Prayer and discernment aren't even an option then? Not to be considered for even a few brief seconds? Fine God bless. Byeee. I'll leave you to it.
I can really only comment on my own remarkable capacity for ignorance, something I continue to try and reduce, but I would consider myself impertinent to claim the excuse of invincibility given that I was fortunate enough to have been born into a Catholic milieu. The suspicion exists that those within the Church who have received an extensive education in her dogmas and doctrines would be presumptuous to use that excuse. Frankly, it smacks of self-delusion.
Grimethorpe is in South Yorkshire, so I'm guessing it's English countryside. (Talking of collieries, on a side note, the UK's last deep coal mine closed today) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3364501/The-end-coal-era.html
Our house, built in 1910, used to heat with coal. It still has a coal bin in the basement with little pieces of coal still stuck in the cracks. Over the years they converted to natural gas and the coal bin was turned to storage and in some kind of wretched madness covered ALL the lovely lathe and plaster walls with terrible terrible ugly dark paneling. I am happy to not to have to use coal, I have had to heat with coal a few times and it's hard to light and very dirty, but the paneling? what a heartbreak. As I remove the panels, before I can repair the plaster I have to wash the walls for there us a fine layer of soot everywhere. I use the time cleaning to pray and ponder and think about my soul. About the blackness that accumulates, about trying to cover it up but having it be even uglier than before and when it is finally exposed, how simple it is to clean once you stop the cause of the blackness. I pray that Jesus will wash me clean too. For the miners:
DG yes you are right I think, to those who have been given much, much is expected. I suppose I am reacting a little to those smug Catholic teachers that I have encountered in my life who somehow believe they have come to a place where there is nothing new that the world or any other religion can teach Catholics. Everything moral or mystical has a clear answer. Yet there have also been teachers who, despite their erudition, still looked out upon the world like children, searching for fresh perspectives on issues they did not pretend to believe were adequately answered.
The official olive oil: (ANSA) - Arezzo, February 2 - An olive oil producer near Arezzo in Tuscany has been tasked with producing the official olive oil for the pope's Holy Year of Mercy currently underway, media reported Tuesday. The Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation has appointed Oleificio Morettini in Monte San Savino as the exclusive producer of the 'Jubilee oil', which will be used in all meals served at the Vatican and available for purchase at authorised sales points around the capital. The cold-pressed oil, extracted from a selection of the finest Italian olives, will be marketed in specially designed cans carrying the logo of an olive tree resembling a cross. "The intuition of the can responds to Pope Francis' desire to export the Jubilee to all parts of the world, through a product that prilgrims can easily take with them and use in their homes as a symbol of this great event," sales director Alberto Morettini said. http://www.teatronaturale.it/raccon...el-giubileo-della-misericordia-e-italiano.htm
