Last week, a Family Court judge (Justice Peter Murphy) stepped down from hearing a case, having been unable to get the parents to agree about anything. (Herald Sun, 4 February)

He described their disputing as “pathetic, stupid and relentless”.

The 12-year old daughter had had to call the police because the parents couldn’t agree on a drop-off point in a park.

* * *

In our culture, marriage has always been society’s attempt to provide the most stable environment for a child to be born into and reared in.

That’s why Matrimony is a Sacrament of the Church . . . .

Marriage is primarily about the welfare of children.

God’s children.

Parents join with God, cooperating in his role as creator — becoming co-creators with God.

Being a Sacrament, marriage brings with it real, objective, literal grace — the power to do God’s will in a way impossible without such grace . . . .

* * *

Not everything calling itself marriage is marriage.

Performances with no priest, but lay “celebrants” . . . .

Held at sites other than a church . . . .

The couple not having prepared themselves by going to Confession . . . .

Do we really expect any benefit from such happenings?

NSW Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, proposes that new recruits for the police force must have no tattoos.

Opposition party spokesman, John Robertson, calls the suggestion “absurd”: focussing on something trivial instead of on investigating serious crime.

The police response is that the move is about “professionalism”.

* * *

Most, or at least many, tattoos depict themes like the occult, sex, wild animals, weapons etc. – symbols of rebellion against society’s constraints.

Is it too much to require somebody wishing to make a career of upholding society’s values to avoid looking as though heshe has a hankering for a bit of the opposite?

* * *

True religion has always been suspicious of tattoos.

The Bible itself says, “You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead; neither shall you make in yourselves any figures or marks.” (Leviticus chapter 19)

The impression is that God forbade these things because they were common amongst the surrounding tribes which followed false religions and gods.

Tattooing probably isn’t a black and white issue, but going against fashion in order to ensure that your example will not cause confusion – that sounds a good way to go.

Margaret Court is the women’s tennis equivalent of Don Bradman.

Perhaps the greatest female athlete Australia has produced.

Winner of all four Grand Slam tournament singles titles in the same calendar year (1970).

She won a record 62 Major titles overall.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame states, “For sheer strength of performance and accomplishment there has never been a tennis player to match her”.

* * *

Margaret Court still gets into the news.

Yesterday, for example.

She apparently said, “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman . . . I believe it’s important for young people to know that . . . .”

And, “I say what God says, and that’s why I’ve spoken out.”

Mrs Court, a lapsed Catholic, is now an office bearer in a Pentecostal group.

She has said that homosexuality is often the result of sexual abuse.

This resulted in a “backlash” with people saying there is no scientific evidence of such a connection.

There is, of course, but that is hardly the point.

The point is that homosexual acts are contrary to natural law and young people should know that and should be protected from entrapment.

Something to think about.

Sing loudly.

Repeat the last line of each verse.

* * *

My dog is old now (fifteen years), his eyes are nearly blind.

Yet though his hips and joints are stiff, he doesn’t seem to mind.

He’s not in pain, he eats his food, he persecutes the cat;

So we’re still pleased to have him round, except for one sad fact . . . .

He drops bowel actions randomly, he does them anywhere,

In carport, rumpus room or lounge, no longer does he care.

The moment that the urge comes on, he does one on the spot;

He cares not, be the time or place appropriate or not . . . .

In this respect he’s something like young people and their ways;

Their habits with regard to sex and how it’s done today.

Like Dog, they don’t repress themselves, they do it anytime:

In couples, groups, same-sex or straight, without reason or rhyme . . . .

They spread embarrassing disease, it’s not mysterious.

The body fluids they love to share contain a lot of pus.

The germs they catch on Friday night from Fanny or from Dick,

They give to someone else next day — soon all their friends are sick . . . .

All kinds of sins God will forgive, including unwed sex.

He wants us to enjoy his love in this world and the next.

But first we must be penitent, abandoning our faults:

This is for all, both young and old, the only hope we’ve got . . . .

It seems as though Bernard Tomic cheated in his match against Alexandr Dolgopolov the other night.

When interviewed, he showed no remorse.

He is a young man. There should be somebody guiding him.

Perhaps with his great talent etc., winning has become too much of a priority with him.

* * *

We can all understand to some extent how tempting it was for him to do what he did.

We all have temptations.

What should BT do now?

First, he should go to confession.

Then do whatever the priest prescribes for him as penance.

If he is told to withdraw from the tournament, he should do so without complaint or comment.

* * *

Professional sport is responsible for so much bad human behaviour.

For example: gambling, drug use, self-absorption by the players.

Obsession with passive and trivial pursuits by spectators and TV watchers, plus more gambling.

Can we weed professional sport out of our society?

Not easy.

One at a time we can, as individuals, stop taking any interest in it.

That will be a start.

Canada’s Liberal Party has voted to legalise marijuana if and when they get into power.

Their policy is that legalisation will “ensure the regulation and taxation of its production, distribution and use, while enacting strict penalties for illegal trafficking, etc.”

An unrealistic policy, rivalling the naivety of Australia’s Greens Party.

* * *

We have had, for years, scientific proof that marijuana has serious mental health risks

Marijuana is known to trigger psychosis in some people and makes any pre-existing mental illness worse.

Marijuana users with a family history of mental illness are the ones most likely to develop schizophrenia.

* * *

Yet there are still paid “experts” in the drugs field who espouse what they call “harm-minimisation”.

Which, in English, means tolerating the use of addictive and dangerous drugs and hoping nothing bad will happen.

Such a slack attitude will seem to future generations to rank alongside those tame “experts” of the past, who used to make statements suggesting that cigarettes were not a health hazard.