Sunday Mass

As I went to receive Communion this morning I was struck by how awesome it is, how wonderful, what an amazing gift. I don't understand how people can accuse the ordinary Mass of lacking mystery and reverence. The mystery and reverence are in the Eucharist itself, not in the trappings surrounding it. If people cannot see that, then maybe they are looking in the wrong place.

The Oxford Murders

Just been to see this at the cinema - all I can say is that it is two hours of my life that I won't get back. Frankly it was the biggest pile of camel dung I have seen for quite some time.


The plot was contrived, the editing was sloppy and the culprit was soooo obvious from the word go. Many of the characters and ideas were hackneyed and stereotyped. John Hurt was clearly going through the motions (though he still managed to be amusing at times). The love interest started with an American accent, moved on to Irish and ended up somewhere on the Continent. In general the dubbing was atrocious, especially the Russian student.

There was also the inevitable, gratuitous, sex scene, complete with food - why do they bother?

Hurt's character managed to spout the most meaningless philosophical twaddle as if it had some deep significance to humankind - I suspect that most first year philosophy students at Oxford could probably have shot him down in flames with consummate ease.

Hurt's character suggests that it is not possible to know the truth, or even if there is such a thing - I disagree, the truth is this film wasn't worth watching!

Turning the clock back

I have just read a disturbing story in this weeks Tablet it appears that the Vatican is hell-bent on taking us back to the middle-ages, what next burning heretics?

When the new rules on the Tridentine Mass were issued, we were told that this was just for those few people who wanted it, now it is to be forced on every Parish, whether wanted or not. In addition all new priests will be taught it. Of course, the next step will be to make every Mass like this.

The Vatican is sticking two fingers up to the laity and telling them to get back in the pews - to turn up, pay up and shut up. Of course, contrary to what they think, this will simply hasten the death of the Church in the Europe. It will also discourage vocations to the priesthood (this latest news has certainly ended any thought I might have had of following such a vocation).

I suspect I will not be alone in feeling betrayed by the Vatican; this is not the Church I grew up in. If they go through with this, I fear that I will no longer have a place in the Catholic Church, and I doubt that I will be alone.

Why I no longer believe in parliamentary democracy

I grew up in a World where there appeared to be only two choices of government, the freedom and safety of Western Democracy or the fear and tyranny of the Communist Bloc. I was taught the importance of our freedoms and warned never to take them for granted.

Now, given the choice I'd plump for Western Democracy every time and I'm very grateful that we won the Cold War. However, I don't think that should blind us the failings of our own system, and these have become very clear in recent years.

The problem with Parliamentary Democracy in this country is that it is elitist, adversarial and bureaucratic. The fact is that it is not really a democracy (rule by the people); instead it is a self-perpetuating oligarchy (rule by an elite).


What we have is government from the top down, rather than from the bottom up, as it should be in a true democracy. The government is supposed to us, the people, in theory we are the government; but many people think of the government as "them", a remote, faceless and uncaring institution, in which they have little say.


I finally lost any remaining faith in our democracy when the British Government joined the Bushite crusade in Iraq; a war that millions of people in this country were against; a war in which thousands have died and a war which has left us less safe than before. In addition to this both the previous Conservative government and the current Labour government have forced through law after law curtailing our basic freedoms. If you don't believe this, I thoroughly recommend that you watch the film "Taking Liberties".

I now believe that the whole concept of the state is flawed; as Jacques Ellul wrote:

"What seems to be one of the disasters of our time is that we all appear to agree that the nation-state is the norm. […] Whether the state be Marxist or capitalist, it makes no difference. The dominant ideology is that of sovereignty." (Anarchy and Christianity, 104–5.)

Some people would label me either a fascist or a communist (depending upon their own political leanings). The truth is that whichever way you go, the extremes of left and right are practically indistinguishable - the iron fist of repression and the rule of the state.

Recently I have begun to realise that the whole left-right thing is a fantasy. Neither the free-market nor the nanny-state can truly give us the society we need. I now realise that we have to step aside from these debates and choose another way.

This other way begins with the rejection of this artificial construct: the state. Leo Tolstoy wrote of the state:

"In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments,
the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom
war is always pernicious even when successful."

This ideology (the idea that no state or government is necessary) is called Anarchism - forget anything about punk rock and the Sex Pistols. Many people assume that this is an ideology of the left, but in truth Socialism (the corporate state controlling everything) is the antithesis of Anarchism. Furthermore, Anarchism does not necessarily involve violence and revolution, in fact pacifism and non-violence are more often found within modern anarchist thought.

I have been particularly taken with the ideas of Christian Anarchism, which I have been examining recently. Hang on, I hear you say, what is a Christian, especially a Catholic doing talking about anarchism? Well I'm not alone, many Catholics have embraced aspects of anarchist thought and some anarchists have adopted ideas from Christianity, especially the early Church (see Acts 2:44).

Well, I will have to stop for now as I have to go and play badminton, but this is something I will return to.

Pay

Following on from the disgraceful decision of Welsh Assembly Members to take an 8.3% pay rise earlier this year, now we hear that some M.P.s at Westminster want a 21% pay rise - this is just obscene.

They say that they have fallen behind comparable jobs in the private sector - well so have the rest of us!

Librarianship is one of the worst paid professional jobs there is - I can just imagine the response if we asked these same politicians for a similar hike.

This just helps to confirm the suspicions of a growing number of people that all politicians are just in it to get rich quick and that none of them are worth voting for. They are asking the rest of us to show some restraint - so should they.

Father Phillip

The good news is that we have a second priest in the parish. Contrary to my pessimism in a previous blog it seems that Father Phillip (still sounds a bit odd calling him that) will be staying with us for now. This is excellent news, I hope that we can hang onto him for a while and that the Bishop doesn't move him.

Phillip said his first Mass in Penparcau last Sunday and did very well. Though he told me afterwards that his hands were shaking - it wasn't noticeable. Phillip is such a character and I think he compliments Father Paul quite well.

On other Parish matters, I can't recall if I mentioned about the meeting last month about the Church, and I can't say too much in public, because some of the information is sensitive, but it looks like we might be getting a nice new Church, and sooner rather than later too.

Of course there are the usual old fogies (in mental outlook, not necessarily in physical age) who want everything to stay as it is and who are up in arms about the proposals - hopefully the Bishop will totally ignore them and do the right thing. My only fear is that he will decide to leave it for his successor in order to avoid the nausea caused by these people.

Quote of the week

"Proof reading is always more effective after publication" - Philip Barker

I was looking back at some of my previous posts and noticed a number of typos, I suppose I should go back and correct them; but life is too short.

Trouble is, when you are in the midst of writing it is very easy to get caught up in putting your thoughts into the computer and not notice the slips you make. Sometimes the stream of consciousness can turn into a stream of something else!

Back to work

I was feeling quite refreshed after my holiday; as shown by my stunning performance at Badminton last week, winning three games on the trot. I also managed to spray paint all my garden fences - so that's another job out of the way!

Salisbury Cathedral at sunset

Salisbury Cathedral at sunset, originally uploaded by GwilymGoch.

I've just returned from holiday in Salisbury, Wiltshire. We were staying in the Cathedral close and this was the view from the window of the place we were staying. Not a bad view eh! Of course it didn't look so good in the rain - all day bank holiday monday for example - and no TV in the place we were staying!

The cathedral is quite impressive, though as it was built as a single piece, it somehow lacked some of the homeliness of some of the other cathedrals I've visited, especially St Albans, and St Davids.