Priests Catholics


Priests

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If you cross the River Thames at Battersea Bridge

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and continue towards Chelsea's King's Road,

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you'd be forgiven for not noticing a building on the right-hand side,

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hidden by a privet hedge.

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Over its entrance is a cross,

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and to one side a rather austere concrete facade.

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This is Allen Hall,

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one of England's only three remaining Roman Catholic seminaries,

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home to some 45 men intent on becoming Catholic priests.

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Priests play a central part

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in shaping the identity of Britain's five million Catholics.

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Administering its sacraments, passing on its teachings,

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priests are a bridge between man and God,

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and each and every one of Allen Hall's seminarians

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believes he has been called by God to fulfil this priestly role.

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BELL RINGS

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In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...

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Amen.

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I offer this Mass for each one of you.

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It's a votive Mass for an increase in vocations to the priesthood.

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We give thanks to God

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for the mystery of this vocation in the life of the Church.

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And we pray that He may send many more men into His harvest.

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# Sanctus...

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# Sanctus

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# Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth

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# Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua... #

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CHATTER

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The seminarians at Allen Hall have signed up to a minimum of six years.

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The first two take place in house

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in a range of subjects from biblical Greek to philosophy.

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Then there's one year's practical placement in a parish

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before a three-year theology degree taken with undergraduates

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at London University's Heythrop College.

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Pono... Posui, OK?

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Posui, and then it would be irregular.

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Posuisti, posuit,

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posuimus, posuistis, posuerunt.

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OK? It's another irregular verb.

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Er...

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Er... "For verily I ascend to my Father."

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Erm...

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Will they download onto a Mac?

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-I think he uses a normal...

-OK. Thanks very much, thanks.

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Anyway... OK, John, I'm just going to, erm...

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I'm just going to put a chair. I know there should be two.

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-You're doing a wedding homily, aren't you?

-Yes.

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I'm just going to put a chair

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where there would normally be two for the happy couple.

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So pretend you've got them there. OK.

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What God has united man must not divide.

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Today, Jack and Magdalena, I want to extend our warmest wishes

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and our congratulations to you on your wedding day.

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This is the day when you have come to church to make public your love

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in front of God and in front of his people.

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Have you had this room all the time?

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No, I haven't, I've just had this for two years.

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You sort of move round the house as you're going on,

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so you start off with just one room,

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then you might get a second room, erm...

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and then you move up here eventually to get the en suite,

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which was rather nice.

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When did you realise you wanted to come here? What age?

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I started thinking about it, really, after I was confirmed,

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so when I was about 14.

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And then from there I went to speak to my parish priest,

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and then with the support of my parish priest

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and his curate at the time, and the help of Bishop O'Donoghue,

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I sort of started exploring the idea of a vocation

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and God's call in my life and when it would be appropriate

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for me to explore it in a deeper way by coming to seminary.

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So...between the Bishop and my family and myself

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and the priests who have supported me,

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I decided that after sixth form was the best time,

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that I wanted to give everything to God, my whole life,

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and see what he would do with me in those years, so give it a go.

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And I ask each one here gathered today

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to pray for Jack and Magdalena,

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that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide them in their relationship

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and remain faithful

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and live throughout their lives in a happy and fruitful union.

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OK. Thanks, John.

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I lost my place again slightly.

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I realise you slightly lost yourself there a bit. But good.

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I mean, very good.

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Just two small things, really.

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The Gospel still sounded a bit like bad news.

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So, you know, just a lighter kind of tone maybe

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about how you proclaim the Gospel.

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Using the microphone gives your voice a sonorous effect.

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It does. You've got a very sonorous voice.

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You've got that kind of dark brown voice as it were,

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which is fantastic. And it's going to be really good for you -

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it's going to be a real asset in ministry.

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But just remember this is good news we're preaching.

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Just a little thing there.

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We do have a common view of what is a good, virtuous person...

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-today.

-To an extent.

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Just to take you as an example as a group, you're all here, I think,

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because there's been one or two people

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that have really made an impression on you over the years.

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You're not just here because you read a book about the priesthood.

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You're here because someone's example

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and love and support and friendship

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made a really powerful impression on you somewhere.

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And helped you grow in your own faith

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and ultimately think about priesthood.

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I never really thought of myself as being a priest.

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I thought of priesthood, but I thought ME being a priest

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there's about as much chance as becoming an astronaut.

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You know, I just didn't...

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I thought I'd just done it wrong and that I'm the last person

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they needed to go and join the priesthood,

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-and yet I kept saying that.

-You put priesthood on a pedestal

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-and you didn't think you could live up to that?

-I did. I really did.

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I was just too wrong. I was just going to ruin it.

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They're not going to have my music tastes in seminaries.

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I just didn't think I had the personality to go with it.

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Is this fair, Christian, that you do need a horizon of

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what's going to happen to us after death to make ultimate sense of life?

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-Is that fair?

-Well, yes, these things work in the abstract

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and they would work if the world was a fair and decent and good place.

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But that isn't the case. The world is a fallen place

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and there's a great deal of suffering and wickedness around.

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And there's nothing that can be done almost by any human being

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to really take that away entirely.

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You can help reduce it by having a virtuous society,

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but even if you've got that...

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-It's going to be one aspect of life.

-There's always the next tsunami

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that's going to destroy everything and make everyone suffer again.

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We're never going to be in complete control.

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I felt as though I needed to bring a lot of comedy.

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You know, I needed to be cheered up a lot.

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What was the most essential of the essentials?

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I've got The Sweeney box-set, Harold Lloyd

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and a couple of other films. I've got some music.

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I've got a lot of it on my laptop as well, so...

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Do you listen to a lot of music?

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I do. This is where I plug in and escape.

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Tune in, drop out, when I'm not doing the lectures,

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so it's very important to me, actually.

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-Always has been.

-Music?

-Mmm.

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-You worked in music for a while?

-A little bit.

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I was kind of like a roadie with a band

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and hung out with them for about 10 years.

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-That obviously sounds like a long way from here.

-Yeah, different life.

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That's a party lifestyle, as you can imagine, so...

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-Did you have the same posters on the walls?

-No.

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Slightly different women you would have found on my wall.

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A few have not changed, but it's one of those things.

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I've always said I've got pictures of women all over my wall

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just to wind people up. They go, "Ah! Oh, my God!"

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And then I say I've got St Therese and Our Lady. They go, "Daarrgh!"

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Dear friends, this fourth Sunday in Easter

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is known as Good Shepherd Sunday.

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And it's always been a day of prayer for vocations to the priesthood

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and of religious life.

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Today, we'll be hearing from John, a seminarian training at Allen Hall,

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which is our seminary here in London.

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Today, I'm here to ask you for three things.

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Firstly, to ask you to pray

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for myself as I prepare for the priesthood,

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for the other students of the priesthood

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for our priests, for our bishops and for the Pope.

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That we'll be faithful to God's call in our lives.

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Secondly, I'd ask you

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to see if you know anyone you think might be called to the priesthood.

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A young man might be here tonight or in the parish.

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If you are thinking of the priesthood,

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I would say don't be afraid.

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Speak to someone. It's the first step.

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And finally, and perhaps most awkwardly,

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I'd like to ask you to be generous with your money as well.

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It takes about £20,000 a year to train a priest, per seminarian.

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And there's 45 of us training for the priesthood at Allen Hall.

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So, we really do need your support.

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And I'd like to thank you for your generosity

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in the past, and now and hopefully in the future

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and promise that I will pray for this parish as well.

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-Congratulations. God bless you.

-Thank you.

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Thank you very much.

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Two years philosophy, then usually a year in a parish

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-then three years of theology.

-Oh, three years.

-Yeah. Which is just...

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Today, we're looking at war

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and obviously this is a very topical subject.

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So it's important at this point that we reflect on what is

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the Christian attitude to war, to military intervention.

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The central claim of feminist ethics is that

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ethics in the western moral tradition has been a very male endeavour.

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It's obviously true in the Catholic Church

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where most moral theologians have been priests.

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Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

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blessed art thou among women,

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and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

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-ALL:

-Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

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now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

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blessed art thou among women,

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and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

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-ALL:

-Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

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now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

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now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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-ALL:

-Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

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blessed art thou among women,

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and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

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Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

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blessed art thou among women,

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and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

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-ALL:

-Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

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now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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-In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

-Amen.

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Yeah, the main reason I have it, I suppose,

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is for sentimental reasons because it belonged to my Irish grandmother.

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I suppose it's from her family that the faith was passed on.

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And by Irish grandmother died quite a while ago now.

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And so we've always had that around about the house.

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So when I came to the seminary I brought it with me.

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And, of course, the statue itself is of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,

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which is sort of, I suppose, one of the biggest

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and most popular Catholic devotions, we'd call them. So it's...

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It reflects the love in the heart of Jesus,

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Jesus' divine love,

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and, if you look closely, Jesus is showing us his heart.

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Obviously the seat of his love with a crown of thorns round it.

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It's obviously his wounded heart reflecting his passion and death.

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on the cross, for us, which shows the extent of his love for us.

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Can you remember what it meant to you, as a child,

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visiting that and seeing it?

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Yeah, it was just reassuring...

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..because it makes Christ's presence in your home environment.

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In one sense, you get used to having Christ present to you,

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erm, through these images.

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It is one of these, again, very Catholic things, this use of images -

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statues, portraits - which, of course, historically,

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Catholicism has been criticised for,

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as being a, kind of, idolatry - that you're praying to idols.

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Allen Hall is known as "a house of formation".

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The staff and students consider it,

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not as a training centre for the priesthood,

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but as a sort of testing ground,

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in which, as well as being taught the tricks of the trade,

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they can explore their calling

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living together, to discern what they believe God is asking of them.

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Did you three all start on the same day?

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ALL: Yes.

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We did, a long time ago now!

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I definitely had overly-romanticised notions

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of what seminary was going to be like, I think.

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I think the reality... Quite quickly, you get into the reality of it -

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studies, having to write essays and all of the normal things that go on.

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I imagined it would be more... monastic. It is intense,

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but it's a different kind of intensity than I imagined.

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I think I thought it would be a, sort of, an intensity of silence

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and...prayer 24 hours a day and...

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I don't know... And it's not quite...

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Were you pleased to find it wasn't that way?

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Yeah. It's much more of a home, I think.

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We've all learnt a lot about ourselves during the whole time,

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the years we've been there...certainly.

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I've certainly even become a lot more confident in my own abilities.

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I can look back and see I've changed a lot in that way, really.

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I wasn't very confident when I came.

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I've found so many things that I've grown in, over the years.

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And now in a parish, I know now what I'm capable of doing

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and I know what I'm going to find harder,

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so that is a lot more relying on...relying on God, really,

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to get me through those moments.

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Where was it you worked?

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Erm...before here, I was working for a company called Pax Travel,

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organising pilgrimages. It was based in Kentish Town,

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so it was about a 40-minute journey from Harpenden, on the train, so...

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And you'd worked in the City before that?

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I'd worked in the City before that, for a law firm.

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One of the big law firms in the City, near Moorgate,

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as a researcher, as a research assistant.

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So, again, that was quite a long commute in the mornings.

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It's about... I used to walk to the station,

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which was half an hour walk,

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and then there'd be a 40-minute train journey,

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in a crammed train.

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So it's nice now to just be able to walk down the stairs to work!

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Quite looking forward to that, as well.

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How long did you do the law firm work for?

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Only a year. I was a trainee and had a year's contract.

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By the end of that, I realised it wasn't really what I wanted to do.

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It, kind of, pushed me towards thinking about priesthood more.

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So, yeah... It was a good experience,

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in terms of I got to know the real world, if you know what I mean.

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Quite a ruthless environment, in that level of law firms,

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so, yeah, it was.. I think I can hopefully,

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understand where people are coming from in the parishes

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and things like that. So it was a very valuable experience.

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I enjoyed working with the people there. A good place to work.

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But it was just a bit too much, I think.

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It really did point me back to the priesthood,

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which I'd been thinking about for so many years before, anyway.

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Cheers, thank you very much.

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CHORAL SINGING

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If we've been bad, they send us to this room, to sing,

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as a punishment.

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I come here every Monday.

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CHORAL SINGING

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# Eleison... #

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-And I'd like to hear the...

-BOTH: # ..leison #

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Right.

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# Eleison #

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Let's do the As on that last rung.

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# BOTH: E-e-e-e-e

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# Eleison. #

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You were a cradle Catholic?

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Cradle Catholic and, like a lot of cradle Catholics,

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I remembered to watch Quo Vadis, when it was on.

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I'd go to church at Easter and Christmas, you know?

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And that was it. I was brought up very well,

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actually - praying on your knees, saying the Hail Mary, etc,

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but, you know, the way of the world will get to you and you just stop.

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-You stopped completely?

-More or... It got to a point

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where, yeah, I stopped going. It just didn't happen for me.

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-Very beautiful. You're actually singing to Our Blessed Lady.

-OK.

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Deep breath before you begin.

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BOTH: # ?? #

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BOTH SING IN LATIN

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Deep breath.

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-Relationships?

-Yeah, there was a few.

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And it never crossed... It...

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The last one I was in, it did cross my mind

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that I probably should think about what I'm doing...

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because the last person I went out with was married

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and it... As soon as I found out, I, kind of, halted it,

0:21:170:21:20

because something deep within me, again, just thought,

0:21:200:21:23

"This ain't right", you know?

0:21:230:21:25

So much for the rock and roll lifestyle. It really bothered me.

0:21:250:21:28

I was supposed to have met up with her one night

0:21:280:21:32

and I paced around the place, agonising over it.

0:21:320:21:35

I really imagined myself - this isn't just the problem

0:21:350:21:40

of her and her husband and me, it's really deeper than that.

0:21:400:21:44

It's like, me, as a person, even as far as my soul,

0:21:440:21:48

as I can imagine what that was,

0:21:480:21:50

I thought there is something really fundamentally wrong with this.

0:21:500:21:55

You can't do this. And I didn't.

0:21:550:21:57

So it was as if I was stung back into belief, in a way.

0:21:570:22:05

It was almost as if someone had, sort of, prodded me and said,

0:22:050:22:09

"You can't live like this.

0:22:090:22:11

You've got to think about how you're living your life."

0:22:110:22:14

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

0:22:310:22:34

ALL: Amen.

0:22:340:22:36

Oh, Lord, may the beginning and end of all that we do and say

0:22:360:22:40

prompt our actions with your grace and complete them

0:22:400:22:44

with your powerful help, through Christ, Our Lord.

0:22:440:22:47

ALL: Amen.

0:22:470:22:48

-Mary, Seat of Wisdom...

-ALL: Pray for us.

0:22:480:22:50

..in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

0:22:500:22:53

ALL: Amen.

0:22:530:22:54

What about the idea that what is right and wrong has to agree with

0:22:540:23:01

what our elected representatives agree in Parliament?

0:23:010:23:05

What do you think of that idea?

0:23:050:23:07

We might take, for example, the whole issue of abortion.

0:23:070:23:12

Another writing that is very important from Luther in this period

0:23:120:23:16

is the so-called "threefold Babylonian captivity of the Church".

0:23:160:23:21

It is clearly a polemic writing, regarding the liturgy.

0:23:210:23:26

We don't actually think that

0:23:260:23:28

the question of right and wrong of abortion is actually

0:23:280:23:32

to do with... It's not because Jesus said it, is it?

0:23:320:23:35

It's about the reality of that. It's about fundamental principles -

0:23:350:23:40

the value of life and an innocent life, in particular.

0:23:400:23:43

Today, we're going to talk a little bit about anointing.

0:23:500:23:54

I don't know if there are any other areas of ministry -

0:23:540:23:57

practical ministry - that you're, kind of,

0:23:570:24:00

not quite sure about, still, that we can look at after Easter,

0:24:000:24:03

if necessary. Maybe lots, I don't know!

0:24:030:24:05

There are obviously two main types. One is the relatively

0:24:050:24:09

straightforward anointing of somebody ill in the parish who needs

0:24:090:24:12

continuing help and support. And then there are those where

0:24:120:24:16

perhaps somebody is either moving towards death

0:24:160:24:19

or perhaps somebody is in danger of death. Have you seen... Have you

0:24:190:24:22

been in contact with dead bodies? Have you seen dead people?

0:24:220:24:25

The most profound experience I had in hospital

0:24:250:24:29

was with an elderly lady, who died while I was there.

0:24:290:24:35

It was an absolutely profound experience.

0:24:350:24:39

I felt really humbled, actually,

0:24:390:24:42

to have been there. It was a real blessing, actually.

0:24:420:24:45

I think it is a blessing and it's a very...

0:24:450:24:47

It's a pretty important moment in all our lives!

0:24:470:24:50

You'll find that, as individuals, it will affect you in different ways.

0:24:500:24:55

And some of them are very hard, indeed. Really very hard, indeed.

0:24:550:24:59

And I think these moments,

0:24:590:25:01

if you've experienced it, help us to have a great peace about death

0:25:010:25:05

and a great peace about our own deaths, too -

0:25:050:25:08

that, actually, death can be beautiful,

0:25:080:25:10

that death is a wonderful moment of transition and it can help us.

0:25:100:25:17

It can be very confirming, I think, in our own faith,

0:25:170:25:20

to spend time with the dying.

0:25:200:25:23

My faith has always been incredibly important to me,

0:25:230:25:26

but extremely private.

0:25:260:25:29

I think one of the reasons it was so private is that I was at...

0:25:290:25:34

I didn't go to a Catholic school and I have lots of good friends,

0:25:340:25:38

but very few of them, erm, very few of them would have been Catholics.

0:25:380:25:43

And so, I didn't speak about my faith. I think there was...

0:25:430:25:48

I think, naturally, like most teenagers, I was embarrassed about

0:25:480:25:52

having this, erm, having this thing of faith.

0:25:520:25:56

Going to university, erm, helped me break out of that.

0:25:560:26:02

Was Catholicism a big, big part of your childhood?

0:26:020:26:06

It really wasn't, actually. My family are Catholic.

0:26:060:26:10

My mum's a convert. She didn't convert till I was 17.

0:26:100:26:13

My Irish grandparents, are very serious about their faith.

0:26:130:26:18

But in the family, we said prayers and things,

0:26:180:26:21

but it wasn't a major part of our lives. We went to Mass on Sundays.

0:26:210:26:26

But it wasn't till I started serving, around the age of seven or eight,

0:26:260:26:30

that I started getting really involved in the parish.

0:26:300:26:33

It was something I just found really...

0:26:330:26:36

I felt at home, altar serving in the parish.

0:26:360:26:41

And just kind of grew more and more in confidence

0:26:410:26:44

and made lots of friends there and just kept going, really.

0:26:440:26:47

Did you think... Were you quite a holy person, as it were?

0:26:470:26:50

I don't think so. I've never thought of myself as holy!

0:26:500:26:53

People would say that I was different.

0:26:530:26:55

My nickname at secondary, which wasn't Catholic,

0:26:550:26:58

was actually The Priest. People obviously saw something in me.

0:26:580:27:01

I think the chaplain at university was rather surprised

0:27:010:27:04

when I went to see him towards the end of my time at university,

0:27:040:27:10

to ask him about the priesthood.

0:27:100:27:14

Because I didn't really get... I went to Mass, obviously,

0:27:140:27:17

but I didn't really get involved, at all.

0:27:170:27:19

I was enjoying myself too much, in some ways, for that!

0:27:190:27:23

Erm...and that journey, being able to...going to speak to him about it

0:27:230:27:30

was very difficult for me. It took a real... It took me ages

0:27:300:27:34

to get to the point when I was able to broach the subject.

0:27:340:27:38

Did you go through the agonies on our own?

0:27:380:27:41

Yeah. Oh, yeah, completely. I didn't speak to anyone about it.

0:27:410:27:45

I think I decided, in my last year at university...

0:27:450:27:48

I suppose - it's easy to say in hindsight - I'd always known

0:27:510:27:57

that there was something there and hadn't accepted it.

0:27:570:28:00

You will need various bits of kit, from a practical point of view.

0:28:000:28:05

I don't know if you've got already,

0:28:050:28:07

but you'll need something for your oil,

0:28:070:28:09

for the oil to stick. You'll need to get hold of one of those.

0:28:090:28:12

Very handy little gadget. But the most important thing, I suppose,

0:28:120:28:16

is how you actually place the oil on the forehead and on the hands.

0:28:160:28:20

You do not, under any circumstances,

0:28:200:28:23

anoint somebody on the forehead and put your thumb back into the oil

0:28:230:28:29

and then do the hands,

0:28:290:28:31

because, potentially, there is an infection in there now.

0:28:310:28:35

This is also fantastically useful, which is a holy water sprinkler.

0:28:350:28:39

You go into a house, you want to bless the house,

0:28:390:28:42

you don't have to take an enormous sized sprinkler.

0:28:420:28:45

This is a very handy cup.

0:28:450:28:46

This isn't full of woe, it's full of holy water.

0:28:460:28:49

Erm, so that's a useful thing to have.

0:28:490:28:53

In fact, you'll need it. Then, obviously,

0:28:530:28:55

a small confessional stole of some sort. Make sure you have those.

0:28:550:29:01

And just on a practical level,

0:29:010:29:02

I would suggest keeping all this somewhere near the front door,

0:29:020:29:06

because, you know, a lot of your visits will be nicely planned

0:29:060:29:09

and whatever, but when you get the call at 3am to go to casualty

0:29:090:29:14

or whatever it happens to be,

0:29:140:29:16

you don't want to be rushing around, "I wonder where the oil is?"

0:29:160:29:19

That's why I say, be prepared.

0:29:190:29:21

You know, have a pair of trousers to jump into and all of that

0:29:210:29:26

and everything you need nearby.

0:29:260:29:28

So this is what I'll be wearing in the future.

0:29:290:29:34

Lots of black shirts and suits.

0:29:350:29:37

And my chasuble, which I bought for my first Mass.

0:29:370:29:41

-Where did you get that?

-I bought this in Rome.

0:29:410:29:44

So that will be my first Mass. I'll be wearing that and then,

0:29:470:29:50

hopefully, for any celebration afterwards.

0:29:500:29:52

So, yes, we went across to Rome for a little trip.

0:29:520:29:55

Did you choose that one specifically,

0:29:570:30:00

or is there a whole range of styles you can choose from?

0:30:000:30:03

No, there are different styles.

0:30:030:30:04

So, that's a Gothic style, and there are Roman styles,

0:30:040:30:07

which are a lot more... more like bibs, really.

0:30:070:30:10

And you've probably seen in Mass,

0:30:100:30:12

there's different styles you can wear.

0:30:120:30:15

I wanted something fairly simple, but with a nice pattern on the front.

0:30:150:30:20

It's one of those, I walked into the shop and went, "That's it."

0:30:200:30:23

After seeing many shops. So I was really pleased to get it.

0:30:230:30:27

What's your CV?

0:30:350:30:38

The whole of my CV, well,

0:30:380:30:40

trained originally as a barrister

0:30:400:30:42

and practised at the bar for a few years.

0:30:420:30:45

But it was one of those things that I just kind of fell into,

0:30:450:30:48

I didn't know what to do when I went to university,

0:30:480:30:51

so when I went to Oxford I ended up reading law,

0:30:510:30:53

then I didn't know what to do again, so I had to do something,

0:30:530:30:57

and so I read for the bar and so on.

0:30:570:31:00

But what I always wanted to do

0:31:000:31:02

was work in classical music and opera in particular.

0:31:020:31:05

And so I was very fortunate that I spent most of my life

0:31:050:31:10

being part of or running opera companies or ballet companies

0:31:100:31:13

and so that's what I was doing before.

0:31:130:31:18

Well I suppose if there was a Damascus moment

0:31:190:31:22

it was when I was working up to Leeds for Opera North.

0:31:220:31:25

And one day I pottered into the cathedral in Leeds

0:31:250:31:28

which is a Catholic cathedral,

0:31:280:31:30

and something was going on which I didn't at that stage understand.

0:31:300:31:34

And it was something called the 40 Hours Celebration.

0:31:340:31:38

And that's 40 hours of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

0:31:380:31:42

And there was the monstrance,

0:31:420:31:45

I'd never seen a monstrance before, didn't really know what it was.

0:31:450:31:49

There was the monstrance in the centre of the sanctuary,

0:31:490:31:52

and there were literally hundreds and hundreds of candles.

0:31:520:31:56

The monstrance being?

0:31:560:31:58

The monstrance is what contains the Blessed Sacrament

0:31:580:32:01

when it is being put on the altar for adoration.

0:32:010:32:05

And surrounded by hundreds of candles and lots of people.

0:32:050:32:10

And I saw, and there was something there

0:32:100:32:15

which was very different from what I had experienced ever before,

0:32:150:32:18

certainly in the tradition that I had grown up with.

0:32:180:32:21

And so the centrality of the Eucharist,

0:32:210:32:24

the centrality of the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament

0:32:240:32:27

is something which is very powerful and very new,

0:32:270:32:30

and I suppose if there was a Damascus moment that was it

0:32:300:32:33

and I really wanted to know more about this.

0:32:330:32:36

BELL RINGS

0:32:470:32:49

In every society there are people from whom we require

0:33:160:33:20

the highest moral standards.

0:33:200:33:22

Politicians, bankers, police, the media and priests.

0:33:220:33:26

In recent years all have fallen from grace

0:33:260:33:30

and trust has lost its currency.

0:33:300:33:32

Today, the long shadow of abuse scandals

0:33:320:33:35

hangs over the Catholic priesthood.

0:33:350:33:39

Numbers of men applying to seminary have fallen.

0:33:390:33:42

In 2010 just 19 men were ordained in the whole of England and Wales.

0:33:420:33:47

The application process for seminary is now like a long courtship

0:33:470:33:52

in which both the church and the prospective candidate feel their way

0:33:520:33:56

towards a marriage, trying to be certain that each is

0:33:560:33:59

not only fit for the other, but fit for purpose.

0:33:590:34:02

It includes a weekend of psychological profiling

0:34:020:34:05

at the centre run by the Catholic Church itself.

0:34:050:34:09

Tell us about that, what happens on that?

0:34:110:34:14

They give you another form. It's a book, really,

0:34:140:34:17

you have to fill in with all the information about your past,

0:34:170:34:20

your background, what you think of this, what you think of that, family.

0:34:200:34:24

And I did a lot of it on the train on the way down.

0:34:240:34:26

It was endless questions. A lot of repetition as well.

0:34:260:34:30

-Is that sort of screening?

-Yes. It's all part of the screening process.

0:34:300:34:34

It's to make sure, considering what's happened in the church

0:34:340:34:37

they really don't want that mistake to happen again.

0:34:370:34:40

They just want to make sure the people joining aren't crazy

0:34:400:34:43

and in this culture we live in,

0:34:430:34:44

the first question you have got to ask

0:34:440:34:46

is why would anybody want to become a priest in today's world?

0:34:460:34:50

You've got to be nuts.

0:34:500:34:51

So they just assume you're crazy from the start and see if you're sane.

0:34:510:34:55

-Do you get much hostility?

-Not really, actually.

0:35:050:35:09

Not from any of the things people have been asking me.

0:35:090:35:12

No-one's really brought up in a question to me

0:35:120:35:15

the topic of the abuse scandal in the church, for example.

0:35:150:35:18

No.

0:35:200:35:21

And for me, the main thing

0:35:240:35:27

in terms of my vocation is I don't think the abuse scandal

0:35:270:35:31

has really affected how I think of my vocation.

0:35:310:35:34

As far as I'm concerned, I think God is calling me to be a priest.

0:35:340:35:38

And I'm aware of how frail every priest is, I think.

0:35:380:35:44

That's something you learn in seminary.

0:35:440:35:46

Because there is a tendency sometimes

0:35:460:35:48

to try and put a priest on a pedestal which is natural,

0:35:480:35:51

because you want priests to be holy, and that's right,

0:35:510:35:54

but equally I think from getting to know more priests

0:35:540:35:58

you get to realise the humility there in priests,

0:35:580:36:01

that priests themselves would describe themselves

0:36:010:36:04

as flawed people, sinful people, just like everyone.

0:36:040:36:08

And so that's the way I look at it, I think that I'm like that as well.

0:36:110:36:15

And I will try my best to be a holy priest

0:36:180:36:22

whilst with the limitations that I have in my life.

0:36:220:36:25

Yeah.

0:36:270:36:28

Let me just quote you from Pope Paul VI, one of our recent popes.

0:36:370:36:43

He called priestly celibacy a brilliant jewel,

0:36:430:36:48

a sweet and heavy burden, and a grave, ennobling obligation.

0:36:480:36:54

We have to take on this tradition,

0:36:540:36:58

not as a burden that has been laid on our shoulders

0:36:580:37:02

by a cold and distant hierarchy

0:37:020:37:05

that just wants to make our life complicated,

0:37:050:37:09

and stop us having fun, or having intimate relationships,

0:37:090:37:13

it's something that we have to see as being part of the tradition

0:37:130:37:20

and something that we have to own ourselves, and make ourselves own.

0:37:200:37:24

Now let me take you back to the Dark Ages.

0:37:240:37:28

When I was in seminary nobody really talked about celibacy.

0:37:280:37:34

It was seen as something, I want to be a priest,

0:37:340:37:39

therefore I have to, I suppose, take on this burden of celibacy.

0:37:390:37:44

That's because it was something we felt in those days

0:37:440:37:49

was imposed on us, and wasn't fully explained

0:37:490:37:53

and we didn't have a chance to make it our own and own it.

0:37:530:37:57

I think it might explain why some people

0:37:570:38:00

have got themselves into trouble in the past,

0:38:000:38:04

to the shame and to the scandal of people

0:38:040:38:07

both inside the church and outside the church.

0:38:070:38:10

But if our sexuality is a large part of our humanity,

0:38:100:38:14

is this an easy thing for you to give up?

0:38:140:38:17

Switch it off?

0:38:170:38:19

You don't switch it off, you're still a guy, still a man.

0:38:190:38:23

The thing is, it's an energy, it's how you channel that energy really.

0:38:230:38:27

It's like you say, sexuality is a major part, very powerful force.

0:38:270:38:32

And if you don't deal with it, it will get you.

0:38:320:38:36

But it's something you have to live with.

0:38:360:38:38

Anybody else feels, why celibacy?

0:38:380:38:41

Surely total self-sacrifice is the most basic point,

0:38:410:38:46

it's a matter of putting oneself entirely upon God

0:38:460:38:51

and upon his, the eternal life which he promises,

0:38:510:38:54

and that seems to be the absolute face of it,

0:38:540:38:58

are you giving all for Christ?

0:38:580:39:00

Right, we, as celibates, our lives lived in an atypical way,

0:39:000:39:07

not of the norm of most people,

0:39:070:39:10

speak to something, speak of our very image, very presence,

0:39:100:39:14

sometime communicates the presence of God in the world.

0:39:140:39:19

I think we need to be available to everybody.

0:39:190:39:22

It's like the marriage thing.

0:39:220:39:24

Everyone asks me why aren't you married? Why can't you get married?

0:39:240:39:27

Anglicans get married, why can't Catholics?

0:39:270:39:31

But I think it's just practical. We're available, we're ministers,

0:39:310:39:35

we're servants. We don't own our own lives any more,

0:39:350:39:38

we don't live for ourselves, we live for the people, men for others.

0:39:380:39:42

Romantic life is an imperfect relationship, sometimes.

0:39:420:39:48

But with this you're dealing with God who is ultimately perfect,

0:39:480:39:52

absolute perfection on one side. You're imperfect, but He is not.

0:39:520:39:57

So the more you engage with that perfection,

0:39:570:40:00

the less troubled you are, the less complicated you become.

0:40:000:40:03

It all becomes quite simple

0:40:030:40:06

because I think romantic love can be endlessly complicated.

0:40:060:40:10

So that's what I mean by that.

0:40:100:40:13

-In experience.

-That's how you found it?

0:40:130:40:17

I think so. That could be just...

0:40:170:40:20

It could prove to be that's just my thought

0:40:200:40:22

because I've been with people or been in love with people

0:40:220:40:26

and then later on I wonder why?

0:40:260:40:29

There are a couple of people I've just looked back on recently

0:40:290:40:32

and think, "Why did I ever give time to that?"

0:40:320:40:36

That whole relationship was just abusive,

0:40:360:40:38

it wasn't a relationship, it was just nonsense.

0:40:380:40:42

But with this you will never have that.

0:40:420:40:44

I don't think I'll ever regret this.

0:40:440:40:46

I might have told you this story before.

0:40:460:40:49

I was ordained...years ago

0:40:490:40:53

and on the day of my ordination,

0:40:530:40:57

and I was fortunate enough to be ordained

0:40:570:41:00

by now blessed John Paul II in St Peter's in Rome.

0:41:000:41:04

Imagine what that was like.

0:41:040:41:06

And I specifically remember feeling a mark on my forehead.

0:41:060:41:12

And that stayed with me.

0:41:120:41:15

I'm not anybody, believe me, who believes in that kind of stuff.

0:41:150:41:19

You know, that kind of, oooh! But there was a kind of a mark that,

0:41:190:41:24

and I've learned subsequently that that is not a strange experience.

0:41:240:41:31

Because I believe that

0:41:310:41:33

when we go through this process we are marked men.

0:41:330:41:37

We have been chosen for this.

0:41:370:41:41

Because we are marked, we are given the help we need, the grace,

0:41:410:41:47

in order to live this life if we are authentic.

0:41:470:41:50

We can deny that, we can reject that,

0:41:500:41:55

but that is there, available to us.

0:41:550:41:57

It's not just us doing it by ourselves. Does that make sense? OK.

0:41:570:42:04

The road to priesthood is long. Some decide it's not for them.

0:42:090:42:13

Others have that decision made for them and are shown the door.

0:42:130:42:18

For those who do stay the course

0:42:180:42:19

their progress towards priesthood is marked

0:42:190:42:22

at various stages in their formation.

0:42:220:42:25

The first big public shift is known as candidacy.

0:42:250:42:29

It's a significant moment marking a mutual decision

0:42:290:42:33

between the church and the seminarian

0:42:330:42:35

that priesthood is indeed a viable and desirable outcome.

0:42:350:42:39

It comes at the end of the fourth year,

0:42:390:42:41

and from then on, a seminarian can wear clerical clothes,

0:42:410:42:45

publicly identifying himself as a man of the church.

0:42:450:42:49

-What's this?

-This is what I'll be wearing on candidacy.

0:42:510:42:55

It's just a normal waistcoat that you wear with a shirt

0:42:570:43:03

and then a collar, a full collar.

0:43:030:43:06

Then obviously that just wraps around the top.

0:43:060:43:11

If you can imagine,

0:43:110:43:13

with a collar in there produces the kind of white window.

0:43:130:43:16

-So you'll be able to start wearing that after next Saturday week.

-Yes.

0:43:160:43:20

Is that something you look forward to, that public statement?

0:43:200:43:25

I think it's just something you realise is going to happen

0:43:250:43:31

and you can see it a long way off,

0:43:310:43:33

you've been in seminary for four years now,

0:43:330:43:36

you kind of feel you're ready to take this next step, really,

0:43:360:43:40

of taking on a public role.

0:43:400:43:43

HE SINGS

0:43:500:43:56

Great. I'd much rather inspire people

0:44:100:44:13

through the singing you do in the parish

0:44:130:44:15

with your personality coming through the voice,

0:44:150:44:18

than just be the same, old, boring person

0:44:180:44:21

that turns them off as soon as they come in, yeah?

0:44:210:44:24

-Do you want to continue with this one?

-Yeah, could do.

0:44:240:44:27

PIANO MUSIC PLAYS

0:44:270:44:31

-All right, Sister Bernadette?

-How nice to see you.

0:44:430:44:48

-Hello, Sister. How are you?

-How does it feel to be dressed up?

0:44:480:44:52

-It feels odd.

-Oh, it's lovely. It's lovely. Many congratulations.

0:44:520:44:56

-Thank you very much.

-I'm delighted for you

0:44:560:44:58

and delighted for the diocese, as well.

0:44:580:45:02

-It's nice.

-It's a nice style.

0:45:020:45:04

They all look fantastic when they're dressed up, don't they?

0:45:040:45:08

Lovely, congratulations. Are your parents here yet?

0:45:080:45:11

Not yet. No. They should be here in a little while.

0:45:110:45:14

-I have to breathe in these days. I have to breathe in these days.

-Yes.

0:45:390:45:44

In response to the Lord's call,

0:45:560:45:59

are you resolved to complete your preparation

0:45:590:46:03

so that in due time, you will be ready to be ordained

0:46:030:46:07

for the ministry of the Church.

0:46:070:46:09

ALL: I am.

0:46:090:46:11

Are you resolved to prepare yourself in mind and spirit

0:46:110:46:16

to give faithful service to Christ the Lord and his body, the Church?

0:46:160:46:21

ALL: I am.

0:46:210:46:23

The Church receives your declaration with joy.

0:46:230:46:27

May God who has begun the good work in you

0:46:270:46:30

-bring it to fulfilment.

-ALL: Amen.

0:46:300:46:33

ORGAN PLAYS

0:46:330:46:37

CHOIR SINGS: "Soli Deo Gloria"

0:46:430:46:47

APPLAUSE

0:47:390:47:42

Fantastic. Were you nervous?

0:47:480:47:50

PIANO MUSIC PLAYS

0:47:500:47:54

We'll just take one here. Take these.

0:48:260:48:29

So, here they are, right before us, freshly turned out.

0:48:380:48:43

Men in black, very nice to see.

0:48:430:48:47

It reminds me of one of the first times

0:48:470:48:50

I was walking back down the Kings Road from Sloane Square

0:48:500:48:53

in my clerical collar and this young woman came up to me

0:48:530:48:57

and she had earrings in every possible place you could imagine

0:48:570:49:01

and she said, "Sir, sir, tell me, where did you get your clothes?"

0:49:010:49:04

-LAUGHTER

-Which fashion shop did you go to?

0:49:040:49:09

So, well, anyway, they've obviously been to the fashion shops,

0:49:090:49:14

the clerical fashion shops.

0:49:140:49:16

God knows what she'd say to me if I walked down this evening.

0:49:160:49:19

LAUGHTER

0:49:190:49:21

Anyway, my last task is just to be thankful

0:49:210:49:28

for the fact that we're Catholics and that we belong to the church

0:49:280:49:31

and therefore, to offer a toast on this evening to the Holy Father.

0:49:310:49:36

-The Holy Father.

-ALL: The Holy Father

0:49:380:49:42

HOOVER WHIRS

0:49:490:49:53

So I, the undersigned, Andrew Patrick Connick,

0:50:080:50:11

having petitioned Archbishop Nichols

0:50:110:50:13

to be admitted to the order of the priesthood,

0:50:130:50:19

make the following oath. It's the oath of freedom and knowledge.

0:50:190:50:23

This one basically says that

0:50:230:50:25

I understand what's going to happen to me in a few weeks time

0:50:250:50:29

and I accept those responsibilities and choose them for myself.

0:50:290:50:35

So, really, it means that I can't turn around afterwards

0:50:390:50:42

and say that what happened at my ordination

0:50:420:50:45

wasn't something that I was fully aware of

0:50:450:50:47

and fully willing to participate in and willing to give my life to.

0:50:470:50:51

But I think, as well, this thing that you're promising

0:50:510:50:56

is bigger than you are and it's bigger than you

0:50:560:51:01

and your vocation and it's about the Church and the Church's mission.

0:51:010:51:07

And from that point of view, it really reinforces this thing that...

0:51:070:51:12

..the priesthood is not...

0:51:140:51:16

Priesthood is not all about you.

0:51:180:51:20

Erm...

0:51:230:51:24

That it's a life given to the Church for the good of other people...

0:51:260:51:33

..and a life just given to Christ.

0:51:350:51:38

At the very heart of all religions are leaps into the unknown.

0:51:500:51:54

The acceptance of fundamental mysteries

0:51:540:51:57

that come to define faith itself. In Catholic life,

0:51:570:52:01

it's the Eucharist, the focus of every Mass,

0:52:010:52:04

at which bread and wine actually become

0:52:040:52:07

the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

0:52:070:52:10

This mystery is what Catholic priests exist for.

0:52:100:52:14

To make Christ present in the world.

0:52:140:52:17

And when the Archbishop finally lays hands

0:52:170:52:20

on the heads of seminarians at their ordination,

0:52:200:52:23

this gift will be theirs.

0:52:230:52:25

Accept this offering for your whole family.

0:52:260:52:29

Grant us your peace in this life. Save us from final damnation

0:52:290:52:33

and count us among those you have chosen.

0:52:330:52:36

Bless and approve our offering.

0:52:370:52:40

Make it acceptable to you and offering in spirit and truth,

0:52:400:52:45

let it become for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,

0:52:450:52:49

your only son, our Lord.

0:52:490:52:52

The day before he suffered, he took bread in His sacred hands

0:52:520:52:57

and looking up to heaven, to you his Almighty Father,

0:52:570:53:00

He gave thanks and praise.

0:53:000:53:03

He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said,

0:53:030:53:07

"Take this, all of you, and eat it.

0:53:070:53:10

"This is my body which will be given up for you".

0:53:100:53:14

Is it the centrepiece of priesthood, being able to celebrate mass,

0:53:200:53:26

do you think, as opposed to the many other pastoral functions

0:53:260:53:30

that you'll end up fulfilling?

0:53:300:53:32

Yes. Definitely. Because...

0:53:330:53:37

Because it means everything.

0:53:380:53:40

It's the fact of salvation for the world.

0:53:440:53:48

And we talk about there being a source and a summit

0:53:500:53:53

of the Christian life.

0:53:530:53:54

And, like, some theologians talk about the mass

0:53:590:54:02

as being the heartbeat of the church,

0:54:020:54:05

you know, the very life of the church through that regular...

0:54:050:54:09

That daily celebration of Holy Mass.

0:54:090:54:11

You say, not doing it for real, but when you do it for real,

0:54:110:54:16

wondering how that will feel, in what way will it be different?

0:54:160:54:19

The Catholic understanding is that there's a fundamental change

0:54:190:54:23

to the man who is ordained and that...

0:54:230:54:29

So, the priesthood is not just a ministry that you carry out,

0:54:310:54:35

but something on the very deepest level of who you are,

0:54:350:54:40

so, it's that that allows you to stand at the altar

0:54:400:54:44

and say the words of Christ

0:54:440:54:48

so that the bread and wine really are transformed

0:54:480:54:52

into the body and blood of Christ.

0:54:520:54:55

At the deepest level, you're a priest

0:54:550:54:58

so Christ uses you as his instrument

0:54:580:55:01

and you say those words of consecration and...

0:55:010:55:04

And it's the Mass.

0:55:060:55:08

Those of you who are going to be priests, please come forward.

0:55:370:55:42

APPLAUSE

0:56:470:56:52

Father, accept this offering for your whole family.

0:57:170:57:21

Grant us your peace in this life.

0:57:210:57:24

Save us from final damnation

0:57:240:57:26

and count as among those you have chosen.

0:57:260:57:30

Bless and approve our offering.

0:57:300:57:33

Make it acceptable to you, an offering in spirit and in truth.

0:57:330:57:38

Let it become for us the body and blood of Jesus Christ,

0:57:380:57:42

your only son, our Lord.

0:57:420:57:45

The day before He suffered, He took bread in his sacred hands

0:57:470:57:52

and looking up to heaven

0:57:520:57:54

to you, his Almighty Father, He gave you thanks and praise.

0:57:540:57:59

He broke the bread,

0:57:590:58:00

gave it to his disciples and said...

0:58:000:58:04

"Take this, all of you, and eat it.

0:58:060:58:10

"This is my body, which will be given up for you".

0:58:100:58:15

BELLS RING

0:58:150:58:20

The body of Christ.

0:58:300:58:31

The body of Christ.

0:58:320:58:34

The body of Christ.

0:58:360:58:38

The body of Christ.

0:58:410:58:43

The body of Christ.

0:58:450:58:47

The body of Christ.

0:58:480:58:49

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