After a full week of orientation about community living here at Hawkstone Hall (you know--time for meals, use of washers, answering the phone, etc), we finally began our first session entitled "Journey to Your Inner Self" taught by a resident priest from India: Fr. Ittoop. He calls himself "that little Indian Priest" and rightly so. He is about 2 inches shorter than me! His session dealt with our personal spiritual lives with special emphasis on how religious men and women as well as diocesan priests must have a spirituality that compliments our particular form of ministry. I think we all agreed that, in today's world, the decline of religious communities and parish priests has placed greater stress on those who remain. Even more important for us to develop a sound spiritual life.
Last Saturday we visited Shrewsbury-- the government seat and main city of the Shropshire district. Shropshire existed in the 11th century after having been founded by William the Conqueror. The former Benedictine Abbey there is ancient although King Henry VIII pulled most of it down during the Protestant Reformation. Even so, what remains is beautiful. Not only can one see priceless works of art dating back centuries but, unless you are looking down, you will walk over the tombs of 15th and 16th century monks, clergy and royalty. It is amazing to see how much history can be contained in one building! Because we were experiencing a particularly warm day (the warmest, they said, in 400 years), there were thousands of families out in the local park with their children. An ancient city that is still very much alive!
Next Saturday we are off to North Wales!
Perry
