Category: abbeynews

Fr. John O’Callaghan OSB

Stand erect, hold your heads high, your liberation is near at hand’. This is the key message of today’s gospel for Christians and all people of good will.

This message is delivered to us on the first Sunday of Advent when we are invited to reflect on the end of the world, that is the Second coming of Christ. On future Sundays we will reflect on Christs’ birth in Nazareth and the lead up to it but now, we look at the destination of human history. The apocalyptic images of the clamour of the ocean and its waves; people dying of fear as they await what menaces the world”, true enough even in these times, might fill us with dread. But the gospel is clear: hold your heads high, your liberation is near. This means that the Second coming is not a cataclysm for Christians but something to welcome, to rejoice in, despite all the conflict surrounding it. This applies to us today too, as we negotiate our way through various crises. That is why we read it. And it is saying something very reassuring about God.

In former times, in the Middle Ages, the end of time was known as ‘dies irea, dies illa”, the day of wrath. That didn’t calm spirits. It was seen as fearsome because, as the creed says ‘Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead’. Christianity was being reduced to moralism, robbing it of that hope and joy which is its breath of life. It seemed to forget that it is not simply God, the Infinite and Eternal One, who judges but, on the contrary, that He has handed judgement over to one who, as a man, is our brother. Our judge will not be a stranger to us but one whom we have known in faith. He will advance to meet us, not as the entirely Other, but as one of us, who knows human existence from the inside and who also has suffered. The Christian will recognise he to whom ‘all authority in heaven and on earth has been given’ was his or her companion in faith while on earth’. And it was this Jesus Christ who said to his disciples on Lake Gennesaret ‘Fear not, it is I’. That is reason to hold your head high. The first Christian community did and cried out ‘Mar an atha, Come Lord Jesus! ‘

But let us remember that today’s gospel does have another message: ‘Stay awake!’…. We are not relieved of responsibilities in the time between the first and second coming. ‘We are called’, as St Augustine says, ‘to do what we hope for.’ Every day brings its opportunities in the forcefield of good and evil, in little ways and large.

Daily we learn in the media of the delicate equilibrium of our human habitat. Every household has its subtle influence on  the environment.

Daily the gospel calls us to integrity and generosity in our relationships. May we do what we hope for.

The challenges of life under Covid might frighten us but for the Christian hope is stronger than despair and is not even overcome by death. And, in Jesus, we know that we do not suffer alone, but with God as a fellow-sufferer.

Finally, today’s gospel reminds us to ‘Pray at all times’. Pray to stay open to our great destiny.

St Augustine also said ‘Tell me your hopes and I’ll tell you who you are.’ Christians have the most audacious hope and a divine promise of victory.  May we be ambassadors of that hope in Advent. So that we can confidently cry out Mar an atha! Come, Lord Jesus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We begin Advent with the Vespers hymn ‘Conditor alme siderum’, recalling Christ who comes ‘proceeding from a virgin shrine.’ Watch this space for more chant soon!   

Fr. Anthony Keane OSB  Homily on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, The King of the Universe.

KING  OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

AND HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER.

BY HIS WORD THE HEAVENS WERE MADE,

BY THE BREATH OF HIS MOUTH ALL THE STARS

YET HE MAKES HIS HOME AMONG US

WE ARE HIS PEOPLE AND HE IS OUR GOD,

GOD WITH US

AND THE ONE SITTING ON THE THRONE SPOKE

LOOK, I AM MAKING ALL THINGS NEW

IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.  I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA.  I GIVE WATER FROM THE WELL OF LIFE FREE TO THE THIRSTY.

Let us then know that this great and powerful King of the Universe

Lives among us, as one with us, ruling our hearts if we but let him. Rule my heart great creator. You are constant, dispassionate and true. RIALAIGH MO CHROISE A CHRUTHAITHEOIR DIAN    TAOISE SOCAIR NEAMHTAOMNACH NI HIONANN IS ME.

Christ the great king was known in Ireland from ancient times as King of  the Universe and King of Nature:  Ri na n-Uile  and Ri na nDul

He is all powerful, gentle and true.  He is the force by which we act when we are loving and ourselves. His presence in politics is wise beneficent kind and liberating. In Him we live and move and have our being.

It is our great triumph that He is Lord. To Him, the Only begotten Son, consubstantial with the Father we may exultantly say:

Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the Glory

Now and forever Amen.

 

 

 

FR. LINO MOREIRA

Although the enemies of Christ have been defeated by the single sacrifice for sins that he offered for all time (cf. Heb 10:12), they have not yet been rendered powerless (cf. 1 Co 15:26), for God said to his only-begotten Son, after he raised him from the dead: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet (Ps 110:1). So we should not be surprised that, in the so-called eschatological, or end-time, discourse of Saint Mark’s gospel, Jesus speaks of a great tribulation that will precede his second coming (cf. Mk 13:24). At that last stage of human history – evil, suffering and death – will wage their final war against God and his Anointed (cf. Ps 2:2), in a vain attempt to perpetuate their grip over the whole of creation – and then, more than ever, those who follow Christ must be prepared to face all sorts of upheavals and persecutions. You will be universally hated on account of my name – Jesus warns –, but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved (Mk 13:13).

After insisting on the need for constancy and patient endurance, Jesus turns to the main focal point of his prophetic words: In those days – he says –, after the time of tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven (Mk 13:24-26).

After insisting on the need for constancy and patient endurance, Jesus turns to the main focal point of his prophetic words: In those days – he says –, after the time of tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven (Mk 13:24-26).

Here we have neither a scientific statement about the evolution of the universe nor the mythical portrayal of the Son of Man like a pagan god riding on the clouds. But rather we are told that, when the universe as we know it is about to give way to the new heavens and the new earth (cf. Rv 21:1), Jesus himself will appear in his divine glory to perform the ingathering of all those who have come to believe in God and in the name of his only-begotten Son. And this will be the fulfilment of the great promise once made to Daniel in a vision: your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (Dn 12:2).

Indeed, this heart-warming prophecy is not only the biblical passage where the expression ‘eternal life’ or ‘everlasting life’ is used for the first time, but also the earliest clear enunciation of the belief in the resurrection to be found in the Old Testament – and that is precisely why it so neatly encapsulates the pledges made to all those who, by their faith in Jesus Christ and his gospel, deserve to be counted among Abraham’s spiritual descendants. For us Christians, therefore, the author of the Book of Daniel is not simply announcing God’s redemption to the people of the Old Covenant, but extending his gaze to encompass the whole of human history he is in fact acting as a herald of the universal vindication of all the righteous – that is to say, of a great multitude from every nation, race, tribe and language (Rv 7:9) who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rv 7:4).

We rejoice, then, with unspeakable joy that through the blood of his cross Christ has reconciled both Jews and Gentiles to God (cf. Ep 2:16). By this miracle of his loving mercy Jesus opened up the highway to divine wisdom for each and every one who repents and believes in the gospel (cf. Mk 1:15) – or, to put it another way, for each and every one who listens to his words and acts upon them (cf. Mt 7:24). So happy are they who have the courage to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow their Master (cf. Mt 16:24), for of them it stands written: Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever (Dn 12:3).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday 7^th November, 2021

Fr. Henry O’Shea

1Kings 17:10-16; Heb 9:24-28; Mk12:343-44

“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1Samuel 16.7a

In certain schools of Jewish thought and practice, even to this day, personal belief, faith, or intellectual assent, are less important than a strict and accurate observance of the precepts of the Law in every sphere of life, from private prayer and public worship, to the most mundane of actions. This does not mean at all that in Judaism there was and is no room for the heart but, certainly at the time of Our Lord, outward conformity was primary.

Christ’s great insight and change of emphasis lie in his placing of what is in the heart above outward conformity to rules, above any ticking of the boxes of conformity.

This is why, as we read in today’s gospel, that Jesus is allergic to the scribes with their minute knowledge of the Law and its 613  rules and regulations, swanning around in long robes and basking in public adulation in the front seats of the synagogues. This insidious attitude of the knowers-better is a universal phenomenon, which has always been present, in every culture, in every religious, artistic, business and political culture It is particularly corrosive when linked to our relationship with God and to the way we relate to other people that flows from how we see and treat God.

This is why Jesus uses the example of the widow and her tiny monetary contribution to the treasury, pointing out that as a gift of her heart, this tiny sum vastly outweighs the lavish donations of those who, in their abundance, hardly miss what they give. The widow, gives her heart, which ultimately is all that the Lord is interested in. And she give that heart freely. She is not forced. Because the Lord respects her freedom and does not want to force anyone.

The readings at Mass on Sundays are usually chosen so that the first reading and the gospel complement each other. This is very clear today where there are obvious parallels between the widow of Sidon and her generosity to the Prophet Elijah and the widow at the treasury, so praised by Jesus, himself the fulfillment of the prophecies of Elijah.

Today’s second reading, from the letter to the Hebrews, tells us why and how Jesus can be that fulfilment.

In the evening office of Vespers in the Churches of the East, there is a beautiful hymn in praise of the Light, sung while the evening candles are being lit. The opening words are:

Hail gladsome light,

Of his pure glory poured,

Who is the eternal Father, heavenly blessed.

Holy of Holies, Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that Christ is the definitive appearance of the Father’s revelation of himself. Christ is the only and final sacrifice that perfects and puts an end for all time to all human sacrifices. In abolishing these sacrifices, he has abolished all human altars and temples and is himself the sacrifice, the altar, the temple, the only true priest. He is the definitive Holy of Holies. Not only does this Holy of Holies make possible and offers to us an end to sin, but by making us part of himself in Baptism and feeding us with himself in the Eucharist, gives us access to true worship with and in the only Holy of Holies.

The heart is the organ by which we recognise, through which we are inhabited and cling to this Holy of Holies, Christ Jesus himself. Clearly, the term ‘heart’ means more than the name of an essential organ of the body. Here, ‘heart’ means the essential core of my being. Here, ‘heart’ means, that instrument and facility, that active combination of seeing, knowing, getting-it and loving, that engagement of our minds and our capacities for love. ‘Heart’ is a dynamic and energizing giving and receiving of our emotional and intellectual capacities in an eternal learning-curve.  This is the part of us that the Holy of Holies wants for himself.

And this is why the widows of Sidon and the widow at the treasury are, literally, an eternity removed from the misguided know-alls who see only as those men and women see, for whom outward appearances are all that matter.

The Orthodox chant mentioned above finishes:

Now we are come to the sun’s hour of rest;
The lights of evening round us shine;
We praise the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit divine!

Worthiest art thou at all times to be sung, with undefiled tongue,
Son of our Father, giver of life, alone:
Therefore in all the world thy glories, Lord, they own

“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Saints 2021

In 2007 Gene Weingarten won a Pulitzer Prize for a story he wrote in the Washington Post about a social experiment carried out by Joshua Bell. Bell is an American violinist and conductor who plays the Gibson Stradivarius worth $4 million. At 17 he made his debut in Carnegie Hall, in 2007 he won the Avery Fisher Prize and in 2008 received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. 

On 12^th January 2007, Bell donned a baseball cap and played for 45 minutes as an incognito busker at the Metro subway station L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. 1,097 people hurried past, but only 7 stopped to listen and only one recognised him. He collected $52.17 from 28 different people; $20 coming from the man who recognised him! He played the exact same music three days earlier to a packed concert venue where people payed top dollar for a seat. If you want to hear him yourself he is playing Beethoven with the New York Philharmonic on 24^th of this month in Tully Hall at the Lincoln Centre, New York, where a front row seat will set you back $468!

So many people hurried past this once in a lifetime opportunity to hear up close one of the world’s greatest musicians. However, the really fascinating question is, what was it about those 7 individuals who stopped and listened, that allowed them to hear what so many could not? They saw past the externals and really heard the music which resonated deep down with their own humanity.

“If you desire to know yourself and to possess yourself, go into yourself, and do not search for yourself outside” says St Isaac of Stella, “Distinguish between what is around you, what belongs to you, and your self!” A saint is a person who realises that they are made in the image and likeness of God and that God’s own music, that infinite Wisdom, is resounding deep within. Can you hear it?

This is why Jesus could exclaim “Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” We can choose to live like this if we want, or we can choose to live life in a state of semi-death, refusing to hear the music; to be a person who hardly hears, who seldom sees, who barely or rarely loves, who refuses to forgive, who struggles to possess rather than share. This is why St Irenaeus of Lyons said, “the Glory of God is the human person fully alive.”

Isaac of Stella reminds us “If someone has never seen light they will not recognise darkness either.” “The Lord Jesus and perhaps he alone, could be in a crowd, be undisturbed by it, and so could see it.” Remember Jesus knew that the woman who was haemorrhaging had touched the hem of his garment in the vast crowd and power went out from him. Have I worked up the courage to begin that inner journey, or do I remain on a superficial level?

The saint has heard the voice of God calling out, ‘O Adam, O Eve, where are you?’ Still in the shadows perhaps, so that you cannot see yourself? Sewing together foolish fig leaves to cover your shame? Look within and see yourself, face the truth, whatever that might be. Listen to the precepts of the Master and incline the ear of your heart. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Become a saint, exchange those fig leaves for your white garment and hear the heavenly score resounding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this podcast Fr William talks about how the cycle of prayer in the monastery gives shape and rhythm to our day, to our year, and to our lives: https://bit.ly/2ZyeLT2

Audio only: https://bit.ly/3pNi7Na