A Blessing for the New Year

May God bless you with discomfort...
at easy answers, hard hearts, half-truths ,and superficial relationships. .
May God bless you so that you may live from deep within your heart where God's Spirit dwells.
May God bless you with anger...
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people.
May God bless you so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears...
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war.
May God bless you so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, in your neighbourhood, so that you will courageously try what you don't think you can do, but, in Jesus Christ you'll have all the strength necessary.
May God bless you to fearlessly speak out about injustice, unjust laws, corrupt politicians, unjust and cruel treatment of prisoners, and senseless wars, genocides, starvations, and poverty that is so pervasive.
May God bless you that you remember we are all called to continue God's redemptive work of love and healing in God's place, in and through God's name, in God's Spirit, continually creating and breathing new life and grace into everything and everyone we touch.
"Troubadour: A Missionary Magazine," published by the Franciscan Society, Liverpool, UK Spring 2005.

Christmas Blessings

"This is the day our Saviour was born: what a joy for us, my beloved! This is no season for sadness, this, the birthday of Life. That Life annihilates the fear of death and engenders joy, promising, as it does, immortality ... nobody is an outsider to this happiness. The same cause of joy is common to all, for as our Lord found nobody free from guilt when he came to bring an end to death and to sin, so he came with redemption for all ... Let the saint rejoice, foe he hastens to his crown; let the sinner be filled with joy, for pardon is offered to him; let the gentile be emboldened, for he is called to life."
Pope Saint Leo the Great

During the coming Christmas season

May you be blessed

With the spirit of the season, which is peace,

The gladness of the season,which is hope,

And the heart of the season,which is love.

21st December

O radiant Dawn,
splendour of eternal light, sun of justice: Come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
Vespers antiphon

20th December

O Key of David, O royal power of Israel, controlling at your will the gate of heaven: Come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and lead your captive people into freedom
Vespers antiphon

18th December

O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: Come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.
Vespers antiphon

17th December

O Wisdom, O holy word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care: Come and show your people the way to salvation
Vespers antiphon

Saturday, Advent Week 2

This passage by CS Lewis plays with perceptions and examines the Christmas “play” of our society - and does it far more effectively than I ever could.

Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus.” by C S Lewis

“And beyond this there lies in the ocean, turned towards the west and north, the island of Niatirb which Hecataeus indeed declares to be the same size and shape as Sicily, but it is larger, though in calling it triangular a man would not miss the mark. It is densely inhabited by men who wear clothes not very different from the other barbarians who occupy the north western parts of Europe though they do not agree with them in language. These islanders, surpassing all the men of whom we know in patience and endurance, use the following customs.

In the middle of winter when fogs and rains most abound they have a great festival which they call Exmas and for fifty days they prepare for it in the fashion I shall describe. First of all, every citizen is obliged to send to each of his friends and relations a square piece of hard paper stamped with a picture, which in their speech is called an Exmas-card. But the pictures represent birds sitting on branches, or trees with a dark green prickly leaf, or else men in such garments as the Niatirbians believe that their ancestors wore two hundred years ago riding in coaches such as their ancestors used, or houses with snow on their roofs. And the Niatirbians are unwilling to say what these pictures have to do with the festival; guarding (as I suppose) some sacred mystery. And because all men must send these cards the marketplace is filled with the crowd of those buying them, so that there is great labour and weariness.

But having bought as many as they suppose to be sufficient, they return to their houses and find there the like cards which others have sent to them. And when they find cards from any to whom they also have sent cards, they throw them away and give thanks to the gods that this labour at least is over for another year. But when they find cards from any to whom they have not sent, then they beat their breasts and wail and utter curses against the sender; and, having sufficiently lamented their misfortune, they put on their boots again and go out into the fog and rain and buy a card for him also. And let this account suffice about Exmas-cards.

They also send gifts to one another, suffering the same things about the gifts as about the cards, or even worse. For every citizen has to guess the value of the gift which every friend will send to him so that he may send one of equal value, whether he can afford it or not. And they buy as gifts for one another such things as no man ever bought for himself. For the sellers, understanding the custom, put forth all kinds of trumpery, and whatever, being useless and ridiculous, they have been unable to sell throughout the year they now sell as an Exmas gift. And though the Niatirbians profess themselves to lack sufficient necessary things, such as metal, leather, wood and paper, yet an incredible quantity of these things is wasted every year, being made into the gifts.

But during these fifty days the oldest, poorest, and most miserable of the citizens put on false beards and red robes and walk about the market-place; being disguised (in my opinion) as Cronos. And the sellers of gifts no less than the purchaser’s become pale and weary, because of the crowds and the fog, so that any man who came into a Niatirbian city at this season would think some great public calamity had fallen on Niatirb. This fifty days of preparation is called in their barbarian speech the Exmas Rush.

But when the day of the festival comes, then most of the citizens, being exhausted with the Rush, lie in bed till noon. But in the evening they eat five times as much supper as on other days and, crowning themselves with crowns of paper, they become intoxicated. And on the day after Exmas they are very grave, being internally disordered by the supper and the drinking and reckoning how much they have spent on gifts and on the wine. For wine is so dear among the Niatirbians that a man must swallow the worth of a talent before he is well intoxicated.

Such, then, are their customs about the Exmas. But the few among the Niatirbians have also a festival, separate and to themselves, called Crissmas, which is on the same day as Exmas. And those who keep Crissmas, doing the opposite to the majority of the Niatirbians, rise early on that day with shining faces and go before sunrise to certain temples where they partake of a sacred feast. And in most of the temples they set out images of a fair woman with a new-born Child on her knees and certain animals and shepherds adoring the Child. (The reason of these images is given in a certain sacred story which I know but do not repeat.)

But I myself conversed with a priest in one of these temples and asked him why they kept Crissmas on the same day as Exmas; for it appeared to me inconvenient. But the priest replied, “It is not lawful, O stranger, for us to change the date of Chrissmas, but would that Zeus would put it into the minds of the Niatirbians to keep Exmas at some other time or not to keep it at all. For Exmas and the Rush distract the minds even of the few from sacred things. And we indeed are glad that men should make merry at Crissmas; but in Exmas there is no merriment left.” And when I asked him why they endured the Rush, he replied, “It is, O Stranger, a racket“; using (as I suppose) the words of some oracle and speaking unintelligibly to me (for a racket is an instrument which the barbarians use in a game called tennis).

But what Hecataeus says, that Exmas and Crissmas are the same, is not credible. For first, the pictures which are stamped on the Exmas-cards have nothing to do with the sacred story which the priests tell about Crissmas. And secondly, the most part of the Niatirbians, not believing the religion of the few, nevertheless send the gifts and cards and participate in the Rush and drink, wearing paper caps. But it is not likely that men, even being barbarians, should suffer so many and great things in honour of a god they do not believe in. And now, enough about Niatirb. “

St John of the Cross

Today the Church remembers one of its greatest saints. John of the Cross was a Carmelite friar living in sixteenth century Spain. A man of great intellect and creativity he lived a truth that all of us must learn - That God delighted in him. He is Spain's Shakespeare and his own words express his relationship with God beautifully.

Dark Night Of The Soul

One dark night,
fired with love's urgent longings
- ah, the sheer grace! -
I went out unseen,
my house being now all stilled.

In darkness, and secure,
by the secret ladder, disguised,
- ah, the sheer grace! -
in darkness and concealment,
my house being now all stilled.


On that glad night,
in secret, for no one saw me,
nor did I look at anything,
with no other light or guide
than the one that burned in my heart.


This guided me
more surely than the light of noon
to where he was awaiting me
- him I knew so well -
there in a place where no one appeared.


O guiding night!
O night more lovely than the dawn!
O night that has united
the Lover with his beloved,
transforming the beloved in her Lover.


Upon my flowering breast
which I kept wholly for him alone,
there he lay sleeping,
and I caressing him
there in a breeze from the fanning cedars.


When the breeze blew from the turret,
as I parted his hair,
it wounded my neck
with its gentle hand,
suspending all my senses.


I abandoned and forgot myself,
laying my face on my Beloved;
all things ceased; I went out from myself,
leaving my cares
forgotten among the lilies.

Advent Week 2

Father in heaven,
the day drwas near when the glory of your Son
will make radiant the night of the waiting world.
May the lure of greed not impede us from the joy
which moves the hearts of those who seek him.
May the darkness not blind us to the visions of wisdom which fills the minds of those who find him.

Put Christ back into Christmas

'Put Christ back into Christmas'
Press Association
Monday December 10, 2007 6:53 AM


The head of Britain's equality watchdog has urged the country to ignore "politically correct" critics and put Christ at the centre of Christmas festivities.

Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has joined non-Christian community leaders to head off what his organisation says is the growing sense that to celebrate the birth of Jesus is taboo.

In recent years a number of school nativity plays have been banned or altered to change their Christian meaning so as not to offend some minorities.

Mr Phillips, who is to give a speech at a conference on diversity in London, will say: "A lot of these stories about Christmas are the usual silly season stuff.

"But I can't help feeling there's sometimes an underlying agenda to use this great holiday to fuel community tension.

"That's why I asked leaders in different religious communities to join me in saying: It's time to stop being daft about Christmas. It's fine to celebrate and it's fine for Christ to be the star of the show."

Speaking about Muslim, Hindu and Jewish festivals, he will go on to say: "The logic is baffling: to welcome Eid and Diwali and Hanukkah in celebration of our glorious diversity, whilst brushing Christmas under the carpet as an embarrassing episode in our mono-cultural past."

Anil Bhanot, the Hindu Council UK's general secretary who has joined forces with Mr Phillips, said: "Hindus celebrate Christmas too. It's a great holiday for everyone living in Britain. We would like Christians to continue to carry Jesus' message of love. Barring the faiths of others does not fit in with the Hindu religion."

While Dr Indarjit Singh, director of the Network of Sikh Organisations UK said: "Every year I am asked, 'do I object to the celebration of Christmas?' It's an absurd question.

"As ever, my family and I will send out our Christmas cards to our Christian friends and others. In the spirit of Christmas, we in the Singh family will, as usual, force ourselves to have extra turkey, Christmas pudding and mince pies, the lot - all in the cause of inter-faith harmony. No one can say Sikhs don't go the extra mile."

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2007, All Rights

Fr John of the Cross Fitzgerald, O.Carm.

Yesterday I concelebrated at the Requiem Mass of a great man. John Fitzgerald was a priest, carmelite friar, philosopher and poet. A man with a zest for life and a in built sense of wonder at the many ways that God is present to his people. As a poet he used words to express what is beond words, though always aware that this would always be impoverished by the limits of language.

I'll let John express this in his own words.

The House Beyond.

I was joyful when I was told,
'Let us go to the house of God.'
And then, on the threshold, we were told:
'Take of your words and leave them in the porch,
and come through to hear the resoundinf silence;
shut your eyes, shut them tight,
and come through to see the iridescent darkness;
proffer your empty hands, your withered hearts,#
to be filled with what the eye has not seen and ear has not heard.'

We entered the house, and then we were told:
'Come and share the bread of the pain and the loss,
drink of this bitter cup.
Eat, for there is still a way to go.
Drink, so that you have within you a living spring.'

We were promised in the gloom a way of many dwellings,
and that he was the way, but we did not see him.
And yet, here he was, within us and around us in his own expanse.
'Blessed are they who have not seen and believed.
Blessed are they who have not heard and have listened.'

from Gawn Gwirionedd, 2007. By John Fitzgerald, O.Carm.

Saint Nicholas

Nicholas was born at Patra in Asia Minor to parents, who, having long been childless, had petitioned God with many prayers. Already as a youth Nicholas became noted for his zeal in helping the unfortunate and oppressed. In his native city there lived a poor noble man who had three daughters of marriageable age; he could not obtain a suitor for them because he could offer no dowry. He courted the idea that he might sacrifice his daughters innocence in order to raise the money. When Nicholas became aware of this, he went by night and threw a bag containing as much gold as was needed for a dowry through a window. This he repeated the second and third nights. During a sea voyage he calmed the storm with his prayer; he is therefore venerated as patron of sailors. On a certain occasion he was imprisoned for the faith. In a wonderful way he later became bishop of Myra; his presence is noted in the council of Nicaea. He died a quiet death in his episcopal city, uttering the words: 'into your hands I commend my Spirit.'

Nicholas is highly venerated in the East as a miracle worker, as a preacher of the word of God, spokesman of the Father, and in the West as a gentle protector of children

Tuesday, Advent Week 1

"The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in flesh, is prepared to come again. When we remove all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spirtually in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace."
St Charles Borromeo

Maranatha

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
Help us to be ready for you...to see you and love you in the circumstances of our lives, in the people who surround us. Help us to be ready to give you whatever You ask, whatever you need of our poor treasures to enrich the poor....whatever you need of our lives and energies to bring hope to the hopeless.
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

First Sunday of Advent

"Expectation - anxious, collective and operative expectaion of an end of the world, that is to say, of an issue for the world - that is the supreme Christian function and the most distinctive characteristic of our religion.

Historically speaking, that expectation has never ceased to guide the progress of our faith like a torch ... We persist in saying that we keep vigil in expectation of the Master. But in reality we should have to admit, if we are sincere, that we no longer expect anything. The flame must be revived at all costs. At all costs we must renew in ourselves the desire and the hope for the great coming. But where are we to look for the source of this rejuvenation? From the perception of a more intimate connection between the victory of Christ and the outcome of the work which our human effort here below is seeking to construct."

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Father in heaven,
our hearts desire the warmth of your love
and our minds are searching for the light of your Word.
Increase our longing for Christ our Saviour
and give us the strength to grow in love,
that the dawn of his coming
may find us rejoicing in his presence
and welcoming the light of his truth.

We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.

Opening Prayer - First Sunday of Advent
The Roman Missal

Avent - Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus

Tell the timid to take heart.
The Lord our God will come!
Monastic Liturgy

The Advent is one of my favourite seasons of the Church year. I love it. Advent is like a roller-coaster ride. We begin this season looking towards a new age of revelation when Christ will come again in glory. The language of the liturgy is geared towards the 'end times'. There are warnings and there is consolation. We end Advent with memory - remembering the awesome way God takes flesh and lives among us.

Advent is about hope, desire, aching emptiness and sheer unsophisticated, overwhelming joy! Let us take some time in these coming weeks to be attentive to our need for God and expectant that God will meet us in our need.

Dorothy Day

Today is the 27th anniversary of the death of Dorothy Day. Dorothy was the founder of the Catholic worker movement. A woman who saw in the face of the poor the challenge of God to listen to him. We often think of prayer as something that we do rather than a waiting and an attentivenes to God. This attentiveness is towards God both visible - manifest around us in the lives of people and situations - and invisible, the waiting, often in darkness, for hope and presence.

Dorothy was an ardent defender of people's rights. She continued to speak up for the unprotected when no one else would do that. During World War II, her protests about the internment of Japanese Americans without due process, caused J Edgar Hoover to open his extensive file on her. She fed the poor, which may not be the Christian's final task, but should normally be the first one.

She was the long distance runner of protest in our time, because her agitation was built on serenity, her activism on contemplation, her earthly indigantion on unearthly trust. This or that cause, with its noisy followers, came and went, but she was always there. She showed us that people who stand for others cannot act from a calculus of individual advantage. They must act as they do from a higher urgency, a love beyond what most of us think as loving. So far from distracting them from earth's injustice, as Marx claimed religion did, Dorothy Day's faith made effective radicalism not only possibe , for many people, but imperative. We may not even be able to possess the earth unless we aspire to heaven - like our sister, who is dead and lives.
Garry Wills, The Outsider Column, 1980

Preparing for Advent

Apologies for the time away from the blog. I will try to be more faithful.

In these days we prepare for the great season of Advent.

"Advent is the time for rousing. We are shaken to the very depths, so that we may wake up to the truth of ourselves. The primary condition for a fruitful and rewarding Advent is renunciation, surrender. We must let go of all our mistaken dreams, our conceited poses and arrogant gestures, all the pretences with which we hope to deceive ourselves and others. if we fail to do this, stark reality may take hold of us and rouse us forcibly in a way that will entail both anxiety and suffering"
Alfred Delp

Transfiguration

"One of the things I love about the story of the Transfiguration is that it is crammed with so much meaning. The fulfillment of the law and the prophets in Jesus Christ; the call to glory for the apostles and subsequently for each of us; the poignant truth that the glory Moses beheld at Sinai and the the glory Elijah knew in the still, small voice they suddenly saw on the mount of Transfiguration.

There was the shekinah--it was hidden in the face of the Man from Galilee. There was the still, small voice of Love. It was hidden in the humble itinerant preacher...born as Man, born of a woman.

All of this, but what hit me at Mass today was the beauty of it all taking place a mountaintop. In every culture and religion the mountains are the dwelling places of the gods. It makes sense that to get as close as we can to heaven we ought to go up where heaven and earth are met.

And when we do get there, we feel cut off from this world. We feel closer to God. We look down on the earth below and begin to see things a little bit more from his perspective. The other thing hammered home to me is that the mountain is also a picture of the spiritual life.

It's a long, hard climb, this spiritual life. It's the hardest task anyone can possible set himself or herself--to become a saint. Why is it that when we set out to climb a mountain we prepare for hardship; we train; we get expert advice; we study the trail and we expect difficulties, but when we set out on the spiritual journey we pretend we're taking a walk in the park?

The spiritual quest is a long, hard and perilous journey, there is danger and sacrifice, but there is also fellowship, the reward of a new perspective, and finally, a glory that is unimaginable in its splendor."

Rev. Dwight Longnecker

Wise words

Falling in Love With God

Nothing is more practical than finding God,

that is, than falling in love

in a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,

what seizes your imagination,

will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you

out of bed in the morning,

what you will do with your evenings,

how you will spend your weekends

what you read, who you know,

what breaks your heart,

and what amazes you

with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love,

and it will decide everything.

- Pedro Arrupe, SJ

Feast of St Joachim & St Anne

Today is the fourth anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. Not a big milestone but, certainly, a time to reflect on these last years and take stock. At his ordination a priest is asked the followinf questions, together they are a framework for a priests life.

EXAMINATION OF THE CANDIDATE

Bishop: My son, before you proceed to the order of the presbyterate, declare before the people your intention to undertake this priestly office.

Are you resolved, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to discharge without fail the office of priesthood in the presbyteral order as a conscientious fellow worker with the bishops in caring for the Lord's flock?

I am.

Bishop: Are you resolved to celebrate the mysteries of Christ faithfully and religiously as the Church has handed them down to us for the glory of God and the sanctification of Christ's people?

I am.

Bishop: Are you resolved to exercise the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, preaching the Gospel and explaining the Catholic faith?

I am.

Bishop: Are you resolved to consecrate your life to God for the salvation of his people, and to unite yourself more closely every day to Christ the High Priest, who offered himself for us to the Father as a perfect sacrifice?

I am, with the help of God.

The last response is crucial. I cannot do this on my own, but with God everything is possible.

Happenings

On Monday, after presiding at a funeral I made my way down to the Carmelite friary in Faversham, where I was able to celebrate the feast with my Carmelite brothers there. It was a good oportunity to catch up on the province news and what is happening round about.
On tuesday I did some visiting - First to Aylesford Priory and Fr Alphie, whi isn't enjoying the best of health these days but is always welcoming and a joy to be with. Then on to visit my dear dad in his care home. My father is in the advanced stages of Altzheimer's disease and my weekly visits are always difficult for me. He always seems to summon a smile from somewhere, although I know that he struggles to remember who I am and what my connection is to him. A stroke has made his speach almost impossible to understand and that combined with the Altzheimer's makes communication very hard - a bit like swimming in treacle with your hands tied behind your back. The way I get through these visits is by remembering the wonderful, tender, funny and holy man that has fathered me for 40 years. I have nothing but lovely memories of him.

Back to the parish last night. Today I am celebrating Mass with the children and staff of our primary school - always a delight!

Be well and happy.:-)

Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Lord God,
you willed that the Order of Carmel
should be named in honour of the Blessed virgin Mary,
Mother of your Son.
Through her prayers as we honour her today
bring us closer to your Holy Mountain,
Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.

A Morning Prayer

God, give me the courage of my conviction this day
that you are alive and well in me.
Help me not to waver.
Help me not to procratinate.
Help me not to rationalise.
Help me not to play games with myself.
Help me to stand firm in thee.
Help me not to give what I have,
but to give who you are within me.

God as Father

Part of the time I spent in Dalmally was looking at images of God. Sometimes people struggle with an image of God that is paternal. There are many reasons for this, mainly bad experiences of being ‘fathered’. I am blest in my image of fatherhood as I have always felt very loved and cherished by my own father.
Fr Dwight Longnecker in his blog (http.gkupsidedown.blogspot.com) looks at the way some Christians seek to change the Trinitarian formula to something less personal. It offers and interesting and considered opinion.

“… God, while being transcendent, is also personal. Therefore it is right and proper to refer to him in terminology that recognizes his person-hood. 'God' is rightly transcendent, but 'Heavenly Father' and 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit', imply that there are persons within the Godhead. Not to refer to God as 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit' denies that aspect.

The same criticism applies to the sometimes substitute Trinitarian formula of 'Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer.' These are also not personal terms of reference for the three persons of the Trinity, but references to their functions. Imagine referring to your parents not as 'Dad and Mom' or even as George and Phyllis, but as 'Businessman and Housewife.' Yucch.

Secondly, God is personal because we are called to be in a personal relationship with him. Our person--created in his likeness--is ultimately to be in a loving relationship with Him. That relationship is intrinsically that of Creator and creature, and the most natural analogy for this is of the Father and the child. To do away with calling God 'Father' for some shallow politically correct motivation is short sighted in the extreme. How can you have a relationship with 'God' that is anything more than abstract and theoretical? On the other hand, the relationship with a 'Heavenly Father' carries with it all the passion, drama and upheaval of the relationships we have with our parents.

Finally, and perhaps most telling, is the simple unavoidable fact that God as Father is an intrinic part of Jesus Christ's revelation of God. His own relationship with 'Abba-Father' and his instructions to us to call God 'Father' are as foundational to who he was and what he taught as the Sermon on the Mount or the parable of the Prodigal Son. Pull it out of the liturgy and the prayer life and I would argue that your religion has ceased to be Christian.

Am I exaggerating? Not really. If you remove the traditional Trinitarian formula from the Baptism Rite it is not a valid baptism, and the person baptized is formally not a Christian.”

God Bless.

Craig Lodge Youth Festival 2007

One of my favourite places is Criag Lodge House of Prayer in Dalmally, Scotland. Situated in the western highlands this beautiful place is an oasis of prayer and community. Last weekend young people from all over Britain and Ireland met together to pray and become community for a few days. It was awesome. Craig Lodge is a place where you can sense prayer happening, a holy place made holy by ordinary people.

The theme of the gathering was ‘A Call to Holiness’, and I sensed from quite early on and from my own experience that there was a sense that this call to be holy was meant for someone other than me. I need to explain that! I often think that when we speak of holiness we must be speaking about somebody other than ourselves because we never see ourselves as that person. We have been seduced by the lie that we are unloveable, un-noticed, that we don’t matter. We seldom see ourselves as blest, holy, beautiful and loveable. Young people seem to feel this quite keenly, and as they journey into their middle years they take that baggage with them. It is a lie! A huge untruth that veils people with misery. As I was speaking with these young people, I found myself trying to get people to see themselves as people of potential and giftedness, people alive with possibilities and bursting with an ache to love and be loved. Maybe we should all pray for the grace to see ourselves as God sees us. God’s vision of us is alive with love, mercy and creativity.

Check out the Craig Lodge community at their website.

www.craiglodge.org

Be sure to check out Mary’s Meals.

Be well and happy

A month of travels

Weeks have passed since my last blog. I enjoyed my holiday on Turkey. The resort I was based in was a bit like a Turkish Blackpool. The main income of the area is from British holiday makers and that is very much reflected in the cuisine (English breakfasts) and the style of drinking dens. My hotel was comfortable and clean and my room had spectacular views over the bay. I got somewhat tired of the resort and went walkabout for a few days.


My travels in Turkey took me too Ephesus, an amazing ancient city still being excavated from the dirt. Mary’s house – a few miles from Ephesus, where the Mother of Jesus reputedly spent her last years in the company of John.The pictures show the exterior and interior of the house) There is a lovely chapel there and I was able to celebrate the Eucharist on the feast of Corpus Christi. Then on to Istanbul. An amazing city, and one which I shall visit again. There is so much to see and there was so little time.

I returned in time to celebrate with the parish our parish priests 40th anniversary of ordination. It was a lovely evening that was marked with great joy and love.

Then off on my travels again – this time to Scotland to participate in a prayer festival for young people. Over 100 gathered to reflect on the theme of a ‘Call to holiness’. Their faith, as always left me humbled.

Back now to normality and rain!

Be well and happy. 

Holidays

Today, after the family Mass I am off on my hols. No blogging for a few weeks.

Be well and happy!

TRINITY SUNDAY

“The doctrine of the Holy Trinity was not revealed to us to test our faith or to provide an abstruse puzzle for metaphysically inclined theologians. It was revealed to us to tell us something about God, and hence something about the purpose and meaning of human life. Briefly, the doctrine of the Trinity means that while God is One, he is not solitary. God is rational, God is interactive, God is a community, God is interpersonal love. The God who creates, the God who speaks, and the God who calls have been involved in an eternal love affair with one another and are now inviting us to join their dance of loving joy and joyous love. If the invitation is frightening, the reason is that we are being asked to join very fast company. But we are free to bring our friends.”

Andrew Greeley, The Great Mysteries: An Essential Catechism

Pope meets the parents of Madeleine McCann

The English speaking world continues to await news of little Madeleine McCann. Yesterday her parents met with Pope Benedict XVI. DANIELA PETROFF in The Guardian descibes the meeting and the press conference held by the McCanns.

- Pope Benedict XVI held the hands of the parents of 4-year-old Madeleine McCann, blessing them and a photo of the girl as they asked for prayers Wednesday for their daughter who disappeared while vacationing with her family in Portugal.
The pope spoke with the parents, each dressed in dark suits, as he greeted dignitaries seated in the front row during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.
``He was very kind, very sincere,'' Kate McCann told a news conference. She said Benedict assured them that he would ``continue to pray for Madeleine's safe return.''
``It was more personal than I ever could have imagined,'' said Gerry McCann, adding that Benedict immediately recognized Madeline's photograph.
``His touch and thoughts and words were more tender than we could have hoped and that will sustain us during this most difficult time,'' he said.
The Vatican had readily accepted the British couple's request to meet with the pope, as they press their campaign to publicize their daughter's disappearance. Devout Catholics, they recently prayed at the pilgrimage site in Fatima, Portugal, for her safe return.
The couple also outlined plans in the hunt for their daughter, saying they would travel to Spain, Germany and the Netherlands - countries that send many tourists to the holiday area in Portugal.
Gerry McCann brought a poster of his missing daughter, which has been widely distributed, to the news conference at the residence of the British ambassador to the Vatican. He said the family was asking people going on holiday to put up the posters to further publicize the disappearance.
He said he was grateful for the outpouring of solidarity. ``One evil act seems to be generating so much good,'' he said.
``Obviously we have very mixed emotions about being here, and of course why we are here,'' Gerry McCann said as he arrived in St. Peter's Square. ``In normal circumstances it would be one of the most exciting things we could do in our own lifetimes, but very much on our minds is the fact that we are here without Madeleine.''
A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor had requested the McCanns' meeting with the pope.
``We are talking about a family drama that has touched world public opinion. It could not but touch the Holy Father, especially since these people are Catholics,'' Benedettini said.
``The Holy Father is considered the father of all, therefore he was personally touched as a father,'' the spokesman said.
Madeleine McCann disappeared May 3 when her parents left her and her 2-year-old twin siblings alone in their hotel room while they went to a restaurant in their hotel complex in Praia da Luz, a resort town in Portugal's Algarve region. Gerry and Kate McCann have said they won't return to Britain without their daughter.
Kate McCann is traveling with a pink stuffed animal - Cuddle Cat - that her daughter took to bed with her every night.
``We have no plans to go back to the UK at the moment. I can't even think about that now, to be honest,'' she said.

Let's continue to remember Madeleine and her family in our prayers.

Summer Time & iPod shuffle

As ever the weather is in disarray! Continuous and driving rain over the weekend (I hope that parish scout group are having a wonderful time at the District camp)Yesterday we even had hail storms, which, as I was in the house, were magnificent to watch. The weather is maing me more eager for my holiday which begins this Sunday when I fly off for two weeks of glorious sunshine.

Played with the shuffle setting on my iPod last night - an eclectic top 10

1. This night has opened my eyes - The Smiths
2. I might have been Queen - Tina Turner
3. Blackbird - Sharon Shannon
4. Reel in the flickering light - Christy Moore
5. I am - I sais - Neil Diamond
6. No Wonder - Anne Sofie Von Otter
7. Whole of the Moon - The Waterboys
8. Pretty Things - Rufus Wainwright
9. Come pick me up - Ryan Adams
10. The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - Mike Harding

Solemnity of Pentecost

Happy Feast Day!
I came across this wee prayer in an airport chapel a few years ago as I nervously awaited a flight (I am not easily scared but flying always uneases me!) It seems to fit the day.

Come Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, give me happiness and contentment with my life.
And the Holy Spirit said no. your life is full of opportunities. Happiness is your choice.

Come, Holy Spirit, free me of pain and suffering.
And the Holy Spirit said no.
There are some things that only pain can teach you.

Come, Holy Spirit, make me grow.
The Holy Spirit said no.
I will prune you and cut you back to make you more fruitful.

Come, Holy Spirit, give me patience.
And the Holy Spirit said no.
You learn patience in the midst of the trials and troubles that come your way.
Patience is not free; it is earned.

Come, Holy Spirit, take away my pride.
The Holy Spirit said no.
Pride is part of you. It may even prod you to excellence.
Just you control and direct it.

Come Holy Spirit.

And the Spirit said:

We wouldn’t be having this conversation if I weren’t already here!

Vigil of Pentecost

"Vigil of Pentecost. What do I look for tomorrow? Light? No. it is safer to travel in darkness. What I need is the grace to cease making any kind of fuss over anything: travel in darkness and do God's will. He will get me through the obstacles. I will never reach him by my own efforts, my own wisdom. Forget what other people do; their virtues and their faults are none of my business. Be guided by obedience even if it seems to lead to the ruin of my aspirations. Easier to write that to do it. I wonder if I mean it, too, to go on in this hopeless muddle of writing and activities and contacts with the world, and trust that that can bring me to God? Yes, that is what I have to do."
Thomas Merton

A Homily for the Ascension

The women were standing there gazing into the empty tomb. While they were perplexed about this. Suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed there faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead?’
Luke 24:4

While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?’
Acts 1:10-11a

Where’s a person supposed to look? If not down, and not up, then where?
Forty days after the Resurrection He left them in the flesh. I wonder if they felt what we feel when a loved one moves away or dies. Alone? Abandoned? Desolate? Or did they recall His promise, one that would be fulfilled in ten days? On Pentecost He would return to them pouring out His spirit. What a moment in time, between Ascension and Pentecost, between loss and promise. He does promise that we will see Him again, as we will one day see our loved ones. But what should we do in the meantime?

The forty days between resurrection and ascension represents a serious number: fullness of time, plenty of time for the men and women who were his disciples to probe the mystery. Jewish students study with a Rabbi for forty days, a symbolic number meaning the amount of time it would take to learn the master’s teaching well enough to repeat it.
The ascension event is told in a way that is full of allusions to biblical precedents. Being lifted up before their eyes into the cloud refers to the cloud of God’s presence, which went before the people of Israel leading them through the wilderness to freedom. By being gathered into the cloud, Jesus is not so much going up as he is going ahead of his apostles into glory.
On Easter morning the women were told not to look down into the tomb; now the apostles are told not to look into the heavens. ‘beginning from Jerusalem you are witnesses,’ Jesus said. ‘I am sending upon you what my Father promised … you will be clothed with power from on high.’ The issue is not where Jesus was, or even where he is, but where he is sending them, clothed with power from on high. The direction is not down or up but out. They are no longer hearers of the word, but its heralds.
Do you remember another mountain, the mount of the transfiguration? ‘While he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they {Peter, James and John} saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to Jesus. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem.’
I have yet to find connections made about the transfiguration – resurrection ascension event made in any biblical commentaries, or between Moses and Elijah, the two men at the tomb, and the two men at Bethany, but I have a funny feeling that there may be such a connection.
Both Moses and Elijah know what passing the torch is all about. When Moses died and was buried (although no one could ever fid his grave), Joshua took over. The staff of God, which opened the way of promise was now in his hands. Before Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire, his successor, Elisha, asked for a double share of his spirit. Clothed with Elijah’s mantle, he continued his mission mightily.
The ascension also stands as a pathway between the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the apostles. As we move through the ascension experience, Luke’s point of view changes. The issues change. We move, as it were from the story of Jesus to the story of the Church, from then to now. In the ascension story, the staff of Jesus is passed. ‘Clothed with power from on high,; clothed with his mantle, the disciples are charged with the continuation of his mission.
The gospel of Luke tells of the disciples’ journey towards faith in Jesus. The ascension, a crucial moment, reflects something new, which the Acts of the Apostles will carry forward even to our own time and beyond.
The issue in the moment is not so much our faith in Jesus as his faith in us. The issue is not our giving his resurrection a certificate of authenticity, but his decision to pour out his spirit upon struggling believers. The issue is not for us to prove that Jesus is alive but for him to prove that we are not dead. The issue is no longer his identity with God, but our identity with him.
I stumbled upon a text from Hans Urs von Balthasar about the ascension, which helps bring this together, as he always does, really penetrates deeply into the mystery. He says, “In the ascension, God’s earthly image”—that is, Jesus—“is seized and drawn up definitively to the Father, and the disciples stand, blessed and full of longing, staring after the one who has disappeared into God. The Transfigured One took their hearts with Him up to God and they will never again feel altogether at home in this temporal world. For that part of the world they most loved is now with God. And this is why everything that they see on earth becomes transparent to heaven. The Holy Spirit, which the Son sends to them from heaven, kindles in them the fire of longing in which every image on earth becomes radiant for heaven, for the everlasting life which springs up from triune love.”
Now the disciples, as it says here, stood staring after the one who disappeared into God. So the angels had to come down and wake them up and say, what are you doing, staring up into heaven? He’s going to come back the same way that He left! And so they went back to the temple and worshipped Him and praised Him with joy.
That’s what we’re doing here, too. We are gathering at the temple, worshipping and praising Christ who has ascended to heaven, and at the same time we hear that voice of the angel that says, He’s going to come back. Every time we come to church to worship, part of what we’re doing is waiting, looking for Him to come back, and worshipping Him who has gone and has promised to come back. We stand both in body and in spirit, longing for the return of the Son of Man.
Do you feel a shaky at times as you face your own life with all its ambiguities? The mystery of the ascension invites us, even in our shakiness, not so much to believe in God, but to believe that God believes in us. In other words, don’t get stuck looking down in discouragement, or looking up in bewilderment. Staff in hand, mantle around your shoulders, look out and step out with grace, longing and courage

Saint Simon Stock

It has suddenly struck me that I have been negelcting my blogging duties! Over a month since my last post. Life has been vey busy with the usual spring round of Confirmations, First Holy Communions and the Wedding season begun last Saturday. All these sacramental milestones have a huge impact on the parish and on my time. I have a respite tomorrow with a day off on one of my favourite feastdays. St Simon Stock was an Englishman who led the Carmelite Order at a time of great change and upheaval. (Also the patron of my former high school!) Thankfully, he was a holy and prayerful man with a great devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus. There has always been a strong vein of marian devotion in the Carmelite order. One of the more recent documents of the Order speaks, most beautifully of Mary's place in Carmelite Spirituality and of the Scapular devotion that begun with Simon's prayer and Mary's response.

"Mary, overshadowed by the Spirit of God,
is the Virgin of a new heart,
who gave a human face to the Word made flesh.
She is the Virgin of wise and contemplative listening
who kept and pondered in her heart
the events and the words of the Lord.
She is the faithful disciple of wisdom,
who sought Jesus - God’s Wisdom -
and allowed herself to be formed and moulded by his Spirit,
so that in faith she might be conformed to his ways and choices.
Thus enlightened, Mary is presented to us
as one able to read “the great wonders”
which God accomplished in her
for the salvation of the humble and of the poor.

Mary was not only the Mother of Our Lord;
she also became his perfect disciple, the woman of faith.
She followed Jesus, walking with the disciples,
sharing their demanding and wearisome journey
- a journey which required, above all, fraternal love
and mutual service.

At the marriage feast in Cana, Mary taught us to believe in her Son;
at the foot of the Cross, she became Mother to all who believe;
with them she experiences the joy of the Resurrection.
United with the other disciples “in constant prayer,”
she received the first gifts of the Spirit,
who filled the earliest Christian community with apostolic zeal.

Mary brings the good news of salvation to all men and women.
She is the woman who built relationships,
not only within the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples,
but, beyond that, with the people:
with Elizabeth, with the bride and bridegroom in Cana,
with the other women, and with Jesus’ “brothers”.
Carmelites see in the Virgin Mary, Mother of God
and archetype of the Church,
the perfect image of all that they want and hope to be.
For this reason, Carmelites have always thought of Mary
as the Patron of the Order,
its Mother and Splendour;
she is constantly before their eyes and in their hearts
as “the Virgin Most Pure.”
Looking to her, and living in spiritual intimacy with her,
we learn to stand before God,
and with one another,
as the Lord’s brothers.
Mary lives among us, as mother and sister,
attentive to our needs;
along with us she waits and hopes,
suffers and rejoices.

The scapular is a sign of Mary’s permanent
and constant motherly love for Carmelite brothers and sisters.
By their devotion to the scapular,
faithful to a tradition in the Order, especially since the 16th century,
Carmelites express the loving closeness of Mary to the people of God;
it is a sign of consecration to Mary,
a means of uniting the faithful to the Order,
and an effective and popular means of evangelisation."

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.
St Simon Stock, pray for us.

Christ is Risen!

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!

Christos anesti! Alithos anesti!

Khristos voskrese! Voistinu voskrese!

Christus resurrexit! Vere resurrexit!

Kriost eirgim! Eirgim!

Christ is Risen from the dead
trampling down death by death
and upon those in the tomb bestowing life.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

May the joy and blessings of the Risen One be with you always,

Damian

Great & Holy Saturday!

The day after ‘Good Friday’, the middle of the Triduum is often passed over by theology and by many Christians without comment. Yet on this day the Church invites us to reflect deeply on the fact that Jesus is truly among the dead – stone cold dead and buried, experiencing death in its starkest reality, cut off from the land of the living, with all human relationships severed. There is no room for automatically interpreting the cross as resurrection. Not to have time to linger over the meaning of this day means repressing the horror and the mystery of the real death of Jesus and therefore not to appreciate its significance. For making his death simply mean resurrection is a serious denial of the deadliness of death. To leave out this day, to reduce the Paschal Mystery simply to two days is to leave out too much. We cannot allow resurrection to swallow up death. We dare not prematurely smuggle into Jesus’ experience an anticipation of the resurrection – as though this were the automatic consequence of going down into darkness. Death means death. Jesus lays in the tomb, dead and buried, dead among the dead. Stone cold dead.

On Holy Saturday, the Church thus invites us to take very seriously the experience of the disciples and their sense of loss. The brute experience of his death was stunning for them. This Jesus, on whom they had pinned all their hopes for something radically new, - in a matter of hours had now been condemned as a common criminal, violently removed from life by a state execution and buried as a corpse to lie in a stranger’s tomb. He was dead, - stone cold dead, lifeless. This was a devastating end to their dreams and plans, shattering their hopes. It was all over, finished. The bottom of their world had collapsed and now all were numb with grief and shock as they fled, broken and demoralised from Jerusalem, to take up their previous occupations (fishing). Sheer hopelessness seems to have set in (Emmaus Luke 24:21)

But what is happening in this ‘Tomb time?’

To penetrate the real meaning of ‘Holy Saturday’ – with Jesus lying dead in the tomb – requires a special effort for the Christian imagination today. Jesus really died. His death was never undone. We need to recapture the pre-Christian sense of death. This is not to indulge in an anachronism. Jesus experienced death in all its stark reality. What did this mean? What was the understanding of death for a first century Jew? Together with this question we can also ask what did the early Church mean when in the so-called ‘Apostle’s Creed’ it claimed that after being crucified, died and buried, Jesus “descended into hell”? What is this hell that Jesus goes down into?

For the first time now, in the death of Jesus of Nazareth, God himself experiences what it is for a human being to die – not just any death, but the violent, tortured death of the innocent-righteous one who is falsely condemned. But not just physical death, not just the death of the innocent, but moral death, the death of a guilty sinner! In his descent, Jesus identifies with the sinner’s radical separation and estrangement from God. His descent is a descent into the hell of those who in their freedom have rejected God. Jesus enters into the abyss of our loneliness and lost-ness. This is the moment of supreme identification of God with humanity. In this instant the incarnation is complete. No one can accuse God now of being an outsider to the pain and suffering of the human condition. By this, God shows himself in solidarity with all the innocent victims and all guilty sinners.

A reading from an ancient homily for Holy Saturday

"What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.
Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son.
The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.
‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise.
‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.
‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden.
‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image.
'See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one.
`I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you.
‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.
"The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages

The day we call GOOD

Tender God,
by shedding his blood for us,
your Son, Jesus Christ,
established the paschal mystery.
In your goodness, make us holy
and watch over us always.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Easter Triduum ~ Holy Thursday

Today begins three days and three nights of constant liturgy. This liturgy begins with a remembering. On Holy Thursday night, in churches throughout the world, people will gather to celebrate the eucharist and re-enact a visual parable. In the Gospel of John, we have a wonderful illustration of the 'attitude of eucharist'. Jesus, the host of the meal, rises from the table and washes the feet of the disciples. They are stunned by this action and Peter cannot contain his horror that his Messiah could consider washing his feet. Jesus points out that his action must be the attitude of his disciples.

I understand Peter's reluctance. I am in awe of the humility of God in this action. maybe this prayer can help us in our disturbance

Dear Lord, I know you want to wash my feet. I know my fear, my resistance. I'm not clean. I'm embarrassed to admit to myself all the ways I am dishonest, self-indulgent, negligent, defensive, and failing in my relationship with you, with others - failing to love.
Wash me.
Let me accept, embrace, how your self-giving sets me free from my sin and offers to heal me. By your being broken and given poured out and shared, make me whole.
Let my heart be freed of its anxiety and fear, its anger and lust. Fill me with joy and peace,
that I might give you praise.
Send me to wash, to forgive, to free, to nourish, to embrace and give life.
By your grace, may the poor know that your mandate has touched my heart and the hearts of the community whose celebration of your love sustains me.

A Story for Holy Week.

Sorry for my neglect of the blog for the last few days. My excuse is simply pre-occupation. A wonderful universal excuse. I will however attempt to bring you something each day of the Holy Week.

I have known this story for a long while and it is a great parable to reflect upon in Holy Week.

The Story of Bamboo

On the hillside in the Kucheng District of China, the most valuable trees are often marked with the owner’s name. A common way of conveying water from the mountain springs down to the villages is in channels made of lengths of bamboo fitted one to the other Some of these bamboos are four or five inches in diameter

A beautiful tree stood among scores of others on a lovely hillside, its stem dark and glossy, its beautiful feathery branches gently quivering in the evening breeze. As we admired it, it seemed to say: “You admire my tall stem and graceful branches, but I have nothing to boast of. All I have I owe to the loving care of my Master. It was he who planted me here in this fruitful hill, where my roots, reaching down to hid den springs, and continually drinking of their life- giving waters, receive nourishment, beauty and strength for my whole being.
“Do you see those trees to one side, how parched they are? Their roots have not reached the living springs. Since I found the hidden waters I have lacked nothing.
“You observe those characters on my stem? Look closely—they are cut into my very being. The cutting process was painful—I wondered at the time why I had to suffer—but it was my Masters own hand that used the knife. When the work was finished, with unutterable joy I recognized it was his own name he had cut on my stem. Then I knew beyond doubt that he loved me and prized me, and wanted all the world to know that I belonged to him. I may well make it my boast that I have such a Master.”
Even as the tree was telling us of its Master, we looked around and lo! the Master himself stood there. He was looking with love on the tree. In his hand he held a sharp axe.
“I have need of you,” he said. “Are you willing to give yourself to me?”
“Master,” replied the tree, “I am all yours— but what use can such as I be to you?”
“I need you,” said the Master, “to take my living water to some dry, parched places where there is none.”
“But, Master, how can I do this? I can dwell in the living springs, and imbibe their waters for my own nourishment. I can stretch up my arms to heaven, and drink their refreshing showers, and grow strong and beautiful, and rejoice that strength and beauty alike are all from thee. I can proclaim to all what a good Master thou art. But how can I give water to others? I but drink what suffices for my own food. What have I to give to others?”
The Master’s voice grew wondrously tender as he answered, “I can use you if you are willing. I would cut you down and lop off all your branches, leaving you naked and bare. Then 1 would take you away from this, your happy home, and carry you out alone on the far hillside, where there will be only grass and a tangled growth of briers and weeds. Yes, and I would still use the painful knife, for all those barriers within your heart should be cut away one by one, till there was a free passage for my living water to pass through you.
“You will die, you say; yes, you wily die, but my water of life will flow freely through you. Your beauty will be gone indeed. Henceforth, no one will look on you and admire your freshness and grace, but many will stoop and drink of the life-giving stream which will reach them through you. They may give no thought to you, but will they not bless thy Master who has given them his water through you? Are you willing for this,—to die?”
I held my breath to hear what the answer would be.
“My Master, all I have and am is from you. If you indeed have need of me, then I willingly give my life to you. If only through my sacrifice you can bring your living water to others, I give myself to you. Take and use me as you wish, my Master.” And the Master’s face grew still more tender. But he took the sharp axe, and with repeated blows brought the beautiful tree to the ground. It rebelled not, but yielded to each stroke saying softly: “My Master, as you will.” And still the Master held the axe and continued to strike until the stem was severed again, and the glory of the tree, its wondrous crown of feathery branches, was lost to it forever.
Now, indeed, it was naked and bare”—but the love-light in the Master’s face deepened as he took what remained of the tree on his shoulders, and bore it away,—far over the mountains.
Arriving at a lonely and desolate place, the Master paused, and again his hand took a cruel looking weapon, with sharp-pointed blade, and this time thrust it right into the very heart of the tree—for he would make a channel for his living waters, and only through the broken heart of the tree could they flow unhindered to the thirsty land.

So the Master, with the heart of love and the face of tenderest pity, dealt the blows, and spared not,— and the keen-edged steel did its work, till every
barrier had been cut away, and the heart of the tree lay open from end to end.
Then again he raised it, and gently bore it to where a spring of living water, clear as crystal, was bubbling up. There he laid it down—one end just within the healing waters. And the stream of life flowed in, right down the heart of the tree from end to end, along all the road made by the cruel wounds—a gentle current, to go on flowing noiselessly, flowing in, flowing through, flowing out, never ceasing. And the Master smiled and was satisfied.
Again the Master went, and sought for more trees. Some shrank back and feared the pain but others gave themselves to him with full consent, saying, “Master, we trust you. Do with us what you will!”
Then he brought them, one by one, by the same painful road, and laid them down end to end, and as each tree was placed in position, the living stream poured in, fresh and clear from the fountain and, till through its wounded heart the line growing longer and longer, till at last it reached to the little children, who had thirsted, came and drank, and hastened to carry the tidings to others: “The water has come at last—the long, long famine is over; come and drink.” And they came and drank and revived. And the Master saw, and his heart was gladdened.
Then the Master returned to his tree and lovingly asked, “Do you regret the loneliness and suffering? Was the price too dear—the price for giving the living water to the world?” And the tree replied. “My Master, no; had I ten thousand lives, how willingly would I give them all to you for the bliss of knowing, as today I know, that I have helped to make you glad.”

Retreat

It has been a few days since my last blog. I have been away on a retreat with some other priests fromthe diocese. It was good to be in the land of some of my hero's - Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross and to ponder some of their teachings on prayer and discipleship. I also spent some time with the words of Pere Michel Quoist (see previous post), this time words very much oriented to me as a priest. The words of Michel Quiost disturb me, console me, encourage me, and challenge me. See what you think. I give them to you as they appear in his book 'Prayers of Life.'

The Priest ~ A Prayer on a Sunday Night

People ask a great deal of their priest, and they are right. But they should understand that it is not easy to be a priest. He has given himself in all the ardour of youth, yet he still remains a man, and every day the man in him tries to take back what he has surrendered. It is a continual struggle to remain completely at the service of Christ and others.

A priest needs no praise or embarrassing gifts; what he needs is that those committed to his charge should, by loving their fellows more and more, prove to him that he has not given his life in vain. And as he remains a man, he may need once in a while a delicate gesture of disinterested friendship … some Sunday night when he is alone.

Come with me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Mark 1:17)
You did not choose me: but I chose you. I appointed you to go on and bear fruit that shall last. (John 15: 16)
Forgetting what is bwhind me, and reaching out for that which lies ahead, I press towards the goal to win the prize which is God’s cal to the life above in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3: 13-14)

Tonight, Lord, I am alone.
Little by little the sounds died down in the church,
the people went away,
and I came home, alone.

I passed people who were returning from a walk.
I went by the cinema that was disgorging its crowd.
I skirted café terraces where tired strollers were trying to prolong
the pleasure of a Sunday holiday.
I bumped into youngsters playing on the footpath,
youngsters, Lord, other people’s youngsters who will never be my own.

Here I am, Lord, alone.
The silence troubles me,
the solitude oppresses me.

Lord, I am 35 years old,
a body made like others, ready for work,
a heart meant for love,
but I’ve given you all.
It’s true, of course, that you needed it.
I’ve given you all, but it’s hard, Lord.
It’s hard to give one’s body; it would like to give itself to others.
It’s hard to love everyone and claim no one.
It’s hard to shake a hand and not to want to retain it.
It’s hard to inspire affection, to give it to you.
It’s hard to be nothing to oneself in order to be everything to others.
It’s hard to be like others, among others, and to be of them.
It’s hard always to give without trying to receive.
It’s hard to seek out others and to be unsought oneself.
It’s hard to suffer from the sins of others, and yet be obliged to hear and bear them.
It’s hard to be told secrets, and be unable to share them.
It’s hard to carry others and never, even for a moment, be carried.
It’s hard to sustain the feeble and never be able to lean on one who is strong.
It’s hard to be alone,
alone before everyone,
alone before the world,
alone before suffering, death, sin.

Son, you are not alone,
I am with you, I am you.
For I needed another human vehicle to continue my Incarnation and my Redemption.

Out of all eternity, I chose you, I need you.

I need your hands to continue to bless,
I need your lips to continue to speak,
I need your body to continue to suffer,
I need your heart to continue to love,
I need you to continue to save,
Stay with me, son.

Here I am, Lord;
Here is my body,
Here is my heart,
Here is my soul.
Grant that I may be big enough to reach the world,
Strong enough to carry it,
Pure enough to embrace it without wanting to keep it.
Grant that I may be a meeting place, but a temporary one,
A road that does not end in itself,
because everything to be gathered there,
everything human, leads towards you.

Lord, tonight, while all is still and I fell sharply the sting of solitude,
While men devour my soul and I feel incapable of satisfying their hunger,
While the whole world presses on my shoulders with all its misery and sin,
I repeat to you my “yes”- not in a burst of laughter,
but slowly, clearly, humbly,
Alone, Lord, before you,
in the peace of the evening

Prayer 2.

Last night I was reflecting on the stations of the cross (I have a beautiful powerpoint presentation of some stations that I would love to post, but don't know how ... answers on a postcard etc.) I used some from a book called Prayers of lfe by Pere Michel Quoist. Pere Michel was a member of the worker priest movement in post war France. His prayers are so honest and real and over the next couple of weeks i will share with you some favourites.

Hopefully these words will get you in the mood.

If we knew how to listen to God.

If we knew how to listen to God, we should hear him
speaking to us.For God does speak. He speaks in his Gospel;
he speaks also through life - that new Gospel which we
ourselves add a page each day. But because our faith is too
weak and our life too earthbound, we are rarely open to God's message.
To help us to listen, at the beginning of our new intimacy with Christ,
let us imagine what he would say if he himself interpreted
his Gospel for the people of our day.

If only we knew how to look at life as God sees it,
we should realise that nothing is secular in the world,
but that everything contributes to the building of the
Kingdom of God. To have faith is not only to raise
one's eyes to God to contemplate him; it is also
to look at the world - but with Christ's eyes.
If we had allowed Christ to penetrate our whole being,
if we had purified ourselves, the world would
no longer be an obstacle,
it would be a perpetual incentive to
work for the Father in order that, in Christ,
his kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven.
We must pray to have sufficient faith to know how to look at life.

If we knew how to look at life through god's eyes,
we should see it as innumerable tokens of the love of the Creator
seeking the love of creatures. The Father has put
us int the world, not to walk through it with lowered eys
but to search for him through things, events, people.
Everything must reveal God to us.
Long prayers are not needed in order to smile at Christ
in the smallest details of daily life.

If we knew how to listen to God, if we knew
how to look around us, our whole life would become prayer.
For it unfolds under God's eyes and no part of it must be
lived without being freely offered to him.
At first we communicate with god through words
which may be dispensed with later on.
Words are only a means.
However, the silent prayer which has moved
beyond words must always spring from everyday life,
for everyday life is the raw material of prayer

Prayer 1

I had some quiet time this morning. I am a late night kind of person and the early mornings are never good for me. This morning I was fully awake and refreshed and it was only 6am! I thought God might be telling me something, so after a coffee hit I spent some time in the conscious presence of the One who loves me. (There are thankfully many who love me, but I am talkning about the One!) After some time with my breviary (official Church prayers required of every priest) I was just open to however God wanted to speak.

Many will ask what's it like? Or, 'teach me to pray.' I can only explain what it is like for me, and like Jesus, I will use a modern parable. A parable is a story that speaks to the heart in a special way, a parable can be familiar or new but a truth is expressed that somehow finds a home in the hear-er.

This story is one from the days before I entered religious life and priesthood.

I remember being invited to a party with a girlfriend. It was in the early days of our relationship when minutes spent apart just seem endless. I went to the party that was full of people that I knew and with whom I was 'at home.' Something was missing. Although happy to be there, something was missing. Then the door opened and there she was ... no words spoken ... just a smile and the knowledge that all I wanted was there. Conversations carried on with friends and the occasional stolen looks across the room. Everything had changed, life was full and the room was was full of the beautiful evening sun.

For me that is what prayer is like. God comes into the room of my life, a life that is so familiar, spent often in the company of people whom I love, and then it is suffused with the presence of the One to whom it all belongs, for whom it is all for.
It can be joyful but silent, companionable with stolen glances to reassure one another that the other is still there.

Prayer is something I need to live. It has to be as real as the communication between lovers.

Be well and happy :-)

Baptism

Apologies for the absence of blogging. I have been having major problems with my computer. Hopefully these problems are now resolved and life can have some normality about it.

Ministry can have its ups and downs, but one of the great pleasures that creeps in at the beginning of each month is when we celebrate baptisms. These always take place on the first couple of Saturdays of the month here at Our Lady's and we then baptise upto four children at a time. It can be very noisy if there are brothers and sisters about, and often most of the people in the congregation are in the unfamiliar environment of a church. This can be a wonderful moment of outreach and challenge. Pointing out that all present are not merely spectators to what is taking place but active participants in the prayer of the Church and in the lives of those children who are being baptised. Finding ways of communicating what this sacrament is about is often challenging and more often rewarding. I always try to remeber in prayer those I have baptised. As I approach the font the words of this song often go through my head
Forever Young.
Words & music © Bob Dylan

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

Another weekend of fun

I always find liturgical seasons up the busy-ness stakes. Last week was no exception. Lent began apace and there was scarcely time to breath. But I like Lent. I think it is a wonderful season and a real opportunity to connect with hungers, desires and are very selves. The weekend came and the Cassidy clan gathered. My being in London has made these gatherings more available to me and I rejoice in them. I haven't seen my eldest nephew James, in 2 years. James lives in Evian where he is doing a PhD in Geochemistry. He is in London for a week doing some research.

My family is unremarkable, or is it? We have had alot to deal with in the past few years. Alot of sadness and a few moments of joy along the way. But what is remarkable is the desire to be there for one another, and this truth is celebrated when we gather around a table, share food and wine and one anothers companionship. in may ways these gatherings are 'upper room' moments that deepen the relationships we have with one another. Unfortunately I couldn't stay late as I had to get back to the parish for the onslaught of Sunday - 2 Masses, 1 sick call, a trip to the cathdedral for the Rite of Election and finally Top Gear on the telly!

This afternoon I am off for 24 hours of R & R.

Be well and happy :-)

Ash Wednesday

Lent is a season of the Church’s year in which all believers are called to prepare for the great celebration of the Easter Triduum, that is the great liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil, in which we remember the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, and his resurrection in glory.

Lent is not tidy. Day’s grow longer (the word ‘Lent’ comes from ‘lengthen’), the ground thaws, and the next thing we know, everything is filthy. Our windows need washing, our temples need cleansing, the earth itself needs a good bath. The English names for these months come from the ancient words that reflect the need to roll up our sleeves this season : February (‘purification’) and March (‘the spirit of war’). Good names. Winter doesn’t leave without blustery battles that push things over and mess things up and break things.

We begin Lent by smearing ashes on our foreheads, an ancient symbol of repentance, but it would be a mistake to label lent purely as a penitential season. Lent is also about renewal. During this season we are called to take stock of our lives, to appreciate our worth and dignity, and to challenge those areas of our lives that aren’t free.

Lent is to be a graced time. It is much more about our turning again to Christ than the things we choose to 'give up'. Lent is a time to name the things we really hunger for - love, understanding, compassion, friendship, known-ness and to come to the stark reality that these hungers will be satisfied in God if we give God permission to work in our lives. Lent is more a process of letting go than giving up.

The work of Christ on Calvary and his resurrection are the real, tangible signs of the relationship that God desires for us, a relationship founded on, and nourished by love. If this is the attitude of our Lenten celebration, then this can be a graced time for us all.

"Turn away from sin and believe in the Good News"

Ethical Wedding Rings

After seeing Blood Diamond and the search for non conflict diamonds,I saw this on the Independent Catholic News website highlighting the CAFOD campaign for ethical gold.

Couple travel to Honduras on quest for 'ethical' wedding rings

A soon-to-be married couple have returned from a gruelling trip to a goldmine in Honduras where they saw the real story behind where the gold in their wedding rings may come from.

Zoe Gahan, a picture editor, and her fiancé Mat Laroche, a documentary film maker, both aged 30, from Woodstock Road in Chiswick, have been campaigning for 'ethical gold' with the aid agency CAFOD. They wanted to take the next step and see for themselves the real story behind the making of their future wedding rings.

Zoe said: "I wanted to look further into the issues of gold mining before Mat and I go off and buy our wedding rings. I only became aware recently of the problems with gold mining through CAFOD's Unearth Justice campaign. Now I've seen the devastating effects first hand that gold mining can have on the communities near a mine and the environment. It's really shaken me.

"After seeing the scar on the landscape that is the gold mine I'm very concerned to know where high street jewellery stores are sourcing their gold from. There are dangerous levels of cyanide in the water around the mine and I heard from local people that the mine causes them to fear for their health. I was shocked at the sheer size of the mine, it can use up to 220 gallons of water per minute when the people nearby struggle to find enough water for themselves and their cattle to drink."

Mat said: "I was appalled to speak to the humble farmers who had originally lived on the site of the mine but had been forced to move. They lost their fruit orchards, a forest and some are very concerned about the validity of the title deeds to their new homes. The mine has left them poorer and extremely worried about their future. I'd urge everyone out there who buys gold jewellery to ask about where it comes from."

The Unearth Justice campaign is raising awareness and calling for an end to the harm caused by gold mining. CAFOD is pressing governments and business to give poor communities a greater say in whether and how gold is mined and who benefits. They are not calling for a boycott of jewellery retailers but asking them to put pressure on the rest of the gold industry to change the way it operates.

Head of CAFOD's campaign team, Helen Wolfson, said: "Over £2 billion items of gold jewellery are bought in the UK each year. Gold is usually linked with love and commitment but this Valentine's Day we are asking people to think about where this gold comes from and help us to ensure the gold industry behaves responsibly towards poor communities and the environment. People can sign our petition which calls on high street jewellers to ensure the gold in their products is not produced that the expense of local communities or the environment."

Snow, servers & sermons

It's been a few days since my last blog and the time has been full! Thursday came and the world of london suburbs was hushed by a thick blanket of snow. An unusual phenomena in this part of the world. It amazed me how snow seems to bring a stillness that is quite beautiful. The children in the school where in heaven as they made their snowmen in the playground and the sound of their laughter was a delight to the senses. The problem with a heavy snowfall is the misery of the thaw, but thankfully it passed quickly and the landscape (cityscape) returned to normal.

On Saturday I went with some of our altar servers to Mass at the Cathedral. I don't think I have ever seen so many servers in my life! They enjoyed the experiemce and the drama of the cathedral liturgy.

Sunday was the patronal feast of the parish that I work in - The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. I presided at the children's Mass which was all about Thankfulness. I really enjoyed the liturgy and the children were great. I shared with them a story that I have had for some time

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return for their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”
“It was great, Dad.”
“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked. “Oh yeah, “said the son. “So tell me, what did you learn form the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered: “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in out garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve one another. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them.”
The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are.”
Too many times, we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don’t have. What is one person’s worthless object is another’s prize possession. It is all based on one’s perspective. It makes one wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for what we have instead of worrying about wanting more.

The children enjoyed the story but it seemed to touch many others as well. It was one of those rare occassions when you feel that you have hit the right note!