A beautiful sunny Friday afternoon greeted our arrival at St Mary’s
College, Oscott in Birmingham, a new venue for the OLC Conference. This
was an eagerly awaited weekend following last year’s cancelled event and
it did not disappoint. The good weather continued throughout the weekend,
the surroundings were magnificent, old friends were greeted and new
friends welcomed.
Holy Mass on Friday evening was our first chance to see the impressive
‘Pugin’ Chapel and during the weekend our visits to the chapel were
blessed by prayerful, meditative and joyful Morning and Night Prayers and
Holy Mass.
Fr. Harry Curtis gave three talks on Saturday following the theme of the
weekend, ‘The Christian Call to Love’, and he pointed out that in this
play on words, ‘love’ was both a verb (something we are called to do) and
also a noun (the love that is God Himself). In the first talk, we were
introduced to ‘Deus Caritas Est’, the first encyclical written by Pope
Benedict XVI. In the encyclical, Pope Benedict spends time reflecting on
two Greek words for love, eros and agape. The Pope writes
that these two types of love should not be separated but are two halves of
complete love. Both are needed, the ‘erotic’ possessive or receiving love
and the self-giving agape love more often associated with Christian love.
In his second talk Father Harry explained that the statement ‘God is Love’
tells us that God’s very nature is love and in the outpouring of this
love, God is a family of three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, - The
Family united in perfect love. We are made in the image of God and are
created to be in the family of God, a family of divine love.
‘Friendship’ was explored in the third talk and we were encouraged to
think about the beautiful words on friendship written in the book, ‘The
Prophet’ by Kahlil Gibran. Father Harry summed up his talks in the
following words, “God is love. We are called to love. We are called to
come to Love, who is God, and we are called to love one another”
A high point of the weekend was a tour of the college and museum given by
Dr Judith Champ, her excellent commentary gave a real insight into the
history of the building and its significant place in post-Reformation
English Catholic life.
Jean Johnson gave a very helpful talk to both tutors and students on the
standards required for the Diploma, and we all went home with much heavier
bags after being tempted by the usual array of books and other items
bought by Sheila Chambers.
The hospitality of the staff and the excellent food helped to make the
weekend special and when we finally gathered in the Chapel for Holy Mass
on Sunday to be reminded of God’s love bursting into the world at Easter,
I think that we all felt the truth of the words, ‘The Lord is truly risen.
Alleluia!’
Many thanks to Father Harry, members of the Executive Committee and all
who helped to make this weekend special.
Sue Andrews
Easter Flowers at the foot of the Altar
