FM RADIO

I read the other day that it is likely that FM radio will be switched of in 2015 if not before so that Digital Radio can take over. I’ve searched the net today to discover that this is probably right which means that for most people their car radio’s and their home radio’s will become obsolete and will have to be replaced by expensive DAB radio’s Although they have come down in price they are still quite expensive and in some areas not very efficient. As someone who listens to Radio 4 and Classic FM frequently both in the car and at home the thought of losing them is very galling and the thought of having to replace everything daunting.  What infuriates me is that FM Radio works perfectly well so why do we have to change it – I suspect it is to boost the sale of DAB radio’s and for the benefit of Radio Stations. Please consider raising this with your MP.

REMEMBERING

November is the month when we remember; it starts with All Saints Day when we remember all those people who are God’s Saints but who have never been acknowledged. This is followed on 2nd November when we remember all our past relations, friends and benefactors who have died. And then on 11th November and on Remembrance Sunday this year on the 13th November we remember all those who have given their lives in two world wars and in many other conflicts since including Suez, Korea, Vietnam, The Falklands, The Gulf, Bosnia, Iraq and where they continue to do so in Afghanistan Some people take the view that Remembrance Sunday is jingoistic but I believe that it is important to our present generation that we remind them of the great sacrifice made when men and women laid down their lives in the service of their country and which they continue to do in Afghanistan, for example. We might totally disagree with war nevertheless those who died are entitled to, and are deserving, of our prayers. Those of us who lived through the terror of the Second World War remember the nights when enemy bombers did their best to destroy our country. We remember the sadness when someone we knew was killed in the air raids or who didn’t come back from the war. These people were parents, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters. Those of us who have visited the War Cemeteries and have seen the rows and rows of war graves understand that a generation of young men died in World War 1 defeating the expansionist policy of a corrupt empire and in World War 2 in defeating the evil of the Hitler Regime. But if Remembrance Sunday is to be purposeful it must be the time when we recommit ourselves to work and pray for peace in our world. Our prayers are to a God “from whom all truth and peace proceed” a God who alone can bring his peace, a peace that passes all human understanding, into a world still torn apart by war. I will be the first to support the abolition of Remembrance Sunday when all nations renounce nuclear and other weapons, when as the prophet says swords are turned into ploughs. Until that day comes we need to remind ourselves of the evil of war, the destruction and death and injury it causes. And to pray for those, our friends but also our enemies, who out of time, lost their lives that they may rest in peace and rise in glory.

M5 CRASH

The M5 motorway crash has caused at least 7 dead and 51 injured in 34 vehicles. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been injured and the families of those who have died and we pray for their repose of the deceased. The police, Ambulance Crews and the Fire Brigade have worked for 24 hours on this tragic incident.

"EXECUTIVE” COMPENSATION!!!!!!!!

Listening to Radio 4’s Today this morning I was intrigued to hear Bob Diamond, Chief Executive of Barclays Bank talk about “executive compensation“ which we normal mortals would call “pay” or “remuneration”. After prevaricating about his own “compensation” he finally admitted that, excluding his bonus which is up to the Board of Directors, his salary is in excess of £1 million per annum.

For me this presents the question as to whether anyone, anyone at all, is worth that sort of money and I include in that pop stars.TV personalities, footballers etc..No wonder those protestors are at St. Paul’s Cathedral. They see a world when those with very little are hammered into the ground when the very people who caused our present economic state of affairs continue to enjoy the sort of massive “compensation” bankers are getting. No wonder they are angry, very angry indeed.

POPE BENEDICT XVI AT TODAY’S GENERAL AUDIENCE

“Dear Brothers and Sisters, today, the day after the Solemnity of All Saints, the Church invites us to pray for the faithful departed.  This yearly commemoration, often marked by visits to the cemetery, is an occasion to ponder the mystery of death and to renew our faith in the promise of eternal life held out to us by Christ’s resurrection. 

As human beings, we have a natural fear of death and we rebel against its apparent finality.  Faith teaches us that the fear of death is lightened by a great hope, the hope of eternity, which gives our lives their fullest meaning.  The God who is love offers us the promise of eternal life through the death and resurrection of his Son. In Christ, death no longer appears as an abyss of emptiness, but rather a path to life which will never end.  

Christ is the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in him will never die.  Each Sunday, in reciting the Creed, we reaffirm our faith in this mystery.  As we remember our dear departed ones, united with them in the communion of the saints, may our faith inspire us to follow Christ more closely and to work in this world to build a future of hope.

ALL SOULS DAY

Prayer for All the Deceased

By Thy resurrection from the dead, O Christ, death no longer hath dominion over those who die in holiness. So, we beseech Thee, give rest to Thy servants in Thy sanctuary and in Abraham's bosom. Grant it to those, who from Adam until now have adored Thee with purity, to our fathers and brothers, to our kinsmen and friends, to all men who have lived by faith and passed on their road to Thee, by a thousand ways, and in all conditions, and make them worthy of the heavenly kingdom. from the Byzantine Divine Liturgy

Catholic Collect from the Mass for the Dead

[for all our departed brothers and sisters]
Merciful Father,
hear our prayer and console us.
As we renew our faith in Your Son,
whom You raised from the dead,
strengthen our hope
that all our departed brothers and sisters
will share in His resurrection,
who lives and reigns
with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Benedictine Collect for All Souls Day

We suppliants, O Lord,
pour forth our prayers
for the souls of Thy servants and handmaids,
that Thou wouldst mercifully pardon
whatsoever they have committed
through human frailty
and graciously bring their sufferings to an end.
Through Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
From the Benedictine Diurnal

Eternal Rest grant unto them,O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

ALL SAINTS DAY

1. For all the saints, who from their labours rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,

Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;

Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;

Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

3. For the Apostles’ glorious company,

Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,

Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:

Alleluia, Alleluia!

4. For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,

Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,

Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

5. For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,

Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,

And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

6. O blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

7. O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,

Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,

And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

8. And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,

And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

9. The golden evening brightens in the west;

Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;

Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

10. But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;

The saints triumphant rise in bright array;

The King of glory passes on His way.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

11. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,

Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,

And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:

Alleluia, Alleluia!

Bishop William Walsham How 1823-1897

Here are the original words – most hymn books omit verses 3, 4 & 5.