...... " this leads to - a journey that lasts a lifetime . From Baptism to Death, we move from earning the privilege of calling God Father , to the end in eternal life which Jesus made available to us through His Death and Resurrection. In the course of our always epic journey faith brings us belief in the Triune God, the Father Who willed the Son should come, the Son Who came to save not to condemn and the Holy Spirit Who leads the Church toward the return of Christ in glory.This Triune God is Love as St .John tells us."
TONY DIXON WRITES was the title I chose for a new Blog in order to do two things:
A. to introduce my writings, since I wandered into the Bloggerverse in 2009 on 14th December. to even more readers Quite a lot of water has "flowed under the bridge" and many thousands of words have been posted to my Blogs since then. n
No doubt, very many new potential readers have ventured onto the stage, just as I edge ever closer to my final exit ( but that is all in God's Hands). So I thought I should do what I can to re-organise these posts and try to simplify access to them. But getting a new URL registered on Blogger is now much more difficult as the field has become more crowded.
"PORTA FIDEI" the Gate of Faith, did not originally offer the blogging opportunities I had hoped, and after 25th May, 2012 has somewhat languished. This has led me to press it into service for my present purpose. It works rather well since, as we were told in the beginning, the gate of Faith leads to a journey that lasts a lifetime .....and beyond.
And B -So in it's new "life" PORTA FIDEI will go on from it's beginnings and reflect not only the journey of MY lifetime, but also the long journey of the lifetime to date, of Christ's Church which came to call itself "CATHOLIC" from about 60 years after His glorious Resurrection. So, we will be presenting a lively mixture of my present thoughts and my reflections on , and accounts of the long History of the Church from the beginning to the present.
Let us start with the very first Post on "Vexilla-Regis.Blogspot " way back in 2009.
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THE BANNERS OF THE KING
BENEDICT XVI ADJUSTS THE SAILS ON PETER’S BARQUE AND SEEKS TO STRENGTHEN THE OFFICERS
The course set remains the same – toward the Master in Heaven by the
most direct route. But it is obvious that the Holy Father is far from
being satisfied with the way the sacred barque has been proceeding.
In the Year of St. Paul which closed on 29th June, 2009 he had us all
consider the total dedication, boundless energy and zeal of St. Paul –
burning with love for Christ whilst using all of his mental agility and
deep learning for the spiritual good of his children in Christ. So the
cry is to set more sail, and take advantage of the force of the true
“Divine Wind”- the Holy Spirit of God, even as Paul did.
Just as the good mariner knows that his crew have to be trained very
well if the ship is to be driven hard without coming to grief, Pope
Benedict has taken the measure of his “officers” the ordained clergy.
His paternal affection for them is patent. Yet he knows what they have
experienced in the years since the Council - the years of the false
“spirit of the Council”. He sees the signs of the problems widely in
evidence – he sees where the sails are slack, the rigging not tended,
the crew looking for faithful leaders or sometimes disaffected, some
officers giving scandal to the crew and comfort to the Enemy.
By inaugurating the Year of the Priest (from the Feast of the Sacred
Heart 19th June, 2009 to the same Feast 11th June, 2010) he calls the
“officers “back to basics and urges them to immerse themselves in Christ
– to daily offer their lives in sacrifice and to draw deeply from the
Sacred Scriptures in forming themselves. And he sets before them the
very model of the good priest – the sainted Jean Marie Vianney the Cure
of Ars.
At the same time, Pope Benedict XVI has been constantly working to
restore the sense of Catholic identity throughout the Church in many
ways. After all, this is Christ’s Church. He founded it and no other. No
other body of people claiming to follow Him was intended and founded by
Him no other is His Mystical Body. Pope Benedict sees the need for us
to act and comport ourselves accordingly. No sailor in any earthly
vessel would allow his ship to be abused by enemies or regarded as an
equal by alien vessels however harmless. The more respect they have for
their ship and for their membership of her crew, the more professional
they are and the more effective she is in her mission. Just so with the
sacred barque of Peter. Pope Benedict knows that if we are to be
effective as members of the Mystical Body of Christ we must know who we
are, act accordingly believe what Christ’s Church teaches, do what she
does and love her and her traditions and history with full, loyal and
devoted hearts and every ounce of our energy. There is nothing like the
Catholic Church – founded by God for His purpose – the salvation of
mankind. Every Catholic needs to realize with humility the unique
privilege we share, and never compromise it.
It is tempting to say “how lucky we are to have such a truly holy, wise
and learned Pope”. But´ luck” has nothing to do with it. The Holy Spirit
has brought us this blessing and is guiding Benedict XVI at the helm of
the Sacred Barque. Even though the seas are adverse, she is being urged
forward as hard as can be. History has shown that in these conditions
she comes through with flying colours, and her colours are the”Vexilla
Regis”- the banners of the King.
THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN FOUNDATION JUNE 2009
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