Author: Justin

Father Columba McCann OSB was a speaker at a colloquium organised to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Bl. Columba Marmion at Sant’Anselmo in Rome last week.

Fr Columba’s talk was titled ‘A Book of Light, Inspiration and Power: Blessed Columba Marmion and the Bible.’

The event – hosted jointly by the Pontifical Atheneum of Saint Anselm and the Pontifical Irish College – brought together monastics, clergy, academics, diplomats and interested guests to examine Bl. Columba Marmion’s relevance today.

The gathering commenced with a letter of greetings sent by Pope Francis which was read by Cork-born Monsignor Joseph Murphy, Head of Protocol at the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.

A recording of Fr Columba’s talk can be watched here.

Opus 96 Chamber Choir will perform ‘From Byrd to Beethoven’ in Glenstal Abbey Church on Sunday 7th May at 4pm.

Including: The Byrd Mass for Four Voices and Beethoven Melodies arranged for Choir.

Choral Director: Martina Ryan Murphy / Accompanist: Bogumila Sokirko

There will be a retiring collection at the door, and all donations will be gratefully received.

We look forward to seeing you!

Fr Anthony Keane OSB

IN TODAY’S GOSPEL, JESUS IS REVEALED AS OUR
GOOD AND TRUE SHEPHERD.

Some may draw back in alarm at the thought of WE LIKE
SHEEP, WE LIKE SHEEP HAVE ALL GONE ASTRAY,
EACH AND EVERYONE TO HIS OWN WAY, who with
sticks and shouts and dogs need to be chased and rounded up
and driven on to something close to the right path.
Our divine Lord, who, deep within our being, has implanted
his Law, is not like that. Indeed nor are the good shepherds
who deal with actual sheep in the Middle East or on the Aran
Islands and elsewhere: these do not drive their sheep. Rather
they knowingly lead them. Our Lord, the Good Shepherd,
calls his own sheep by name and leads them out
Our Lord and shepherd of our souls is no stranger; within our
very being we know his voice. He has other sheep too, not of
this flock. It is He who leads out the flocks of stars to graze
on the velvet black panoply of the Heavens, releasing the
Pleiades and showing the Bear and its cubs which way to
go,as Job would have it. Or Baruch: He sends the light and it
goes, He recalls it and trembling it obeys. The stars shine
joyfully at their posts; when He calls them they answer “Here
we are”; they shine to delight their creator.
May all of us know the thrill of the Lords playful wisdom
within us to our own delight as well as to that of of our
Creator.

Fr Denis Hooper OSB

For the Classical Studies buffs out there, the Roman Empire at the time of Christ was at its peak. By then they had built over 300,000 kilometres of roads. 75,000 kilometres of those roads were paved. Many of the ancient Roman roads can be seen today and some are still even in use. In ancient times – just like in modern times – roads were hugely important. Roads connected people, they connected cities, they connected civilizations. Goods were transported on roads. Armies travelled in roads. Travelling on these roads was very dangerous for most people. You could be robbed or even killed. Only the wealthy and powerful could afford the cost of having armed protection against this danger. The Glenstal Senior rugby team if they were around in those days would have been enough to scare away most robbers. In those days, anyone with a brain in their head travelled in a group – which was about as much protection as most people could hope for against the baddies.

It was on one of these paved Roman roads – the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus – that in today’s gospel Jesus appeared to two of his disciples. Unfortunately, this road no longer survives. It was about ten kilometres from Jerusalem to Emmaus – the same distance from here to Annacotty. It is probable that the two thieves who were crucified alongside Jesus had stolen from people travelling on one of these roads. Perhaps even this same road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. The Romans had no mercy on robbers and crucifixion was seen as an appropriate deterrent to robbers. Crucifixion was always carried on public roads – to make sure that as many people as possible could witness them.

The Gospel we have just listened to – St. Luke’s account of the two disciples meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus – is probably my favourite story in the entire bible. It is perfectly written. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. It starts with sadness and despondency and ends with joy and elation. It is such a perfect account that there is no point in my trying to explain it. The story speaks for itself. Fr. John tells me that at the very centre of the narrative are the words: “he is alive”. There is the story up to those words; and the story after those words: “He is alive”.

The two disciples on the Road from Jerusalem to Emmaus met the risen Christ. I’d like you to listen to a report that circulated widely on Social media a number years ago. It was later proven to be what we now call “fake news”. But just take a listen to the report:
“On the eve of the annual celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, many Christians were shocked by the announcement that a body identified as that of Jesus was found in a long-neglected tomb just outside the boundary of Jerusalem. Rumours had already been circulating that a very important discovery was about to be announced. The initial reaction of Christians around the world was that of astonishment, bewilderment and defensive disbelief. We will have to wait and see just what effect this discovery will have on the 2,000 year-old religion. Evidently, the 2,000 year-old lie has come to an end.”

As I told you, this article was many times over proven as “fake news”.
Because if this article was true – then our faith would be worthless and all this celebration of the resurrection at Easter would be absolutely absurd. It is interesting that this same “fake news story” is something which is not new. In the Gospel of Matthew, we are told that when the soldiers who were ordered to guard the tomb discovered that Jesus’ body was gone they – the Jewish authorities paid them in gold to spread the “fake news” that some of the disciples of Jesus’ had stolen his body.

In the Acts of the Apostles – which we have also read today – we hear Peter say: “God raised Jesus – and we are all witnesses to this”. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were not the first to meet with the
risen Jesus. They were not the last. Each day we meet Jesus in our own
everyday lives:
 in each other
 in the Eucharist
 In the liturgy
 in prayer
 in love
 in beauty
 and in so much more that is good, loving and beautiful in our world
Christianity is an empty religion if the story of Jesus ends with his death. The Resurrection of Jesus is what gives meaning to what we believe in. It also gives us hope that someday we too, will be like Jesus – raised from the dead into eternal life.

Fr Jarek Kurek OSB

Gathered as the community of the church here this morning, we resemble the community of the early church, described for us in the Acts of the Apostles. By coming together, we are devoting ourselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Today, on the eight day after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, we celebrate once more our symbolic regeneration. For this reason, therefore, it is for us to assume the attitude of a newborn child, to take a fresh look at our spiritual life and with new eyes reshape the quality of our life of faith.

We began this Mass by chanting a text from the Letter of St Peter: ‘Like newborn infants, you must long for the pure, spiritual milk, that in him you may grow to salvation’.

Nowadays, there is an overwhelming choice of milk on the shelves of our supermarkets. But St Peter tells us who are Christian that there is only one, true, life-giving milk, which is the Word of God and that Word remains for ever. It is for us to rekindle within a longing for this spiritual nourishment, our source of life in God.

The milk we were talking about has, as we sang in Latin, a rationabile character about it. That is to say, this milk is the divine Word of God and its ingredients are God’s inner thoughts. These words and thoughts cannot be perceived by just anyone, it requires a finely tuned ear to notice them.

How can we truly hear and discern these life-giving words and thoughts? When someone plays a two-note chord on a violin, everyone hears the sound of these two notes, but only the person with a very well trained ear will hear the hidden third note, which is not played, but which creates the most amazing harmony within the sound. To hear this note is a skill, but without it, there is always something beautiful missing from the chord. The divine spark is missing.

The same dynamic occurs when we listen to the Word of God. A well-trained ear will hear what is hidden, hardly audible and so subtle. A well-trained ear allows us to recover our inner seeing and our inner hearing. This recovery can be summed up as the ‘salvation of one’s soul’.

St Peter tells us to use the power of the mind, our inner faculties. That is to say, while we are here on earth we don’t see Jesus, the Word of God, with our eyes, but we can still see him with the eyes of our minds by learning how to listen to his words whenever they are read to us in scripture, our spiritual milk.

On this day of resurrection, as we become newborn once more, we can make a fresh start together. Today is the day we grow to salvation. Don’t be afraid to assume the condition of a newborn infant in your soul. Let the ear of your heart long for this divine milk. Let us look for it fervently and in due course delight in the wonderful harmony of the divine words and thoughts, so that we will come at last to the salvation of our souls.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of our entire Christian life. You are invited to explore the theology, history and liturgy of the Eucharistic celebration with the monks of Glenstal Abbey on Saturday 29th April 2023 from 10am – 5pm.

Fintan Lyons OSB will speak on ‘The Theology of the Eucharistic Celebration’ and Senan Furlong OSB will speak on ‘Eucharistic Medieval Chants.’ A talk by Cyprian Love OSB will explore ‘Chant and Possibility’ and the day will be concluded with Luke Macnamara OSB on ‘Eucharistic Seals and Patens’ and ‘The Eucharist in Late Medieval Ireland’ by Colmán Ó Clabaigh OSB.

Suggested donation for the day is €70 with lunch and refreshments provided. Please contact us for more information and for booking at: events@glenstal.com or call 061 621005.

Find some springtime reading from the monks of Glenstal Abbey in the latest edition of our Chronicle here.

Fr Senan Furlong OSB

“I saw a hyacinth bulb being planted in a bowl. I thought, there is a wonderful fragrance locked up in that bulb; I knew of course that there is no place in the bulb a fragrance is locked up… Nevertheless there is in the bulb a potential which eventually will become the characteristic
fragrance as the flower opens…”

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. Alleluia!
Today we immerse ourselves in the mystery of Christ and his resurrection—Christ the very mystery of God, prepared before the beginning of the world, hidden in God, concealed from previous generations and now revealed to the saints. It is a mystery that unfolds every day; spreading its fragrance and opening up a new future for us all.

Easter is a promise, a gift. It is also a work, a mission to be carried out in the midst of the joys and sorrows, the beauty and chaos of our broken world. Yes, Christ has conquered death and given us the promise of eternal life. But the struggle between death and life, darkness and light, is ongoing and inescapable, and Good Friday continues to be daily re-enacted in the lives of so many. We live in a world longing for and in need of resurrection—a world ravaged by war and violence, inequality and injustice, hatred and self-destruction. In our own lives too, we long for resurrection, when it feels the powers of darkness and death have the last word.

But they don’t have the final say. For Christ’s resurrection is the true hope of the world. It is the power of the grain of wheat, the power of that love which humbles itself and gives itself to the very end, and thus truly renews the world. Christ not only laboured and struggled against death in the dramatic final days that ended in crucifixion; he laboured for life throughout his earthly existence, cultivating the gift of resurrection everywhere he went. The whole of his life was, as it
were, an unfolding Easter, bringing light where there was darkness, healing where there was pain, acceptance where there was abandonment. And this work of Easter—the task of being
heralds of resurrection, propagators of life, diffusers of hope—has been bequeathed to all of us who invoke his name.

The hyacinth bulb remains just a bulb unless it awakens and the flower opens. Resurrection is awakening the potential so that we become a fragrance of Christ to God and to one another. Therefore, we are encouraged to be imitators of God; and walk in love just as Christ loved us, giving himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Mahatma Gandhi once remarked: A rose does not need to preach. It simply spreads its fragrance. As with the rose, so too with the hyacinth, and so too may it be in our lives. Draw us after you, O Risen Christ; we shall make haste to follow you, in the fragrance of your garments, to breathe the fragrance of resurrection.

Christ is risen. Alleluia!

Abbot Brendan OSB

Easter is early this year. I won’t bore you with the complicated calculations that produce the date of Easter, but as you probably know it’s all to do with the Paschal moon which has been shining so brightly these nights.

There is a sense, however, in which Easter is early every year. It’s forever taking us by surprise. The women, moved by affection, went to the tomb early in the day, while it was still dark, to anoint the body. They did not give in to the gloom of sorrow and regret or flee from reality. In the darkness of their hearts, they lit a flame of mercy. Going to the grave of a loved one is something we often do. People are drawn to graveyards because it makes us feel closer to the one who has died. Graveyards are usually peaceful places, the last place in the world you would expect to find high drama. The tomb is the place where no one who enters ever leaves.

Imagine then how surprised the women were when they experienced a violent earthquake and saw an angel sitting on the great stone with the tomb lying open and empty. This was not someone breaking in; this was someone breaking out. The resurrection had already happened. Easter was early!

The first message of Easter is this: He is not here. He is risen! Everyone was afraid. No surprise there. The soldiers, we’re told, were shaken, like dead men, terrified of the angel. But the angel ignores the soldiers and speaks directly to the women, “There is no need for you to be afraid.” Tonight we acquire a fundamental right that can never be taken away from us: the right to hope.

The resurrection accounts are full of people getting it wrong. The simple fact is that our minds and our imaginations are far too small to contain the vastness of this mystery. This is why we still descend into jealousy, war and vengeance two thousand years later, when in reality what we need in the world today is bread, not more guns.

Did you ever wonder what it was like for those first few hours after the empty tomb was discovered by Mary of Magdala and the other Mary? Which of us would really rejoice at the prospect of a miracle that would make us rethink most of what we had taken for granted? Then into that chaos steps a figure before whose face ‘the questions fade away’. The future is now quite unimaginable; but there is nothing that can alter the sheer effect of his presence. That same presence is here among us right now. Tonight, humanity has for the second time in history, discovered fire. For this reason, we began our liturgy with fire, celebrating the light in darkness. For it was God who said, ‘Let there be light! We then made memorial of the history of salvation: the creation of the world, the faith of Abraham, the exodus from Egypt. Everything in history has a meaning and that meaning is fulfilled in the Resurrection.

Everything in history converges on that moment when the women arrive at the tomb; but the tomb was empty; they did not find the Lord there. They were on their way home when they met the Risen Lord. This is also how we meet him, in times of trouble, in times of joy, along the road of life. And so it is that this is the loveliest of all nights. The angel’s message was to go to Galilee. Galilee was the farthest region from Jerusalem; the farthest place from the sacredness of the Temple, an area where people of different religions lived. The message of hope should not be confined to our sacred places.

Many have seen in this white robed angel, a symbol for all the baptised – for you and me. Standing before the empty tomb the angel announces, “He has risen from the dead”, because this is what a Christian does – announces the resurrection!

Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη! (Khristós Anésti! Alithós Anésti!) Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Abbot Brendan OSB

“On the night he was betrayed”, this is how St Paul names this night in his first letter to the Corinthians and it is a phrase repeated in all the Eucharistic Prayers of the Church. This is the night of betrayal, the night of non-recognition, the night of abandonment by the disciples. It is in this context of our betrayal that Jesus gives us the gift of the Eucharist, his everlasting covenant of fidelity and love. We should embrace in all its scandalous truth the context in which the gift of the Eucharist was bestowed upon us.

On the night he was betrayed, on the night when the covenant is broken, Jesus celebrates the new and eternal covenant. The Eucharist was gifted on this night not because it was the last night before his arrest, but because it was the night when Jesus underwent exactly what we human beings are capable of: betrayal, denial and abandonment.

It is clear from all the gospels that Jesus wanted to share this final meal with his disciples. He planned it carefully, sent his disciples ahead to prepare it, and when the hour came, he declared: “I have longed to eat this Passover with you”. Jesus wanted his disciples not only to eat and drink, in a context of prayer and liturgy, but he wanted above all, through this bread and wine, to celebrate the new covenant.

The Eucharistic table, our altar, is not defined by our being righteous or unrighteous: there were no worthy people with Jesus at the Last Supper. However, Jesus in that very context took bread saying: ‘This is my body given up for you’. At the Last Supper Jesus broke the bread for the apostles who abandoned him, denied him and even betrayed him.

During his life on earth, he had broken bread with his friends in Bethany; he had broken bread in the homes of public sinners; he had broken bread with the crowds who came to him and understood little of what he said and did. The truth is that Jesus broke bread with all sorts of people and all of them were sinners!

St Paul goes on to remind us that there is also a second rite: “In the same way … he took the chalice, saying: ‘This is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink from it, do this in memory of me”. That cup, thanks to the word of Jesus, contains his blood, and that blood is the new covenant, the mystery of faith.

The Lord Jesus offered this covenant to everyone: to those who betrayed him, to Peter who denied him, to the disciples who were without the courage of their convictions. These were Jesus’ guests at the Last Supper, just as we are his guests here this evening. We may well ask ourselves, am I one of the disciples who abandoned Jesus. Yet what St Paul asks of us is very different. Paul asks that we ‘recognise the body of Christ’. In his letter to the Corinthians, ‘body’ carries two meanings: the body of the Lord in the bread and wine and the body of the Lord in the community. To help us with this recognition on this unique evening the Church gives us a third ritual, that of the washing of the feet. This too comes with a command, “Do as I have done to you”.

Eucharist means thanksgiving. On this most holy night, let us be thankful that we, though sinners, are numbered among the guests at this Supper of the Lord. Let us be thankful for this new covenant and let us be thankful for the mystery of faith.