Crannóggy Island

   If God sends you down a stony path, May He give you strong shoes. May you get all your wishes but one So you always have something to strive for.

Is ait an mac an saol “Gabhaim leithscéal ó chroí libh” Sorry folks, something went awry today ... " mea culpa" Happy Jack was messing about with the various settings on here, made a mess-up and couldn't remember what he'd done!!!  Anyway, he's a little tune:

At the end of the general audience of December 28, Pope Francis asked for a special prayer for his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. “I would like to ask all of you a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who in silence is sustaining the Church. Remember him, he is very ill; ask the Lord to console and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church until the end.” Since Benedict’s retirement, he has dedicated his time to prayer for the Church, living in a monastery on the Vatican grounds. At the end of the general audience of December 28, Pope Francis asked for a special prayer for his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. All praise and glory is yours,  Lord our God,  for you have called us to serve you in love.  Bless Pope Emeritus Benedict,  s o that he may bear this illness in union with your Son's obedient suffering.  Restore him to health, according to your will,  and lead him to glory.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.

  Some interesting interviews here: These should trigger a discussion:  Michael Portillo;  Andy Johnson;  David Davis; Amber Rudd; last and very much least: Harriet Harman. (Scroll past the first 11 minutes of news/ads. etc)

  Jack's secret weapon in the "battle of the sexes". These songs work wonders with wives when men find themselves in the 'dog house' or banished to the 'shed' ... which we invariably do. ☹️ "The Wonder of You" is a song written by Baker Knight. It was originally recorded by Vince Edwards in 1958, but this recording has never been released. In an interview with a DJ from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Ray Peterson told the story of how Baker Knight confided that "The Wonder of You" was originally written as a gospel song. In 1959, "The Wonder of You" was first released by Ray Peterson as a single. The Wonder of You - 1959 These Joe Cocker classics work well too.   You are so Beautiful Hymn For My Soul Something These Are the Days of Our Lives If all else fails ..... tell her you love her and mean it. Or else. #husbandshaverightstoo #safespacesformen #me too 0This post will self destruct should any woman should view it ... 🙃

The Twelve Days of Christmas Today Christ is born in Bethlehem of the Virgin. Today the Beginningless doth begin, and the Word becometh incarnate. The powers of heaven rejoice, and earth is glad with mankind. The Magi do offer presents, and the shepherds with wonder declaim. As for us, we shout ceaselessly, crying,   Glory to God in the highest,     and on earth peace, good-will towards men .  ( John of Damascus )   Catholic Reflection Orthodox Reflection Anglican Reflection Puritan Reflection Calvinist Reflection Atheist Perspective on a Christ-less Season Happy Jack wishes one and all here a peaceful and Holy Christmas - and thanks you all for visiting and commenting. 

 

  O Come, Redeemer Of The Earth O Come, Redeemer of the earth, and manifest thy virgin-birth.   Let every age in wonder fall: such birth befits the God of all.   Begotten of no human will but of the Spirit, Thou art still the Word of God in flesh arrayed, the promised fruit to man displayed.   The Virgin’s womb that burden gained, its virgin honour still unstained.   The banners there of virtue glow; God in his temple dwells below.   Proceeding from His chamber free that royal home of purity a giant in twofold substance one, rejoicing now His course to run.   O equal to the Father, Thou! gird on Thy fleshly mantle now; the weakness of our mortal state with deathless might invigorate.   Thy cradle here shall glitter bright, and darkness breathe a newer light where endless faith shall shine serene and twilight never intervene.    All praise, eternal Son, to The e, whose advent sets Thy people free, whom, with the Father, we adore, and Holy Ghost, for evermore.   Amen. (Saint Ambrose)  

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen  The Catholic Herald  is running the story that  Cardinal Nichols has denounced this new ‘queer’ carol. For those not wishing to subscribe for free access, here is the text of the article:  Cardinal Nichols is alone amongst Christian leaders (so far) to have spoken out on Times Radio about the danger and damage of diluting our Christian rituals. He did so today in response to the inclusion of a new “queer” version of “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” at a carol service on Monday this week ...  Secularism was content that “you shopped until you dropped”. But “wokery” is a new religion.  It emerges through the mists of Jungian archetypes and our therapeutic obsessions. But it’s not hard to understand what it sets out to do. It wants to replace God with Man, or, to be bang up to date, Persons.  Jung described what his new Gnosticism was about when he explained that in his view the Self (note the capital ‘S’) and the idea of God were interchangeable. For Ju

  It amazed Happy Jack how many Catholics commenting on this Youtube video clip expressed a yearning for a pope who would exercise his authority this way.  Really? Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger just before the conclave that elected him said: “How many winds of doctrine have we known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking.  Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labelled  as fundamentalism.”   Well, 'Papa Lenny' is a Machiavellian reactionary fundamentalist.  Catholic Traditionalists are cheered by what 'Papa Lenny' has to say.  An  ultraconservative despot who decides to go back to the style of Medieval and Renaissance Papacies.  Pius is done with: evangelicalism, ecumenicalism, tolerance. He wants fanatics for God.  “ Fanaticism is love, everything else is strictly a surrogate.” This speech is presented in the same spirit with which Shakespeare wrote the oration of Polonius to Laertes, with it’s famous “To

“Whenever the church, in order to defend a principle, didn’t do it pastorally, it has taken political sides, If a pastor leaves the pastorality of the church, he immediately becomes a politician.”  (Pope Francis, 2021) Father Frank Pavone has been removed from the priesthood. "This action was taken after Father Pavone was found guilty in canonical proceedings of blasphemous communications on social media, and of persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop,"    ( Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States) There's a great deal of "noise" surrounding this and controversy aplenty .  "The blasphemy is that this holy priest is cancelled  while an evil president promotes the denial of truth & the murder of the unborn at every turn. Vatican officials promote immorality & denial of the deposit of faith & priests promote gender confusion devastating lives…evil."  (Bishop Joseph Strickland)  Unt

Recently Happy Jack has been reading articles concerned about the 'death' of Christianity and the 'de-Christianisation' of Christmas. For his sins, he has also been traveling in that 'Foreign Land' that goes by the name of 'Thinking Anglicans' - an oxymoron if ever there was one! - where they are obsessed with matters sexual, confuse this with love, and twist and bend Scripture to accommodate all manner of heresy. There can be little doubt that Christians today are effectively living " in partibus infidelium";  in formerly Christian lands where non-believers, inside and outside the Christian churches, press toward a future world that orthodox Christians cannot share.  The question is posed in the   First Things   article: how do orthodox Christians conduct themselves in a hostile environment? Do we stay silent, retreat to the metaphorical catacombs, become “God’s secret agents” ? If not, how do we defend and promote the Christian Gospel in a