Evangelium Conference 2008 - for Young Adults

There aren't many opportunities like this available in Ireland, so I'm happy to be able to publicise this English event which is being organised by a couple of priests who were a few years ahead of me in seminary.

Young adults (18 to 35) are invited to attend this new weekend residential conference on ways of explaining the Catholic faith in the modern world. It is organised by Fr Marcus Holden and Fr Andrew Pinsent (authors of the Evangelium course on the Catholic faith published by CTS, who are sponsors of the event).

* dynamic talks by a number of excellent speakers
* mix with other young people who share your faith
* discuss and talk informally with our speakers
* daily Mass and eucharistic adoration in the shrine
* opportunities for confession
* relax in the beautiful grounds or walk by the river
* optional opportunities for sport, evening entertainment, cruising on the river, excursion to Stonor Park (the famous recusant country manor which held the printing press of St Edmund Campion)

Our Speakers:

* Roy Schoeman Jewish - convert, author of Salvation is from the Jews
* Fr Jerome Bertram CO - historian, spiritual writer, author of The People of the Gospel and other works
* Fr Thomas Crean OP -author of A Catholic Replies to Professor Dawkins
* Fr Reto Nay -top Scripture Scholar at the International Theological Institute at Gaming, founder of gloria.tv
* Fr John Saward -Oxford University theologian, writer, author The Beauty of Holiness and the Holiness of Beauty
* Joanna Bogle -broadcaster, writer, author of Feasts and Seasons
* Walter Hooper -C.S. Lewis’s former secretary and biographer, editor of numerous editions of his works
The Venue:

Fawley Court is the home of the national shrine of the Divine Mercy. Set in beautiful grounds on the banks of the River Thames in Henley, Fawley Court is a listed building featuring stunning interiors. The venue is close to London and within easy reach of the M40, M4, M3, M25, and Heathrow Airport. Nearest railway station: Henley-on-Thames. For full details, visit Fawley Court.
Price:

Standard accommodation (full board): £85

Application form, etc. available at their website.

Another Wedding Homily

I celebrated my second wedding recently. Again, I've changed the name of the bride and groom. (I wonder if posting these homilies is 'keeping me honest' - it makes it less likely that I'll be tempted to recycle them.)
Jer 31:31-34 Ps 144:8-10.15.17-18 1 Jn 4:7-12 Matt 5:1-12

The Exchange of Hearts
After Jennifer and George exchange their vows, they will symbolise this new commitment to each other by the exchange of tokens. And when we were discussing the ceremony, and running through the various options in the rite they told me that they would be exchanging heart-shaped tokens, this brought to mind a few half-forgotten verses:

My true-love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for the other given.
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss:
There never was a bargain better driven.
His heart in me keeps me and him in one;
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own;
I cherish his because in me it bides.

In this prayer by the Elizabethan courtier Sir Philip Sidney, the dividing line between religious devotion and romantic poetry seems to fade away. And this is no surprise, because, as we heard in the second reading, God is love. This is the great truth which underpins all of Scripture. A German theologian called Joseph Ratzinger once described the Bible as being the great love story between God and humanity. Creation, the coming of Jesus Christ, his sacrifice for us, and his promises to us; they only makes sense in as much as we understand them as being an expression of love.

Something Ordinary and Extraordinary
Now, I don't want you to think that I’m ‘up in the clouds’ or talking about abstractions when I speak about God and love. Nothing could be further from the truth! When the Bible talks about God and love, it does so in order that we might understand the real meaning of the most basic and important things that we come up against everyday.

Love makes the Difference
You see, we are here to witness George and Jennifer exchange their vows – to commit themselves to life-long faithful companionship as husband and wife. On one level, this is the most natural thing in the world, on another it is an extraordinary act of trust and hope in the future. Because Jennifer and George are making a big commitment to each other. I’m sure they’re a little bit nervous… but they’re also happy, able and willing to make these promises to each other. Precisely because they have grown to love each other, they have come to make this big commitment and make it joyfully. When we speak about the power of love, we’re not speaking empty words… in George and Jennifer we see that this God-given power of love, has prepared them and made them capable of making a real commitment that we applaud them for.

The Meaning of the Marriage Vows
And when they make this commitment, they’ll be using some very realistic and down-to-earth words:

for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health

The future is unpredictable… and one might be tempted to take the negative point of view, and ask whether it’s possible for a couple to commit themselves

for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health

However, love comes first… and love prevails over all circumstances… and if we bear that in mind we realise that the vows that they make to each other come before these circumstances of better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness and health. It is because they have bound themselves to each other that they can faithfully face whatever life has in store for them knowing that because of the exchange of hearts they will have the other to rely upon. The bond of marriage is a binding-together that makes them both stronger. George, you will always have Jennifer to support you. Jennifer, you will always have George to rely on.

A Sacramental Writing on Each Other's Heart
Our first reading speaks of God writing on the hearts of the people he has chosen – a sign of love and closeness. When George and Jennifer exchange their vows, they write on each other’s heart. Their life together will be a communion of hearts. What they do today is the beginning of something which they will be continuing for the rest of their lives.

The Life-long Necessity to Renew this Sacrament
George and Jennifer – I encourage you to cherish this day. Keep the memories of this day alive to remind yourselves of where your priorities lie, and where joy is to be found in this life. Remember to keep giving your hearts to each other, and to always cherish the gift of the other’s heart.

The Vocation of Married Love
This is how you will continue to grow more deeply in love as a couple, how you will best face life with confidence, how you will learn to be good parents, friends, family-members and neighbours to those around you. The living-out of this day is where your joy and satisfaction are to be found. It will involve hard work, there will be ups and downs, but the important thing is to remember that from this day forth you will always have each other.

Our second reading ends with the following words:

As long as we love one another
God will live in us
And his love will be complete in us.

Take these words to heart, know that this congregation is with you and that you have a special place in the thoughts and prayers of those friends and family who cannot be here today.
Your family and friends support and encourage you, the Church blesses you with the blessing of Christ.
May the adventure of married love which you begin today, bring you joy and fulfilment, in this world and the world to come.

Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests

The Congregation for Clergy has issued a letter [PDF format] regarding the Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests on the Feast of the Sacred Heart this year.

Words which could have been addressed to Ireland...

The Holy Father's words to the American bishops on vocations could just as aptly be applied to the Irish situation:

The Holy Father is asked to comment on the decline in vocations despite the growing numbers of the Catholic population, and on the reasons for hope offered by the personal qualities and the thirst for holiness which characterize the candidates who do come forward.

Let us be quite frank: the ability to cultivate vocations to the priesthood and the religious life is a sure sign of the health of a local Church. There is no room for complacency in this regard. God continues to call young people; it is up to all of us to to encourage a generous and free response to that call. On the other hand, none of us can take this grace for granted.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us to pray that the Lord of the harvest will send workers. He even admits that the workers are few in comparison with the abundance of the harvest (cf. Mt 9:37-38). Strange to say, I often think that prayer - the unum necessarium - is the one aspect of vocations work which we tend to forget or to undervalue!

Nor am I speaking only of prayer for vocations. Prayer itself, born in Catholic families, nurtured by programs of Christian formation, strengthened by the grace of the sacraments, is the first means by which we come to know the Lord's will for our lives. To the extent that we teach young people to pray, and to pray well, we will be cooperating with God's call. Programs, plans and projects have their place; but the discernment of a vocation is above all the fruit of an intimate dialogue between the Lord and his disciples. Young people, if they know how to pray, can be trusted to know what to do with God's call.

It has been noted that there is a growing thirst for holiness in many young people today, and that, although fewer in number, those who come forward show great idealism and much promise. It is important to listen to them, to understand their experiences, and to encourage them to help their peers to see the need for committed priests and religious, as well as the beauty of a life of sacrificial service to the Lord and his Church. To my mind, much is demanded of vocation directors and formators: candidates today, as much as ever, need to be given a sound intellectual and human formation which will enable them not only to respond to the real questions and needs of their contemporaries, but also to mature in their own conversion and to persevere in life-long commitment to their vocation. As Bishops, you are conscious of the sacrifice demanded when you are asked to release one of your finest priests for seminary work. I urge you to respond with generosity, for the good of the whole Church.

Finally, I think you know from experience that most of your brother priests are happy in their vocation. What I said in my address about the importance of unity and cooperation within the presbyterate applies here too. There is a need for all of us to move beyond sterile divisions, disagreements and preconceptions, and to listen together to the voice of the Spirit who is guiding the Church into a future of hope. Each of us knows how important priestly fraternity has been in our lives. That fraternity is not only a precious possession, but also an immense resource for the renewal of the priesthood and the raising up of new vocations. I would close by encouraging you to foster opportunities for ever greater dialogue and fraternal encounter among your priests, and especially the younger priests. I am convinced that this will bear great fruit for their own enrichment, for the increase of their love for the priesthood and the Church, and for the effectiveness of their apostolate.