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31 July 2012

Pope's Olympic Message

The following Message of the Holy Father for the 2012 Olympic Games given during his Angelus Address in Rome on 22 July was read during the Mass in celebration for the 30th Olympic Games at Westminster Cathedral.
 ‘The Olympics are the greatest world sporting event, attended by athletes from many nations, and as such they have a strong symbolic value. For this reason the Catholic Church looks upon them with particular sympathy and attention. We pray that, according to the will of God, the London Games are an experience of fraternity among the peoples of the Earth.
I send greetings to the organizers, athletes and spectators alike, and I pray that, in the spirit of the Olympic Truce, the good will generated by this international sporting event may bear fruit, promoting Peace and Reconciliation throughout the world. Upon all those attending the London Olympic Games, I invoke the abundant blessings of Almighty God.’

25 July 2012

Day for Life

Every year at this time, the Church celebrates a 'Day for Life.' This was proposed by Blessed John Paul II in the 1990s.
In England and Wales this year the Day has been linked to the Olympic Games. The theme of the material is  reverence for the human body. If we have a proper reverence for our own bodies and the bodies of others, such horrors as euthanasia, abortion, pornography, violence and various forms of abuse become unthinkable.
You may like to use this prayer and/or this reflection to enter into the spirit of the Day.
The special collection will support various pro-life organisations supported by the Church including the Anscombe Bioethics Centre.

15 July 2012

In praise of Mary

I found this poem on a priest's blog and found it strangely moving and thought provoking.

The new skin wherein the new wine fermented,
the newest of the Covenant promises.
Mary the Immaculate,
The God chosen skin, the choicest, purest
to contain the New and Eternal drink
which alone satisfies arid humanity.
She that contained the morning dew
our Redemption promise.

The young flexible skin that moved
according to the will of the intoxication she held.
This is wineskin that alone can contain the Universe's drink.
This is the Spirit filled skin from which no wine is lost,
the handmaid that swells to contain the measure of He who she bore.
This, the ewe white from the washing, pregnant with the Lamb.
This, that contained Canaan's sweet abundance.

This the singular vessel!