Saying goodbye to Rome after five years.
As many of you will know, Rome has been my home for the last five years; I've lived here nine months of a year and the vast majority my earthly possessions are here. I've come back to England for Christmas and Summer holidays, but Rome has been my home. But today, I'm boarding a flight at Fiumicino Airport, and I'm coming back to England for the foreseeable future; goodbye Rome! Arrivederci!
Some of you will know I wasn't expecting to be coming back so soon; at the beginning of this year I was expecting to stay on here for another three years to study Canon Law (at the Bishop's request). But, as the saying goes, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. Part of the obedience we promise at ordinations means obediently going where our Bishop asks and taking up the work he asks us to do. Obedience took me to Rome, to study at the Venerable English College, and obedience is now taking me back to England to take up an appointment in my home Diocese (Portsmouth).
This has come about, not because I wanted to avoid studying Canon Law, or because my Bishop changed his mind about my studies, but because there is a feeling now that those of us ordained as Deacons would benefit from time out of study and in the field of mission, exercising our ministry and living among the people of our dioceses as we prepare for priestly ordination. Not just for our own sake but also that the people will benefit from having young men, fresh from seminary, among them. It was felt to be especially important for me, as Canon Law can touch on the messy realities of people's lives and the practical difficulties of the Church's ministry, to be in the midst of it all.
So, at the request of Bishop Philip, I am coming home to take up an appointment in a Parish and to prepare for priestly ordination in England. A lot of things haven't yet been finalised; I don't yet know when exactly I will be ordained as a priest (Deus Vult some time in 2023), when exactly I will return to study, or whether it will be in Rome or elsewhere, but I go with the interior freedom that comes from obedience, knowing that my superiors are (in a roundabout way) helping to unfold God's providential design for my life. I have been told where I am going to serve, and it will hopefully be announced to the Parish next weekend (16th/17th July) so I have to wait a little while longer before sharing this little piece of exciting news!
I am excited to begin this new chapter, especially to exercise my ordained ministry with and for the people of God, and I ask you all to pray for me!
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