Father Richard's letter
I was ordained a priest by Bishop John Poole Hughes in Llandaff Cathedral on the Feast of the Visitation of Our Lady twenty five years ago, and sung my first Mass the day after on Sunday July 3rd.
I am very conscious of the kindness and support for me from the people of my parishes over the years, and know that their long sufferance and patience has been a kindly blessing on one who has been called to bless them and their bread and wine. And what a comfort it is to reflect that we need not despair of our weaknesses and failures for we are loved by One who loves us not despite our fragility, but because of our fragility.
I love the image of us being holed broken buckets – no good for containing the waters of God in a vain attempt at transporting His love to the ‘Godless’, but wonderful for complete immersion into the ocean of the Divine Love. Why, if we were pristine and intact, we’d bob along on the surface……leaky buckets are best.
We all know the priest is there to celebrate the sacraments, to console and teach, to bury our dead; these things are obvious and important. There is a lot of truth in the saying, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, and so I’ll give you three pictures of what I discern a priest’s life to be.
A Lamp - not of halogen and certainly not a spotlight searching out other’s sins. A lamp like the one that hangs quietly burning in front of the High altar of St. Mary’s. I sometimes think of my first curacy days, I’d lock the main doors of the church and make my way through the darkness to the sacristy door. In my first week there I habitually hurt my knees bumping into pews or the font.
One night peering down the gloom of the long nave I noticed the rich ruby glow of the sanctuary lamp, and even though it cast no light into the church, I was able by its gentle glow to plot my course safely through the dark. A priest is called to be that small light for all people, church person or not. The glass may get rather grubby,going to confession is the best cleaner for that- but the light is always there by the grace of ordination.
An Icon - When celebrating the sacraments the priest stands in the place of Christ. What Christ in His incarnate life did in Galilee – blessing, teaching, bringing men and women to God, is carried on by extension through the ministry of the priesthood.
I love the image of the Priest as an icon, because it reminds one of battered, candle smoke stained, worm holed pieces of wood made holy by the image painted upon it. In the eyes of the unseeing world – a mouldy piece of wood not worth a thing, not even in an antique shop – paintings of a ‘religious’ subject are of little value.
To the eyes of those who believe it is precious because it bears the likeness of the invisible Christ, ‘unseen, but not unknown’.
A Fool – Humility has nothing whatever to do with low self worth. It has everything to do with clarity of sight in relation to self. God calls us all out of darkness to light, from the unreal to the real.
I’m sure that a lot of creative talking and thinking is inhibited by the secular religiosity of the politically correct. Euphemisms abound and the clarity of language is obscured.
I was very pleased the other day when someone politely enquired whether I suffer from a mild form of Turrettes. I was able to assure the enquirer that I don’t suffer from this ailment – I enjoy it.
If the monarch is wearing his birthday suit it takes a child or a fool to say ‘the king hasn’t any clothes on’.
You may think that the image of a fool is a strange image for a priest, but I do believe that the laughter that comes from seeing a situation or problem within the broader picture is healing and redemptive. In the words of Chesterton, ‘the whole world turned upside down, and I found it the right way up’. The money changers tables in the temple were the right way up when they were kicked upside down by he feet of Christ.
God bless you
