Blessed Sacrament - in centre of city precinct of Barnsley

Thanks to ICN (Independent Catholic News)

Eucharistic flashmob in Barnsley

Posted: Sunday, June 26, 2011 10:32 pm

Email  Print

The following film on Youtube takes a few seconds to get going,  but then it becomes increasingly inspiring.  The Capuchin Friars now run the University Chaplaincy in Preston. Many thanks to Sr Janet for sending us this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ5aYoSr3Hg&feature=youtu.be

Share:

Corpus Christi Jn 6:51-58

Sunday, 26 June 2011

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) - Solemnity

Nunraw Retreat House - Families Group

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 6:51-58.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."  

=======================================================

Chapter Community Sermon by Fr. Hugh

CORPUS CHRISTI

There is always a certain newness about the Christian Mystery. God's love is always new, bright and refreshing; something which gives a certain buoyancy to life which can at times be a little drab and monotonous.lt is perceived by faith, man's new organ of sight. The Holy Eucharist is like that; it exceeds all human comprehension because God's ways can be known truly but never adequately. One of the dominant features of the Eucharist is its giveness. 'This is my body which is given for you'. 'This is my blood which is shed for you' Christ gives himself completely in love to the Father and the Father returns this love which is the third person of the "Blessed Trin,ity, the Holy spirit. To celebrate the Mass worthily is to be caught up in this mutual self-giving.

It is to lead us to the Father that Christ gives us his body and blood as we share in the heavenly sacrifice which is the eternal sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross represented but never repeated. This is Christ’s greatest activity in which we are invited to share, a representation not only of his death on Calvary but of every moment of his life 'I do always the things which are pleasing to my Father.'

Every Mass is a social activity, whether it is offered with one or two people present or when it is presided, over by the Bishop of the diocese, who is the successor of the Apostles. Such a Mass is the fullest expression of the Church. As a social activity it involves both the Pilgrim Church, the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant. It is a family celebration in which the whole of the Mystical Body participate. Here we are united with all its members; for the Church is a Eucharistic society, a family which finds its greatest activity in the celebration of the Holy Mass. It is a family to which we all belong regardless of race or colour, poverty or riches, aged or young. All have their part to play. Here individuals find their completion in both contributing to the good of others and in receiving the help they helve to give us. Everyone in the family of the Church has something to give and something to receive. Here individuals and different races find their completion, racism is 8verC0rne and we -Te made aware of the universality of Christ’s Church.

In the text of the Eucharistic prayers we are made aware of the other members of the extended family who have gone before us, the living dead. The saints are our Christian ancestors  from whom we have received the accumulated wisdom of the past who join us in or worship As the Orthodox express it in their Lenten liturgy; 'Now the powers of heaven are present with us and worship unseen.’

A welsh poet who died 1968 has expressede the same thought.
'There is no barier between the two worlds in the Church.
The Church militant on earth
Is one with the Church triumphant in heaven

And the saints are in this Church which is two in one.
They come to worship with us our little congregation.'

This is expressed in every preface of the Mass in different words such as, 'Therefore with all the choirs of angels and the whole company of heaven.' We 'j oin them in the Sanctus, Holy, Holy, Holy, The family members who have gone ahead of us are mentioned too when we o.onmemoz-at e the saints.

This worship unseen is symbolised by the use of incense. Its use in worship goes back to Jewish times and it is described in the Catholic Encyclopedia as a 'natural and beautiful symbol of prayer and sacrifice.’

In the Lord's Supper we are guests of Jesus. When we think of the sacred host our minds naturally go to the consecrated small piece of bread and this is right but Christ is the Sacred Host because it is He who presides at every Mass in which he is always the principle celebrant, welcoming us with infinite love .; a love which is expressed in the reserved sacrament waiting to be received in Holy Communion.

'Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone opens to me I will supp with him find he with me.'

"the book of prayer par excellence, the Book of Psalms", Pope

The Feast of Corpus Christi. Pope Benedict XVI  invited everyone in Rome, residents and pilgrims alike, to participate in the Mass he will celebrate at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the basilica of St. John Lateran, and in the subsequent procession along Via Merulana to the basilica of St. Mary Major.  "I invite you", he said, "to join this act of profound faith towards the Eucharist, which represents the most precious treasure of the Church and of humankind".

Home - VIS Vatican - Receive VIS - Contact us - Calendar

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

THE PSALMS: THE BOOK OF PRAYER PAR EXCELLENCE

VATICAN CITY, 22 JUN 2011 (VIS) - Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis during this morning's general audience to what he described as "the book of prayer par excellence, the Book of Psalms". The audience was held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 10,000 people.

  The 150 Psalms of the Book of Psalms "express all human experience", said the Pope. "All the truth of the believer comes together in those prayers, which first the People of Israel and later the Church adopted as a special way to mediate their relationship with the one God, and as an adequate response to His having revealed Himself in history".

  "Despite the many forms of expression they contain", the Psalms "can be divided into two broad categories: ... supplication associated with lamentation, and praise. These two dimensions are related, almost indivisible, because supplication is animated by the certainty that God will respond, and this opens the way to praise and thanksgiving; while praise and thanksgiving arise from the experience of salvation received, which presupposes the need for help expressed in the supplication. ... Thus, in the prayer of the Psalms, supplication and praise intertwine and fuse together in a single song which celebrates the eternal grace of the Lord as He bows down to our frailty".

  "The Psalms teach us to pray", the Holy Father explained. "In them, the Word of God becomes the word of prayer. ... People who pray the Psalms speak to God with the words of God, addressing Him with the words He Himself taught us. ... Through these words it is also possible to know and accept the criteria of His actions, to approach the mystery of His thoughts and His ways, so as to grow and develop in faith and love".

  "By teaching us to pray", the Pope went on, "the Psalms also teach us that at times of desolation, even in moments of suffering, the presence of God is a source of wonder and consolation. We may weep, plead and seek intercession, ... but in the awareness that we are advancing towards the light, where praise will be unending".

  "Equally important and significant are the manner and frequency in which the words of the Psalms appear in the New Testament, where they assume and underline that prophetic significance suggested by the link of the Book of Psalms with the messianic figure of David. In His earthly life the Lord Jesus prayed with the Psalms, and in Him they reach definitive fulfilment and reveal their fullest and deepest meaning. The prayers of the Book of Psalms, with which we speak to God, speak to us of Him, they speak of the Son, image of the invisible God Who fully reveals the Father's face to us. Thus Christians, by praying the Psalms, pray to the Father in Christ and with Christ, seeing those songs in a new perspective which has its ultimate interpretation in the Paschal Mystery".

  Having completed his catechesis and delivered greetings in various languages, the Pope recalled the fact that tomorrow is the Feast of Corpus Christi. He invited everyone in Rome, residents and pilgrims alike, to participate in the Mass he will celebrate at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the basilica of St. John Lateran, and in the subsequent procession along Via Merulana to the basilica of St. Mary Major. "I invite you", he said, "to join this act of profound faith towards the Eucharist, which represents the most precious treasure of the Church and of humankind".

AG/     VIS 20110622 (590)

Comment: Re: Prayer of Hannah 1 Samuel 9-18

Comment: Re: [Dom Donald's Blog] Prayer of Hannah 1 Samuel 9-18
I too was very struck by D. P. Coughlin's appreciation of Merton's style!       
Nivard.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Nivard . . . . 
Sent: Tue, 21 June, 2011 16:25:03
Subject:                              Judge not  

Monday, Week 12, Judge not...

Jesus states a heavenly principle on which we can stake our lives: i.e. what you give to others (and how you treat others) will return to you in like manner. The Lord knows our faults, weaknesses, and sins. He sees everything, even the imperfections and hidden sins of the heart which we cannotrecognise in ourselves.

     Like a gentle father and a skillful doctor he patiently draws us to his seat of mercy. He removes the cancer of sin which inhabits our hearts. Do we trust in God’s mercy and grace. And do we submit to his truth about what is right and what is wrong. We must see what is good and what is evil and what is helpful and harmful for our welfare and the welfare of our neighbour. Let us ask the Lord to purify our hearts with his loving-kindness and mercy so that we may have ample room for charity and forbearance towards one another.

Father, help us always to praise rather than to criticise, tosympathise rather than to discourage, to build rather than to destroy. This we ask through Christ our Lord.

---

From: Fr Donald
To: nivardmcglynn@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, 21 June 2011, 21:05
Subject: [Dom Donald's Blog] Prayer of Hannah 1Samuel 9-18

Nunraw foreground, Danskin Reservoir.

12^th  Week in Ordinary Time

TUESDAY June 21 – the longest day and shortest day

First Reading 1 Samuel 1:1-19

Prayer of Hannah 1Samuel 9-18

Nunraw foreground, Danskin Reservoir, Lammermuir Hills 

12^th  Week in Ordinary Time

TUESDAY June 21 – the longest day and shortest night.

First Reading 1 Samuel 1:1-19

Responsory                                                                       Mt 7:7-8; Mk 11:24

Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.+ For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find, and to those who knock the door will be opened.

V. Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. + For everyone ...

Merton’s writing talent, “growing drama built by choice of words and imagery. I thought those pages to be the most insightful and beautiful rhetoric I had ever read.”

During my first year at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary I was encouraged to keep a journal to develop better skills in writing. I was delighted to learn that Thomas Merton kept a journal. When I heard that some of his monastic experiences had been published in a book, I was anxious to read The Sign of Jonas. Once I laid hands on a paperback copy I would have loved to have devoured the whole book. But to keep focused on my studies, I disciplined myself like it were chocolates. Only after I had done my homework, would I allow myself to read The Sign of Jonas for a half hour. To this day I remember distinctly the evening I came to "The Fire Watch." I remember leaning on the doorjamb between the bathroom and the bedroom overwhelmed by the growing drama built by choice of words and imagery. I thought those pages to be the most insightful and beautiful rhetoric I had ever read.

A Monastic Vision, Cistercian Publications, 2006, D. P. Coughlin p. 188

A Scripture can similarly carry impact as happened with the Night Office First Reading, 1 Samuel 1:1-19. The Bible drama of the prayer of Hannah, the choice of words and imagery is unsurpassable.

In his Commentary St. John Chrysostom (golden tongued) leads us direct back to the Prayer of Hannah.

Second Reading  

Hannah. Wife of Elkanah of Samuel. and mother of Samuel. She was one of two wives and prob. had not borne a child. She vowed that if she did she would dedicate him to God. This she does. Her song of triumph, natural enough under the circumstances, is echoed in Mary's Magnificat (1 Sam. 2, 1-10—Song of Hannah; Luke 1, 46-55). (Collins Gem Bible).

   

From a sermon by Saint John Chrysostom (c. 347-407)

As Anna continued praying in the presence of the Lord, says scripture, Eli watched her mouth. The writer bears witness here to two virtues in the woman: her perseverance in prayer and her attentiveness. He refers to the first by saying, She continued, and to the second by adding, in the presence of the Lord; for we all pray, but not all of us pray in the presence of the Lord. Though our bodies may be in an attitude of prayer and our mouths babbling some pious formula, can we really claim to be praying in the presence of God when our minds are wandering hither and thither in home and market-place? Those people pray in the presence of the Lord who pray with complete recollection; who, having no worldly attachments, have removed from earth to heaven and banished all human preoccupations, just as this woman did then. Recollecting herself completely and concentrating her mind, she called upon God in her deep distress.

But why does scripture say she continued praying when actually her prayer was very short? She made no long speeches, she did not spin out her plea to great length, but spoke few and simple words. What then could the writer have meant by saying, She continued? Surely he meant that she said the same thing over and over again: she spent a long time ceaselessly repeating the same words. That indeed is how Christ also commanded us to pray in the gospels. When he told his disciples not to pray like the Gentiles and not to use empty repetitions, he also taught them the right way to pray, showing them that it is not a multiplicity of words but mental alertness that wins us a hearing.

Why then, you may ask, if prayer should be brief, did Christ tell them a parable to show that it should be continuous? There was a widow, he said, who by her persistent requests, by her going to him again and again, overcame a cruel and inhuman judge who neither feared God nor regarded other people. And why does Paul also urge us to keep praying, to pray without ceasing? It is a contradiction to tell us not to make long speeches, and yet to pray continually. No; there is no contradiction — God forbid! The two commands are in complete agreement. Christ and Paul commanded us to make our prayers short, and to say them frequently, at brief intervals. For if you spin out your words to any length you are often inattentive, and so give the devil freedom to approach and trip you up and divert your mind from what you are saying. But if you pray continuously and frequently, repeating your prayer at brief intervals, you can easily remain recollected and fully alert as you pray. That indeed is just what this woman did, not making long speeches but drawing near to God frequently. at brief intervals. That is true prayer, when its cries come from the depths of one's being.

Responsory                                                            Ps 88:2,9; 5:2

Let my prayer come into your presence; incline your ear to my cry.

+ I call to you, Lord, all the day long; to you I stretch out my hands.

V. Hearken to the sound of my cries, my king and my God. + I call ...

 Monastic Lectioary

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - Athanasius

Holy Trinity

Peter Paul Rubens 

Trinity Sunday

Fr. Hugh attended the Deanery Seminar on the new Roman Missal. The Introductory Rites texts are trimmed fastidiously. (Quote: I was uneasy to think myself too fastidious, whilst I fancied dr. johnson quite satisfied).

However, we are powerfully reminded of the Mass greetings to the Eucharist.

This Reading powerfully reminds  us of the familiar (so far) greeting by the words of Athanasius and of St. Paul;

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
 and the love of God
and the fellowship communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you”.

and carries the correction happily.

Night Office.

First Reading

From the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians (2:1-16)

Responsory  See Ephesians 1:17-18; 1 Corinthians 2:12

 May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, give us a spirit of wisdom to penetrate his revelation

and bring us to full knowledge of him.

- May he enlighten the eyes of our minds to see the great hope of our calling,

the wealth of glory he has laid up for the saints.

We have not received the spirit of this world. but the Spirit who comes from God

- May he enlighten ...

Second Reading:

From the first letter to Serapion by Saint Athanasius (Ep. 1,28-30: PG 26,594-595.599)

The first letter to Serapion is one of four written in 359 or early 360. In the Arian controversy the question of the divinity of the Holy Spirit was intimately connected with that of the divinity of the Son Athanasius shows that the life given by the Holy Spirit is in fact the work of each of the three Persons and that it is a share in the divine life of the Holy Trinity.

It will not be out of place to consider the ancient tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church, which was revealed by the Lord. proclaimed by the apostles, and guarded by the fathers. For upon this faith the Church is built. and if anyone were to lapse from it. that person would no longer be a Christian either in fact or in name.

We acknowledge the Trinity, holy and perfect, to consist of the Father, the Son. and the Holy Spirit In this Trinity there is no instrusion of any alien element or of anything from outside, nor is the Trinity a blend of creative and created being. It is a wholly creative and energizing reality, self-consistent and undivided in its active power, for the Father makes all things through the Word and in the Holy Spirit. and in this way the unity of the Holy Trinity is preserved. Accordingly in the Church one God is preached, one God who is above all things and through all things and in all things. God is above all things as Father, for he is principle and source; he is through all things through the Word; and he is in all things in the Holy Spirit

Writing to the Corinthians about spiritual matters, Paul traces all reality back to one God, the Father, saying: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone.

Even the gifts that the Spirit dispenses to individuals are given by the Father through the Word. For all that belongs to the Father belongs also to the Son, and so the graces given by the Son in the Spirit are true gifts of the Father. Similarly, when the Spirit dwells in us, the Word who bestows the Spirit is in us too, and the Father is present in the Word. This is the meaning of the text: My Father and I will come to him and make our home with him. For where the light is, there also is the radiance; and where the radiance is, there too are its power and its resplendent grace.

This is also Paul's teaching in his Second Letter to the Corinthians: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. For grace and the gift of the Trinity are given by the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. Just as grace is given from the Father through the Son so there could be no communication of the gift to us except in the Holy Spirit. But when we share in the Spirit, we possess the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Spirit himself.

Monastic Lectionary

Responsory

Let us adore the Father, and the Son. and the Holy Spirit; - let us praise and exalt God above all for ever.

Blessed be God in the firmament of heaven;

all praise, all glory to him for ever.

- Let us praise and exalt God above all for ever. 

+ + + 

Alternative Reading         

From a poem by Saint Gregory Nazianzen
(1,1-4.21-34; 2, 1.2.60-64.7s-84: 3, 1-9.42-45.51: PC 37, 397-411)

Gregory's poems were written at the end of his life, during his retirement at Arianzum. The defense of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was one of his life­long preoccupations. In this reading he gives a summary of his thought and teaching on the subject.

To speak of the Godhead is, I know, like crossing the ocean on a raft, or like flying to the stars with wings of narrow span. Even heavenly beings are unable to speak of God's decrees or of his government of the world. But enlighten my mind and loosen my tongue, Spirit of God, and I will sound aloud the trumpet of truth. so that all who are united to God may rejoice with their whole heart.  

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - Benedict XVI

Community Chapter  Sermon. Saturday 18 June 2011

Each year, 1000s of the faithful appear to see and hear the Holy Father at the Sunday Holy Trinity ANGELUS address by the Pope St Peter's Square, Vatican.

The brief message is distinct by his distillation of theology of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity.

Talking to the 1000s attending, Benedict, the theologian, is not taking prisoners. The sacred spectacle of the ANGELUS, greeting, address and prayer, in the Piazza, envelopes the special experience. Later, words will be remembered and follow deeper in the thought and insights of Benedict..

Thorters Reservoir, Castle Moffat, Nunraw

  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/angelus/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20090607_en.html 

BENEDICT XVI

ANGELUS

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 7 June 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

• After the Easter Season which culminated in the Feast of Pentecost, the liturgy provides for these three Solemnities of the Lord: today, Trinity Sunday; next Thursday, Corpus Christi which in many countries, including Italy, will be celebrated next Sunday; and finally, on the following Friday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Each one of these liturgical events highlights a perspective by which the whole mystery of the Christian faith is embraced: and that is, respectively the reality of the Triune God, the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the divine and human centre of the Person of Christ. These are truly aspects of the one mystery of salvation which, in a certain sense, sum up the whole itinerary of the revelation of Jesus, from his Incarnation to his death and Resurrection and, finally, to his Ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
  
• Today we contemplate the Most Holy Trinity as Jesus introduced us to it. He revealed to us that God is love "not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance" (Preface). He is the Creator and merciful Father; he is the Only-Begotten Son, eternal Wisdom incarnate, who died and rose for us; he is the Holy Spirit who moves all things, cosmos and history, toward their final, full recapitulation. Three Persons who are one God because the Father is love, the Son is love, the Spirit is love. God is wholly and only love, the purest, infinite and eternal love. He does not live in splendid solitude but rather is an inexhaustible source of life that is ceaselessly given and communicated. To a certain extent we can perceive this by observing both the macro-universe: our earth, the planets, the stars, the galaxies; and the micro-universe: cells, atoms, elementary particles.  
  
• The "name" of the Blessed Trinity is, in a certain sense, imprinted upon all things because all that exists, down to the last particle, is in relation; in this way we catch a glimpse of God as relationship and ultimately, Creator Love. All things derive from love, aspire to love and move impelled by love, though naturally with varying degrees of awareness and freedom. "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Ps 8: 1) the Psalmist exclaims. In speaking of the "name", the Bible refers to God himself, his truest identity. It is an identity that shines upon the whole of Creation, in which all beings for the very fact that they exist and because of the "fabric" of which they are made point to a transcendent Principle, to eternal and infinite Life which is given, in a word, to Love. "In him we live and move and have our being", St Paul said at the Areopagus of Athens (Acts 17: 28). The strongest proof that we are made in the image of the Trinity is this: love alone makes us happy because we live in a relationship, and we live to love and to be loved. Borrowing an analogy from biology, we could say that imprinted upon his "genome", the human being bears a profound mark of the Trinity, of God as Love.
  
• The Virgin Mary, in her docile humility, became the handmaid of divine Love: she accepted the Father's will and conceived the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Almighty built n her a temple worthy of him and made her the model and image of the Church, mystery and house of communion for all human beings. May Mary, mirror of the Blessed Trinity, help us to grow in faith in the Trinitarian mystery.

---

Father Son & Holy Spirit