austraLasia #2128
Letter
from London
LONDON: 19th April 2008 -- (the day, too, on which Dom
[sic] Tarcisio Scaramussa receives episcopal ordination. We pray for
him out of gratitude and love).
Readers of The Tablet will know that Robert
Mickens writes
weekly under the rubric of 'Letter from Rome'. Yesterday we
published a letter from Manila, so it seems appropriate
to stay with the genre for at least one more day. What do
provincials
do after an exhausting 50 days of 'pentecostal' fe(r)ver at a General
Chapter, especially if things back in the province are in good
hands?
They take a little break of course! Fr Frank Moloney writes from
London:
"As you know, I completed my doctoral studies in
Sacred Scripture
at Oxford University, between 1972-75. As this (at my respectable but
advanced age!) could well be the final visit to Europe, I flew from
Rome to London to say farewell to various people and places from those
important years.
I have been with the Salesians in London, Bolton and
other places
in the United Kingdom to say farewell to the many Salesians who
became
friends and beloved confrères over those years. Most are
now aged,
some have died, but their affection and support must be
acknowledged.
Secondly, I took the opportunity to visit the remnants of the community
of Benedictine Sisters from Fernham, a village outside Oxford, where I
did most of my writing. The community has now been broken up but two
are still actively living the Benedictine life at Minster Abbey
(Founded by St Mildred in 607) in Minster, Kent. Time in silence
in the
monastery, marked by the rhythm of the 'Opus Dei' (in the true
Benedictine meaning of that expression) has been a good time for
post-Chapter reflection".
Frank flies out on the homeward trail on 26th April,
where 'real
life' and the task of making GC26 come to life amongst members of
the
Australia-Pacific Province has to begin.
Incidentally, another motive for publishing this
'Letter' or parts
of it, comes out of this morning's experience with a class in
Jerusalem, where the students broke into groups to share at a deeper
level some aspects of 'conversatio', that level of communication
somewhere between the sublime and the gorblimey where much of our faith
is actually transmitted and shared amongst us, and pastorally. A
group
of White Fathers, seven in all, attending the class, came away from the
group and said 'Thank you Father - this is what communications is
really about. We hope there is more of this personal sharing involved
in the course'.
_________________
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Title: australasia 2128
Subject and key words: EAO Provinces AUL
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2128
