Pax Christi in Regno Christi!

The Peace of Christ in the Reign of Christ

I am back-dating this, being late in writing it. Albeit to say we celebrated this wonderful feast of the Kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ when we visited Cheadle. This feast was instituted by Pope Pius XI, whose encyclical Quas Primas I have already quoted from previously. His wish was to combat the heresy which was, and still is, so widespread: that Christ is "cast out of public life, despised, neglected and ignored" to such an extent that all mention of him in public and political life is shunned.

I wish I had more time to write about this wonderful feast, which embodies so much Catholic social teaching. It is not only our personal spiritual life which Christ must reign over, but our very society and governments. As Pope Pius XI puts it, quoting Pope Leo XIII:

"His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ."

Pope Pius XI reflects on the disaster that has resulted from a failure to observe Christ's kingship:

The rebellion of individuals and states against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences. We lamented these in the Encyclical Ubi arcano; we lament them today: the seeds of discord sown far and wide; those bitter enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder so much the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretense of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to so many private quarrels; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure everything by these; no peace in the home, because men have forgotten or neglect their duty; the unity and stability of the family undermined; society in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ruin.

Unfortunately I fear, this idea of Christ's supreme kingship has diminished even within Christianity. The seperation of Church and State is guarded as an essential aid to democracy, with so-called 'catholic' polititians fearful, by and large, to let their faith guide their policies.

Many Catholics will notice that they did not celebrate this feast on the Sunday before All Saints, a time to "extol the glory of him who triumphs in all the Saints and in all the Elect" but rather now observe it at the very end of the liturgical year, the last Sunday before Advent. This emphasises Pope Pius XI's word that we set "the crowning glory upon the mysteries of the life of Christ already commemorated during the year" but sadly neglects the former relation with All Saints. It is also speculated that this movement reflects the more acceptable notion that Christ will only rule as King at the end of all time, which is sadly reflected in the type of petitions in the new lectionary.

The collect for this feast (in the Rite of St. Pius V) is as follows:

Almighty and eternal God, who hast willed to restore all things in Thy beloved Son, the King of the whole creation; mercifully grant that all the peoples of the human family that have been disunited by the wound of sin may become subject to this most sweet dominion. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Pugin's 'Perfect Cheadle'

"A heaven-pointing spire surrounded by clusters of pinnacles, forming a beautiful and instructive emblem of a Christian's brightest hopes"

A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852)

Today it was my pleasure to return to the Staffordshire town of Cheadle, this time bringing my wife and my camera, and coinciding our visit with a Traditional Latin Mass (held there once a month) for the great feast of Christ the King.

The first thing that strikes you about the parish church of St. Giles in Cheadle is the huge 200-foot spire which dominates the skyline. The church was built in the 184os, and is the crowning jewel in Pugin's life work.

Here is the entrance through the South Porch, where Pugin envisaged the important liturgical role of this part of the Church, especially in Baptism and Marriage (now lost in the new rites). The floor tiles read "We will go into the house of the Lord with gladness".

On entering the Church the most striking feature is the vibrant colour and exquisite decoration across every inch of the interior. This reflects Pugin's talent as both artist and architect, and with such abundant financing from John Talbot, the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, no expense is spared!

How is this for a Baptismal font? Wonderfully mounted on carvings of crushed serpents, and situated next to the entrance, to symbolise the sacramental effects of Baptism: The cleansing of Original Sin and incorporation into the Body of Christ, the Church.

"An old English parish church, as originally used for the ancient worship, was one of the most beautiful and appropriate buildings that the mind of man could conceive... the apacious nave and aisles for the faithful... the impressive doom or judgement pictured over the great chancel arch; the fretted screen and roodloft, the mystical separation between the sacrifice and the people, with the emblem of redemption carried on high and surrounded with glory; the great altar, rich in hangings, placed far from irreverent gaze, and with the brilliant eastern window terminating this long perspective..."

A.W.N. Pugin

Perhaps one of the things which touches me most about this church is the way it has been painstakingly preserved and cherished, in contrast to some of Pugin's other masterpieces which are close to my heart, which have been wrecked and reordered with disdain for his original designs (namely the Cathedrals of St. Barnabus in Nottingham, and St. Chad's in Birmingham). A simple parish church like this has survived the great catholic revolution!

Here, intact, is the beautiful rood screen and beyond it the magnificent high altar, adorned with angels holding musical instruments, and the reredos featuring the Coronation of Our Lady. Also within the sanctuary are features appropriate to the old English 'Sarum' variation of the Roman Rite, in use before the abolishment of Catholicism in the 16th Century. It was Pugin's dream to resurrect this in a true liturgical revival; the Easter Sepulchre, unusual sedilia and sacrarium. Also a separate Blessed Sacrament Chapel, adorned with a whole host of Eucharistic decoration. I am not qualified to comment on any of this, but needless to say, this liturgical revival never happened for Pugin, and the re-established English hierarchy opted to continue saying the codified Roman Rite which the missionaries had used to keep the faith alive during the dark years following the reformation.

Today it was an honour to see this same mass being celebrated on the high altar. To fit in with the current liturgical 'revolution' there is a small and obtrusive, but beautifully constructed, low altar at the bottom of the altar steps (In many ways the prospect of having mass said versus populum through the rood screen is rather silly!). I have tried to leave this out of my photos, but you will be able to just see it! Notice the wonderful lettering on each of the altar steps, which may mean very little to most modern Catholics, but which to us assembled, bears the timeless words of Introíbo ad altáre Dei, of Psalm 42 which is recited by the priest and servers at the beginning of the Tridentine Mass.

After Mass the priest and servers processed to the Lady Chapel and we sang Salve Regina and a final hymn. We were part of only about 15 people in the congregation, but received a warm welcome with tea and cakes next door afterwards. We thank Alan Frost who is LMS representative for Staffordshire, where they manage to have an Old Rite said every Sunday in alternating locations. We arrived today an hour early, and saw the wonderful attention to detail in preparing the church; including arranging kneelers at the altar steps, decorating the Lady altar with candles, and replacing the tabernacle veil with the white colour appropriate to the feast. They fell short of not being able to remove the low altar altogether!

Whatever you think of Pugin, his work has undoubtedly influenced church architecture hugely in this country. I look forward to learning more about him, but for now I will finish with his thoughts on a parish church like Cheadle's:

It is in fact by parish churches, that the faith of the nation is to be sustained and nourished; in them souls are engrafted to the Church by the waters of baptism; they are the tribunals of penance, and the seats of mercy and forgiveness. In them is the holy Eucharisic sacrifice continually offered up, and the sacred body of our Lord received by the faithful; there the holy books are read, and the people instructed; they become the seat and centre of every pious thought and deed...

Tolkien's Guide to Birmingham Part II: Moseley Bog

« Part I
Further to my introduction - nowhere could sound more uninviting than Moseley Bog! Nearby Sarehole Mill (apparently the inspiration for Tolkien's Old Mill at Hobbiton) we have an area of conservation, almost a world within a world 3 miles south of Birmingham's City Centre. It was barely possible to find this place on the map, it looked so small - but once we were there, donned in our walking boots, we were greeted by a thick wood of winding paths and wetlands. This place was once Tolkien's playground, becoming in his imagination the Old Forest of Middle Earth fame. In fact, we were convinced we could find the Entwives if we looked hard enough...

A casualty of the war of the ring, perhaps: this unfortunate Ent is now a scar on the horizon of Moseley Bog. But it makes an attractive scar. There are certainly a lot of old trees around, and there is even occasions where fallen wood has been skillfully carved into characters! Below I am admiring a Croc which had been carved on a tree which had fallen across the path.

The area did have some information signs, but it was a little difficult to read under all the graffiti! Some were, in fact, ripped up completely. But I've heard it has been a worse sight, with cars being joyridden and burnt out amounst the clearings. That is Birmingham youth nowadays; Tolkien would have been disappointed that they aren't so easily pleased by nature's playground! Anyway, one of the signs said that Spring was a wonderful time to visit, with a visual feast of bluebells. But this time of year, in Autumn, we have a visual feast of strange fungi!

Any ideas of Tolkien-esque comparisons with this?? Maybe Lothlorien??

At last we emerged from the Bog, and past the clearing we could see Joy's Wood. We caught sight of huge trees emerging from the canopy, Entish in appearence. Whether these were the Entwives or not, I'll let you decide...

But the Moseley bog story doesn't end there. It is a lovely afternoon trip for inner-city Brums, even if it's just the locals walking the dogs, but there is soon to be a £500,000 lottery cash injection to revamp the place, with new car parks (we were parked in residential Pensby Close), paths, and public art (more Crocs perhaps? Strewth mate!). Soon people will be flocking far and wide to experience the mystery of middle earth in Birmingham's own Moseley Bog. Or maybe not...

Part III »

Will Assisted Suicide be Legalised?

Last week David March was spared a prison sentence for helping his seriously ill wife commit suicide. The BBC reported this in their usual biased way, introducing Mr. March as a "devoted husband." Their website doesn't seem to carry a full story (it's passing local news now), but the picture I have included is from their site.

It is not for me to comment on what sort of relationship these two had, but I can comment on what was reported to have emerged from the court case; Mr. March's motive was his wife's desire for her to die before he was too old to "find someone else." This is an incredibly sad and pitiful excuse to assist in your wife's suicide (as far as I'm concerned). Clearly this is a sensitive issue, and I have to be cautious to approach this subject with the sensitivity and compassion which is due for all sick and suffering individuals. But the plea of this physically disabled lady strikes me as the plea of insecurity, which is common, and likely to do with feelings of being a burden to family and carers. If I was in Mr. March's situation, though, I would do my utmost to reassure my wife, and treat her with the love and dignity which a promise of marriage entails. Perhaps Mr. March did, and failed, but an act of euthanasia (or assisted suicide, which is morally just as wrong) is the ultimate sign of failure. We as a society should never condone these acts, which is exactly what is happening in the courts.

Mrs. March had been ill with MS since 1984. Interestingly this is not one of the conditions which would come under the recently proposed legislation by Lord Joffe, under his Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill bill, because MS is not a terminal condition (which is defined as a prognosis of 6 months, as judged by the medical doctors. Which means nothing!). Not long ago there was a huge campaign by Care Not Killing to counter this bill, which seemed to have been successful (although notice how the BBC blame fringe groups like religions and disability groups rather than focusing on the huge alliance of multi-professional bodies opposing the bill).

We must always have our guard up, and constantly be opposing this culture of death mentality. It is my conviction, as we approach the great feast of Christ the King, instituted by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quas Primas, that the evils we see in our modern society are a direct result of the failure of governments to submit to the authority of Christ. We have a democracy where power resides in the people, and is expressed through the government in such a way that man is set up as a god. Ultimate authority and control (or effectively autonomy) seperated from God results in evils such as contraception, abortion, and now euthanasia. All an attempt to place the godship of ourselves over all other considerations.

These powers and decisions reside with God alone, and we do not have the moral liberty (or 'right') to try and artificially implement them ourselves. I also see the quest for legalised euthanasia as a desperate apprehension and fear of suffering and death on the part of society in general. In my time at a hospice I noticed it was not necessarily the patients who were the ones scared of death; it was those around them. Outside Faith in Christ, it is very difficult to find a true purpose and benefit in suffering (especially when that suffering will culminate in death). We know, as Catholics, that it was through the most inexplicable suffering that Christ redeemed the world. St. Paul exhorts us in his letter to the Colossians (1:22-25):

Yet now he hath reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unspotted, and blameless before him: If so ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and immoveable from the hope of the gospel which you have heard, which is preached in all the creation that is under heaven, whereof I Paul am made a minister. Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given me towards you, that I may fulfill the word of God.

We are reminded and exhorted by St. Paul that we can "fill up those things that are wanting" in Christ's redemptive suffering by uniting our suffering with his. We can offer up all our pain, torment and penance to him, especially on behalf of our brethren who reside in pugatory. These suffering souls have the assurance of heaven, but undergo the torments of separation from their earthly attachments, which accumulate throughout the usual course of sinful life. Let us also use our suffering, however slight, to remind us of our total reliance on God. This state of awareness will raise us above the temporal realm and unite us more closely to Christ. Rather than trying to avoid suffering, and seeking constant comfort and joy, let us bear that pain with gladness.

I will close with the words of the aforementioned pope as a message for young Catholics with a view to promoting true good in our society:

While nations insult the beloved name of our Redeemer by suppressing all mention of it in their conferences and parliaments, we must all the more loudly proclaim his kingly dignity and power, all the more universally affirm his rights.

I hope these words can still be heeded 80 years on, at a time in the Church when such a declaration would be in opposition to our 'politically correct' attitudes.

Tolkien's Guide to Birmingham Part I

It is probably a bit of a cliché now; that Tolkien was influenced in his writing of Lord of the Rings by his upbringing, principally in Birmingham. Many would ask how Birmingham could possibly inspire anyone to write such a timeless novel. Well, I'd be inclined to agree. But it doesn't keep me from being intrigued by the life of a man, born nearly 100 years prior to myself, but with such similar experiences to my own.

I, too, was born in South Africa, which is bound to have had a profound influence on him in terms of landscape and scenery. Now is that Rohan or what? (These were pictures I took in the mountains of the Drakensburg, looking over the border from Lesotho. Perhaps not an exact place Tolkien would have visited, but spectacular nonetheless!)

In my twenties, I too journeyed across Birmingham, in search of a sound foundation in Catholic teaching. I found the same Church as Tolkien's family did (his mother having converted to Catholicism): Birmingham Oratory.

Every time I approach the Oratory's side entrance, I gaze down the Plough & Harrow road to see two glorious Victorian towers of Perrott's folly and Edgbaston waterworks (which we will leave for another day)... and am reminded that I share a very special sight, with the great mind of J.R.R. Tolkien.

I may not be as dedicated as some, but since I live in Birmingham I will certainly make an effort over the coming months to visit some of the places which Tolkien would have known and loved. The path he originally trod has certainly been obscured by decades of industrialisation and development, a vista Tolkien himself would have seen changing over the years - which begs the question; how will I see the forces of 'middle-earth' work in modern Birmingham over my lifetime? Increasing decadence? Moral decay? Sauron works in mysterious ways, and only time will tell...

Part II »

St. Philip Neri Church in Mansfield

A few weeks ago I was in Nottingham visiting family, and was very happy to pay a visit to this lovely Church in Mansfield. I regularly attend the Birmingham Oratory, and so a place like this really made me feel at home! There is a website which contains more pictures; from this, it seems a typical 'springtime' parish of the Catholic Church. But we were sheltered from this on our visit, because we went specifically for their bi-monthly Tridentine mass. This occurs on the second and fourth Sunday of each month. Check the Latin Mass Society for exact dates; I'd highly recommend this wonderful mass (it was Missa Cantata when we went, complete with Asperges at the beginning) in a beautiful setting. Deo Gratis!

Technical hitch!

I have so many pictures which I am eager to put up here. I have many things to post about, but without pictures, this blog will soon deteriorate into a mindless drivel-fest.

I had no problems inserting a picture on my first post, but now whenever I upload a picture it fails to appear in the edit box. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Its as if the picture is uploaded to blogger, but then effectively lost forever, vanished without a trace. What is happening?

Without some help, my blog is doomed to die an early death.

The Guild of Catholic Doctors

I hope that I will begin linking to more than just one Catholic medical student, since support from peers is so important in the medical profession. Last year, as I was becoming more exclusively Catholic in my outlook, I found something lacking in my medical school Christian Union. Affiliated to the CMF, it is a thriving and helpful 'fellowship' of young Christian medical students, and my time with them will always be remembered fondly. However, they are basically 'evangelical' in persuasion, and I felt more and more at odds with the overall ethos there.

I would love, therefore, to commend this organisation to any medical students. Go to The Guild of Catholic Doctors Website! It really needs some youth to inject some life into it, and the membership is very cheap. Their publication, Catholic Medical Quarterly, has some excellent articles and advice, lately so for medical students as well. I wrote a letter to them which has been recently published. Here is a copy of it (written January 2006):

I am very pleased to have recently joined the Guild of Catholic Doctors. I am a 4th year Medical Student who has recently returned to the Faith after a significant period of being lapsed, and am overjoyed to be part of an organisation which extends the brotherhood of Christ into my future profession.

I felt compelled to write to you after reading an anonymous letter published in your recent Quarterly November 2005 Vol LV No.4 (309) page 41. This was a letter explaining the reasons for a member and his wife resigning from the guild.

Subsequently I felt I would write to explain my reasons for joining, which actually seem to refute some of the criticisms the aforementioned member brought to your attention. The first issue of the CMQ I received was February 2005, and I immediately read with great interest the article by Hugh Henry: Can Condoms Kill? I was delighted to read such an overtly Catholic critique on a modern medical issue such as this, which would never have graced the pages of Triple Helix (the evangelical "Christian Medical Fellowship" publication). Once I'd read this article, I knew I had made the right choice on leaving an evangelical organisation (CMF) for a Catholic one. Contrary to what Dr. Anon writes, I feel the editorial need not encourage debate around these issues, since we are faced constantly with that in the secular world. Indeed, I think he will find publications like The Tablet provide more than enough "debate on Church teaching". I encourage education and elaboration of orthodox teaching. To quote St. Paul; "I beseech you, brethren... that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that you be perfect in the same mind, and in the same judgement" (1 Cor 1:10).

Personally speaking, I welcome a publication which embraces Church teaching on controversial ethical issues, and helps Catholics in the medical profession apply these to their careers and make sense of what is going on. As a medical student I often feel pressured into adopting a particular way of thinking by doctors who are my superiors. Never was this more tangible than when I sat in on a consultation with a gynaecologist and a mother requesting an abortion. I appreciate the articles in CMQ because most of all I feel it represents that part of the communion of Christians, the Body of Christ, where "if one member glory, all the members rejoice" (1 Cor 12:26) and indeed I rejoice at the help and support I feel by being a member.

I look forward to participating further in the Guild, and encourage a true and orthodox Catholic understanding of the profession, one which extends beyond just looking to the Bible (I refer to my experience of CMF) and embraces apostolic tradition and the true light of Christ "which enlighteneth every man" (John 1:9), active in the One Church he so lovingly established here on earth.

Yours Sincerely

An interesting complement to this is the letter of resignation I wrote to the CMF (Christian Medical Fellowship) around the same time. Not renewing membership is unfortunately not sufficient to stop them sending their material, and I didn't want to be an expense to them. I also wanted to clear my conscience after signing their preposterous 'agreement' declaration when I was still a naive lapsed Catholic finding my way back to the faith. Here is a copy:

Re: Termination of membership

Please understand that this is a very difficult letter for me to write, mainly because it makes me acutely aware of the disunity that is present among Christians1, often for reasons alien to individuals themselves.

I have a background of being brought up in a nominal Catholic household, and as a result I gained an excellent grounding in the tenets of the Christian faith (especially through a Catholic focused Religious Studies GCSE). However, due to various crises in my life, I lapsed in my faith and became cynical towards religion altogether.

I thank my local CMF branch hugely for its part during my return to faith. After having married a Christian I wanted to get involved in CMF because it fostered stimulating ethical discussion which was relevant to my career. At the same time many other situations in my life were being used by God to bring me back to a fully practising faith.

Independent of my own persuasions, my wife decided to convert to Catholicism. I was extremely hurt to read an article on "Roman Catholicism" on the CMF website, contained in the section: Other Religions and Cults. Reading the article, I could see its many flaws because I had a personal and biblical understanding of the Catholic faith itself. I was pleased once the website was restructured to see the previous classification had been removed. The article itself, still present, made me aware of the fundamental flaws in evangelical theology; the author was using the Bible to disprove the very Church that wrote and compiled the Bible as we know it (give or take some alterations by Martin Luther in the 16th Century)!

Once my wife and I had discovered the fullness of faith that was present in the Catholic Church, our relationship reached a new level of intimacy and love, which I am grateful to God for. In short, my life feels fulfilled in a way I never dreamed of, and this consists of my honour and love of God as father, and the Church as mother2.

But none of this explains why I feel the need to resign from the Christian Medical Fellowship. Well, being an organisation which clearly displays evangelical tendencies, I note with regard to your membership declaration a required set of core beliefs; "Faith in God the Father and in God the Son the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, and in God the Holy Spirit; and who accept the Bible as supreme authority in matters of faith and conduct". I don't intend this letter to be a theological exegesis, but just wanted to explain why I can no longer subscribe to the last of these statements: "accept the Bible as supreme authority in matters of faith and conduct". In doing so, I affirm my utmost veneration of the Bible, and do not wish my failure to abide by this statement to appear indicative of a disregard for Sacred Scripture.

I see in the declaration statement definite shades of the 16th century reformers principle "sola scriptura" (by scripture alone). Ironically this principle is to be found nowhere in the bible. Instead, scripture affirms its own importance and authority alongside sacred Tradition and the magisterium of the Church. Of particular note, St. Paul describes the Church as the "pillar and support of the truth"3 and encourages the Corinthians to "maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you"4. For although Jesus condemned "human tradition" which made "void the word of God"5, he certainly didn't condemn Sacred Tradition; the handing down of the faith through apostolic succession, seen when St. Paul encourages Timothy in the teachings he had passed on6.

The reason why I accept the Church as authoritative in matters of faith and conduct, is because Christ established it upon the "rock" of St. Peter7 and assured his disciples that anyone rejecting them would be rejecting Jesus, and God8. He gave the Church authority to forgive sins9, to discipline its members10, and this whole structure helps to safeguard against heresy, disunity and sin; from the theological vagaries arising from private interpretation of the Bible and tradition dissociated from Church teaching. This unity was unchallenged for a thousand years, after which time the eastern orthodox religions continued separately, but still preserved the same doctrines which were rejected during the protestant reformation in the 16th century. I believe and uphold Christ's promise to St. Peter; that the gates of hell would never prevail against his Church11 (despite what the reformers claimed). The mission of the Church is only as powerful as God's grace, with the help and unity of the Holy Spirit12.

I hope I have helped to show that Catholics love scripture and that it affirms the wonderful basis of God's Church. As a faithful Catholic, I am following my own conscience by withdrawing my membership with CMF, based on the declaration statement. I am very grateful for all the support CMF has given me, and have thoroughly enjoyed my time with you. I pray that all your future endeavours may be fruitful and showered with God's grace, even if it excludes faithful Catholics such as myself.

Yours sincerely,

References
1) I unite my prayer with that of Christ, the high priest: John
17:20-21
2) the bride of Christ: Eph 5:25, Rev 19:7-8
3) 1 Tim 3:15
4) 1 Cor 11:2
5) Mark 7:1-13
6) Eg 2 Tim 1:13, 2:2
7) Matt 16:18
8) Luke 10:16
9) John 20:22-23
10) Matt 18:17-18, 16:19
11) Matt 16:18
12) Luke 24:46-49

I hope those CMF members who refute any incompatibility between the two organisations will take note. I agree with my spiritual director that apologetics isn't an effective way to convert souls (it takes more than just intellectual persuasion for the grace of God to change hearts and minds!) but I like to think that it is a good way of protecting ourselves against threats to the Faith.

I had to recently write a reply to the CMQ after a CMF member wrote to complain that I was creating 'unnecessary divisions' between the two organisations (based on my first letter, above. I doubt the second letter would ever be published by the CMF, or widely shown to anyone!). Before I reproduce that letter in full (and likely bore you!) I will wait and see if the editor prints it. It is going 'off subject' quite a bit, when compared with some other wonderful letters.

As many know, I am highly sceptical of the ecumenical movement because it creates such misconceptions as "we're all the same really" or that "we share the essentials" (as if the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or her glorious assumption, or immaculate conception, is somehow dispensable!). Well, the way we can work together on pro-life issues, like combating the recent 'assisted suicide' bill (more on that later) is fantastic. But that doesn't mean we have to be part of each other's clubs, does it?

Welcome to my Blog

I warmly welcome you into my life! It will take a long time for this blog to get up and running, and I cannot hope for it to be nearly as interesting as those blogs I read regularly... but in any case, here is my humble attempt!

I imagine my musings with revolve around the world through my eyes:

• the eyes of a medical student, soon to be a doctor;
• the eyes of a young Catholic perplexed and transfixed by the Faith;
• the eyes of a married man;
• the eyes of a new father.

I hope that anyone interested in these things will glean some joy to see my struggling with life in all its complexities! I shall especially enjoy posting the photographs I love taking, and sharing these with anyone who knows me.

I am also excited to turn my unproductive web-browsing into something useful and concrete: and to reach out to the blogging community to share some of the experiences which would otherwise remain private.

God bless you all and please pray for me!