1 As we head towards Holy Week....

I'd like to share with you a poem by Steve Stockman that I've always found particularly striking at this time of year...

do not remind me

lord do not help me to remember
that which i have heard so often
because reminding me would soften the wonder.
instead help me see it afresh
like i have never seen it before
let me look at it for the first time
not forewarned about the next part
help me believe that he might not die
that the disciples might rescue him
that pilate might be strong
that the crowds might shout "crucify barabas".
let me hear the hammer come down
let me hear the sound of nail through flesh
let me hear the cry of pain
let me sense the distress
let me watch as they put the cross in the ground
let me look on his face contorted with pain
ugly with the agony and the torture
of suffocation one moment
and then the crippling ache of pushing himself up on those nails to breathe
let me see the sky go black
let me hear him cry
"father forgive them for they no not what they do"
"it is finished"
let me watch as they carry him off dead.
surely dead and without hope of recovery.
let me feel that despair, that loss, that tragedy.
let me weep and mourn
for hope that's murdered
and dreams that lie in a tomb.

then lord, without reminding me
without indication of the wonder
take me to that tomb
let me be surprised and confused
at the stone rolled away
let me be angry at the thought of his body stolen
let me go inside to look, to seek some clue
and then let me turn to see him
let me not believe it for a moment
and then give me the full hurricane force of belief
let me jump and shout and scream for joy
let my heart leap and my soul go running off to highest heaven
with a little glimpse of what blinds the saints
do not remind me but let me experience it for the first time
sin forgiven, redemption bought, freedom won
the amazing wonder of the gospel that calls me a child of god
no lord do not remind me
for that would be as dull as knowing the end of the movie
having read the last page of the book
show me for the first time and let it change my life

4 Bug in blog...

I got this in an email the other day, entitled "Bug in email..."
Thought I'd share!



I suppose its a bit like the Lionel Rich-Tea one that was going about a few years ago...



... or the "amazing picture of a sea horse"...

0 Lenten Reflections on EWTN

For all of you who have EWTN, check out the Lenten reflections that they will have on every Sunday throughout Lent. They've been produced by a friend of mine, who runs a media apostolate called St Brendan's Communications. These programmes promise to be very good, and this Sunday, the reflection will be given by Fr Owen Gorman, who is a fantastic priest. Check them out! The times for your area should be given on the EWTN website.

2 Especially for Pancake Tuesday....

An Englishman an Irishman and a Scotsman were in a pub, talking about their sons.

"My son was born on St George's Day," commented the Englishman. "So we obviously decided to call him George."

"That's a real coincidence," remarked the Scot. "My son was born on St Andrew's Day, so obviously we decided to call him Andrew."

"That's incredible, what a coincidence," said the Irishman.
"Exactly the same thing happened with my son, Pancake."

1 To all my single friends...

... happy Glow Basking day..... where we bask in the glow of having not settled down with the wrong person!

Never listen to all those ridiculously happily married/dating/whatever people... It's sooooo overrated! Being single is cool! There's miiiiiiilllions of reasons why being single is sooooo much better... Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllllllllllliiiiiiooons....

Uhh, if you can think of any, could you let me know?

2 There's no accounting for taste...

... It's hard to believe that this CD is actually for real....

As one reviewer put it, "I STILL am having trouble getting this out of my head, I'm considering therapy."




Though this just sums it up perfectly.... "Just wrong, just terribly wrong."

5 For Catholics Only!

This information is for Catholics only. It must not be divulged to non-Catholics.
The less they know about our rituals and code words, the better off they are.


AMEN: The only part of a prayer that everyone knows.

BULLETIN: Your receipt for attending Mass.

CHOIR: A group of people whose singing allows the rest of the Parish to lip-sync.

HOLY WATER: A liquid whose chemical formula is H2OLY.

HYMN: A song of praise usually sung in a key three octaves higher than that of the congregation's range.

RECESSIONAL HYMN: The last song at Mass often sung a little more quietly, since most of the people have already left.

INCENSE: Holy Smoke!

JONAH: The original "Jaws" story.

JUSTICE: When kids have kids of their own.

KYRIE ELEISON: The only Greek words most Catholics can recognize besides gyros & baklava.

MAGI: The most famous trio to attend a baby shower.

MANGER: Where Mary gave birth to Jesus because Joseph wasn't covered by medical insurance. (The Bible's way of showing us that holiday travel has always been
rough.)

PEW: A medieval torture device still found in Catholic churches.

PROCESSION: The ceremonial formation at the beginning of Mass, consisting of altar servers, the celebrant, and late parishioners looking for seats.

RECESSIONAL: The ceremonial procession at the conclusion of Mass led by parishioners trying to beat the crowd to the parking lot.

RELICS: People who've gone to Mass for so long, they actually know when to sit, kneel, and stand.

2 Firefox ad...

Thought it was funny! :)

3 New Catholic!

Just thought I'd share a couple of photos of the new Catholic in the family....



Tiring work, isn't it!!

5 The Duck

OK, I can't think of anything particularly interesting to write about today... so when in doubt, go for another joke!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A duck walks into a pub and orders a pint of lager and a ham sandwich.
The landlord looks at him and says, "But you're a duck".
"I see your eyes are working", replies the duck.
"And you talk!" exclaims the landlord.
"I see your ears are working", says the duck, "Now can I have my beer and my sandwich please?".
"Certainly", says the landlord, "sorry about that, it's just we don't get many ducks in this pub. What are you doing round this way?".
"I'm working on the building site across the road", explains the duck.
Then the duck drinks his beer, eats his sandwich and leaves.

This continues for 2 weeks. Then one day the circus comes to town.

The ringleader of the circus comes into the pub and the landlord says to him, "You're with the circus aren't you?, I know this duck that would be just brilliant in your circus, he talks, drinks beer and everything!".
"Sounds marvellous", says the ringleader, "get him to give me a call".

So the next day when the duck comes into the pub the landlord says, "Hey Mr. Duck, I reckon I can line you up with a top job, paying really good money!".
"Yeah?", says the duck, "Sounds great, where is it?".
"At the circus", says the landlord.
"The circus?", the duck enquires.
"That's right", replies the landlord.
"The circus?.
"Yes"
"That place with the big tent?".
"Yeah"
"With all the animals?".
"Of Course"
"With the big canvas roof with the hole in the middle", asks the duck.
"That's right!", says the landlord.
The duck looks confused. "What would they want with a plasterer?".

22 FREE CHOCOLATE.....

.... if you sign my blog!!!!!!!!

4 The Muppets!!

1 A few jokes...

Was cleaning up my email and found some jokes. Thought I'd post them...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place. Looking up to heaven he said, "Lord take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey".

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Paddy looked up again and said, "Never mind, I found one."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and says to the first man he meets, "Do you want to go to heaven?"

The man said, "I do Father."

The priest said, "Then stand over there against the wall."

Then the priest asked the second man, "Do you want to go to heaven?"

"Certainly, Father," was the man's reply. "Then stand over there against the wall," said the priest.

Then Father Murphy walked up to O'Toole and said, "Do you want to go to heaven?

O'Toole said, "No, I don't Father.

The priest said, "I don't believe this. You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?"

O'Toole said, "Oh, when I die, yes. I thought you were getting a group together to go right now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paddy was in New York He was patiently waiting, and watching the traffic cop on a busy street crossing.

The cop stopped the flow of traffic and shouted, "Okay pedestrians".

Then he'd allow the traffic to pass.

He'd done this several times, and Paddy still stood on the sidewalk.

After the cop had shouted "Pedestrians" for the tenth time, Paddy went over to him and said, "Is it not about time ye let the Catholics across?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saints Dominic, Francis and Ignatius of Loyola are transported back in time and place to the Birth of Our Lord.

St Dominic, seeing the Incarnation of the Word, is sent into ecstasy.

St Francis, seeing God become a helpless child, is overcome with humility.

St Ignatius of Loyola takes St Joseph and Our Lady aside and asks "Have you given any thought to His education?"

8 TLM

My housemates and I just recently attended our first ever Traditional Latin Mass on Saturday. It really was something else! The timing couldn't have been better, either, as I had just found this website, www.latinmassireland.org, and was thinking I'd love to go to one.

It was a really special experience, and I can't wait for the next one! I was a little confused at times, but wasn't as lost as I thought I would be. It really drove home the fact that the Mass is Jesus' prayer to the Father, and the whole sacrifice aspect. The Mass isn't there for us to "get" anything out of it... And I was reminded of that so beautifully on Saturday.

Unfortunately there are no regular indult Masses in our parish, or even our diocese, but hopefully as people start expressing more of an interest, this will be something that will be started.

6 OK, so...

I guess I'll have to think of something to put down here....

Right. Well. Recently I've been helping my brother work on our family tree, which is all very interesting. We've been finding out all sorts of mad things about the family! I'll be interviewing my Grandmother this weekend, which will be pretty interesting -- her and her family lived through the Belfast Blitz during World War II. This is a pretty good site that I've been looking at too... Especially reading some of the old newspaper articles from the 1800's onwards.

OK, will that do for a first "proper" post?! Interesting enough???

0 Hmmm...

Interesting how it isn't just email that's a target for spammers!! I got 8 comments telling me my blog was "inquisitive", "cool" and "terrific".... after my "Ummm" post.... Ummmm.... ok!

4 Ummm....

OK, so, I have a blog now. And I don't know what to write.....