Congratulations to Fr Wilfrid McGreal who celebrated 50 years of priestly ministry today. Fr Wilfrid is the current Prior at Faversham. He has written the following thoughts for our blog:
"Fifty years of priestly ministry is hard to take in, its a lifetime and a time of change personally, in the world at large and in the life of the church. I was ordained towards the end of Vatican II, and in fact as a student in Rome, the Vatican council was already shaping life. Pope John XXIII was opening the windows and giving the Holy Spirit freedom. The Council also had a significant impact on the Carmelite Order by helping us return to our origins and become a family of sisters and brothers."
"Fifty years on, some of the promise of Council seems to have been lost. However, Pope Francis with his humanity and his joy of the Gospel brings hope. The world at large is radically changed and with amazing news of communication enables the Gospel to touch more and more people. The great sadness is the resort to violence as we try to solve problems by force and intolerance. We need to turn swords into ploughs."
Fr Wilfrid McGreal
"Fifty years of priestly ministry is hard to take in, its a lifetime and a time of change personally, in the world at large and in the life of the church. I was ordained towards the end of Vatican II, and in fact as a student in Rome, the Vatican council was already shaping life. Pope John XXIII was opening the windows and giving the Holy Spirit freedom. The Council also had a significant impact on the Carmelite Order by helping us return to our origins and become a family of sisters and brothers."
"Fifty years on, some of the promise of Council seems to have been lost. However, Pope Francis with his humanity and his joy of the Gospel brings hope. The world at large is radically changed and with amazing news of communication enables the Gospel to touch more and more people. The great sadness is the resort to violence as we try to solve problems by force and intolerance. We need to turn swords into ploughs."
Fr Wilfrid McGreal
