My Dear Friends,

I hope you are feeling OK, and not struggling too much. It continues to be a tough time for everybody, and my heart goes out to all of you who are on your own.

Please remember that I, and indeed all the clergy are on the end of a phone and email.

Today is the feast of Saint Anselm. He was an Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, teacher of the faith and was known as the Father of Scholasticism.

I think my fondness for him derives from two things. The first is that at the monastery where I go on retreat, one of the monks is Dom Anselm, and he led our retreat this year. He spoke from the heart about prayer, and I could have sat at his feet and listened for hours on end. He was so humble, yet absolutely profoundly wise, and led us simply through the drama of trying to work out what happens when we pray, to the joy of the greater silence. I loved every second of it.

The second is some words from St Anselm himself, so full of sensitiveness. ‘I want to understand something  of the truth which my heart believes and loves. I do not seek thus to understand in order to believe, but I believe in order that I may understand.’

This is so great, especially coming after our reading on Sunday about Thomas struggling to accept when the other disciples told him they had seen the Lord. ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

Thomas wanted to understand in order that he could believe – Anselm believed in order that he could understand! And they both speak volumes to different people. Thomas was very sensory in that he wanted proof. Anselm very intuitive in that his starting point was belief in things that can’t be proven.
We are all somewhere on that spectrum.

I love Thomas, he allows Jesus to once again take the initiative, and reveal himself, and Thomas is able to proclaim ‘My Lord and my God.’ His doubt was short lived. He told it like it was – right from the heart. To start with he says, sorry guys, I just don’t get it. Then he says, Right! Now I see! And once he could see, he accepted everything. Many people are like that.

I love Anselm. It is like he says, I don’t need to wait for all the bits to be shown to me. They will come. If I live as though the resurrection were true, I will discover that it is!

It is so important that there is such a breadth of personalities in the history of our faith, that we can each find a range of saints to inspire us. We are all so different, and we approach our Lord each in our own unique way, and whatever that way is, we will find him eagerly waiting, and anticipating our approach.

Which leads me neatly to a couple of things.
During these highly unusual times we have been working hard to build on our sense of community and family by posting a range of things online, live streaming services and using youtube and the radio. It is great to get feedback, because much of this is new to us, and we don’t want to overwhelm folk by doing too much, or leave people short by not doing enough, so please let us have your thoughts.
Last week my letter was from the whole Standing Committee, and it provoked some very positive responses, mainly saying ‘Thank you for your understanding that times are hard, but perhaps you could encourage folk to make donations now.’
Well, we are happy to do that. If you are keen to donate to Chaplaincy Funds here is a link
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=Q5FK-LmgDvZJDjdrs4K1Iz9k2I5-um8qSDHxSpetfh3NmMxkfUhmKx7zZdE0le-E8K5Ggm&fromUL=true&country.x=ES&locale.x=es_ES

Or you could contact Carole Bentley our Stewardship Officer or Dennis Johnson our Treasurer, both whose details are on the letter

And here is a link to the letter if you missed it, or fancy a refresher
https://costablanca-anglicanchaplaincy.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=3444&action=edit

And finally, as many of you know I do a radio show every Sunday from 6-8pm
www.puregold.fm
Please let me have your favourite tracks, and indeed a request or dedication, so that we can share the love that is so apparent in our Chaplaincy. Just email me at marcusronchetti@yahoo.co.uk and we will see what happens.

Bless you. Bless you. Bless you.

As ever,

Fr Marcus