Friday 30 January 2015

Gospel Fourth Sunday of the Year (B) Feb. 1, 2015

Sunday, February 1st. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Mark 1:21-28.

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Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B
1 February 2015
“What is this? A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 1:21-28. 
  
Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. 
The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.  In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;  he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” 
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” 
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
February 1st 2015
Sunday, Mass Homily, 


         

Ordinary Time: February 1st

  

Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

 

Daily Readings for:February 01, 2015
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honor you with all our mind, and love everyone in truth of heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Old Calendar: Septuagesima Sunday
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!" The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him (Mark 1:23-26).

Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the Book of Deuteronomy 18:15-20. This central section of this book describes the various offices and officers of the theocratic society which Yahweh, through his servant Moses, is setting up for the Chosen People.
The second reading is from the first Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians 7:32-35. He devotes chapter 7 to answering questions concerning marriage and virginity. In today's extract he emphasizes freedom to serve God fully, freedom from earthly cares which those who choose a life of celibacy have.
The Gospel is from St. Mark 1:21-28. St. Mark makes it clear that, from the very first day of Christ's public ministry, his messianic power began to be manifested to those who saw and heard him. The Jews of Capernaum were "astonished" at his teaching and "amazed" at his power over the evil spirits. "What is this," they asked one another, "a new teaching and the unclean spirits obey him!" But they were still a long way from recognizing him for what he was, the Messiah and Son of God. This is as might be expected, the astounding mystery of the incarnation was way beyond human expectation or human imagination. And it was our Lord's own plan to reveal this mystery, slowly and gradually, so that when the chain of evidence had been completed by his resurrection, his followers could look back and see each link in that chain. Then they would be ready to accept without hesitation the mystery of the incarnation and realize the infinite love and power of God that brought it about. We look back today through the eyes of the Evangelists, and, like them, know that Christ was God as well as man—two natures in one person. We should not therefore be "amazed" at the teaching of Jesus or at his power over the unclean spirits. What should amaze us really is the love that God showed mankind in becoming one of our race.
We are creatures with nothing of our own to boast of. We were created by God, and every talent or power we possess was given us by God. God's benevolence could have stopped there and we would have no right to complain. But when we recall the special gifts he gave man, which raise him above all other created things, we see that he could not, because of his own infinitely benevolent nature, leave us to an earthly fate. What thinking man could be content with a short span of life on earth? What real purpose in life could an intelligent being have who knew that nothing awaited him but eternal oblivion in the grave? What fulfillment would man's intellectual faculties find in a few years of what is for the majority of people perpetual struggle for earthly survival? No, God created us to elevate us, after our earthly sojourn, to an eternal existence where all our desires and potentialities would have their true fulfillment. Hence the incarnation, hence the life, death and resurrection of Christ, who was God's Son, as the central turning point of man's history.
Today, while amazed at God's love for us, let us also be justly amazed at the shabby and grudging return we make for love. Many amongst us even deny that act of God's infinite love, not from convincing historical and logical proofs, but in order to justify their own unwillingness to co-operate with the divine plan for their eternal future. This is not to say that their future, after death, does not concern them; it is a thought which time and again intrudes on all men, but they have allowed the affairs of this world which should be stepping stones to their future life, to become instead mill-stones which crush their spirits and their own true self-interests.
While we sincerely hope that we are not in that class, we can still find many facets in our daily Christian lives which can and should make us amazed at our lack of gratitude to God and to his incarnate Son. 'Leaving out serious sin which turns us away from God if not against him, how warm is our charity, our love of God and neighbor? How much of our time do we give to the things of God and how much to the things of Caesar? How often does our daily struggle for earthly existence and the grumbles and grouses which it causes, blot out from our view the eternal purpose God had in giving us this earthly existence. How often during the past year have we said from our heart: "Thank you, God, for putting me in this world, and thank you a thousand times more, for giving me the opportunity and the means of reaching the next world where I shall live happily for evermore in your presence"? If the true answer for many of us is "not once," then begin today. Let us say it now with all sincerity, and say it often in the years that are left to us.
— Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

Commentary for the Readings in the Extraordinary Form:
Septuagesima Sunday

"Why do you stand here all day idle? . . . Go you also into the vineyard" (Gospel).
As athletes of Christ we are called to a competitive "race" (Epistle). As workers with Christ we are ordered into the "vineyard" (Gospel).
It is a "race" with death for the "prize" of life eternal. Only "one receives the prize" by His own right, Christ! But, remember, He still runs in us if we do not lag in this "race," as did Israel under "Moses" (Epistle).
God comes to us "early" in life. Unitl the last "hour" He repeats, "Why . . . stand . . . idle?" Each "hour" brings us nearer to the "evening" of reward, not due to the excellence of our work in itself but mercifully given by God as a recompense (Gospel).
— Excerpted from My Sunday Missal, Confraternity of the Precious Blood


Video
Asia News in Audio Today
The first step in repentance is to admit our guilt, as when we go to confession. We admit our faults and failures out loud, making them painfully and embarrassingly real to ourselves. Then, we are presented with the sin-overpowering love of God when we most recognize our need of it.

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Angelic Doctor. Guercino, St. Thomas writing, assistant with Angels, 1662, Bascilica St. Dominic, Bologna.

Mass Saints,
Picture and Second Reading - iBreviary
Guercino, St. Thomas writing, assistant with Angels, 1662, Bascilica St. Dominic, Bologna.
Blogspot:
   28 January - Saint Thomas Aquinas - Independent Catholic News

SECOND READING

From a conference by Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest 
(Collatio 6 super Credo in Deum)

The cross exemplifies every virtue


Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us? There was a great need, and it can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act.

It is a remedy, for, in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the passion of Christ. Yet, it is no less an example, for the passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives. Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue.

If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends. Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake.

If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently,because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. Therefore Christ’s patience on the cross was great. In patience let us run for the prize set before us, looking upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, bore his cross and despised the shame.

If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.

If you seek an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous.

If you seek an example of despising earthly things, follow him who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Upon the cross he was stripped, mocked, spat upon, struck, crowned with thorns, and given only vinegar and gall to drink.

Do not be attached, therefore, to clothing and riches, because they divided my garments among themselves. Nor to honors, for he experienced harsh words and scourgings. Nor to greatness of rank, for weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on my head. Nor to anything delightful, forin my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

RESPONSORY
Wisdom 7:7-8; 9:17


I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I entreated, and the spirit of wisdom came to me;
 I esteemed wisdom more than scepter or throne;
compared with her, I held riches to be nothing.

Who will know your design, O Lord,
unless you bestow wisdom,
and send your Holy Spirit from above?
 I esteemed wisdom more than scepter or throne;
compared with her, I held riches to be nothing.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.

God our Father,
you made Thomas Aquinas known for his holiness and learning.
Help us to grow in wisdom by his teaching,
and in holiness by imitating his faith.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
 Amen.

28 January - Saint Thomas Aquinas - Independent Catholic News

Picture and Second Reading - iBreviary
Blogspot:
   28 January - Saint Thomas Aquinas - Independent Catholic News 

SECOND READING

From a conference by Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest 
(Collatio 6 super Credo in Deum)

The cross exemplifies every virtue


Why did the Son of God have to suffer for us? There was a great need, and it can be considered in a twofold way: in the first place, as a remedy for sin, and secondly, as an example of how to act.

It is a remedy, for, in the face of all the evils which we incur on account of our sins, we have found relief through the passion of Christ. Yet, it is no less an example, for the passion of Christ completely suffices to fashion our lives. Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue.

If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends. Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake.

If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently,because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth. Therefore Christ’s patience on the cross was great. In patience let us run for the prize set before us, looking upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, bore his cross and despised the shame.

If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.

If you seek an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous.

If you seek an example of despising earthly things, follow him who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Upon the cross he was stripped, mocked, spat upon, struck, crowned with thorns, and given only vinegar and gall to drink.

Do not be attached, therefore, to clothing and riches, because they divided my garments among themselves. Nor to honors, for he experienced harsh words and scourgings. Nor to greatness of rank, for weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on my head. Nor to anything delightful, forin my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

RESPONSORY
Wisdom 7:7-8; 9:17


I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I entreated, and the spirit of wisdom came to me;
 I esteemed wisdom more than scepter or throne;
compared with her, I held riches to be nothing.

Who will know your design, O Lord,
unless you bestow wisdom,
and send your Holy Spirit from above?
 I esteemed wisdom more than scepter or throne;
compared with her, I held riches to be nothing.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.

God our Father,
you made Thomas Aquinas known for his holiness and learning.
Help us to grow in wisdom by his teaching,
and in holiness by imitating his faith.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
 Amen.

Tuesday 27 January 2015

Meditation by Saint Therese of Lisieux 27/01/2015

Night Office Readings, 
THIRD WEEK IN ORDINAIY TIME
TUESDAY
First Reading
Roman9:1-18
Responsory   Rom 9:7; Ga3:294:28
Noall archildren of Abraharn because they are hidescendants.
If yoarChrist's, theyou are Abraham's offspring, heiraccordintthpromise
VWe, like Isaacarchildren of the promise.+ If yoarChrist'...


Second Reading
From a meditation by Saint Therese of Lisieux
When he had gone up the hill, Jesus called those he wanted; and they came to him. Jesus does not call those who are worthy to be called, but those he wants, or as Saint Paul says, God takes pity on whomever he wishes, and has mercy on whomever he pleases. So what counts is not what we will or try to do, but the mercy of God.

For a long time I wondered why the good God had preferences, why every soul did not receive grace in equal measure. I was amazed to see him lavishing extraordinary favors on saints who had offended him, like Saint Paul and Saint Augustine, and whom he practically forced to accept his graces. Or else, when I read the lives of saints whom our Lord was pleased to cherish from the cradle to the grave, allowing no obstacle to stand in their way that would have prevented them from rising toward him, and visiting them with such graces that it was impossible for them to tarnish the immaculate brightness of their baptismal robe, I wondered why, for instance, poor people were dying in great numbers before they had even heard God's name. Jesus kindly explained this mystery to me. He placed the book of nature before my eyes, and I understood that all the flowers he has created are beautiful, that the splendour of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent or the daisy of its delightful simplicity. I understood that if all the little flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose its spring adornment, and the fields would no longer be spangled with flowerets.

It is the same in the world of souls which is the garden of Jesus.
He wanted to create the great saints who may be compared with lilies and roses; but he also created smaller ones, and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to gladden the eyes of the good God when he looks down at his feet. Perfection consists in doing his will, in being what he wants us to be.

I understood too that the love of our Lord is revealed in the simplest soul who offers no resistance to his grace as well as in the most sublime soul. In fact, since the essence of love is humility, if all souls were like those of the learned saints who have illuminated the Church by the light of their teaching, it would seem as if God would not have very far to descend in coming to their hearts. But he has created the baby who knows nothing and whose only utterance is a feeble cry; he has created people who have only the law of nature to guide them; and it is their hearts that he deigns to come down to, those are his flowers of the field whose simplicity delights him. In coming down in that way the good God proves his infinite greatness. Just as the sun shines at the same time on cedar trees and on each little flower as if it was the only one on earth, so our Lord takes special care of each soul as if it was his only care.Responsory   Wis 6:7; Ps 113:13
The Lord made both small and great, and t he takes thought for all alike.
V. The Lord will bless those who fear him, both high and low. +He takes ...

Monday 26 January 2015

A Reading about the First Cistercians by Thomas Merton.

Saints OCSO, 
Founders ocso Nunraw

Sts Robert, Alberic & Stephen. (26 Jan., 1980)
A Reading about the First Cistercians by Thomas Merton.
The churches and cloisters of abbeys like Fontenay and Thoronet, their mellow stones glowing in a setting of quiet woods, still speak eloquently of the graceful mysticism of twelfth-century Citeaux. It was for the abbot of Fontenay that St Bernard wrote his tract, Degrees of Humility, with its wonderful twelfth chapter on mystical prayer. Fontenay itself represents the direct influence of 5t Bernard and is the precise application of his principles on architecture. I n such settings as these, the purified Liturgy of the Cistercians became a thing of tremendous effect. But their contemplative life implies penance as well as prayer, because in contemplation there are always two aspects: the positive one, by which we are united to God in love, and the negative one, by which we are detached and separated from everything that is not God. Without both these elements there is no real contemplation.
The penance of the Cistercians is essentially the common penance of the whole human race: to "eat your bread in the sweat of your brow" and to "bear one another's burdens." Underlying the Cistercian insistence on manual labour was a powerful element of what some call "social consciousness". The poverty and labour of the early Cistercians had explicit reference to the social situation in which they lived. Besides being a return to St Benedict and the Gospel, their way of life was also a protest against the inordinate wealth of the great feudal abbeys.
One of the strongest criticisms levelled by Citeaux against the Cluniac regime was that it was rooted in social injustice. The Cistercians could not accept the notion of a life of contemplation in which the interior peace and leisure of the contemplative were luxuries purchased by the exploitation of serfs and the taxation of the poor. 5t Benedict had prescribed that the monk was to be the poorest of the poor and live by his own labour.
If the monk has abandoned the cares and distractions and burdens of life in the world, that does not mean he has renounced the society of other men or the responsibility of providing for himself by the labour of his own hands: far from it. I n giving up his possessions, material ambitions, and independence, the monk dedicates his whole life, body and soul, to the service of God in his monastic community. From the moment he makes his vows he gives to God everything that he has and everything that he is or can be. But the gift is not accepted directly by God. God's representative is the abbot of the monastery, and the monk understands, by the terms in which his vows are made, that his gift of himself to
God will consist chiefly in a gift of himself to his abbot and his brothers.
To give up everything and devote your self without compromise to the love of Christ in the common life is to glorify and offer him the worship that most pleases him; it most resembles his own infinite generosity and the gift of himself to us in the incarnate Word. And it enables us to love one another as he has loved us.
The Waters of Siloe, New York 1949, pp. 15-20.

Saints OCSO, Cistercian Founders 26th January


Cistercian Founders    

Monday, 26 January 2015

Community Chapter Sermon - on the eve of the Solemnity, 
Fr. H... launched the theme in mind with the recent Letter from, 
POPE FRANCIS ON THE OCCASION OF THE YEAR OF CONSECRATED LIFE Apostolic Letter...
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Consecrated Life,  
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The Founders of Cîteaux

Sts Robert, Alberic and Stephen
Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen founded the reformed monastery of Cîteaux in 1098.
Their aim was to refresh the institutional forms of monastic life and to bring them into closer conformity both with the Rule of Saint Benedict and with the aspirations of the age.
In particular this involved an emphasis on authentic poverty and simplicity even in the liturgy, manual work, non-involvement in secular affairs, and, at the level of the Order, mutual concern and supervision among the different monasteries, as a means of maintaining fervour.
The prime documents of this period are the Exordium Parvum, describing the origins of the reform, and the Charter of Charity, giving its constitutional basis.  (OCSO.org)

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Dom Donald's Blog: Cistercian Founders 26th January: Solemnity of the Founders of Cistercian Order Saints Robert, Alberic & Stephen Today we are celebratin...

Cistercian Founders 26th January



Solemnity of the Founders of Cistercian Order
Saints Robert, Alberic & Stephen

Today we are celebrating the feast of our three founders, Robert, Alberic and Stephen. Actually there were possibly 21 founders, but we mention only the first three abbots of the new foundation. The Rule of St. Benedict gives a lot of power to the abbot and one of the reasons the twenty-one monks left the Benedictine monastery of Molesme to settle in a place called Citeaux in Burgundy, was because they wanted a stricter interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict. But it takes more than an abbot to make a monastery. In fact I can think of nothing worse than a monastery full of abbots bossing each other around!
Daily life in a monastery is a complex interchange between authority and obedience and often times it is difficult to know who has which - no matter what the official documents say. Take for instance the job of cantor. Who has more power than the cantor? Who could put a note on the board on a Saturday stating, "The Mass readings for Sunday have been changed from the ones given in our Mass reading booklet!" So, what if the abbot had a homily prepared based on the old readings! So the homily you are about to hear, is based on six scripture readings! It will be twice as long too!
Really, all the Mass readings are concerned with one theme, the call of God.
Our founders, all twenty-one of them, left one monastery to found another based on certain ideals they had about how the monastic life should be lived. It was not a smooth transition. The first abbot, Robert, was ordered back to his original monastery. No one joined the new group for years. They were on the verge of giving up when St. Bernard arrived with a large group and joined. After a lot of trouble they were eventually able to live out their dream.
Pastoral
Now almost a thousand years later, we are celebrating their memory. It is a good occasion to look at our own calling, our own dream. The scripture reading chosen for this celebration gives us a way of evaluating how we are doing.
The first reading, Gen 12:1-4a, is the call of Abraham. The call to leave his country, his relationship with his father's house. Each of us is free to interpret what that means for us. The early desert monks called it the three great renunciations or detachments.
Country meant all the wealth and riches of the world,
to leave your kindred and relationships meant the life of sin and vice that cling to us and become like kindred to us. To leave our father's house means the whole visible world as opposed to the invisible world of the Spirit.
These are radical renunciations just as are the ones in today's Gospel, Mt 19:27-29, and even more so the ones Paul speaks of: 1 Cor 1:26-31,leave our own wisdom and justice, even our own holiness.
What does all this mean? All this renunciation and detachment? I think it means that each of us is called to go out of ourselves, to go beyond ourselves. Take the journey to a new place, an unknown place. In the letter to the Hebrews we read that our ancestors set out on the journey not knowing where they were going. They were living on a promise and they died before the promise was fulfilled.
We too live on a promise. We can demand nothing. Monks have been accused of being Pelagians, making things happen by our own effort. If we fast or get up at 3:00 am, we will become spiritual men. Life is not like that. Life is a great teacher of detachment. We don't set our program and then watch it being fulfilled. We live our life and then come to understand it in the light of scripture. Life is a call to move out of ourselves. As youth gives way to middle age we are challenged to detach from perceived ideals. As middle age gives way to old age we are forced to give up false ambition and pretenses. As old age progresses, we are made to detach from physical health itself, our body. The world we wanted to create is slowly taken from us and something unfamiliar and new replaces it. It slowly dawns on us that God is calling us and leading us on-no matter how dark it seems or how unfamiliar the road. The new self made in this image of Christ is replacing the old self. We leave ourselves to find ourselves again. Are we good monks? Are we following our Founder? Are we good Christians? Who are we to judge? Life is teaching us.
Let us put ourselves in the hands of the Lord of Life.
Fr Brendan ocso (New Melleray) Cistercian Publications is putting out the collection of homilies and chapter talks in April.

   

Stephen Harding: A Biographical Sketch and Texts (Cistercian Studies) Paperback – 1 Dec 2008
  by Claudio Stercal  (Author)
Customer Reviews Amazon.com

5.0 out of 5 stars well done, December 27, 2008
By 
Bjoern Gebert "Student der Geschichte des Mit... (Berlin) This review is from: Stephen Harding: A Biographical Sketch and Texts (Cistercian Studies) (Paperback)
This short book concerning the live of the third abbot of Citeaux provides a lot of reliable information about Stephen Harding and the early years of the later Ordo Cisterciensis. But Claudio Stercal does even more than sifting all the available sources "that can with certainty be attributed to Stephen Harding" and combining them to a short biography with success - he critically reviews quite a lot of the biographical studies on Stephen Harding published in the last centuries.
Besides the "biographical sketch" the author and the translator provide the print of five texts "considered as having been written by Stephen Harding" in latin and english language.
At the end of the book the author gives a list of used sources and a detailed bibliography in chronological order and afterwards in alphabetical order. An index of names (mentioned historical persons and cited historians) completes the book.
Although it does not count more than 158 pages, it is an useful, substantial and stimulating study.