Chaplain Thoughts: Week Six

Every time I hear this Gospel, I wonder how awful it must have been for someone who had leprosy, especially in the time of Jesus, when they didn't have any type of cure for it.  As you know, lepers were shunned and ignored by everybody; and shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp. Imagine what it would be like to be ignored by people, by those in school for instance.  To have no one to talk to and play with; that's how it was for the leper who asked Jesus to cure him.

Notice how Jesus reacts to this outcast, He doesn't react with revulsion, afraid that He'll be contaminated.  Although everyone else avoids him, Jesus has pity on him.   Although everyone thinks that that this man's situation is hopeless, Jesus doesn't.  Although everybody flees from this sick man in horror, Jesus doesn't.  Instead, Jesus does the unthinkable.  Jesus reaches out and actually touches the man and this leper is cured.  His life is changed dramatically for the better in one single moment.  He is restored to society, to his friends and family, and can now live a normal life.

This simple story has good news for us who are alive today.  It says that Jesus is a true friend of the outcast; that Jesus won't reject anybody who comes to Him; now, as then, Jesus' touch gives us hope. The Good News of our Gospel today is that our situations are not hopeless,  that God loves us just they way we are and not the way we think we ought to be.  He doesn't love us because we are 'good', because we're not good.  God doesn't love us because of what we can 'do' for Him because we can't do anything to earn His love.  God loves us because He is good and He wants to share His love and goodness with us.  And, this love is not the kind of love that says, "I will love you if…" or "I will love you when…".

For this love of God to bear fruit in our lives we need to do what the leper did.  He recognized the hopelessness of his situation and came to Jesus for help.  And, so must we.  So let us remember that if we think about it, all of us have our own form of leprosy, don't we?  Our leprosy might be gossiping. It might be that we are hard-hearted or mean or tell lies or are unforgiving.  Maybe we've become a sourpuss with an "I don't care attitude" toward life.  These kinds of things can eat away at us just as much as leprosy. Bring these to Our Lord and we too, will experience His healing touch. All we have to do is take that first step because Jesus is there just waiting for us, just as the Father waited for his prodigal son to return. 

So, the real question is "Do I want to be cured"? 

Fr Michael Manning, O.Carm.

Drawing by Rembrandt van Rijn:  Jesus Curing a leper (1656)

Thoughts from our Chaplain - Fifth Sunday

The Gospel reading from the 5th Sunday continues Saint Mark’s portrayal of the first days of Jesus’ public life. We are told how Jesus leaving the synagogue after expelling the demon from the possessed man went to the house of Simon Peter to visit along with Andrew James and John.  Peter’s mother in law was ill and when Jesus heard this he went into the sick woman and taking her hand cured her of the fever . She immediately got out of bed and began to serve Jesus as her way of showing how thankful she was for having been cured.  This immediately shows us two things about Jesus; firstly that he attended the synagogue and like any adult male started to preach on the reading; secondly, it introduces the ministry of Jesus healing the sick.

I would like to pick up on something I mentioned in my last entry.  As we read the gospel accounts of Jesus healing the sick there is one major theme that flows through most of them.  His healing ministry does not involve his sweeping a town and generally curing the people with a sweep of his hand.  The cures which the gospels writers take the trouble to write about  all show that the people had faith in Jesus and showed this in various ways; they touched his clothes, asked if he would cure them, and when he asked what they wanted they would answer, let us see or make us clean again or heal my daughter.  That was how Jesus’ miracles occurred.  He saw the faith of the people who wanted to be cured and he cured them.

As this reading continues we here that people came from the whole surrounding area bringing there sick to be cured; they had faith that he could and would do this.  This expression of faith is something which is at the very foundation of intercessory prayer and which is also a basic part of our ministry here at the National Shrine of Saint Jude.  Pilgrims undertake a journey to come here to ask Saint Jude to lay their intercessions before the heavenly throne of our loving Father.  If the faithful cannot make it here to Faversham then the same faith can be shown in letter/email and we will take care of seeing that your request is placed before Saint Jude.

Just a final note; at the end of this reading Jesus takes his disciples off to a quiet place to pray.  This is another side of Jesus – he is active in his ministry but also need time with his Father in prayer.  We need the same.

Fr Michael Manning, O.Carm.

Thoughts from our Chaplain - The Power of Faith

Presentation of Our Lord

This week has seen three liturgical memorials which have celebrated the power of faith.  The first, on Monday 2 February was the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord or, to give it its medieval name, Candlemas.  Marking that day on which Jesus was presented by his parents in the Temple, it is also an important point in the life of the Mary the mother of God and her husband Joseph.  It is to His parents that Simeon addresses his prophecies about Jesus and they are both surprised by his words; he says to Mary: “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed--and a sword will pierce your own soul too."(^{Lk 2:34-35)} However, amazed as they may have been Mary and Joseph took Jesus back to Nazareth and brought him up, watching as he “grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him” ^{(Lk 2:40)}  These words stayed with Mary and only became clear to her as Jesus neared Jerusalem and the events of his Passion.  But still Mary kept by her son’s side in the certainty that God’s will and Simeon’s prophecy would be fulfilled showing a true faith in the destiny the child the angel had announced to her.

St Blaise

On Tuesday we had two saints to commemorate: St Blaise and St Lawrence of Canterbury.  Nothing was really known of the life of Blaise other than the fact he was Armenian. That was until the end of the 5th Century when he is mentioned in the writings of a court doctor with a reference to his legendary healing of the child choking on a fish bone. Although Blaise was obviously a well-known and reputable doctor he was chosen by popular acclamation to succeed to the See of Sebastia when the bishop died.  Saint Blaise soon fulfilled the hopes of the people of Sebastia and proved by his holiness and his miraculous cures to be a worthy Bishop. The end of his time as Bishop occured when the local governor came to Sebastia with orders from the Emperor to destroy the Christians; Blaise was arrested and sent to prison.  It was on his way to prison that he encountered a woman who was distraught because her son was choking thanks to a swallowed fish bone.  The woman threw herself at the feet of Blaise and through his intercession and the faith of the mother and son, the child was saved.  Despite this Blaise was taken to jail and there he was scourged and beaten, but he held strong in his faith.  Finally, though the governor gave orders for Blaise to be beheaded.  Soon after his martyrdom people began to ask for the intercession of Blaise and he became a popular saint, one of the fourteen holy helpers.  Churches were dedicated to him and a number of towns were named after him.  In Bromley in Kent there is a St Blaise’s well in the ruins of the bishop’s palace where the chalybeate (containing iron) waters were said to be healing waters.  Today, on St Blaise’s day throats are blessed with a pair of crossed candles and the blessing given; "May Almighty God at the intercession of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, preserve you from infections of the throat and from all other afflictions".   

St Lawrence

The third of our saints for this week is Saint Lawrence of Canterbury who died on 2^nd February 619.  Laurence, a Roman monk, was the second Archbishop of Canterbury from 604 to his death, having come to Britain with Saint Augustine whose successor he was.  His time as archbishop was not a happy one; he tried in vain to reconcile the Anglo-Saxon bishops with those of the Roman Mission despite many attempts to enter into discussion with them.  He also had difficulties in Kent when King Aethelberht died and his successor Eadbald returned to pagan worship. The result was that Mellitus, Bishop of London and Justus, Bishop of Rochester had to flee to Gaul to escape his anger, however rather than leave his Diocese, Laurence put his faith in God and remained at his post.  A legend says that when he was on the verge of giving up he had a vision of Saint Peter who whipped and chastised him for his weakness.  The next day the marks of the whip were still visible and after showing them to Eadbald, the King immediately converted back to Christianity.  And so through the influence of Saint Peter, Laurence continued in Canterbury and the bishops of Rochester and London returned to their Sees and continued their mission.

And so we have three examples of the power of faith in the lives of Mary, Mother of God: Saint Blaise and Saint Laurence.  But of course these examples remain only stories if they do not have a positive effect upon those who hear them.  A nice pious and warm feeling may be nice but it also needs to be followed by a strengthening of our faith in time of amazement (Mary), torture and execution (Saint Blaise) or a threat of a failed mission (Saint Laurence).  Just how much we can accomplish through the power of faith only God can say but whatever it is we know that with his help the possibilities are great; for us we can do little but for God everything is possible.

PS, we have a number of saints prayer cards at the Shrine that can be purchased from our Gift Shop.

Fr Michael Manning, O.Carm.

Photo(s) of the Month - February 2015

In 2015, we are celebrating sixty years of ministry at the National Shrine of Saint Jude. For our regular feature of Photo of the Month, we are pleased to present three photos from 1955 when the Shrine was first opened. The Shrine has changed quite a bit since then, especially after the 2004 fire - but many things remain the same. As the Bishop of Southwark said in 1955, the National Shrine of Saint Jude is truly the "jewel for the diocese".

If you would like to find out more about the origins of the Shrine, you can purchase a signed copy of Fr Wilfrid McGreal's book: Friar Beyond the Pale from our on-line shop, here. 

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

The following novena was recently published in Carmelite News and is from the National Shrine of Saint Jude. Our novena to Our Lady of Lourdes is for nine days.

You can pray the novena in private, with your friends or family, or in a group. The novena starts on Tuesday 3 February and continues until 11 February 2015.

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF LOURDES

3 - 11 February 2015

God of mercy,

we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes,

the sinless mother of Jesus, your Son.

May her prayers help us

to rise above our human weakness.

We ask this through

our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you

and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Make your special request now

Catholic Association to host AGM at the Shrine

We are very happy to announce that the Catholic Association Pilgrimage Hospitalité will be holding their AGM at the National Shrine of Saint Jude on 8 February 2015.

The Catholic Association Hospitalité of Our Lady of Lourdes is the organisation responsible for coordinating the welcome and care of pilgrims, especially assisted pilgrims, who come to Lourdes with the CA. Helpers on the Pilgrimage join the Hospitalité as a commitment of service.

The British Province of Carmelites is a member of the CA Pilgrimage, and our Development Manager, Matt Betts, is the current Chief Brancardier of the Catholic Association.

More information on the trip to Lourdes can be found, via: www.catholicassociation.co.uk

Carmelite Friars celebrate first Priestly Ordination in York since the Reformation

On Sunday 25th January York was the location for the first Carmelite friar to be ordained priest in the city since the Reformation.

Father Gerard (Ged) Walsh was ordained priest by Rt. Rev. Terence Drainey, Bishop of Middlesbrough, at Our Lady’s Church in Acomb, during the parish celebration of Mass.

This was an historic moment for the Carmelite Order which first came to York in 1250. Until the suppression of Catholic religious orders at the Reformation in 1536, York was the administrative and training centre for the Carmelite Order of mendicant friars (begging brothers) in northern England.

The friars returned to the city in 1995 and today have pastoral care for chaplaincies at the University of York and York Hospital, as well as Our Lady’s parish since the start of this year. In addition to friars, York is home to communities of Carmelite enclosed nuns, active sisters, and lay people, all of whom took part in the liturgy, alongside clergy of Middlesbrough Diocese.

Father Ged is Catholic Chaplain at the University of York, and his ordination was attended by many past and present students and staff, as well as his ecumenical colleagues. Father Ged (37) is originally from The Wirral, and his family and friends were among the large congregation. Prior to entering the Carmelite Order, Ged was a radiographer in Liverpool, but gave up this promising career when he felt called by God to enter the religious life. He studied for the priesthood in Dublin, and Carmelite friars from Ireland and across Britain were present.

Father Ged’s ordination to the priesthood is the second to take place in Britain within the last few months. The Prior Provincial of the Carmelites, Fr. Antony Lester, O.Carm., said: “At a time when vocations to priesthood and the religious life seem to be in decline in Europe, we Carmelites in Britain are very fortunate that God is sending us young men who are dedicating themselves to God’s service as friars. Ged will be a very fine priest, because he has a caring heart and good pastoral experience.” The ordination was attended by two young men who recently entered the Carmelite community as part of a new pre-novitiate programme.

Fr. Ged is blessed by Bishop Terry Drainey, Middlesborough

Fr. Ged concelebrates at his first Mass

Fr. Ged is congratulated by Matt Betts (Development Manager) and his wife, Terri and son, Joseph. 

All photos, copyright Order of Carmelites.