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UBI CARITAS ET AMOR. DEUS IBI EST.
Monday 29 June 2020
I believe
Sunday 28 June 2020
Time for Reflections
Saturday 27 June 2020
I am not worthy
Friday 26 June 2020
Perception is truth
It also signified that there was a notice on my wall and if you have perceived it then it is in fact there.
And that's the problem with perceptions. People see something and it is implanted in their minds.
And society copies what they perceive as the norm. Whenever people describe themselves in Dating or Match-Making websites they often gloss over the unflattering truth and describe themselves better than they really are.
As a young man I sent a dating agency one of my real life photos (untouched and not changed in any way). They returned it with a note saying: "We're not that desperate!"
Eventually I managed to get a date with a young lady through another agency. When I met the lady in question she said I did not look like the photo on the dating website. She said the photo looked as if it had been drawn by Picasso, and added, "I thought you had a cricked neck. And why in the photo do you have an ear on your forehead?"
I told her that as a fan of Star Trek this was the Final Front Ear!
Mind you, she was no picture of beauty herself. In fact she was so ugly that I guess Peeping Toms would ring her door bell and tell her to draw the curtains shut.
And that's perception, be it in a badly lit fast food outlet or in the bright light of day.
How about you? How do your family and friends perceive you?
More important. How does God perceive you? You can't fool Him you know.
Wednesday 24 June 2020
Not so close encounter of the priestly kind
Monday 22 June 2020
Things That Wind Us Up
Sunday 21 June 2020
Time For Reflections
Saturday 20 June 2020
Don't critique my underpants
Thursday 18 June 2020
Happiness
Tuesday 16 June 2020
More fake news
I have thought long and hard about posting this article. I do not intend to offend anyone; but this is an example of what I was writing about yesterday.
Yesterday's post entitled Facts, Truth and Lies was making the point that in these days of social media one can post anything and it seems to be reposted time and again regardless of whether it is true or not.
Here's a story that's been doing the rounds which I have received. It is alleged that apparently the story is true.
It seems this young lady got out of the building in the nude and entered a taxi. The driver was amazed and flabbergasted as well as astonished.
She said to him, "What's the matter with you? Have you never seen a naked woman before?"
He replied, "Sorry Miss ... I was wondering where you keep your money to pay me!"
Personally, I doubt that the story is true. But this is immaterial.
Whether the story is true or not does not matter. What is true is the photograph.
I ask myself, what made this woman take off her clothes in public and get in a taxi for all to see ... and photograph?
Was it a bet at a party? Was it a dare? Was she drunk perhaps? Did she get paid for this stunt?
Whatever her reasons, the photo has been taken and is doing the rounds on the Internet.
No doubt, one day she will regret taking part in this exercise.
Sunday 14 June 2020
Stabbed Angel
It was a wet autumn evening with leaves covering the ground, and when they start rotting away and become slimy and slippery; a cold autumn evening with a freezing wind that blows right through you; the kind of evening when you’d much rather be at home by the fireside with a hot cup of chocolate in your hands. Yes ... not the sort of evening to be out and about.
You guessed it ... the phone rang and Father Ignatius was called out as a matter of urgency.
One of his elderly parishioners was very ill and not expected to see the night through. Father Ignatius jumped in his car and drove to one of the less salubrious parts of town where Mrs Bartholomew lived alone with a cat as a pet. As he arrived at her house in a darkly lit street the doctor was just leaving; and a kind neighbour had agreed to stay with her until Mrs Bartholomew’s son and daughter-in-law arrived from another town not so far away.
Father Ignatius stayed with the elderly lady to comfort her and to pray with her until her family arrived at about half-past eleven at night.
As he left the house he said yet another silent prayer for her and made his way, in the drizzling rain, towards his car. He was just a few feet away from the vehicle when suddenly, out of the dark, a young man jumped out from an alleyway brandishing a big knife.
The priest was startled and was fortunate enough to recover his balance on the slippery ground by leaning back on his car.
The young man, hardly visible in the semi-darkness, pointed the knife at Father Ignatius and said, “your wallet mister … and be quick about it …”
The priest could see the long blade shining in the little light that was available from a nearby shop window. Before he could say or do anything the young man lunged forward with the knife aimed at the priest’s chest. Father Ignatius moved sideways as a reflex and felt the knife slide down his side. Somehow, it got caught in his coat pocket pulling forward the youth who slipped badly hitting his head against the car door as he fell to the ground.
The youngster screamed in agony as the blade cut into him.
Father Ignatius stooped down to help him. He had the presence of mind to throw the knife a distance away and told the lad to stay still whilst he fetched some help from the “24/7” shop.
Moments later both an ambulance and the police were on the scene and the youth was taken away.
The following day Father Ignatius called at the police station as advised by the officers. He learnt that the youngster, only 15 years old, was un-employed, and living rough. This was hardly unusual in this desolate town where commerce and industry had long given up hope and departed.
He was asked to make a statement and to help press charges against his would-be assailant, but Father Ignatius had other things in mind. He knew the chief-of-police and somehow managed to get the youngster put in his care without pressing charges for the attempted mugging. It was after all a first-time offence and the police had no previous records of the lad. Three weeks later the priest found him a job with a local farmer.
But the story does not end there.
On the night of the attack Father Ignatius returned home very late into the night. Father Donald and Mrs Davenport the housekeeper were up and worried out of their minds. They did not know where the priest had been.
After getting cleaned up and nursing a nice cup of chocolate in his hands he re-told them that night’s events. Father Donald insisted that in future he’d be the one to go out late at night if necessary. In his early thirties, and half of Ignatius’ age, he thought he should be the one out there, leaving “the old man” at home.
Father Ignatius smiled and said nothing. Then after a pause he confided:
“Tonight, I’ve learnt two things I never realised before. When the situation first started and I thought I was about to die, I discovered that, in reality, I was not afraid of death. We all claim as Christians not to be afraid of death; and when it nearly happened to me, I found out I really wasn't scared at all. I seemed ready for it, but I was more concerned as to whether it would be painful.
“Secondly, I think my Guardian Angel helped me tonight. When the knife came at me at speed, I saw a white shape come between me and the young boy. It was all over in a flash. One second I saw the shape and the next the boy was on the ground in agonizing pain. I'm certain that knife was stopped into going in my chest.”
Unfortunately, in a town where nothing much of interest happens, the story of the attack found its way in the newspapers.
For days afterwards, every time Father Ignatius went to St Andrew’s Catholic School the young boys made karate movements with their hands when they saw him, and called him Father Kung-Fu.
Friday 12 June 2020
Ancient History and Statues
Strictly speaking Venus de Milo is a Greek statue. It is disputed as to whether it was sculpted by Praxiteles or Alexandros of Antioch. As there are no surviving Court manuscripts of legal actions between these two individuals relating to Copyright issues we'll never know the creator of this statue.
The statue is believed to depict Aphrodite the Greek Goddess of love and beauty who was quite harmless in her time, (armless - keep up with my subtle jokes).
However, some scholars claim it was the sea-goddess Amphridite but who cares?
Apparently, Francesca fell in love with her husband's younger brother, Paolo and ... as I mentioned before ... because cameras had not yet been invented, the private detective gathering evidence for the husband had to quickly sculpt the statue which was then carried to the Divorce Court as proof that she was having an affair. Thereafter the PI visited the goddess Hernia to pray for healing.