CHRISTIAN VIEWPOINT: Time is no factor when it comes to what matters

Father Dominic tells me about the Catholic Church in Nigeria where he grew up.

Some 1200 people attending 6am weekday masses.

Sunday masses lasting up to three hours, packed with singing and dancing and a one-hour sermon.

I ask Dominic, the priest at St Ninian’s Church in Inverness, if he is disappointed that the Church in Scotland is not similarly vibrant. Rather than being critical, he says he understands why church attendance has dropped in Scotland.

You can see his strong, gentle pride in his church members and their commitment, and in the young people who help shape the content of the monthly Youth Mass.

Talking to Father Dominic, two things struck me. In Nigeria, he tells me “when people come to mass, they don’t come with a wrist-watch.” They have a relaxed approach to time generally, but going to mass is almost a stepping-out of time. “For them, Sunday is the day of the Lord,” says Dominic. Church seems to be a thin place where God is encountered, where time loses its significance.

I contrast UK culture, where often time controls us, shaping our days. And then I think of the length of time Dominic spent preparing to serve here. Years of studying philosophy and theology, and subsequently a Master’s degree. Years of preparation at St Mary’s in Inverness from 2013, where Father James was a father to him, where he felt welcomed and at home.

The second thing was this. When Dominic was at Pluscarden Abbey, near Elgin, before coming to Inverness, reflecting about his future, he was challenged by the bitter November chill when rising for 4am prayers. And as he described seeing snow for the very first time, he conveyed something of the mix of joy and awe he felt.

The cold and snow symbolised the challenges he faced in coming from Africa. Not just the weather, but the need to learn to speak English as we speak it in Scotland, to learn to adapt to Scottish culture, to cope with the loneliness he sometimes feels.

But his reaction to the snow also spoke of his exuberant embrace of life, and the joy he finds in so many things including Premier League football. And it reminds me of the awe at the reality of God Dominic sometimes experiences in celebrating mass, in his private prayers, and in meditations while on retreat.

There is something Christlike about Father Dominic, coming from a distant place to serve people here. He points us to the source of that awe and joy which sustain us through life’s challenges. He reminds us that all the things which truly matter spring from the place where wrist-watches are left behind.

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