THE
P RTAL
August 2011
Page 15
One Person’s View
by Fr John Ravensdale
What an
emotional rollercoaster ride these last few months have been! It has been a time of extremes
- of bitter sweetness, of sad endings and of exciting new beginnings.
I am sure I am not alone when I say that we have, the divine mission to which we all have been called,
each, endured heart-rending separations from dearly and have finally come to.
loved friends, from former parishioners, and from
whirlwind romance
valued colleagues.
Now, after what can only be described as something
mixed feelings
akin to a “whirlwind romance”, I have been appointed
I recall the mixed feelings I had, a combination of to the parish of Greenstead, Colchester. This means
affection and of sadness, as I climbed into the pulpit that, once again, I must leave friends and family, whom
at St Michael’s, Palmerston Road, Walthamstow, for I love and cherish so very much.
the very last time, intensely aware that I was about to
drop a bombshell on the gathered congregation, on
Once again, I must say farewell to my people as I go
my people.
where the Lord wants me to be (where our Ordinary
tells me to go)! This time I leave them, not so much in
I was about to inform them that, after ten years, I was forlorn sadness, but rather confidently, in the capable
resigning as their vicar. I remember, so very clearly, hands of my brother priest, Fr David Waller, who I
how I choked on my words as I gave them my blessing, know will likewise love them and care for them, as the
and dismissed them at the end of that last Mass.
good and holy priest of God I know him to be.
I was acutely mindful of the love and support they
had all shown me, most especially when my dear wife
Anna unexpectedly died four years ago. Of how I was
leaving what remained of her presence and influence in
the vicarage, and the erected memorial that honoured
her in the church where they affectionately called her
“Mrs Vicar”. How much I needed all the people of St
Michael’s, and many others, at that time.
One, Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church
Then came the absolute joy of finally being received
in the bosom of our Mother Church. The genuine,
and unfeigned warmth and generosity we all received
the first time we were publicly welcomed by our new
friends, in our various Catholic communities. The
palpable feeling of the Holy Spirit resting on me as
the bishop’s hands came down upon my head as he
ordained me priest.
The sweetness of knowing I had been transported
from the political battlefield of the Church of England,
to the mission field of the “One, Holy, Catholic, and
Apostolic Church” of Christ our Lord.
What blissful liberation there is in the realisation
that I am no longer fighting the hopeless rearguard
action of the last eighteen years, but going forward in
So it is, once again, with mixed, bitter sweet
emotions that I take my own next step on this, our
shared pilgrimage. I do so, not with anxiety and fear,
as before. This time I have something of a spring in my
step, as I draw on the words of our patron, the Blessed
John Henry Newman, and with him I pray, in trust:
“Lead kindly light”.
May God’s kindly light lead us all: Amen.
Lead,
kindly
light
“Before starting
from my inn, I sat
down on my bed
and began to sob bitterly. My servant, who had acted as my
nurse, asked what ailed me. I could only answer, “I have a
work to do in England.” I was aching to get home, yet for
want of a vessel I was kept at Palermo for three weeks.
I began to visit the churches, and they calmed my
impatience, though I did not attend any services. At last
I got off in an orange boat, bound for Marseilles. We were
becalmed for whole week in the Straits of Bonifacio, and it
was there that I wrote the lines, “Lead, Kindly Light”, which
have since become so well known.” (John Henry Newman, 1833)