What it means to be a servant! A reflection on Canon Fogarty R.I.P

-





In the early hours of Monday Morning a great friend of both the diocese and this parish died Canon Fogarty. After over 60 years of dedicated service to the diocese and this local area he will be sadly missed. I have spent some of the week as the news filtered out listening to people remember him and with my reflection on the Gospel this weekend have been able to see why people have remembered him so fondly.

The Gospel readings speak of being a servant to others. To be great in the Kingdom of heaven means to be a servant to others. The word servant has many negative connotations to it. We may think of the servants in the programmes such as Downton abbey or Upstairs downstairs but the Christian servant is more than this idea of being a paid servant for a Lord or Lady.
To be a servant in the Christian sense is a privilege and also a responsibility it means to be with people through both good and bad times. Jesus wanted to stress that it was not about having power and position “This is not to happen to you”

 It is being able to be open enough not to be shocked by what you both see and hear. We all have this vocation, as a parent we are servants to our children. It is also very important in the ministry of a priest.

As priests we have the immense privilege of walking with people, sometimes for a short time, through the joys and sorrows of life. I know from what people have told me that the Canon did this countless times. He both buried loved ones but also baptised others and walked with them as they grew up. There was a succession of young people who would seek the canon to go through their work for languages and took a keen interest in their further studies. I am sure like me seeking that little touch of wisdom we so often get from those who are older than us.

To be a servant then is also about thinking about others and not your own desires, they come second to the needs of others. It is about giving respect and equal dignity to all those whom we come in contact with.
I have learnt, sometimes the hard way, that to be servant for others is both hard and sometimes very frustrating. But, if we live a life of service to others we are living the authentic Christian way. We look to others who have gone before us, recognizing that they too are sinners and in need of God’s love and learn from them.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fashion tips for what its worth.

-
Image
The Other day I had an Conversation with someone about Fashion. I am not sure if many of you know but I used to work in Top shop in Oxford Circus. So I thought I woulds share with you some of the trend that might look good for the Summer of 2012.  First of all I am really pleased to say that there seems to be a little colour back into the high street this season. This must be because of the bad weather that people want to wear bold and primary colours. Although I am not sure about the hat in the lower picture. Am I old fashioned enough to say that hats and woolen hats should be winter wear and not summer wear. Fresh and clean colours are in this year.   Good but loose the hat. The black and grey days are over and we can see that these are both stylish from the ladies but also a Casual look from the lads. But there are some fashions that are clearly wrong and should be left alone. See the Green Jumper down below. I don't really know where to ...
Read more

More than many Sparrows

-
A number of years ago I worked in Oxford Street in Top shop. I was working in the exchange and refund department. I was suprized by the amount of people that used fashion to hide who they really were. The one thing that they would say quite a lot was that they shopped and brought clothes to make them selves feel better. Now this is not a homily against retail therapy or against fashion shops but I have to say I met a lot of people that used this and other things to get over the pain that they did not either like themselves and therefore feel love of another person.  It is true to say that there are many times in our lives where we are afraid to be our true authentic selves. We hide behind the masks that we portray. We are one thing to one person and another to someone else. We try our best and hardest to try and please everyone where we almost become like a camelion. I suppose the question I have is why do we do this. Why do we waste so much energy trying to be all things to a...
Read more

Jesus and Travel plans

-
Image
Whenever I go away on holiday or just over night I always without fail over pack: I take loads of stuff away with me and half the stuff I don’t actually use or need. In my mind I have the phrase going through my head “Oh I might just need that.” And then when we get back we actually realised that I did not need it at all.  Basically I do not travel light. I would have then great difficulties I think being a disciple. I would not be able to cope with the travel plans that Jesus would have given me. No spare tunic no, no money, no travel insurance.  Jesus tells us that all we need his authority and the gift of ourselves the talents and gifts that we have been given by God. Mark says nothing in this Gospel about what the disciples said in their missionary activity the most important thing here is presence and through that presence they are witnesses to the Gospel. So what do the disciples tells us about what it means to be Gospel. The phrase that comes into my mind ...
Read more