The Example of the Almost Unknown

Today is the Feast of Ss Simon & Jude; two Apostles about whom there is perhaps less known than about any of the others : indeed perhaps the only significant thing known about them is that it was S. Jude who, at the Last Supper, asked Our Lord why He only revealed Himself to His disciples.

His answer to that was If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

In other words, it is conformity to God’s will which is the key to meeting Him; the adherence to His principles which will make you lovable, and by being lovable will ensure that you are loved by Him : and Jude’s epistle reminds us that we should contend for the faith once delivered to the saints . . . that is, always try to stick to what God told His saints He wanted them to do.

I try – and usually fail miserably – to remember this; and perhaps to remember most of all that we were directed to love one another, as I have loved you.

Why ? Because it seems to me that if I can love those whom God has put around me, then with a little bit of luck I may manage, by extension, to love Him too . . . and then, as Jesus said to Jude, God will love me, and I shall be saved by that.

Something we can do . . .

I suppose I’m a bit of an oddity; because I’ve never seen it as a problem for Christians to upset people who are opposed to the will of God, providing that what upsets them is our determination not to offend God, and not anything personal to us . . . and Lo and Behold ! - in the Office of Readings a day or so ago, S. Clement not only said that I was not sinning by this attitude, but actually commended it :

Let us offend foolish and thoughtless men, men who puff themselves up and boast in the pride of their words, rather than offending God.

In other words, we’re not meant to try and upset them; but we are allowed to do so by adhering to God’s will . . . and particularly if what we’re doing is offending against their pride and arrogance by complying with what God wants of us.

I mention this not because I’m trying to cause problems; but because I am conscious that increasingly nowadays there are people out there – people like Professor Dawkins, for instance – who do display an arrogance and a pride in their rejection of God : and I am aware that there are those who feel that resisting them forcefully, and contesting them clearly, is a type of arrogance and pride on the part of those who do it.

Well, I may be wrong, but I don’t think that’s the case; because people who do that are risking opprobrium, even hatred, in the interest of serving God; and are almost certainly reducing their status in the eyes of many people by standing up for the God in Whom they believe . . . in other words, they’re not puffing themselves up, but rather God; not boasting in themselves, but rather in Him Who created them, and will (they pray) in due course save them . . . which is not quite the same thing.

What they do do is set up a good example for God’s followers : and one which we should always be willing to follow, whenever His interest needs us to. Let us pray that we can do so.

Just a Thought . . .

The other night I received a request on facebook for me to join a campaign to ‘Wear Black’ for those babies who have been aborted . . . which is by no means a bad idea.

The only thing which bewildered me was the chosen date was Monday 1st November . . . and I did think that All Saints wasn’t the obvious day to ask people to wear black.

I then moved on to the following messages about the same thing . . . and discovered that someone had obviously realized that All Saints’ Day was not the ideal day.

Unfortunately they then suggested that the solution was to transfer it to Tuesday 2nd November : which is, of course, All Souls’ Day . . . and I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know that I wear black on All Souls’ Day anyway (and as a matter of hard fact I know that plenty of others do as well) . . . so no-one is likely to ask about that; and if they do, the answer would have to be confusing.

Is it so outrageous to suggest that – say – the following Saturday or Sunday might be chosen ?

That way, not only is it not a day which causes problems with people’s need to comply with working clothes, but it is also a day when one is likely to be mixing with people who might think it was odd, and ask a question which would justify an explanation . . .

Just a thought.

Maybe answering a question . . .

One of my facebook friends admitted to not having a lot of experience of the Quarant ’Ore, and asked for some information about it . . .

The exact date of its origination appears to be uncertain; but it was clearly before 1550, and may well have started in Milan. Thereafter many indulgences were attached to praying at it; but apart from the various liturgical contents there is not much concrete commitment to what people pray for during it . . . it’s appears to be primarily a time during which people pray for what they need, and what they feel deserves prayer . . . which when you think about it is probably a good way of making it effective : except in very limited circumstances there seems to be little need for – or indeed merit in – making everyone pray for the same thing during forty continuous hours of prayer before the Most Holy Sacrament exposed.

That said, and having pointed out that there are certain liturgical formalities to it – although they appear to be rather less demanding now than they used to be – the crucial point is to say that there is no right way of making use of these wonderful Forty Hours.

For some people a long session of perhaps a couple of hours, with some formal prayers and some time of silent contemplation, is perhaps the best way for them to get the most out of it; and that might well be best during the small hours of the morning. Others may find it better just to pop into the Church for five minutes here, ten minutes there, throughout the forty hours; making short petitions, or offering short periods of silence, each time they visit . . . in other words the important thing is that they do visit, and that they do acknowledge the Lord’s presence and love : but beyond that it’s so very much a case of suiting yourself that I can’t personally see any need for any particular formula; although obviously if you sign up to be present for a particular period you must keep to that, if only because otherwise you might end up with the Lord abandoned and alone, which is neither respectful nor secure.

Personally, I like to try and go in the wee small hours, when the Church is largely empty, and to spend at least half of the time simply in silent, empty-minded, contemplation . . . and I also like to say some Office (probably that day’s Office of Readings); but that’s me. Likewise, I can’t bear to sit before the Blessed Sacrament exposed; but others find sitting in an intimate connection with the Lord allows them to address their minds to Him without physical distraction; so it seems to me that as long as their posture isn’t making others feel that it is disrespectful, then there’s nothing wrong with that . . . in other words, at this level of involvement, apart from the general principle of not upsetting or distracting others, there is no particular or formal formula . . . you simply get as (mentally) close to God as you feel able to; and benefit accordingly.

Thus, if all you can manage is a short visit, then simply make it, make the point that the duration is not of your choosing, and offer your love to God and ask Him to accept and inspire your soul, and stop fretting about other things . . . because that way even a single short visit will be of great virtue.

Ultimately, the Quarant ’Ore is a prolonged opportunity for you to get close to Our Blessed Lord; and as He knows everything before you speak, and understand everything about your situation without explanation, although it may be polite to mention these things to Him, it’s not necessary . . . all that is necessary is to offer Him your love, and accept His : what follows from that is a grace, a gift, which proves yet again His immense generosity . . . and inspires you to make even more of a commitment next year !

(And the photo at the top is of the Quarant ’Ore at the London Oratory, simply because I feel that it is such a splendid manifestation of what is intended by the rubrics . . .)

Quarant ’Ore at the Oxford Oratory

As you can see from a photo sent me by a friend and taken on Saturday afternoon, the Oxford Oratory managed to achieve a high standard of beauty and focus on Our Most Holy Lord in its arrangements for the Quarant ’Ore.

It’s the first time I’ve been able to visit it during that magical time, and it seems to me that it must be a particularly effective and splendid way to begin the Academic Year : so as well as congratulating the Fathers of the Oxford Oratory on a generally (and genuinely) appropriate and effective time of prayer to Our Lord, I also want to thank them for providing such a splendid opportunity for everyoneat the University to pray for the ensuing Academic Year . . . and for me to pray for a large number of friends with problems and difficulties of their own.

Let us all keep our friends in our prayers whenever they need them; and particularly our Catholic friends, that we may constantly develop the Catholic community, both in the UK and worldwide, to God’s greater glory, and Our Lady’s praise.

Happy Birthday

Just a very brief post to say 'Happy Birthday' to fr Mark Davoren OP, presently a member of the Dominican Studentate at Blackfriars, Oxford.

He is, as you can see from this photo from a Quiz Evening which he organized, one of the - shall we say - more 'colourful' members of the community . . . but none the worse for that !

Missionary ? In which direction, exactly ?

Today is – at least at the London Oratory – Missions Sunday; and there was a preacher from the Mill Hill Fathers who preached a spritely homily on the needs of the Missions, and of the merits of supporting them . . . and let me make it quite clear, at once, that I fully support the concept of us supporting the Missions.

However; increasingly I think we have to recognize that many of the Missions are now better positioned, at least in terms of people, than are many Parishes in the UK. This morning’s preacher, for instance, was talking about his time at a University Chaplaincy in Cameroon . . . and happened to mention that they averaged a fairly steady number at the daily (Monday – Saturday) Morning Prayers and Mass at 06:30 . . . and a fairly consistent, and slightly higher, number for Evening Prayers at 18:30.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure that there are many UK Chaplains who could make much the same comment . . . except that this University in Cameroon had an average of between 550 – 600 each morning, and perhaps 650 each evening.

Is there any UK University which has that sort of figure attending Mass each day, let alone other services ?

Of course we must support the Missions; but we must also remember that we have an ever-increasing need to act as missionaries to the people of our own country . . . a truth which not only must we not forget, but which we must also ensure that the Church as a whole does not lose sight of : an aim which we must pray for, but also work for.