Fr. Thomas at Nunraw Golden Jubilee of Ordination
Abbot: Intro Mass Golden Jubilee of Fr Thomas’ Ordination 18.6.12
Today we celebrate the 50th anniversary
of Fr Thomas’ ordination to the priesthood.
It is awkward for him to preside at the Mass at the moment and so I have
been dragooned into service. He will say
a few words himself after the Gospel, so I have been warned to keep this short.
The first thing to mention is our thanks for the
years when he has taken his place serving the community in the daily liturgy
and providing the sacraments when required, not to forget his spiritual input
in his homilies and chapter sermons. He
has also been confessor and counsellor to not a few people within and without
the community over these past 50 years.
I’m running out of my allotted time, so must leave
the rest to Fr Thomas later.
As always, we begin our Eucharist being mindful of
our need of God in our lives and ask him to forgive our sins and our failings.
1
Lord
Jesus, you lift us up when we are weak
and have sinned - Lord, have mercy.
and have sinned - Lord, have mercy.
2 You
feed us with your Word and with your Body and
Blood - Christ, have mercy.
Blood - Christ, have mercy.
3 Lord,
you call us to serve you and our neighbour
in love. - Lord, have mercy.
in love. - Lord, have mercy.
Prayer of
Faithful
God our Father, hear us in these all our needs. May we receive your gifts and use them wisely to further your kingdom on earth.
Through Christ, our Lord.
God our Father, hear us in these all our needs. May we receive your gifts and use them wisely to further your kingdom on earth.
Through Christ, our Lord.
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| Fr. Raymond, Fr. Dunnachie, Fr. Thomas, Abbot Mark. |
After the Gospel, Fr. Thomas spoke about his 50 years as Priest.
....
Please sit down ... don't
be alarmed! I won’t keep you long, because I can't stand for long myself.
On this day 50 years ago I was ordained a priest in the
small wooden church next to the guest house by Cardinal Gray; in October of
that year the Second Vatican Council opened in St. Peters, Rome. – Now, I'm
reliably told, there's no direct connection between the two events, such as
cause and effect!
Historically, 50 years is a short, period of time, but
sometimes great changes take place in that span which are worldwide and perhaps
a century or more in the making.
In 1950, the world was settling down again to peaceful
living after the defeat of Nazi-ism, only to be confronted by a determined Communism
which undermined from within the human political system. In 1960, Pope John 23rd
ordered the 2nd Vatican Council to bring the Church "up to
date" and ready to meet the changing aspirations of a secular world; it
did its job, it was a profound success, but it didn't work in practice!
Fewer and fewer people went to church, vocations fell away, churches closed– the Church was shrinking in size. Why was this happening? One would have expected the opposite!
Fewer and fewer people went to church, vocations fell away, churches closed– the Church was shrinking in size. Why was this happening? One would have expected the opposite!
This kind of reverse happening has its parallel in the
O.T. many times over: in the time of the Judges, a few valiant Israeli tribesmen
scored notable victories over countless foes by "put your trust in Yahweh,
not in chariots and horses"; when King David pushed the frontiers of
Israel to their furthest, he took
a census of his people, when his army commanders brought
him the figures, he knew he had done wrong– and did penance; later still, the
Maccabees defended the small territory of Juda from Greek secularism and
maintained Temple worship, from this position Pharisee-ism arose which blinded
them to the coming of their Saviour ... from the sack of Jerusalem 12
unlettered men went out to tell the world about a New Testament ... "put
your trust in Yahweh, not in chariots and horses". The 'up and down' cycle
has continued to our own day. God, now' our Father, continues to purify his
people with chastisements of our own sinful making, but with Faith in Him we
hold together and somehow his Kingdom ... it’s tempting to say 'increases', but
it doesn’t, it continues, we can't say anymore. Trust in the Lord, and live by Faith.
For myself, I want to make this day, a day of
Thanksgiving for staying the course!
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| Donald, Seamus, Nivard, Raymond, William, Thomas (under clock), Mark, Kentigern, Stephen, Patrick, Philip,, Leonard |
