What are you waiting for?

Waiting is not a popular activity in today’s society, I’ll reach for my smart phone or a magazine rather than just sit there – doing nothing. Or perhaps I’m stuck in traffic – and I’m the driver. What a ‘waste of time’ that was. ‘I’ll never get that time back again’. In a culture where efficiency and productivity are highly valued, just-in-time production, next day delivery, and quick service all serve to underline the opinion that waiting for something is pointless. We like things resolved swiftly – settled. I prefer to be in control and have the matter sorted. Move on to the next thing. We all recognize this desire within ourselves. But of course, we are not in control and when we have to wait, we remember that we are not God. We are not in charge.

Our waiting is the rich soil in which faith, hope, and charity flourish. My waiting makes the necessary space for God’s action. We might describe some of our best prayer as waiting before God’s presence with trust and an attentive and humble heart: What word might he speak? What thought might he inspire within me? What sentiment or deeper knowledge of God may I grasp? What great work is God achieving in the world through my faith in him? God’s timing is always perfect. Often, it’s our perspective that is limited. So often, we’re all about resolution – when God is about revelation. God is near to us and looks for our response in every situation.

Waiting is a theme that runs through our salvation history – its qualities vary - sometimes it’s drawn out and desperate, at other times, hopeful . . . expectant, sometimes a writhing, painful waiting: A waiting for God to avenge his people, waiting for God to bring salvation to his people.

At the centre of our human history and at the heart of Advent is Mary who waits patiently and humbly upon the Lord and, as St Augustine says, Mary first hears the Word of God and keeps it before her ‘yes’ enabled the Word to take flesh in her womb. Mary reminds us that the Word whom we prepare to welcome is not an idea or an ethic but a life – THE LIFE who is Jesus. In humility, Mary makes room in her life for Jesus. Despite the upheaval and uncertainty that characterises the Annunciation and infancy of Jesus, within the Holy Family, there is also a quality of stillness, silence, attentiveness, and recollection that is born of the faith so foreign to our own time.

The holy season of Advent invites us to embrace these qualities in our daily lives. They enable us to recognise and welcome Jesus and to share more deeply in the life he offers.

Canon Michael Dolman

Rector

Diaconal ordinations: seven men, three different rites, one great mission

Oscott exists to form men for ordained ministry.

It’s therefore a great joy when we see our seminarians being ordained, ready to devote themselves to the service of the Lord and His people. In the last few weeks of this term, we are greatly blessed in this regard, with seven men being ordained in three different rites.

The Catholic Church has a rich variety of liturgical expression which includes not only the Latin (Roman) rite, but also other ancient rites from both East and West. Recently the Holy See has been emphasising the need for a man to be ordained in the rite in which he was baptised. For two of our seminarians, even though they will both serve in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, this meant being ordained deacon in the Eastern rites to which they originally belong. For the Oscott community, this meant the chance to celebrate and experience the beauty of the Eastern liturgy in our own chapel.

Tenny Antony was the first to be ordained, in the Syro-Malabar rite. This rite traces its roots back to St Thomas’ preaching in southern India, and is full of rich symbolism which emphasises the presence and action of God in the world. We were blessed that Mar Joseph Srampickal, the bishop who oversees the Syro-Malabar Eparchy in the UK, came to celebrate the ordination Mass.

The following week, Jithin Titto was ordained in the Syro-Malankara rite. Also rich in symbol, this rite traces its roots back to Antioch in Syria and is based on a tradition of prayer dating back to St James, the Apostle and first Bishop of Jerusalem. Thomas Mar Eusebius, Bishop of Parassala in Kerala, came to celebrate the ordination, which includes a particularly striking rite of calling down the Holy Spirit on the man being ordained.

On 20th December the college community will be back in the more familiar territory of the Latin rite, when five men will be ordained deacons on the last day of term. Four of them are Oscott seminarians: Chris Colaco (Northampton/Jesus Youth), Peter Ho (East Anglia), Kevin Hogan (Shrewsbury) and Anthony Reilly (East Anglia); Jonathan Henry, a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Birmingham who has been in formation at the Venerable English College, Rome, will be ordained with them. Please remember them all in your prayers, along with those who are still on the journey to ordination.

These ordinations have given us all at Oscott a better sense of the diversity of the Catholic Church and the beauty of the liturgy. They have helped us to appreciate our own traditions whilst becoming more open to others. May the same be true for the men ordained: may they be always true to what they have received through the Tradition of the Church, and at the same time be open to others, devoted to the service for which they have been ordained.

Fr Andrew Allman, Vice-Rector

From public events to guided tours and special liturgies, a lot happens at our seminary that you can get involved in…

Organ Recitals in the new year

February 6, 2026 3:00 PM

Newest blog post: Dr Angela Costley on God’s revelation, and the Hebrew Catholic identity