Author: Justin

Music – in prayer and recreation – has sustained Father Denis on good days and bad. Listen to his lessons from lockdown:

THE SCOREBOARD SHOWED THAT BOTH SIDES WERE EVEN. THE REFEREE CHECKED HIS WATCH. TIME WAS UP. HOWEVER, THE RULES ALLOWED FOR ONE MORE PLAY. THE SENIOR PLAYERS MET IN A HUDDLE TO DISCUSS WHETHER THEY SHOULD KICK FOR THE CORNER AND TRY TO SCORE FROM THERE. THAT SEEMED A LOGICAL THING TO  DO BUT ALSO VERY RISKY AND THE CHANCES OF SUCCESS WERE AT BEST 50-50.

THEN ANOTHER PLAYER JOINED THE SENIOR PLAYERS. HE TOLD THEM IF THEY LET HIM KICK AT THE POSTS THAT HE WOULD PUT THE BALL OVER AND WIN THE GAME. HE WAS ADAMANT HE COULD DO IT. SO MUCH SO THAT THE OTHER PLAYERS EVENTUALLY RELENTED. I AM SURE THAT MANY OF THEM WERE PRETTY MUCH RESIGNED TO THE DRAW AS THE KICK WAS OVER 50 METERS FROM THE POSTS. AND SO THIS NOVICE PLAYER WHOSE NAME THEY HARDLY KNEW – WHO TWO YEARS PREVIOUSLY  WAS ON THE TERRACES WATCHING HIS HEROES – NOW HAD TO TAKE A KICK TO POSSIBLY WIN THE GAME. TALK ABOUT PRESSURE. TALK ABOUT MAKE OR BREAK.

IF YOU KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS PLAYER YOU WOULD NEVER HAVE DOUBTED HIM. THOSE OF US WHO DO KNOW HIM WERE CERTAIN HE WOULD PUT THE BALL OVER. HE WENT TO SCHOOL HERE AND WAS CHRONICALLY HOME-SICK FOR THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF HIS TIME HERE. TO COUNTER HIS LONLINESS HE WOULD GO DOWN TO THE GAMESFIELDS AND SPEND HOURS PRACTICING HIS KICKING AT THE POSTS.!

HE PUT THE KICK OVER FOR AN UNNFORGETTABLE WIN. PLAYERS MOBBED HIM IN CELEBRATION. HE HAD PREPARED HIMSELF FOR THIS VERY MOMENT – AND HE WAS READY FOR IT.

I FIND HARD NOT TO HAVE SYMPATHY FOR THE FIVE FOOLISH VIRGINS IN TODAY’S GOSPEL. AFTER ALL FOOLISHNESS IS NOT THE WORST SIN. EVEN ST PAUL ADMITS TO BEING A FOOL AND TO DOING FOOLISH THINGS.

SURELY JESUS DOESN’T EXPECT US TO TAKE THIS PARABLE LITERALLY. I MEAN ARE WE EXPCECTED TO BELIEVE THAT TEN VIRGINS ARE OUT ON THE OPEN ROAD AFTER DARK? NOBODY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND –MAN OR WOMAN – WOULD BE OUT AFTER DARK IN THE PALASTINE OF 2,000 YEARS AGO. AND IF YOU WERE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO BE OUT AND ABOUT AT MIDNIGHT YOU STOOD A FAIR CHANCE OF A MUGGING OR WORSE. 

ST. BENEDICT TELLS US IN HIS RULE THAT WE MUST STRIVE FOR A COMMUNITY WHERE CAN THE STRONG CAN HAVE MUCH TO STRIVE FOR AND THE WEAK HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR. THERE IS CERTAINLY ROOM IN THE MONASTERY FOR THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH – OF EVERY ILK.

THE THEME FOR ME OF TODAYS GOSPEL PARABLE IS “PREPAREDNESS”. I AM DRAWN TO SOMETHING I RECENTLY HEARD ON RADIO THAT MADE ME THINK. A MAN WAS TELLING THE PRESENTER THAT HE HAD HIS OWN TAKE ON CHRISTIANITY AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. HE DIDN’T BELIEVE IN GOING TO CHURCH. HE SAID THAT HE PICKED THE THINGS THAT HE LIKED AND REJECTED THE THINGS HE DIDN’T PARTICULARLY LIKE. WHAT A COP OUT! WHAT A LAZY APPROACH TO THE MEANING OF WHAT CHRIST IS ABOUT. AS LONG AS THINGS WENT WELL FOR HIM – HE WAS FINE WITH “HIS GOD”.

NOW IT IS JUST THAT KIND OF PERSON I BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS CRITICISING IN THIS PARABLE. THE A-LA-CARTE APPROACH. SUCH A PERSON IS FOOLISH TO SAY THE LEAST. AND SUCH A PERSON IS  UNPREPARED FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD. THERE ARE MANY COUNTER-ARGUEMENTS TO THIS PICK-AND-CHOOSE APPROACH TO SALVATION. THE BIGGEST FLAW IN ALL OF THIS FOR ME IS TO IGNORE THE FACT THAT PRIMARILY WE CELEBRATE OUR BELIEFS IN COMMON WITH OTHERS – NOT AS SINGLE ENTITIES AND ON OUR OWN. IF WE BELIEVE IN THE CENTRAL TENETS OF OUR FAITH WE CANNOT ALSO PICK AND CHOOSE TO SUIT OUR OWN PARTICULAR SELFISH WANTS AND NEEDS. WE CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.

AND THAT IS WHAT JESUS IS SAYING TO US IN TODAY’S GOSPEL. WE MUST BE PREPARE OURSELVES FOR HIS KINGDOM AND NOT JUST SIT BACK AND EXPECT IT ALL TO HAPPEN TO US. WE MUST BE ACTIVE NOT PASSIVE IN OUR OWN SALVATION. THERE ARE MANY ASPECTS TO OUR FAITH AND SOME WE INDEED FIND DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND OR JUSTIFY. BUT WE CANNOT JUST SIT BACK AND EXPECT SALVATION TO COME TO US. IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY.

ST BENEDICT TELLS US THAT MONKS MUST PREPARE EVERY DAY FOR DEATH. A TEACHER IN MY OLD SCHOOL TOLD US THAT EACH DAY A MONK GOES TO THE GRAVEYARD TO DIG A SHOVELFUL OF DIRT FOR HIS OWN GRAVE IN PREPARATION FOR HIS DEATH. WE NEVER QUITE BOUGHT THAT ONE! IT IS TRUE THOUGH THAT IN GLENSTAL MANY YEARS AGO, ONE OF THE MONKS HIRED A DIGGER TO DIG A GRAVE AND DECIDED THAT WHILE THE DIGGER WAS  THERE HE MIGHT AS WELL GET BEST VALUE OUT OF IT AND DIG A FEW MORE GRAVES… FOR FUTURE USE! NOW THERE’S PREPAREDNESS!

OUR FRIEND THE RUGBY KICKER HONED HIS SKILL OVER YEARS AND WAS READY AND PREPARED FOR HIS MOMENT WHEN IT ARRIVED. SO TOO MUST WE BE PREPARED TO WAIT OUT THE YEARS OF OUR LIVES – HOWEVER LONG OR SHORT THEY MAY BE – UNTIL THAT DAY ARRIVES WHICH WILL FIND US EITHER PREPARED – OR NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING PREPARED. THE CHOICE IS ENTIRELY LEFT UP TO US.

I REMEMBER ABOUT EIGHT YEARS AGO WALKING THE  BACK AVENUE HERE ON A DARK, WET AND COLD NOVEMBER SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND THERE HE WAS – ON HIS OWN PRACTICING KICKING AT THE POSTS. AMAZING. I WENT OVER TO HIM AND ASKED HIM IF HE WANTED ME TO KICK THE BALLS BACK TO HIM – AND THAT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN IS THE SMALL AND INSIGNIFICANT PART I PLAYED IN A FAMOUS MUNSTER RUGBY VICTORY!

Father Simon talks teaching, farming, bees and videos in this week’s episode of #MeetTheMonks

Where East meets West: explore a traditionally western depiction of the Trinity on our Russian Festal Icon in this week’s video from Father Luke:

All Saints – 2020

All Hallows Eve or Halloween, as we call it, looked and felt different this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, but it was also different for another reason. A blue moon, the second full moon in the same month, was visible last night all over the world. This is a rare celestial phenomenon, once every two to three years, and hence the saying ‘once in a blue moon.’ It’s even rarer for it to fall on All Saints Eve; the last time this happened was during World War II, in 1944, 76 years ago.  

A blue moon has always been associated in folklore with good fortune, heightened connection to the divine, happiness and rejoicing; a time when something rare and unexpected can happen and indeed, the feast of All Saints is all of these things. It is a feast which is literally full of humanity. So many people and all so happy, so blessed. The Magnificat Antiphon for the Office of Vespers attempts to list some of them, “Patriarchs and Prophets, holy Doctors of the Law, Apostles, all Martyrs of Christ, holy Confessors, Virgins of the Lord, Hermits, and all Saints.” We should not underestimate the value of people being blessed and happy. We could describe the scene as homo ludens, people playing. There is enough misery and sadness in our Covid world. A Christian is a joyful presence, because we have a lot to be joyful about. 

         This feast reminds us that we belong to a vast crowd of witnesses and all of them filled with joy. It reminds us that it is possible to be in love with God and with one another; happiness is possible. All these beatitudes, these teachings from Jesus, are ways of entry into this kingdom of heaven, this place of joy. It is based not on our achievements, intelligence, or our observance of the law, but on the acceptance of our condition as human beings, homo ludens. Sanctity is not something for the dead; it is for the living and for everyone. G. K. Chesterton once said, “If God didn’t love ordinary people he wouldn’t have made so many of them!”

         Blessed are the poor in spirit – you don’t go out to try and become poor in spirit, we are poor in spirit, it’s a fact, and because we are poor in spirit we are also blessed. Blessed are those who mourn, who are sorry about the way the world is and their part in making it so. Blessed are the meek, the gentle, those who are not out there fighting with everyone and destroying the world in the process. We need more good people around today. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, this is what we all long for, but we’re not sure how to get there. Then finally he says blessed are you – at last, it comes to us – when they insult you and persecute you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad!

         These words of Jesus probably represent the best homily ever written. Jesus himself, in his life and death, became all of these things; poor, gentle, hungering for justice, pure in heart, merciful, a peacemaker and his Father answers all of them in the Resurrection. The saints are our brothers and sisters and they are already giving God thanks and praise. We have come here today to join with them around this altar. Let’s not wait for the next blue moon on All Saints, which won’t arrive until 2039, to remember this fact and as we sing our Sanctus, the hymn which comes from heaven, at this celebration of the Eucharist, let us be conscious that we are part of a vast throng giving praise to God, at play before God, homo ludens.

“Looking back now, I can see that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be” – Abbot Brendan’s story in this week’s episode of #MeetTheMonks

Join Father Simon and Nóirín Ní Riain as they explore the Celtic festival of Samhain in this week’s episode of the Mindful Monk:

Enter into the unity and harmony of the Trinity with this latest video from our Icon Chapel:

We are happy to begin sharing some lessons which our monks have learned during this pandemic. Br Justin begins our ‘Lessons from Lockdown’ series:

Shortly after I was ordained in 1988 I officiated at a wedding.  At the reception afterwards I overheard the mother of the bride say about my homily, ‘He’s a young celibate priest!  What would he know about love?’  Faced with the task of preaching on the two great commandments of love this morning, I fear that good lady may have been right after all.  Years later, in a family conversation after a few drinks, the discussion turned philosophical and got onto the question of love.  I can’t remember what nonsense we may have been talking, but I do remember that my elderly uncle basically stopped the conversation when he said, ‘I think the only one who knows anything about love is God.’  It is at this point that I should now stop speaking and sit down, because maybe there isn’t much for me to say.

But I think I am on very firm ground when I point to the altar in this church and say, ‘There’s one place where there is true love.’  Absolute love, infinite love from God, a life poured out for us.  Love that invites us to receive.  God loving us with all God’s heart, all God’s soul, all God’s mind.  Not just thoughts about love, but love put into our hands and our mouths, and for those watching on webcam God will have his own special way of doing this for each person.  So we need to pay as much attention as possible to what is happening there.  It’s the school of love.  I will add two other ideas which may be of help, one from monastic tradition, and the other from the Bible.

‘Love the Lord your God with all your hear, and all your soul and all your mind’  In other words, nothing is supposed to come between us and God.  Teaching from early monasticism speaks of the power of the mind to really make this happen, to set the process going.  The monastic tradition has very helpful things to say about the mind.  I don’t mean so much thinking about God, trying to ‘work God out’ in our head, making logical deductions, ‘A plus B plus C, therefore D’.  I mean something much simpler, easier and far more beautiful.  When you look at a beautiful sunset, you don’t set about measuring the amount of light, listing the colours, measuring the shapes of the silhouettes and then deducing that it is beautiful.  You just notice the beauty.  Similarly the mind can turn very simply towards God the way a sunflower turns towards the light, or the way you might glance at a friend.

We use our mind for all sorts of good and important things, counting money, sending emails, planning work or holidays, getting the right ingredients for a cake.  But monastic authors tell us there is something else which the human mind really specialises in, something really easy for the human mind, and that is turning in love towards God.  When the mind turns towards God it finds its natural homeland.  It’s like a fish in water.  It’s easy.  It’s restful. It’s natural.

So one way of helping love to enter our whole self, heart and soul, is that at every waking moment, our mind can be gently focussed towards God, or else on something which we are doing for God or which we know is pleasing to God. Blessed Laurence of the resurrection once spoke of picking a piece of straw off the ground for the love of God.  Even in the middle of tasks that are accomplished for God we can pause and mentally glance heavenwards, like a driver who keeps has to keep his eyes on the road but still manages to look regularly at the speedometer and the rear-view mirror.  When our mind is turned towards God, the heart finds its natural resting place.  When our mind turns towards God, with a glance that is open to love, it’s like opening the curtains of our our soul so that God’s sunlight can reach every part of who we are. And when the mind turns to God, it finds itself at rest.

The second thing is that our first reading today hints at particular forms of love of neighbour that are critical in our world right now.   Look out for the stranger.  The Irish know what it was like to emigrate – to the USA, to Britain, to Australia.  What about the people who arrive among us?  Sorting out exactly what the State should do may not be easy, but at least when we hear a voice or see a face that seems a bit different, we can go out of our way to let the other person know we are glad they are there.  Every person on the planet has a need to feel accepted – that they have a right to be there, that somebody is happy to see them around.  And there is the stranger who arrives into the family by engagement or marriage.  The new person at work whose style is really not what we are used to.  The new neighbour.  The widow and the orphan,  in the time of the Book of Exodus: these were the people who had little or no social support.  Don’t be harsh on people who are struggling.  Financial dealings:  the book of Exodus is saying, make a living by all means, but in your financial dealings don’t lock other people into poverty or leave them destitute.    

Scientific experiments have proven that an act of kindness reduces the stress, not just of the recipient, but also the giver.  Love of neighbour will take the edge off our cravings and our rantings.  What I want and what annoys me become less important, and my mind turns more easily back to its natural focus on God.  It begins and ends with God’s love, in our heart, our soul, our mind.  As we prepare to move towards the altar, let’s get ready to taste and see that the Lord is good!