Venerable Bede May 25 b.673 d. 735 c. 1899

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

Bede, born in Northumbria, England, was sent to the monastery at Wearmouth-Jarrow when he was seven... ...
about the same age we were when we started our Catholic educaton - i was a first grader at st patrick's in albany [6 i guess]; you started in kindergarten, with sister luke, at overbrook, [5]

Bede's abbot was saint benedict biscop.... it does matter who our teachers, mentors, leaders are - and where we are put, where we choose to go, with whom we decide to spend our time does matter....

in 703 Bede was received as a monk; at age 30 ordained a priest.... "i spent my whole life in the same monastery, and while attentive to the rule of my order and the service of the Church, my constant pleasure lay in learning or teaching or writing." .... faith and faithfulness are not incompatible with learning, teaching or writing...

Bede became the Father of English learning - author of 45 volumes, including his History of the English Church and People.... he wrote commentarie, text books, translations, grammatical and chronological workes, hymns, and verse, letters, and homilies..... he completed the first martyrology wtih historical notes - yes, our saintlilness is effected by our history.... as much as he made an impact on our Catholic learning, it is as the historian that he is famous.

to fulfill your gifts, your talents, look at Bede. like you, smarter than the average bear. ... like you, his education, his Catholic education, began early.... you got wrenched out of that tract early on; unfortunate ... ... more importantly, you have had to contend with an animosity toward the pursuit of perfection, the expectation that you fulfill your talents beyond your personal preference and into the realm of saintliness.... Bede is a model of such pursuit - he pursued his gifts to the max; as we are all called to do ....

who was this man Bede? how do you get to know him?

i love you
dad