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THE GLORY OF GOD IS A HUMAN BEING FULLY ALIVE

Canon Edward Probert, Chancellor (Sunday 1st March 2009)

I hope that by now you do not need me to tell you that we will be seeing much of Fr Timothy Radcliffe this month. Each Wednesday at 1.00pm in the Cathedral, he will be talking on the theme of being fully human and I strongly urge you to be there. His talks are entitled:
Come out Lazarus: Coming Alive (4 March)
Alive in Faith (11 March)
Hoping to Live (18 March)
The Love of my Life (25 March)

Timothy was for nine years the Master of the worldwide Dominican Order of Preachers, and is a remarkable speaker, not because of rhetorical flourish or effective self-promotion, but because he commands a very rare combination of broad sympathy, intelligence, theological and spiritual depth, wisdom, humour, and humility.

He is also giving these talks in Devizes and Dorchester to ensure that many in our Diocese can take part. For those unable to attend, a recording of his talks at the Cathedral will be available via the website www.fully-alive.co.uk

So what is all this about? Even the most naïve enthusiast would not claim that a short course of talks is going to deliver the apparent claim of the title, that of making us fully alive. I’m sure Fr Timothy would not dream of making such a claim. With his talks we embark as a Diocese on a journey that focuses on being fully alive, which will have many different facets: strengthened relationships; opportunities for study, reflection, worship, and fun; new ways of knowing and serving our society; fresh engagement with the arts and imagination. This journey lasts until Pentecost next year, so we have time to imagine and experience our common calling (as Bishop David has put it) ‘to live abundantly, in ways that grow in faith, in fellowship, in understanding and service of our society, and in a proper enjoyment of the life God has given us’.

Much of our lives can be stultified and trapped; likewise Church life can be institutional, obligatory, or routine. By embarking with Fr Timothy on this quest we won’t delude ourselves that some simple gimmick can transform all this. But we will be directing ourselves towards something of unimaginable importance: for, to paraphrase St Irenaeus, by being fully alive we reveal the glory of God.

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