On a liturgical note

It certainly does not seem like four months since we were wishing each other a Happy New Year but the weeks and months are hastening by! May this year is marked by the continuation of Eastertide leading up to the Fiftieth Day (Pentecost) on Sunday 28th and in our popular devotions the month has a particularly Marian theme – the month we all love so well because the flowers and blossoms are beginning to take over and the spring is well and truly established (albeit with the odd April shower!).

As one of the devotional hymns associated with this month puts it: ‘Mary is beautiful, Mary is fair.’ Why? Because she is the one who points away from herself and directs us to her Son, Jesus, as we read in the second chapter of Saint John’s Gospel: ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ There can be nothing more beautiful, nothing more right and proper, than directing people towards Jesus and being – as Pope Francis might put it –missionary disciples.

Of course, May 2023 will be remembered for the Coronation of their Majesties King Charles and Queen Camilla. As St Paul reminds us in his letter to Timothy: ‘I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people — for kings and all those in authority, that

Sunday thoughts

I recently read an article about old men clinging to power. The obvious examples are US presidents Trump and Biden. But there are more, especially populist dictators. Power, it seems, is the old man’s vice, a fear of letting go.

I’m 75 this month. Does the same apply to priests? Bishops submit their resignation at 75. So do parish priests. The resignation may or may not be accepted but the offer has to be made. Pope Francis speaks frequently of retirement. There is always the temptation to think there is one more thing to be done; and done by ME. I’m indispensable. And there’s the fear shared by everyone facing retirement: what will I do with my time? I’ve yet to meet a person who has dreaded retirement but regretted it once it has happened. ‘I don’t know how I found the time to go to work,’ they now say. The ‘normal’ person retires and stays at home – the home they have spent a lifetime furnishing and decorating. They are established in their locality. They know their neighbours. They are familiar with local shops and amenities; with their dentist, doctor’s surgery

Canon Philip Gillespie

we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.’ (Chapter 2, verses 1-2)

So we should remember to pray for those entrusted with positions of leadership and guidance of the nations that they will be good examples of that integrity and gentleness of life which is the one sure way – and perhaps ultimately the most long-lasting way – of proclaiming the Gospel.

As if May did not already have enough milestone moments, here at the college in Rome we will keep our Patronal Feast of Saint Bede on the 25th. Bede was a monk who lived in England nearly 1,300 years ago (he died in 735). He was a great theological writer, a historian and lover of the Bible. He is buried in Durham Cathedral … perhaps another place which might appear in our pilgrimage planning this summer?

Gracious God, in company with our King, we rededicate ourselves to your service. Take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you and your kingdom; that here we may have your peace, and in the world to come may see you face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Mgr John Devine OBE

and where to get their car serviced. They know the window cleaner and what day the bin man comes. When a priest retires, however, he loses his home and he starts his life all over again. And he doesn’t have grandchildren to babysit.

A priest’s decision to retire is further complicated by our understanding of the priesthood as a vocation: a priest forever. There is added pressure from the realisation that there are fewer priests: ‘I’ll hold the fort. I may not be replaced.’ But maybe refusing to retire is frustrating the Holy Spirit’s plans for a Church with fewer priests and more lay leadership. They speak of ‘bed blockers’ in the NHS. I don’t want to be a ‘parish blocker’.

God is good. I will be celebrating 50 years as a priest in June. I’ve been blessed in my years as a priest with a succession of adventures. When the Archbishop asked me to serve in the Isle of Man I felt I had one more adventure left in me. And so it has proved. When it comes, my next adventure will be retirement. Letting go will open new possibilities. The adventure after that will be my final one, the greatest adventure of all.