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Not Quite Mother Kelly's Doorstep
Nostalgia trips are good neither for the soul nor the digestion. They are the province of people of a certain age; mainly those who have nothing better to do than consider the past and ruminate upon how much better things were then. The month of June, unfortunately, brings on for me an attack of this dyspeptic romanticising because of its associations with milestones in my life, some of which are better forgotten.
In the early years it was the birthday month. Long, long ago, I discovered that this was a disappointment, especially as academic examinations always took place within it. Fat lot of use a birthday was if it was spent cooped up in a darkened room, huddled over books, desperately revising. There have been good birthdays but every one recently has brought me a little nearer to whatever the end will be, which is depressing.
This month was also ordination time. What bright futures we all had in those heady days! Now I see those young men who marched forth into the world turned into prematurely old codgers, worn out by the ridiculous amount of overwork the church expects of its clergy, their hopes forever shattered.
Not mine though! Birthdays are just a reminder of how the years have gone by. Anniversaries of ordination make me aware of how the others have aged and made me thankful that I have escaped the ravages of time. (What was that you said?)
At this time of the year there is a constant which is unchanged by the passing years. This is the season for Corpus Christi, celebrated on the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday. Ah, those memories of the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, the sweet smell of incense, the frantic ringing of the Sanctus bells, the young girls scattering rose petals, genuflection, Benediction, the Bishop blessing the worshippers. However hard the liberals and the modernisers in the church try to excise real worship they cannot wipe out the day of Thanksgiving for Holy Communion, or whatever politically correct name they hang on it. As an old lady once said to me; "keep the faith". We do.
May God bless you all, Fr. Allan
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