Crannóggy Island

These thoughts were triggered by an advert on TV about cost-savings cremations. According to the Catechism of Catholic Church: The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and charity, in faith and hope of the Resurrection. The burial of the dead is a corporal work of mercy; it honours the children of God, who are temples of the Holy Spirit. A farewell to the deceased is his final "commendation to God" by the Church. It is "the last farewell by which the Christian community greets one of its members before his body is brought to its tomb.” The Byzantine tradition expresses this by the kiss of farewell to the deceased: By this final greeting "we sing for his departure from this life and separation from us, but also because there is a communion and a reunion. For even dead, we are not at all separated from one another, because we all run the same course and we will find one another again in the same place. We shall never be separated, for we live for Christ, ...

“You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.   Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.   All these are the beginning of birth pains.”   (Matthew 24:6-8) The world seems to be a very dangerous place just now – environmentally, politically, socially, and economically. We are witnessing the decay of Western culture based on Christian virtues and values. How should we react? Is this decay an indication that the end of history is at hand? Well, maybe, or, maybe not.  Augustine in the  The City of Man and the City of God   teaches us that “the end is nigh’ thinking is erroneous. All empires pass away and ours is no different. Christians are a pilgrim people and no matter what may befall our land and our institutions, these earthly societies are not God’s abiding Kingdom. The City o...

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“If the world grows too worldly, it can be rebuked by the Church; but if the Church grows too worldly, it cannot be rebuked for worldliness by the world.” ( G. K. Chesterton)  As the election season approaches and we look at the political choices facing us, we ask: What should our priorities as Christians be? Can faith and politics serve one another in 21st century Britain?  Let’s consider the ‘Burkean’ case for "conservatism" and wedding itself to the Church of England. In his  Reflections on the Revolution in France ,   Edmund Burke makes a passionate case for the Church of England: The consecration of the state, by a state religious establishment, is necessary also to operate with an wholesome awe upon free citizens; because, in order to secure their freedom, they must enjoy some determinate portion of power.  To them therefore a religion connected with the state, and with their duty towards it, becomes even more necessary than in such societies, where th...