Doldrums  29 March 2022 Dear and gentle reader: I just don't feel like blogging.  Perhaps it's due to the dreary weather.  Perhaps it's due to laziness.  Perhaps it's due to just a handful of readers. In a world where "big news" is a celebrity slapping another celebrity, methinks that my comments on larger, more important events and ideas are seen as dull and uninteresting. If that be the case, then perhaps I should cast away my digital pen, and resume the solitude of my life with my books and cats as companions. As ever, gentle reader, may our Lenten journey lead us to true life and joy. Father P.

 Putin's Fall? 22 March, 2022   Good evening, dear and gentle reader!  As a student of history, who has focused on it during my Master's degree studies, I find that I have a deeper insight into some events, than those who do not know history.  This is a blessing, and a curse.  Perhaps the like is true for the dictator Putin as well. Putin is no fool.  He is obsessed with "restoring" Russia's power, yes, but certainly no fool.  Surely he cannot be ignorant of the history of his own country, but perhaps he is.  An astute student of Russian history could point out many times when her leaders were taken out of power, in Tsarist times, and under the Soviet regimes.  Russia seems to have a fondness for this kind of transfer of power.  I wonder if that thought has crossed the mind of Dictator Putin. Ukrainian intelligence reports that already there are plans afoot within Putin's circle of power to replace him.  If these reports are true, t...

 Of Saints, Penitence, and Consecration 19 March, 2022   Dear and gentle reader, what a busy week this has been.  I began it by visiting my brother and his family for a few days, since I'd not seen them since Christmas, then back to the parish in time for the grand day of St. Patrick, then my sister's birthday, and now it's St. Joseph's Day.  To cap it all off, there's the usual schedule of weekend confessions and Masses.  Already I yearn for my day off on Monday. Both St. Joseph and St. Patrick hold a special place in my heart.  They are my two favourite saints, aside from Our Lady.  When I was born in the last century I was given up for adoption at birth, and just a day old, I was baptised with the name Joseph, which I also took for my confirmation name at the age of nine. When I was adopted, I was given the name Patrick, of which I am quite happy and proud.  Genetically speaking I'm just 12% Irish, but still, that's more than enough to claim Ir...

 The Bitter Fruits of War 8 March 2022 Dear and gentle reader, as it stands now, over a million and a half Ukrainians have had to flee their homeland and seek refuge in neighbouring countries.  Some bodies speculate that the number of refugees may rise as high as five million in the coming days and weeks as this sad invasion continues.  We've seen the Russian invading forces shell civilian targets - apartment blocks, hospitals, schools, even nuclear power plants.  Shelling and missile strikes continue, preventing rescuers from reaching those trapped in the rubble.  Proposed humanitarian corridors have not been respected with fleeing civilians being shot at, and some reports state that even the routes were mined by Russian forces. There is also the suffering of the Russians to take into account.  Many of the soldiers sent to invade Ukraine were not told what their mission would be.  Most of them are conscripts, quite young.  A goodly number of thos...

 Fasting for Peace   2 March 2022 Today, gentle reader, we begin the holy season of Lent.  Ash Wednesday this year is especially poignant, in that we are called by our Holy Father, Pope Francis, to offer our prayers and fasting today for peace in Ukraine.  Ash Wednesday is one of only two official days of fasting in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church.  According to the law of fasting, we are allowed one full meatless meal.  We may take two smaller meatless meals to maintain strength and health, but if they were put together, they should not equal a full meal.  In addition, snacking in-between meals is not allowed.  It's only two days out of a year, but, gentle reader, oh how we bemoan it.  Fasting is an ancient, pre-Christian tradition.  Pagans practiced it; Jews practiced it; and some still do.  It is a spiritual practice to help us physically know that there is more to life than just this mortal life.  It is there to draw ...