Advent and Prayer: The Importance of Patience
It might be a surprise for you to learn that I was once invited to become a monk. It certainly came as a surprise to me!
The offer was made after I asked a question to a man with white hair, wearing a long white robe, at a conference of the Student Christian Movement. That man was Timothy Radcliffe, a Roman Catholic Dominican monk in the Order of Preachers who was the author of our second reading today.
Of course, I had to decline Timothy’s invitation for a number of reasons, the main one being I told him, was that my then-girlfriend, now fiancée, would probably not be too happy about me taking monastic vows – an excuse I remember he graciously accepted.