Silver Jubilee of Fr Brendan

On the feast of the Dedication of the Abbey Church, 4th September, Fr Brendan celebrated his Silver Jubilee as a priest. It is always such a lovely day in the Church, with the original consecration candles lit around the walls. The Community were joined by friends and family, parishioners and retreatants, but Fr Brendan also remembered those who could not be present including those monks and nuns he had met through his work in Rome.

At the end of Mass Fr Brendan said a few words to those gathered.

"Thank you all for being here today to help me celebrate my Silver Jubilee of Ordination. It means a lot to me that you have come. It is traditional on these occasions to ask someone else to preach, and I thank Fr Michael who was my novice master for doing so. Pray also for Fr Matthew and Fr Martin fellow novices who are having separate celebrations.

My father was an architect, and one of the wonderful things we did when I was a child was to travel and to see places, wonderful cities, cathedrals, churches and works of art. He gave me a love of the beautiful things in the world that the Church has always celebrated, like this beautiful Abbey Church, full of light on the anniversary of its dedication.

I didn’t really know what picture to choose for a card to mark my Silver Jubilee of Ordination, but in the end, I went for two beautiful Madonnas by Duccio of Siena which I saw with my Father many years ago and have used on a number of retreats.

But something wonderful and unexpected happened recently when I went to say Mass in Abergavenny, after I had chosen that card. A lady came up to me and said: “I want to thank you for the retreat you gave on Duccio three years ago. That retreat awakened me to something beautiful and I took the step of going through RCIA and becoming a Catholic.”

If I had not met that lady by chance a few weeks ago I might never have known how it has stirred something up within her.

It is delightful as a priest to unexpectedly discover the way in our ministry we have touched people’s lives and help them grow towards God. That we have been able support and strengthen and encourage one another in the journey of faith. That is what we hope to do as priests. So too as monks, through our prayer in this beautiful church we hope to lift people up to God, the source of all beauty.

We never fully know how much we touch each other in our lives, help them grow in love and be what they were made to be. Today is an opportunity to thank you for how much you have touched me and supported me. I also remember so many that cannot be here, most particularly my mother, family and friends, and especially including the many monks and nuns I have worked with in Rome and abroad who have been a wonderful enriching part of my monastic life. Thank you all for being part of this celebration, and most of all for being part of my life and my service as a priest and as a monk.