Posts made in March, 2012

Paschal Life – Novice Life

Posted by on Mar 14, 2012 in Reflections, VOCATION | 1 comment

Some of you may be old enough to remember London Weekend Television’s sitcom ‘Two’s Company’, staring Elaine Stritch and Donald Sinden. The basis of the comedy is cultural difference as the banter between the brash confident American writer rubs up against the reserved, poised manner of her hired English butler. Thirty odd years later, the scenario remains largely the same. The Dublin postulants and have now become the Manhattan Novices, and two months into this yearlong adventure, I have been asked to provide some insights into the world of Religious formation, which, I have to say feels a bit like writing a postcard home. It is though a marvellous aspect of this life to find oneself in a culture so different from where my life began. A year in Dublin; a year in the USA, this is a collection of refreshing insights for a convert from Anglicanism who ecclesiology had been (as the name suggests, Church of England) nationally tempered, yet very quickly, after being received into the Catholic Church, have the opportunity the see the impact of faith in two very different countries other than my own. Of course, this is an experience the three of us share in different ways. Not a day goes by without some laughter that naturally arises around the ‘Brits abroad’ theme, except of course this isn’t a holiday, and the winter months in New York are not comparable to Benidorm! It is as if there is a little bit of Elaine Stritch and Donald Sinden in all of us here, and that makes for the experience to be that bit richer. This hit home the other day. Macy’s had a sale- the perfect excuse for a novice to go and buy a jumper. The assistant begins the sale transaction with the usual antiphon: “Your English- we just love you guys!” “Thank you!” After this was the question about where I was from. After commenting that I grew up in a village outside of Bath, the shop assistant wasted no time to display his learning: “Bath, that place is full of wives…” “Yes, and my mother is one of them!” was the retort. Such is the friendly banter that you find in New York that I have found scarce in other cities. The irony is, I have travelled to the USA to learn about all sorts of things, including Chaucer and his ‘Canterbury Tales’ as part of our programme. The Englishman travels to another country to learn about one of his most legendary countrymen. The American’s it seems to me have a fascination with English literature in a way that I have never encountered at home. Indeed, the programme we follow during the week is varied, ranging from Chaucer to Ecumenism, Liturgy, Mariology, Word of God, and of course, Eymard Studies, which is the primary focus on which everything hangs. If there is something obvious and concrete to say about this noviciate experience, it is entering into the spirituality, history and temperament of the Congregation’s Founder- in short, getting to know him and touching the flavour of the nineteenth century France in which he pursued his Eucharistic witness- that is really paramount. Of course a noviciate can be undertaken anywhere because the engine room of formation, learning and discernment is interior. That said, being in New York is a wonderful opportunity to couple learning more about the world with grappling seriously with this thing called Religious life: it all amounts to learning about God in proximity to the self. This was Fr Eymard’s great apex moment on retreat in 1865 as he reckoned...

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