Many stories and legends from the life of Saint Nicholas of Myra have a cultural significance at this time of year. Explore this beautiful icon of the saint before his feast on 6th December:
Many stories and legends from the life of Saint Nicholas of Myra have a cultural significance at this time of year. Explore this beautiful icon of the saint before his feast on 6th December:
ADVENT 1B – 2020
This past week has brought us to the end of the Church’s liturgical year. We have come to an end, only to begin again, with this first Sunday of Advent. The regular circling of the year conditions us to think and feel in terms of beginning and ending and beginning again; and yet time is continuous and linear. We are, each one of us, moving ineluctably towards our personal end point, as far as our experience of this life is concerned, whatever about the circling measurement of the years. And it is with this in mind, that Jesus’ admonition, “Stay awake!”, sounds the way it does. The suggestion is that we might miss something important, not least, his Second Coming, if we are not alert. But, of course, we are missing stuff, all the time; every second that passes is a moment gone, never to return; a moment of my life, never to be recovered. And so, Jesus is also saying to us, with this admonition, “Be mindful! Savour every moment! Use very moment!”
Isaiah’s dramatic cry, “Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down!”, is a challenging reminder to us, as Judeo-Christians, that we believe that God has actually and physically intervened in our world. As Christians, we believe that there has been and there remains a vital connexion between the life and activity of God and our human history.
Advent is the time to look at this God connexion again and to re-assess our engagement with it. What difference does it make to the business of how we live? The question is being asked whether people can have a “meaningful” Christmas, this year. Just what is it that makes Christmas meaningful? Can anything make Christmas more or less meaningful than it already is, just by being Christmas? Either we are marking the event of God being born as a human child, or we are not. That is the point of Christmas, whether or not the family comes together. The in-breaking of God to our world, to redeem us from the mess we have made of it is what Christmas is about, whether or not the table is full for a family dinner, whether or not presents are given and received. These twenty-six days of Advent are designed precisely to assist us to reflect on all this; to assess, maybe to re-assess, just what it is that we believe about Jesus Christ. It might be a time to consider, or re-consider, just what we think about the Church, how closely or distantly we are, or wish to be, a part of it, as a community of believers. And in view of all that, is it also a time to reflect on what kind of Christian I have been, since last Christmas? It is precisely this latter consideration that prompts the purple of the Advent liturgy, like the purple of Lent; because, if we are honest, there is much to regret, much to repent, in our behaviour, over the past year.
This new beginning of the Church’s liturgical year provides us all with the opportunity to draw a line under the year that has passed and to re-set our personal programme for the new year, much as we would do with resolutions for the calendar New Year. God, our all-powerful father, like the potter, is moulding us, in every moment, into the image of the Son whom he loves, the Son who is to come again, as unexpectedly, but not so quietly, we are told, as he came, two thousand years ago. Most of the people then, our Jewish forebears, who had been prepared for that coming, over hundreds of years, missed it, so unspectacular was that coming; while some met it, even, with violent resistance. But more again, very tellingly, met that first coming with indifference; and it is that indifference, missing the point of it, which is the risk for us, today, as we address that oh so anxious question, “Will we have a meaningful Christmas, this year?” Well, will you?
Stay awake; and give it some thought.
We are pleased to announce our programme of Advent talks which will be broadcast via webcam at: www.glenstal.com/abbey/webcam and click ‘Talks’. Recordings will be made available on our YouTube page afterwards.
Sunday 29th November, 2pm – ‘O that you would tear the heavens and come down’ with Luke Macnamara OSB
Saturday 5th December, 10.30am – ‘Living between the already and the not-yet’ with Henry O’Shea OSB
Saturday 5th December, 1.45pm – ‘God became human so that we could become divine. Teachings of Blessed Columba Marmion’ with Columba McCann OSB
Sunday 20th December, 2pm – ‘Unexpected guests at the crib’ with Luke Macnamara OSB
In our final episode of ‘Lessons from Lockdown’, Br Jarek shares some fascinating thoughts on transformation, freedom and obedience:
‘This year – more than any other – we need that sense of hope, of life, and of trust in God’s loving care for us’ – Abbot Brendan Coffey’s message for Advent 2020:
“C’est une éducation vraiment chrétienne” – Le Père John parle de la vie monastique, de l’enseignement à l’école et de projets au Kenya et en Tanzanie #MeetTheMonks
The noise and distraction of daily living reaches a crescendo at this time of year, but Advent is a time to clear the decks and prepare for Christ’s coming:
Although the Church year comes to a close this week, we never cease to live and witness to our faith. The Holy Spirit renews and sends us forth, as at Pentecost:
Walking in nature, time for reading and adopting a greener lifestyle are some lockdown lessons for Father John:
Christ the King Year A
The title of today’s parable, namely the parable of the last judgement fails to fully grasp what is at stake. Firstly, the judicial metaphor is only one of several metaphors at work here. Secondly, the impression is that the parable will only be of relevance in a dim and distant future. Jesus speaks this parable not for people at the end of time but for people here and now, such as you and me. There is much repetition in this parable to alert us to the fact that what we do here and now while living with those around us has consequences.
The two dialogues in the parable result in Jesus being associated four times with the hungry, the thirsty, foreigners, the naked, the sick or those in prison. Of all the people in the world surrounding us, Jesus is first to be found among those in need and importantly also among us when we are in need. Isn’t it strange that Jesus so closely identifies with us in our weaknesses rather than our achievements? Jesus even identifies with us when we go badly wrong and land ourselves in prison. The mention of prison suggests some guilt, and yet prisoners are among the privileged group with whom Jesus also identifies. The judgement of which Jesus speaks in this parable is nothing like human justice.
In this parable, as through his ministry to the poor and the oppressed, Jesus reveals God’s interest in the least in this world. Many of us will recognise that when we were at rock bottom at various points in our lives, somehow we pulled through – by experiencing the closeness of the Lord both directly and indirectly through others.
Jesus employs the metaphor of the shepherd to speak of his role with the sheep. This metaphor when used for the divine evokes God’s great care for his sheep, his seeking the lost and binding the wounds of the sick. This complements the repeated association of Jesus with the weak and oppressed, since Jesus as Shepherd now models the positive behaviour of care towards those in need.
When we return to the repeated situation of which Jesus speaks – being hungry, thirsty, a foreigner, naked, sick or in prison – we find Jesus associating with those down on their luck, but also modelling the response of loving care towards them. Christ is at either side of every encounter enabling both the giving and the receiving of love and so enter into the dynamic of eternal life.
God’s intended desire from the beginning of creation is to welcome us into the kingdom as shown in the first words spoken by the king in the parable: “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Let us recognise Christ’s closeness in our weakness. So we will be able to imitate Christ in coming close to those in need around us.
An excellent way for us to remember this double association with Christ, in both receiving and giving Christ’s love, is the prayer which Saint Patrick has given us: Christ be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. I arise today.