It was glad to attend the licensing of Emma Rees Kenny as Team Vicar in Canton Benefice tonight. At last a full time colleague for Fr Mark, and no more home locum duties for me, hopefully for a good while to come. There was a congregation at St John's of about a hundred from all three churches. Fr Mark invited me to robe and sit in choir, along with Fr Colin, another retired priest who helps in the Parish plus Rosie Dymond of St Padarn's institute, now assigned to the Parish as a NSM priest. Bishop June preached on the ambition of the mother of the sons Zebedee, arising from the Gospel for St James' Day which is tomorrow. She also took time to talk about her plan to hold the next Diocesan Clergy School as a pilgrimage event at Santiago de Compostela. Amazing!
Personally, I have misgivings about this particular Camino, whose popularity has revived in recent decades, resulting in a huge increase in the number of pilgrims walking at least the last 100km, but with many more completing the official 810km route from St Jean Pied de Port in France. While I understand and appreciate the desire to make such a journey at walking pace over several months as a long retreat and means of self exploration and spiritual development, and the fact that people have been doing this for the past twelve centuries, the connection of the place to James the Great, the first of the Apostles to be martyred, has no biblical basis.
Stories attached to the translation of relics which may or may not have been his, are all legendary if not magical. Yet this pilgrimage persisted, as a popular spiritual expedition for a host of complex social, cultural and economic reasons. It's a pilgrimage hallowed by a long tradition of prayer and hospitality, but is it pilgrimage for pilgrimage sake? I wonder, like being famous for being famous? I could understand better the reason if the place was actually linked with the life and witness of the saint, as is often the case. I've spent time in Jerusalem, Rome and Damascus in the footsteps of Christ and the Apostles, and believe I learned from this, even if I only walked at length in the heat around these ancient cities and not to them from a distance. It's also good to reflect on the differences between the world then and now. For me the story behind the pilgrimage, gives reason for the journey. It has to count.
As a retired priest, I no longer have an obligation to go the Diocesan clergy school. I'll be interested to learn, from those who attend, how this event is arranged and what learning plan will be followed. Bishop June is an original thinker and a good teacher, so I'm sure it won't be a dull or dutiful affair.
Stories attached to the translation of relics which may or may not have been his, are all legendary if not magical. Yet this pilgrimage persisted, as a popular spiritual expedition for a host of complex social, cultural and economic reasons. It's a pilgrimage hallowed by a long tradition of prayer and hospitality, but is it pilgrimage for pilgrimage sake? I wonder, like being famous for being famous? I could understand better the reason if the place was actually linked with the life and witness of the saint, as is often the case. I've spent time in Jerusalem, Rome and Damascus in the footsteps of Christ and the Apostles, and believe I learned from this, even if I only walked at length in the heat around these ancient cities and not to them from a distance. It's also good to reflect on the differences between the world then and now. For me the story behind the pilgrimage, gives reason for the journey. It has to count.
As a retired priest, I no longer have an obligation to go the Diocesan clergy school. I'll be interested to learn, from those who attend, how this event is arranged and what learning plan will be followed. Bishop June is an original thinker and a good teacher, so I'm sure it won't be a dull or dutiful affair.
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