Singing New Songs

I was ordained as a priest on Saturday 26th September 2020. A delayed, scaled-down affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of my deaconing last June but an extraordinarily intimate, gentle and personal experience instead. And an experience where, once again, the Spirit came and made his presence felt among us and in us and all kinds of feelings were felt.  I feel, somehow, that this moment marks the completion of something. It also marks the start of lots of other things but there is a completeness about stepping in to this next chapter. When I finally admitted I felt God's call to ordination, I knew I felt called to the priesthood, rather than the diaconate, so this was the culmination of all the seeking, praying, talking and working over more than 5 years. This sense of completion became more and more acute during last week's pre-ordination retreat. I'll explain.....  Over 4 years ago, a wise man (who also happened to be my Diocesan Director of Ordinands, faced with ...

Last week, M and I got back from a week’s pilgrimage in the Holy Land, starting in Be’er Sheva, moving through Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the wilderness and, via a dip in the Dead Sea, on to Galilee, Nazareth and Capernaum. It was wonderful, challenging, exhausting, exhilarating, hope-filled, sobering, humbling, uplifting, energetic and gentle.   It will take me a very long time to process all that I saw, heard and experienced along with our fellow pilgrims – nearly all of them ordinands from my college. However, with 10 days or so having passed since we got back, I’m starting to feel like I can put some shape to my overall impressions of what God was doing in me over there.   It all feels important and like I will never be quite the same as a result of this journey so this blog seemed like a good place to share a few of those first thoughts*….. On our second full day, two moments of clarity hit me in the crowded, busy, ornate Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, ...

I went to see my Grandma yesterday. She enjoys spending time in her "happy places" - those bits of her memory where she feels secure and able to talk freely - so a lot of our conversation covers her childhood and her family and friends as she was growing up. However, there was a moment yesterday where she seemed to have a moment of complete clarity. She looked at me and said, "Just imagine. Your Grandpa and I started as just two people. And look at what grew from there!" Three daughters, three sons-in-law; six grandchildren and now six grandchildren-in-law; and, at the last count, eight great-grandchildren. Even taking into account the fact that my Grandpa is no longer around, that is a family of 27 grown from one wonderful, loving marriage. That is their legacy of love and experience. And it's not just about family. I have been feeling that way about long-lasting friendships recently. I have been trying to catch up with old friends here and there over t...