Birthday of St. John the Baptist. | National Gallery, Saint John the Baptist: From Birth to Beheading |

     COMMUNITY CHAPTER SERMON - Fr. Raymond
below.      
Preview | Saint John the Baptist: From Birth to Beheading | National Gallery, London

 

The National Gallery 

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Published on 24 Jun 2014

John the Baptist has been painted by some of the most famous artists in the National Gallery from Piero della Francesca and Leonardo to Caravaggio and Puvis de Chavannes. But who was he and why has he been so important to artists and patrons over the centuries?

Over a series of 10 films the art historian Jennifer Sliwka and theologian Ben Quash share the highlights of their collaborative MA course between the National Gallery and King's College London, to explore the life of one of the greatest figures in Biblical history and one of the most represented saints in art.

       
Youtube Video

COMMENT:
12th Week Ord Time
Wednesday 24th  
On the Solemnity of the Birthday of St. John the Baptist, it is the 56th anniversary of Ordination of Priesthood. The 1959 souvenir cards long gone. The motto words of Psalm 26(27):4, remain at heart.
There is one thing I ask of the Lord
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
in the savour of the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple. [Ps. 26:4, Grail 1963]

http://www.athanasius.com/psalms/psalms1.html#27 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The most interesting subject for the Birthday of St. John of the Baptist in the Leonardo Charcoal Cartoon for the Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the Infant St. John (Burlington House, London).

COLORPLATE 33

Painted 1499-1501

BURLINGTON HOUSE CARTOON (VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH ST. ANNE), detail

Charcoal heightened with white on brown paper

National Gallery, London

The face of the Virgin in the Burlington House Cartoon accords with the type Leonardo had established seventeen years before in the Virgin of the Madonna of the Rocks in the Louvre (colour plate 18), yet it betrays the deep changes these long years had wrought in his art and that the other Madonna of the Rocks, the London version, first began to reveal. Something of that sweet harmony and well-being have survived, but now the face is that of a mature woman and is suffused with feelings and compassion that arc the direct result of an emotional and human concern with the actions of the children. Realistic behaviour has replaced elusive ethereality. The Virgin's head is voluminous and its structure more systematically defined than in Leonardo's earlier work. Moreover, the slight incline of the head is no longer a convention, as it was in the Madonna of the Rocks, but the result of a conscious movement. However, she still has the force of an idealized and universal presence.

The contrast between St. Anne's strange face and the pleasantly candid one of the Virgin could not be more striking. The older woman's narrow, deep set eyes, her deliberately compressed lips, and her curious mannered smile give the face an animation and a seer-like wisdom befitting one who attempts to communicate to a contented Virgin the dreadful knowledge of her son's future sacrifice. Leonardo's persistent search into the realm of the inner mind has given him access to emotions and psychological states that have now a mystical substance, which acts to expand upon and enrich the mere human condition.

Professor Wasserman

Leonardo

 COMMUNITY CHAPTER SERMON - Fr. Raymond

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Fr. Raymond ....
To: Donald ....
Sent: Tuesday, 23 June 2015, 10:47
Subject: ST JOHN BAPTIST

 

ST JOHN THE BAPTIST

When we call St John the Baptist the Precursor of the Lord we immediately think of the way he prepared the way for the Lord’s coming.  We think of: The example of his ascetic life; and we think of his fearless preaching; a preaching that was to cost him his life.  But there is another way, and perhaps a much more important way in which he prepared for the Lord’s coming.  This was not so much by what he did, or by what he said, great as these things were,  but it was also by the very fact of just who he was, and by what he represented in  God’s great plan for the accomplishment of the world’s salvation;  God’s great plan for the preparation of his people; to enable them recognise and accept the Messiah when he came.

Jesus hints at this when he says of John: “Of men born of women there has risen none greater than John the Baptist”.  In these words Jesus proclaims to all the world that the Person of John was the climax of all that the Old Testament was meant to be. John was its ultimate and perfect fulfilment.  Sanctified in the womb, he stands in the Old Testament in something the same kind of way as Mary, sanctified at her conception, does in the New.  As Mary is the ultimate fulfilment of the New Testament children of God, so John is the ultimate fulfilment of the Old Testament children of God.  God’s plans were never frustrated by man’s infidelities in the Old Testament.  The Old Testament was not a failure.  John the Baptist brought it to its perfect fulfilment.  -  “look!  There is the Lamb of God!” He cried.  At that moment the thousands of years of Old Testament History were shown to be fulfilled.

This link between the Old Testament and the New is seen dramatically proved and  portrayed for us in the strikingly parallel stories of the Annunciation and the Birth, the Passion and the Death, of John and of Jesus, side by side in the Gospel stories.

So when Jesus tells us that there has risen no man greater than John he is not saying necessarily that John is greater than Abraham or Moses, let alone his Blessed Mother.  He is rather saying that John’s greatness is not so much a personal one as one of his role and office in the history of salvation.  Jesus then goes on to speak of you and me, the children of the New Testament.  We are all greater than John, he says, and this in so far as it is a greater destiny to know just who and what the Messiah is and to be a part of his kingdom than it is to be the greatest of the prophets who could only look forward to some dim distant future coming.

This greatness of John, then, as the personification of the ultimate fulfilment of the Old Testament means that the whole of the Old Testament is one great preparation for the coming of Christ.  All its wonderful stories, all its great characters are meant to illustrate, in one way or another the person and mission of Christ.  If we stick to the New Testament only then we cannot fathom the full depth of the mystery of Christ;  We will miss so much of the meaning to be drawn from the beautiful and powerful imagery of the Old Testament as it gradually infolds for us the heights and the depths of the riches of Christ.

Therefore when St Jerome gave us his famous saying that “ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” he was not referring to the Gospels only but also to the whole of the Old Testament as well, right from the Book of Genesis through to the Baptist himself who straddles both Testament like a great Colossus.

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)     

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Luisa, prayer is one single point. Chrysostom, prayer was very short

COMMENTS:

"Christ and Paul com­manded us to make our prayers short, and to say them frequently, at brief intervals". (Sr. John Chrysostom).

"Prayer is a Single Point such that in Praying for Oneself, One Prays for All".    (Luisa Piccarreta).

TUESDAY, TWELFTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME, YEAR I

A READING FROM THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL

(Hannah’s barrenness and her prayer: 1 Samuel 1:1-19)

There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.....    

Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Year I 

A READING FROM THE HOMILIES
ON HANNAH BY ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

As Hannah 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? Is it 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.

St John Chrysostom, De Anna, Sermon 2.2; (Bareille 8:419-21); Word in Season +++++++++++++++++++.

    

18 May 2015

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/

Dom Donald's Blog: 

Adoration 'my heart as I said my prayers'

Book of Heaven, Luisa Piccarreta, Vol. 7. 

May 30, 1907. 

Effectiveness of prayer. Prayer is a Single Point such that in Praying for Oneself, One Prays for All. As I was in my usual state, I saw blessed Jesus for a short time, and I ...

      “My daughter, prayer is one single point, and while it is one point, it can grasp all other points together.  So, whether the soul prays for herself alone or for others, she can obtain by supplication just as much.  Its effectiveness is one.”

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)
Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk, Doneword :http://www.donewill.blogspot.co.uk    |domdonald.org.uk,   Emails: nunrawdonald@yahoo.com, nunrawdonald@gmail.com

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Louisa's writings! as "the Sun of my Eternal Will rises... light crammed with love... belonging to the creature who with her act in my Will, made the Sun rise... the full Afternoon of our Eternal Sun formed within the creature."

COMMENT:
Bible, Patristic, Mystic.

Dear William,

Thank you taking a great pleasure and contribute the gentle response.

  yours, Donald

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William ...
To: Donald    
Sent: Monday, 22 June 2015, 14:30
Subject: Re: Samson=sun, Jesus SUN of Righteousness... Dawn

Dear Father Donald,

Thank you for sharing this with me... as the parallel SUN connection was given you, it will have been one of those moments of SUNRISE, the day being asked please to delay!

How many untold depths am I to further discover in Louisa's writings! as "the Sun of my Eternal Will rises... light crammed with love... belonging to the creature who with her act in my Will, made the Sun rise... the full Afternoon of our Eternal Sun formed within the creature."

Pondering upon Louisa's writings into the night, the very Presence of Our Lord in the Divine Will given to her caught my breath this morning (Office of Readings) in Psalm 72...

23 Yet I was always in your presence; you were holding me by my right hand. You will guide me by your counsel and so you will lead me to glory. What else have I in heaven but you? Apart from you I want nothing on earth. My body and my heart faint for joy;God is my possession for ever. To be near God is my happiness.

It is as if a personal relationship with Our Lord in His Divine Will  has only just been revealed to me - at the bedside of Louisa...

I confess to being somewhat bewildered by the purity and intensity of her writing, deeply drawn by her spiritual transparency.

Thank you Father, most truly.

With my love in Our Lord Jesus,

William

Samson (sun), Lord Jesus is truly the Sun of Righteousness 

the Prophet thus names the Lord Jesus: The sun of righteousness shall rise over you, and there will be healing in its wings. The Lord Jesus is truly the Sun of Righteousness, for he enlightens the minds of all believers with heavenly light. 

A Word In Season for the Liturgy of the Hours
Sunday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Year I

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF THE JUDGES

(The birth of Samson is announced: Judges 13:1-25)

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore beware, and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for lo, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” ...

...And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshta-ol.

  

A READING FROM THE COMMENTARY ON JUDGES BY RABANUS MAURUS

Let me summarise briefly everything that is said about Samson. Samson, who in his day was a Nazirite of the Lord, is allegorically a type of Christ; first, because his birth was foretold by an angel; secondly, because he was called a Nazirite and delivered Israel from its foes; and, finally, because he overthrew their Temple, causing many thousands of people who had mocked him to perish.

As the birth of Samson was foretold by an angel, so the Lord’s bodily birth was foretold by the Prophets, as well as by the angel who said to Mary: Hail, Mary, full of grace; you have conceived in your womb and will bear a son, and you shall call him ‘Emmanuel’, for he shall save his people from their sins.

The name ‘Samson’ means ‘sun’. But our Redeemer too is called ‘sun’; listen to how the Prophet thus names the Lord Jesus: The sun of righteousness shall rise over you, and there will be healing in its wings. The Lord Jesus is truly the Sun of Righteousness, for he enlightens the minds of all believers with heavenly light. He is the true Nazirite and Holy one of God, and it is only by analogy with him that this other man was called a Nazirite.

When Samson was travelling to the wedding he encountered a roaring lion. As he travelled to a foreign people in quest of a wife, a lion came out to meet him and he killed it. Who should we see foreshadowed by Samson if not Christ who, when about to gather the Church from among the Gentiles, said: Rejoice, for I have overcome the world.

What does it mean that Samson took honey from the mouth of ­the slain lion except that, as we ourselves see, the nations of the earthly kingdom who formerly raged against Christ have lost their ­savagery and, moved by the sweetness of the Gospel preaching make their votive offerings? Also significant is what we see in ­Samson’s own person: he killed few in his lifetime, but countless ­were the enemies he slew when he died by destroying the Temple. So too the Lord in his lifetime rescued few from the arrogance of unbelief, but he rescued many when the temple of his body was ­destroyed; and those Gentiles who were arrogant and whom he bore with in his lifetime, he laid low by his death.

Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Judges, 2.20 (PL 108:1198); Word in Season V.

!

"Catholic Divine Will " ... in thirty-six volumes by Luisa Piccarreta

December 14, 1937

Just as human nature has its day, the Divine Will forms Its own day in the depth of the soul of the creature who lives in It. Miracles that happen in the Divine Will.

I felt immersed in the Divine Volition. It seemed that, as I was doing my acts in the FIAT within Its waves of light, that light would become larger and would centralize itself more within me; and I felt a growing need to love It and to breathe It - more than my own life. Without It, I felt out of breath, without warmth and without heartbeat; but as I came back to do my acts in the Divine Volition, I felt the breathing, the warmth and the Divine heartbeat coming back, to delight my poor existence. Therefore, it is a need for me - a need of life - to live in the Divine Will. 

Then, my sweet Jesus, coming back to visit my little soul, all goodness told me: “My blessed daughter, just as nature has its day in human life, during which all the actions of life are performed, in the same way my Divine Will forms Its Day in the depth of the creature who lives in my Will. 

As the creature begins to form her acts in It, calling It to her as her own Life, she starts her day, forming a most shining Dawn in the depth of her soul. This Dawn gathers its Power, renewing in the creature the Power of the Father, the Wisdom of the Son, the Virtue and Love of the Holy Spirit. So she starts her Day together with the Most Holy Trinity, Which descends in the most tiny acts and hiding places of the creature in order to live together with her, and to do whatever she does. This Dawn puts to flight the darkness of the soul, so that all becomes light for her, placing Itself as a vigil sentry, so that all her acts may receive the Light of the Divine Will. 

 This Dawn is the first rest of God within the room of the soul - it is the beginning of the Eternal Day in which the Life of the Supreme Being starts together with the creature. My Will does not move - It is not able, nor does It know how to do without the Adorable Trinity. At the most, It goes forward - being the actor, but always pulling with It, in an irresistible way, the Adorable Trinity, forming the divine chamber in which the Divine Persons can enjoy their beloved creature. Wherever It reigns, my Will has the Power to centralize everything - even our Divine Life.  

How beautiful is the beginning of the Day of one who lives in our FIAT. It is the enchantment of the all Heaven. If the Celestial Court were subject to envy, It would envy the one who is so fortunate as to possess, within her soul - while still living in time - the beginning of the eternal Day - the precious Day in which God begins to live His Life together with the creature.

Now, as soon as she begins the second act in the Divine Volition, the Sun of my Eternal Will rises. The fullness of Its light is such as to invest the whole of earth, visiting all hearts and bringing the ‘good morning’ of light and new joys to all the Celestial Court. This light is crammed with love, adoration, thanksgiving, gratitude, glory and benediction - but who do these belong to?: to the creature who, with her act in my Will, made the Sun rise which shines over all, so that all may find the one who loved God for them - the one who adored Him, thanked Him, blessed Him and glorified Him. Everyone finds the thing which he was supposed to do for God. She compensates for everyone. One act in my Will must enclose everything. It has the power and the capacity to make up for everyone and to do good to all; otherwise It could not be called ‘act, done in my Will.’ These acts are full of unheard-of prodigies, worthy of our Creative Work.   

Now, as she turns to her third act in our Will, the full Afternoon of our Eternal Sun is formed within the creature. Do you know what she gives Us with this full Afternoon? She prepares a banquet for Us. And do you know what she gives Us for food? The Love We have given to her - our divine qualities. Everything carries the mark of our beauty and of our chaste and pure perfumes. We like it so much that we eat our fill; and even if something may be missing for our status, since the creature is in our Will, she is the owner of all our goods; she takes from our treasure whatever is needed, and prepares for Us the most beautiful banquet, worthy of our Supreme Majesty. And We invite all the Angels and the Saints to sit at this celestial banquet, so that they may take and eat with Us, of the Love which We received from the creature who lives in our Will. Now, after we’ve banqueted together, the other acts that she does in our Will serve - some to form for Us celestial melodies, some loving chants, some the most beautiful scenes; some others repeat our Works, which are always in action. In sum, she keeps Us always busy. And when she has given course to all her actions in our Will, we give her rest, resting together with her. After the rest, we begin the work, starting another day, and so forth.

Many times, this loyal daughter of ours - since true loyalty consists in living in our Divine Will - seeing that her brothers and sisters are about to be struck by the deserved chastisements for their sins, doesn’t close her day, but prays and suffers to beseech graces for their souls as well as for their bodies. The life of one who lives in my Divine Will is new joy and glory for Heaven, and help and graces for the earth.”

Fiat!

  http://catholicdivinewill.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/divine-will-volume-thirty-five_26.html  

August 9, 1937

Prodigies of love in the Divine Volition. How the Divine Will redoubles Its love, in order to be loved with Its own love. How the Queen will form the new Hierarchy in her inheritance.   (Luisa Piccarreta) 

St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher - Martyrs for Truth

 

FatherBroomOMV

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Published on 7 Aug 2012

These great Saints were willing to be executed rather than compromise the truth. Father Ed Broom, OMV, preaches the homily on June 22, 2012 at St. Peter Chanel Church in Hawaiian Gardens, California.

Father Ed Broom, OMV is a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary founded by the Venerable Pio Bruno Lanteri. This community is dedicated to Mary, preaching God's Mercy, Loyalty to the Magisterium, and the promotion of spirituality among the laity especially by the use of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

To read his Blogs or listen to his many podcasts, please go to www.fatherbroom.com

22nd June - Saint John Fisher and Saint Thomas More

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=27745

Monday, June 22, 2015 1:11 am.

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Both saints held high office in England but submitted to martyrdom rather than accept Henry VIII's claim to be head of the Church. St John Fisher was a learned teacher and chancellor at Cambridge university and a friend of the humanist Erasmus. He became Bishop of Rochester in 1504 at the age of 35. When asked to accept the King as head of the Church he said he could not. "I do not condemn any other men's consciences," he said. "Their consciences must save them and mine must save me." He was tried and executed for treason on June 17 1535. He was 66. St Thomas More was the Lord Chancellor. A younger man than St John Fisher, he had a large family and household to support and said he did not wish to die. "I am not so holy that I dare rush upon death," he said. But he could not accept the King as supreme head of the Church or condone his divorce. Rather than make a public pronouncement he resigned from his post and hoped to retire quietly. But the King would not accept his silence. St Thomas was arrested, imprisoned at the Tower of London for 15 months and then declared guilty of treason and condemned to death. He was executed nine days after St John Fisher. He was 57. From the scaffold he said: "I die the King's good servant, but God's first."

Twelfth Sunday of the Year (B) Gospel - Mark 4: 35-41. Welcome Pope Encyclical

Pope Francis

Encyclical.

  Laudate Si 


Praise Be To You

COMMENT: ...'Pope Francis in his wonderful encyclical Laudato Si pulls together all the problems confronting life on our little blue planet    '.

cf. ICN

The night prayer of the Church Recognizes the connection entre sleep and death.Our night prayers are Meant to Be Both a preparation for dropping off to sleep and for death, When We will-have to let go of everything.

Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 21st June 2015

12th Sunday of the Year The sights and sounds of boats in harbours is something that fills my imagination and has been a life-long interest. I love Cornwall and its coastline so many of my images come from there, but any harbour is a magical place. The sea is obviously in my blood, but I know that beautiful as it might be, like all water places it has to be respected and feared as well. Jesus loves the waters too, some of the greatest images of him are settings by the sea and of course, many of his first followers were fisher-folk. In Mark's Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus is on board a ship, sleeping through a tempestuous gale whilst everybody else on board is frightened for their lives. When wakened he rebukes them for their lack of faith, but to settle them shows just who he is, the Holy One who was there at creation and who loves and sustains it still, and for them calms the great elements! That image of Jesus, the Word made flesh , the word spoken at creation who named and shaped life is there in his command to the wind and sea, 'Quiet now! Be calm!'. This is the Lord of life, part of the Trinity who guides and shapes us still, for as Paul puts it 'in Christ, there is a new creation'. This is echoed in the passage from Job 3 about the origins of the seas, I love God's response to Job at the heart of the tempest, reminding him that 'I wrapped it in a robe of mist and made black clouds its swaddling bands'. It is God, not human beings, who really marks the boundaries of nature, who continues on the work of creation. Yet we are in a time of great difficulty with life and nature and our planet. We seem to have forgotten how to love it and use its resources well. Pope Francis in his wonderful encyclical Laudato si pulls together all the problems confronting life on our little blue planet and in Gods name asks all of us to do something. For the moment this is our home and we must care for it. Like the psalmist on the waters we ask God to lead us to the haven we desire and to thank the Lord for the wonders he does for all life on earth! Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Great Britain. ++++++ Top 10 Things You Need to Know about Pope Francis' Laudato Si'   America Media 2,376   10,672   Published on 18 Jun 2015 Pope Francis' highly-anticipated environmental encyclical has arrived and Fr. James Martin, S.J., presents the ten things you need to know about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_lqFTYLc_4