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.