Friends and life

Continuing on the theme of reflecting on friends; let me direct you to a good mate, Dom Andrew Berry, who has written a short piece for the Year of the Priest blog. The blog is organised, administered and written by the students of Oscott College, the diocesan seminary in Birmingham. It's a good read (though guys you should write more often) and very encouraging not only of vocations but faith also. I'm not sure that seminarians appreciate just how much they can influence the lives of the people around them. Well, let us be honest, I didn't realise.

Andrew has written a heartening piece reflective of his time in seminary. You can read it here but I wanted to draw out a few words which I found helpful. Andrew says:

To speak of life in community is to speak of a journey through a wild and windy landscape, a place of hills and valleys, of great beauty and heart wrenching loneliness. However, like Elijah sheltering in a cave, God comes when He is least expected and whispers words that touch the very depths of the heart and the one we long for becomes a reality beyond anything hoped for. A more down to earth description of community life would be to compare it to using a computer, it can be frustrating, annoying and at times you want to give up on it but at the end of the day you know you’d be lost without it.

Only a monk could write so eloquently about life in community. It makes me smile when I think back. Thanks, Andrew, for that.

Please pray for our holy monk, too. His ordination to the Sacred Priesthood is fast approaching and I'm sure he could use all the help we can muster. God be with you in these final weeks, brother.