“The Second Candle – The Candle of Peace”
Reader 1: Light and peace, in Jesus Christ our Lord
All: Thanks be to God
When I left our seminary the flame of hope was alive. That hope has now became greatly tested. In my heart I could then see the writing was on the wall for seminaries in Ireland. My hope was established in team ministry. In fact I was part of a team ministry at St Paul’s, Haywards Heath for a while. We were well underway, focused upon Leaven Groups as part of each mass community and with the R.C.I.A. as an important guiding light to our liturgical year. Then renew came and upset the apple cart. As responsible priests we did our best. We all gathered at the Brighton and Hove Godstone Football Grounds with Cormac our Bishop, for our diocesan celebration at the launch of Renew where we received an oak seed. We planted the oak sapling outside our church at St Paul’s, and it can now be seen as a thriving oak tree. The secret is that the seed must be planted in order to grow.
Today our children’s liturgy remains on my radar as our greatest source of hope. Sadly, especially in Ireland there are not many examples. Once when in Dublin with my sister Mary and PJ, we went for the baptism of their grandchild. Their parish had a children’s liturgy, when I congratulated them as brave people, their response was in complete agreement. Hope must go on.