Yesterday after the morning Mass, I went over to Aylesford to give a Day of Recollection for boys in Year 10 (i.e. aged 14-15) from the John Fisher School.
The day was organised by Sir Dan of the Blogosphere along tried and trusted lines: a tour of the Friary given by Brother Lawrence O.Carm, a talk by me, confessions, lunch, "Question Box" and a votive Mass of St John Fisher and St Thomas More. St John Fisher is one of the saints to whom I pray every day and I always love to preach about his heroic life: he is a great inspiration to boys and an example of inner strength and courage in the face of adversity.The "Question Box" session is always interesting. The boys are invited to write any questions they want on a scrap of paper and it is the priest's job to answer them as well as fielding any impromptu questions. I have often run sessions like this with young people and it is a very good exercise since it gives them the chance to set the agenda. There are rarely any questions about global warming, pollution or the environment but there are always plenty of questions about sexual morality (masturbation, homosexuality, sex before marriage, etc.) I usually take these as a "job lot" and speak for a while about the Church's teaching on chastity, self-control, and the sacredness of the procreation of new life. The insights of the Good Counsel Network and the Sisters of the Gospel of Life are always of interest since they come from people's experience at the coalface.
The other questions nearly always include one or two about what happens after death, heaven (sometimes) hell (always) and purgatory. Questions of the day tend to come up depending on news priorities - yesterday we had one about the Church and the Nazis, probably prompted by recent coverage of Pope Benedict. That was a good opportunity to talk about the response of the Church to Nazism, and to try to restore the reputation of Pope Pius XII. As ever, there were a few questions about the priesthood - on celibacy, "Are you paid?" and "Is it boring being a priest?"
To the latter question which is a frequent one from young people, I always answer with honesty that sometimes the priestly life is challenging, and sometimes it is very joyful, but in 25 years as a priest, I have not yet had a boring day.
19 comments:
Aylesford. I stoped there over the Easter holidays on the way down to see the Dockyard and Cantabury Cathedral. I liked the Rosary walk. They had some nice pottery too, I picked up a chalice and paten for a priest up north. I like the simplisity of them imagining they were are something similar to what Christ himself may have used at the last supper but if I am honest I prefer the more ornate ones made out of presious metal and jews.
How can it possibly be boring being a priest? You get to hear everyone's sins! ;-D
Our PP is excellent at answering & fielding questions from my teens! My..do they ask some embarrasing questions!
Knowing Fr. Finigan both personally and via this blog, I can safely say that I could never imagine him being bored!
...nor could I ever imagine him being boring!
*{>(:-)]
(Unbored priest with biretta emoticon for anybody who can't work it out)
Catherine - Sorry, but I have to point out that Redemptionis Sacramentum 117 says that vessels made from "glass, earthenware, clay, or other materials that break easily" should not be used for the celebration of Mass.
(In films, Christ is always depicted as using common vessels at the Last Supper but we don't know that he did so - he may have used a precious vessel. What we do know is that the Last Supper was not an informal meal. It was a ritual and liturgical celebration.)
I do agree with you on the quality of the pottery at Aylesford - they will make things to order and I am hoping to find time to give them instructions for a sacrarium and a holy water dispenser.
I see the Pope has some interesting intentions for May. While the first may not be strictly on topic (and the second certainly is not), they might be worth a comment from yourself at a later point?
Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for May is: "That the laity and the Christian communities may be responsible promoters of priestly and religious vocations".
His mission intention is: "That the recently founded Catholic Churches, grateful to the Lord for the gift of faith, may be ready to share in the universal mission of the Church, offering their availability to preach the Gospel throughout the world".
Fr your comment about the vessel and the Last Supper not being an informal meal but a ritual and liturgical celebration have had me thinking all day.
When I was a young child in my family we would always go around to my grandparents for Christmas day, although not completely comparable to the ritual and liturgical celebration of the Last Supper for my grandmother it came very close, for it was the one time of the year she would have all her children and grandchildren in the same house.
Christmas dinner was always the most important part of the day. The actual cooking of the meal had started the night before, but preparation for the meal had begun long before that with the ordering of the turkey from the farmer and the making of the Christmas pudding many months before. It was also they ONLY day of year that my grandmother’s best china was removed from the locked display cabinet in the entrance hall and used.
(I remember so vividly because my brother and I were repeatedly cautioned by my father about the handling of his mother’s china).
Anyway by now you have probably guest what I am getting at - if my grandmother (and in no doubt in years to come myself) can make such a huge effort for Christmas dinner then I think it is only proper to assume an even greater effort was made by the Jews in Christ’s day when it came to the ritual of the Last Supper in that the my grandmother’s equivalent to her best china was used.
Out of curiosity I also googled Redemptionis Sacramentum and while I like Alyesford’s pottery for what it is, I would argue that it is ‘lacking in quality, or devoid of all artistic merit’ when it comes to its use as a scared vessel and therefore 'reprobated' and its use should be reserved for such items as a sacrarium/piscina (but that my just be my opinion).
Were you as censorious with the boys' questions as you are with comments left at your blog?
When would you find the time to be bored.
I think youngsters think that all the priest does all day is pray on his knees.
You should give them a resumee of what your day consists of. Then they would realise that your day is over-full.
Kids always think adults lives are boring.
Thanks for sharing the kids' questions; that was interesting.
When I taught catechism to 5th graders I was surprised to find them intensely interested in mortal and venial sin and how to distinguish; I hope they weren't planning to push the limit!
Thomas - probably. I don't allow comments that insult other people and in question box sessions, I ignore questions that do the same.
But you're happy to promote the writings of individuals who make a living from insulting others. A strange double standard, Padre.
Ah, a different question then.
Cf. the notes in the sidebar. Other blogs operate different standards of censorship but I'm happy enough to give space to promote good articles.
Hello Fr, me again.
The information regarding the pottery chalices and patens is new to me and I wanted to do a short pieces about it for my new blog.
Would you mind if I quote your comment, of course I will make a link back to your blog, and I would also like to edit the part naming Aylesford.
Its not that I think we said anything wrong just that I would rather not point fingers at places.
thank you
PS I found a very inexpensive (student) way of keeping my photos sizes small. I discovered I can up load them on facebook which shrinks them significantly and then from there use them on my blog. It does not allow me to edit them thou which is a bit of a shame I will just have to try and take the perfect picture first time round.
Catherine - yes that's fine and I'm happy for you to edit out references to Aylesford - a sensible idea.
I have used the Facebook trick too on occasions!
Can I ask please, I have taken lads of this age on retreats for over 30 years. We have had many priests join us, and there has, of course, been other catechists involved.
The only time we have, in all the 30 odd years, had questions relating to anything sexual, has been after prompting or input of this nature.
I have to say, in each case we have identified the person responsible for the raising of the issue, it's never one of the boys and after removing the person from the programme other concerns have been voiced.
This has happened twice with two people being asked to leave.
Are you confident of your source on these days of reflection? You post made the hair on my neck stand on end.
I don't know why your hair should stand on end. It is fairly common for teenage boys to ask questions about sexual morality. Nobody needs to be asked to leave. The important thing is to ensure that there is no obscenity and that the questions are answered sensibly in accord with the teaching of the Church. If we don't answer such questions properly, they will take their moral teaching from the television or the internet.
Thanks for your response, I could not have made myself clear.
I have never known teenage boys ask questions of this nature without some prior prompting after input from a catechist.
Those who did the prompting (both catechists at the time) where found to be giving unsuitable input. Both were also found to have other unanswered questions hanging over their heads. This is why your blog entry worried me.
I see. I think it is reasonable for teenage boys to have some teaching about sexual morality in accord with the catechism but of course the catechists need to be talking about any such subjects in an appropriate way and without personal "issues" intervening.
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