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Clogher Clergy Quiet Day
Clogher Clergy Quiet Day
On Ascension Day, the Bishop of Clogher, the Rt Revd Dr Michael Jackson, led
a Quiet Day for the diocesan clergy in Aghavea Parish Church on the theme: ‘From
an empty tomb to all corners of the world.’ The Quiet Day took the form
of thematic talks followed by silence and then discussion and concluded with
a celebration of Holy Communion. In facing with his clergy issues relating
to discipleship, service and leadership, Bishop Jackson explained how the injunction
of the Risen Lord to Mary Magdalen: ‘Do not cling to me…’ is
a pastoral moment of great glory and great release between Chief Shepherd and
an individual sheep, it sets her free from an outmoded understanding of God
in Jesus Christ which, post-Resurrection, cannot be sustained and which is
tailor-made to disappoint. The bishop went on to explore with his clergy the
relationship between St Luke’s account and St Matthew’s account
of the departure of the Risen Christ in the context of Ascension. He spoke
of mission to the Gentiles as the fruit of ascension and of ascension itself
as essentially transitional: ‘The transition is internal to God but external
and wide open to us – from the Christ through the Father to the Spirit… This
is what it is to live the life of the Holy Trinity and this is what it is to
be baptized in the Holy Spirit and in the totality of who God is – rather
in the way of Mary Magdalen.’ He concluded his second address: ‘The
way in which the disciples are depicted staring up into the sky, searching
for an absence, is an image which none of us could forget.’ In speaking
of Pentecost, the bishop began by addressing the following issue: ‘One
of the hardest things for any group of Christians to accept is that Christendom
is long dead.’ He went on to explain how this idea had lingered in both
parts of Ireland for much longer than it had elsewhere. He gave a picture of
what Pentecost meant to him: ‘Deregulation takes many forms. The traditionalists
clutch all the more pedantically at the embers of Establishment, looking for
flames where there is nothing other than smoke, and then licking their wounds
as they get singed. The progressives see fresh opportunities and go in search
of the fire which is never quenched but is now burning where nobody has spotted
it; they too get singed. But living with fire, as children of Pentecost do
and must, maybe we all get singed and always will.’ He went on to explore
with those present the relationship between conversion and transformation.
Lively reaction followed.
During the periods of discussion topics as broad-ranging as funeral services
and the current recession were explored.