J&P at Nunraw

Fr. Chris S.J.

Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh

8-Mar-08 Lent Day Retreat

Archdiocesan “Justice and Peace”

directed by Fr. Chris Boles S.J.

Lenten Day of Recollection, Nunraw Abbey, 8 March 2008.

Over 100 persons gathered for this annual event of J&P. Nunraw was the chosen venue this year. Shortage of floor space was resolved by opening the doors of the adjoining Chapel.
11.00 - Welcome, Fr. Donald, Guest-master - Main Lounge
Opening Prayer & First Reflection Session - Fr Boles
Options for the times and places of meeting and prayer made for a varied and rich day of Retreat.
Walking in the grounds
Taize Room
QuietRoom
Chapel
Presentation by Elizabeth Rimmer on the Luchair project in the Abbey Tea Room

1.30 Second Reflection Session - Fr Donald

Options etc
Outdoor Stations of the Cross from Nuraw House to the Abbey – lead by Sr. Jeanette
2.50 Gather in the Abbey Church
3.00 Mass – Fr. Chris. Boles, S.J.
4.00 Departures.

2nd Talk – Fr. Donald, Nunraw Guesthouse.

1. Way of the Cross - Nunraw

Thank you for the joy you bring by entering into this Lent Justice and Peace Day of Retreat. Your successors here tomorrow will actually be the parishioners from the combined Rosewell, Bonnyrigg & Gorebridge Parishes. So if you see the black iron-wrought crosses for the Stations of the Cross, these were first initiated by those people way back. After some years making their annual Way of the Cross on the avenue, they wanted to make it more permanent and so the families sponsored each Cross and commissioned their local blacksmith to forge the Crosses as you see them on your own Pilgrimage today.

The 12^th STATION. The sun is now shining so it will be dry. So, for the brave hearted making the Stations, I would like to point out something interesting. The Crosses are very simple, with any figures on them. But on the 12^th Station, which of course is the Crucifixion, above the little cross is a large beech tree. If you look closely up at the trunk of the tree there is a natural etching in the bark - appearing like the figure of Christ on the Cross, and over it a kind of canopy – quite remarkable! That is just something in passing. But coming to our journey for Lent, I could even bring you on a mini-pilgrimage to Mt. Sinai.

2. Icon of Christ of Mount Sinai

On one wall of this room here is one of the treasures that I brought back with me from the monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mt. Sinai. And it is the picture of the CHRIST OF MT. SINAI.

The figure and the detail is quite striking. I have made some reproduction for later. Apart from the numerous commentaries on the details, (e.g. On His right hand. Three fingers touch representing His Divinity, and two fingers are up to symbolize that He is fully God and fully Man, the forefinger bent for His Incarnation. His face is not symmetrical but has a look of dignity and calmness on one side and a different look of arching of the eyebrows causing enlivenment on the other. These dissimilar but complimentary impressions strike a harmony between the Divine and Human Natures of Christ), the commentary that interests me most, if you can look towards the picture, is the Icon of Christ, the Pantocrator, holding out the Word, the Gospel Book. But the most interesting feature for me is the face showing one side in light with the eye open and bright and joyful, whereas the other side of the face is in shadow and, if you look closely, there is actually a tear in Jesus eye. The Icon is expressing suffering and the Passion on the one hand and joy and the Resurrection on the other. Wonderful! And to think how this 6^th century Icon has been preserved by the ideal climate and in the lack of the 8th and 9th century’s iconoclastic persecution in that area.

It was something special to bring with me from Mt. Sinai. That was part of the good fortune which brought me to the Holy Land on a Sabbatical. I joined the Scripture Formation Course at the Ecce Homo centre run by the Sisters of Sion in the Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem. The site of the trial by Pontius Pilate, “Behold the Man”. (The 3^rd Station at the "Ecce Homo" Arch).

We were taken to Mt. Sinai as a group from the Course and I can remember vividly the climb at Mt. Sinai in the Arabian Desert, elevation some 5500 ft. When we got there we had prepared to rise at 3 o’clock in the morning to begin the climb. Everything that could go wrong will go wrong on these ascents. I was feeling dreadful. If I had not been chivied to keep going by another Abbot who was with us there is no knowing what would have happened to my expedition of a life-time. So we got out at 3 o’clock in the dark. The pilgrims who had gone before us had taken all the camels. Our Guides, on foot, set off at a great pace. Before long I was left with a good Sister from Canada. We were quickly so exhausted that we sat down. And, lo and behold, two camels arrived back from an earlier trip. Undaunted we mounted the camels. That was another hair-raising experience with every bone being shaken and feeling dizzy on the cliff edge path up as the camels seemed to turn up their noses in distain at the shear distance below us. At the destination, other fit members were there before us, giving the final help over the rocks of the summit. Then we watched for the Dawning of the Sun over Mt. Sinai. It was a moving moment. I was privileged to concelebrate and give the Homily at the Mass which followed. (I’ll have to look up the script of that historic Mass).

After a mountain top early breakfast opposite Elijah’s Chapel, the brave ones, including the Sister in Charge, Australian, wanted to tackle the complete summit. The rest of us headed downhill. Before many minutes the whole cavalcade came after us carrying Sister Rosalie. She had broken her leg. The camel drivers were equipped with splints for such eventualities. So that was a sample of the Mt. Sinai experience.

3. Jerusalem

Talking of Justice and Peace, and returning to Jerusalem, I was later traveling to our monastery of Latroun. I just got on a public bus, against which we had been warned because of so many bombings. I got on this bus going to Latroun near Emmaus, the place which commemorates Jesus encountered the two companions on Easter Day. There was an empty seat beside me. This young Israeli stood and looked at me, I was wearing a glorious beard at the time, and he said, “You must be Moses come down from Sinai”. Well I said, “You are not far wrong because I have just come back from Mt. Sinai and we should all be bringing peace”. He sat down and was pleasantly loquacious. His parents had come from Tunisia and chatting away there, he said he was a Jew but not very observant but he could not agree with all the killing. He though everyone, Israeli or Palestinian should live in peace. I thought to myself, well there speaks the voice of the average young person in the street. The same would apply listening to young Palestinians.

And of course the situation in Israel keeps evolving day by day very painfully. It is as we pray for Justice and Peace that the situation in the Middle East becomes very vivid.

4. Camboni Calendar. Thinking of the Christ of Sinai, there is a whole Website on the Expressions on the Face of Christ. There are various images and icons of the face of Christ. A very striking one is a painting used in the Camboni Missionary Calendar for this March.

It is not so grand and symbolic as the Christ of Mt. Sinai or as mystical as the Cross of John of the Cross by Salvador Salve. This one is very different. It portrays Christ draped in a garment of the Resurrection with the marks of the wounds very clear on his hands and feet. Before him are two crosses against a map of South America.

Christ arms are raised out NOT on the Cross, He is now Risen, but He moves to a figure nailed to a large Cross in the guise of plantation worker. Jesus lifts up his arms towards to him as if to embrace and take him down. On the second Cross is a young labouring woman, her hands likewise pierced on the Cross, her face full of suffering.
There is lettering in the background of the painting expressing every aspect of Justice and Peace.

On the one side; Justice, Life, Witness, on the other; Hope, Dignity, Solidarity.

It is a simple theme and its message speaks to our hearts of the countless situations of oppression, exploitation and suffering and of the compassion of Christ’s that we endeavour to share in this time of Lent.

4. Paradise Island or Poverty Island

We can hardly open a Newspaper today without encountering these situations in all their agonizing detail. Just to take a random example. One of my sisters is a Missionary Sister in Australia. She is assigned to a place called Palm Island, an offshore island off Queensland. Good for her you might say, this place of lush vegetation, a stunning tropical paradise. In fact the story is heart rending. In 1918 the Australian Government set up a Aboriginal settlement on the island , uprooting people from their native places and creating a social disaster situation. Paradise Island has become Poverty Island in terms of levels of income, security, quality of life, rates of suicide and alcoholism, and the most telling barometer; 95% unemployment. In 2004 violent riots erupted when a young aboriginal man died in custody of the Australian police.

But at last there is light on the horizon. On the 13 February 2008, following elections in Australia, the new Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd (he of note in the Kyoto agreement) has apologise on behalf of the Goverrnment and the nation to the Aborigine people for the horrors of the Stolen Generations.

One could go on with reference to tragedy in another beautiful country, Kenya. We can thank God that wiser council has prevailed there and another mass pogrom avoided.

5. J&P and Prayer

So as we come together to celebrate a Lent Day of Retreat under the banner of Justice and Peace we cannot BUT feel the overlapping of our thoughts on the Cross
and on the sufferings of our Brothers and sisters in so many situations and places of war, violence and strife.

The fact that you are here in such a large response to the Notice for of the Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Members is an indication of the sense of aptness of entering into the Lent spirit in this active practical way.

It is a meeting point of spirit and body – in both of which, love of God and love of neighbour, we grow in the spirituality, the truth of our Faith on the one hand, and grow in the dept of our understanding of the suffering of our brothers and sisters.

Lent gives us a sense of urgency, not to say enthusiasm, for sharing in the Cross of Christ as it presents itself in every guise.

But to pause there for a moment, let us reflect that we are not going to departmentalize our thoughts or our lives today, not going to pigeonhole the Cross of Jesus in an attic for theology, and our activity for Peace and Justice in some specialised workshop.

Jesus does not know any such division of labour. Facing his critics he states, “Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is still working and I also am working”.
And the fierce reaction to those simple words, “For this reason they were seeking to KILL him, because he was calling God his Father”.
That really set his critics in a rage, calling ‘God his own Father’.
Now to give them their due, his critics DID UNDERSTAND the point, taking the full significance of saying God was his Father. They got the point so powerfully that they wanted to KILL him. I ask you – does it mean all that to each of us – having either to KILL or to Die for the truth of Jesus revelation of Himself, of the Father to me? It is much easier just to meander around the point. Do I feel deeply what Jesus is saying?

But the challenge, the MYSTERY is there. As we proclaim each day at the Consecration of the Mass, MYSTERIUM FIDEI (Let us proclaim the mystery faith).

The word for ‘god’ of the Gospels is not expressed by such words as Prime Mover, or Emanation or Life Force. The language that Jesus uses is that of human relationships lifting our poor minds to the language of divine relationships. Jesus spoke of God as his Father.. And the Father called him his Son: “a voice from heaven said “This is my beloved Son”. (Mt 3:17; 17:5). In World Religions, aspirations to supreme deities, were hard to maintain and tended to evaporate into thin air. They were too remote. More proximate versions of gods filled pantheons of idols.

But for the Christian; God does not evaporate into total generality but become, IN CHRIST, one of ourselves.

Here the Mystery of the Incarnation really TOUCHES us in every sense. “It is what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes and touched with our hands” (1Jn 1;1) The utter physicality of it is tangible. And even emotionally ‘it plucks our heart-strings’. Even the word Incarnation is incomplete and best uttered in the Biblical language, “Word made flesh”. It is hard if not impossible to keep it all in focus. It would be easy if the Holy Spirit were to come up with some kind of Digital Camera. Instead of Faith we would have some supernatural automatic view finding, automatic depth of focus, and simply point and shoot. It is only by prayer that we can keep our full sense of our spiritual inheritance.

But to go back to the swing of the pendulum in Jesus words. He speaks both of God his Father and of his Father still working as He also is working. It was put very aptly by John Ruskin,“God is a kind Father. He sets us all in the places where he wishes us to be employed, and that employment is truly “Our Father’s Business”. The words of that Victorian Art and Social critic could almost serve as a neat formula, to do our Father’s business. And it suggests the right idea. But how do we fully integrate our understanding of the relationship of the Father with our performance and our working life in practice? Of course we pray every morning and constantly at every level, mostly unconscious I would guess, “Thy will be done”. How do we integrate our prayer and our work.

6. Public Ministry – Inner Ministry

Maybe at this point in Lent we might begin to feel a self conscious anxiety urges us on to additional activities. I was hearing of the very fervent sisters of a Congregation of Sisters in Korea. Vocations and charitable activities are thriving.

Their Mother General, at the end of a Visitation to the Province had a word of warning to them about so many good works and advised them not to become work-alcoholics. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta had something to say on the same topic. Sometimes it takes a Saint or Mystic to make it simple for us.

On the Third Sunday of Lent the Gospel Reading was of that beautiful picture of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well and telling her that he is thirsty. Those words early in his Public Ministry will be echoed at the end with His words on the Cross, “I thirst”. What we call ‘the Public Ministry’ is equally ‘the Inner Ministry’. That Inner Ministry was well understood by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta when she wrote the letter, her “Spiritual Testament” which she addressed to all her Community.

"Give me a drink"

Jesus’ words “I thirst” (Jn 19,28), written on the wall of all our chapels, are not something from the past but are alive, here and now; they are spoken for you. Do you believe this? If you do, you will understand and feel his presence. Let him be as intimately within you as he is in me; that is the greatest joy you could give me. I will try and help you to understand this but Jesus himself is the only one who can say to you “I thirst!”
Listen to your own name.
And not just once. Every day. If you listen with your heart, you will hear, you will understand. Why did Jesus say: “I thirst”? What is its meaning? It is very difficult to explain it in words… Nevertheless, if you could grasp one, single thing from this letter,
let it be this: “I thirst” is an even more profound word than if Jesus had simply said “I love you”.

So long as you fail to realise, and in a deeply intimate way, that Jesus thirsts for you, you cannot possibly know what it is he wants to be for you, nor what he wants you to be for him.

The heart and soul of the Missionaries of Charity consists entirely in this: the thirst of Jesus’ heart, hidden in the poor.

This alone is at the origin of all that makes up our life. It sets before us both the goal … and the spirit of our Congregation.

To quench the thirst of Jesus living among us is the entire justification for our existence and our exclusive goal. Is there anything more than this we could say about ourselves, namely, that this is our sole motive for living.

I think that is a wonderful Testament of living integration of prayer and works of charity. If prayer is conversation with God then we are also going to talk to him about our activities. Catherine of Genoa had a great saying. It was quoted in our Annual Retreat given by Fr. Gerry Hughes, S.J. Catherine of Genoa said, “God has nothing else to do with God’s time but to look after me”.

7. Conclusion

If I can bring what I have been saying in this half hour full circle, it is as if the script for this Lent Day of Justice and Peace was laid out in the Vatican II’s “The Church in the Modern World”. This morning I came on these words from the Office of Readings under the heading, ‘All human activity will be purified by the Paschal Mystery’.

“The Word of God … assures those who trust in the charity of God that the way of love is open to all men and that the effort to establish a universal brotherhood will not be in vain. This love is not something reserved for important matters, but must be exercised above all in the ordinary circumstances of daily life.

Christ's example in dying for us sinners teaches us that we must carry the cross, which the flesh and the world in conflict on the shoulders of all who seek after justice and peace

Constituted Lord by his resurrection and possessing all authority in heaven and on earth, Christ is now at work in the hearts of men by the power of his Spirit”.

Two Priests Golden Jubilee

Mass for the Golden Jubilee of the Ordination to the Priesthood of Fr Raymond and Fr Hugh 1st March 2008

Homily by the Prior, Fr. Mark

[First Reading Is 6373-9
Second Reading 1 Cor 1:3-9
Gospel Jn 15:9-17]

It is so unusual in today’s world to have a double celebration of the golden Jubilee of two priests, never mind one!

The day I heard I might be preaching on this jubilee, the gospel was from Luke 15:11-32. Appropriately it was about two brothers. So far so good! The problem is that it was the parable of the prodigal son and his elder brother. This is more than one problem. One of them got itchy feet and left home, no doubt with his own credit card. The other seems to have been a lot older, with perhaps more stability than his younger brother and apparently more sense in his make up. And here, today, we have two venerable seniors with as much mature wisdom and magnanimity as you could imagine.

I suppose this is as bad a beginning as I might have feared. But, since I’ve started I’d better continue!

Before you think we are still at the penitential rite rather than listening to an elevating homily about Fr Raymond and Fr Hugh, it is right to remember that the priesthood like every Christian vocation is caught up in the ebb and flow of everyday living, with its good and not so good seasons, with it’s inspiring and less admirable aspects. The thing is we all start off with the greatest of ideals, the purest of motives and the desire to help those we see to be in need of help. This is as it should be. But it is also unreal. It is unreal because Fr Raymond and Fr Hugh, as we all were, were very much green gangling novices, at this stage. They were only at the start of the process, begun indeed by the Holy Spirit. They themselves weren’t yet fully part of that divine working. They needed time to be shaped and strengthened in their resolve. It is a relief to hear the words of the first reading that “they are sons and no rogues”. And so in the years that followed they have shown the wonder of their vocation in their real love for God here in the monastery. In this place they have worked and prayed, and cared for the needs of the community in all things both material and spiritual, serving the needs of one another and helping them to grow in the knowledge and love which comes from a faithful listening to the word of God, day by day, from the early vigil hours to the final praise of God before the coming night. Each day began for them in the Church and ended there before going to bed where they would find their rest. Refreshed, they would start the next new day, continuing all the time the work of God in whatever form it presented itself each day of their monastic lives. It is surprising how much can be done within such a routine and to what extent it affects the inner life.

Fr Hugh and Fr Raymond have come to live that life fully, as all monks are called to do. This is a far cry from the vocation of the priest in the parish who has to deal with the practical pastoral realities of parish life. In some cases however there is a crossing over of roles. Our two jubilarians are a good example of this. They have both had their own fair share of truly spiritual and pastoral work. Fr Raymond, as so many of the guests and friends of the abbey have witnessed, has been a tower of strength and assistance to a great many visitors to Nunraw over the twenty or so years he has served as Guest Master and now as abbot of the community. He has given of himself at all sorts of unseasonal hours and in difficult situations to the needs of others at great cost to himself. And God’s love has grown in him through it all. His wonderful sermons are probably a result of this earthy compassion. Both he and Fr Hugh have enriched us with their teaching and preaching about the graces of God. And, like Fr Raymond, Fr Hugh has been unsparing over the years in his work in the confessional. He has even become the local curate, supplying over the years for our PP, Canon Friel, in Haddington when the need has arisen. Fr Hugh has even spent some time in prison. No, he wasn’t apprehended like an erring, prodigal son trying to avoid the police as he was returning home to his loving Father. In truth, he went as a guest of the prison chaplain, Fr John McFadden who is present with us today, to see something of the inside of a prison, and to meet some of the prisoners for himself. Contrary to expectations, it wasn’t quite like Nunraw. It hasn’t been recorded which place he preferred.

When all is said and done, the life of a priest, of a monk, of a Christian, is not at all unlike the story of the prodigal son and his elder brother. We all have the gift of the one, loving, compassionate Father. And, we are all to some extent like the younger son with our own desires to get away and experience ‘real’ life in the raw. But we are also all a bit like the elder son with our own ideas of what a good, sensible and proper son should be. Unfortunately we also harbour the unpleasant and unlikeable characteristics we see in the elder son’s reactions to the return of his younger brother. In this parable, we see the true workings of the human heart and how we all have need of the loving arms of our Father around us when we return to him. We all need, too, the welcoming love and compassion of the Father whether we are the younger brother or sister returning home. We also need to appreciate the warmth and understanding of this same Father if we have stayed at home. If we can break free from our lack of compassion and hardness of heart we will know that we likewise are accepted and loved as the elder brothers and sisters that we are.

Today’s gospel reading gives the same message of the parable of the two brothers: Love God and especially one another. That surely is what the priesthood is all about, to be preachers and teachers and men of God so that others can be people of God. That is what gives us cause to celebrate with Fr Raymond and Fr Hugh today.

There is one remaining Big P. S. to add:
Yesterday morning when I went into the Church for our very early Office of Vigils, I could see that Fr Hugh was missing. This was most uncharacteristic. I thought, “Oh, my God, maybe he has died during the night. Don’t tell me I’ll have to rewrite my homily.” What had happened was that he had been suffering from a minor ailment. The doctor gave him some medicine that hadn’t agreed with him and he became quite sick. That was the reason he was missing from Vigils. You can imagine my relief. As you can see today he has happily recovered and well enough to celebrate his Golden Jubilee.

For this and for all that our two, to be honest not younger brothers, have done, and been, let us now give thanks.

Message from Cardinal Keith P. O’Brien
Date: Friday, 29 February, 2008
Subject: Congratulations to Abbot Raymond and Father Hugh on your 50th anniversary of ordination.

Dear Raymond and Hugh,
My sincere congratulations to you both as you celebrate the 50th anniversary of your ordinations to the Priesthood.

However my thoughts and my prayers will be with you both and I will offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for you both in thanksgiving,

As I indicated just a few days ago at the funeral of Brother Stephen I myself have celebrated the golden jubilee of my own links with Nunraw. Who would ever have thought our paths would have led us to where we are now! I myself will soon be rejoicing at having served the Archdiocese for twenty-three years as Archbishop - while you both have been continuing your life of prayer and penance at Nunraw. Over those fifty years many things are different from the way they were fifty years ago - but stability in our various lives has been found in our love and service of Jesus Christ and of his people particularly sharing the Sacrifice of Christ day by day as we celebrate Mass, myself in the Archdiocese or throughout the world and yourselves here in your Monastery at Nunraw.

As we celebrate our various anniversaries the call to vocations to the Priesthood and religious life must continually re-echo.

I join with you, yes, in thanking God for all the great gifts and the many graces he has given to you both and now pray that there will indeed be that increase in vocations to the Priesthood and the religious life in the years which lie ahead.

Do continue to remember me as I remember you both and look forward to seeing you in the not too distant future.
Yours sincerely in Christ
Keith

Golden Jubilee.

Golden Jubilee.
1st March 2008
Abbot Raymond and Fr. Hugh will be celebrating Mass to mark the 50th Anniversary of their Ordination to the Priesthood.

Hugh (Michael John) Randolph

Born 27 May 1928

Entered Prinknash 18 Jan 1949
Temporary Profession Prinknash 13 Nov 1950

Entered Nunraw 5 Nov 1951
Temporary Profession 20 Dec 1953
Solemn Profession 20 Dec 1956

Ordained 1 March 1958

Raymond Jaconelli

Born 20 July 1933

Entered 15 Oct 1951
Temporary Profession 22 Nov 1953
Solemn Profession 22 November 1956

Ordained 1 March 1958

___________________________________________________________

Homily, Abbot Raymond
TIRED BY THE JOURNEY
3^rd Sunday of Lent
Jn 4,5-42.

I would like to take this phrase which the Evangelist uses to describe Jesus as he sat wearily down by the well and look at some of the deeper implications of it.

Jesus was wearied by the journey, St Luke tells us. First and most obvious of all is the fact that it confirms the reality of his sacred humanity. A humanity which, like any of the rest of us had its limitations. Like the rest of us Jesus could only go so far at a time, then he had to rest. The whole of life is like that and that is why God has built into our nature the rhythm of day and night, of waking and sleeping. There is a great lesson in this to keep us humble. No matter how great, no matter how urgent the problems of life, we just have to go to sleep at night or we will only compound the problems.

I would like this morning to take this broad view of the weariness of Jesus in his public ministry. There was a word spoken by Jesus to his Apostles at the last supper which gives a rather dark picture, not often noticed, to his public life and what it cost him.

We read in St Luke’s account of the last Supper that Jesus said to his disciples: “You are they who have stood by me in my trials” Now, Jesus Passion had not yet begun and indeed he was going to say to them almost immediately, “You will all desert me”. So the trials he was referring to, the trials in which they had stood faithfully by him and for which he was so grateful to them were the trials they had been through together during his public ministry.

We tend to think of the public ministry of Jesus as a time of one great triumphant procession through the highways and byways of Palestine, scattering miracles and healings and wonders here there and everywhere with the adulation of the crowds following him everywhere.

But how many of those who crowded round him did so with real faith in him? How many were just curious like Herod? We can be surprise too to read that Jesus would not trust himself even to many of those who believed in him because he knew what was in man”.

We need only remember that it was the same crowd that shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David” at the beginning of the week that shouted “Crucify Him” at the end of the week.

On top of all this was the opposition of his own family. They even thought he was mad and tried to drag him forcibly home. Then of course there was the growing opposition of the Religious Authorities which was to lead ultimately to his death.

So indeed, Jesus had good reason to look back on his public life and refer to it, not as a time of triumph, but as a time of constant stress and trial; a time during which he was supported by the faithfulness of his Apostles and for this he was so grateful.

Let us take a lesson from this then in facing up to the stresses and strains of our own daily lives and when we feel so "wearied of the journey" let us sit down by the well of God’s word and draw strength and refreshment from it.

____________________________________________

Cardinal O'Brien on Br. Stephen

Cardinal K. P. O’Brien speaks at the end of the Funeral Mass for Br. Stephen.

Thank you, members of the community, and each and every one of you gathered here together. I am only too happy to say these few words today. And observing, as did the Abbot, I have to keep the Liturgical Rules. Having the Abbot on one side and the Prior behind me, I am also reminded by the promise of the buffet not to be too long. That is also basic to good Liturgy.

It is a privilege to be here, and I am wearing the one mitre and also the little zucchetto. The mitre is a reminder of my responsibilities as Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and speaking on behalf of the Archdiocese and indeed the whole of Scotland, and of many from the North of England as well, I am thanking the Cistercian monks most sincerely for the valuable apostolate all during that period from shortly after the ending of the Second World War in 1946.

And wearing the little zucchetto, I notice that some of the monks are wearing tasteful little black woolly ones too. But speaking, so to speak, as an external brother of the Cistercian community at Nunraw I just want to thank them all, and to thank Br. Stephen, for all they have taught me as an individual and for all he and the brothers have taught so many in Scotland and from further afield - all that they have taught by their way of life.

I have now passed my Golden Jubilee, my Golden Jubilee of my association with Nunraw Abbey, coming here as a young student as many did then, availing of the hospitality of the monks at the Workcamp and learning something about the monastic life.

In those days there were what we would call the working monks in their brown habits and the praying monks in white. I know that is not a very good distinction. Each and every monk works, and each and every monk prays but the working monks were symbolized for us by people like Br. Kentigern, driving that lorry and going to the quarry day by day by day, bringing the stones from which these very walls were built. And you might say three Musketeers in those days were Fr. Felim and Br. Ninian (and Kentigern). They not only set an example of hard physical graft but ensured that we took part in that hard physical graft as well, along with other lay Musketeers such as Willie Tear, and Seamus Short and various ladies in the Workcamp as well.

We think of those monks, those brown habited monks who did so much to form me and so many others

And then the praying monks; they are Musketeers as well – we did not know much about what went on within the walls of the guesthouse, the old monastery then, and consequently, Raymond, we were delighted to get that little peak into what goes on here up to the present time. All now united in the one family, one habit, one desire as monks together getting closer to Jesus Christ. Prayer and work, working and praying and still giving that tremendous example to those of us not within the walls of this abbey here at Nunraw. Whether it is Br. Kentigern or Br. Stephen, whatever the particular vocation within the walls of this monastery of Sancta Maria Abbey

Brothers, it is a tremendous privilege still to have you here in our Archdiocese, in our country, within these islands, a great, a great privilege.

And for me and for so many of us coming to places like this, coming HOME to Nunraw we prepare to give one of our brothers, Br. Stephen, HOME to the Lord.

As Abbot Raymond reminded us so beautifully, his life was one long prayer of the Gospels, of the Bible, of the Holy Rule – one long prayer.

And although physically it must have been hard for him in this last year and indeed years, but, please God, spiritually easy to move from this form of life here in Nunraw to the eternal vision God for ever in heaven.

And for all of us, linked with Nunraw in whatever way, whether as Cardinal Archbishop, or former camp worker, or one of the neighbours, may Br. Stephen’s example, and the ongoing example of all the Musketeers at Nunraw help each and every one of us, on our own journeys, HOME on the same journey to that beatific vision.

___________________________________________

Br. Stephen ocso

Br Stephen

(Resume of Homily at his funeral)

By Abbot Raymond

We welcome the family of Br. Stephen and his friends.
There are certain rules in the Liturgical celebration of the Mass, and with his Eminence behind me I must keep to those rules. One of those rules is that the Gospel Homily must be a Gospel Homily and not a panegyric on the good soul we are laying to rest.

However with Br. Stephen no such problem arises because Stephen’s own life was such a commentary on the Gospel that there is no contradiction between the two.. So that makes it quite easy for me to take the Gospel today. Jesus opening words, “All that the Father gives to me will come to me” (Jn. 6:37). ‘All that the Father gives me’, this is looking right into Br. Stephen’s mind-set of his whole life when he came to Nunraw. He knew that the vocation he had been given made him a gift to Christ, he belonged to Christ and Christ could be jealous of his possession of him. And he responded to that jealous claim of Christ of his life, responded absolutely.

Jesus says in this Gospel, ‘I came from not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me’. Stephen came from Glasgow to Nunraw not to do his own will but the will of the one who called him. That was his life. He had an incredible singleness of purpose in that aim in life. It was really outstanding.

Br Stephen was a man of most unusual singleness of purpose. He knew that by his vocation he was consecrated to Christ and lived that consecration utterly. He put on the mind of Christ in a life of praise of the heavenly father and of intercession for all the worlds needs and of thanksgiving for all God’s graces and benefits to his children.

Most monks have some kind of hobby or pastime; some kind of craft or interest consonant with their monastic life. Indeed they are encouraged to do so. “If the bow is always bent taught it will snap sooner or later”. After all, we are only human beings, not angels! However it was not so with Br Stephen, his bow was always bent and the arrow of his mind and heart always pointed towards his God. I never saw him with any other books than his Bible and the Rule of St Benedict.

In Community life he latterly played the role of the “senpectae” as St Benedict calls them. These were genial old monks whom the Abbot could nudge to go and speak with a brother who was in some kind of depression or trouble or at variance with the abbot himself. Br Stephen was a persona grata to everyone and could always approach or be approached by anyone. He always had a sure and simple word of encouragement and appeasement. Even the Abbot would go to him and tell him his troubles!

He did however have one “hobby”, if you like to call it that, and this was his concern for anyone in trouble or pain of any kind. Providence arranged that a constant procession of such people were led to visit him and seek his advice and comfort. Indeed so much did this mean to him that even in his last few weeks of life, while his physical and mental resources were at their lowest, all that was needed to bring him a new surge of energy and zest was for him to receive a visit from some person seeking his help.

Finally, I was privileged to get very close to him during his last months at Nunraw. His room was right next to mine, so it was I who answered his buzzer whenever he needed help. When we first got him the buzzer, I tied a ribbon onto it so that he could hang it round his neck and thus always have it by him in emergencies. However, the first time he buzzed me I went in and found him lying on the floor beside his bed. The floor was carpeted but he was badly bruised and in pain. Then I discovered that he had actually fallen in the hard tiled floor of the bathroom and had to crawl to his bedside to get the buzzer to call me.

I said to him “Brother, you’ve lived a life of perfect obedience and now you nearly died through one little act of disobedience!” But perhaps it was only forgetfulness. In any case, he certainly always wore the buzzer round his neck after that.

One last story about the buzzer: He would sometimes say to me in all simplicity: “Jesus came to me last night”, or sometimes it was Mary, or sometimes even the devil came and gave him a rough time. So I said to him: “Brother, if Jesus comes or Mary, would you give me a buzz. I would love to meet them; but if it’s the devil that comes you’re on your own!”

And finally this time, Stephen was one of the three Musketeers of the community, the old and the very old seniors of the community, Br. Stephen and Fr. Stephen and Fr. Luke and

Now each and every one of those three is a gem in our community. They are always peaceful, always with a smile, never any complaints. It is wonderful for us to have them. So now we have only the two Muskateers and I hope the third who has gone to heaven will keep them in his prayers and keep them in the same spirit to the very end of their days.

Br. Stephen, then, was all things to all men and all monks, and he is now, I am sure, all things he ought to be to his God. May he rest in peace. Amen.

Brothers: Kentigern and Stephen

Br. Stephen RIP

Br. Stephen (88) was called home to the Lord
Wed 13 Feb 2008

Brother Stephen, Cistercian monk Nunraw

John Heenan was born the first of a large family of ten children, 5 boys, 5 girls, of Thomas and Helen Heenan, in Townhead, Glasgow. He was Baptised in the Cathedral Parish of St. Andrew. Br. Stephen is survived by his sisters Betty and Julie and brothers Thomas (Br. Kentigern) and Charles, and nieces and nephews to the third generation.

His first school was the primary of St. Andrew, from where he went on to St. Mungo’s Academy. After school he joined his father’s business as Bookmaker. In later years his gestures would sometimes reveal his expertise as a boxer. In the first stages of the Second World War he joined the Army and served in the Artillery Defenses off the south coast of England, 1939-45.

In 1952 he decided to follow his younger brother in joining the monks at Nunraw. He made the contemplative monastic life his single minded aim. True to that calling his own character took shape and was moulded by the Lord as by the master potter. To begin with, his earnestness was almost his undoing. He learned quickly to such good effect that he was able to make his Solemn Profession 8 May 1958.

Many changes took place in the course of years in the monastery. With his gentle wisdom he quietly corresponded to the will of God in the times and needs of the community. Stephen’s vocation was, from start to finish, that of simple prayer and fidelity in ordinary things. In Glasgow they would call him an ‘ordinary punter’. That description was as true of him in the monastery as it had been in the streets, and as it was to be appreciated by the people whose counsel they came to seek in later years.

A major change took place in the 60s. He joined the community as one of the Brothers who wore a brown habit and had their own life style distinctive from the Choir monks. In the changing times, Br. Stephen took the option of the White Cowl and the liturgical office of the choir. No problem. For him it was a decision as simple and straightforward as his whole life. He came to be one of the monks to be counted on for regularity.

Of course, when he became Prior, the first time a non-priest became Prior, Br. Stephen did not change. He continued in the utter simplicity and dedication of his work and prayer. In 1983, it is on record, one monk commented to another about the elderly monk (Br. Stephen) regularly and frequently sweeping the cloister and washing the extensive windows, “What shall we do when he is gone?” Some 20 years later he was still lending a hand.

As Prior he could, with the same calm, preside at the Chapter Meetings of the community. When the Abbot was away at a General Chapter (1987), Stephen took the occasion to use some words from the Abbot General, “charity between brethren was the main import; there’s been a shift in the Cistercian life from an emphasis on fidelity to observance to fidelity in caring and charity towards one’s brethren, quite revolutionary, though tension between the two fidelities will never be resolved”.

An Email of condolence on the death of Br. Stephen echoes in many hearts

“My deepest heartfelt prayers for Br. Stephen. I will also pray for him to be welcomed into the arms of his Heavenly Father. He has touched so many lives and just when I needed to speak with someone, traveling alone, weary and persevering in my call, I met this beautiful brother. His character and vibrant life in the spirit will be a memory I shall never forget. I am truly blessed to have spent time with him and share in the life at the abbey with all the brothers and the faithful there. I always think of Nunraw Abbey as my home.
Abundant Blessings and I shall see you all again”.

Notes on his life by Donald

Brother Stephen, John Heenan (88)
Born 13 Nov 1919, Townhead, Glasgow.
Baptised St Andrew's Cathedral.
St. Andrew's Primary
St. Mungo's Academy
Army 1939-45
Temp. Profession 19 Mar 1955
Sol. Profession 8 May 1958
Prior 1976-93
Died 13 Feb 2008

Death of Absalom

In his Sunday Chapter-talk, Abbot Raymond was prompted by the thought of William on“David prefiguring the Messiah”, (previous weblog), to take the theme of:

the Death of Absalom.

Abbot Raymond said,
For the beginning of Lent, a time when we consider the passion of Christ in a particular way, here is an image of King David as a Type of Christ and of the spirit in which he died for us.

ABSALOM.
The story of the death of Absalom is one of the most poignant episodes in the life of King David and is also one of the most revealing in its portrayal of David as a Type and foreshadowing of Christ..

Absalom is perhaps the ultimate personification of the sinner. He was so devious and treacherous and ungrateful. Even after having been forgiven the murder of his eldest brother Amnon and restored to his father’s house he set about treacherously stirring up rebellion against him and proclaiming himself King.

David had to flee for his life, but when his forces defeated those of Absalom and Absalom was killed it was against the express wishes of his Father who ordered that he was not to be harmed. It was in this death of Absalom that the image of Christ shone most brightly in King David. David loved him to the end, and what a bitter end it was. There is no more poignant passage in the Old Testament than David’s lament for Absalom.

“O Absalom, my son, my son Absalom. O Absalom, my son. Would that I had died instead of thee. O Absalom, my son!”

On the lips of David these words are just an expression of hopeless grief, but on the lips of Christ they are truly prophetic because that is indeed just what he did. For him, to will was to accomplish. He did indeed die instead of us. He died that we might live. _____________________

David prefiguring Messiah

Just before Lent William kindly sent this reflection on the liturgical Readings 2 Sam 12, 15.

"David is like a prefiguring of the Messiah"

Dear Father Raymond,
I would just like to share with you the wonderful commentary today's reading on 2 Samuel 15 that is given in the Catholic Community Bible which you gave to me. It will not be a new "parallel" for you, but it is so well described that I think you will like it:
God wanted the Israelites of the period before Christ to have an image of him in the person of David, their first king. Those happy and glorious days of the young ruler, beloved by all, are followed by days of sorrow for the old king. During those years the countenance of Christ appears more clearly through King David.
Nathan has announced the consequence of David's adultery. In the trial, what emerges is only the humble loyalty of David who, without complaint, accepts Yahweh's will. The way David bears with the curses of Shimei astonishes us. How much more puzzling it was to people of those times who could only understand revenge. David knows that God will never leave him; his present misfortune is like an invitation from Yahweh to have greater trust. In order to attract Yahweh's mercy, he refuses to defend himself or to take revenge.
In chapters 15-17, what happens to David is like a prefiguring of the Messiah in his passion and resurrection.

Even the details suggest this:

15:12 - a traitor from David's council... who hangs himself 17:23.

15:23 - the crying, the river of Kidron.

15:30 - the Mount of Olives.

15:32 - the small group of followers on the hilltop.

16:9 - the general wants to defend his king with the sword; David forbids him to do so.

16:13 - the insults, the brief flight that ends with the death of the rebel.

I found this a very meaningful reflection.

William
______________________.

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4th Sunday

Abbot Raymond, Chapter Talk

NOTHINGNESS

(I Corinthians I: 26-31)

“God has chosen those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything.”

Notice that St Paul doesn’t say “…those who think they are everything” but those who actually “are everything” By this I think that he indicates that they are exactly, and only, what they claim to be, and no more. They glory in their gifts and talents without realising that they are truly Gifts indeed, and therefore they are destined never to become anything greater than what they are. They repel, rather than attract, the gifts of God.

But Paul assures us that “God has chosen those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything.” And who professed this nothingness more sincerely than the Blessed Virgin Mary? “He looked upon his servant in her nothingness” she proclaimed.

But there is, in human terms, a problem here. Nothingness has no attractiveness; it doesn’t call for love. Here we might consider that Grace itself , like Nature, abhors a vacuum. Where nature finds a vacuum it rushes to fill it in and so, where Grace finds a vacuum, it too rushes to fill it in. Love and nothingness are, of themselves, incompatible. Love considers the one it loves as anything but nothing. Love considers the one it loves as wonderful, as beautiful, as desireable.

But here the comparison between Divine Love and Human love breaks down. Divine Love actually creates the beauty within the one it loves. It enriches the one it loves; it raises up the one it loves to its own level. So, the difference is between the creature’s created love of that which is and the Creator’s Creative Love of what it wants to bring into being.

“It is God who first loved us”, as St John tells us,
and it is in that creative and enriching love that all our worth lies. ____

Nunraw Candlemas

64th Anniversary of Foundation of Nunraw
February 2, 2008 .

Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (also known as Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin or the Meeting of the Lord).

Observed by Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans, Orthodox

At Nunraw the cloisters were in blackout this morning for the candle lit procession.

The candles were blessed, incensed and everyone had their candle in hand as we sang our way through the pre-dawn darkness.

It is wonderful how the simple ceremonial gave new significance to the change in the liturgical season regardless of manpower or performance.

The Intercessions highlighted the occasion as the anniversary of the first Mass offered at Nunraw on the Presentation 2^nd Feb 1946.

The Liturgy of the Word received its crowning in the offering of the candles massed before the altar for the Eucharistic Prayer. Many communities make this the occasion for the renewal of their Vows – the apt expression of consecration.

On the previous evening Br. Patrick gave the Chapter Homily for the Solemnity. He concluded a well focused commentary on the mystery of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, leading in particular to the narrative from Lk 2, 28-40: There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

The role of the prophetess Anna reminded of hearing about the Bushkas, the elderly peasant women familiar in Russian Churches. He recounted the words of the Communist Guide who slightingly asked the visiting group, “When these Bushkas die off, where will your Church be?” Immediately one visitor replied, “There will be other Bushkas to take their place!” These old (and not so old) women, like Anna, (She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer), are a gift to the Church, sometimes praying for errant offspring, serving in the most mundane tasks, quietly evangelizing by their lives.

Later Br. Patrick added from his acquaintance with a priest in Glasgow who took groups of the Legion of Mary to Russia. During the Cold War time of persecution of the Church among the Russian Guides there was always at least one who asked to be received into the Church. Staying at the Hotel during one trip the priest noticed a heavily built cleaning lady moving in and out. Then one day, looking very severe, she stopped the priest and somehow communicated her question, “Are you a priest?” When he said he was, her face lit up, opened her arms and gave him the biggest of Russian hugs. She brought out a small Icon which, she said, her daughter had painted. And her message was, “Don’t you ever think that the Church in Russia is dead”.

“And so, as we stand in the temple and hold the Son of God and embrace him, let us pray to almighty God and to the child Jesus that we may be found worthy of discharge and departure to better things, for we long to speak with Jesus and embrace him. To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen”. (From a homily by Origen). _________________________________________________________________

RESPONSE/COMMENT

Dear Father Donald,
How I should have loved to have walked in candlelit procession through the cloisters in the pre-dawn darkness into the Church, and to have witnessed "the offering of the candles massed before the altar for the Eucharistic Prayer". Truly It is most often in "the simple ceremonial" that the deepest devotion is to be found.
. . .
Of the Bushkas in Br Patrick's Chapter Homily, everyone will be able to recall in their past an elderly "Anna" who was always 'there' at the back of the church. There was a Miss Day when I was a boy. Returning as an adult to observe a special centenary of the church as my brother was preaching, she welcomed me warmly, the errant son of the village who had become a Catholic. The church was called St Mary's, and my brother preached a truly protestant sermon that inwardly offended me - he hadn't known that I would attend. After the service, helping to put back the chairs and thus busy myself away from everyone, Miss Day came to me in the vestry and handed me Our Lady's banner, asking me to carry it back to St Mary's chapel. I am convinced that the wise old Bushka knew my hurt.

The anniversary of the first Mass offered at Nunraw on the Presentation 2nd Feb 1946. What a wonderful celebration that must have been! I have enjoyed reading on your blog of the pioneer builders of the 'new abbey'. Your testament to the "Bible Scholar Bernhard Anderson" was delightful, and I have noted the title of his work in the hope that I might..."stumble on a copy of the book" like the novice Cistercian monk in the Knockmealdown mountains of Ireland' . It was a fortunate Fr Aelred who attended the course by Fr Michael Casey - I remember his learned writing in the Exordium program in 1998, in celebration of the 9^th centenary of the Order, which you shared with me. In my diary, I keep an entry for 26th Jan for The Holy Founders, Sts Robert, Alberic & Stephen which always brings that program to mind.

Fr Luke's anniversary is known to me, for when I gave him a calendar for the 'old prior's room', he told me that January 2009 was to be his 50th anniversary. I will have to find a very special calendar for next year for him!

Your blog is a continual delight! And shares your world far and wide, o'er hill and dale - as well as continents!
With my thanks always and my prayers,
William.

____________________________________________

Nunraw Voluntary Builders

Photo: Voluntary Workers’ Camp,

building Nunraw New Abbey 1950s

Photo from Maria Jordan, niece of the late Francis Ricardo

‘Real Lives’ Edinburgh Evening News Jan 29, 2008

Dedication of a larger than life character
Lourdes pilgrim Francis Ricardo has died aged 71.

Frank Ricardo was born on October 5,1936 into a large family of Italian origin in Glasgow, where his father had an ice cream parlour.

The Ricardos moved to Fettes Row in Edinburgh when Frank was a child and he attended Holy Cross Academy in Leith.

After school he got a job as a marble terrazzo restorer for Toffolo Jackson along with his older brother Joe. One of the projects he was most proud of was the work he did on the floors of Nunraw Abbey near Garvald, East Lothian during the 1950s and 60s.
The Ricardos moved from Fettes Row to Trinity and kept a holiday home in the grounds of Nunraw Abbey, which Frank made his full-time base when the last of his 13 siblings passed away.
Poor health eventually caused him to change career and he spent the last few years before his retirement as a nursing assistant at Gogarburn Hospital.
Frank never married and the church played an important role in his life. He was a passkeeper at St Mary's RC Cathedral in Broughton Street, where he took up the collections at Mass and welcomed people at the door.
At his funeral in St Mary's Monsignor David Gemmell remarked that the Cathedral's 9.30am mass would never be the same without Franks’s ' loud; friendly and welcoming chatter.
He belonged to the Catholic associations, the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Men's Society.

Frank had been to the pilgrimage site of Lourdes, France, every year since the early 1990s and was a Brancardier, or helper of the sick, receiving the Edinburgh group silver medal for his frequent trips there.
He was one of a group of older helpers, who wore green caps with the nickname "Dad's Army" emblazoned across them.
One of his proudest moments was being part of a guard of honour in Rome when Cardinal Gordon Gray became Scotland's first resident cardinal since the Reformation.

Frank spent every weekend with his niece Maria Jordan at her home in lnverkeithing and it was there that he died suddenly on January 7.
Maria said: "He was larger than life and never had a wrong word to say about anyone and would do whatever he could to help people.
He had a very kind heart and was a gentle giant with a brilliant sense of humour. His life was dedicated to the church and his family."

Frank's funeral was held by six priests in St Mary's Cathedral and he was buried in Mount Vernon Cemetery.
He is survived by his nieces, Maria Jordan and Catherine Johnston and her husband George.
Abbot Raymond Jaconelli of Nunraw Abbey said: "Frank was a very outgoing man and he will be sadly missed."

________________________________________________

Living World of OT

January 16, 2008

Bible Scholar Bernhard Anderson, (91)

a leading scholar of the Hebrew Bible, passed away the day after Christmas.

This anecdote, about a Novice at Mount Melleray, appears in the obituary prepared by Drew University, where he served as dean of the school of Theology for many years.

“Modest in the extreme, Dr. Anderson was often surprised by the feeling with which students, teachers, and churchgoers spoke about the significance of Understanding the Old Testament in their lives. A public tribute of this kind occurred as recently as 2004, when Dr. Anderson was invited to participate in a theological school panel discussion. Dr. Anderson listened while a faculty member in New Testament, whom he had not previously met, told the story of how he stumbled on a copy of the book as a novice Cistercian monk in the Knockmealdown mountains of Ireland. Over the next six months, the professor recounted, he read it from cover to cover, as lectio divina, in the silent hours between the 3:45 wake-up call and the 6 A.M. Eucharist. Profoundly inspired in a new direction, he eventually left the monastery to pursue the historical study of the Bible and become a teacher in his own right. He added that he had told this story many times in the years since, but couldn’t resist telling it again in the presence of the author himself!”

Our Library Editions of the book have the European title, “The living Word of the Old Testament”. Fr. Thomas shies away from Fourth Edition revised for inclusive language. He thinks the Third Edition is the best version. We have used the book, on occasion, for the Night Office Readings.