THE author, the Revd Dr Simon Cuff is a parish priest in Hackney and also a theologian, having formerly lectured at St Mellitus College. The origin of this book is a set of addresses delivered at a retreat for those preparing for ordination. The reflections to which the subtitle refers are presented in the light of Cuff’s own reflections on a priestly life as he includes his own story of responding to God’s call and his experience in ministry.
There are a prologue and an epilogue with five chapters in between. The chapter on “Priesthood” explains the relationship between the priesthood of Christ and the ordained priest (presbyter) and the physical transmission of ministry through the Holy Spirit and the laying-on-of hands to unworthy and often unlikely people whom God calls. The chapter on “Parish” reflects on what it is to serve and lead a community with love — and, to quote the late Pope Francis, for the shepherd to smell of his sheep. “Power and Privilege” explores how these gifts given to priests need to be used to encourage people to flourish and grow in faith, and the need for the priest to exercise power and privilege to release people to be whom God wants them to be in a way that is neither oppressive nor abusive.
“Prayer and People” links the Body of Christ received in the eucharist with the people who are the Body of Christ. Cuff quotes St Augustine, “When you hear, ‘The body of Christ’ you reply ‘Amen’. Be a member of Christ’s body, then, so that your ‘Amen’ may ring true! . . . Be what you see; receive what you are.” In the final chapter on “Providence”, the author explores “God’s will, God’s grace, God’s timing, God’s particular plan for each one of us and for the whole of creation”.
Waiting on the Lord is a book that will help those who are feeling that inner “nagging” that won’t go away. It is a book that will give the newly ordained much on which to reflect, and one that will encourage those who became priests for God and have been ordained a long time to reflect on the gift that they have received, for the Church and for themselves, and for which they will ever be amazed and thankful.
The Rt Revd Dominic Walker OGS is a former Bishop of Monmouth.
Waiting on the Lord: Reflections for a priestly life
Simon Cuff
Canterbury Press £12.99
(978-1-78622-655-6)
Church Times Bookshop £11.69