Marriage

A homily given today on the Sacrament of Marriage.

Wk 27, OT, Yr B

One day a bishop was visiting children before their confirmation and he asked one small boy, “What is matrimony?” The nervous young man said: “A place where souls suffer for a time for their sins!” “No, no” said the parish priest, “that is purgatory”. “Let him be” said the bishop, “he could be right, what do you and I know about it?” Indeed, what do I, a celibate man know about marriage? Well, I know what Scripture says, and I know what Jesus says in today’s Gospel and I know what the Church teaches!

The temptation to think of marriage as an outdated mode of living together that has served its purpose is roundly refuted by today’s reading from Genesis. We did not think up marriage as a convenient way of organising society. Rather it has always been God’s plan for man and woman to be together as one. The very first action of God in relation to us as a community is to create woman from the rib of Adam.

Many will point to this action of God’s and present the case to show women are, therefore, less than the totality of man, or that they are but a part of man. These people are simply wrong! There is no evidence to suggest that women are subservient to men, indeed it demonstrated that we are all made of the same flesh. We are all created in love by the one God. No marriage will succeed if there is anything less than absolute equality.

That is not to say that men and women are the same. No. They are complimentary to one another; they fit together and, as Jesus says: “they are no longer two but one flesh”. Anselm Grün, in his book: The Seven Sacraments says “husband and wife become one flesh, which terminates any kind of dualism. Our longing for unity is fulfilled in marriage. Human beings suffer from division.”

It is deep within us that we should be together and this is perfectly achieved within a happy marriage with sexual union, the fruit of which is, of course, children. How often do we describe a child as God’s blessing upon a marriage?

Walter Schubart wrote, movingly, of this human longing for unity. He says: “We can hear the distant roar of the ocean’s power in a tiny shell, and in the sound of our beloved breathing we sense nature as a whole. You are made to be freed from this loneliness, it says. Now you can leave yourself and meet the one person to whom you can say You with utter tenderness. He or she is your helpmate, and leads you to God. Ultimately, love between the sexes takes a human being into the arms of the Deity, and removes the gulf between me and you, me and the world, the world and God.”

The Compendium to the Catechism describes the goods of marriage as: “the communion and good of the couple and to the generation and education of children.” A family is, therefore, rightly described as the Domestic Church. The essence of the whole Church is present in a loving family where each family member exercises their “baptismal priesthood and contributes towards making a family a community of grace and of prayer, a school of human and Christian virtue.” This is the lived reality of the Sacrament of Matrimony. Like all the sacraments, it is the visible manifestation of the invisible reality which each partner promises on the day of their wedding.

When Jesus says “let no one separate what God has joined”, He speaks of the indissolubility of marriage. God has, if you like, created the marriage and, therefore, it is not within the power of man to dissolve that marriage. There can be no divorce, no matter how much we may want it, how much we may justify it or how often we experience it. This is why the Church has always rejected divorce, as it rejects adultery, polygamy and bigamy. It is of God which we speak.

Marriage is not, however, an ideal to which we aspire, never expecting to achieve it. It is not to say that everything in the garden is rosy; far from it. You and I come from parents who, almost as soon as they were created, were ejected from Eden because of their choices. We are a sinful people, and we are in need of God’s love and mercy and compassion, and He is a compassionate God.

Of course we go astray. Of course we live lives that are not worthy of the name Christian. Of course we are challenged by the teaching of the Church. We must, however, not heap sin upon sin by falling victim to pride and begin to write the teachings of Christ as we would have them written. It is such a temptation: to imagine that I know best. Because what I ‘feel’ is love it must be of God and, therefore, the Church’s ancient Tradition must be wrong. Not so, not so. John Henry Cardinal Newman once said that to the Pope, yes, but to my conscience first. The best guidance we can have, if not the Tradition of the Church, is a well informed conscience to which we are honest with ourselves in the light of God’s direction.

Whatever state in which we find ourselves: let in the love of God. He created us, male and female, He created us. We are his loving creation and he seeks only to love us. He is closer to us than the air we breathe. His love is unconditional and though we sometimes find the road hard, He is there to guide us and bring us to eternal life with him. We can, confidently, agree with the psalmist who says: “May the Lord bless us all the days of our life.”

Confession or Reconciliation

This interesting piece in Zenit, today, offers some way to see that Confession is Reconciliation. I particularly loved the line: "It is the sacrament of peace with oneself." Speaking to one of the Dominican Confessors from St Mary Major in Rome, he describes it as the Sacrament of Peace:

Sacrament of peace

The priest emphasized the importance that the faithful see this sacrament as a gift and not as a punishment: "We must approach confession to receive this forgiveness. Herein lies the beauty of confession. It is the sacrament of peace with oneself."

And, as in any job, there are days that are busier than others, in which more faithful come and the lines grow long: "In Advent, Lent, the first Fridays of the month there are many more. It is a wonderful experience to see a person repent."

But, why should I tell my sins to a priest? Why can I not confess to God directly? These are questions that thousands of Catholics ask themselves. Father Fernandez explained: "No one has seen God. The relationship with him is mediated. In our faith, this mediation is through the sacraments, faith and mystical experience.

"In order to confess, one must have faith, believe in God, know one's sins and repent. It is not a way imposed by the Church. It is a way indicated to us by faith."

Father Fernández pointed out the real meaning of confession: "It isn't a psychological consultancy, giving one a human reason for one's problems. Above all, it is forgiveness."

He also noted that it is a sacrament that Benedict XVI has greatly emphasized in this Year of the Priest. "The fact that the Pope recommends to priests that we sit to hear confessions, means that we must be conscious of our identity and sanctification," the confessor said.

Father Fernández added that one can't give what he does not have.

"One learns to confess by confessing," he said. "It would be hard to be a confessor if one doesn't confess oneself well."

This I have to agree with. Also, as I have found, the grace is a two way thing. I've no doubt that when in Confession and ministering to the people of God there is Grace being poured out, but I didn't really expect it to effect me so much as it does. So, if you're thinking of going to Confession, think of the effect it will have on the priest. I'm sure I'm right in saying that any priest would love to hear your Confession.

Caravaggio

I was very excited to read in my inbox, today, Elizabeth Lev's piece on zenit, here. She writes about one of my favourite pieces of art: Caravaggio's 'Taking of Christ'. It is on loan from the Jesuits and hangs at the National Gallery in Dublin. A must-see when visiting that fine city. Elizabeth retells the dramatic story of it's discovery after being lost for so long. The wonderful way she describes Caravaggio's marvelous use of art to portray the treachery of Judas on that fateful night long ago is very good. Do read the report in full, but here are a few snippets:

The work was painted by Caravaggio around 1601-3, the years when he lived in the home of his powerful patron Ciriaco Mattei. He had just completed his major religious commissions at Santa Maria del Popolo and San Luigi dei Francesi, unveiling his revolutionary technique of using light and shadow to enhance the drama of his sacred stories.

Caravaggio was still flaunting his extraordinary skill at still life painting, apparent in the metal armor of the soldiers, the rich blue wool of Christ’s robe and the opaque paper of the lantern. But the dazzling virtuosity of his brush pales before his narrative power.

From the right, three soldiers crowd roughly toward Christ, with a figure at the end holding aloft a lamp to illuminate the scene. The absolute center of the painting however, remains empty, heads and arms leaving a large gap at the very focal point of the work.

This brief caesura heightens the tension of the left-hand part of the work. Judas, his face distorted, leans toward Christ to bestow his kiss of betrayal. The contrast between Christ and Judas could not be greater. Cheek to cheek with Jesus, Judas thrusts himself forward, actively perpetrating this ultimate treachery. Christ on the other hand, with downcast eyes and hands still clasped in prayer, expresses both the profound sadness at Judas’ act as well as the acceptance of his passion. On the far left, St. John runs away, and his red robe, grasped by the soldier forms a scarlet curtain around Jesus and Judas.

Does God exist?

Thanks are due to American Papist for bringing this great little video from youtube to my screen. Love it....

Is Ruth Gledhill correct?

Ruth Gledhill is saying "Tomorrow the Holy See will name Bishop Bernard Longley as the new Archbishop of Birmingham."

I wonder.... good news, so far as I'm concerned.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us Sinners...

I just have to share this with you, if you didn't already get it on ICN, the Catholic online news service.

Mary Wang writes about waiting at a hospital A&E department. Having been on call at the University Hospital this week, and being called out to an emergency, Mary's reflection rang so many familiar bells. I was struck, spending just a few minutes in the A&E just how stressful it was for so many people. Mary writes:

"Midnight in the waiting room for Accident & Emergency, and you can tell who the worried newcomers are. They pace around and still think it will make a difference to their place in the queue if they hassle the poor receptionist every twenty minutes. A few years ago there was a time when I regularly needed to take someone with a heart problem to the Accident and Emergency department. The first few times were quite stressful and I was unprepared. After the canteen shut I couldn’t find anywhere to get us food whilst waiting through the night. Or I’d worn a thick top which was sweltering in the hospital, kept warm for patients in nightclothes. The general feeling was one of worry and anxiety, all that mattered was getting to the front of the queue. After a few visits we were more prepared. I had a bag packed and ready with change for parking and for the coffee machine, snacks, enough books and newspapers for us to last through hours of waiting and treatment, and a fully charged mobile phone."

I do commend the whole piece to you, and especially the link to Our Lady who teaches us much about waiting.

Homily of a couple of Sundays back

24^th Sunday, OT, Year B

In the women’s concentration camp of Ravensbruck an unknown prisoner wrote this prayer on a torn piece of wrapping paper and left it on the body of a dead child, later to be found in her clothing:

Oh Lord, remember not only the men and women of goodwill, but also those of ill will. But do not only remember the suffering they have inflicted on us; remember also the fruits we reaped, thanks to this suffering: Our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgement, let all the fruits we have borne be their forgiveness.

It seems unimaginable that in the midst of such suffering someone could pray for those killing them. Truly such a person is a martyr to their faith in God. The prophet Isaiah presents, in his third Servant Song, the picture of the perfect disciple: Someone who makes no resistance nor turns away from those who strike and insult him. He knows he can rely on the Lord in his hour of need. In the midst of his suffering his faith is strengthened.

A question often asked of a priest, asked of those who are Christian, is: why does God allow suffering? Now, there are many complex aspects to the answer to this deeply human dilemma, all of which ultimately lead us to delve into the mystery of Christ and of our Faith. There is no human answer which satisfies those with a hungry mind, or those who seek to undermine our faith and much less those who are in the midst of deep personal suffering.

Suffering has many faces, but in the end it is the cross of Christ and it is a mystery. Jesus tells his disciples, today, for the first time that the Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously and to be put to death. He invites those around him, and this includes you and me, that if we wish to be a follower of His, then we must take up our cross and follow Him.

What is this suffering, then? Is it to suffer because of our sins? The result of our freedom to choose: pride, selfishness, greed, envy. If I am inquisitive and put my eye to the keyhole to see what is happening next door, then I catch a cold in the eye! Is it suffering because we are followers of Christ, in love to the point of martyrdom? Could I pray for those who persecute me, those who ridicule my Faith or pour scorn upon me because I fail in my professed Christian values? If I was a nurse, would I have the courage to suffer the loss of my job because I refused to assist in an abortion?

Or is it the suffering God gives us to prune and cut back, like the gardener who prunes the vine that yet more fruit will grow? Perhaps it is the suffering inflicted by others, intentionally or unintentionally. One thing is certain, however, that Jesus does not teach in parables regarding the pain He will suffer. He is quite open and we should not, therefore, deny that suffering is a part of our Christian life. That is not to say that God inflicts or even desires that we suffer for its own self. He does not desire that we be in pain because He is a cruel and harsh God.

Christ shows us, through His cross, the way to the resurrection and it is a way that is for others. He did not die in order that He could get into heaven. Jesus Christ is and was always fully divine. He died in order that we could get into heaven. He is the perfect example of which St James talks in his letter when he says “I will prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good deeds.” Greater love has no man that to lay down his life for his friends and we must do the same. We do not know the way in which we will suffer in this life, we do not know why we are suffering now and we do not yet understand why we have suffered in the past. We do know, however, that we can offer our suffering, with a willing heart, for those who need our prayers and we thank God above for the sacrifice of those who give their lives that we might have life and life to the full. And we pray, too, for our enemies!

Who is against us?

Today the Gospel concludes, "anyone who is not against you is for you." Jesus tells us that those who are with us are often those who we might not expect. This might be people of other faiths, or other Christian denominations. How much energy do we spend railing against or fighting with those who hold a central belief in God. This is wrong and they are not our enemy!

When we speak out, let it be against those who are, in fact, against us. In particular we think of ideologies like Atheism. We live in a world where pernicious secularism is driving at the heart of the people of God. We have to speak out when we see evil being perpetrated.

I read, recently, of Camden Council who were denying a poster to be displayed because it alluded to a Christian root. I think it actually dared to use the word Christian. Even with the support of other faiths, the Council would not change it's position. The poster will not be displayed.

Who is offended by this poster? If it is not, seemingly, other religions, then who? It is, I suspect, those who hold with atheism. What gives the right to an atheist, which is nothing more than an ideology like communism or Marxism, to deny a basic freedom of religion. Are we moving to a country which seeks to deny religious freedom.

Speak out. Remain silent and we deny the love of Christ we cherish so dear. Lord Jesus, forgive us the times when we have lacked courage to dare to say your Holy Name.

The relationship between the clergy and the laity.

I thought this an excellent synopsis of the Pope's recent address to the Brazilian bishops The prospect of the secularisation of priests and clericalisation of the laity just fills me with horror. Is this a message of richness in diversity. Both are, surely, gifts from God.

How does the Lord judge us?

This is lazy posting, I know, but here's a homily I gave a few weeks back.

Su Wk 22 Yr B

Suppose a woman murders her husband. She is questioned by the police, charged and eventually brought to trial. During the case, however, she is released and set free due to a technicality. She is not guilty and it would be wrong for us to judge her guilty and yet, before Christ she may well be guilty. Christ does not judge using human law but rather the law which is written upon our hearts. If you like, he uses the Ten Commandments and he has given them to us through the prophet Moses. The book of Deuteronomy teaches us to “take notice of the laws” in order that we may have life.

When we gather for the Eucharist, the great prayer of thanksgiving, we are blessed with Jesus coming amongst us in a particular way when he gives us His Body and Blood. This absolute gift is, for us, both the source and summit of life. It is that which feeds us and that from which we are able to feed those whom we meet. As we present ourselves before the Lord I wonder how often we are fully present to Him. Have we properly prepared before Mass? Have we come to this Eucharist with our heart and soul, or have we come merely from obligation.

Many times we may be like those Pharisees and Scribes whom we hear about in the Gospel. We observe the rules, we come to Mass and we think we are doing all that is required of us. We can be guilty of empty religiosity, here in body but not in spirit. Do we sit in judgment of those who do not come to Mass? Perhaps we are jealous of them, or consider them to be unworthy. Are we the ones who ask Jesus why others do not “respect the tradition of the elders”?

Sometimes we can be guilty of placing unreasonable burdens upon ourselves too. We judge ourselves harshly when we have been unable to get to Mass, or we miss our prayers, or we have failed to help the orphan or the widow, those in need.

When we cannot join someone for a celebration, we say “I’ll be there in Spirit”. We want them to know that whilst we cannot physically be present, we wish them well and if it were possible we would be there. We want them to feel the love that we have for them. We wish them to know the thoughts of our hearts.

If you are thinking that I am saying it is okay to miss Mass, or not to say your prayers, or even to leave orphans and widows to their own devices, then I have failed to crack open the Word today. All of these are important, but they are not important in and of themselves. They are important because they show us a loving and forgiving Father. They bring us to God. He has given his law not to restrict but rather to lead us, to lead us to Him. And the path to God is nothing less than a heart filled with love.

When we see Him as He really is, then we will know our hearts beat to the rhythm of love. If the woman who has murdered her husband is repentant, then like the thief who hangs upon the cross, she will be with Jesus in His kingdom, most especially if she’s been to Confession, like all good Catholics.

It is the Holy Spirit who instructs the hearts of the faithful, and it is to him whom we cry out: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love.

A little about myself

The following homily was given when I first arrived at Christ the King parish in Coventry, five weeks ago.

Sunday, Wk 21, Year B

Joshua asks the people of Israel: “choose today whom you will serve.” This is a fundamental question for us now, and most certainly it has been an important question in my life. Not least was it a key question when I decided to leave behind the life I had led and follow Christ as his priest. Let me tell you a little about how I come to be here before you today.

Growing up a Catholic, having been baptised as a baby, meant that I went to Catholic schools, went to Church regularly and even served at Mass. I think it’s fair to say until I was in my mid teens I was a good Catholic; whatever good means. I recall as a child watching the priest during the elevation of the host and knowing that one day I would do that. I did not want to be a priest. I didn’t even realise that only a priest could do this. No, I wanted to be a doctor, or a lawyer, or even a barrister. I wanted to help people.

Anyway, I stopped serving at Mass, even stopped going to Mass and there were huge rows at home about this. There were many reasons why I decided not to fulfil the promises made for me at my baptism, indeed not to keep the promises I made to God myself. At the heart of the problem seemed that I was growing up and growing away from God. I never stopped believing in God, though it did, at times come close to that, but I just didn’t believe the Church was best placed to interpret the will of God. I didn’t think that men with white hair living in Rome could tell me what I should and shouldn’t do. I think it’s a common enough problem and, of course, it’s really not about the Church but rather that I was deciding the doctrine, or teachings, of Jesus were just too difficult. I, like those in today’s Gospel, was one who said: “This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?”

It’s true to say that our Faith challenges us at time, and rightly so. The easy option is to simply reject those parts of our Faith, or the parts of the Mystery of Christ, which don’t suit us. But in the end, like St Paul teaches; “this mystery has many implications.” My seeming rejection of the Church, which would last nearly 20 years, never led to me being rejected by Christ. Rather, I now see, He waited for my return and it came in the most unexpected of ways.

I was at work surfing the internet, as you do, and anyone who has surfed the net will know that it is very easy to click from one page to the next and before you know it, you are looking at something completely different. I ended up looking at ukpriest.org, which is a web site all about formation for the priesthood. To cut a long story short, as they say, I went to see my parish priest (that’s when I found out which church it was) and he very gently listened to my tale of woe. At the end of an hour long chat, I suggested that I wanted to be a priest: this from a man who had barely stepped foot in a church for nearly two decades.

He gently encouraged me to come to Mass regularly, to become involved in the parish and to see where the good Lord was leading me. Like the psalm says: “taste and see that the Lord is good.” I did taste and see, and after a few months of discernment applied to the Archdiocese to be considered for priesthood. When Archbishop Vincent said yes, I was totally shocked. I truly believed he’d ask me to wait a couple of years but he didn’t. He sent me to Spain, to Valladolid for a year, and then to Oscott for six years – which I have just completed. Where the time has gone, I do not know.

How did I come, in a few short years, from rejecting much of what the Church teaches to being today an officer of the Church, one who is expected to uphold the teachings of the Church? Well, it’s a long and complex story and far more than I can cover here. Save to say that I have come to see, as you already know, and St Paul teaches, that the Church is you and I. It is not some distant institution in far off lands but rather it is the Body of Christ. It is the mystery which “applies to Christ and the Church”, as St Paul tells us. It is the head and body together. As we can no more separate our body from our head, so we cannot separate the Church from Christ. A rejection of the Church is a rejection of the Son of God himself. Wow, a big decision to make and not one that a young lad with his whole life ahead of him can make easily.

For me, my foolish ways were soon forgiven and the path toward priesthood became a very easy one. In fact, as I journeyed ever closer to Jesus and to become the priest he wants me to be, a priest for you; I came to see that it was in his holy consolation that I longed to be. Just like St Peter says; “Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life... you are the Holy One of God.”

But in the end it is not me who chose to be a priest; rather it is Christ who chose me. Our readings, today, teach us one thing above all, however, and that is that whilst it is true to say He chooses us, we are always free to make our own decisions. Joshua asks the tribes to choose and Jesus asks the Twelve to choose. Just like our Faith, when pushed to the limit, we are free to choose Christ, just as I accepted His call to the priesthood.

Let me end with a tale in being faithful; faithful to the Sunday Eucharist, a small and regular commitment we can make to Christ and to one another as the Church.

There was a Catholic man who would always say to his wife on Sunday morning, “You can go to Mass for both of us”. One night he dreamed that he and his wife died and together to heaven’s gate. St Peter asked, “Are you Mr and Mrs Smith?” The couple both nodded their heads. “Well, Mrs Smith can come in for both of you”, declared the saint. Church membership is not necessarily an elevator to heaven.

Pope Benedict coming to the UK

How exciting is this? What with the visit of the relics of St Terese and now the forthcoming visit of HH Benedict XVI: I am over the moon. What a day! How wrong was I when I said last year that the pope wouldn't come to the UK. Don't you just love it when the Lord offers you a chance for humility. Ah, well, I'm just too excited to let it all sink in.

H/T to Ruth Gledhill in the Times.

PADRE PIO of PIETRELCINA

Ora Pro Nobis

For an excellent biography, and loads of information about this great friar, look no further than the Vatican website, here.

Thanks Guys...

... just want to say Thank You, publicly, to the guys from Oscott who travelled all the way down to Coventry to go out for a meal. It was wonderful to see you, and to know that all continues to go from strength to strength in my alma mater.

Mgr Richard Moth

Great news from Rome of the appointment of Mgr Richard Moth as the new Bishop of the Forces.

Someone said to me, recently, that since the restoration of the hierarchy in 1850, in England and Wales, there has been a Benedictine in the team. I was, therefore, interested to read that the Bishop elect "has been a Benedictine Oblate for 30 years." Does this count?

I wish you the very best, My Lord, and you remain very much in my prayers.

At the same time, join me in offering prayers to the Holy Spirit, that He might send us a Bishop, too, for Birmingham.

Praying where we want?

Independent Catholic News are carrying the story "Turkish government allows Christian worship in birthplace of St Paul" by Dan Bergin. The old haunts of St Paul are one journey/pilgrimage I am yet to make, but perhaps one day. This story got me to thinking about the places in the world which mean so much to people who want to be able to pray and worship and yet are denied. Sometimes, perhaps, we take for granted the places where we can celebrate the liturgy together.

For my 'first' Mass I was very blessed to be able to celebrate with friends in the chapel at Oscott. This meant an awful lot to me. Countless holy men and women have graced that chapel and countless prayers and celebrations of the Mass have sanctified the place. Truly, to sit in the chapel, one just knows that it is a holy place. Yes, of course when the blessed Sacrament is reserved it is clearly a holy place, yes it has been consecrated as a chapel but beyond this there is the trace of the supernatural there. In it's literal sense of something beyond the natural world is present here. There is, if you like, a trace of all that has gone before, and with the Grace of God all that is yet to come. In this space there is the making of the saints and you can feel it rub against your skin as you sit and wonder at the place.

When I think of where St Paul was born, it is no wonder that people should want to worship there. There, too, is the place involved in the making of a saint. Last summer, in the Holy Land, I was lucky to visit the acknowledged site of the ascension of Our Lord. It is a tiny rock within a tiny shrine next to a mosque and owned and run by Muslims, as I recall. We were able to visit and yet I never, for a moment, thought how privileged I was to go there. It has nothing of the majesty of Holy Sepulchre or Church of the Nativity or countless other holy sites. It could so easily just be closed down and not open to access for anyone to offer up a prayer.

Maybe, this weekend, as I go up to Newcastle for an ordination, I will think how lucky I am to be able to freely go and celebrate with my friends. Perhaps I will give thanks to God that through his grace and abundance he has given us the example of both the guys to be ordained and the places where we are able to gather and celebrate. Most surely, I will give thanks for those who have gone before us and marked the way that we may follow.

Perhaps we can all take a moment and pray for those outstanding examples of Christians within Muslim countries who relentlessly pray for the simple pleasures which we take for granted and maybe in our prayer we will ask God to intervene in the mess which humanity has created in the holy land. Lord, in your mercy...

Canon Frank Grady RIP

Today was the funeral, at St Gregory's in Longton, Stoke on Trent, of Canon Frank Grady and I had the honour of being able to be there. It was my first clergy funeral Mass as a priest and it was really good just to be someone in the background - if that is ever possible. When you have time, please do say a prayer for his soul.

One of the issues of leaving seminary, it seems to me, is that you can go from being a large fish in a small pond to a small fish in a large pond. Certainly the Archdiocese, though not the largest, is a large diocese and it is possible as a priest to melt into the background. I know from other priests that this transition has been a difficult time for them. For me, I suspect, it will be less of a problem since I am not really one to seek the limelight nor do I enjoy being the centre of attention. Do not misunderstand me: there's nothing finer than to spend a while talking about my favourite subject - me - but generally I do prefer to fade into the wallpaper, the unsung hero. So, today, it was good to just be there and not to worry about making sure everything was just so.

There have been fewer posts of late, and this will continue for the next three weeks or so as I enjoy my holidays before heading to Coventry to take up my post as Assistant Priest at Christ the King Parish with Canon Tom Farrell. Do please pray for the people of Coventry.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, Homily

Let me start by saying Thank You. To Fr Peter for allowing me to celebrate Mass here today, especially on his own anniversary of ordination, to you for being here in such numbers and for all the prayers, cards, gifts and well wishes not just for my ordination but over the seven years of my formation. This is not the end, of course, but rather the beginning. Someone very wise once said that when you leave seminary, then you learn how to be a priest – so I look forward to your guidance and support over the years to come, that I may be the priest you need.
Our first reading gives me ample warning of what can go wrong when you don’t listen to the constructive criticism offered. Woe to those shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock, says the Lord. This, in essence, is the call of the priest: to lead and unite the people of God. Often, I have pondered on what it is to be a priest. Why is the priest different? The Second Vatican Council fathers taught us that we are all sharers in the royal priesthood of Christ and so why, therefore, do we need to have an ordained priesthood? Why is it necessary that God should chose, from amongst us, men to serve as priest?
This question is one we all ask ourselves from time to time, I hope, and now is the suitable time, in this year of the priesthood, to ask this insightful question. When we reflect on the priest, we reflect on ourselves. Before we can know what a priest is, we need to ask, what the priesthood of Christ is all about. Why is He a priest for us? Then we ask in what way do I share in that priesthood? How am I a priest for others?
Well, the Lord says, through the prophet Jeremiah, he will gather the people together into one land and then they will multiply. In other words, Jesus came to call the people to the Father. We, in our own way, share in this mission of Jesus to call people to God. We can do this best by simply leading good Christian lives. The clue is in the name – Christian: a follower of Christ. A good motto, taken from the American Congregationalist, Charles Sheldon, is: What Would Jesus Do? It is a form of imitatio Dei, an imitation of God, in whose image we are all created. In his novel, Sheldon puts the following words into the mouth of a homeless man, who in turn is challenging the priest:
“But what would Jesus do? Is that what you mean by following His steps? It seems to me sometimes as if the people in the big churches had good clothes and nice houses to live in, and money to spend for luxuries, and could go away on summer vacations and all that, while the people outside the churches, thousands of them, I mean, die in tenements, and walk the streets for jobs, and never have a piano or a picture in the house, and grow up in misery and drunkenness and sin.”
By just asking the simple question, what would Jesus do, we answer, for ourselves, what we need to do in order to be the person we want to be; the person we were created to be and to follow the call of Him who calls us out of darkness. When we do what Jesus does then we can rest, as Mark tells us in today’s Gospel, because the people will come, they will follow and they will be drawn. How often, when you look at people who you admire, do you want a little of what they have. You want what they have, not because of envy, but because you believe it will make you a little like them. If you want to be like Christ and to minister to his people, then you need a little of what he has and that, my friends, is utter reliance upon his Father, such that it is all He wants to do.
Like Nelson Mandella, whose 91st birthday we celebrate this weekend, we can join him in Mandella Day by acts of kindness: visiting the sick, feeding the homeless, reading to the blind, even helping someone to cross the road – these are all acts of charity which teaches our faith. More than this – they are the way to build our community, to become one in the Spirit. Most especially we can teach our faith by sharing it. Any gift, and faith is most certainly a gift, is truly alive when it is shared with others. Truly the joy of receiving is in giving to others. Are you a person who prefers to receive or to give?
So, when I ask; what is a priest, I can see the answer lies in knowing Christ in a particular way, and in asking the question, what would Jesus do. More than this, the priest is the one who says: the Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. There is nothing beyond the love of Christ which I desire and because He loves me, I want you to know how much He loves you, too. I want to share my gift of priesthood with you and, in so doing, to draw you to know that you, too, are a sharer in the priesthood of Christ. You have been called no less than I. I am, for you, a priest. You are, for me, the one who shows the way.
Again, I say, thank you. Thank you for showing me the way to the priesthood, and thank you for continuing to pray for me and with me, and finally, thank you for all that you do to show the love of Christ to those in most need.

Ecce sacerdos...

Those, who are observant of these things, will notice some minor changes to this blog. Namely, the title and description. I am filled with joy on such a profound note that it is almost impossible to share with mere human words! On Sunday I was ordained to the priesthood and, therefore, there are need of some changes. I'm pretty shattered with it all, but will write more soon.......

Thank you for your kindness, your prayers, your cards, your gifts, your love and, most importantly, your faith. Px

Belmont Abbey

I have to go grovelling on my knees in apology for any I may have offended with my last post!

What horror; what can this be; who could have made such a gaff, I hear you cry out.

Well, it appears I made a comment which may, in some quarters, have been taken in the vein other than it was meant. I said the community of Worth Abbey were "possibly the friendliest community of Benedictines in the country" and I stand by this statement wholeheartedly.

My dear, dear friends at Belmont may, perhaps, have succumbed to either the sin of pride or the sin of jealousy or indeed any number of those pesky deadly seven sins. I ought to clarify - Belmont is my second home and of course they ARE the friendliest of all monks and, therefore, I was only able to say of Worth that they are possibly the friendliest.

So, if you meet any monks of Belmont these coming days, do reassure them that I remain their greatest fan and never tire of bigging them up! Tell them they are wonderful and funny and warm and inviting and great. To whom else would I run when in need, but to Belmont. Tell them I love them!

So, humble apologies, and long may I be invited to the home of the Bastions of Bonhomie at Belmont!

In the final days...

Well, it's good to be back, and eager to blog. So many people keep saying to me; "are you going to blog about this" which leads me to wonder do I blog too much? What do people expect me to blog about? Having been away from the computer for so long (I think it is maybe ten days) there is an awful lot of news to catch up on. In reality I have skim-read most of it and there is a huge pile of 'must go back and read in more detail...' which, of course, means I am rather unlikely to do so. Sometimes it is just good to know where the information is, just in case.

Worth Abbey - thank you to the wonderful monks of possibly the friendliest community of Benedictines in the country. The pre-presbyterate retreat was wonderful, prayerful, quiet, stimulating and, as for everyone I think, hot. Not as much walking done as I would have liked - but every moment a treasure.

Congratulations to my friend, and sometime-partner-in-crime, and now Father Paul Leonard. Paul was ordained on Saturday by Bishop Crispian Hollis and has been appointed to St Edmund's in Southampton. It was a privilege to Deacon the Mass of ordination and possibly my own last major engagement this side of the priesthood too. What a great way to end my diaconal year. Thanks, Paul, for allowing me to serve!