Fr Tim Buckley
 Father Timothy Buckley is a Redemptorist priest and author. He gained an MA in Christian Spirituality from Creighton University, Omaha, USA, and has a doctorate from Heythrop College, London University. His thesis on the pastoral care of Catholics who experience marital breakdown was published in 1997 under the title, What Binds Marriage? – Roman Catholic Theology in Practice. He was Publishing Director of Redemptorist Publications for six years from the beginning of 2001 and then returned to mission and retreat work across the country. His new book, Take Heart: Expand your vision of God, was published in June 2009, and a book of his children’s stories, The Adventures of Freddie Freckles, was published in October 2009.
Q: When were the seeds of your vocation sown?
A. I guess when I was quite young. My father had considered a vocation with the Rosminians and had been to Ratcliffe College, before the First World War intervened. Then the De la Salle brothers at Beulah Hill in South London, where I was at school for ten years from the age of eight, encouraged us to think about the possibility of religious and priestly vocations. I knew I did not want to be a teacher with them, but I got to know the Redemptorists in Clapham and their cheerfulness and friendliness made a big impression on me.
Q: Why did you choose this particular order?
A. I think the answer is found above. I would just add that the particular work of preaching missions and retreats did not appeal to me at all, but in the event I have found myself engaged in that work on and off over many years and found it very rewarding. I like to think that my generation helped to reshape the approach after the Second Vatican Council as we tried to read the signs of the times.
Q: what aspect of religious life have you found most rewarding?
A. Without doubt the opportunity to live and work within a community and the rich variety of opportunities to work in different fields of the apostolate.
Q: What have you found most difficult?
A. I find this difficult to answer, but being something of a perfectionist I think many of my problems have arisen from my own desire to try and get it all right. However, the Lord can always turn difficulties and weaknesses into strengths. Again I owe much to my confrères and my family for their support through the times of disappointment and failure.
The other area which I am finding really difficult now is to witness the dramatic decline of religious life as we have known it in the West. I think even subconsciously it is painful for those of us who remain, albeit that we find hope in the few green shoots around and trust that the Lord will ensure that new forms of community living will emerge, better equipped to respond to the demands of today’s world.
Q: How do you see the work you are currently involved in?
A. Now that I am back preaching missions and retreats I am thoroughly enjoying the opportunities to offer encouragement wherever I go, remembering that description in Acts of Paul and Barnabas going from town to town, putting fresh heart into the disciples. By the same token I am very conscious that often I receive back far more than I am able to give.
Q: What are the biggest challenges of the work?
A. It is always important to be yourself, but in this kind of work there is a certain pressure to be on top form all the time and this can be quite draining. It is important to find space in between times and even on the job for prayer and recreation. The gospel image of Jesus regularly withdrawing with his disciples is helpful.
Q: What skills do you need?
A. Obviously the skill of communication is important: trying to find a language that speaks to the men and women of our time and touches their experiences. Saint Alphonsus, our founder, was always insistent that his brothers spoke in such a way that everyone could understand. Then above all there is the need to have compassion and recognise oneself as part of Christ’s healing ministry.
Q: Have you a tip on how to pray?
A. Very simply: stop trying too hard. Prayer is not an exercise in concentration. It is firstly discovering that we are already temples of the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit is expressing our pleas in a way that could never be put into words. (See Romans 8:26f)
Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
A. The one that springs to mind is this: When you simply don’t know what the best course of action is, try to have the courage at least to take the next step, even if later you have to step back and reconsider.
Q: What's your favourite movie?
Q: Which figure from history would you like to invite to a dinner party?
A. Albino Luciani (Pope John Paul I): His wonderful little book, Illustrissimi, indicates that he was a man with a fertile imagination who would have invited a host of real and fictional characters to come with him. I still think it is so sad he was Pope for such a short time... but we will never forget his wonderful smile, albeit that he clearly suffered much in mind and body.
|
