Buoyed by an enjoyable Feast Day last week we have had a comparatively normal week! Many who attended Mass were taken with the homily by the main celebrant which follows my message.

Our College community were also buoyed by the selection of Elliot Dixon to the All Blacks. He is the 13th Bedean to become an All Black and the first since Jon Preston, twenty years ago.

Year 12s had their retreat over the course of three nights at the St Joseph's Parish Centre. We are most fortunate to have such a capable Ministry Team who presented the retreat. In the first half methods of reflection and prayer were investigated and practiced, and both the boys and the staff present surprised themselves as they took up the invitation to experience different approaches of quiet reflective prayer. Jesuit and Taize approaches were two of the methods employed as examples of ways to develop this very necessary skill given the busy and distracting lives we lead. I attended all three nights and was most impressed how the boys responded to this part of the retreat.

In the second half of the retreat, the man they are becoming, was investigated and what are the practices and habits needed to being a good man. The Ministry Team ‘broke open’ four of the virtues. Prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude. A virtue is a strong habit of doing what is good.

PRUDENCE is applying common sense to make good decisions and good choices in our lives.

JUSTICE looks at being fair, keeping promises and acting honestly to yourself and others.

TEMPERANCE talks about moderation, self discipline and control of will power and emotion.

FORTITUDE means to stand strong regardless of the situation. Being strong and courageous is showing fortitude.

The boys were given laminated cards with these four virtues to display in a place they see every day to remind themselves of these keys to becoming a good man, remembering these qualities are formed habitually.

Thanks to all those in the community who have passed messages of condolence on the death of Bishop Len Boyle, who is an uncle of mine. He was a good man, and mentor and advisor to many, including me! May he rest in peace.

Until next week...

Feast Day Mass Homily - Fr David Kennerly

We just had a beautiful reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians in which we heard the phrase, “we impart words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit” (2:13). There is human wisdom, its being suggested, and then there’s a wisdom that‘s something else again, a wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit. I think the life of St Bede helps us to see something of the difference.

At the age of seven, Bede’s parents left him at a monastery. Now I wouldn’t recommend that today! But at that time, England and Europe were in what was called the Dark Ages. The Roman Empire with the civilization and security that it had developed had collapsed. One of the few places left offering an education were the monasteries.

As a monk, Bede would have learnt to ponder, to reflect using Scripture as a prompt, a guide. Bede also had a second textbook that he would have been encouraged to ponder, namely what life and relationships within his Jarrow monastery presented him with.

Those times were tough. For instance, when Bede was about thirteen, all the monks at Jarrow, except for Bede and his abbot, died from the Black Plague. This must have left Bede pondering why he had been spared, confirmed that he had a real purpose in life. And that is a really important point for all of us to see: we are all here for a reason!

From a young age then, Bede lived the life of a monk as outlined by St Benedict in what was called a Rule. Now the most important monastery associated with St Benedict is Monte Casino, south of Rome. If you ever go to Italy, its well worth visiting Monte Casino, but just don’t tell the monks that you are a New Zealander! During WW2, it was a Kiwi general who pushed for the bombing of this beautiful monastery because of the German paratroopers dug in there.

Monte Casino, however, was the second monastery that St Benedict established. At the first he was so hard on the monks that there was a plot to poison him! This led him to move on and try again somewhere else. In the Rule he wrote at Monte Casino, you can see that he had leant a valuable lesson: leadership is more than driving others; people first and foremost have to be encouraged, inspired to do the really hard work.

And so, the Rule of Benedict that’s still in use today, begins with this very beautiful first line that Bede would have reflected on often: “Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is the advice from a father who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice.”

“Listen with the ear of your heart;” isn’t that a great phrase! Listen in your heart, hold on to the words that come to you there. So in a sense, we can be self-motivated, either by human wisdom or by the words of the Holy Spirit heard in our hearts.

Have you ever heard the advice, “Follow your dreams”? I think at one level, that’s practical, worthwhile advice. It’s positive because it motivates us to focus on a future hope. Dreams, however, can be all too ephemeral; like a mist, they can be hard to grasp. Dreams also at times can be purely about what I think, and therefore can in fact be rather improbable, even personally impossible!

The wisdom taught by the Spirit, however, is more like the advice, “Be true to your heart, follow your convictions!” Your convictions are those principles that you have come to believe from pondering on life and also, I would suggest, the Scriptures. These insights are based on Christ and his life, and therefore, in contrast to our dreams, they offer us a much more objective insight and direction.

Human wisdom then, can be all a bit too shaky, like a house built on sand. Spiritual wisdom is much more like building your house on rock!

Human dreams are something that we can spend our whole life chasing! They end up being always that bit too far out beyond us, so much so that they end up taunting and frustrating us.

Spiritual wisdom, in contrast, is something that we develop in our hearts. That way, we end up carrying it with us throughout our lives. It is there as an inner strength to guide us always!

Someone who perhaps models today what I’m saying is Samuel Gibson. Who remembers him? He was the man who died two weekends ago after falling over in a marathon up in Napier. Samuel Gibson suffered from “brittle bone disease”. In spite of this, however, he lived his life to the full. In his obituaries, he was described as “a brittle bone adventurer and campaigner”. In other words, the adventurer in him led him to do all sorts of things others would have said were impossible for him. On the other hand, he was also a campaigner, he had a conviction deep down, that there was more to him than his illness. He also lived his life believing that things could be better for him and others. Almost like a Bedean, Samuel Gibson was a man of faith following his hopes, but also was a man of action, of works. Another tribute described him as “a little man with a big heart.”

So, to wrap this up, St Bede is a wonderful model and guide for you to follow. Well before he died, he was acknowledged as Venerable, that is, he was recognized as someone worthy of the greatest respect. What’s more, he was recognized as such, not only in England but across Europe. Kings, popes and also more ordinary types like you and me wanted to read him, learn from him, draw on his wisdom. But where did he get such wisdom – from pondering the Scriptures and the words in his heart.

So, men of Bede, learn to ponder, to value self-reflection. There is no better form of self-motivation! Life and its relationships are the medium, the way by which God’s word, Jesus Christ along with the Holy Spirit become ever more your greatest Advocate, Counsellor, Friend. Take time to ponder, allow the Spirit ‘to catch you’ so that you might learn a wisdom that far exceeds what this world teaches.

But one last thing from all this: know that there is ever so much more to each of you than you typically think or imagine. What’s more, it’s right there within you, its there in your very own heart!

l

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