PQ8 - Worth Abbey Parish

WORTH ABBEY PARISH QUARTERLY No.8
EDUCATION SPECIAL
SPRING 2006
PQ8
“These are my
principles. If you
don't like them, I
have others.”
GROUCHO MARX.
INSIDE: THE BOOK THAT TAKES ON THE
PICK AND MIX SPIRITUAL SUPERMARKET
PLUS EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION
and WHY CATHOLICS CAN’T SING.
2
CONTENTS
Up front with Dom James Cutts……………………………….…… page 3
Education, education, education - Worth’s house groups ......……… pages 4/5
The Houses of Westminster by Fr Stuart Wilson…….….. .…..……..pages 6/7
Catholic schools should be more inclusive - Bishop..….…………….page 8
Do We Still Believe in...Catholic schools?.......……………..……….page 9
Four Women of Vision by Dom Charles Hallinan…………………...page 10
Benedict’s Rule Works in School by Jonathan Dolman……..………pages 11/12
Funny, fire and brimstone and short - what you want from sermons...pages 13/14
Life-changing learning - a retreat at Worth………………….…..……pages 15/16
Bid to open Sussex monastic site……………….…………………... page 17
Parish People………………………………..………………………. Pages 18/19
Life of a Salesman - Abbot Christopher interview………… …….. ...pages 20-22
Finding Sanctuary - A review of the Abbot’s new book......………... page 23/24
The Bible in 50 words……………………………………….….……page 25
Why can’t Catholics sing - interview with Michael Oakley….………pages 26/27
Donkeys don’t give up by Angus MacDonald…...…………………..page 29
Justice and Peace group by George Fitzsimons……………………...pages 31/32
A Pilgrimage to Peru by Christina Fitzsimons...…………………….pages 33/34
Prayer School by Dom Peter Williams..…………………………….. page 36
Deacon Blue is educated in the Holy Land…………………………..page 39
Times of Sunday Mass in the Abbey Church, Worth
5.30 pm Saturday Vigil Mass
9.30 am (Concelebrated)
West Hoathly: 11.30 am at St. Dunstan’s Chapel *
Holydays of Obligation: Vigil Mass at 7.30 pm
8.00 am & 5.30 pm (Concelebrated)
*From February 5th to May 26th Mass in West Hoathly will be said in
St Margaret’s Parish Church at 11.45 am .
“PQ” THE WORTH ABBEY PARISH QUARTERLY MAGAZINE
IS PUBLISHED BY DOM JAMES CUTTS OSB
Tel: 01342 710313 - Fax: 01342 710311 - E-mail: jcutts@worth.org.uk.
The Editor is Sarah Whitebloom
E-mail:sarahwhitebloom@tinyworld.co.uk.
The Circulation & Advertising Manager is Jill Carter
See page 22 for details of Advertising & Distribution.
The Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily
those of the publisher.
3
Listen, child of God, to the Guidance of your
teacher. Attend to the message you hear and make
sure it pierces to your heart, so that you may accept
with willing freedom and fulfil by the way you live
the directions that come from your loving Father.
From the prologue to the Rule of St Benedict.
UPFRONT
DOM JAMES CUTTS
T
here is the tale of the boy who was
asked what he learnt in his last lesson at school. He replied he learnt
all about anger because his teacher was in a
rage. Similarly, he could have leant about
weakness, about resentment or about holiness and love.
Education is not primarily about history
and geography. It is more importantly
about life, about how to respond to oneself
and to others and to the world around. To
learn to love is the greatest education we
can receive. In order to do that we need to
be well informed, and to ensure our future
well being, we need the necessary skills to
survive and usefully create in our world
All our present Parish initiatives arise out
of our Parish Development Plan and are all
contributing to our education. Thus our
House Groups have already taken off and
in fifteen groups we have more than one
hundred parishioners involved. The vision
is that this will grow year by year. They
have been formed to help us understand
our relationship with God and its significance in our lives.
Our African parish twinning is proceeding.
Three separate visits to Uganda are planned
for the coming year to find our twin Parish
and then to inaugurate the twinned relationship. What an educative experience this is
going to be for us all.
Our Parish Events Groups is helping us to
relate with each other, and organised in
March a very successful Barn Dance attended by a hundred of us.
Meanwhile, our Justice and Peace Group
is taking initiatives following on from the
J& P Fair last term to help us be aware of
the problems outside our own community.
RCIA is helping other people understand
the Catholic Christian faith.
In all these, and in many other ways, our
efforts are aimed towards educating ourselves to be true Christians in our world.
4
EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION
You can tell much about a civilisation from its system of education - its
standards, its beliefs, its priorities. But let’s not depress ourselves.
Education is not just about schooling and PQ8 seeks to look at all aspects
of the life-long process of learning - especially faith formation.
We start with Worth Abbey parish’s ambitious education campaign,
which this week saw the commencement of 15 House Groups, aimed at
deepening faith and creating small Christian communities - which don’t
just talk but take positive action. But who are these House Group people?
And is it for you? PQ has tracked some down.
Adrian Sparks. My
wife Tory and I live in
Haywards Heath and
have a long standing
friendship with Worth
Abbey. We joined the
parish when our son
James reached First Communion age.
In the Winter, James and our younger
son Dominic play rugby at the Haywards Heath club. Tory and I support
the U11's and U8's wherever possible.
In the summer, we love to spend our
time by the sea and out in the fresh
air. I work in London as a telecommunications sales manager while Tory is a
special needs teaching assistant locally. I took on the role as House
Group Host because I feel there is a lot
to discover about my faith and I think
Worth has great people to do that with.
Chris Dobson. What shall I say of
myself? I am parish deacon, ordained
in 2003 after three years training. The
permanent diaconate was reintroduced
by Vatican II as a ministry of service to
the church. Many of us (are mar-
ried. We are ordained and can officiate
at weddings, baptisms and funerals as
well as assisting at Mass and preaching. I’m married to Jo and we have
three children, Theo a physio, Emily a
student at Nottingham Trent and
Louise a very special child who died
when she was 7. I also work as an
accountant and as part time airport
chaplain at Gatwick Airport.
Rosemary Sanders.
I work full time and love my job. This, and
my family commitments, do not leave me
much time or energy for
many outside activities
but I enjoy playing my
cello in a local orchestra
and tennis when time permits. I have two children;
one of whom lives in
France and is expecting a
baby in June. I also have an elderly mother
whom I visit when I can. For many years I
have worshipped at Worth Abbey and love
the directness and simplicity of the liturgy,
it has a buzzing and lively parish life.
I am excited by the House Groups.
5
Charles and Julia Wilson.
Charles and I have been married for
nearly 32 years, just a few days less
than we've been Christians. We are
not new to House Groups, and have
been members and/or leaders of several, each with a slightly different emphasis, but all being made unique by
the members who make up the
group. Charles is a solicitor who runs
his own business, while I am a
teacher. We have lived in Balcombe
for nearly 22 years. We have 4 children, 2 are married, and one more is
engaged. We are used to having lots
of people in and out of our home, and I
love cooking. We are starting our
group with six members, but we are
hoping for more to join us soon.
Geraldine Constable.
I have been fortunate
enough to retire early
from full time employment and so have more
available time for family,
friends and of course
involvement in parish
life. House Groups are something
which I feel offers great potential for my
own faith journey and a very positive
and enjoyable way to contribute to the
growth and connectedness of the
whole Parish community.
Jill Carter.
I live in the Ashdown Forest, work from
home, enjoy gardening with toddler grandchildren as assistants, and -
probably because I’m too scatty - have
trouble finding time to go out in the
evenings. Mine is a new and different
kind of House Group too, a way of
sharing from your own home: all you
need to join in a friendly discussion
with other like-minded parishioners is
an internet-connected PC. Like the
other groups, the Worth Chat Room,
will meet on one evening a week - but,
uniquely, on-line. We'll consider the
following Sunday's Gospel and what it
means to our everyday lives. It will give
us an opportunity to learn from each
other and get to know each other better. It is open to all parishioners
(from all denominations), regardless of
where they live. A former Worth parishioner now living in France has signed
up! You can join the meeting wherever
you are. It is particularly useful for people who cannot commit to a regular
meeting, or who live some distance
away. To find out more, or to get a link
and password, contact me on
jill@carterclan.co.uk
or 01825 712162.
Amanda Alexander.
I traded in the sunshine and warmth of
Southern California for
the cosy comforts of the
South Downs and am
now happily installed as
a teacher at Worth
School, where I also
live. When not indulgently reading Jane
Austen novels, you will find me rambling
in the forest or out on my bike. I am really
excited about the House Groups.
Want to know more about house
groups? Contact:
geraldine.constable@btinternet.com
6
The Houses of
Westminster
The Archdiocese of Westminster recently completed a three year
programme of faith renewal. At the centre of this were 2,000 house
groups. Writing for PQ, Fr Stuart Wilson, who led the At Your Word
Lord programme, shares the experience.
A
T Your Word Lord (AYWL) inspecialists who get trained at the expense
volved more 170 parishes and the
of the ordinary catholic. My hope is that
diverse ethnic communities in
our Director of Evangelisation will recogDiocese of Westminster. Over 20,000 peonise the need to have parish based prople took part in 2,000 small Christian comgrammes. The signs look good. He recogmunities (SCC) or house groups. We
nises that centres are good for the highly
trained 800-plus new leaders to run
committed but that it will be in the
these SCCs.
parish and deanery where the real
The programme brought new hope
breakthrough can take place. I
to many lay people in parishes and
understand he is beginning a proa new sense of working together.
gramme of visiting the 23 DeanerOne of the real hopes for me is that
ies of Westminster.
Cardinal Cormac has now apA real challenge for our propointed a new priest Director of
gramme was getting the support of
Evangelisation, Fr Michael O’Boy.
the priests. Any renewal needs this
His immediate brief is to service
and it is not always easy. Priests
and develop the SCCs and to put in
Cardinal Cormac are under pressure and under replace a programme of Adult Faith
sourced and that leads to nervous“The natural
Formation for every parish and
ness. Part of the new way is workgroups where
community. I have long believed
ing in collaboration, but few of us
faith formation
that one of the results would be that
priests have had that kind of trainwill develop”.
ultimately every parish would have
ing. We need a new way of worka group of Catechists responsible
ing which can be threatening. We
for faith formation.
need to help the priests see that collaboraEvery one to whom I speak seems to action is a way of allowing them to exercise
knowledge that the Church “let down” a
real leadership.
whole generation of Catholics. So often I
The Cardinal expects the SCCs to be
hear people say: “If only I knew my faith
the natural groups where faith formalike my grandparents.”
tion will develop. As I said above, he has
That is a real task for us to achieve for the
invested in them by appointing a Director
next generation. One of today’s dangers is
who will work with his Team to strengthen
7
them. I believe they will be receiving occasional six week programmes, that will be
effective across the Diocese, but we have
produced for the SCCs a 3 year cycle of
books called “PrayerTime”. These take the
Sunday Gospel and offer a reflection with
points to ponder and actions to follow.
These books will be the bed rock of the
SCCs for the immediate future.
SCCs will, hopefully, begin to provide the
human resource for the developing Parish
Pastoral Groups that
will develop in the
House
Diocese. SCCs will
not flourish if the
parish is not willing
to put some structure into practice.
They need to have
parish co-ordinator
(s) and also need to
be seen as part of
the parish dynamic.
Individual SCCs
work well with their
lay leadership – it is
the leaders that require a certain
amount of pastoring. We have seen sometimes that leaders
take the SCC away from its structure and
sometimes small groups are seen as independent of parish structure. We have insisted from the beginning that the SCC
grows out of the Sunday Eucharistic community and returns there each Sunday. The
SCC does not exist primarily for itself but
in order that its members might be more
committed to the life of the parish.
The SCC does not become a talking shop,
if the leaders use their leadership skills
well. The heart of the meeting is the Gospel (Scripture). Every leader needs to bring
people back to that over and over again.
We adopted a rule of “no second strikes”
which means that no one is allowed to
Bingo
speak again until everyone who wants to
has spoken. We also encourage a report
back (very brief) by the leader. This helps
the SCC leadership be aware of how their
group is growing and it also gives the parish team valuable feedback.
SCCs can never become talking shops if
they keep to the structure which lies at the
heart of them.
At each meeting each SCC is asked to do
three things during the evening: They
should spend
some time SEEI’m not sure our new
ING what the
house group leader
situation is that
has had the right
the Gospel is
training.
opening up for
them. This involves each
member bringing personal experience to the
meeting. Then
they should
bring this joint
experience under the JUDGMENT of the Word of
God – what is scripture telling
them. Finally, in the light of this,
they must determine to ACT and
report back on the action next time.
Although the action might be trivial
in many people’s eyes, this last part
is vital as it puts words into action.
SCCs are a vital tool in the renewal process of every parish. We believe that what
has begun in Westminster will begin to
change our parishes in many ways. Good
luck Worth Abbey Parish. Fr Wilson kindly
sent this contribution from his sabbatical.
8
Include non-Catholics Bishop Kieran tells schools
B
ishop Kieran Conry has urged
Catholic schools to be more inclusive by admitting pupils of different faiths and other denominations. In an
interview for PQ, conducted by year four
of St Peter’s Catholic primary school in
East Grinstead, the bishop declared:
“Where we can do it, we should, especially
with the Muslim community, which knows
it will get an education founded on a belief
in God at a Catholic school.”
Bishop Kieran recognised, however, that
some schools in the
diocese are already
greatly oversubscribed
and are faced with turning away Catholic applicants, which would
make greater integration difficult. But, he
said, schools were “moving to policies of
greater inclusion”. And he revealed that,
elsewhere in the UK, there are already systems for reserving places for non-Catholics
and non-Christians. Speaking after the
annual Good Shepherd liturgy, which saw
some 1,400 children from the diocese’s
schools gather at Worth, he said Catholic
schools have an important role to play in
today’s society.
“They teach children in a way that is
good for them,” said the Bishop. “There is
real vision in Catholic schools…It is all
grounded in our faith.”
He rejected suggestions that schools led to
declining church attendances. “It was going
to happen anyway,” he said. But Bishop
Kieran told the class of eight and nineyear-olds: “Catholic schools give an experience you won’t forget and broaden
horizons about faith.”
The main problem in Catholic education,
he said, is not a lack of pupils but the shortage of Catholic teachers. In answer to one
of a barrage of questions, Bishop Kieran
said being Bishop is “hard work”, as is any
work done well, but one of his favourite
tasks is visiting schools. “I don’t have to
do very much and everyone is nice to me,”
he said. Bishop Kieran revealed that when
he was told about being bishop, he thought
it must have been a mistake. And he told the
children, the first thing
he would do, if he were
elected Pope, would be
to “resign”. However,
he said he would first
“try to make it easier for
people to be Catholics”.
The children discovered that his favourite
sport is rugby; his favourite subject was
English but his worst was Maths. He also
liked RE although he admitted “sometimes
it can be boring”. But the Bishop said his
favourite Bible story is that of the road to
Emmaus. Bishop Kieran said he had also
considered becoming a doctor, but first
thought about becoming a priest when he
was 11. “I knew a priest who was very
good and decided I wanted to be like him.
He treated us children as individuals.”
Meanwhile, his favourite meal was definitely “red meat” although he also enjoys
Chinese and Italian food. Bishop Kieran
disappointed the children, though, by saying he is not keen on Harry Potter, preferring The Lord of the Rings and, in adult
books, Graham Greene and the detective
writer Ed McBain. SW
9
DO WE STILL BELIEVE IN...CATHOLIC
Q
Publication day for the school
league tables dawned and the ‘phone
was ringing off the hook at the
Catholic primary. It was top of the county.
Urgent callers were anxious to get their
children in.
“Is your child a baptised Catholic?” asked
the secretary.
“That can be done,” snapped the woman.
Amazing numbers of pre-school children
are seen at Mass in the run up to school
applications, as parents try to secure a good
schooling for their children. And who can
blame them? Faith schools frequently
dominate the upper reaches of the league
tables and are seen to offer a better education. Choice is politician’s mantra, but
what is the choice for parents, excluded
from the best schools in their area because
they are not believers?
This debate is leading to serious questions
about “faith” schools – and whether they
should be part of the state system.
It is argued that they are divisive, since
they exclude children from other communities. The situation is exacerbated, it is
claimed, by middle- class parents acquiring
“faith” to win the coveted places.
Backing up arguments for an end to faith
schooling is a constituency, within the
Church, which argues that Catholics do not
need Catholic schools any more. They
maintain that the days are gone when the
faithful was a beleaguered minority that
needed to keep traditions going. And look,
they say, at the diocesan money which goes
into schools. Traditionalists, however,
maintain the schools are not sufficiently
Catholic and are not properly preparing the
young. There is even a Catholic home
schooling group, formed of such parents.
Others eschew their local Catholic
schools because they are not top of the
SCHOOLS?
league tables (not all faith schools are) or
for a whole variety of other reasons.
So is it important for the Church still to
have its own schools and for Catholics to
use them? SW
If Catholic, Muslim or Jewish
schools produce sectarian bigots
then let them perish. If Catholic,
Jewish or Muslim Schools, however, produce pupils who are immersed in their own
religious cultures and can look outside
themselves to find dignity in others, then
let us not only keep them, but cherish them
and make their future secure.
It could happen that they become what one
fears most. With a superior mentality, insecure and fearful of anything different, such
a school could conceivably be created.
Staff would have to be uniformly of this
prejudiced ilk and local authorities would
have to connive. It does not seem possible
such schools could survive long in the UK.
The opposite of such schools are faith
based schools, where learning about God is
a priority. In a Christian school. this would
involve learning about doctrine, principles
and scripture in a rigorous way, but at the
same time defending a young persons’
right to religious freedom. In such a school,
spirituality, relationships and a care for the
less fortunate is fostered. From such a solid
faith base, an appropriate respect for those
of other faiths and a readiness to engage in
reasoned debate and joint action would
ensue. Far from being divisive these Faith
schools would be the very catalyst of tolerant acceptance of the other.
In my view, all faith schools come out
positively, but some more so than others.
In the event of a collapse, Parish structures
would have to expand to take a much more
prominent role in the Catholic education of
parishioners’ children. Dom James Cutts.
A
10
FOUR WOMEN OF VISION Dom Charles Hallinan
A
mong the many dedicated women
Madeleine Sophie Barat (feast-day 25
school-teachers, who have contribMay) is the other great French founuted hugely to Christian education and the
dress. Said to have been “a women of wisfounding and running of schools, some
dom and insight to a remarkable degree,
remarkable women, motivated strongly by
joined with endearing modesty and attracthe desire to enrich the spiritual lives of
tiveness”, she was well educated by her
young people, come quickly to mind.
brother, Louis, a priest, 10 years her senior.
Angela Merici (feast-day 27th January),
Again, from small beginnings, as with all
lived in Renaissance Italy. She was aware
great ventures, and helped by Fr Joseph
of the need for sound Christian instruction
Varin, S.J., she quickly became the Supein a society experiencing familyrior of a small convent school in Amiens
breakdown and moral corruption. Along
(1801), remaining all her life the director of
with like-minded companions, she taught
the Society of the Sacred Heart, spreading
children in their homes. From this
throughout Europe and America.
small beginning developed the
She wrote: “Too much work is a
first women’s teaching Order, the
danger for an imperfect soul, but
Ursulines, developing and adaptfor one who loves Our Lord it is
ing to needs ever since.
an abundant harvest.”
Meanwhile, two famous teaching
She shares her feast-day with the
Orders arose in France following
first native-born Australian canonthe suppression of Christian
ized (1995) saint,
schools during the French RevoluMary McKillop. She was yet another inspiring foundress of a
tion – a sign of the vitality of the
teaching Order, the Sisters of St
Church in France in the 19th cenJoseph of the Sacred Heart
tury.
Julie Billiart, (feast-day 8th
(Josephites), which has houses in
Julie Billiart
April) was a woman of rudimenAustralia, New Zealand and Peru.
tary education - but of vision, faith, love of
Fr Julian Tenison Woods encouraged Mary
the poor and with innate wisdom – she
to meet the urgent need of Catholics for
taught children the catechism from her
education in those pioneering days in midsick-bed until her miraculous recovery
19th century Australia.
from years of paralysis. For 12 years
She and her Sisters, living spartanly,
thereafter, until her death in 1816, she was
founded schools (especially for the poor),
constantly on the road, and with the help of
orphanages, hostels, refuges, winning apher friend and fellow religious Sister, Franproval from all quarters except often from
coise Blin de Bourdon, faced many formisome bishops. A woman of great faith,
dable obstacles (once, all her convents
rock-like courage and determination, Mary
were closed down). Her Sisters of Notre
manifested great humility, patience and
Dame had, by the end of the century,
courage in her relations with ecclesiastical
spread throughout the world. She said: “If
authorities. “Do not resist God,” she
we ever cease to help the poor, we shall no
would say, “for your souls are very dear to
longer be fulfilling the work entrusted to
Him.”
us.”
11
Benedict’s Rule works at school
Jonathan Dolman
C
hoosing
vey in 2004 revealed the most highly valthe right
ued quality of Worth School was its caring,
school for
respectful school community, where boys
one’s children
are treated as individuals.
The Rule establishes a vision: of a stable
is one of the
community based on Christian values. The
most imporethos aims to promote the holistic approach
tant decisions
in its development of the students in a carparents will
ing community. The goal of Benedictine
ever make. It
living is finding God. The vehicle by
determines the
Mr Dolman and family
which we achieve this goal is the stable
kind of people
community. The three core values of Benethey become, the lives they will lead.
dictine living, which build this community,
How do we define a successful school? Its
are worship, humility and service.
reputation, facilities and academic achieveBenedict’s Rule is a practical handbook of
ments of course measure, to some extent
Christian community living. It seeks to
the quality of a school’s education, but
balance the needs of the individual
only a school which develops
A school based on
and of the community. St Benedict
the personal, spiritual and moral
Benedictine values
realised that we flourish as humans
awareness of the students can
nourishes the gifts of
when we are members of a commuregard itself as fully effective.
the
nity not isolated individuals. The
A school with a distinctive ethos
individual and puts
assembly of individuals strengthens
not only better prepares students
them at the service of
the bond and the common goal. This
to cope with the complexities of
all.
might be easier to put into practice
life beyond school, but provides
in a boarding school.
them with a framework for sucThe former Benedictine Abbot of Amplecessful community living – a bedrock for
forth, the late Cardinal Basil Hume, hightheir future relationships with others. This
lighted some of the characteristics of sucarticle focuses largely upon the ethos of
cessful community living: “It is the small
Worth School. The school, like the monascourtesies that matter: small marks of contery, bases its ethos within the Rule of St.
sideration, thinking of each other, being
Benedict. Benedict wanted to establish a
sensitive to others. . . tactful in handling
way of living that responded to the probthem, kind in rebuking them, gentle.”
lems of his society, which he felt was not
A Benedictine school will have room for
based on Gospel values. His response was
the less able, the gifted and the eccentric,
to set up a counter-culture, to keep the light
valuing the variety of talents present in the
of Christianity alive.
community. The Head teacher must reconIn a recent interview Pope Benedict XVI,
cile the demands of each individual with
maintained that in doing so: “St. Benethose of the community: A school based on
dict….did something bizarre, something
Benedictine values nourishes the gifts of
that later turned out to be the ‘ark’ on
the individual and puts them at the service
which the west survived.” Benedictine
of all.
education is trying to do the same. And it is
highly regarded by parents. A school sur-
12
One of the best ways to come together as a
community is through worship. In today’s
secular world, it is unfashionable to underline the significance of religious belief and
to attend formal church services. But
schools which neglect the significance of a
spiritual education and opportunities to
incorporate worship do so at their peril.
Dr. Giles Mercer, Headmaster of Prior Park
College, Bath warns: “Children need opportunities to withdraw from . . . activity
and restlessness, so that their inmost selves
and souls can be nourished, so that they
can encounter God….If we do not build
such opportunities somehow into our normal school routines, then we do our pupils
a lasting and a very great disservice.”
There are a range of ways to incorporate
worship at school. Cardinal Hume wrote
that to teach young people how to pray is
“the most direct and positive way to help
[them] discover their inner selves and begin a life long process of growth”.
The second core value of Benedictine
living is humility. This is often associated
with passivity, meekness and low selfesteem. St Benedict however, suggests that
humility is “about seeing oneself as God
sees us”. For this reason humility is one of
the core values in Benedictine education.
It is not about false modesty but is concerned with recognising our strengths and
weaknesses, being able to take credit but
also to accept blame. Without diminishing
our identity, we should reach out to others
with care and respect and our community
will benefit. It is a very difficult ethos to
establish in schools. The desire to win, to
get on top at all costs, is more generally
acceptable today. Achievement is often
seen to be the aim in life. At Worth, one of
the ways in which we attempt to affirm
humility is through reverence and respect.
Service is the third core value. St Benedict recognised that, for a community to
function well, mutual service is essential.
Our aim at Worth is for students and staff
to care for others, both within the school
and the community at large. Serving one
another binds the members of the community together. We encourage the students
to develop a sense of social responsibility.
By reminding ourselves of others’ needs,
we focus less on our own personal targets
and ambitions. Whilst serving the wider
community, we must not of course, neglect
our own immediate communities such as
the family and our colleagues. The Benedictine ethos stresses that serving a community is a lifelong commitment to active
public service and civic responsibility.
By clearly defining our ethos and implementing it as a routine part of school life,
students at Worth are reminded of their two
primary objectives– firstly a well-rooted
spiritual dimension and secondly a clear
sense of identity and purpose educationally. What is necessary in adopting and
delivering the Benedictine ethos, is not a
monastic community ‘on tap’ but a belief
and trust in God and a spiritual outlook in
which the whole school seeks to value the
individual and foster a community life of
learning, worship, friendship and service. If
this can be achieved, we provide children
with a prayerful and moral foundation,
which will enable them to begin a life-long
spiritual journey.
SEASONAL CUISINE:
Luncheons, dinner parties
and other formal occasions
Telephone Beryl 01342
712559 mob 07752
587823
13
Funny, fire and brimstone - and short
Worth parishioners on what makes a good sermon
should have the Bible in one hand and a
newspaper in the other.”
Louise declared: “Introduce with a little
ome thought four, others seven, one
anecdote that relaxes the congregation and
said ten (but 20, if you’re talking to
gets people interested. Length is an issue.”
protestants). Time weighed heavily on the
This point was taken up by Phillipa: “Not
minds of those who took part in Worth
too long. A definite point, summarised at
Abbey’s Palm Sunday survey to discover
the end. A little humour.”
what makes a good sermon.
Meanwhile, another Mass-goer said: “It
In one of PQ’s hallmark unrepresentative
should be focused, clear and to the point
surveys, a team of investigators asked
and no more than seven minutes.”
churchgoers what they thought made a
Some, though, are keen for a longer sergood homily. Possibly because the survey
mon, in the right circumstances.
followed what is traditionally the longest
“If the content is good, it can go on forMass of the year, very few asked for longer
ever!” declared Beryl.
priestly contributions.
Jacqueline said: “I hate brevity. I love a
Tony was clear: “They should
good long meaty sermon.”
It should take Julie Ann said: “I don’t like it
tell them what they’re going to
say, say it and then tell them what no more than 10 too short. I like it to start off with
they’ve said. It should be four
minutes, or 20 – a bit of a sense of humour and
minutes max.”
then progress, explaining.”
if you are
“Short and to the point,” said
This call for humour and stories
talking to
another parishioner. “And giving
was another main theme of the
protestants. survey.
me a message I can take home.”
This desire for education and
“A bit of humour to get your
some plan for action was wideattention and then draw on the
spread. But, as another parishioner said:
readings,” said Rosie.
“Not too intellectual.”
Mary wanted: “Something that leaves you
“We want clear guidance on what we
having to think about it, that has humanity
should and shouldn’t be doing,” said one
and relates to our lives. Humour too, which
pair, who favour a spot of fire and brimgoes with the humanity bit.”
stone. “We don’t like messages that are
But Dom Charles pointed out the possible
open to interpretation.”
pitfalls of this approach: “You must have a
“It should be a clear message, giving you
story. But they may remember the story
something to think about,” said David and
and not the point you’ve made.”
Kathryn.
Erica said: “It should be riveting, interestMany said they welcomed homilies which
ing and relevant. Not highbrow.”
were based on the readings of the day but
Helen declared: “It should capture your
related clearly to “current day issues”.
attention. Some people have the gift of
Dom Patrick said: “It should link the GosContd over
pel with everyday life. A Jesuit said you
Reporting team: Peter Fitzsimons, Dan and
Aloysius Atkinson and Jill Carter,
S
14
illustrating it with something funny.”
But, as far as some parishioners were concerned, the question was not ‘what’ was
being said but ‘who’ was saying it.
“It should be someone who can relate to
the people he’s talking to.” said Jenny.
Elizabeth maintained: “A bad sermon is
obviously read out and a good one is spoken from the heart.”
While Sr Joan asked for nothing more than
“sincerity”. One parishioner, who prefers
not to be named, said “Christopher” in answer to what makes a good homily.
But Dom Luke spoke for many clergy
when he joked that he preferred “someone
else to be giving it [the homily]”.
A visiting Anglican Bishop, meanwhile,
had a three point plan: “You must have a
good biblical theme, a really good story
and something on what to do.”
Abbot Christopher concurred, maintaining
that it was important to have “one clear
point and you must have a story”.
And, said a priest, it should take no more
than 10 minutes, or 20 – if you are talking
to protestants. SW
THE BIBLE ACCORDING TO SCHOOLWORK: Moses led the Jews to the Red
Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread without any ingredients. The
Egyptians were all drowned in the dessert. Afterwards Moses went up Mount Cyanide to
get the ten amendments. The First Commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the
apple. The seventh commandment is thou shalt not admit adultery. The greatest miracle
is when Joshua told his son to stand still and he obeyed him. When Mary heard she was
the mother of Jesus, she sang the Magna Carter. The Epistles were the wives of the
Apostles. Christians have one spouse. This is called monotony.
Veterans week Paul and Helle Yeates
F
or many years Worth Lay Community
ran a holiday week for old people from
Age Concern centres in the Bromley area.
Since the Lay Community became independent of Worth, this week has become a
parish undertaking, and many parishioners
and friends have given time
or support. The “Veterans
Week” provides a holiday
for up to 12 guests in St
Bruno’s. Many have difficulty with mobility and often live alone. For some it is
the first holiday they have had for years.
We aim to have one helper to each guest
and the Red Cross generously provides
wheelchairs another aids. We have the use
of two minibuses and this enables daily
outings to local places of interest. We have
also enjoyed great hospitality at the homes
of parishioners and each evening there is
entertainment.
It is a busy week for the helpers. Some are
residential for the week, others join the
team from time to time to assist with outings or to cook a meal. All the food is prepared in St Bruno’s, including cooked
breakfasts and cakes for tea.
Our guests have always
been delightful, appreciative
of everything we do. They
all love the peace and space
at Worth. Each year a monk
acts as our chaplain, closing
every day with a reflection
and night prayer.
This has proved to be a very important aspect of the week for our guests, who never
know quite what to expect from a holiday
at an Abbey. The holiday is scheduled to
take place in early July this year and the
success of the week depends on the continued interest and support of the parish.
15
LIFE-CHANGING LEARNING - AT WORTH
I
t did not have the appearance of a lifewho was to give an hour’s talk each mornchanging event. The men and women
ing. It was not the beginning of the day,
had not come there to climb a mountain,
though. For many, it had started four hours
run a marathon or…meditate under a glass
earlier with two prayers in the Abbey
pyramid. It was raining, it was Wedneschurch. The daily timetable then allowed
day, it was March and most of them were
for breakfast, followed by the Abbot’s talk,
sitting on upright chairs in an institutional
time for prayer and reading, Midday
lounge. On the face of it, the only potenPrayer, lunch, time with a prayer guide
tially life-changing element was whether
with more time free for walks followed by
they had managed to secure a space on one
Mass, Vespers, dinner and Compline. But
of the rather more comfortable-looking
none of the offices or indeed any of the
sofas. There were no gimmicks, gadgets or
sessions was compulsory. And one particiextravagant promises on offer. In fact, the
pant confided that he intended to “pace
21 - many of whom were taking this as part
himself”. He did not wish to experience
of their precious annual holiday allocation
religious burn-out, he explained.
– were actually waiting to be told the imEnter Abbot Christopher. His mission is
portance of obedience and humility from a
to put to them how their lives can be
man who lives a 1,500 yearchanged for the better
old lifestyle. Perhaps not evespiritually - and materiIt’s six am.
ryone’s idea of a holiday.
ally – by reference to St
Call this a holiday?
And yet, within just a few
Benedict’s 1,500 year
days, it was apparent that this
old Rule. Today his subhad, indeed, been a truly life
ject is the deeply unfashchanging encounter.
ionable one of humility.
They had come from all
“Humility sounds unover the country to Worth
pleasant,” he declared.
Abbey to a retreat organised
But what it does not
No.
by The Open Cloister in the
mean is “insincere grovwake of BBC2’s “The Monelling” in the tradition of
astery”. For most, it was
Uriah Heap. Society
their second time at Worth
sees humility as “passive
and they were to spend the week, living
behaviour by timid people”, he said. But
and praying alongside each other and the
humility is distinct from “humiliation”.
monastic community. Many had seen the
Drawing from his new book, the Abbot
programme and had been affected by the
said that humility comes from the same
spiritual journeys of the five men who fearoot as humanity and to be “humbled” actured. But this was no place for a “TV
tually means to be down to earth.
groupie” or for a rest, and by the end of the
“Humanity is the piece of earth,” he said
week the demands of the monastic life
“which knows it is alive”.
were telling.
Abbot Christopher further pointed out that
But to return to Wednesday, the second
humility has been proved to have tangible,
morning of their retreat, the group had
material benefits. A survey of companies,
gathered to listen to Abbot Christopher,
which sought to explain how good firms
16
became great ones, found that personal
were to be challenged to take the lessons of
humility on the part of the chief executive
the retreat out into the world. It was eviwas a key factor – alongside a strong will.
dent that the last 48 hours had had a very
Great, bombastic corporate beasts were,
profound impact on the group. PQ eavesactually, not good for business.
dropped on three individuals.
“Being humble actually makes you rich,”
“I have learned to appreciate the benefit of
he said. “It is a paradox, but setting aside
silence and reflection,” said one man, who
the ego makes it possible to communicate
really enjoyed the rigours of the monastic
better with others.”
routine. “And I can really see the benefit of
Being humble also brings with it great joy,
starting the day with prayer. I feel so much
Abbot Christopher explained, in a constant
better for it.”
reminder of God’s goodness and mercy.
“But I will need some help, out there on
By contrast, today’s desire for the
my own,” he continued. “Perhaps I’ll think
“spiritual”, he maintained, is often linked
about a spiritual director?”
to “self-assertion”.
A young woman, meanwhile,
“I can really see
It was not an easy lesson. What
said: “I’m not sure how much I
the benefit of
sort of holiday was this shaping up
will carry on with the prayer. I
starting
the day think I need to pray as and when,
to be?
with prayer. I but I have learnt to listen and be
It was clearly a very diverse
feel so much bet- more still. I’ll be back.”
group. The members came from
ter for it.”
no particular background – reliA second man also found benefit
gious or otherwise. Some were
in the routine: “I hope to take that
Catholics, some were not. Some went to
away with me…We are all conditioned to
church, some did not. There was a wide
see structure as being tied down but it can
age range too, from a twenty-something
be a blue print for a better life. It’s all
musician through working people to some
about discipline and we all hate that.”
older individuals and couples. There were
These were common thoughts among the
health professionals, journalists, financial
entire group. Another man said he planned
specialists and a variety of others.
to make a card listing the times of the difSome were extroverts, keen to talk. Othferent monastic offices so that he could at
ers left after the Abbot finished speaking to
least be ‘spiritually present’. A woman said
spend time in their rooms, in the church or
she had had withdrawal symptoms after the
to go for a smoke. But it was clear they all
last retreat. Many said they would be back.
felt energised and keen to move on to the
But Abbot Christopher emphasised they
next stage, getting together with their indishould not just rely on the Worth commuvidual prayer guides. And they were all
nity or to each other or try to carry on
looking forward to that night’s silent meal.
alone. He urged them to get involved in
Sounds great.
local communities – in the discipline of
PQ decided to return later in the week to
one of the world’s classic religions.
see how it was going. Friday morning,
“It will help you,” he declared.
raining, still March, back in St Bruno’s
With those words ringing in their ears, the
retreat centre, the participants did not know
group headed back into the world.
it yet, but today’s big idea for the group
“I have seen a better way, I have felt betwas going to be the most challenging yet.
ter for it and I am not going to let it slip
They had taken humility, obedience and
away,” insisted one tired member, who
silence in their stride, but this morning they
spoke for all. SW
17
Sussex Monastic site to open
B
enedictines were back this month at
three of Sussex’s dissolved monasteries, walking where monks have, perhaps,
not trodden for nearly five centuries. But
the visits revealed dramatically different
fates for the former Benedictine-linked
houses, which were suppressed in the
1530s on the orders of Henry VIII.
Two of the sites were major centres of
monasticism –
with histories of
royal visits and
connections.
They are, however, today quite
different. One is
Lewes Priory
seeking lottery
funding to allow greater public access, the
other is a private house and the owners are
hoping for an even lower profile.
After years of campaigning, the trustees
of Lewes Priory, a former Cluniac foundation (a Benedictine off-shoot), are now in
the final stages of seeking funding. They
want to see the remains of the monastery,
which are currently fenced off, open to
visitors. Dr John Lawrence, who heads the
trustees, and his fellow campaigner, Frances Tufnell, kindly opened up for Fr James
to wander among the majestic ruins. There
are many buildings and features to see at
the site – which once housed as many as
100 monks. Unfortunately, there is nothing
left of the magnificent priory church,
which was about the size of Canterbury
cathedral. But the trustees are hoping to
organise tours and make more information
available about the monastery – if they
succeed in winning the funding.
It could not be a more different story at
another former Benedictine family monastery. It did not completely fall into ruin –
one of the buildings became a home. And it
is not open to the public. Nevertheless, the
owners have been continually pestered by
uninvited visitors. Each weekend in summer, callers arrive. In the circumstances, it
was very generous of them to allow a small
party from Worth to visit. And PQ is sworn
to secrecy in respect of the location – especially for coach parties.
Another former monastery, now a private
home, visited by Fr James was Langney
Priory, near Eastbourne, the home of Miss
Fenwick-Owen. An offshoot of Lewes priory, Langney was saved from destruction
by its location, explained Miss Fenwick
Owen, whose family have lived there for
about 60 years. On the flat coastal plain, it
was formerly an island, used by the monks
for farming and salt mining. As such, it
escaped destruction. Miss Fenwick Owen’s
family restored the monks’ chapel to a
functioning church, where services are held
monthly.
It has also survived huge development,
which has seen the priory gradually encircled by modern housing. Although it is
not open to the public, Miss Fenwick Owen
showed us the room above the chapel,
which was the monks’ dormitory and
prior’s room. She also revealed there were
stories of a secret tunnel between the priory
and Pevensey castle – some two miles
away.
Lewes trustees must surely succeed in
their bid to open up the priory for the public. Public interest in history and archaeology has never been so great. And, with so
many of the dissolved houses either completely disappeared, or in private hands,
only a few sites such as Lewes can tell the
tale of Britain’s lost monastic heritage.
SW
18
PARISH PEOPLE
“It is impossible to imagine a better evening,” said one very happy
Parish Priest, Dom James Cutts, following the St Patrick’s barn dance. More
than 100 people turned out for the highly-successful event in March, which
was organised by the new social committee.
Parishioners enjoyed a splendid meal and refreshments and then danced
until they dropped at the social evening, which was held at the Crawley
Down Haven Centre. Even the teenagers had a good time - some appear to
have danced. And we have the photos to prove it. Many thanks once again to
the committee members and all those who made the evening such a great
success. Watch out for the summer get together
19
Meanwhile, Palm Sunday at Worth Abbey saw hundreds join the
monastic community for Mass, which started on the piazza (in
thankfully good but blustery weather) with much palm waving
from young and old and traditional readings and song.
20
LIFE OF A SALESMAN
Abbot Christopher Jamison
M
aking a
tough sale is
a bit of a
family industry for the
Jamisons. Indeed, they
appear to thrive on it.
Who else would think
that selling the first
Mars Bars in Paris or arguing the virtues of
Australian medicines to French pharmacists was tremendous fun? But now,
Worth’s Abbot Christopher Jamison is taking this family trait to a new level: the ultimate crazy sales pitch. It is not flogging ice
cream to the Inuit but selling real religion
to a modern world that, he cheerfully admits, despises it.
Abbot Christopher’s pitch comes in Finding Sanctuary, his book published this
week by Weidenfeld and Nicolson (£10). It
is aimed at the non-religious majority, inviting them to become involved in one of
the world’s great religions, the embattled
minority. The publisher came to the Abbot
last year following the success of BBC
TWO’s programme The Monastery. There
was no doubt about it, he was “hot property” – appearing on Mid-Week with Libby
Purves and on Richard & Judy – and several publishers wanted to sign up the Abbot. For his part, Abbot Christopher could
see this created an opportunity for him to
make his pitch in print; and if it leads to
daytime TV and chat shows, so much the
better. After all, if you want to reach the
secular world, you won’t do it through the
pages of The Universe.
“We live in a country that has no time for
religion,” said the Abbot. “The cultural
establishment despises religion….So we
have to penetrate the secular community by
their own means of communication.”
He continued: “It is not intrusive to monastic life. It may be just one week on chat
shows, but that week can make an enormous impact. It is actually the least intrusive, and the biggest audience.”
Abbot Christopher’s target market is that
vast modern constituency that describes
itself as “spiritual but not religious”. It is a
burgeoning market, as a visit to any book
shop shows. But it is one for which he reserves particular dislike, positively seething at the bogus spirituality to be found in
the “new age” titles in the Mind, Body,
Spirit sections of high street book sellers.
The Abbot’s book, with its carefully designed non-religious front cover, will, of
course, sit alongside such volumes but he
says “it is a Trojan horse”.
His best hope for the book is very simple,
he says: low key and ambitious.
“It is to make significant inroads into the
despising of religion, to get people to realise that religion remains the best place on
earth to find real spirituality.”
The Abbot maintained: “It is all to do with
a consistent message. Please come through
the door – you will find more on the other
side than you ever dreamt possible.”
It is a strategy which could come straight
from the CEO of a major corporation. And
that is perhaps no coincidence. Abbot
Christopher’s father was chief executive of
a major pharmaceutical corporation. While
others were steaming south-east around the
globe, he emigrated from Australia to England to take up this key role, bringing with
him his wife and four sons (the Abbot being the youngest and still a baby). And the
21
Abbot’s brothers have all followed their
father as successful businessmen (it was
one of them who sold that first Mars Bar).
The Jamison boys were sent to Downside,
where the Abbot first came into contact
with Benedictine monks. He was very impressed: “They were a highly intelligent
group. The Abbot of Downside was a
hugely influential figure at the Second
Vatican Council.”
It was a “place of formation, crucial in
responding to God’s
call”, Abbot Christopher said. He enjoyed
praying there, but it
Is it a sequel to
never occurred to him
Finding Nemo?
to join the Community. It was the beginning of the 1970s, he
was a wealthy young
man and he was destined for Oxford. But
first, Abbot Christopher joined the family
business for a gap
year and his first experience in selling. It was not faith though,
it was medication to chemists - and it was
in France.
“I’ve never had so much to drink in my life
as I did then,” he recalls, somewhat blowing the image of the austere churchman.
“They even gave me wine with breakfast.”
“It was great fun,” he exclaimed. “But I
could never take it that seriously.”
And the family never really expected him
to follow its well-trodden path into business.
“I had thoughts of doing voluntary service
overseas in Latin America.”
It was while Abbot Christopher was at
Oxford, studying French and Spanish, that
he first came to Worth, drawn by the Peru
project. And the 20-year-old, in the middle
of his second year at university, very
quickly decided that this was where he
wanted to be.
It was hardly the conventional path of the
time. Young people were then being urged
to “tune in, turn on and drop out” rather
than become a monk and join a monastery.
And his decision aroused considerable surprise among his friends.
“But they were very interested,” he remembers.
Most of them were heading for quite different paths, though. The Abbot discovered
recently that many of
his contemporaries
went into the Foreign
Office and merchant
banking.
The reality of joining
the monastery,
though, was
“terrible”, according
to Abbot Christopher.
He had been the archetypal rich young
man - plenty of
money, freedom and
travel. Suddenly he
became a novice, with no money, no freedom and no control.
“I found it more terrible than most people
would,” he admits. “I was stuck in one
place with no ability to do anything and no
control.”
So why does he insist on Worth’s three
current novices doing the same?
“It’s essential. It’s the only way to do it.”
But after that first terrible year, things
looked up for Brother Christopher. He
spent three years studying Theology and
Philosophy before becoming a monk and
another year of pastoral studies before he
became a priest.
But the Peru game plan never came to
fruition because he was assigned to be a
teacher at Worth School, where many
monks then worked. And Abbot Christopher was to spend the next 25 years work-
22
ing as a teacher – first of French and Spanish, then head of RI (as it was then called),
then as housemaster and finally as headmaster for eight years.
He admits that he was “very strict” with
the boys and did not court popularity.
“They wouldn’t invite me home for a
drink,” he says, without regret. “But they
came to the RI classes (now renamed theology classes) and the department grew.”
“The best ages for boys are 12 and 18,”
says Abbot Christopher. “They ask questions and want to know the answers. When
boys are 15 they are focused on the impression their question is making, they are not
interested in the answer.”
As Headmaster, Fr Christopher enjoyed
leading Worth to adopt a culture of strategic planning, so that the long term wellbeing of the School was not only secured
but also secured on the right foundations.
For example, he was “deeply depressed”
by his experience of the political shaping
of education during this time. “The introduction of AS levels was driven by political expediency and had nothing whatever
to do with the interests of children,” he
remembers. And it was this that led Worth
to introduce the International Baccalaureate, as an alternative to the politically vulnerable A levels.
Abbot Christopher, as president of the
board of governors, remains highly interested in the school and is committed to the
benefits of the Benedictine education it
offers.
“The faith school has a very important role
in implementing an educational vision of
Christian humanism, not just the economically driven model that now prevails.”
He added: “The Benedictine tradition has
a very important role in the school: it gives
curriculum time for prayer and teaches
people how to read the scriptures. We refuse to reduce education just to schooling.”
That he is swimming against the tide in
this as much as in society’s view of religion does nothing to quash his enthusiasm.
“My theoretical expectation is that, in the
future, no one in this country will be Christian, which means that, in practice, I can
only be encouraged by the work of the
Spirit I see in those large numbers who are
still drawn to live out the Christian faith.”
And alongside his book, there is a website, a PR campaign and several other initiatives to help the overwhelmed secular
majority to “find sanctuary”. This is education writ very large indeed. Over the coming weeks, it should be a very hard sales
pitch to ignore. And that is the Abbot’s
strategy. SW
PQ ADVERTISING & DISTRIBUTION
600 copies of PQ are distributed free of charge to Worth Abbey Parishioners and all who attend Mass at the Abbey and West Hoathly. Complimentary copies are distributed to other churches in Balcombe, Crawley Down,
Turners Hill and West Hoathly. To advertise in PQ please get in touch with Jill Carter, telephone 01825 712162,
e-mail jill@carterclan.co.uk. Rates are as follows:
SIZE
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Quarter page
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We welcome donations from those wishing to ‘sponsor’ PQ. A donation of £10 will be acknowledged in four
successive issues of PQ in a one eighth page box.
PQ is published four times a year. If you’ve enjoyed this issue and would like more copies, or if you don’t come
regularly to Worth Abbey but would like to continue getting a copy, please get in touch with Jill Carter If you
would like to help with production costs we welcome donations. Cheques should be made out to Worth Abbey
Parish and sent to St Benedicts’s, Worth Abbey, Paddockhurst Road,Turners Hill, CRAWLEY, West Sussex
23
Finding Sanctuary by Abbot Christopher Jamison
Review by Dan Atkinson
O
NCE every ten years or so comes the
surprise smash-hit book on a subject
or subjects hitherto thought of little interest
to the general public. In 1988, the stage
was held by astrophysics, the cosmos and
kindred matters with A Brief History of
Time, by Stephen Hawking. On
to 1995, and Will Hutton
achieved the remarkable feat of
making economics sexy with
The State We’re In.
With a fair wind and plenty of
support from its publisher, Finding Sanctuary could win a place
in this gallery. Since the late
1960s, ‘the future’ has been fading out of fashion and
‘spirituality’ (whether crystal
healing or trendily-peaceful paganism) has been gaining adherents. If this
sort of guff can ‘shift units’, in marketing
parlance, why not the Benedictine tradition, particularly when the case is stated as
fluently and persuasively as it is here?
That said, the association of Finding Sanctuary with The Monastery (of television
fame) may dent slightly the ‘surprise’ element should it top the best-seller lists. Not
that this is, in any sense, ‘Abbot – the
book’ following on from ‘Abbot – the
movie’. References to the five televised
Worth guests are kept to a minimum; Finding Sanctuary is an outgrowth of the The
Monastery, not a re-hash or a cashing-in.
And the unlikely blockbuster of which it is
most reminiscent is that of neither Hawking nor Hutton, but the book that, in 1973,
effectively launched the modern Green
movement, Small is Beautiful, by former
coal board economist EF Schumacher.
Both authors fear life is being pulled out of
shape by the headlong pursuit of money
and possessions, what Schumacher called
‘the forward stampede’ and Jamison describes as ‘busy-ness’, a disease of overactivity that he traces back to the 1980s,
when its promotion became official policy:
‘Far from protecting people, the state now
sought to maximise competition
in order to ensure that market
forces decided everything in the
lives of its citizens.’
Both authors advocate what
could – had the phrase not become associated with drug-taking
and, to use a rather prim expression, ‘free love’ – be described as
an alternative lifestyle.
For Schumacher, the big changes
needed to be made in the workplace and in the nature of labour
itself, in order that both become
‘compatible with man’s need for creativity’.
For Jamison, the need is for a revolution in
the head – and heart. But do not run away
with the idea that this is just another book
on ‘spirituality’.
Not at all. It just looks like one.
In appearance, it is far removed from religious books of both the somewhat intimidating type (the late Pope John Paul II’s
1994 production Crossing the Threshold of
Hope springs to mind) and the more supposedly-accessible variety, which frequently seem to have titles along the lines
of What the Medieval Irish hermits can
teach us today.
A pleasing object in its own right, Finding
Sanctuary could, and doubtless will, nestle
happily alongside the many volumes of
self-help, find-yourself literature housed in
24
the mind-body-spirit sections of modern
booksellers. But this book is a deep-cover
agent, which comes not to join the ranks of
‘self-esteem’ publishing but to undermine
them.
Finding Sanctuary may be, in one sense, a
how-to book – it describes ‘seven steps
from the monastic tradition’ that will enable people to create their own sanctuary,
adding: ‘This sanctuary is built by heart
and mind, but it is not less real for that.’
Nor is the job of building it any less arduous. Jamison lays into ‘the lie of the divine
self’,
the
This book is a deepmiscover agent, which
use by
some
comes not to join the
in the
ranks of ‘self-esteem’
perpublishing but to
sonal
develundermine them.
opment industry of ‘marketable slices’ of
true religion, ‘pick and mix’ spirituality
and the tendency of some modern spiritual
movements to declare that: ‘Truth is personal.’
The abovementioned alternative lifestyle,
the personal, virtual sanctuary prescribed
by the book, by contrast, has to have a
solid religious base. ‘So I want to suggest
that finding sanctuary requires that you
freely chose to place yourself in the context
of the Church or of some other classic religion. You may eventually want to join
that Church or religion, but you should
certainly ask for its wisdom and guidance
if you are to make real spiritual progress.’
This raises questions. Is the notion of
sanctuary supposed to lead the nonreligious to the faith, and, if so, is this book
likely to persuade its (presumed) target
audience, including the so-called ‘alpha
males’ who describe themselves as
‘spiritual but not religious’?
And will they take to a book that appears
‘spiritual’ but is actually ‘religious’ in such
numbers as to propel the Abbot to the ranks
of Hawking, Hutton, Schumacher et al?
Possibly. A book about the NATO alliance, written by Dr Henry Kissinger and
entitled The Troubled Partnership, sold
modestly, as may have been expected.
Except in one bookshop, where it flew off
the shelves.
Intrigued, Kissinger investigated and discovered that, in this particular store, it had
been put in the section covering advice on
personal relationships.
One final thought, should the Abbot find
himself alongside the abovementioned
blockbusting authors. They sold many
books, but there is some doubt how many
of those copies were ever read. For someone more interested in religion than royalties that really would be a tragedy.
25
The Bible - In 50 Words
Sent in by Pat MacDonald
God Made
Adam Bit
Noah Arked
Abraham Split
Joseph Ruled
Jacob Fooled
Bush Talked
Moses Balked
Pharoah Plagued
People Walked
Sea Divided
Tablets Guided
Promise Landed
Saul Freaked
David Peeked
Prophets Warned
Jesus Born
God Walked
Love Talked
Anger Crucified
Hope Died
Love Rose
Spirits Flamed
26
WHY CAN’T CATHOLICS SING?
C
atholics can’t sing. It is a well known
fact. Pages, books even, have been
written, pointing this out. Charles Moore,
the high-profile journalist-convert, once
admitted that the attempts at singing and
modern churches were very much a price
he had to pay for leaving the Anglican
church and joining the Catholic.
But why do Catholics have this reputation? And is it true: can’t Catholics sing?
In an interview with PQ,
Michael Oakley, Worth
school’s Director of Music,
dismissed the suggestion.
“Everybody can sing,” he
insisted. But this
“reputation” has its roots in
events more than 40 years
ago. Up until that time, there
was a strong Catholic musical tradition. But most church goers were
only involved in quite a peripheral way.
Either the celebrant was singing or the
choir – or both. There was plain chant,
Latin and sung Masses and the parishioner
was often left busily saying her rosary –
apparently oblivious to all.
This state of affairs was, of course, challenged by the Second Vatican Council,
which called for greater participation in all
things. The response was swift. Out went
the plain chant. Out went the Latin. And in
came hymns aimed at fostering greater
participation – complete with catchy tunes
and memorable choruses. Quiet rosaries in
the middle of Mass were not encouraged.
In many cases the old choirs lost support
and gradually dwindled, leaving the congregation alone to sing in the new style.
Many did so with gusto and embraced the
opportunity. But it is this move that has
lain at the heart of the repeated accusations
that Catholics can’t sing. Compared with
Anglican churches, which have had their
choirs and the tradition of fine music
throughout; Catholics, critics claim, threw
the baby out…
Times are changing again though. In recent years, plain chant has made it into the
music charts, choirs and choral works have
been gaining in popularity and both have
reappeared in churches
alongside communal
singing. Some
churches now even
advertise their services
with direct reference to
the music on offer, so it
is possible to pick from
Handel, Mozart or
Latin on many Sundays
in London.
Considering the pleasure and solace that
music provides, there are few subjects as
divisive. Talk about church music and it is
doubly so. Everyone has their own ideas,
everyone has their own likes – and dislikes.
Some recall with fondness “Faith of Our
Fathers” and “God Bless Our Pope” and
seethe at the likes of “Shine Jesus Shine”
and “The Baker Woman”. The reverse is
true for others. It is a minefield. And who
would wish to make such contentious decisions – possibly incurring the wrath of
some, all or none?
Step forward Mr Oakley, who has been
director of music for the last 14 years.
On many Sundays, Worth’s church goers
can hear the 50-strong boys’ choir in full
voice and a variety of music – including
motets, plain chant and hymns of… every
type. Mr Oakley declared: “I’m unasham-
27
edly pro beautiful texts, music and liturgy.
Although the boys, of all ages, are well
It does touch the inner person.”
used to “performing”, Mr Oakley insisted
And he said: “Those in larger churches
that services at Worth are never turned into
have a responsibility to promote and maina “performance”. There are never moments
tain the best tradition of Catholic music.”
when everyone is waiting for the choir to
He is very keen to draw out
finish before the Mass can proSome recall
the “monastic dimension” in
ceed. And Mr Oakley stressed
with fondness there are always times during
the music at the Abbey. “It’s a
wonderfully prayerful way of
the liturgy, such as the psalm,
“Faith of Our
communicating.”
and hymns at which everyone
Fathers” and
Mr Oakley maintained:
is able – and positively encour“God Bless Our aged - to participate.
“There is a line of argument
which says, if you’re not ac“We have a responsibility to
Pope” and
tively doing it [singing] then
be of service to the wider comseethe at the
you’re not engaged…But there
munity,” he said. Mr Oakley
are moments when people can
likes of “Shine has worked enthusiastically to
have time to pray internally
Jesus Shine”. develop both a distinctive
whilst listening to some beautiWorth style and a tradition of
ful, contemplative music.”
fine music at Worth – which
But Worth does not do “big showy
must finally lay to rest the “Catholics can’t
anthems”, said Mr Oakley. “They would
sing” canard. SW
not be appropriate.”
28
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29
DONKEYS NEVER GIVE UP - DO YOU?
A story by Angus Mac Donald
T
he farmer had a problem. His problem
happy but came to the sad conclusion that
was Pablo, the donkey who had been
it must be done. And so, early next mornaround the farm forever. He was getting
ing, the farmer and his men set out to fill in
old and was beginning to find a day’s work
the well.
too much, although he still tried his best.
As the first shovelfuls of earth fell on him
The farmer looked after him, fed and wapoor old Pablo was disgusted with his mastered him, but times were hard. The probter and brayed even louder. His spirits sank
lem was: what to do about Pablo. Nobody
as the earth fell on him. And then, all at
would buy him and he cost money.
once, an idea came to him which was nothThere was an unused well, which had
ing short of brilliant. If, as each shovelful
dried up years ago, on the farm which the
landed on his back, he shook off the earth
farmer planned to fill in and use the space
and then stepped up onto it he must be
for new sheds. One evening, Pablo had
raised up.
finished his work and was wanNow, the men shovelling the
dering round the yard not lookearth
could not see what was
Simple rules to happening
ing where he was going. As he
at the bottom and
happiness: free after some time were staggered
passed the old well, he missed
his footing, slipped and fell.
your heart from to see Pablo’s ears then head
All of a sudden, he found himappear. Spade by spade he rose
hatred and
self in a small confined dark
until with a bray of triumph he
space, with only a little circle
worries and live stepped out onto solid ground
of darkening sky way up above simply, give all, and trotted off around the yard.
him. He brayed loudly again
Pablo had saved himself.
take less but
and again in the hope someAs the day wore on the farmer
body would hear.
began
to see what wise Pablo
always have
The farmer heard and ran to
had shown them all. Pablo had
hope in your worked hard all his life for small
investigate. He soon realised
what had happened. But there
return but faced with a real probheart and
was nothing to be done in the
had realised that the trick
NEVER give up. lem
dark. He dropped some food
was to shake off what fell on
down the well, and the farmer went to seek
him and take a step up. Each trouble in life,
advice from his neighbours.
he thought, is just a stepping stone and I
A full-scale rescue would be expensive,
can get out of the deepest well if I never
and cash was short, so his neighbours said
give up. The farmer thought long and hard
the sensible thing to do was simply to fill
and saw that Pablo’s life and his very
in the well on top of the donkey. This
clever escape had demonstrated some simwould have several advantages. It would
ple rules to happiness: free your heart from
avoid the cost of rescuing the expendable
hatred and worries and live simply, give
old donkey and fill in the well. It made
all, take less but always have hope in your
good business sense. The farmer was not
heart and NEVER give up.
30
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31
JUSTICE AND PEACE - ARE YOU IN?
George Fitzsimons
O
n 26 February the parish held its
first Justice and Peace Fair, and a
host of local and national charities
working in this field came to Worth to
promote awareness of their activities
and seek the involvement and support
of parishioners. The event was held
after Mass, to ensure that as many people as possible had the opportunity to
browse the stands and talk to the volunteers who had come along to represent the charities. The event generated
considerable interest, our visitors were
pleased and the event will probably be
repeated next year.
The members of the parish J&P group
would like to continue the links we
made with the organisations who came
to the fair and continue to support
them as much as possible, whether financially or by introducing parishioners who can help in other ways.
Local initiatives
Crawley Open House
The Day Centre
The Easter Team
Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group
Jubilee Action (national/ international, but Guildford HQ)
Monica Cantwell Trust
SVP (national, but works through
local groups)
National charities
CAFOD
Fair Trade and Traidcraft
We have borne this desire to maintain
and strengthen existing links in mind
when planning our events for the rest
of the year, which we hope will include: Two evening speaker events,
one considering issues relating to injustice in developing countries and the
situation of refugees from overseas
detained by the Home Office. There
will be an opportunity to discuss the
issues raised informally with each
other and with the speakers over a simple meal. Donations will be given to
the speakers’ organisations.
Two coffee mornings, one focussing on
the work of the local Day Centre and
seeking volunteers to support it.
We are considering other possible
activities, for example to engage
younger members, but we are keen to
concentrate our efforts on a few events
done well rather than to try to do too
much and dilute our efforts.
We will advertise our next events and
would encourage you to attend, if at all
possible. We intend to make our meetings open to all, sociable and with the
opportunity to meet people who are
making a real difference in the world.
The Justice & Peace Group are: Cynthia
Hayne (cmmh@cmmh.freeserve.co.uk),
Liz Bennett
(elizabeth.bennett2@tiscali.co.uk),
Geraldine Constable
(geraldine.constable@btinternet.com),
Jill Carter (jill@carterclan.co.uk),
Chris Dobson (cnydobson@hotmail.com)
and
George Fitzsimons (gfitz62246@aol.com).
Please see over for some ideas.
32
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33
A PILGRIMAGE TO PERU
Christina Fitzsimons reports on the Worth parents’ expedition
P
eru is a country of paradoxes. Macroeconomic statistics show a relatively
rich country with valuable exports of minerals (including gold and silver), oil and
gas and a thriving fishing industry. It has
ideal conditions for growing exotic fruits.
It was too wealthy to be given debt relief in
2000. But, the micro-economic statistics
show a different picture. Fifty per cent of
the population live in poverty and a further
20 per cent live in extreme poverty.
Twenty five per cent of children suffer
from malnutrition. How can this be? How
could the Sendero Luminoso’s reign of
terror in the 1980’s and 1990’s lead to the
death of nearly 70,000 people? The full
extent of the slaughter was only known
recently. Why is there discrimination
against the indigenous people when the
majority of Peruvians are indigenous or
mixed race?
These were some of the issues we learnt
about in the first few days of our visit. We
had lectures from distinguished academics,
many from Lima’s prestigious Catholic
University. One of the most moving talks
was given by Felix Reategui, a quietlyspoken man who served on the country’s
Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The
Commission took 17,000 testimonies from
victims of the Sendero Luminoso and of
the indiscriminate military reprisals. Felix
interviewed the leader of the Sendero Luminoso, a university professor called Abimail Guzman. He is unrepentant and believes that he is on a par with Marx, Lenin
and Mao. His aim was to destroy the institutions of Peru, including the Church, and
to build a neo-Maoist republic.
So, armed with some knowledge, we set
off to see some of the country. We flew to
Cusco, 11,000 feet up in the Andes. It is a
tourist town and, as a result, is insulated to
some extent from rural poverty. Even so
the life of a subsistence farmer (campesino)
is tough and financially unrewarding. The
Andes are an inhospitable terrain for farming and a long way from Lima, the most
lucrative market. From Cusco we took a
spectacular four-hour train journey down
into the jungle to see Macchu Picchu.
Then, the really important, life-changing
part of the journey began. We split into
five groups, each staying with people
working on the ‘front line’. I stayed with
two Irish nuns, Sisters Mary and Gemma,
who live in Villa El Salvador, a poor suburb of Lima. It was desert until about 30
years ago. Its first inhabitants were mainly
Andean campesinos fleeing the Sendero
Luminoso. They squatted on the barren
land, built shacks to live in and started a
new life in a very challenging environment.
But the area has progressed enormously.
The main roads are surfaced; there is running water, sanitation and electricity.
Regular rubbish collections, introduced a
year ago, have reduced the piles of rotting
34
garbage in the streets. Trees are being
planted (each needs to be watered) and
many homeowners have started to plant
little gardens. Most houses are now made
of concrete or brick and there are many
small businesses. Huge problems remain,
including unemployment (and underemployment), malnutrition, family break up
and tuberculosis. Sister
Mary took us to visit
the local TB clinic
which treats more than
300 patients a year. It
also teaches handicrafts, which gives
patients a means of
earning a small income
while they are recovering and helps patients, who are often rejected by their community, rebuild their self-esteem. The dedi-
cation of the staff was remarkable. One
vivid memory is of visiting the local soup
kitchen which Anna runs from her house.
She and her friends cook lunch daily for
120 people. They go out early to buy cheap
rice, vegetables and meat from the market
and Anna proudly boasts that her meals are
the best in the district. Sister Gemma took
us to see two districts on the edge of Villa
El Salvador that have only recently been
built on. Families live in tiny shacks built
of wooden panels or reed matting and there
is no running water or sanitation.
My fellow pilgrims had different experiences. Some went up to Chiclayo in the
north of the country some to Sicuani (high
up in the Andes). There were two other
groups in Lima. Fellow parishioners
Nicholas Burridge and Mike Goodridge
stayed with American Jesuits in El
Agustino, a very deprived suburb of Lima.
They were very impressed by the work
being done there. Nicholas wrote: “If any
one thing stood out it
was the people themselves, their smiles,
their cheeriness, their
love and happiness
in the work they
were doing together,
it was a golden
thread that ran
through all those we
met. We were sad to
leave them for they had given us so much.”
I felt we met some living saints in Peru.
Among these I would include Father Jorge
Alvarez, a Peruvian priest who has devoted
his life to the poor. Quietly spoken, he radiates holiness. He encouraged us to live in
active solidarity with the poor as a sign of
our love for God and our commitment to
each other. He asked us to be open to the
Lord and to each other, denying our own
pride and selfishness and recognising our
lack of self-sufficiency.
You can fine out more about Worth Abbey Outreach Peru (formerly 'Friends
of Peru') from Father Alex:
alexandercf@ukonline.co.uk. A new
website is under construction.
35
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36
PrayerSchool
Dom Peter Williams
I
n the last edition
of PQ I tried to
give an explanation
of what prayer is,
and I hope I rooted
it in being in touch
with a sense of
‘being’ within,
which takes us beyond ourselves. In
this edition I would like to explore where
this sense of being comes from.
In our everyday lives I think we generally
situate our sense of ‘being’ as being directly related to our everyday needs. The
need: to eat, to sleep, to drink, to be successful, to be loved, to have enough money
to live the kind of life we think we deserve.
When these needs are not met we can often
feel ‘down’, tense, or just sad. These feelings have now become the ground of our
‘being’. This ‘ground’ has become (as Jesus says) like sand, if we build our house
(our life) on it then the house will inevitably fall – there is just too much movement.
The antidote to this is (as Jesus says) to
build our lives on rock. The journey of
prayer then is to find this rock with ourselves and to make it the centre of our
lives. We therefore do not need to look for
this rock in a book, or in someone else or
in anything outside of us – but in ourselves.
When we start to pray we generally start
in the sand, but as we become more in
touch with ourselves we begin to realise
that beyond the ‘demanding me’ that we
first encounter, there is a ‘quiet me’ that
just is. It resides within me, often ignored.
Normally I discount it, because it seems
powerless and ineffectual. In prayer, however, when we come into contact with this
‘me’, we befriend it, and we find that it has
a rock like quality - it is always there.
While we are constantly in flux in our
thoughts, it is constant to us by its presence.
At the beginning of the journey this rock
is the size of a mustard seed, but as we
allow it to grow by being present to it in
times of stillness and silence, it becomes a
living force within us that we become
united to. What has, in fact, happened is
that we have come to a sense of oneness
with our spirit, and it is through this that
God becomes present to us. The great discovery of this journey is that God comes to
us, and is most present to us through the
very essence of who we are.
To approach God therefore we do not
have to learn a magic formula, we just have
to have the humility to be content with, and
to live fully from who we are – what a relief. The fruit of this way of being and living is that our outward physical and human
form becomes fully energised and inspired
by our spiritual nature. When this happens
God starts to work and live powerfully
through us without us even having to think
about it. Spirituality no longer becomes an
effort to do the right thing, but becomes a
spontaneous response to the gift of life.
37
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39
DEACON BLUE IS EDUCATED IN THE
HOLY LAND
Deacon Chris Dobson
L
ast autumn Jo and I joined members of St Margaret’s church in
West Hoathly on an ecumenical pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It was led
by Alan Carr, their vicar. We were supposed to have an Israeli Christian guide
but in the event our guide was Avi – an
experienced Jewish Israeli guide.
Abbot Christopher said a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land is like discovering a
fifth Gospel – and I don’t mean the
gospel of Judas. Our eyes were opened
to the beauty of the desert, Galilee and
Jerusalem. Our hearts were opened to
the Word of God.
The pilgrimage was planned to start
in the desert following the steps of
Moses, Abraham – and Jesus. We were
then to proceed to Galilee, before making our way to Jerusalem. The ten days
of our trip could have been expanded to
weeks or even years.
Holy Week and Easter this year has
been enhanced by our visit to Jerusalem. On our first day in the city we visited the Mount of Olives and prayed in
the Garden of Gethsemane. We processed into the city, as Jesus did with his
disciples on Palm Sunday. We prayed
at the Western (or wailing) wall and
visited the Dome of the Rock – sacred
to the Muslims.
Our re-enactment of Holy Week continued with a visit to the place commemorated as the Upper Room, where
the last supper took place as well as
the coming of the Holy Spirit. We visited Caiaphas’s House, where Peter
denied he knew Jesus and the cock
crowed, and thence to the Antonia Fortress or Praetorium, Pilate’s headquarters, where Jesus was condemned to
death. It was very poignant to stand on
the very Pavement where Jesus stood at
that moment. Engraved on the stone
floor, a game the soldiers played with
prisoners – the game included scourging, dressing the victim as a king and
mocking him before gruesomely killing
the unfortunate victim.
We followed the Via Dolorosa through
the winding alleyways of Jerusalem
and recalled the first Stations of the
Cross. Eventually we arrived at the
place St Helen identified as Golgotha,
where Jesus was crucified, died and
was buried. It was a busy and dark
memorial, the Holy Sepulchre basilica.
Whilst remembering the sacred mysteries, we were pleased to be taken to a
very different place – the Garden
Tomb. Here there was a tomb hewn out
of the rock – and it was empty….As we
celebrated an intimate Eucharist in the
garden we knew for certain Christ had
truly risen – Alleluia!
40
TRAIDCRAFT
FAIR TRADE is a POSITIVE response to POVERTY
Cotton on to Fairtrade!
Be cool in your Fairly Traded Cotton
Extending Fairtrade certification to cotton is good news for small cotton farmers in India,
Peru, Senegal and Mali
Like his father before him, Khima Ranchhod has farmed cotton all his life but in 2001/02
prices fell to the lowest for 30 years because of subsidies paid to cotton producers in the
West. Now he can sell to the UK Fairtrade market he will receive a stable price for his
crop. Khima sees a brighter future for himself and improved education for the children in
his village.
“I did not get any education but I want my children to” says Lalijibhai Narranbhai, cotton
farmer, India
Give people the dignity of working their way out of poverty
*Pick up your Traidcraft Catalogue NOW *
Or visit www.traidcraftshop.co.uk
*FAIRTRADE food available in the Narthex after 9.30 Mass*
You can make a difference