Our Chaplain Our Friend
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Our Chaplain The Link- National CatholicOur Scout Fellowship FriendPage Holy Week 2015 National Catholic Scout Fellowship ‘...actively supporting Catholics in Scouting Holy Week 2015 — Number 216 Father John Seddon Page 2 From Bishop Richard Page 3 From Jim Pages 4 & 5 Design a Badge Page 5 Homily of Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP Pages 6 & 7 Archdiocesan Obituary of Father John Pages 8 & 9 Father John : An Appreciation Page 10 Father John : by his Parish Priest Page 11 Margaret’s Memories of Father John Pages 12 & 13 Membership Form & Gift Aid Page 14 Rome 2015 Page 15 CISG Contacts Page 16 Communications Page 17 Contact Details & NCFS Shop Page 18 Closing Prayers Page 19 Bishop Richard Moth Page 20 Father John Seddon National Catholic Scout Chaplain May he Rest in Peace Page 2 Holy Week 2015 - Memorial Issue for Fr John From Bishop Richard This edition of The Link provides is with an opportunity, across the Catholic Scouting community in England & Wales, to reflect on the life of Father John Seddon. Father John gave so much to Scouting over many years, both at national and international levels and he will be sorely missed by a great number of people. He represented us in Europe and beyond, giving a wonderful example of chaplaincy to the Scouting Movement. His work with Gilwell Park, as National Faith Adviser, did much to keep Faith on the national agenda. Within Catholic Scouting in England & Wales, his devotion to the young people in his care was second-to-none. In Advent and Lent he would provide meditations and materials for Scouts, he was ever-present at NCSF Committee Meetings. I shall remember his powerful singing at Masses and at prayers during the Queen’s Jubilee Camp. I shall remember his lovely sense of humour, his dislike of vegetables and his Union Jack Trousers! Above all, we have been greatly blessed to have had a National Chaplain whose first concern was the Scouts in his care. He was a truly gentle shepherd for us all. May he rest in peace. With every Blessing for the coming celebration of Holy Week and Easter. Bishop Richard Moth : Episcopal Liaison for Catholic Scouts A Memorial Mass for Father John Seddon will be celebrated at 3pm on Sunday 10th May at Aylesford Priory, Kent. All are very welcome. The Link- National Catholic Scout Fellowship Page 3 From Jim This edition is overshadowed by the passing-away of our much- loved National Chaplain, Fr John Seddon. I had only know him myself for the last three years, but in that short time he created a great impression on me. But it was also the impression on so many others, which was amplified by the numbers attending his Requiem Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool. We have reproduced in this edition the homily of the Archbishop of Liverpool, plus the memories of others who knew Fr John for much longer than me. He will be a hard act to replace as we now search for his successor. We extend our congratulations to our liaison Bishop, Rt Rev Richard Moth, on his appointment as the new Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. We send him our best wishes and prayers as he takes up this new challenge. This year we are celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of our organisation, formerly known as the Catholic Scout Advisory Council. A number of us are going on a short pilgrimage to Rome in May in a repeat of the original pilgrimage of 1925 from which the CSAC sprang. It will also be a poignant memorial to Fr John whose idea it was and who set in motion its organisation. Don’t forget as well the special anniversary badge which can be worn by all Catholics in Scouting. Details of how to obtain the badge can be found on the next page. Page 4 Holy Week 2015 - Memorial Issue for Fr John This year’s Founder’s Day Mass at St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, was well attended, and we were joined as principal celebrant as we marked our 90th anniversary by the Archbishop of Southwark, Most Rev Peter Smith, concelebrating with Bishop Richard, and our former liaison Bishop, Rt Rev Howard Tripp. Among the various presentations at the end of the Mass, special congratulations should be made to Robert Mann who was presented with the ICCS Medal for services to Catholic Scouting. And finally, we welcome Ben Crabb as manager of the National Scout Active Support Units, and Edward Gough as his deputy; Edward also happens to be a member of the NCSF, which is good. We look forward to working with them both. Jim Gildea Manager, NCSF Design a Badge.. THANKS TO ALL THOSE who submitted designs for the ‘Design a Badge’ competition. The winning entries were judged in early February, and the winning design is reproduced below. This badge is available for all Catholics in Scouting to wear in 2015—our 90th anniversary year—and to order supplies please visit our website (www . catholicsinscouting . org . uk) or contact ‘The Shop’, details on the back cover. The Link- National Catholic Scout Fellowship Page 5 Funeral Homily of Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP Preached at the Requiem Mass of Father John Seddon, Friday 6 March 2015 Deep within us the Lord has written his Law on our hearts. That deep truth was prophesied by Jeremiah and was made real for us in Jesus Christ who came to fulfil the Law. The law as we know it is a law of love – much harder to keep than a law that consists of lists of rights and wrongs. But a big heart can contain more – it contains the love of God made visible in Jesus Christ. You might have thought that John Seddon would make a great policeman. He was a big bloke with big feet and a big heart. He was just the kind of person we want in our society to uphold the law and keep the peace. But in a peculiar way John’s heart led him to serve the community in a different way as a priest. His calling to serve the community, God’s holy faithful people, as Pope Francis puts it took many forms: policeman, port chaplain, national scout chaplain, Lourdes pilgrim – but they were all encompassed by this big man’s heart. His heart was bursting with love. The thing about hearts in Jeremiah’s time was that they were understood to be the centre of justice in a person. It was in the heart that you discerned the difference between right and wrong. Hearts weren’t necessarily a place for your affections, but then a law of love is about justice too, and those who knew John would find in him an energy, power, that came from his heart. That is why we will all miss John dreadfully. Like St Paul, he could be all things to all people. Because he loved people, he absorbed their experiences into his heart. He had what psychologists called empathy, so whether he was dining at the captain’s table or sitting around a campfire eating spuds and sausages he was at home and at ease. That is why priesthood suited John. Through him many individuals found a way to God. In John they found sincerity and authenticity, and with him they broke bread and shared the cup and were true companions on the journey through life. But I believe that every priest preaches a sermon beyond death. John requested today that we wear white vestments to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the hope that we will all be included in that moment of glory. He is not saying that we shouldn’t pray for him, that he will be pardoned of his sins Page 6 Holy Week 2015 - Memorial Issue for Fr John (that is our solemn duty) – we must always dare the dead to step into the light with our prayers. He is saying that he wants us to share in the joy that he found in Jesus, and not to be miserable. He is saying that our hope in the coming of the Lord is not optimism but true hope based on Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and he is saying that although life is full of pain it can still be joyful. Unbeknown to many John had lived with the sickness that killed him for many years. He had received excellent medical treatment and lived a full life – it is a tribute to the knowledge and skill of the medical profession that he was able to live such a varied and energetic life in the service of the Lord. But the Lord had given John great strength to enable him to carry out his work. Every time John went on pilgrimage to Lourdes he must have wondered why he was so blessed when he ministered to the sick. Deep within his heart was God’s love bursting to get out but also within him was a medical condition that was always life threatening. We never know what goes on inside another’s heart, body or mind – except that that person deserves our respect and would be loved by Lord. For many pilgrims John was an embodiment of that love. That is his message for us that we must see the face of Christ in others: the young scout learning to work with others, a seafarer a long way from home, an elderly couple on a Caribbean cruise still seeking some meaning in life, a fellow patient in hospital, a barman in Lourdes or a sick pilgrim.