Sunday 2nd March

The Ordinariate Mass will be at Plymouth Cathedral instead of Buckfast Abbey ( at the same time 3pm ). This is for the ordination of Tony Cockram to the diaconate by Bishop Mark for the Ordinariate.

God or Mammon?

You cannot be the slave of both God and of money.

Our Lord warns us about not being duplicitous – not trying to serve two masters. He warns us about this because at the end of the day we cannot do it. We will end up serving just one master and treating the other with scorn.

The example our Lord uses is that of God and money. And He actually uses the Hebrew word, “Mammon”, suggesting that if we serve money then it becomes our real god.

It is a serious warning, but how can this really happen?

One of our really fundamental problems as human beings is anxiety, worry, fear. We are concerned about what the unknown future will bring us, and we are worried about how it will affect us, or those we love. We can have many worries.

If you were to analyse the Bible and to count the most common commandment found within its pages you would find something staggering. The most common commandment is not one of the Ten Commandments. It is not the commandment to love. The most common commandment in the Bible is, “Do not be afraid”, “Fear not”. God knows our anxiety and He speaks His Word to us of peace: “Do not be afraid.”

We all have these worries and we of course try to manage them. We try to do things and find things that give us security. We of course can gain security by strong relationships, whether family, friends or neighbours. But perhaps today the most common way we try to gain security is with wealth. The more financial resources we have, we think, the more secure we can be. And while of course, in the kind of society we live in, we do need some financial resource, we can fall into a trap very quickly; because we go beyond what we actually need. We say to ourselves, “The more wealth I have the more secure I will be, the less fear I will have.” However this is a lie. We cannot buy real security.

Over and over again, our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us in the Gospel that wealth will not buy us security. Remember the parable of the rich farmer? He creates a massive amount of wealth and then he suddenly dies! What good is wealth to the rich farmer then? Our Lord is pointing us beyond the here and now to look beyond our materials needs to find a security not in material possessions but through our relationship with God. In Him alone can find we find true security.

Perhaps during Lent this year, we can reassess our dependence upon wealth for security, and dare to let go of some of it, and replace it with a stronger relationship with God, and stronger relationships with those around us?

Fr Ian

School of the Annunciation

A Centre of Formation for the New Evangelisation has been established by leading experts in Catholic education.  Dr Petroc Willey, Dr Andrew Beards, Dr Caroline Farey and others, have established this centre, called the School of the Annunciation, in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, UK, thanks to the generosity and collaboration of the Abbot of Buckfast, the Rt. Rev. David Charlesworth and the monastic community.

Dr Petroc Willey was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation in 2012. The Holy Father also appointed Dr Petroc Willey and Dr Caroline Farey as advisors to the Synod on ‘New Evangelisation for the Transmission of the Faith’ held in the Vatican.  

The School of the Annunciation will begin by offering a Diploma in the New Evangelisation delivered by experts in this exciting and newly emerging field of activity and reflection in the life of the Church. As well as the Diploma in the New Evangelisation, the School of the Annunciation is offering short Summer Schools.  These provide a unique opportunity to study the Catholic Faith in the beautiful setting of Buckfast Abbey, sharing the monastic community’s life and prayer over long summer weekends in August.

The academic faculty of the School of the Annunciation includes: Dr Andrew Beards, Academic Director; Dr Caroline Farey, Director of Studies; Dr Petroc Willey, Reader in the New Evangelisation, and Rev Nick Donnelly, Director of Formation. The Academic Registrar is Miss Monica Massarella.  

On the foundation of the School of the Annunciation Abbot David Charlesworth said:

“Following on the success of the Summer Schools in previous years, the foundation of the School of the Annunciation promises to be the next phase in Buckfast Abbey becoming a centre for authentic Catholic studies in continuity with the great Benedictine tradition stretching back over 1,500 years in our country. May Our Lady of Buckfast bless this new venture.”

Rt Rev Mark O’Toole, Bishop of Plymouth said:

“I am delighted to welcome this new initiative for the New Evangelisation at Buckfast Abbey, and I am grateful for the generosity shown by Abbot David and the Monastic community in providing it a home and direction.  The Diocese of Plymouth looks forward to working with the School of the Annunciation so that the Gospel may more effectively be preached in our society.”

Dr Andrew Beards, the Academic Director, said:

“We have gathered together at Buckfast, a faculty of Catholic theologians and catechists who are experts in collaborative distance learning to create a unique experience in formation for the Church’s urgent mission of New Evangelisation. Our courses will be delivered through a creative mix of short residentials, e-learning and personal tuition.  It is our hope that men and women in this country, and from around the world, will join us in this exciting new venture to take the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ into the heart of 21st century culture.”

Contact details

 Website: www.schooloftheannunciation.com 

 Email:  enquiries@schooloftheannunciation.com

 Phone: 01364 645660