I have just returned from my diocese’s Discernment Weekend for those considering applying for entry to the Priesthood.

From Saturday onwards there have been moments each day that have been very special.

Moment 1.

We had an hour of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Saturday afternoon. It was in a normal room. No churchy surroundings or inspirational paintings or anything. Just us and the Blessed Sacrament. I won’t go into too many details, but after about 50 minutes I had what I can only describe as a moment of perfect clarity. Well, more like five minutes of moments actually. And it was wonderful. In the proper sense of the word: I was filled with wonder. And awe. And joy. I felt changed. And that wasn’t the end of it.

Moment 2.

On Sunday we went to Mass at the nearby church. We walked there -  a group of seven of us - down lanes and between fields, and even past a roundabout inhabited, astonishingly, by a large number of seemingly feral chickens. Which was a bit of a surprise! Anyway we got to St Edmunds in Bungay and I discovered that it’s lovely (both the church and Bungay itself). Just being in that glorious church in such magnificent surroundings would have been good enough, but no, there was more. There was an organ. A REAL organ. With pipes. And an organist. And there was even more! There was a choir. A REAL choir. That can sing. They have a soloist. Who can SING. (And they even have hymns pitched such that I can sing them too!). And then there was a full complement of altar boys and girls, with an MC. I couldn’t help but feel blessed that I was able to attend Mass there. Afterwards we all went for coffee and were made to feel very welcome.

Moment 3.

Perhaps I am revealing my more ‘modern side’ here, but I have just discovered a most amazing piece of music. It’s ‘Agnus Dei’ by Rufus Wainwright and it’s nothing like any Agnus Dei you’ve ever heard before. It took my breath away. Wainwright performs the piece outstandingly: his voice portrays such longing and draws one right into the music. On first hearing it, it ‘knocked my socks off’ and served to remind me that there is a rich seam of religious music that can be reinterpreted and rescored in a modern way without losing any of its purity or its ‘punch’.

(Latin purists will want to be pre-warned that ‘Agnus’ is pronounced badly in the song - with a rather hard G - but in my opinion it takes nothing away from the passion in the piece).

Moment 4.

Finally, today I have discovered http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/. Produced by ‘Jesuit Media Initiatives’ I couldn’t fail to be impressed. It’s made it straight to the top of my list of web favourites and I foresee that it’s going to be a great resource for my daily prayer life. I thank God for the effort that has gone into it.