On foul-mouthed abuse

My last post, gently asking a question of those homosexuals and their supporters who push the idea of same-sex unions on an equal footing with traditional marriage, elicited a single Anglo-Saxon word in capitals, generally ackowledged to be the most offensive in the English language. Until recently. it was not uttered at all in polite society, but has found its way into use in general parlance, on the alternative 'comedy' circuit and in areas of the internet. Ironically, I am aware of its use in Britsh radio broadcasting for the first time last year through the mouth of Sandi Toksvig, an advocate of same-sex unions. Coincidence?

If the user was trying to shock me, think again. I've played rugby at school and university. I've stood on football terraces in Leeds, Bristol and the hallowed East End of Glasgow. I have worked in some of the roughest A&E units in England and Scotland at all hours of the day and night. I've heard worse, especially from the mentally ill.

It merely confirms in my mind that advocates of same-sex unions are incapable of debating public policy rationally without resorting to scatological abuse.

Ooh-ooh-ooh! I wanna be like you-ooh-ooh!

Given that the professional homosexual lobby puts so much effort (and public money) into proclaiming how different they are, how do they square that with now wanting to be just like the rest of us?

Just asking.

Ecumenism and Two Way Streets

I'm sure many of you have heard Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? sung by a bunch of whiteys in a leafy, suburban parish on Good Friday. Yes, it made be tremble, tremble, TREEEEMMMMBBBBLE, too. I'm sure many of you, like me, have had that unpleasant feeling up the back of your neck when you see a band set-up (with amps and mikes) in or near the sanctuary when visiting an unfamiliar parish (even worse if they have an overhead projector) ready for the opening Worship Song.

I may be wrong here, but does anyone know if black churches in the Deep South (or Brixton or Chapeltown for that matter) ever sing plainchant? Or if they ever sing Byrd's Mass for Five Voices in happy-clappy evangelical churches?

No, thought not.

On appropriate headgear for ladies at Solemn Mass

I liked the fact that the NLM featured (as a good example of liturgy in the OF) the First Mass of Christmas from St George's Cathedral, Southwark as it was featured on the BBC. It really was very good - plainchant, a dignified celebration according to the rubrics, the good Dr Macmillan's motet.



I couldn't help but notice this in the first few minutes of the broadcast. This single shot shows conflicting styles of wear for Mass - the traditional mantilla and the Santa Hat.



Now it is easy to get upset about this, when it might appear to be trifling. I suppose the important thing is that one is at Mass. My father used to attend 6am Mass in a bricklayer's overalls and I am sure the Lord was pleased with this. I have heard Mass in a hospital chapel wearing surgical blues when on-call. I'm not averse to wearing jeans and a hoodie if that is what I have on that day. To an extent, Catholics in the UK have been a bit less into 'dressing up for Church' in the way that their separated brethren might have been.

I guess for ladies, fashion matters. The tradition that women should have their heads covered during the Liturgy in Church is venerable, stretching back to apostolic times and abandoned, some might say rashly (as with so much else), a mere 40 years ago.


Now, I suppose men have it easy here. My boys like wearing hats (beanies, woolly hats, furry hats with earflaps at the moment in Canada and baseball caps).Both my boys know that at in Holy Places and on Solemn Occasions they should take them off (though they sometimes need a gentle reminder at the Church door). At the 2 minute's silence at Murrayfield on Remembrance Day a couple of years ago, they took off their hats. At hockey games and CFL games here, the announcer reminds fans to remove their caps for the singing of 'O, Canada!' and this is universally followed. Heck, most guys know to take off a hat when eating in a restaurant.

So the deliberate choice of a Santa Hat for Solemn Mass seems a little, erm, kooky to say the least.

Discuss.

The Pitfalls of Actuosa Participatio

Faith and courage under fire

Major (later Colonel) Julian Cook, U.S. 82nd Airborne Division.

The major, a devout Catholic was also praying out loud. Lieutenant Virgil Carmichael noticed that he had developed a kind of cadence with each line. "Hail Mary - full of grace. Hail Mary - full of grace", Cook chanted with every stroke of the paddle. Then in the midst of the confusion, the Germans opened up.
-Cornelius Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, p388