I want to take you to a little house situated not far from the centre of a small rural community.  Nothing sets it out as anything special – nothing specific – its just like all the rest in the neighbourhood – functional but poor, simple, houses in that rather quiet part of the village.  As we enter, we see ‘mum’ going about her daily work – washing, cleaning and polishing, mending, cooking and baking ready for the evening meal.  She sets the table so that the family can sit and eat, then sits down – for the first time in the long day – and relaxes, rests, waiting for her men-folk to come in from work.  They will be hot and tired and hungry. 

But, this working ‘mum’, you can see, is uneasy.  She tries to relax, but relaxation does not come easy.  Her face shows the worry that is troubling her – unsettling her.  You feel for her – this hard-working, caring, loving matriarch of the family – and want to try to help.  But help you cannot – she cannot even help herself. You see, she does not know what is troubling her.  She cannot ‘put her finger’ on it. She just knows, with a mother’s intuition, instinct even, that there is ‘something in the wind’, something indefinable, not spoken, not visible, but turning her life ‘upside down’.  She utters a prayer – that things will be alright – and then the mood is broken, as her husband and son come in from their day’s work, from the workshop, nearby.  They are hot and dirty from their labours.  Her husband washes and then almost ‘collapses in a heap’ to wait for his ‘tea’.  He is old and rather weary – getting near to retirement – but retirement would bring further problems.  They have little money on which to live and his work keeps them surviving.  Once he finishes work, their income would suffer and life would be all the harder.  The son, grown up now, would then have to provide for the family and, with just one person working, the money coming in would be halved, almost.  Son follows father, washes, and gets ready for his meal.  Suddenly, he puts his arms around his mother and says: "Love you, mum!"

They sit to the table and ‘mum’ serves the simple meal.  They sit and eat – mostly in silence – each with their own thoughts on the day’s events, and wondering what tomorrow may bring.  The scene is outwardly peaceful – a small family, grouped round the table, eating their evening meal – but there is an undercurrent.  All is not right.  Each of them is aware of something deep – troubling – worrying. All is not quite at peace. 

All at once, the son breaks the silence and sets hearts blazing: "Sorry to have to say this, mum, dad, but I am going to have to leave home."  Mum and dad look at each other and turn, the unspoken question alight in their eyes.  Then Jesus answers their look and drops the rest of his ‘bombshell’: "Tomorrow – I have other work to do." 

Mary and Joseph – still speechless – cannot come to terms with what has just happened.  In shock, they ask with loving hearts and eyes – the unspoken question, "Why", and food has long since been forgotten.  Joseph, is beside himself with concern for the son – his life-long friend and help-mate – and what will happen to his family?  Mary, heart and eyes full of tears – remembers the words of the wise old man in the Temple, to the effect that a ‘sword should pierce her heart’ – and knows also that, for the future, there is much, much worse still to come, for she knows the scriptures and cannot forget those words of Jesus, spoken many years previously – also in the Temple – "Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?"  And Mary knows something about how God works!

Thus, from this most unsettling scene in Nazareth, with a ‘bombshell’ that near tore his family apart, Jesus begins his life’s vocation, to then go about his Father’s affairs and begin his public ministry.  On the morrow, he gathers his few personal things together, says his ‘Goodbyes’ to Joseph and Mary and walks away from his home – the home in which he has been happy for some 30 years, a home in which he has been subject to mum’s, and dad’s, love and controlling influence, a home in which he has repaid that love with perfect devotion to his earthly ‘parents’. 

It must have been a very sad parting – one tinged with deep regret, that the days of childhood and youth were now long-gone – with steps into a future, unknown.  Mary and Joseph must have been beside themselves with grief at the ‘loss’ of a ‘son’ they loved with all their hearts.  Yet in all this, and because of the people they were, they would be accepting all that was happening as the will of God.  They would be praying to Him that things would turn out well, knowing full well that God knows, far better than any of us, the ‘why’s’ and the ‘wherefores’, and what the future holds.  Even in deep sorrow, Mary and Joseph – I think – would still be aware of the immensity of the ‘job-in-hand’, the life-changing importance of the work Jesus was about to undertake, and so there may have been a sort of ‘acceptance’ – a sort of ‘not my will, but thy will be done’ – about it all.  I hope so, because, without that kind of assurance, the parting would then have been nothing short of disastrous – and what would have been the point?

Bishop Seamus Cunningham, Hexham & Newcastle, ordains Fr. Marc Lynden-Smith at St. Aloysius Church, Hebburn, 12 June 2010

I have been trying to reconcile the scene at Nazareth with some kind of parallel, within the realms of my own experience – difficult, I know – but there is one which, without too much imagination, has some common themes to commend it.   Many years ago, whilst still at Grammar School, I remember visiting priests coming to talk to the student body about vocations to the priesthood (and religious life).  I remember some of the heart-breaking, heart-rending decisions such visits brought about in some families, when sons and daughters decided they would choose to leave home and study for the priesthood.  Parents – invariably, they would have been loving parents, almost by definition – must then have been ‘pitch-forked’ into the ‘Mary and Joseph’ situation, only to find themselves between the proverbial ‘rock and a hard-place’ – torn between love for their children and their love of God, pride that their children should be choosing to give their lives to God, yet despair at the apparent ‘loss’ of ones held so dear.  I remember such thoughts crossing my mind whilst still at a rather tender age.  I remember my parents’ reactions when I voiced them, and though they would not have stood in my way, they would have been saddened, I know, should I have made the decision to take things further.  It was not to be! I think I would have made a rather poor job of it, in any case, – but the thoughts, the feelings, the concern and the worries the decision would have caused – are still part of my make-up.  

Fr. Marc Receives His Chalice at His Ordination, 12 June 2010

From the point of view of an ‘outsider’, I cannot begin to fully comprehend, fully understand, the feelings of separation – how could I?  However, it seems to me that in making the decision to follow one’s vocation to the Religious Life, this must inevitably involve mixed ‘blessings’.  I see great ‘sacrifices’ made  by parents, that sense of loss, those feelings of leaving behind home and family – something like tearing away an arm or a leg – to begin studies leading, eventually, to the giving of one’s life to God, but then there are the compensations – and very rewarding ones at that!  

Having come to know Father Jonathan and several other monk priests very well – with many years of learning on my part – I begin to realise something, I think, of the peace and harmony in their lives – lives devoted to the service of God and their fellow brothers and sisters.  This is not to say that priests, monks and nuns have it easy – surely, there are tribulations, distractions, along the way – but ultimately, they are following the example of Jesus, who left home and family behind at Nazareth.  And with just one driving motive – to serve; to serve God and do His will; to serve their fellow men and women and to help them on their way to paradise.    

And not just our friends, the Benedictines, but great ‘servants’ from the Jesuits, Redemptorists, Franciscans and many others, those who give their lives to the Missions, the many orders of nuns – Sisters Gabriel, Anna and Veronica, providing us with just three wonderful examples from the many other Religious Orders – all people, and religious, serving God and their communities – something magnified thousands of times throughout the Church.  What wonderful gifts from God – gifts to the men and women who make this ‘sacrifice’ –  to their parents, to their communities and the world, at large.  On  this note, and as this ‘Year of the Priest’ comes to an end, it would be as well to remember all this, and to thank God for his great love.  Without these men and women, our societies – and our lives – would be, so, so much more, the poorer.  We thank God for all this.  We thank all our priests, monks, brothers and sisters, who give their lives to serve us.

Jesus left home and family – to serve his community and world – in much the same way – then to make the ultimate sacrifice to His Father.  Parallels – yes, parallels there certainly are – across two thousand years – the service to mankind in between.

And, the answer to the rhetorical question in the title?  To serve – is to love – is to live!

Socius

Today, Friday 11th June – the feast of St. Barnabas – happens to be ousted by the solemnity of “The Sacred Heart of Jesus”. St. Barnabas is known in the Bible as “The Man of Encouragement” and one may think him an ‘attractive’ saint, for many reasons. One who so thought was a monk called Fr. Barnabas Sandeman, who died 30 years ago on the Feast of St. Lawrence, 10th August 1980. For those Ampleforth monks old enough to have known him, Fr. Barnabas was a courteous, learned, cultured and encouraging man, who had to put up with some ‘rough-necked’ monks – those who did not share his love of Dante, Latin literature, Renaissance Paintings, fine poetry and the like – but were more interested in the 'soccer' results, the rough and tumble of Ampleforth College school-life, fishing, and other mundane pursuits. But, Fr. Barnabas also had a fair amount of the ‘Love’ that comes from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Father Barnabas in the Orchard at Ampleforth

At the same time, the Feast of the Sacred Heart is a very important feast, and His Holiness the Pope opened the ‘Year for Priests’, in 2009, on this very feast day; it closes on the same feast day, this year. This feast is not unconnected with ‘encouragement’, the ‘motto’ of St. Barnabas. Its ‘raison d’être’, however, is the ‘Love of the humanity of Christ for all people, shown by the ‘heart, the imputed sign of love for any human being, and, therefore, of Jesus. The heart is where our ‘person’ is, and for Jesus –   the ‘Word of God, become flesh’ we honour his ‘human’ heart, his ‘human’ person, by giving the Feast the title: ‘The Sacred Heart of Jesus’.

Face on the Shroud of Turin – Is this the loving face of Jesus?

But, to turn to my main theme, our Parish Pastoral Council, in this ‘Year of the Priest’ decided to try and deepen our parishioners’ understanding of the priesthood, and this has proved a worthwhile exercise –  certainly for this parish priest.  Firstly, I think, it was important to establish parishioners’ understanding of what was distinctive about the role of a priest. With this in mind, we ran a ’tick box’ questionnaire of 20 statements – divided into three sections – headed ‘Mass’, ‘Sacraments’ and ‘Support’. The vast majority of parishioners did know that only the ordained priest could ‘Preside and Celebrate at Mass’, ‘Could Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation’, as intended by the Church’s teaching, for the forgiveness of sins. Also, the majority were aware that it is only the Ordained Priest – and not even an ordained deacon – who can administer the ‘Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick’.

However, what has become clear is that there are other things – very important, spiritually – that laity can do,  at which they can be immensely effective – possibly more effective – and influential, on the spiritual life of a person, than a priest might be. For instance, it says in St. James’ epistle: “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective”. (James 5: 16)  This ‘advice’ does not mention that the other need be a priest. I have often heard about people talking over their own lives with a friend they can trust, someone not a priest, and finding that, sharing in this way, is both ‘life-giving’ and ‘life-changing’. In sharing confidences, it strikes me as obvious – perhaps advisable – that it may be much better for a woman, facing some personal challenges, to consider, well, talking over the situation with a trusted lady friend, and the same for a man to man, tête-a-tête. There is no need to be absolute about same-sex confidences, but, in general, it seems a good and sensible thing to consider. In our own Parish, our Administrator, I know, is ever in great demand, as a person in whom people confide, and this, to me, seems a very good thing, its robust spiritual roots very much in line with St. James’ Epistle.

Our research established other things – other actions – that the laity can do well, also. These came under the general heading of ‘Supporting’ and included supporting those close to death. Perhaps we should bear in mind that there were no priests, present with Jesus, as he was dying. Laity can, and do, pray with sick people, “Bear one another’s burdens and in this way fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal 6; 2), also teach others about God and be a spiritual guide “teach and admonish one another in all wisdom. The lay person can be a good administrator, lead a Prayer Group or a Gospel Enquiry Group, and thus, do so many things, in support of people and the Church.

Having satisfied ourselves that these ideas were well rooted in peoples’ hearts, we then decided to find out, from parishioners, what kind of person they thought a priest should be, how he should act, and how a priest should be involved with others:

The questionnaire asked the parishioner to choose three answers from the five below, thinking about a priest as a person, about the ‘Being’ of the priest, and the ‘WHO’ of the priest:

1.   who is united with the Pope, the Bishop, his fellow priests and his parishioners?

2.   who is a holy and who lives according to the teachings of Jesus?

3.   who is welcoming to all?

4.   who is immersed in the Scriptures and the Church’s teaching?

5.   who always respects confidentiality?

The questionnaire asked the parishioner to choose three out of the five of the below that were more to do with the Action of the priest:

1.   be prayerful when leading the community in Church?

2.   celebrate reconciliation and healing of body, mind and spirit?

3.   have the help others in his own journey to God?

4.   be a role model for others?

5.   guide the Parish as the Holy Spirit inspires the Church today?

The questionnaire in the final section asked about priestly INVOLVEMENT with people, again asking the parishioner to choose three out of the five below:

1.   to build community in the parish, with fellow Christians, those of other religions and all of

      good will?

2.   to serve the needs of all as far as he is able, especially the poor?

3.   to support the young on their journey to God?

4.   to promote the spirit of sacrifice?

5.   alongside people throughout life, especially at times of need like infirmity and death?

From the results of the survey, four key themes consistently appear across the various congregations of Mass-goers, 6.00 pm Saturday, 9.30 and 11.00 am on Sundays. They highlight the priest:

*   who builds community in the parish, with fellow Christians, those of other religions and all

     of good will

*   who is welcoming to all?

*   who is with people throughout their lives, especially at times of need, like infirmity and

     death?

*   who guides the Parish as the Holy Spirit inspires the Church today?

The other themes also remain important and are not to be discarded despite not being in the four key themes as highlighted by parishioners in the survey.  However, It is clear that – in considering the statements of how a priest ‘should’ be, act, and involve – community, is one key element identified by parishioners; another is how the priest relates to people; another is his role as guide for the present time, and the future.

The end of the 'Year of the Priest' for us in St. Mary’s Leyland is actually a beginning in many ways, and that is why I gave this ‘Blog’ the title ‘Omega and Alpha’. Our ordained priests are challenged to work alongside the laity, who are seen – with the priests – as part of the community. This is something that Vatican II, and the ‘Leaving Safe Harbours’ initiative, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, have been promoting. It would be simply impossible, for the parishioners of St. Mary’s, Leyland, to accept a Church in which the Priest has the controlling role in the Parish, and in which the people would be simply following, and obeying the ordained priest, on our journey to God. Rather, it follows the scriptural exemplification of Jesus, as portrayed in Chapter 15 of St. John’s Gospel: “I am the vine and you are the branches”, or the Pauline teaching: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ”, (1 Cor. 12;12).  Here we see, clearly, that ALL are co-responsible for the welfare of the Church locally. Thank God, this very much happens in our Parish.

Personally, I thank God for the liberation that this vision brings. It is not just, “the Fathers”, who are the key players in the local parish. Rather, it is all of us, together, fulfilling our own role, and being drawn together into harmony and unity, the community of monks united with the Parish Priest, and the Parish Priest, in turn, united with the other monks and the people. All are in harmony with the Bishop, and other priests in the Pastoral Area; again, all are linked through the Bishop to our brother Bishops and, in particular, to the Pope, who is the centre of harmony and unity of the whole Church.

The ‘burning’ question is how to live all this out in practice, and it seems to us, at the Pastoral Council, that this will be something of a challenge we face each day, and which we hope to face in a more systematic way next year, just as we tried to face the challenge of understanding the Ordained Priesthood, this year.

To conclude, I return to St. Barnabas and the Feast of the Sacred Heart. Yes, within the Church, priests and people all need encouragement if they are to fulfil the God-given role that each one of us has. It may seem a small and insignificant role, but it is one that only each unique person can do, within that unique family, involving those unique people, in each unique street. For the priests it is the same. They have a unique role and they need to learn how to be filled with such compassion and love for others that they will grow in learning how to understand, and love, so much diversity among their parishioners – and among their fellow companion monks. Some lay persons may have bigger roles to play, within the community, but this does not make them better, more important, or higher up, than others. It just leads to them being of greater service to the whole community. Priests and people need to learn how to ‘love’ others with the Heart of Jesus. The Feast of the Sacred heart may help us, and teach us, as we reflect on all these things, and the challenging situations we face each day.

4^th June 2010

New life for the children of God.

Eternal Father, through your Word You gave new life to Adam’s race,

transformed men into sons of light, new creatures by your saving grace.

The Word of God will transform the whole world

That is the hymn we sang yesterday morning at our office of readings. It says God gives new life through the Word. This reflection is about that.

The Church has given us the book of Job to read in the office or readings these past days since Pentecost. We have to pick it up again because we were reading Job before Lent began, and as is often the case Lent and Eastertide with its mystery of darkness and light is sandwiched by the book of Job. We monks are quite lucky because prayer together is something we do each day at a set time; we are almost "compelled" to take time out to listen to God’s Word, pray the psalms together, reflect and let God speak to us. Anyone who wants to have a friendship with God must give God time and space and that is not easy in today’s demanding world and the many things that engage our attention. Of course I am thinking of those who read this blog and are not monks, but might be busy at work, or a mother with children, or somebody who lives alone and is busy with many daily tasks including children and grandchildren. It will be time well spent however to do some reading of God’s Word, because no person will be able to discover himself or herself if they do not have a relationship with God. It is in our very being to know God, love Him and serve Him, and to do so not only in our personal prayers but also in all the people around us who, in God, are our brothers and sisters and are our pathway to Him. If we are distracted by many things all day long this will be impossible

Job, who has done nothing wrong, in fact has always been a virtuous man, has lost everything: his possessions, his family, his health and his self-esteem, and he is sitting on the dung heap. Three miserable friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar try to console him but only make things worse. The whole story of Job is ironical, tragic and humorous too, because it is not that Job’s three friends are wrong in what they say: but they do not convince Job at all, their words do not hit the mark. Nor is Job in his discourse completely right; we can sense there may be some self-pity in there, understandable as it is.

Last Friday we read Job’s speech which follows a discourse by Zophar (Chapter 12 of the book of Job). It begins in our translation:

"Doubtless you are the voice of the people,

 and when you die, wisdom will die with you!...

A man becomes a laughing stock to his friends

if he cries to God and expects an answer.

The blameless innocent person incurs only mockery.

‘Add insult to injury’, thinks the prosperous person

‘strike the man now that he is staggering!’

Yet the tents of those who are wicked are left in peace,

and those who challenge God live in safety,

and make a god out of their two fists!

If you would learn more, ask the cattle,

seek information from the birds of the air.

The creeping things of earth will give you lessons,

and the fishes of the sea will tell you all.

There is not one such creature but will know

this state of things is all of God’s own making.

He holds in his power the soul of every living thing,

and the breath of each man’s body."

This quotation came alive to me when we read it, and it made me realise once again that everything is held in the palm of God’s hand, the good and the bad things we experience. Our task is to trust in Him as Job did, and perhaps I achieved that a bit more and knew the presence of God in the particular details of my own life.

The Word of God is life-giving. We are created through the Word, and each individual is different to every other person born in this world, and has a unique task to perform in his or her life on earth. Personally when it comes to taking up the Word in the scriptures, I would recommend getting help to let it become digestible and applicable. To read the bible without a guide is not easy, and we distribute in the parish the Wednesday Word, a guide to the Sunday scripture readings which you can find also on a website www.wednesdayword.org. Also you can look at the Word of Life that we publish each month in the parish bulletin, and each week in shorter chunks or look up the website www.focolare.org.uk. This is helpful because in this website you find experiences of how the Word can be lived.

The Word of God is not something only to help you in prayer; it is not something that you read simply to strengthen your knowledge of God; it is not just to be read so you can understand Jesus and the life of the early Church; of course the Word of God helps in all these things. The Word of God is to be lived; and to insure God’s presence that is generated by living the Word is not lost, it is good to share with others who are receptive, in an appropriate way. Not only is it a necessity to live the Word, it is necessary to share the fruits of living the Word with others.

We need to live in a different way once we are responding to the immense Love that God has for each one of us. It demands "a new culture", and many who are reserved or shy need to learn how to share the life that God generates in them. Then we begin to change from within, and the gifts of God begin to grow, gifts like "tolerance of the differences of the other", "patience with the weaknesses that we find in ourselves and in others", "growth in understanding the other person and seeing his or her good qualities rather than the negative aspects", "confidence and trust in God in the very circumstances we are in, the people, the place, the life we lead". Then the Word is life-giving.

To illustrate the above point by its opposite, we all know perfectly well that when God’s Word is not lived by Christians it causes scandal to people who are outside the family of the Church. We know also from recent events that if the Word of God is not lived by clergy and religious, or by lay people closely associated with the Church such as in Catholic orphanages or Catholic institutions, then the Church gets a very bad name and other Christians not directly involved can be deeply shocked and scandalised.

To end here is something that happened to me as a fruit of trying to live the Word, trying to live Love which is the same as the Word of God.

One day about lunch time the phone went and a mother I knew informed me that her husband was so ill in hospital with his heart problems that he had no hope. The very next day the doctors in the high dependency unit at Blackpool Victoria would turn off the machines that were keeping him alive as he was not responding at all. So she asked me if on the next day at the time they were going to switch off everything, could I go to the hospital, pray with her and the children, have Holy Communion and help them all to say good bye to Dad and husband. Implied in all this is the famous phrase of Jesus ‘Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I among them’, and Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

Finally God sent his Son, Jesus, who revealed the face of God in its fullness by showing Him as Love and by condensing his law into the single commandment of love for God and for one's neighbour.

Of course I made arrangements to do that, changing appointments and so on. I promised to pray for them all there and then and offer up my life for the next 24 hours for this gentleman.

The next day I rang the mother at the hospital before setting out, and she told me a remarkable thing. Her husband had made a response in the afternoon of the previous day. It looked as though the doctors were going to review their decision. Yet could I please come with Holy Communion and pray with all as we arranged.

So I arrived, not sure what to expect. My friend was there wired up with all the monitors as usual. There was no sign of anyone turning them off. In fact even I could see some response, and so our prayers continued but in a changed form. Everyone had Holy Communion, Dad received a blessing (he was ‘nil by mouth’ and could not communicate nor does he remember this event), all in that hospital bay were filled with gratitude and wonder at what God had done, and from then on things looked up. This gentleman and his wife are still very much a part of the faith community of the Church, and it must be about ten years ago that these events happened.

A tiny postscript: similar stories could be told again and again by priests who have the chance to anoint the sick and share God’s healing that is described in some of the miracles of Jesus in the gospels. God is close to us: he is waiting for us to believe in Love, to live the Word and let Jesus live in us.