Author: Justin

The monastic community at Glenstal Abbey remembers Father Kevin Healy OSB whose 25^thanniversary occurs today.

Daniel Charles Healy was born in Dublin on 30^th June 1933. He attended Glenstal Abbey School and began a B.A. course in Univeristy College Dublin which he interrupted in order to enter Glenstal on 27^th October 1951, taking the name Kevin. He was professed on 12^th March 1953 and, following studies in the Spiritan scholasticate at Kimmage Manor in Dublin, was ordained priest on 31^st July 1958.

Back in Glenstal he developed his interest in music and chant, becoming first chanter and engaging in the composition of music for the liturgy in the post-Vatican II period. He also developed his skills as an accomplished calligrapher. Examples of his script can be seen in the monastic annals which he kept from July 1977 to January 1981. Along with the late Father Bede Lynch he was instrumental in developing the school choir which he took over completely when Father Bede was assigned to ministry abroad.

In October 1973 he went to the Abbey of Münsterschwarzach near Würzburg in Franconia where he trained as a sliversmith, qualifying as a journeyman in April 1976. Back in Glenstal he attempted to establish a metalwork shop but economic conditions in Ireland at that period meant that there was little or no demand for silverware. The deep bowl communion-dish that we use at our community Mass is his examination-piece as a journeyman. Father Kevin resumed his work with the school choir as organist, as a liturgical composer and as assistant in the administration of both monastery and school.

In August 1992 he went to Glenstal’s foundation at Ewu-Isan in Nigeria, where he established the tradition of liturgical music. Although he had recovered from a bout of viral malaria, he died on 31^st July 1999 while being transported to hospital in Ibadan for further treatment. He is buried at Ewu and there is a memorial stone to him on the wall of our monastic cemetery at Glenstal.

We remember Fathers Francis Henry, Cornelius Doherty and Bede Lebbe whose anniversaries also occur at this time. May they rest in peace and rise in glory. Amen.

Fr John O’Callaghan OSB

A main theme of today’s readings is ‘bread’. From time immemorial, from manna in the desert to baguettes in Paris, bread has constituted the staple diet of millions around the globe. It is something known to us all and thus well suited to Jesus’ universal teaching. For Jewish listeners it had the added value of recalling their life in the desert.
Without manna they would have starved to death during those so-called ‘forty years’. It was at Moses’ behest that manna was provided for them after their escape from Egypt. However the manna gave only physical sustenance for a short while, and it had to be picked up every day! It was a solution of very limited kind.

Moses was also the mediator of the covenant made at Sinai between God and his people. But, we know, that covenant was only a first draft for the kind relationships that should prevail between God and the people of God. And thirdly Moses was the one who led the Israelites to the borders of the promised land. But that land was merely a physical territory, including Gaza! It didn’t mean: ‘life eternal’.

Great and all that they were, everything Moses did, to our eyes, was too small! It was only ‘a start’. His most important characteristic was in fact to be someone that could be improved upon! His greatest claim to fame was that he cast a profile which Christ would later fulfil on an incomparably grander scale and with universal scope. And the most important feature of the manna/bread was that it could prefigure the true ‘bread of life which comes down from heaven’.

Yes, today’s gospel the message is on that metaphysical level, deeper than Moses ever conceived of. John’s gospel plumbs the depths of a few isolated events: and today we see see Jesus filling out the profile of Moses, only better, as Messiah. For the Christian listener this gospel also signals something special about bread. There is a manifest allusion to the eucharist. Jesus was soon to declare that ‘He is the bread of life’. In a short while we will take bread, and wine, and under the influence of the Spirit, they will become the body and blood of Christ. The Holy
Spirit transforms the inner being of our gifts and Christ becomes present in our midst. By means of them Christ comes to us intimately and individually but he remains hidden. By means of this ‘bread’ Christ becomes one flesh with us, the members of his community, constituting us as his body the church, making us his presence in the world. Today’s gospel is a great prophetic text, fulfilling the past and promising the future, as regards the messiah and the manna.

And finally, let us not forget, from the first reading, the man who came bringing his first fruits to Elisha, ‘twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack’. Let’s not forget the small boy in the gospel who had five barley loaves and two fish – just because he is small or has a small gift. It was the basis for great things – there is a lesson for us! The loaves were not multiplied out of thin air. In Jesus’ hands, what we are prepared to share, works miracles and satisfies!

Let us go and do likewise!

Fr Jarek Kurek OSB

It struck me on a number of occasions that Irish people have a particular affection for the song The Lord is my Shepherd. It is, no one will deny, sung quite often in churches, especially at funerals. I wondered why this is so? Is it due to the fact that back in the 70’s four hymns were introduced to be sung at Masses, and this one simply came to the fore? Or one may explain this phenomenon as a consequence of the pastoral imagery the hymn evokes, no doubt close to the heart of any Irishman. The landscapes around, full of pastures and sheep come straight to mind. If we follow this sentimental path, it will be easy to form an image of Jesus as a Good Shepherd.

Now, visualising it, Jesus carries a sheep on his shoulders. He clearly looks after it. But of course that’s not all. As a good shepherd he will also feed it. And here we get to the nub of the problem. On the one hand there is this beautiful sentiment towards the image of our Lord as a shepherd. But on the other hand, yes, a serious question arises. Can we say that people in this country felt properly fed by the Church and her shepherds in the past? And when I say ‘fed’ I dare to ask, were the people really formed by the teaching they were supposed to receive?

Asking these rather challenging questions, I want to tell you about an intriguing document I came across recently. It was a letter written by some insightful priest on the occasion of his visit to Ireland in 1984. The priest was from Poland, of course. He is naturally impressed as he visits the most catholic country in the world. And yet he is struck by a number of things. Although the churches were still packed at the time, he detected a looming crisis for the institution.

What made him think that the end of the Church’s prosperity in Ireland was close?

The fact that only 11% of people said their attitudes were informed by the Church’s teaching. It wasn’t just his observation based on some conversations, no, he referred to a poll made at the time, that showed the overwhelming majority, 61%, took as their point of reference from their family and 23% from the media.

Interesting, isn’t it? Interesting, thought-provoking and challenging.

Today, is a good time, I think, for all of us to reflect upon this, so that we can draw what we need from our pastors and lack nothing. It is the role of the pastor, the Good Shepherd, to care for the flock, so that we do not feel abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.

By the same token, whoever you are, wherever you live, you may perhaps be happy to consider a new way of how to be fed. It may be the case, that it will require some effort on your part find a good shepherd, someone who will guide you, someone who will nourish your soul, direct you and provide you with food for thought.

Having found a teacher to lead you to Jesus, the ultimate Good Shepherd, you can then truly sing The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. […] Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me. You prepare a table for me […] and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long. Amen.

Fr Lino Moreira OSB

According to the gospel of Mark, when Jesus started his public ministry he went round Galilee saying: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’ (Mk 1:15). These words are not a quotation but a summary: they sum up the whole of Jesus’ preaching. So when we subsequently hear about the twelve disciples that they went out and proclaimed that all should repent (cf. Mk 6:12), we cannot but conclude that their message was exactly the same as their master’s. There may have been some kind of personal input on the their part, but the evangelist makes no mention of this, because he wants to emphasise in the clearest way possible that what the apostles said was a perfect echo of what Jesus had to say – so much so that their preaching was confirmed by the same sort of miracles that Jesus himself performed (cf. Mk 6:12).

The ministry of the twelve passed on to their successors, the bishops, who are assisted by the priests and deacons. Year after year, Jesus continues to send out these messengers, telling them to take nothing for their journey except the things that a shepherd normally needs: a staff, a tunic and a pair of sandals. These instructions are not to be taken too literally, but they are a stark reminder that the ministers of the Church should practice the same kind of detachment as Jesus did.
They should trust that having been made participants of Christ’s lordship over all creation, God will touch the hearts of men and women of good will to provide for their material needs.

Now as in the past, the mission of every shepherd acting on behalf of Christ is to preach repentance, and use his authority over unclean spirits to cast out demons and cure the sick (cf. Mk 6:7.12). This kind of language is not very popular in our time. All too often, the word repentance conjures up the image of a soul tormented by guilt, who has lost the ability to enjoy life, and is always casting a wet blanket of
negativity on anyone who happens to be around. On the other hand, any talk about spirits and demons smacks of a very primitive worldview in an age of widespread confidence in science as the only valid form of knowledge.

All of this, however, is based on a series of misconceptions, which need to be carefully examined. First, it should be noted that the word ‘repent’ – a command which sums up Jesus’ message – is simply the English rendering of the Greek ‘metanoeíte’ (Mk 1:15), a term which has a wide range of meaning and is utterly devoid of negative connotations. To put it more clearly, the gospel of Jesus proclaimed by the apostles and their successors invites us to turn around, and start
trying to attune our patterns of thought and behaviour to the kind of merciful love that God himself has showed by blessing us in Christ with every spiritual blessing (cf. Ep 1:3). This is the only way we can hope to unleash, both within ourselves and in others, some of those positive energies that are needed to transform a world of selfish competitiveness into a home for all creation.

As for demons and unclean spirits, whether we believe in them or not, the fact remains that it does not lie entirely within our power to make ourselves whole again. The accumulated knowledge of finite beings will always be limited, and therefore largely ineffective. We do need the saving word of Christ, and the power of his sacraments, to be healed of all our infirmities and ultimately receive the gift of eternal life.

The monastic community at Glenstal Abbey will hold an election for the position of Abbot and undertake its annual retreat between Monday 15th – Sunday 27th July 2024. During this time we ask your prayers for us, and wish to draw your attention to some changes to opening hours/liturgy times as follows:

Monastery Reception and Shop: open daily between 10am-4pm, except on Sunday 21st and 28th July when it is open immediately after Sunday Mass only.

Monastery Guesthouse: closes on Saturday 13th and reopens on Monday 29th July.

Liturgy Times: TBA

Abbot Brendan OSB

“St Benedict found the world, physical and social, in ruins, and his mission was to restore it… quietly, patiently, gradually… There was no one who contended or cried out, or drew attention to what was going on, but by degrees the woody swamp became a hermitage, a religious house, a farm, an abbey, a village, … a school of learning and a city.” The words of St John Henry Newman. Benedictine monasteries turned Europe into a Christian civilisation and so St Benedict was named patron of Europe. Today, Europe titters on a knife edge. We would do well to reflect on our beginnings, because if we do not know from where we have come, we are destined to repeat the terrible mistakes of the past.

However, the relevance of Benedict and his Rule is not confined to Europe or even to monasteries, because his aim was simply to be a better disciple of Christ. This is what we all need so that our baptism and being Christian becomes a way of life, a culture, and not just something tacked on to our ‘real life’. Today, Fr Philip celebrates his platinum jubilee of ordination, seventy years of priesthood and as we keep him in prayer we offer him our thanks for his life and service. Over those seventy years, life has changed so much.

So how is our culture today? We can see signs all around us. The way we speak, the things we do, the way we dress, the amount of time we spend in virtual reality on our phones, the way we drive our cars. How do we treat the weak, the lonely, those who are ill, the elderly, the stranger? What ever happened to the admonition in the Acts of the Apostles, “Distribution was made as each had need”. Benedict reminds us that in this multitude the voice of God is crying out, “Is there anyone here who longs for life and desires to see good days?” We live in this multitude, but we see each person and there is nothing more astonishing than a human face; it has something to do with the incarnation.

Rather than the world influencing and changing us, Benedict’s way was to be interiorly conformed to Christ and so transform the world. Benedict learnt that being conformed to Christ is not normally reached by total solitude, nor by austerity, but by living in a community, with its necessary conditions of obedience and work; and that neither the body nor the mind can safely be overstrained in the effort to avoid evil.

And so it was that at Subiaco and Montecasino we find no solitaries, or great hardships, but monks living together in community, doing such work as came to hand, clearing the ground, teaching children, preaching to the local people, reading and studying, receiving guests and strangers, accepting and training new-comers, attending the Office, reciting and chanting the Psalter.

We all have our fantasies about the perfect monastery, or community, or monk – of who we want to be. Benedict will have none of it. Stick with the truth of who you are and who you are becoming. Stick with the truth of your brothers and sisters and who they are and who they are becoming. Stick with the truth of your situation as it changes from day to day, week to week, year to year. The Church is not a circle of the likeminded. As St Paul counsels: ‘Come to a sober estimate of yourselves’: no false humility, we are to accept our giftedness as well as our weaknesses, no trying to impress others by appearing to be better than we are, whatever the expectations of others. This is how to begin; the path to God leads on from here.

‘The Garden of the Risen Lord: From Recognition to Action’ takes place on Saturday 7th September and will explore Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus through the Gospel text, art, chant, and contemporary ecological and feminist readings. The day includes:

• 10am: ‘The Divine Bridegroom in Search of the Spouse’ with Luke Macnamara OSB. An exploration of the spousal theme in John 1-4 and especially John 20.
• 11am: ‘Supposing Him to Be the Gardener’ (John 20:15) with Dr Margaret Daly Denton. Uncovering the allusions to the garden and gardener in the Ancient Near East and the Scriptures.
• 2pm: ‘Mary Magdalene in Gregorian Chant’ with Senan Furlong OSB. Exploration of the chants ‘Tibi dixit cor meum’; ‘Filiae regnum in honore tuo’; ‘Victimae Paschali Laudes.’
• 2:30pm: Improvisation of Mary Magdalene’s chants with Columba McCann OSB.
• 3:15pm: ‘What must we do to perform the works of God? (John 6:28)’ with Dr Margaret Daly Denton. An ecological exploration of the garden of the Lord.
• 4:15pm: ‘Mary Magdalene’s Commission for Us Today. A recent interpretation’ with Emmaus O’Herlihy OSB.

Fr Cuthbert Brennan OSB

In this morning’s gospel we see Jesus return to his native place, surrounded by his friends and family. They have heard of the amazing things that he has done. A member of their community, a member of their family has blossomed into something extraordinary but they cannot celebrate this fact. They simply cannot reconcile what he has done with who they think He must be. Will they deny his miracles? No. Will they receive Him as Messiah? No! This Jesus is the Christ? Are you kidding me? Are you serious? We may not be able to explain His miracles but we do know who He is. Is not this the son of Mary? Are not his four brothers and sisters here with us? We know that family and the notions they have. Is not this the carpenter? If anyone should know who you are we should. You are nothing special, you just one of us. You are a nobody with a nobody job and an illegitimate son to top it all off.

In spite of the overwhelming evidence, they would not believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, the One who was to redeem Israel. They were scandalised by all this talk and commotion about Jesus. His works they could not deny, and his words, they could not handle. Initially proud, they quickly became embarrassed. They knew him but could not explain him so they rejected him. Apart from the eyes of faith no one will see Jesus for who he really is.

So it was in first century Palestine and so it is in 21st century Limerick. Jesus the Christ is here, He is here among us. In the Gospel we have proclaimed, in his body and blood which we will consume, in us, his body the Church. He is here. A crucified Jew from a nowhere town, murdered unjustly two thousand years ago is the Saviour and the only Saviour of the world. He is the only One who sets us free. And he is still rejected today.

Christ who aligned himself with the prophetic tradition, is the great prophet who proclaimed the kingdom of God both by the testimony of his life and by the power of his word. All of us have a share in Christ’s prophetic office to proclaim the gospel in life and word. At baptism we were anointed with the oil of chrism and the following prayer was said; The God of power and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin and brought you to new life through water and the Holy Spirit.

He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation, so that, united with his people, you may remain for ever a member of Christ who is Priest, Prophet, and King. On that day we were entrusted with a mission to bear witness to our faith, to proclaim with Christ His gospel, a message of repentance, love and forgiveness, which our world needs now, more than ever. Maybe we have become scandalised by the simplicity of His gospel? Having been raised in the church all our lives, have we become so familiar with Him that his words no longer challenge us? His miracles no longer astonish us? His death on the cross for us no longer strikes the chord of “Amazing Grace?”

Familiarity can blind us to the greatness and glory of our Saviour if we are not careful. Jesus’ hometown got it wrong, his relatives, at least for a while got it wrong. The religious leaders of the day got it wrong. Rome got it wrong. And still today, people get it wrong. Do you see Jesus for who he truly is and call him Lord and Saviour? Do you let Jesus set the agenda for your life and death? Let us be the ones to stand up and announce the good news in such a way that others begin to believe. Let your life and words be a gospel to others. Let your life speak. Let your life speak of your acceptance of Christ as the Saviour of the world.

Fr William Fennelly OSB

Two women alone in the middle of crowds! The first woman is older. No one else is mentioned in her story except the doctors who were no help. She is isolated because of her flow of blood which would make her ritually impure. She is an anonymous figure in the crowd which is pressing against Jesus, pushing and shoving, to get near to the great man. For them she’s a nobody. But she sees in Jesus someone who can restore her, if she can but touch him. Suddenly there they are, looking at each other, and he speaks the healing word, ‘Daughter’. She is healed not just in her body but from her utter isolation. She has got back her life. She can go in peace.

Then there is the young girl whose isolation is different. She too is in a crowd of people, who are wailing and weeping and making a commotion, but she is the centre of the action. Everything revolves around her, but her isolation is more radical in her seeming death. Movingly, Jesus goes to her with just her own family and his closest disciples. The mob is left behind. She is restored to those who love her.
The first reading tells us that ‘God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being.’ Jesus here is the Lord of Life. He has come so that we ‘may have life and have it abundantly’. (John 10.10) Sickness undermines our lives in many ways. Like the older woman, it can make us disappear from society. Going out to shop can be a laborious challenge. It is easy to lose touch with friends and relatives. They have
their own lives to live and may not have much time for us. Loneliness is a vast affliction for many older people who go days without speaking to anyone. Life seems to leave them behind.

Then there is the more radical loneliness of death, which has cast its shadow over the young girl. As death draws near, we can feel radically alone, even when we are surrounded by those who love us. In this gospel, Jesus heals both, giving the one back to herself and the other to her family. These are two dimensions of the same healing, for it is only in belonging that we can have a life that is our own.

The drama of today’s gospel foreshadows the great battle that lies ahead when he will bear all our loneliness and overcome it. On the cross he will again be surrounded by another mob, baying for his blood and ridiculing him, just as this earlier mob ridiculed him for saying that death had not taken the young girl as its prey. To be mocked is to feel utterly vulnerable and solitary. On the cross he will bear all the isolation of the sick, the depressed, people afflicted with failure or isolated in any way. Because he has done this, we believe that our own moments of loneliness are not final. He is with us as he was with the lonely woman and gave her back her life.

In his dying, he will know the most radical solitude of all, foreshadowed in the girl in the coma. He will lie in the coldness of the tomb until on Easter Morning he will be given back to his closest companions, as she was handed back to her family. In the garden, the women who loved him will be astonished and their mourning will be turned to celebration.

So loneliness need not crush us. We can face illness and death with joy because we share them with the Lord of Life. I recently had the pleasure of welcoming a lady who is dying to pray in the icon chapel here. It was an emotional occasion for her family but she was singularly unperturbed, “I’ve lived a good life and now is my time” she said calmly and then she asked me to pray not for her but for her daughter “she’s a good girl who’s afraid she won’t cope” she said. I was privileged to receive such a powerful teaching (so modesty delivered) about how to live in the face of death.