Thoughts on Priesthood

As its the Year of the Priest in the Catholic Church, I thought I'd share one of the sermons I preached on my own 30th anniversary of Priesthood, it sums up most of what I believe is the essence of my ministry, there will of course be little gaps, so excuse any you find, a sermon cannot be a tour of each area of priesthood, but a glimpse of something else, the wonder of following the Lord and the joy of being a servant of his people. I hope that these words, in their own small way will be a contribution to the mission of the Church and underline the role of the Priest in todays world.

You can listen to my homily here.

Blessed is the Kingdom!

For a long time friends have asked me about my own spiritual journey from being a Benedictine monk and priest in the Latin tradition to end up as part of the Eastern (Greek-Catholic Melkite) Church. On March 31st 2009 I celebrated thirty years as a priest, it seemed to me that this was the time to reflect on my own journey which has taken me into priesthood, monasticism, ecumenism, education as teacher and lecturer and always a struggle as a seeker, with the life of God. It seemed to be a 'right time', not primarily for comments and critique on religious issues but for sharing the riches of the tradition!

At the beginning of the Divine Liturgy the Priest sings these words,'Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto ages of ages,Amen'. This greeting sets the scene for all of us gathered to celebrate the Eucharist, for as the theology of the Eastern Church points out so clearly we are part of the Kingdom of God now, the icons that are present in a Byzantine church force us to recognise the saints as present now, in a true sense the the light of heaven shines in the world that we inhabit. This is part of what I want to share.