Lent Retreat - Week 2, Monday

Readings: Daniel 9:4-10; Luke 6:36-38

'Be merciful, even as your father is merciful' (Luke 6:36).

Before a Dominican takes his vows, the Prior Provincial asks him: 'what do you seek?' The brother replies: 'God's mercy and yours.' As I prepared for my simple profession in September last year, I thought a lot about these words. Why at this moment, when we are only just becoming full members of the Order and of the Province, are we already asking for mercy?

Jean Vanier, founder of the L'Arche movement in which those with disabilities live with those that care for them, described his communities as being 'for those with special needs, and for those that think they don't have special needs'. His point is that each one of us has our weaknesses, each one of us bears the scars of both our own sin and the sin of others, each one of us has an inner darkness. Often however, we are not prepared to admit this. Instead we are tempted to divide the world in very black and white terms: good and bad, friends and enemies, clean and unclean. Yet these distinctions are unreal. They are not based on the truth and cannot set us free. Instead, by denying that we even have a problem, they stunt our development and limit our capacity to love.

When we are in a position to accept the truth that we too have sinned against our neighbour and sinned against God, then we are in a position to accept the truth that God has forgiven us, and so we can forgive ourselves. Once we can love ourselves as we really are, weak and sinful, we can love our neighbour as they really are. We become able to be merciful in the face of the weaknesses of those around us, and forgive those that trespass against us. This is the foundation of true Christian community, and indeed true Christian love.

Lent Retreat - SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT

Readings: Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36

In this weeks Gospel Jesus ascends the mountain to pray with his disciples Peter, John and James. The mountain has a very deep significance in Scripture. It is the place of encounter with God, the place where God chooses to utter his word. Moses ascends Mount Sinai in order to hear the word of God and receive the Law. Elijah goes up Mount Horeb to converse with the Lord. For Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, the mountain will mark different times in his life of teaching, prayer, glory, suffering and fear.

Unlike the Transfiguration accounts in Matthew and Mark, Luke begins his account with Jesus at prayer, communing with the Father, and it is while Jesus is deep in prayer, united in heart and mind with his heavenly Father, that he is transfigured before the amazed eyes of his startled disciples. “As he prayed his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning” (Lk 9:29). It is then that the great prophets of the past, Moses and Elijah, appear with Jesus, speaking to him about the path of suffering that he was soon to undergo in Jerusalem, preparing and encouraging him.

This story begins with the prayer of Jesus. Prayer is at the heart of our very identities as Christians. It is in prayer that we commune with God, listen as He quietly speaks his word in the depths of our hearts. It is in prayer that God pours his loving grace into our lives, healing, forgiving and transforming us whether in suffering or in joy. It is in prayer, as essential to the soul as oxygen is to the body, that we draw ever closer to that pure light that is the glory of God and we become slowly transformed and transfigured. St Paul assures us of this truth in the second reading for this Sunday. “For us, our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the saviour we are waiting for, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he can subdue the whole universe” (Phil 3:20-21).

Often our experience of prayer does not lead us easily to see this transfiguration at work. Prayer often feels like a real effort in which God seems to be far away or indeed not present at all. When we are really low and knocked down by life, the temptation is just to drop the practice of prayer altogether and to seek to rely only on our own efforts or to give up altogether. But fixing our gaze on Jesus, who reveals the truth about God to us, we learn a simple fact. God is faithful to his promises and will act with his transforming power in ways we often do not see or feel in the moment. He calls us to trust in his love that will not fail. As Jesus’ body lay lifeless and broken on the cross, the disciples had every logical reason to give up hope. But in the silence of the tomb, God’s power was at work, leading to the glory of the resurrection and the victory over sin and death. God was and is faithful to his promise: “Destroy this temple and I will raise it up on the third day” (Jn 2:19). The disciples were confused when Jesus uttered this when preaching. It was only after his resurrection that they saw that God fulfils his promises to us in ways beyond what we can hope or imagine.

This Lent we are called to renew our trust in the power of prayer, to take time apart more frequently each day to listen and commune in prayer with the God who loves us and wishes to transform us in glory. Whatever the ups and downs we face, let us never forget that God is always faithful to those who call on him in trust and openness. In the words of Blessed Angela of Foligno: “Therefore if you want to begin and receive this divine light, pray. If you have begun to make progress and want this life intensified within you, pray … If you want faith, pray. If you want hope, pray. If you want chastity, pray. If you want some virtue, pray … The more you are tempted, the more you should persevere in prayer ... But by the very perseverance in your prayers you will be freed from temptations. Finally, it is through prayer that you will be enlightened, liberated, cleansed, and united with God”.

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Lent Retreat - Week 1, Saturday

Readings: Dt 26:16-19; Ps 119:1-2,4-5,7-8; Mt 5:43-48

The recent car bomb in Newry in Northern Ireland marks a troubling development in the long history of the region. Troubling, of course, because it brings back memories of the violence and conflict that marked the region for many years, days that most had hoped belonged to the past. And yet, despite this, the local tradesmen were adamant that business would return to normal as soon as possible, and that acts of violence and hate would not be allowed to dominate.

When hatred takes a hold, between individuals, or between groups in a community, something always has to give in order that a new, improved relationship may be forged. Today's Gospel reminds us that the most powerful force to break hatred is love. Love disarms hatred because it compels us to look at those we hate in a different way. Jesus reminds us that we need to look at the world with a God's eye view. This means recognising that the distinctions that we make between those who are for us and against us are ours, and not God's. We are reminded that all are equal in dignity and loved by God, and that the challenge for us is to see others with that same dignity, and to want the good for them as much as we want it for ourselves.

Of course, this is not easy. It doesn't mean that we have to pretend that conflicts and tensions do not exist between us and others. Loving properly requires us to start from a realistic point, to recognise that these divisions and conflicts do exists in our lives. It is then that we can make the choice, to decide that the status quo is not the way we want things to be. And then we need to put in the prayer and the work required to bring about the changes. Changing our attitudes and behaviour towards those who challenge us the most will often present the greatest challenge to true conversion. But what is on offer to us is the blessed life that comes from being true children of God

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On Saturday 27 February ...

Lent Retreat - Week 1, Friday

Readings: Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:20-26

The first reading seems to imply that our standing before God, for good or ill, depends on what we ourselves do. Responsibility belongs to the individual and not to families or tribes. An argument breaks out about justice – nothing new there – but this time it is between God and the people: ‘what you do is unjust; no, what you do is unjust …’ Really it is necessary to read the whole chapter to get a sense of its teaching. God concludes the argument by saying ‘you need to get a new heart and a new spirit’. This is, of course, what God later promises through Ezekiel: ‘I will pour clean water over them … put a new spirit in them ... take out of their bodies the hearts of stone and give them hearts of flesh instead’ (Ezekiel 36:25-27).

It seems that, of ourselves, the best we can manage is an attempt at establishing justice. But justice alone is cruel. Without compassion and mercy human life would become impossible. The prophets, and Jesus in many of his parables, illustrate this point by showing us what a strictly just world would be like. Go to the court with your opponent if you like, Jesus says, but far better to come to terms with him before you get there. Continue to do your religious duty if you like but really you need to be reconciled with your brother first.

Thomas Aquinas speaks beautifully about the relationship between justice and mercy in God: ‘the work of divine justice always presupposes the work of mercy in which it is rooted. Divine action is always characterized by mercy as its most radical source’ (Summa theologiae I 21 4). The new heart and new spirit is the divine life, which is established as the heart of the world’s history by the teachings and actions of Jesus, the merciful and compassionate Sun of Justice and Son of God.

Lent Retreat - Week 1, Thursday

Readings: Esther 4:17; Psalm 137; Matthew 7:7-12

Bread and fish. These are the two things which Jesus singles out in his illustrations in today's Gospel, and it is not coincidental, for later on in St Matthew's Gospel, Jesus twice feeds the multitudes with bread and fish. These miracles are regarded as a sign of the Eucharist, in which Christ feeds the multitudes of every nation and time.

For in the Eucharist, we feed on Christ who is the bread of life, and the fish is also a sign of Christ. In the early Church, the Greek word for fish, ΙΧΘΥΣ, was used as an acrostic for the Greek phrase 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour'. The bread and fish, then, point to those Eucharistic gifts of bread and wine that Christ would take, bless and offer in the Last Supper. They call to mind the gifts of bread and wine that we present in the Eucharist, which is then offered by the Church and taken up by our Father in heaven to become the "good things" that He wants to give us, namely the gift of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who is present in the Holy Eucharist. Thus, Jesus says in today's Gospel: "if you, then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"

Jesus also says: "the one who asks always receives ... finds ... will always have the door opened to him". In the Mass, it is the 'entire Christ' - He and us united as one Body in the Church - who asks, searches, and knocks. Hence the Mass is called the greatest prayer because it is ever fruitful, and it is efficacious precisely because it is not primarily our work but God's. For in the Liturgy, it is Jesus Christ who is at work so that if we are open to His action and receive Him into our hearts, then God comes and dwells in us, and He fills us with His Holy Spirit, who is the "giver of life", the giver of every good thing we need.

The Eucharist, then, is the Lord's answer to Queen Esther's prayer (today's first reading). For in the Mass, the Lord has indeed come to save us by His own hand. In the Eucharistic gifts of bread and wine, the Lord has indeed revealed Himself in the time of our distress. And through the gift of the Body and Blood of Christ, we indeed receive power and courage, i.e., the virtues we need to face the lion and conquer the enemy, i.e., the devil, who assails us even as he tempted Christ Himself. Christ conquered the wiles of the devil, and so will we if we remain close to Him, and draw strength from His grace which is given to us in the Eucharist, acknowledging (like Queen Esther) that God alone can help and save us.

The irony of Lent is that we often take on all manner of penitential exercises and sometimes begin to rely on our own will power and strength; they become a source of pride and self-achievement. But such independence from God causes even the good gifts we have to turn to stones and snakes ... Instead, Lent challenges us to rely on God alone, and on Christ's efforts, not ours. Let us offer Him what little we have - our sinful lives - and trust that He will take them and bless us with His grace, causing us to become 'good things', just as God our Father is good.

Lent Retreat - Week 1, Wednesday

Readings: Jonah 3:1-10; Psalm 50; Luke 11:29-32

What is the sign of Jonah? In today's Gospel, Jesus criticises the crowd for asking for a sign, and he tells them that they will only be given the sign of Jonah. In Matthew's Gospel, we're told fairly explicitly what this means: just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and nights. However, in the same incident in Luke's Gospel we're not given this answer: we're left to decide for ourselves what the sign of Jonah is.

Whilst being swallowed by the fish might be the most memorable part of the book of Jonah, the most significant theme is really God's unbounding love and compassion. As a Hebrew, Jonah didn't care much for the Ninevites. When God asked Jonah to preach to them, he knew it meant one thing – God intended to show His mercy and love to them. Jonah didn't want to have anything to do with this. He had an exclusive relationship with God and he didn't want to share God with anyone else. Thus Jonah flees in the opposite direction towards Tarshish, but despite his best efforts, events catch up with him, and the great fish takes him to where he's meant to be. So we can see the great fish as the means by which God's message of love and compassion became available to both Jews and gentiles. In this way it is a sign of Christ's death and resurrection through which God's love and compassion are now available to all.

Lent Retreat - Week 1, Tuesday

Readings: Isaiah 55:10-11; Matthew 6:7-15

Often in Lent we can feel like the efforts that we make to change our lives in this season of joyful repentance make very little difference. We try our best, failing to keep our Lenten pledges occasionally and then when Easter has come and gone we feel no different from how we were before. The readings today at Mass teach us why this attitude is wrong. In all that we do, especially when it comes to things that we do out of love for God and our neighbour, we must trust in God to bring about the good. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches that us if we want to be good Christians we must let God take control. The Our Father, which should be the model for all of our prayer, puts all the stress on God and his will for us, for without him we can do nothing. The efforts that we make in Lent should never be seen as a human attempt to make ourselves holy by sheer force of discipline and effort. This approach could never succeed. Instead we should practice our Lenten observances with the view that what we are doing when we deny ourselves, by giving up something we enjoy, is that we are making a space for God in our lives. Ridding ourselves of some of the distractions with which we fill up our time and our minds helps us to let God in. As well as this guiding principle, if we remember to make the intention to offer up our penance for the holy souls in purgatory then we also help those who have gone before us. May this Lent be for us a return of simple trust in our Father who loves us.

Lent Retreat - The Chair of St Peter

Readings: 1 Peter 5:1-4; Matthew 16:13-19

Today we celebrate the feast of the Chair of St Peter and, almost a week into Lent, this feast gives us all an important opportunity for reflection.

The Chair of Peter, originally two feasts, one associated with Rome and the other with Antioch, reminds us of the unity of the Church as a whole and of the importance of the Petrine ministry to that unity in providing the earthly stewardship through which Christ’s authority and guidance is made manifest. The centrality of this ministry is clearly shown in our Gospel today where Matthew writes, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 6:18-19). This authoritative role, given by Christ to Peter and his successors and made visible the world over in the teaching authority of the bishops and those who act in their name, makes the Church truly what it is – one, true, holy and apostolic.

For us then, this Lent can give us pause to reflect on some wider issues. All too often Lent can become for us a time of introspection. Am I observing my Lenten fast, is my will going to hold through Lent! Though fair questions in themselves, today’s feast should remind us that the Church is something bigger and help us to turn outwards in prayer. Sometimes the hierarchy of the Church can seem to be at a great remove from us, but this is not really the case, and the leaders of the Church need our prayers, particularly in this penitential season. We should also be mindful, in meditating on the unity of the Church, of the importance of praying for our neighbours and of helping each other really to find the great spiritual riches which can be gleaned from this season. Above all, we should lift our minds and hearts upwards to God and not become overly preoccupied with the details of our Lenten observances but instead become wholly consumed by love of God in whose name we make all these efforts and to whom we offer our hearts in service.

Lent Retreat - FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT

We all know what temptation is like. We hover over the tin, and wrestle with the idea of having just one more chocolate biscuit. And once in a while, we give in. Then we have a giggle about it later with our friends, who lightly scold us with phrases like ‘a second on the lips, a lifetime on the hips’. Being ‘naughty’ about things that are ‘nice’, like chocolate biscuits, isn’t too much of a big deal. But there are also more dramatic temptations, and if we give in to them they can harm us, harm others, and harm our relationship with God. I’m thinking of things like the temptation to infidelity, to dominate and control others, to steal and defraud and so on. These are much harder to giggle away, and can cause us real distress, especially if we give in.

The Desert Fathers had much to say on the subject of temptation. This isn’t surprising since their whole way of life was based on entering the Desert to be tempted, following the example of Jesus that we have heard in today’s Gospel. Their lives might seem like an extreme form of masochism to us, but there’s much we can learn from their experiences.

Let me tell you a story … One day, a distressed young monk went to an old monk to ask his advice. The young man had received a command to go to a particular place and carry out a task. But there was some sort of temptation in that place which frightened him. And so he was torn between avoiding temptation and carrying out his task. The old monk’s advice was simple; ‘go and carry out the task, so that you can overcome the temptation’.

The message of the story is clear. We simply can’t let a fear of temptation overcome us. Whether we’re young students at university, forty somethings with a career and a family, or wise old desert monks, temptations will come our way. And they are an essential part of growth in the Christian life, because they bring our deepest desires to the surface. Facing up to those desires can be painful for us at times. But the self-knowledge that comes through our temptations reveals the areas of our lives which are most in need of healing.

Of course, the desert fathers are as aware of the solution to temptation as they are of the problem. The answer is humility. Our temptations are a welcome reminder that we are limited and weak. It is only by the help of God’s grace that we can be the people that we would like to be, the people that God wants us to be. In today’s Gospel, we see that Jesus is tempted by the Devil to be the big man, the powerful man. He is offered everything that could make him impressive in people’s eyes. But he chooses another way – the path of humility. And so this Lent, let’s take a look at those things which tempt us, and pray for the grace to overcome them. Then we can use this desert season to learn to imitate Jesus - so that his way, the way of humility – becomes our way too.

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Lent Retreat - Saturday after Ash Wednesday

From the very beginning of Lent, we are reminded constantly that following all the rules - being devout, praying and fasting - are worth naught if we develop a feeling of superiority, a feeling of being better than the person who does not fit our view of holiness. The account of the conversion of Levi the tax collector brings this message home once again. Conversion is central to Lent. It is traditionally the period when the catechumenate enter intense preparation for baptism at Easter. On this very day the rite of election for baptismal candidates is taking place at St Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham and we especially keep them in our prayers.

It is also a period for all to take stock of their baptismal promises and their personal call to repentance. It is a period to realise particularly that the call from Christ is not just a single moment but a constant beckoning from Our Lord. Our treatment, from this greatest and truest of physicians, does not end when we receive baptism. The abundant grace of baptism and the other sacraments continues to affect and heal us. During Lent we are called to be humble and to accept that we all have need for the truly-life saving expertise of Christ and that it is freely available to all who ask for it.

Lent Retreat - Friday after Ash Wednesday

Readings: Isaiah 58: 1-9; Psalm 50 (51); Matthew 9: 14-15

As we enter these forty days of Lent, in which the Church calls us to penance in its threefold form of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, she reminds us in the liturgy of the true purpose of penance, and warns us against putting means (such as abstaining from food) above ends (turning towards the Lord).

So, in today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah, we hear him castigating the people for reducing penance to an outward act: they go around looking sad, and wearing sackcloth, but they still end up quarelling and fighting – their show of repentance does not reflect an actual change of heart. If there really had been such a change, he insists, they would not just be humiliating themselves. Rather, they would act in ways pleasing to the Lord, sharing food with the hungry and sheltering the homeless, for this is what penance is really about: turning towards the Lord, and acting in accordance with his will.

This is not to say that fasting is useless: far from it. We human beings need to have special ways of behaving in order to express, and to remind ourselves, that we have sinned and distanced ourselves from God – that, through our fault, the Bridegroom is taken away from us. But this must never be something we do for its own sake: instead, it must be a sign of and an encouragement towards that inner conversion by which, in the course of this Lent, we may realize that the Bridegroom is not gone for ever but rather, through his Passion and death has brought us close to him despite our sins. Thus, through our Lenten penance, may the Lord bring us to celebrate with greater joy the Paschal Feast of Christ’s victory over sin and death.

Lent Retreat - Fra Angelico

Guido di Pietro was born in Rupecanina in Tuscany in 1395 and was already making a name for himself as an artist by the time he joined the Dominicans around 1423. He took the religious name Giovanni but is better known by his nickname, Fra Angelico, in reference to both his own holiness and the beauty of his work. He was often heard to remark that "he who does Christ's work must stay with him always", a maxim that he truly embraced. He was beatified in 1982 and is the patron saint of artists.

A characteristic of great art is its ability to go beyond self expression and speak on behalf of a culture. The artist reveals the community to itself, and as the community recognises itself in the work of art, it is consolidated and its values communicated to others. One of the reasons that Fra Angelico's memory has been so treasured by his brethren over the centuries is that his paintings manage, in a mysterious way, to capture the spirit of Dominican life. To ponder on his work is to meditate on Dominican spirituality. He continually returns to the Annunciation and to the Last Judgment for inspiration, reflecting the Order's traditional emphasis on preaching and hearing confessions. In addition, one can see the themes of humility and devotion running right through his work, as well as a great sympathy for the human person. Fra Angleico's work and his religious life seem to have been deeply integrated, both are firmly anchored in Christ. It is unsurprising then, that his work has such potency and depth.

Of course great art is not the only way to communicate the ideas and themes that inspire us. All of us, simply by the way that we live, communicate to our neighbour in an enormous range of subtle and nuanced ways the values that we stand for. It is well worth taking some time at the beginning of Lent to reflect upon whether the way we live witnesses to the presence of Christ among us.

Lent Retreat - ASH WEDNESDAY

Lent is best known as a time for fasting, when people give up something. The point of the fasting can, however, be lost to sight. One year I gave up chocolate but decided I was still entitled to keep my share of whatever was going. On Easter Sunday I had a drawer full of chocolate, which sustained a week of self-indulgence in honour of the Lord’s resurrection. The letter of Lent may have been observed but there was no sign there of its spirit! Fasting and other spiritual disciplines are like the preparation of an athlete for a contest. We are trying to get in shape, to become fit again as believers, to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Easter and for a renewal of Christian living.

Besides fasting the two other Lenten disciplines are prayer and alms-giving. Prayer is rarely an easy task. It is difficult to know whether it is something we do or something we allow to happen, something God does in us. I suppose it is both. Prayer is our attempt to remain in conscious contact with God, opening our hearts to God’s wisdom and love. Prayer means receiving God’s gifts and allowing God to work through us and to bring about the changes He wants for us.

True fasting, Isaiah says, is not some kind of endurance test for the human body but a fasting from sin, injustice, corruption and deceit. To keep Lent truly means to live our religion truly and true religion for Isaiah is very practical. It means ‘taking care of widows and orphans in their need’. Recognising injustice, protesting about it and supporting its victims, is another traditional Lenten work.

These are the tasks of Lent then: fasting, praying, alms-giving. The forty days we observe is in memory of the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness after his baptism by John. There he was tested. Was he really serious about the mission to which he was called? Did he love the Father with all his heart, all his mind, all his strength? Was he, at heart, the servant for whom Israel longed, serious about serving God fully? We are tested in this way by life. Through temptation we learn about our weaknesses, about the depth of our commitments, about the extent to which we are really ready to serve God. In Lent we consciously invite this kind of testing, placing ourselves in the firing line, as it were, as we hold our lives up to God’s scrutiny. We have not just the example of Jesus to guide us, but also his company and the help of his grace, as we seek to return to God with all our hearts.

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Books for Lent

The Godzdogz team recommends the following spiritual reading for Lent:

The Desert Fathers, edited by Helen Waddell - In this collection of the lives and sayings of the Desert Fathers, there is much striking and perceptive practical advice for the spiritual life from those who followed Christ literally into the desert, as we are called to do spiritually in these forty days.

Confession, by Saint Patrick - A noble humility dominates this account of Patrick's life and preaching. He stresses the power of God’s grace in lifting him, weighed down by sin, to become an instrument of that same grace. It is a most encouraging reflection on Christian vocation.

Saint Francis of Assisi, by G. K. Chesterton - This is a very personal account of an inspirational saint who invites us to turn from sin and to start living for Christ.

The Interior Castle, by Saint Teresa of Avila - Written whilst she was being investigated by the Inquisition, this spiritual masterpiece is a set of practical and beautiful teachings for the contemplative life.

The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich - This book grants us an insight into the great love that God has shown us in Christ and in particular the way in which Our Lady participated in the sufferings of her Son.

The Prayer of Love and Silence, by A Carthusian - This short but powerful book reminds us of the centrality of prayer to the Christian life, of the importance of which the Church has also traditionally reminded us during Lent. Flowing from the silence of the Charterhouse comes much simple and very useful guidance for all Christians on the life of prayer.

Journey to Easter: Spiritual Reflections for the Lenten Season, by Benedict XVI - A Lenten blessing that evaluates the meaning of the season, the significance of the birth and death of Christ, and the meaning of Jesus in the lives of Christians everywhere, in a spiritual meditation that follows such themes as the mystery of Mary and the Pentecostal sending of the Spirit.

Leisure the Basis of Culture, by Josef Pieper - A great Catholic philosopher reflects on an insight that is central to his thinking, that the search for truth and wisdom must be undertaken within a space (‘leisure’) that is free of any utilitarian purpose whether political, academic or bureaucratic.

Marked for Life: Prayer in the Easter Christ, by Maria Boulding OSB - Dame Maria, without descending into jargon or mystical flights of fancy, uses the paschal mystery as a template and scripture as a guide in exploring how a life of prayer can transfigure the joys and sorrows of human life and bind us to Christ.

The Spiritual Letters of Dom John Chapman OSB, edited by Dom Rodger Hudleston - The collected letters of the Fourth Abbot of Downside is a rich treasury of spiritual and mystical theology. A convert from Anglicanism, he was regarded as an authority on prayer and a much sought after spiritual director.

Lent and Easter Wisdom from Fulton J. Sheen - A Lenten journey of daily meditations covering the traditional themes of Lent — sin and salvation, death and Resurrection, sorrow and hope. Fifty passages and accompanying mini-prayers offer readers a practical spiritual program as a retreat from the cares and concerns of a secular world view.

The Cost of Discipleship, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Before his arrest by the Nazis in 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was head of a seminary of the German Confessing Church. In "The Cost of Discipleship", he focuses on the most treasured part of Christ's teaching, the Sermon on the Mount.

And from Dominican authors:

The Divine Pity, by Gerald Vann OP - This has been described as "one of the finest books of the [20th] century", and it has been mentioned by friends, both Dominicans and non-Dominicans. This Lent, I hope to fill a lack and discover a spiritual classic that many others have recommended to me.

The Presence of God, by Anselm Moynihan OP - fr Anselm was for many years master of novices in the Irish province and in this small gem he distills a spiritual wisdom that is at once profound and practical.

Ways of Imperfection, by Simon Tugwell OP - Lent is a good time to examine our consciences and I am faced afresh with my own imperfections. fr Simon's exploration of Christian spirituality promises to show how the saints have been moved by grace from imperfection to perfection in Christ and I hope that reading it will help me on that journey too.

The New Wine of Dominican Spirituality, by Paul Murray OP - This book delights in recounting the joy of the early Dominicans and their passion for God and for souls. It has a lightness of touch that no doubt comes from the author's obvious love for his subject.

Criticising the Critics by Aidan Nichols OP

Family Publications were kind enough to send us the new work of our industrious brother Aidan Nichols OP, the sub-prior of the Priory of St. Michael the Archangel, Cambridge. Criticising the Critics is a collection of talks and lectures given by fr. Aidan, to a range of audiences, addressing many of the most vocal critics of Catholicism today, critics both within and outside the Church. Modernists, "progressive" Catholics, liberal Protestants, feminists, and many more voices of disapproval are all subjected to the methodological and observant analysis of fr Aidan. In his characteristically attentive, thoughtful and witty examinations he exposes the failings and weaknesses in the arguments of these detractors.

Criticising the Critics is a useful and stimulating volume. The choice of critics addressed is not only very relevant to the Church today but also helpful for the individual Christian, as many of the key concepts and viewpoints have become part of mainstream thought and have therefore seeped subconsciously into the thinking of most people in the twenty-first century. The chapters not only add to the arsenal of apologetics for the Christian but also encourage personal reflection and meditation on our own standpoints and world-views.

Criticising the Critics by Aidan Nichols OP is available from Family Publications

The Godzdogz Podcast

This Lent the Godzdogz team will be adding an extra dimension to our Lenten retreat. As well as daily reflections, we will be producing a podcast, which can be heard on the blog or downloaded from iTunes and stored on your MP3 player and listened to at your convenience. Subscribe here and let your podcatcher do the work of keeping track of new episodes. If you subscribe today you will also receive a bonus Torch.op.org podcast!

Friars Flabbergasted and Floored by a Flurry of Five

Blackfriars' students threw away a

2-0 first half lead to lose 2-5 in the match against the University of Oxford Catholic Chaplaincy. They had dominated the first half, utilising a route-one physical approach, built on the solid back three of Verrill, Crowe and Barrins.

With this "brickwall" around the goal the Friars put pressure on the opposition with the midfield of Bobby G and the "Altrincham Kid" David Goodill keeping possession and playing the forwards in. The first goal came from a lovely chip over the Chaplaincy defence, which released Pearson to put the ball in the net. The Friars kept up the pressure with some lovely set pieces, flooding the oppositions penalty area and keeping the defenders on their toes. Their proficiency was rewarded with a goal by versatile Donny B. from a corner in the final ten minutes of the first half.

This match certainly lived up the the cliche of being a game of two halves. Ten minutes into the second half the Chaplaincy wingers exploded and within 12 minutes had put five into the friars' net. Shell-shocked and broken, the friars tried to regain the momentum of the first half but could not find the net despite chances. The frustration of the team was apparent in Davoren's deliberate and cynical handball, which should have resulted in a red card.

At the final whistle sportsmanship was evident from all players with congratulatory hand-shakes from the Friars and consoling hugs offered by the Chaplaincy. Both teams and their supporters then made their way to Blackfriars where beer and pizza were on offer for all.

Saints This Month - Cyril and Methodius

Saint Cyril and his brother, Saint Methodius, were both born in Thessalonica in the early years of the 9th century. Both became priests, Methodius as a monk and Cyril already as a missionary to the area North of the Black Sea. In the 850s, Cyril was also called on to engage in dialogue with Muslim theologians from the Abbasid Caliphate on the nature of the Holy Trinity - a reminder that interreligious dialogue isn't such a new idea after all!

In 862, however, both brothers found themselves called upon by the Byzantine Emperor, who had been asked to send missionaries to the Slavic kingdom of Greater Moravia (roughly the modern Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia). Though they were Greek, they had grown up in a Slavic speaking area, and their knowledge of the language, combined with their theological ability and missionary zeal, made them an ideal choice. Immediately, they set about translating the Scriptures into Slavonic, inventing a new alphabet for the purpose, so that even today the alphabet many Slavic languages are written in is called Cyrillic.

After an initial success, and having acquired several close disciples, the brothers found themselves coming into conflict with German clergy, who felt these Greeks were trespassing on "their patch". Cyril and Methodius travelled to Rome to seek the support of the Pope, which they duly obtained. While in Rome, St Cyril died, and was buried in the Basilica of St Clement, which is now in the care of the Irish Dominicans. Meanwhile, St Methodius continued his mission in Moravia alone, being made bishop shortly afterwards, and continuing to spread the knowledge of the Gospel by promoting translations of liturgical as well as scriptural texts into the language of the Slavic people.

Following the death of St Methodius, his disciples were driven out of Moravia by the German clergy, finding refuge in the Bulgarian kingdom. However, in a sense, their work had been done: thanks to the missionary effort of SS Cyril and Methodius the Western Slavic peoples had received the faith, and within 100 years of their death, all the Slavic nations became Christian.

These brothers, then, are a great example to us as missionaries, with their zeal to bring the contents of the faith, and especially the Scriptures, to the people to whom they preached. They were not deterred by political intrigue, and give us an example, in the words of Pope John Paul II, of the "two lungs" of the Church, East and West, breathing together to advance the work of the Gospel. Thus it is that these two brothers are venerated by the Eastern Churches as 'equal to the Apostles', and in the West as Patrons of Europe.

GODZDOGZ LENTEN RETREAT 2010

As in previous years, we invite Godzdogz readers to join us during Lent for prayer and reflection, and we hope that you'll invite your friends, family and communities also as we make this Lenten journey together.

The Lenten Retreat begins on Ash Wednesday (17 February) and will continue each day until Easter Sunday (4 April). The Dominican students will offer a short reflection on the Mass readings for each day, and slightly longer reflections for the Sundays and Feasts of Lent. We'll also be introducing a new feature on those days, and will announce the details shortly.

The Welsh poet, George Herbert (1593 - 1633) gives us food for thought as we begin our Lenten fast, and by God's grace, may what we offer here on Godzdogz feed and water our souls:

Yet Lord instruct us to improve our fast
By starving sin and taking such repast,
As may our faults control:
That ev'ry man may revel at his door,
Not in his parlour; banqueting the poor,
And among those his soul.

Dominican Sisters on Oprah

The Oprah Winfrey show is one of the most high profile and highest rated shows in the United States. It is much more than a simple daytime talk-show. Along with the usual collection of celebrities and human interest stories Oprah's couch is guest to the prime movers and shakers in American society, including presidential candidates. Last week the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist from Ann Arbor, Michigan appeared on the show. They provided a very rare glimpse into a thriving community, with just under 100 active religious sisters and an average age of 26. After watching the segment you can understand why: they are so full of joy and so devoted to their calling and to Christ. But why take my word for it, watch the show below for yourself!

The Dominican Brother: 3 Brother Angel F. Méndez Montoya

Movement, and pioneering new frontiers, is written into the life story and faith journey of Br Angel Méndez Montoya OP. A professional dancer by training, a professor of theology, and a son of the Province of St Martin de Porres in the USA, Br Angel is very much at the forefront of breaking new ground for the Dominican vocation as a co-operator brother.

Br Angel was born in Baja California into a family for whom Catholicism was part of their cultural heritage but who were "not particularly fervent". From his childhood, Angel loved reading and had a thirst for study and learning. He first moved to Mexico City, where he now lives and works, to study philosophy at university. However while he was there, he began to study contemporary dance and this became very important in his life, alongside philosophy. His natural talent attracted the attention of a professional dance company in Mexico City who invited him to join them. For a time, he danced professionally under the guidance of the company's award-winning choreographer, while at the same time studying, but eventually he decided to put aside academia and pursue a career in dance as he was still young and agile enough to do so. Angel says this was a "painful decision but I realised that I could come back to study".

While performing in Austin with this dance company, he was talent spotted again, and the director of the dance department at the University of Texas (UT) invited him to move to Austin and pursue a degree in dance. He says: "It was hard for me to leave my dance company, but I took the risk, learned English while taking up a new life in dance at the University of Texas in Austin". Full of energy, he combined language studies with his liberal arts course in dance and dancing professionally with the Sharir Dance Company, hosted by UT. He would rehearse every evening and perform during the weekends.

Br Angel says that already then he "had an intuition of a vocation, a desire to give of himself to other people". During these years in Austin, he came across the work of the Dominican painter, Fra Angelico, which resonated with his interest in the arts as an expression of God's beauty and he became very interested in a spirituality of the arts. He was very attracted by the idea of Fra Angelico as a religious person who was also an artist, and so Angel dreamt that he would one day follow in Angelico's footsteps and integrate his art with his faith and preaching. So, Angel began looking for religious orders in Austin and he discovered a small community of Dominican friars, and since Fra Angelico was also a Dominican, he decided to acquaint himself with them.

This community of friars hosted what Angel calls a kind of postulancy or lay community in which students could live alongside the friars and share their life. In this welcoming community, Angel learnt about St Dominic and the Order without any pressure to join. He also learnt to cook as a form of self-giving to the community. Cooking was to become one of Angel's other passions in life.

Just as Angel had taken a risk in moving from Mexico to Texas, so he decided to trust in the Lord and take a risk of trying his vocation with the Dominicans and he joined the Southern Province of the USA in 1993. He was particularly encouraged by the Vocation Director, who was open to Angel's dream, and when fr Timothy Radcliffe came visiting as Master of the Order, Angel was greatly encouraged by Timothy to pursue his vocation as a dancer and a friar. Moreover, Timothy's letters which spoke highly of the co-operator brothers' vocation moved Angel to consider this vocation rather than the life of a clerical Dominican brother. These formation years were busy: Angel studied for a triple Masters in Divinity, Theology and Philosophy at St Louis University, he was a guest artist at Washington University where he taught and danced, and he engaged in pastoral work with migrant communities. At this time he also began to experiment with integrating dance with theology.

Angel was very much inspired by St Dominic's Nine Ways of Prayer and he says: "With dance, the body is the instrument of self-expression. United with prayer, the body is the means of uniting with God. We don't put aside our body when praying for prayer is intensely somatic (bodily)". He found that in praying with his body through dance, he was no longer performing on a stage, as he was accustomed to, but rather he experienced "moving beyond the ego ... praying and praising God with the body".

He acknowledges that his dream of combining dance and prayer, and indeed to preach through dance has sometimes met with great suspicion and opposition. In 2000 he danced during Vespers on St Dominic's Day during the General Chapter of the Order. He recalls that "some were scandalised and walked out ... but many liked it and some were moved to tears". Angel notes that before the Enlightenment, the present day dichotomy of body and soul did not exist, and his studies led to the discovery of a tradition of liturgical dance that dated to the Patristic age. He argues that "the post-modern discourse now criticises the hegemony of reason and wants to return to the body", thus his work and preaching through dance is "an opportunity to recover the the body-soul mutual constitution".

Apart from his interest in dance, Br Angel has pursued his passion for food, and with the encouragement of Fergus Kerr OP, he embarked on a PhD in philosophical theology under John Milbank. Unusually for a co-operator brother, he obtained permission to pursue academia at this high level and won a scholarship from the Hispanic Theological Initiative, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts. His PhD took him from Virginia to Cambridge, where he finished writing up while resident in the Dominican priory in Cambridge. There he was Scholar in Residence at the University's faculty of divinity. While in Cambridge he worked in Fisher House with a Bible Study group exploring food in the Bible. Angel says he learned a lot from his students, and his group was a great success. A Cambridge undergraduate who joined this group is now a Dominican brother studying in Oxford. Angel reflects on his time in Cambridge: "the Priory was a beautiful place for writing because of the chance to celebrate the daily Eucharist in community and also to cook for the community and to observe others cooking as an act of self-gift". Upon completion of his doctoral dissertation, Angel was invited to teach philosophy and theology at the Universidad Iberoamericana, a Jesuit-run university in Mexico City. He has been a professor there since 2007. Angel's dissertation was also unanimously accepted without content corrections for publication by Blackwell Publishing, and he recently gave a talk based on this book in a colloquium on food at Blackfriars Hall.

Finally, Br Angel offers some reflections on his vocation: "Normally a lay brother has domestic tasks, so people were negative about the idea of a lay brother who was an intellectual and an academic. But the life of the lay brother is centred on preaching; this is the heart of the charism. It should be preaching in any way, whatever one’s gifts are. We should not pigeonhole a lay brother’s vocation and role but allow it to develop one’s gifts - whether through administration or housekeeping or study or arts etc. The lay brother's vocation is very flexible and this should be preserved.

Often the fear is that there is no programme or model for the lay brother's vocation but this is a strength in so far as the brother serves the Order and the Church. The main difference with the priestly vocation is the sacramental life of the clerical brothers. In the General Chapter in Krakow (2004) it was stated that all Dominican brothers are equal; what unites us is our vows and profession. If a friar is called to reach out beyond the boundaries of sacramental life, so he should think of becoming a lay brother. Some brothers have expressed that they became priests because of the prestige or because of the fear of not being recognised.

I really hope and have this faith that what I do now will have some benefit for the future of the lay brothers' vocation. Someone has opened the bridges, and shown that it can be done. I believe I am sowing seeds for the future and I know I may not live to see the fruit".

Blessed Jordan of Saxony and his Love Letters

In a recent post on Godzdogz and in the comments that followed, we touched on issues of sexuality, love and intimacy for celibates - whether religious or laity. The feast of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, who took over from St Dominic as Master of the Order in 1222, is an opportune moment to explore the issues more fully. For although Bl Jordan's relics were lost after the priory in Acre (in the Holy Land) was captured by the Turks, a beautiful and remarkable legacy remains. This is a collection of 56 letters, of which 37 were addressed with ardent love and devotion to Blessed Diana d'Andalo OP, a Dominican nun in Bologna.

In his foreward to the second edition of 'To Heaven with Diana!', the current Master of the Order, fr Carlos Azpiroz Costa OP said that "these letters... are a pearl of Dominican spirituality [which] show how it is possible for divine charity to transform human hearts with warm and fraternal love. If religious life were not to change hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, what would be its value? We have taken up the adventure of the Lord's call so as to love more and not less". Therefore, I recently noted that it was a fundamental human right that all people, as sexual creatures, are free to love and to be loved. For love is essential if we are to flourish and be opened to our full human potential. However, human loving is not only expressed through sexual intercourse - although this is a holy, good and beautiful act within its proper context. Our sexuality and love is fundamentally expressed and fulfilled through a life poured out for others. So, the former Master of the Order, fr Timothy Radcliffe OP has said that "sexuality is about communion; it speaks. And what it should express is mutual generosity, the giving and the receiving of gifts".

Bl Jordan's letters, which he exchanged with Bl Diana, speak of just that kind of communion and self-gift that lies at the heart of all human loving. For example, in 1231 he wrote to Bl Diana to console her in their separation. He says: "Why are you thus anguished? Am I not yours, am I not with you: yours in labour, yours in rest; yours when I am with you, yours when I am far away; yours in prayer, yours in merit, yours too, as I hope, in the eternal reward?" Jordan's letters also show the mutuality of love, for in another letter he said: "You are so deeply engraven on my heart that the more I realize how truly you love me from the depths of your soul, the more incapable I am of forgetting you and the more constantly you are in my thoughts; for your love of me moves me profoundly, and makes my love for you burn more strongly". Again, in 1229 at Christmastide, he laments that he does not have time to write Diana a long letter, and so he sends her "a very little word, the Word made little in the crib". But in addition he says: "There is another word that I send you, small and brief: my love, which will speak for me to your love in your heart and will content it".

However, the love that Jordan and Diana share is not possessive or exclusive but open to Another, namely Christ. Indeed, above all, Jordan's love for Diana points to God, who is love, and they are united in their mutual love for God. Thus, fr Carlos adds: "It is the love of Jesus that brought them together, and it is echoes of that divine love, resplendent in their hearts that granted their love its depth, purity and stability". Something of this can be seen in one of the last letters Jordan wrote around 1236. He says: "Beloved, since I cannot see you with my bodily eyes nor be consoled with you presence as often as you would wish and I would wish, it is at least some refreshment to me, some appeasement of my heart's longing, when I can visit you by means of my letters ... Yet whatever we may write to each other matters little, beloved: within our hearts is the ardour of our love in the Lord whereby you speak to me and I to you ..." And again, he says that God is "the bond whereby we are bound together: in him my spirit is fast knit with your spirit, in him you are always without ceasing present to me wherever I may wander".

Therefore, the union of their love in Christ is a source of great consolation and hope for Jordan and Diana. In a letter dated to 1229 he writes: "Let it not be a heavy burden on you, beloved, that I cannot all the time be with you in the flesh, for in spirit I am always with you in love unalloyed. Yet I cannot wonder that you are sad when I am far from you since, do what I may, I myself cannot but be sad that you are far from me; but I console myself with the thought that this separation will not last forever: soon it will be over, soon we shall be able to see each other, endlessly, in the presence of God's Son Jesus Christ who is blessed for ever". What Jordan believes is part of the hope of all Christian lovers. For when lovers speak of endless love, this only becomes a reality when they find themselves embraced in the eternal love of God, who is a communion of love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Some may be surprised, or even scandalized, by the intensity of Bl Jordan's love for Bl Diana and his passionate desire to be in her company. But the 12th-century St Aelred of Rievaulx, who was a master of spiritual friendship and charity, warned religious against "a love that in addressing itself to all, reaches no one". So, fr Timothy notes that "drawing near to the mystery of love will also mean that we shall love particular people, some with friendship, some with deep affection, and maybe some more passionately". Hence, we notice that Christ, who loved all even to the point of death, also had friends and disciples who were especially beloved.

Often we can be afraid to love, or are afraid of our sexuality and the power that desire unleashes. And yet, if we are to preach a God of love who was wounded for the sake of us, his beloved, we have to learn to love well. Unless we open our heart to our neighbour in love, how can we love God? So, we need to risk the vulnerability of love - which is why our sexuality can be such a sensitive and painful subject - and be wounded by the beauty of love. That vulnerability is evident in Bl Jordan's letters and the wounds of love are also expressed in his writings. In 1236 he said: "O Diana, how unhappy this present condition of things which we must suffer: that we cannot love each other without pain and anxiety!" We may wonder why Jordan and Diana did not just leave the Order and get married; why did they endure the pain of separation? An answer is found in their mutual and higher love for God. So, they sacrificed the passing happiness of temporal love, lived the vocation that God had given them, and trusted that their shared love in Christ would secure a lasting happiness of eternal love.

What is the result of loving well? Holiness. As fr Gerald Vann OP says: "[Diana's] love had given Jordan strength, comfort, joy through his many cares and troubles. It had done more: it had called forth from his own heart a flowering, a fullness of life, which helped to make his greatness, helped to make him what he was, what the Order needed, and God wanted, him to be". Bl Jordan's love opened him up to others so that he was a most attractive and effective preacher of God's love. The fecundity of his love is shown in the number of vocations he attracted to the Order. It is estimated that in his lifetime he drew 1000 novices to the Order; hence he is the patron of Dominican vocations! A final point concerning Jordan and Diana is made by fr Gerald: "When God brings a human love to a soul who before loved only himself ... [God] is giving [the soul] more to love him with ... Every love you have - of nature, or art, of men, of wisdom - is an added way of loving and worshipping him, an additional gift to offer him. But that means in the last resort a gift to give back to him. For every love is a new joy but implies also a new sorrow, until that "strong city" [heaven] is reached on which the hearts of Jordan and Diana were set".

The Dominican Brother: 2 Brother Paul Byrd

Just yesterday I was sitting at a table in the gathering space of the Newman Center of the University of New Mexico talking to a young graduate student seriously discerning a vocation to Dominican priesthood. Sometimes, walking with someone in his vocation discernment can be a heavy task; but at other times, things lighten up, and you get to hear a guy day dream about what it will be like to be a priest. My young friend was thinking of the weddings and baptisms that he would be asked to do, and the joy on his face made me smile.

Unlike my friend, I never had those kinds of day dreams when I was discerning my vocation to the Dominican Order. Like all Dominican friars, I had a desire to preach, that’s true, but at the heart of my vocation was an even greater desire — the desire to give my life completely to God. For me, giving one’s life to God is what professing vows as a religious is all about. The giving of self to God is caused by an intense love for him. This love is so strong that not to become a religious would be like a man not marrying the woman he’s madly in love with which doesn’t make any sense.

This approach to explaining religious brotherhood may come as a surprise to many who think that having a vocation is primarily about function, that is, what one does. I reject this idea, and say that religious life is first and foremost a way of life designed to help a person shed all obstacles to his proper relationship to God and neighbor. This is how I understand the text that played such an important part in my discernment: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell everything you have, give to the poor … and then follow me” (Matthew 19:21). The vows allow a person to let go of particular things so that he may freely give himself to others, and freely receive others in return.

Br Paul Byrd is a Cooperator Brother of the Dominican Central Province of the United States and is currently residing in Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Dominican Brother: 1 Brother Vincent Cook

On the 4th February the Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Religious Life and Societies of Apostolic Life announced plans for a new document to highlight the importance to religious life and to the Church in general of lay brothers, members of religious orders that take vows but are not ordained as priests.

The Dominican Order has been blessed over the centuries with a great number of co-operator (or 'lay') brothers who have contributed to the mission of the Order in a great variety of ways. In the coming days on Godzdogz contemporary co-operator brothers will reflect on how they serve Christ as Dominicans, as well as offering more general thoughts on the vocation itself.

We begin with our very own Brother Vincent, born in 1924, professed in 1948, and, thank God, still going strong. Below is a transcript of an interview in which he was asked to comment on his vocation to be a co-operator brother and why he decided to join the Dominicans:

"I first started thinking about becoming a lay brother at school. We used to have a sister that read to us before we went to bed, it was a boarding school you see, she had a beautiful reading voice. She used to tell us about all the various religious orders. Even from that time I wanted to be a lay brother. When I was a boy I used to be always singing, my Dad used to say to me "you'll be a priest one day!", I said "no, I want to be a lay brother!" I suppose because the jobs we used to do at school, cleaning the dormitories and classrooms, that sort of thing, were quite similar to the life of a lay brother as it was at that time. I used to clean the playroom first thing every morning, I tried to make sure that there was always a vase of flowers there, daisies, that sort of thing. They used to have lay sisters in the school, they didn't call them that, but that's what they were. They used to work in the kitchens, in the sacristy. I remember Sr. Cecile used to work in the sacristy, she was deaf as a post!

When I left school, I didn't forget about being a lay brother, but I got more interested in the world. I trained as a brushmaker, and had quite a good wage for those days. When I was twenty I told a priest that I wanted to be a lay brother, he suggested that I work as a caretaker in the local parish youth centre and then he'd try and get me in somewhere. I joined the Dominicans after meeting Fr Fabian Dix OP, he came to speak at the youth group and I chaired the meeting. Afterwards I got talking to him.

At the time I joined the idea of being a lay brother was that the brother would continue to use their trade or profession in the priory, or helping out in other houses. This did happen, but not enough in my opinion. A lot of our work was housework, sacristy work, and in the kitchens, that sort of thing. At that time we also used to look after the priests' rooms. On one occassion Br James broke the Prior's chamber pot. The Prior asked him if it was still usable, so Br James thought for a moment then said, "it depends if you are left or right handed"! I always understood our role as giving the priests more time to concentrate on their mission, you know, taking work off their hands so they had more time for preaching.

We also had two half hours of meditation and prayer. I learnt the Little Office of Our Lady in about two weeks. We also had conferences in the evening, that sort of thing. One of the priests would come and give a talk on something. As an extra I used to go through the catechism with the children on Sundays, I also used to prepare them for Holy Communion. The expectations were so different back then to what they are now, but it is still important to have a proper novitiate, a good foundation in prayer and the life .

I think the part of the life that I've enjoyed the most is being in choir, singing the office. I've always enjoyed Compline. As for the most difficult part, the winter of 1947 was very cold. I remember, because I was out walking, it started snowing on the Epiphany [6th January] . The snow didn't completely melt until the 16th March! On the 17th March I was challenged to swim in the lake. There were a few of us brothers. One started counting: one, two, three. I was the only one stupid enough to jump! The summer after that was terrific."

Celebrating Priesthood - Father Cormac Rigby

When I was at school many of the boys served Mass at Sacred Heart in Ruislip. They spoke unanimously with respect and affection about Father Cormac. It is only since his death in 2007 that I realised who this much-loved priest was.

Born in Watford in 1939, the young Cormac showed great academic ability and went on the read History at St. John's, Oxford. He felt called to the priesthood and after graduating he entered the English College in Rome. However he did not enjoy the regime there and left after the rector reproached him for taking out a subscription to the Times Educational Supplement.

He returned to Oxford to work on a doctorate on Edward Thring, the Victorian preacher and headmaster of Uppingham, for whom Rigby entertained a lifelong admiration. In 1965 his grant ran out and to fund his research he began to look for a job. Leafing through the New Musical Express, he spotted two advertisements side by side, one seeking a disc-jockey for Radio Caroline and the other recruiting new BBC radio announcers. He applied and got the BBC job. Tony Blackburn took the post at Radio Caroline. "We're broadcasting twins", Father Cormac later noted, with some pride.

Rigby's first night on the Third Programme, as it then was, was typical of the funereal pace still called for in the mid-1960s. "I had to leave a full minute of silence between one programme and the next," Rigby recalled. "The idea was to discourage people from casual listening. They were expected to look at their Radio Times, choose what they want, listen to it, and then go away and do all the other interesting things that their lives were full of."

He remained at the BBC for 20 years, becoming the presentation editor of the new Radio 3 in 1971. His extraordinarily mellifluous voice had been evident at his audition, being described as gentle, velvety-brown and strangely familiar, but only experience revealed his level-headedness in a crisis. When Pope John Paul II was shot in Rome in 1981, the duty Radio 3 announcer found himself stuck in the lift, and Rigby was obliged to start reading the news still breathless from the sprint from his office.

The call to the priesthood however never left him and he resigned from the BBC in 1985 to seek ordination at the age of 46. He left on September 14, St Cormac's Day. Rigby's early ministry included postings to Ruislip and Stanmore as curate and later parish priest.

As with his presenting duties Rigby took his priestly responsibilities extremely seriously, especially when dealing with bereaved families, whom he always made a point of visiting at home in order to prepare for a funeral. Intolerant of other people's laxity, he believed that modern seminaries were producing many priests inadequately prepared for the ministry, and was particularly critical of what he regarded as laziness in some of his fellow priests, a malaise he felt affected the Catholic Church in Britain. He especially believed that this was true in the homilies saying: "If what you hear from the pulpit is muddle, confusion and waffle, then the Church is failing in its professional duty. And that is uncharitable, because people have given up their time to listen."

Father Cormac was forced to retire to Oxford in 2003 when he was diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer. This did not stop his ministry however: he published four volumes of his short sermons and began writing a weekly column for the Catholic Herald.

A priest has a public role in the community and Cormac Rigby realised this. He took the care and precision he had utilised so well at the BBC and applied to the most important and sacred of activities. As he said himself:

"So much liturgy is increasingly slipshod. People don't come to services to hear the sort of conversation you have in a doctor's waiting room or the music you put on in your car. And if you deliver the words of the Mass in a bleat or that awful ecclesiastical singsong, then we might as well go back to Latin."

Father Cormac Rigby

(1939-2007)

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him.

May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed,

through the mercy of God,

rest in Peace.

Amen.

Preparing for the Oxford Derby

This Saturday the students of Blackfriars will be playing the Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy. With local bragging rights at stake, both teams have been preparing hard for what should be a fiery and keenly fought local derby. Oxford has been awash with gossip of the Chaplaincy's line-up but the Friars seem unconcerned with such tittle-tattle and, as the video below shows, are looking on fine-form.

Coming Soon....

Celebrating Priesthood in Fiction - Father Sean

The Simpsons has been one of the most witty, entertaining and culturally significant television programmes of the last twenty years. Despite still being relatively one of the most observant and well-written series, the strain of 452 episodes, a film and countless merchandising spin-offs has resulted in a dip in standards since the golden first decade of the show. Nevertheless gems such as The Father, The Son and the Holy Guest-star, from the sixteenth series really stand out.

In this episode Bart's shenanigans lead to him being sent to the Catholic School in Springfield, St. Jerome's. Inspired by Father Sean, the school's chaplain, both Bart and Homer decide to leave the Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism to which they belong, and begin instruction for reception into the Church. I will not spoil the rest of the episode but apart from being side-splittingly funny it is an interesting reflection on religious intolerance and schisms within the Church.

Father Sean, voiced by Liam Neeson, in many ways is a caricature of the American priest: Irish and dedicated to his flock and Church, with a kind word in the confessional and an excellent bingo-calling voice. The character however has much to offer as a model of priesthood. He is not just concerned with keeping his flock but enlarging it by preaching the Gospel. He does this because he has a devotion to the Truth (inspired by a vision of St. Peter), Truth that is most fully realised in the Catholic Church and he wants to share this because it sets people free from sin and death.

He also lives out his priestly vocation with great dedication. One of the most obvious examples of this is seen in his service in the confessional - even after hearing confessions all afternoon he is still happy to hear Homer's marathon confession (under the impression that he is a Catholic already). I think the most important example Father Sean can give priests is found in his presence. He is there for pupils and teachers in the school; he is there for his parishioners at bingo and pancake dinners; he is there in the confessional and at the altar; he is even there on a motorbike with a paintball gun, when Bart is kidnapped by Ned Flanders and Rev. Lovejoy to stop him making his first communion