The priest does not have a home

Striding down the lane from Heptonstall to Hebden Bridge in Calderdale this afternoon, on the final straight of a seven-mile walk, looking forward to a celebratory cup of tea at the bottom I met a smartly dressed man about my age walking up the lane. "It's much better going down!" I ventured. "No, going up is better. That's where home is!" The way he said it, the look on his face as he said it, I knew he was talking not just about his abode but about loved ones. He is clearly a man who appreciates his family. The thought of his candid and straightforward avowal of what is important in life put a trip in my step as I reflected on it for the remainder of the descent. And, of course, it made me think a little too of the differences in our life situations. Priests do not ordinarily have homes. That's something that lads who are thinking about the priesthood have to come to terms with in time. Canon Belton, may he rest in peace, with whom I did a parish placement as a seminarian, told me that when the second parent of a priest dies and the family home ceases to be such, it marks a significant new phase in the man's priesthood and, like many of my brothers, I have found that to be true. This not having a home is part of the understated asceticism of diocesan priesthood and hence, (hopefully!) a means of our sanctification. We are to be generally (though not always, thank God!) available, and so we should be. Moreover, we must always be ready to move in response to pastoral needs.

Mind you, the ascetical side of our life can be overstated. When I moved into Leeds Trinity, the Principal ensured that I got a new carpet and a new dining room table and side-board and the bathroom was renovated. The other day I said to one of the students, "Do you know, I rather like being here." The student, who if he is like most of his peers, has to choose between the chips or the pie for lunch because he can't afford both, said "I bet you do. You have a bijou bachelor pad with a guest bedroom. I'd like being here too if I had everything that you have." He had a point!