At the age of 12 I believed I knew what God wanted me to do with my life. He wanted me to serve Him in the ordained ministry of the church. Acting on that belief has determined the course of my life from then to now. This is why I was pleased to read the following testimony of a contemporary ordinand, Mark Wharton.
Here I am, Lord...Send me!
I'm told that good things come to those who wait and this has become my catch phrase because I waited a long time to attend the Catholic Societies Vocations Conference. I applied no less than three times before they allowed me to attend.
I first felt called to the Sacred Ministry when I was twelve and so I went to my parish priest and he said "That's silly, you have to come back when you're 18." So I went back when I was 13 and when I was 14 and when I was 15, and eventually he gave up and agreed to sit down and talk to me about it. Most of the people who I talked to either said it was a whim or that God could not possibly be calling anyone at 12. Yet both Samuel and Therese of Lisieux were under 15 when they were called to fulfil their own particular vocations. In between the times when no one was ready to listen to me, two priests stepped forward, Fr Beresford Skelton and Fr Ronald Crane, some may say a lethal combination, but they really encouraged me and helped me to discern the will of God. I attended that conference and it was fantastic; the workshops were excellent, the worship was beautiful, but above all the most valuable thing was that for the first time I had met young men, who like me want to maintain the tradition in the Church of England, of a male only Priesthood!
The office of readings for this morning was about the role of the Church universally and the role of the Church with individuals; I believe that we must make it our aim, wherever we are, to seek out every man who is being called to the Sacred Priesthood. If there is a man reading this, a man in the pew anywhere, of any age (there was a 69 year old on the vocations conference) who believes himself called to the priesthood, please, please, do something about it and do something about it today. And if there are any priests who can help us to discern the will of God for our lives, please, please use your gifts and help us! Listen to us, talk to us, invite a young aspirant to your parish, pray for more vocations and look at your own people and discern with them what their calling may be.
I want to end with an example from Newcastle; We have two petitioning parishes in the diocese and we have three men under 25, who believe themselves called to either the priesthood or the religious life. If this is the trend in just two parishes, how many more young men are there who really believe themselves called, but who are waiting for the opportunity to be listened to ?
We must flood the land with young, catholic, missionary, priests, who in every city and town, in every village and community, will build up a Church based upon universal catholic truth and action. If our place in the church is to continue to be secure we need many more young priests who will be here in many years to come, still serving, teaching, and living for the sake of all Christ's people in this place and throughout the world.
(from Spring 2008 "Forward! plus")
Showing posts with label young. Show all posts
Showing posts with label young. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Virgin Suicides
Ordered at the library today.
The Virgin Suicides
Jeffrey Eugenides
Bloomsbury Publishing
About the book
In brief
In a quiet American suburb an ambulance arrives outside a house where five sisters live. Watched by a group of adolescent boys, the paramedics carry thirteen-year-old Cecilia Lisbon to the ambulance, her slit wrists bound. Twenty years later, the boys, now men, are still in thrall to the Lisbon sisters, all five of whom took their lives that year.
In detail
The Virgin Suicides tells the story of the five Lisbon sisters and the effects of their suicides on their small suburban community. Jeffrey Eugenides explores the heady territory of adolescent sexuality through the collective narrative voice of the young boys, now men, who fell under the sisters’ spell. As they look back with a mixture of humour, melancholy and wistful yearning they remain haunted by questions still unanswered after twenty years.
For some time the Lisbon sisters have intrigued the neighbourhood’s teenage boys. They watch the girls from a house across the street, longing to catch their most intimate moments. When the most daring finds a way into their house he discovers thirteen-year-old Cecilia in the bath, her wrist slit. Although Cecilia’s first suicide attempt fails her second, a gruesome plunge on to a fence below her bedroom window, succeeds.
Already confined by their mother’s draconian strictness, the girls find themselves under lock and key after the adventurous Lux returns late from Homecoming after taking off with Trip Fontaine, the school heartthrob. The boys dedicate themselves to observing the sisters, searching out and savouring evidence of their lives, from scraps of their hair to their discarded underwear. As time wears on Lux is seen making love on the roof, Bonnie comes to the door most mornings clutching her pillow, Mr Lisbon loses his high school teaching job and the house begins to fall down around their ears. Under the boys’ watchful eyes, the girls seem to fade into shadows of themselves.
When the sisters eventually contact them in a bid to escape, the boys, eager to help, are ready. But the girls have another sort of escape in mind and soon the ambulance is at the door again leaving the boys endlessly speculating, quizzing anyone who will speak of the suicides, still asking why twenty years later.
The Virgin Suicides
Jeffrey Eugenides
Bloomsbury Publishing
About the book
In brief
In a quiet American suburb an ambulance arrives outside a house where five sisters live. Watched by a group of adolescent boys, the paramedics carry thirteen-year-old Cecilia Lisbon to the ambulance, her slit wrists bound. Twenty years later, the boys, now men, are still in thrall to the Lisbon sisters, all five of whom took their lives that year.
In detail
The Virgin Suicides tells the story of the five Lisbon sisters and the effects of their suicides on their small suburban community. Jeffrey Eugenides explores the heady territory of adolescent sexuality through the collective narrative voice of the young boys, now men, who fell under the sisters’ spell. As they look back with a mixture of humour, melancholy and wistful yearning they remain haunted by questions still unanswered after twenty years.
For some time the Lisbon sisters have intrigued the neighbourhood’s teenage boys. They watch the girls from a house across the street, longing to catch their most intimate moments. When the most daring finds a way into their house he discovers thirteen-year-old Cecilia in the bath, her wrist slit. Although Cecilia’s first suicide attempt fails her second, a gruesome plunge on to a fence below her bedroom window, succeeds.
Already confined by their mother’s draconian strictness, the girls find themselves under lock and key after the adventurous Lux returns late from Homecoming after taking off with Trip Fontaine, the school heartthrob. The boys dedicate themselves to observing the sisters, searching out and savouring evidence of their lives, from scraps of their hair to their discarded underwear. As time wears on Lux is seen making love on the roof, Bonnie comes to the door most mornings clutching her pillow, Mr Lisbon loses his high school teaching job and the house begins to fall down around their ears. Under the boys’ watchful eyes, the girls seem to fade into shadows of themselves.
When the sisters eventually contact them in a bid to escape, the boys, eager to help, are ready. But the girls have another sort of escape in mind and soon the ambulance is at the door again leaving the boys endlessly speculating, quizzing anyone who will speak of the suicides, still asking why twenty years later.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Teenagers and a Tenner
A gospel based fund raising scheme with which I have long been familiar and frequently seen used successfully is based on our Lord's parable of the talents. Each church member is given a sum of money and sent off to use it in whatever way they wish with a view to returning by a fixed date with the original sum suitably multiplied by their endeavours.
Now 10,000 teenagers from 120 schools across the UK are to be handed £10 each and challenged to use it to make their mark on society. The money has been put up by a self made millionaire, Andrew Reynolds. He says "I want to prove that school age children, given the right encouragement, can prove themselves to be the best." The 14-18 year olds have a month to do as much as they can with their loans. If they wish they can group together and pool their resources or they can go it alone. An organisation called "The Big Boost" (funded by the lottery) is putting up a further £50,000 as an incentive to the top 50 teams who will be given £1000 each to develop their idea further.
I think this is an excellent project launched on the day that a Bollywood actress wins "Big Brother" not for herself, but for her country. Our future is in the hands of the young and we must let them know we believe in them and that we are relying on them. I have no doubt that they will come up trumps. However we need to pass on to them the perceived wisdom of the ages that spirituality is as important as materialism.
Now 10,000 teenagers from 120 schools across the UK are to be handed £10 each and challenged to use it to make their mark on society. The money has been put up by a self made millionaire, Andrew Reynolds. He says "I want to prove that school age children, given the right encouragement, can prove themselves to be the best." The 14-18 year olds have a month to do as much as they can with their loans. If they wish they can group together and pool their resources or they can go it alone. An organisation called "The Big Boost" (funded by the lottery) is putting up a further £50,000 as an incentive to the top 50 teams who will be given £1000 each to develop their idea further.
I think this is an excellent project launched on the day that a Bollywood actress wins "Big Brother" not for herself, but for her country. Our future is in the hands of the young and we must let them know we believe in them and that we are relying on them. I have no doubt that they will come up trumps. However we need to pass on to them the perceived wisdom of the ages that spirituality is as important as materialism.
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