SILVER JUBILEE

At the end of this month I (CL) celebrate 25 years as a priest. From my point of view that is quite an amazing sentence to write. The priesthood has been a remarkable gift to me; I sometimes still have to pinch myself at the thought that I am a priest. I find the humility of God quite astounding that he would entrust to me such sacred mysteries. A sign of blessing for me was the fact that I was ordained on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Usually the feast falls on a Friday but in 1984, for various reasons it fell on a Saturday. I was the last priest ordained for the diocese by the late Bishop Foley – make of that what you will! Two others were ordained in 1984 for the diocese: Fr Dan Darragon, now gone to God, and Fr Emmanuel Gribben who is Vocations Director and director of the House of Studies in Cleator Moor, for those hoping to enter seminary.

Blessings have flowed to me in every parish in which I have been appointed: The Cathedral in Lancaster, St. Bernadette’s in Bispham and Holy Trinity & St George in Kendal where I cut my teeth as a Parish Priest. And now here at St Clare’s in Fulwood. In a sense I have come full circle, for I was ordained just down the road at English Martyr’s: from Preston, to Preston.

The priesthood really is s great sign of God’s love to the Church and to the world. The priest is the Sacramental presence of Christ among the People of God. But the priesthood can be so easily undermined especially in what might be described as a hedonistic society. That is why Pope Benedict has designated the next 12 months a ‘Year of the Priest.’ The greatest gift you could give to me for my jubilee is to pray everyday for me and all priests, to offer you Masses and Holy Communions for us. What a blessing that would be.

As I am allergic to personal events, I will celebrate a simple Mass on the evening of June 30th followed by a low-key reception.