Fr David O'Malley SDB - A Vocation Story - Living the Dream

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There were celebrations at the Salesian House in Battersea, south London over the weekend, to mark the fortieth anniversary of Fr David O'Malley's ordination. Fr Anthony Lobo made a video featuring key moments in Fr David's life and vocation - see link below.

Fr David was born in Hull, the son of a prison officer and moved through eight schools before finishing A levels. A qualified teacher, youth worker and counsellor, he completed an MA in religious experience research centre which was based in Oxford at the time. For his whole working life Fr David has been working face to face with young people and says he finds them: "enriching company but always challenging."

He has also worked in retreat ministry, chaplaincy, volunteer project management and supported many people through training in youth ministry. Fr David says: "I am a keen swimmer and write quite a bit on youth spirituality which I see as one of the greatest hopes for the renewal of the church. That is because young people rub salt into the wounds of adult church compromises."

At present he is based in Battersea and during Covid-19 is involved in coordinating 'Battersea Angels,' a network of 400+ volunteers established by north Battersea churches to respond to local needs. Usually he is fully involved in supporting the spiritual life of 13 Salesian schools around the country. As one of the Salesian community commented, "you've no time for sin!"

Fr David reflected: "Don Bosco, the founder of the Salesians (SDB), was not afraid of emotion. He believed that all learning was eventually a matter of the heart because he believed that God teaches through experience. It is what happens to us that shapes us. It is the relationships around us that focus our minds. The experience of life calls us all out of ourselves and into relationship with others, with creation, with needs and with hopes for the future. Therefore, every vocation has this dimension because it is life that calls us to life.

In this story you see a person called not only by gifts and positive experiences but also by deficits and woundedness in life. As the heart struggles with the tensions between hope and heaviness a vocational path unfolds leading to a deeper life. In that deeper awareness, the whisper of God guides a person from the heart in a communion that echoes in every Eucharist."

Watch the film here: www.facebook.com/watch/?v=577015923252091

LINKS

Salesian Blog - www.salesianschools.com/blog

The national Salesian Schools - www.salesianschools.com

Battersea Salesian House - www.salesiansbattersea.net

Thinking about becoming an SDB - www.salesianvocations.co.uk