz5AWLaSNBwiv2ml9fkhNopX6emRJ0nMHGPCsRW-OYh/s200/525.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span face="'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 18px;"><b>T</b></span><span face="'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 18px;"><b>oday, December 16 is the feast of <a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=525">St Adelaide,</a> so here's holy shout out to the burghers of the </b><a href="http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/"><b>City of Adelaide</b>.</a> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #141823;">She gets a column in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Adelaide">Britannica</a> and her own gallery in <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=st+adelaide&sca_esv=591329734&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_nuSZvJKDAxUWcGwGHc-TAjsQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1872&bih=924&dpr=1">Google images</a>.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span face="'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 18px;">Catholicism has a pretty colourful collection of characters and this one is a child bride, feminist of her day, a political dynamo as the ever-reliable<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_of_Italy"> Wikipedia </a>reminds us: the most prominent European woman of the 10th century.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span face="'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 18px;">So, let's have a <a href="https://coopers.com.au/our-family-brewery/the-coopers-story">Coopers</a> for Adelaide!! And here's a link for those wondering about the reference in the heading to <a href="http://www.afc.com.au/">the Crows</a></span></p>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-86655851455583351712023-11-29T03:44:00.000-08:002023-11-29T03:44:12.704-08:00International Day of People With Disability 2023<span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNnc900F4Qq44FUQHhVDheeGiattga-3RD8J8z6eDtWnynYUaLyuvP0y9VD844AfqxqOUMNpuxUsrI7V12d_6vui0MYefOGrCkVDk9lqmJKUYr23WXcg6kruUMXuZZL0KX_lxKhiXVp2JWj0tdqGcyCKIRdXq07Xy_Ndx_xN3iMifO35-XsNE/s960/400881759_1128678248273977_3636477434549304071_n%20(1).png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="960" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXNnc900F4Qq44FUQHhVDheeGiattga-3RD8J8z6eDtWnynYUaLyuvP0y9VD844AfqxqOUMNpuxUsrI7V12d_6vui0MYefOGrCkVDk9lqmJKUYr23WXcg6kruUMXuZZL0KX_lxKhiXVp2JWj0tdqGcyCKIRdXq07Xy_Ndx_xN3iMifO35-XsNE/s320/400881759_1128678248273977_3636477434549304071_n%20(1).png" width="320" /></a></div></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Sunday December 3rd is the <a href="https://www.idpwd.com.au/">International Day<br /></a></b></span><span style="text-align: left;"><b><a href="https://www.idpwd.com.au/">of People With Disability</a></b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can read statements about this day and the response of the Australian Catholic Bishops to Disability in recent years via the Bishops media blog <a href="https://mediablog.catholic.org.au/?s=disability">here</a>.<br /></span></p><ul style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #7f8c8d; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px; outline: 0px; padding-left: 20px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: 600;">Pope Francis asks the Church and civil institutions to embrace inclusion and to foster the active participation of people with disabilities</span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #7f8c8d;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pQUIZg6ozQuhZTjUg76dqEbnDZmlcxa0R8dCcSGSrOrOlwstU0gY3ak-Q-yR1xEZbV3oFfo-AiY_N8C1aTywKGoCArp-czvmIifSz1nqeKWF8cY8eNpHQjZzoaak7V66o1VPpyh7Cam3Er8HHSKJOCosuE5gJuC4W2XGhwD2dwCatVTBtkJe/s889/Official-Image-TPV-12-2023-EN-For-people-with-disabilities-889x500-1.png"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="889" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pQUIZg6ozQuhZTjUg76dqEbnDZmlcxa0R8dCcSGSrOrOlwstU0gY3ak-Q-yR1xEZbV3oFfo-AiY_N8C1aTywKGoCArp-czvmIifSz1nqeKWF8cY8eNpHQjZzoaak7V66o1VPpyh7Cam3Er8HHSKJOCosuE5gJuC4W2XGhwD2dwCatVTBtkJe/s320/Official-Image-TPV-12-2023-EN-For-people-with-disabilities-889x500-1.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #2a9fcc; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.popesprayer.va/2023-12-tpv-press-release-for-people-with-disabilities/">2023–12–TPV–Press Release-For people with disabilities</a></span></div></span></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #7f8c8d; font-size: 15px;">(Vatican City, 28 November 2023) – “Programs and initiatives are needed that promote their inclusion,” </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #7f8c8d; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 600; outline: 0px;">Pope Francis </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #7f8c8d; font-size: 15px;">says in the December edition of </span><a href="https://thepopevideo.org/" previewlistener="true" style="backface-visibility: hidden; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00a4db; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600; outline: 0px;">The Pope Video</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #7f8c8d; font-size: 15px;"> in which he asks that we pray for people with disabilities. Through the </span><a href="https://www.popesprayer.va/" previewlistener="true" style="backface-visibility: hidden; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #00a4db; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 600; outline: 0px;">Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #7f8c8d; font-size: 15px;">, the </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #7f8c8d; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 600; outline: 0px;">Holy Father</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #7f8c8d; font-size: 15px;"> asks “that people with disabilities be at the center of attention in society, and that institutions offer inclusion programs that enhance their active participation.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div><br /></div><div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato; font-size: 13.72px;"><i><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtXaf62_dvhZmeXACXGbc7SCc-WjMU3hOwEVh6edS0ElsqRmLun_kJjIb16FX3jKJ8YXvYSiWLpXo-WUFvUPUhIBzfBw3qWFDdc4pLKxg7CIyx0jaKY-x2WFZcX8smbprmzgrAZ9VtNWGGlw2RQxsk2yqnrSuc-jVQ4Bj_ljlIwrTmuk0WGy0G/s2048/Series-Paper-No-83-cover-scaled-e1576127209654.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1326" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtXaf62_dvhZmeXACXGbc7SCc-WjMU3hOwEVh6edS0ElsqRmLun_kJjIb16FX3jKJ8YXvYSiWLpXo-WUFvUPUhIBzfBw3qWFDdc4pLKxg7CIyx0jaKY-x2WFZcX8smbprmzgrAZ9VtNWGGlw2RQxsk2yqnrSuc-jVQ4Bj_ljlIwrTmuk0WGy0G/w121-h186/Series-Paper-No-83-cover-scaled-e1576127209654.jpg" width="121" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Us-not-Them-Disability-Catholic-ebook/dp/B07VGV8GKN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=JMBF87Z0DY83&keywords=us+not+them&qid=1701255321&sprefix=us+not+them%2Caps%2C276&sr=8-1">Amazon Purchase</a></td></tr></tbody></table>“… most of us who experience disability and who are able to reflect on it have a ‘social’ view of disability. In other words, it is the barriers placed by society, rather than we ourselves or some feature of our bodies (including our minds), which are the ‘problem’. Accordingly, many of us would see our ‘impairment’ as the mental or physical lack of function of form, for example optic nerve damage, which we experience. Our ‘disability’, on the other hand, would be the interrelation between the impairment and the social and physical environment that prevents us enjoying life to the full.</i>” </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Lato; font-size: 13.72px;">Justin Glyn SJ, </span>‘Us’ not ‘Them’: Disability and Catholic Theology and Social Teaching, Catholic Social Justice Series No. 83, Book review <a href="https://catholicoutlook.org/disability-us-not-them/">here</a>.</div><div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Lato; font-size: 13.72px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Lato; font-size: 13.72px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/U4PWSir1Ovk?si=G-PMkuTmjI6yrEOW" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center>
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<h4 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: var(--lwc-fontFamilyHeader,Montserrat); font-size: var(--lwc-fontSizeHeadingSmall,0.875rem); font-weight: var(--lwc-fontWeightBold,700); margin-bottom: var(--lwc-spacingSmall,0.75rem); margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--lwc-spacingSmall,0.75rem); padding: 0px;"><a href="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/acbcwebsite/Articles/Documents/ACBC/IDPWD%202021%20Liturgy%20Notes.pdf">Pastoral Reflection:</a></h4><div><p class="MsoNormal">Advent calls us to watch, wait, prepare and be aware of the
presence of Christ among us - within us and in the people around us. This
yearning to identify Christ is satisfied in many ways but in a particularly
meaningful way when we ponder the mystery of the Incarnation. To behold the
divinity in the little Christ-child is to break through the barrier of
aloneness and separation that was never God's desire for us from the moment of
creation. This is the form chosen by God through which we can be aware of
Christ in each other and in ourselves. It challenges us to accept ourselves and
each other as we are, 'warts and all'. It is with this common understanding and
acceptance of our limitations and our great need for God in our lives that we
can be 'One Body in Christ' and even identify that He makes obvious our
limitations so that we can already experience what salvation means.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the Body of Christ, we are called to the vision expressed
in the reading from Isaiah. We are called to establish truth and justice where
all people enjoy full participation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We are challenged to live in the 'light'. To throw off the
darkness of the night – to take off the clothes of exclusion and fear, and
appear as lights of welcome in the darkness of exclusion.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are many urgent situations that need to be addressed
as part of our duty to be awake and ready. How are we, as a parish, encouraging
and promoting the full participation of people with disability and their
families in our faith community?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The question is not <i>"How can we help people with
disability?" The much more important question is, "How can we allow
people with disability to give their spiritual gifts to us and call us to
conversion, call us to wholeness, call us to love?"</i> - Henri Nouwen<o:p></o:p></p></div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQ4VziliQtbpe_FnldWqktRwh9ub2UNmZCopLUT2hbVlcw-edn2x-tTVbAL6eA5l7iAqD0zP-eXQ1idqZjELECJA_yC8ivi5hDnPswxR3_IgTet_K4SUrMh42kv6KARg2oDd8GL8SXZz4kfyjGhONTA4-z1kdCqTP5vrIBTeLdPDT2eMyOTc3/s728/Screenshot%202023-11-29%20205751.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="642" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiQ4VziliQtbpe_FnldWqktRwh9ub2UNmZCopLUT2hbVlcw-edn2x-tTVbAL6eA5l7iAqD0zP-eXQ1idqZjELECJA_yC8ivi5hDnPswxR3_IgTet_K4SUrMh42kv6KARg2oDd8GL8SXZz4kfyjGhONTA4-z1kdCqTP5vrIBTeLdPDT2eMyOTc3/s320/Screenshot%202023-11-29%20205751.png" width="282" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/acbcwebsite/Articles/Documents/ACBC/Prayer%20IDPWD.pdf">Image source</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-20662851269314560642023-11-19T14:55:00.000-08:002023-11-19T15:28:23.190-08:00Relics, Bodies and Grace<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNqz6_y3WpmpoVoMp4IPICYlGuTXkUvyNpmLihJthwqqA_qSG8FKPnCugTtT7p0LACeLoOz2R_r8DdHQ_2lRSTjRt4VR5XO-KHJ_SBHxMf6NrJRhr-jzpJ_jFIWr6QlZ6JzQbT/s1600/LI-art-nar-stfxavier-20120926200903699344-300x0.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNqz6_y3WpmpoVoMp4IPICYlGuTXkUvyNpmLihJthwqqA_qSG8FKPnCugTtT7p0LACeLoOz2R_r8DdHQ_2lRSTjRt4VR5XO-KHJ_SBHxMf6NrJRhr-jzpJ_jFIWr6QlZ6JzQbT/s320/LI-art-nar-stfxavier-20120926200903699344-300x0.jpg" width="187" /></a></div><div><b>This year is the centenary year of the arrival of the <a href="https://www.salesians.org.au/">Salesians of Don Bosco</a> on Australian shores</b>.The centenary celebrations included a <a href="https://www.salesians.org.au/salesian-family/relic-tour-of-don-bosco">tour of a relic of Don Bosco</a> during the months of July to September.</div><div><br /></div>
I often wonder why <a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/">Catholic saints</a> never seem to have RIP appended to their titles as we do to other mere mortals who have died. Perhaps it has something to do with the process of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonization">canonisation</a> which usually involves the exhuming of the remains and then, if bits can be found, relocating them in elaborate mausoleums or if fully intact, a <a href="http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2010/04/saints-that-are-incorruptable.html">glass case</a> for viewing. Whatever, it seems that these heroes of the faith are never allowed to rest in peace.<br />
<br />Back in 2012 another restless saint, <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06233b.htm">Francis Xavier, </a>of Jesuit fame graced the Land Downunder. We did't get all his bits, just his right arm dislocated from the rest of his body as a religious act of reverence for his ability to bless and baptise. One wonders if the same effect would be gained had the poor man been <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204083204577080562692452538.html">left handed?</a><br />
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The national tour was quite an event and those who have more time than I do for such things have taken to discussion forums with weird and wonderful insights. Over at <a href="http://www.catholica.com.au/forum/index.php?id=113603">Catholica </a>the discussion even explored a relationship between the relic and the poplar TV sitcom character, <a href="http://thing./">Thing</a>. Perhaps the most unexpected support for this tour came from Frank Brennan. His <a href="http://eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=33427">homily</a> at the arrival of the relic in Canberra was certainly "<a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=out%20of%20left%20field">out of left field</a>" .<br />
<br />When this <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/25692/relic-of-st-francis-xavier-arrives-in-australia">tour</a> happened I was working with the broken bodies of survivors of institutional abuse <br />
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Many of the people I work with lost their childhood in Church run institutions where bodies and souls were beaten, isolated, assaulted and dis-graced by those who represented religion and faith.<br />
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Many of these <a href="http://www.forgottenaustralians.org.au/">Forgotten Australians</a> would give their right arm to have their childhood back. The damage has been done and many of them are relics of a dark and evil history which haunts them.<br />
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When I look for images of amazing grace, I don't need religious corpses to inspire me. I get my inspiration from the beauty and grace that shines through the <a href="http://www.nla.gov.au/oral-history/forgotten-australians-and-former-child-migrants-oral-history-project">lives</a> of these people who have been betrayed by the custodians of faith.<br />
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<span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i>"Through the story of sexual abuse and the church's response, I came to the unshakable belief that within the Catholic Church there absolutely must be profound and enduring change on the two subjects of power and sex" </i></span>
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<span face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><i><a href="http://bishopgeoffrobinson.org/">Bishop Geoffrey Robinson</a></i></span><br /><div><br /></div><div>The 2023 tour of Don Bosco's relic <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?q=don+bosco+relic+australia&sca_esv=583848030&tbm=nws&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7sNDTkNGCAxXPS2wGHZ4vAOMQ_AUoAnoECAMQBA&biw=1920&bih=923&dpr=1">made news</a> across the country. However the<a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?q=salesians+sexual+abuse&sca_esv=583848030&biw=1920&bih=923&tbm=nws&ei=o45aZd3qL63M1e8PwpW2YA&ved=0ahUKEwidyIrYkNGCAxUtZvUHHcKKDQwQ4dUDCA0&uact=5&oq=salesians+sexual+abuse&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LW5ld3MiFnNhbGVzaWFucyBzZXh1YWwgYWJ1c2UyBxAhGKABGAoyBxAhGKABGApI9SZQAFi5JXAAeACQAQCYAcACoAHVIaoBCDAuMTIuOC4xuAEDyAEA-AEBwgILEAAYgAQYsQMYgwHCAggQABiABBixA8ICDhAAGIAEGIoFGLEDGIMBwgIKEAAYgAQYigUYQ8ICEBAAGIAEGIoFGLEDGIMBGEPCAg0QABiABBiKBRixAxhDwgIQEAAYgAQYigUYsQMYgwEYCsICDhAAGIAEGIoFGLEDGJECwgIFEAAYgATCAgsQABiABBiKBRiRAsICBxAAGIAEGArCAgYQABgWGB7CAgUQIRigAYgGAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-news"> history of sexual abuse </a>within the Salesian community has left scars and wounds that are relics of abuse and neglect.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.catholicreligious.org.au/national-day-of-sorrow-and-promise#:~:text=Purpose,commitment%20to%20a%20safer%20future.">2023 National Day of Sorrow and Promise</a></b></div><div><br /></div><br />
<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VPilc_tIy4g?si=-kCY6uwyz2CVJzoy" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-61092345207861432242023-11-13T02:44:00.000-08:002023-11-13T02:44:22.904-08:00Trans Awareness Week 2023<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__2pkxVWeTmS0Pp5bzTcnwU9no6m6X5EdZtyTvZZRWlI5ic8zWymRBaNOJCoJEhzE-LFUHNZvV7CtX-vFi9Fz_Y820DLeLlkbXoWZnzGV6eyR9Xo7ldW42A2jvWZocACGVZC8/s1184/trans_awareness_week_OG_rtcc5y.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="1184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__2pkxVWeTmS0Pp5bzTcnwU9no6m6X5EdZtyTvZZRWlI5ic8zWymRBaNOJCoJEhzE-LFUHNZvV7CtX-vFi9Fz_Y820DLeLlkbXoWZnzGV6eyR9Xo7ldW42A2jvWZocACGVZC8/s320/trans_awareness_week_OG_rtcc5y.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><h4 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Radomir tinkov gilroy", sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 500; line-height: 40px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"> <a href="https://www.tdor.org.au/">Trans Awareness Week </a>November 13th - 19th is held in the week leading up to Trans Day of Remembrance to help raise awareness of trans and gender diverse people, the issues facing our communities, and the ways people can get involved as allies to improve lives and create a more fair and equal world for everyone.</span></h4><div><br /></div><br />
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Relevent Posts</h2><div><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2009/05/brisbane-gay-catholic-challenges-church.html">Brisbane Gay Catholic Challenges Church on Homophobia</a> 2009</div><font-feature-settings: 0px="" 500="" auto="" font-kerning:="" font-optical-sizing:="" font-stretch:="" font-variant-alternates:="" font-variant-east-asian:="" font-variant-numeric:="" font-variant-position:="" font-variation-settings:="" font-weight:="" line-height:="" margin:="" normal=""><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2012/09/andrew-gills-all-hallows-alumni.html">Andrew Gills, All Hallows Alumni</a> 2012</span></font-feature-settings:><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2015/08/australian-catholics-for-equality.html">Australian Catholics For Equality </a>2015</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2015/08/wear-it-purple-day-2015.html">Wear It Purple Day</a> 2015</span></div><div><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2020/08/2020-australian-catholic-lgbtiqa.html">2020 Australian Catholic LGBTIQA+ Pastoral Care Symposium Media Report</a></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h2><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBpB_3zkzZmhW5_c7Vdt989ObYkgiRMN5urWVOyvdjTJ5XrMqnOpYFBgkYOnzwEj0AF9rp4Da9VffKkOgc75Gon88iTXGxGWxzxwU3YnNqN1zIfTsPapEc_9-oVyUrCqmQFCWTq-srbeeCt1q4TDTigYZWS8iAd_szoZ07FxxQVOeZMRm44Gb/s612/9780522879322-FC.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBpB_3zkzZmhW5_c7Vdt989ObYkgiRMN5urWVOyvdjTJ5XrMqnOpYFBgkYOnzwEj0AF9rp4Da9VffKkOgc75Gon88iTXGxGWxzxwU3YnNqN1zIfTsPapEc_9-oVyUrCqmQFCWTq-srbeeCt1q4TDTigYZWS8iAd_szoZ07FxxQVOeZMRm44Gb/s320/9780522879322-FC.jpeg" width="209" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.mup.com.au/books/transgender-australia-paperback-softback">About this book</a><br /><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/how-australia-s-understanding-of-gender-nonconformity-has-evolved-20230921-p5e6mv.html">Sam Elkin review</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />
<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uQlmDeD60GM?si=goKHAfv9uBbirLR2" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center><br />
<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X_Z_1frU52M?si=KT6zK60Fr2HAkv4e" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div></center> <br />
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Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-38090590439454253292023-11-07T17:18:00.002-08:002023-11-07T17:43:39.912-08:00Prison Sunday 12 November 2023<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span face=""titillium web" , "arial" , sans-serif"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJOKacoSr7-GWz79nIPBWwTnVvzpL6qSj0f7tkaTF0v7ZS-07fKfzkFRosY3e1W8mH0m6aggNB0uZDAum46QShtkBBiEckhaO1r9dDwlfmXj1AAspyISrGhKy4Pa9JPGsrrt3/s1600/Collection.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJOKacoSr7-GWz79nIPBWwTnVvzpL6qSj0f7tkaTF0v7ZS-07fKfzkFRosY3e1W8mH0m6aggNB0uZDAum46QShtkBBiEckhaO1r9dDwlfmXj1AAspyISrGhKy4Pa9JPGsrrt3/w248-h320/Collection.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="color: #666666; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference invites our faith community to acknowledge <a href="https://www.catholic.au/s/article/Prison-Sunday">Prison Sunday </a>on November 12th this year.</span></div><div style="color: #666666; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #666666;">I originally composed this post in 2018 when the Bishops invited us to focus on <a href="https://mediablog.catholic.org.au/prison-sunday-focus-youth-justice/">Youth Justice</a>. Five years later on 24 August 20923 the Queensland Governemnt passed an "urgent ammedment" to the </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="https://desbt.qld.gov.au/youth-justice/reform/changes-act" style="background-color: white;">Youth Justice Act 1992</a></span><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">Prison Sunday invites our community to join the voices of youth justice advocates anxious about this piece of legislation. As well as prayer and reflectioin I invite you to use the resources below to express your concern. You might choose to contact the <a href="https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Members/Current-Members/Member-List/Member-Details?id=1025183736">The Hon Di Farmer,</a> Minister for Youth Justice and <a href="https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Members/Current-Members/Member-List/Member-Details?id=1432617389">The Hon Mark Ryan</a>, Minister For Police and Corrective Services as well as your <a href="https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Members/Current-Members/Member-List">local member.</a></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">Resources to help you write a response to Queensland Politicians: </span></div><div><h2 class="entry-title fusion-post-title fusion-responsive-typography-calculated" data-fontsize="28" data-lineheight="39.2px" style="--fontsize: 28; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--post_title_typography-color); font-size: var(--post_title_typography-font-size); line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 0px;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.qcoss.org.au/communities-less-safe-detaining-kids/">Queensland Government makes communities less safe by detaining children in watch houses</a></span></li><li><a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/national-childrens-commissioner-slams-shocking-new-qld-youth-justice-laws" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Australian Human Rights Commission</span></a></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://sistersinside.com.au/urgent-condemnation-queensland-governments-suspension-of-human-rightsact-to-turn-watch-houses-into-prisons/">Sisters Inside Media Statement</a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.qfcc.qld.gov.au/child-rights/report">Queensland Child Rights Report 2023</a></span></li><li><a href="https://www.qfcc.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-08/QFCC_Child_Rights_Report_1_YouthJustice_1.pdf" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Youth Justice in Queensland</span></a></li></ul></h2></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><span face=""titillium web" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></span></div></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Background Reading</b></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #393939; font-family: Graphik, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://socialjustice.catholic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Social-Justice-Statement-2011-2012.pdf">Building Bridges, Not Walls: Prisons and the justice system</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"></span></div><div><span face=""Titillium Web", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://mediablog.catholic.org.au/prison-sunday-focus-youth-justice/">ACBC Media Blog.</a> 2018 </span></div><div><span face=""Titillium Web", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f8f8; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://mediablog.catholic.org.au/prison-chaplains-are-eyes-ears-and-hands-of-christ/">Prison Chaplains are "eyes,ears and hands of Christ</a>" 2022</span></div><div><br /></div>
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Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-59581622099573935592023-08-01T04:55:00.001-07:002023-08-01T05:00:07.273-07:00St Basil, The Blessed and Naked<div class="separator"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-2245" height="640" src="https://cultureboy.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/vasily_blazh.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="302" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Fool_for_Christ#/media/File:Vasily_blazh.jpg">Image Source</a></td></tr></tbody></table><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><br /></figcaption></figure></div><!--wp:image {"id":2245,"sizeSlug":"large"}-->
<p><b style="font-family: inherit;">Having a patron for organisations and causes is pretty common.</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Today I celebrate one of the the patrons of my religion and spirituality blog </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: inherit;">The Holy Irritant. </a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Along with the wonderful </span><a href="https://holyirritant.blogspot.com/2013/07/christina-astonishing-virgin-patron-of.html" style="font-family: inherit;">Christina the Astonishing, Virgin</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> I have adopted the Russian, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Fool_for_Christ" style="font-family: inherit;">St Basil the Blessed.</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> His sacred memory and feast is celebrated on 2nd August.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now as you can see from this icon, Basil wasn't one of the fashion dandies of the East. Long before Mark Twain penned his <a href="https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/05/04/twain-clothes/">quotable quote</a> about clothes making the man and naked people having little or no influence in society Basil was streaking around the countryside rebuking Ivan the Terrible.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Basil comes out of the noble tradition of the <a href="https://incommunion.org/2012/12/05/st-basil-the-holy-fool-of-moscow/">Holy Fools.</a> In contemporary terms he could easily be described as a Court Jester. He was not into timid social reforms of petitions and novenas. Instead he was known to destroy the merchandise of dishonest tradesmen and hurl stones at the houses of the wealthy. It seems he made the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn-6lE9ERW4">cleaning of the Temple</a> a model for daily life.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Adopting Basil's practices may restore a bit more theatrical gravitas to the Church's mission and would no doubt make for interesting videos. So, if you happen to see me <a href="https://justlivingaus.com/2022/02/19/a-naked-anniversary/">unclad</a> and upturning the tables at a casino you know I am only celebrating the saintly practice of an Eastern holy man.</span></p><p><strong style="font-family: inherit;">More reading</strong></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil%27s_Cathedral">St Basil's Cathedral</a></span></li><li><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/blueprintforliving/st-basils-moscow/6838420"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An architectural tour of St Basil's Cathedral</span></a></li><li><a href="https://justlivingaus.com/2022/02/19/a-naked-anniversary/">A Naked Anniversary</a></li></ul><p></p>
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<!--/wp:heading-->Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26784801.post-51952342349306105342023-07-23T02:57:00.000-07:002023-07-23T02:57:31.424-07:00Christina the Astonishing, Virgin Patron of Holy Irritants<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVHQnTZylYHzr8_a1zR7QornqGUVkejTOmsPXn9MRIsd6S5kUBRZpdPga-EBeYyGpQDug0HioIm9DjeIrL5hfncsB7ueCnHUmBEGspsQvaf5FFt3LXoqXMmPaEPA3bDCva2wi/s1600/St.-Christina-1.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="276" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVHQnTZylYHzr8_a1zR7QornqGUVkejTOmsPXn9MRIsd6S5kUBRZpdPga-EBeYyGpQDug0HioIm9DjeIrL5hfncsB7ueCnHUmBEGspsQvaf5FFt3LXoqXMmPaEPA3bDCva2wi/s320/St.-Christina-1.png" width="156" /></a></div>
<b>In recent years I have adopted a patron and spiritual mentor whose feastd</b><b>ay falls on July 24</b><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span> In keeping with my heightened sense of the "feminine", my newly adopted patron is a woman saint. <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/31/christina-the-astonishing-1150-1224">Christina the Astonishing, Virgin</a> (1150 - 1224) (when read aloud the word "comma" should be pronounced as she was not just an astonishing virgin, but astonishing in other ways!!) <div><br /></div><div><a href="https://catholicismpure.wordpress.com/2011/07/24/st-christina-the-astonishing-july-24th/">Christina's bio</a> reads like the script from a Dan Brown and Steven Spielberg collaboration. This is definitely a PG rated text. It is best read, seated with all lights on and the children safely in bed.<br />
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This image depicts the first recording of Christina's public appearances when she was believed to have died, but managed to soar from her coffin during her funeral Mass. Not surprisingly, such behaviour saw a quick exodus from the Church with only the dutiful priest and her distressed sister left to witness this amazing resurrection. And yes, there was more: while presumed to be dead, she had in fact been "on tour" to Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. Upon this return visit she decide to dedicate her life to a sort of public pyscho-drama performance where she acted out the downside of the nasty activity she saw around her.<br />
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For the next forty years Christina managed to cause alarm and anxiety in her local community by performing Olympian spiritual exercises which included extreme prayer balanced on poles. She had no dress sense, ignored any protocols about workplace health and safety and refused to be tamed by doctors priests or any other men of the town.<br />
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Yet, the records of the time also note that her advice was sought by both civic and religious leaders of her day. She was even summoned to the death bed of a local Count to hear his confession.<br />
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Like other popular residents of the celestial realm <a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/">Christina</a> had been provided with a series of patronages to keep her busy. It may not surprise readers that the list includes:<br />
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<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: "Lucida Grande", Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;">
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-against-mental-illness" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">against insanity</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-against-mental-illness" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">against madness</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-against-mental-illness" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">against mental disorders</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-against-mental-illness" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">against mental handicaps</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-against-mental-illness" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">against mental illness</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-against-mental-illness" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">lunatics</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-of-mental-health-caregivers" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">mental health caregivers</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-of-mental-health-caregivers" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">mental health professionals</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-against-mental-illness" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">mentally ill people</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-of-mental-health-caregivers" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">psychiatrists</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.6em; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-christina-the-astonishing/patrons-of-mental-health-caregivers" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #225588; text-decoration: none;">therapists</a></li>
</ul>
Christina has her own entry in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_the_Astonishing">Wikipedia</a> and appears prominently in a Google search. She has been the subject of art, study and even song:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4KygSpvCd_o" width="420"></iframe>
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So, I invite you to join me on her feast day as we celebrate Christina, a parable of the reign of God. The eccentric grace that drove her to extremes is the spirit in which I now invoke her as patron of "Holy Irritants".<br />
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">In this age, the mere example of nonconformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is itself a service. Precisely because the tyranny of opinion is such as to make eccentricity a reproach, it is desirable, in order to break through that tyranny, that people should be eccentric. Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character has abounded; and the amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage which it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of the time.</span> On Liberty <a href="http://www.utilitarianism.com/ol/three.html">John Stuart Mill</a></div>Tony Robertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745524140238854476noreply@blogger.com0