30-week Ignatian contemplation retreat planned

Friday, Oct. 03, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe, internationally known author and speaker, will present “Being the Body of Christ Today” at Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Church on Oct. 10.

Fr. Timothy, who previously taught Holy Scripture at Oxford University at Blackfriars, served as Master of the Dominican Order from 1992 to 2001, and now preaches throughout the world. He is the author of numerous books, including “What is the Point of Being Christian?,” which was published in 2005 and, in 2007, won The Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing.

Fr. Timothy is an attractive speaker for several reasons, said Dominican Father Carl Schlichte, pastor of Saint Catherine of Siena Newman Center. “One is that he speaks well; not just because of his wonderful British accent, but he actually has lots good to say and he’s very articulate in saying it.”

Fr. Timothy often draws his content from the experiences he had while traveling the world as Master of the Dominican Order; one requirement of that position is to personally visit at least once each Dominican friar and nun in the world.

Fr. Carl has met Fr. Timothy several times, he said. The first time was when Fr. Carl was in his third year with the order, and Fr. Timothy visited the Western Dominican Province during an assembly. One morning, Fr. Timothy sat at the breakfast table with Fr. Carl, “and we were just chit-chatting like old friends,” Fr. Carl said. “That always impressed me: Here’s the master of the order responsible for Dominicans throughout the world, and he’s having breakfast with not the provincial or the other muckety-mucks in the room, but with a couple of us student brothers. He did stuff like that throughout his tenure.”

Fr. Carl also recalls listening with other brothers as Fr. Timothy shared his experiences, such as talking about his friend Bishop Pierre Claverie, O.P. of Algeria, who was assassinated in 1996 along with his Muslim driver.

“He has an engaging way of telling the story,” Fr. Carl said. “It was like children around Grandpa telling a story, even though there were probably some friars listening to his story that were older than he was, but they were all just sitting there wide-eyed, listening to him tell these stories.”

Fr. Carl has served under four Masters of the Dominican Order, but Fr. Timothy “is one of my personal favorites and heroes in the order,” he said, adding that Fr. Timothy can put into context world events, such as those unfolding in Africa and the Middle East, because he has visited these places and can give a priest’s perspective on what Dominicans and other Catholics are doing in those areas. 

“He’s the closest probably some of us will get to a worldwide figure who has seen the Church working – and not working – on a level larger than our own parish or our own diocese,” Fr. Carl said. 

Susan Northway, Diocese of Salt Lake City director of Religious Education, said she, too, is looking forward to hearing Fr. Timothy. The title of his talk, ‘Being the Body of Christ Today,’ “really helps beckon people to think about the mission of each of us, from baptism, to proclaim Christ and to think about how to be Christ in the world today,” said Northway, who has enjoyed Radcliffe’s books.

“They’re very readable, they’re full of humor, they’re down-to-earth examples of being a Christian in the world and they answer the question, ‘Why should we be Christians?’,” she said. “I think he’s very good at that.”

 

WHAT: Evening with Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.

WHEN: Oct. 10, 7-9 p.m.

WHERE: St. Vincent de Paul Parish’s Holy Family Hall, 1385 E. Spring Lane, SLC

Free and open to the public