Love of God, love of our neighbours Mt. 22:34-40

Sanctuary at Mt St Bernards

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Intro:  to the Mass.

The Night Office already primed the thought of the Mass Gospel, Mat. 22:34-40.

It is well that  the MISSION SUNDAY LETTER after the Gospel.

The verses are very brief and powerful

-         The Love of God expressed the two great commands
Love of God, love of our neighbours.

This morning St. Augustin’s commentary actually besutifully simplifies it.

…no need to select some special passage of Scripture to serve a text.
… open the  Bible at ANY PAGE, you will find it extolling LOVE.

… this is from the Lord himself.

“You will Lovd the Lord and your neighbor as yourself.”

Gospel: Matthew 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they gAot together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question. "Master, which is the greatest commandment of the law?" Jesus said, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment The second resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself On these two commandments hang the whole law, and the prophets also."

From a sermon by Saint Augustine

(Sermo Mai 14, 1-2: PLS 2, 449-450)

The whole of the Bible is about love. People in Old Testament times who truly loved God were given some inkling of the new covenant God would make with his people which would perfect their love and banish fear.

I know, beloved, how well fed you are every day by the exhortations of Holy Scripture, and what nourishment your hearts find in the word of God. Nevertheless, the affection we have for one another compels me to say something to you, beloved, about love. What else is there to speak of apart from love? To speak about love there is no need to select some special passage of Scripture to serve as a text for the homily; open the Bible at any page and you will find it extolling love. We know this is so from the Lord himself, as the gospel reminds us, for when asked what were the most important commandments of the law he answered: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself And then, just in case you might be tempted to search further through the pages of Holy Scripture for some commandments other than these two, he added: The entire law and the prophets also depend upon these two commandments. If the entire law and the prophets depend upon these two commandments, how much more must the gospel do so?

Mt St Bernard Abbey grounds

People are renewed by love. As sinful desire ages them, so love rejuvenates them. Enmeshed in the toils of his desires the psalmist laments:

I have grown old surrounded by my enemies. Love, on the other hand, is the sign of our renewal as we know from the Lord's own words: I give you a new commandment - love one another.

Give to God Mt 22:15-22

Sunday, 16 October 2011

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 22:15-21.

Render Unto Caesar What is Caesar's

Mass Introduction: 

Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what is God.

Matthew, in the Gospel today, spotlights the Pharisees and hypocrites.

But Jesus – the Son of the Father – spotlights

-        the disciples

-        the Pharisees

-        the Herodians

-        and God.

That is the personality of Jesus.

He embraces each and everyone

-        the love of Jesus for us,

-         our love of Jesus,
THAT IS THE MOVIE OF LIFE!

Papal Basilica of St Francis Assisi 

COMMENT: SEARCH Assisi picture Our Lady Immacultate 'bread upon the waters'

Thank you, Enis,
You have made the amazing response to my inquiry of the Blog about the photo from Daisy in her Assisi Pilgrimage.
The Lead, not the usual Link, is, "ex_fide pilgrimage to the  St.Francis Basilica in 31^st of Jan 2009".
And this prompts us even deeper into the story.
Your interest is a blessing to us.
fr. Donald

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Enis . . . .@dsl.pipex.com>
To: Donald  . . . .@yahoo.com>
Sent: Sunday, 16 October 2011, 19:42
Subject: thank- you

Dear Fr. Donald,

Many thanks for the memorial cards which I have received. I notice on you blog you were wanting to know

Where the statue of Our Lady is. I had a look about on the internet and got up someone’s Blog ex_fide pilgrimage to the  St.Francis Basilica in 31^st of Jan 2009. He has photos taken in the basilica and the one of Our Lady the same one you have, it appeared I think to be in the crypt. Hope it’s been of some help.

Kind regards, Enis 

God bless

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: father patrick . . .
To:
Sent: Friday, 14 October 2011, 15:55
Subject: BEAUTIFUL STORY 

 In the face of the storm, Pope Benedict stood strong

By David Kerr

Rome, Italy, Oct 13, 2011 / 03:08 pm (EWTN News/CNA)   

Erika Rivera speaks with EWTN News in Rome on Oct. 6, 2011

Related news:

• Madrid’s World Youth Day shortcomings offer lessons for Rio
• Spanish forum recalls joy of youth at World Youth Day
• Oldest nun tells Pope, 'I pray for you each day'
• 'Truth' is behind success of World Youth Day, says archbishop

As thunder, lightning and wind whipped through the World Youth Day prayer vigil this past August, Pope Benedict XVI was advised to leave the event three times. But he insisted that if the young people stayed, then he would too.

The revelation comes from a young Honduran woman was who stood next to the Pope throughout the event.

“The masters of ceremony were asking him if the wanted to leave because it was raining, it was pouring and the wind was really strong and he kept on saying that he would not leave. In fact, he twice waved his finger saying ‘no, no, no’,” 27-year-old Erika Rivera told EWTN News.
The advisers then asked a third time if the Pope wanted to leave. But this time he responded even more firmly, pointing to the 2 million drenched young pilgrims and saying, “If they are staying, then I am staying too.”
“And when he said that, we, the young people who were there next to him, were just so happy to have him as the Holy Father. So it was a fantastic, unique experience,” Rivera said.
Rivera was a senior press officer at August’s World Youth Day, but she also served as the host at a number of the week’s papal events, including the Saturday night vigil at Madrid’s Cuatro Vientos airbase.

While the rain lashed and lighting flashed, Pope Benedict seemed to remain prayerfully composed beneath two white umbrellas. Meanwhile, the 2-million strong congregation youthfully sang, danced and prayed in the soaking rain.

We were not afraid at all because we could see that the first one who was serene was the Holy Father,” said Rivera.

“He transmitted a lot of serenity, a lot of calmness and therefore, you know, we thought what else could happen to us?”
After approximately 15 minutes, the rain abated, allowing Pope Benedict to thank the crowd for their “joy and resistance” in enduring the storm. “Your strength is bigger than the rain,” he told them, adding that “the Lord sends you lots of blessings with the rain.”

He then proceeded to lead the young people in Eucharistic adoration.

“It was just fantastic, amazing; it was like a masterpiece,” she said. “The Eucharist was there, the Holy Father was there and the future of the Church was there too - the young people - it was just amazing.”

Two months later Rivera believes there is a deeper lesson to be learned from Pope Benedict’s fortitude in the face of a Spanish storm.

While modern society often opts to “take the easy exit,” she said, to “see Pope Benedict willing to stay there, to make the sacrifice for him who died on the cross for us -- it was truly inspiring for me.”

Read more: http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/World.php?id=4149#ixzz1ahQpLPTr

patrick

Community Monthly Memorial of the Dead

Nunraw - Six-month Mind Memorial
Br. Aidan R.I.P. 30 March 2011

Mass

---

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14LUKE 12:1-7(Romans 4:1-8; Psalm 32)
KEY VERSE: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and can do no more" (v 4). 

Month Memorial.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Fr. Nivard ... @yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, 13 October 2011, 17:08
Subject: Fear him who has power to destroy body and soul 

Do not fear those who kill the body Scripture:  Luke 12:1-7 

At the Funeral of Henry W. Wilberforce

From the letter of one who was present at the funeral of Mr. Henry Wilberforce at the Dominican Monastery at Woodchester, in 1873:

Extract: Newman drew an outline of his friend’s comfortable life and prospect of advancement. Then the word of the Lord came to him, as it did to Abraham of old, to go forth from that pleasant home, and from his friends, and all he held dear, and to become a fool for Christ's sake."

Newman then committed him to the hands of his Saviour. He then reminded us of the last hour, and dreadful judgment, which awaited us all, but which his dear brother had safely passed through. Finally he earnestly and sweetly prayed that every one present might have a holy and happy death.

Father, may the light of your word free our hearts from the deception of sin and consume them with a burning love for your truth. Through Christ our Lord.

Original: DURING the office a venerable figure came quietly up the aisle, and was going meekly to take a place on the chairs at the side; but H—— saw and took him into the sacristy, whence he soon made his appearance in cassock and cotta in the choir, and was conducted to the Prior's stall, which was vacated for him. This was dear Dr. Newman. He followed the office with them, but after awhile could contain his tears no longer, and buried his face in his handkerchief. At the end of Mass, Father Bertrand said something to Dr. Newman, and, after a little whispering, the venerable man was conducted to the pulpit. For some minutes, however, he was utterly incapable of speaking, and {17} stood, his face covered with his hands, making vain efforts to master his emotion. I was quite afraid he would have to give it up. At last, however, after two or three attempts, he managed to steady his voice, and to tell us "that he knew him so intimately and loved him so much, that it was almost impossible for him to command himself sufficiently to do what he had been so unexpectedly asked to do, viz., to bid his dear friend farewell. He had known him for fifty years, and though, no doubt, there were some there who knew his goodness better than he did, yet it seemed to him that no one could mourn him more." Then he drew a little outline of his life—of the position of comfort and all "that this world calls good," in which he found himself, and of the prospect of advancement, "if he had been an ambitious man." "Then the word of the Lord came to him, as it did to Abraham of old, to go forth from that pleasant home, and from his friends, and all he held dear, and to become——" here he fairly broke down again, but at last, lifting up his head, finished his sentence—"a fool for Christ's sake." Then he said that he now "committed him to the hands of his Saviour," and he reminded us of "the last hour, and dreadful judgment, which awaited us all, but which his dear brother had safely passed through," and earnestly and sweetly prayed "that every one there present might have a holy and happy death."

Lord Jesus, may the light of your word free my heart from the deception of sin and consume me with a burning love for your truth and righteousness.

SEARCH Assisi picture Our Lady of Sorrows

Photo during Assisi pilgrimage.
ASKING: the location of  Chapel visited? 

I will be grateful if someone can identify this picture.
Pinned to the brick is a marble tablet etched by the backing of the Cross. 
The figure of Our Lady is a statue standing on altar. 
It is interesting as much as expression of  devotion.

Thank for further information.

The Stations of the Cross, Cloister, Sancta Maria Abbey Nunraw

Hi, Kieran,
Thank you.
You were very busy at Retreat in monastery.
Well done, adds to 'the presence'.
Yours.
Donald 


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Kieran ... @hotmail.com>
To: Donald Nunraw .... @yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 11 October 2011, 0:16
Subject: The Passion of Christ. A reflection from Sancta Maria Abbey Nunraw

Dear Father Donald,

I hope you are all well. 
I hope you like this YouTube video. Maybe a bit early for the Lenten season. 

Gods love
Kieran  

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdIaPhE9w48&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Kieran

Compared Apple co-founder Steve Jobs with St Ignatius Loyola and Pope Pius XI

Jesuit editor compares Steve Jobs with St Ignatius, Pius XI

Posted: Monday, October 10, 2011 6:06 pm

Steve Jobs  The new editor of the influential Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica has compared Apple co-founder Steve Jobs with St Ignatius Loyola and Pope Pius XI.  Speaking on Vatican Radio, Father Antonio Spadaro SJ said that Jobs, like Pius XI, who founded Vatican Radio and built the Vatican train station, recognized the importance of expanding communication. According to Fr Spadaro, Jobs, who died at the age of 56 on October 5 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, made technology part of the lives of millions and millions of people, not just technicians. "Steve Jobs had something in common with Pius XI and that is that he understood that communication is the greatest value we have at our disposal today and we must make it bear fruit," the Jesuit told Vatican Radio, adding that Jobs had a "great ability to believe in dreams, to see life not only in terms of little daily things, but to have a vision in front of him.  Basically, Steve Jobs' most important message was this, 'Stay hungry, stay foolish' - in other words, maintain the ability to see life in new ways." The 'stay hungry' quote was from a commencement address Jobs gave at California's Stanford University in 2005. Follow the link below to listen to what he said. Some of the points he made echoed what the founder of the Jesuits, St Ignatius of Loyola, preached.  In his Spiritual Exercises, St Ignatius wrote that one way of making an important choice is to examine how one would go about making that decision if he knew he were about to die.  Jobs told the new graduates in 2005: 'Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.' Father Spadaro wrote in his blog: "In the cases of Ignatius and Steve, death isn't a bogeyman,' but is present as a reminder that in the face of death, the only thing that remains is what is truly important for each person.  Acknowledging that he did not know whether the founder of Apple was a believer, he wrote that in the Stanford speech, Jobs was 'speaking simply about the interior disposition one must have when making important decisions in life, focusing on what counts.  No one, believer or non-believer, can make choices in life if he thinks he's immortal." Under the headline 'The talented Mr Apple,' the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano put news of Jobs' death on its front page. "Steve Jobs was one of the protagonists and symbols of the Silicon Valley revolution,' which brought changes not only in technology, (but) also a 'revolution of customs, mentality and culture,' it said.  Jobs was 'a visionary who united technology and art,' the paper said.  He was a man of 'talent, pure talent." Source: Jesuit Communications

Mt 22:1-14 the wedding feast - Lectio Divina?

'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?", Mt 22:12."

Parable of Marriage Supper

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Donald ...
To: William J ....
Sent: Sunday, 9 October 2011, 19:19
Subject: Re: Mt 22:1-14 the wedding feast - Lectio Divina?

Dear William,

Congratulations as you lean back in your chair.

Another pasture of Parable.

Minted for the Blog.
Thank you.

Meanwhile I have been busy putting the episodes of the General Chapter in Order.

I wonder if we can illustrate them also?

Yours,

DonaldPS. My "thoughts flow free" also, as I listened to the Abbot's Homily, contrary thoughts, "'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?", v. 12."

---

From: William J ...
To: Donald ...
Sent: Sunday, 9 October 2011, 14:01
Subject: Mt 22:1-14 the wedding feast - Lectio Divina?

Dear Father Donald,

 

The hidden basis of this parable is expounded with great sublety by Joachim Jeremias in his 'The Parables of Jesus' (p 176) of which Pope Benedict XVI makes approval in his own writings 'Jesus of Nazareth'.  It would seem [again] that the allegorical features of the parable in Matthew's Gospel come from the re-telling, rather than from the origin [recorded in the ancient text of the Gospel of Thomas]. Apparently Jesus uses a story of common knowledge at that time of a fabled tax-gatherer achieving great wealth who puts on a sumptuous banquet for the great and the good to finally win their acceptance but has all of his invitations spurned; and in a rage, throws the party open to all the poor of the city in order to snub those very nobles! [Jeremias] "That the man's motive was just as selfish and ignoble as that of the judge who yielded to the importunate widow simply in order to be left in peace, has not in any way disturbed Jesus, but has rather induced him to choose just these persons as examples... to illustrate both the wrath and the mercy of God".

 

Joachim Jeremias' analysis of the parable ends with this remark:"This parable... is not fully understood until attention is paid to the note of joy which rings through the summons: 'everything is ready' (v.17). [As St Paul says] 'Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation' (2 Cor 6:2). God fulfils his promises and comes forward out of his hiddenness. But if the 'children of the kingdom', the theologians and the pious circles, pay no heed to his call, the despised and ungodly will take their place."

 

So it would seem that "the parable of the Great Supper has been so drastically edited by Matthew that it has been transformed into nothing less than an allegory of the plan of salvation". BUT - I wonder! - is not one of the joys of discovering the text of the original story as told by Jesus that of enabling us to appreciate all the more Matthew's own inspired interpretation of Jesus' words, his apostolic Lectio Divina that brings us so beautiful an iillumination of the parable in his Gospel!

 

Leaning back in my chair, words fall short and thoughts flow free!

 

... in Our Lord,

William

COMMENT: Google: See the Dead Sea Scroll - Like it's never been seen online.

Shrine of the Book - Jerusalem

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: WILLIAM ....
Sent: Saturday, 8 October 2011, 13:08
Subject: Re: Dead sea scrolls

Dear Father Donald,

 

Goodness me, what an amazing achievement!

This is the link I chose which has quite absorbed me...

 

http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah#1:18 -  "the version you see here is the authoritative version of the biblical Book of Isaiah, as rendered by the Jewish Publication Society in 1917 and published by the American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise".

 

Words fail me, completely.

 

Thank you!

 

...  in Our Lord,

William

 

 

From: Donald Nunraw ...
To: William J ...
Sent: Friday, 7 October 2011, 21:51
Subject: Fw: Dead sea scrolls

A Friend

sends this thrilling Google gift.

With thanks

Donald. 

PS. 

http://chuck.hubpages.com/hub/Digital-Dead-Sea-Scrolls  
The Dead Sea Scrolls are now online; a project of The Israel Museum,   
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rYj_0foJYA&feature=player_embedded    

    

Dead Sea Scrolls on display  inside the Shrine of the Book

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Enis ...
To: 'Donald Nunraw' ...
Sent: Friday, 7 October 2011, 20:05
Subject: Dead sea scrolls

            Dear Fr. Donald

                                      I was wondering if you knew that the Dead Sea Scroll were on the internet. If you are interested you can key in on  GOOGLE   The Digital Dead Sea Scrolls  that will bring up the site.

 

Hope you are all keeping well and not missing Br. Aidan too much.

 

God bless

                            Enis              

                       

Israel Museum and Google put Dead Sea Scrolls online

Happy is the Womb

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Nivard , , .
Sent: Friday, 7 October 2011, 20:02
Subject: Daily Reading & Meditation

Saturday (October 8): "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it"

Scripture: Luke 11:27-28

27 As he said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!" 28 But he said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

Meditation: Who do you seek to favour and bless? When an admirer wished to compliment Jesus by praising his mother, Jesus did not deny the truth of the blessing she pronounced. Her beatitude (which means "blessedness" or "happiness") recalls Mary's canticle: All generations will call me blessed (Luke 1:48). Jesus adds to her words by pointing to the source of all true blessedness or happiness – union with God in heart, mind, and will. Mary humbly submitted herself to the miraculous plan of God for the incarnation of his only begotten Son – the Word of God made flesh in her womb, by declaring: I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38). Mary heard the word spoken to her by the angel and she believed it.

On another occasion Jesus remarked that whoever does the will of God is a friend of God and a member of his family – his sons and daughters who have been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ. (Luke 8:21). They are truly blessed because they know their God personally and they find joy in hearing and obeying his word.

Our goal in life, the very reason we were created in the first place, is for union with God. We were made for God and our hearts are restless until they rest in him. An early martyr once said that "a Christian's only relatives are the saints." Those who follow Jesus Christ and who seek the will of God enter into a new family, a family of "saints" here on earth and in heaven. Jesus changes the order of relationships and shows that true kinship is not just a matter of flesh and blood. Our adoption as sons and daughters of God transforms all our relationships and requires a new order of loyalty to God and his kingdom. Do you hunger for God and for his word?

Father, our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Help us to live in your presence and in the knowledge of your great love for each one of us, through Christ our Lord.

+ + +

http://cacina.wordpress.com/2009/10/page/3/

Carry the gospel with you    

Posted in christian, Christianity, inspirational, religion, scripture by Fr. Mike on October 10, 2009

Gospel reading of the day:

Luke 11:27-28

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

Reflection on the gospel reading: A woman in today’s gospel comes to Jesus and marvels at who she perceives Jesus to be. She likely did not know who Jesus’ mother was, but in an expression that was appropriate within her cultural context, she praised Jesus by praising the mother who nurtured such a son. When Jesus gently contradicts her, there is some humility in it. He essentially is saying, don’t praise me, but marvel at the wonderful things God does when God moves hearts in a way that lives in conformity to God’s will.

COMMENT Portiuncula

 Communio 

http://jesusdivinemercy.com/Main/2010/08/02/%E2%80%9Cpardon-of-assisi%E2%80%9D/

Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45ZeeAz5x8E&feature=related 

The little church was called St Mary of the Angels

Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula 

Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula, the Virgin under whose mantle Saint Francis of Assisi was wrapped; Mary's maternal protection made it possible for blessed Francis to experience an intentse Presence of the Lord and to receive his vocation to rebuild the Church. The Portiuncula is also the place where Francis knew first hand the experience of being sustained by the Angels. Likewise his intimate devotion to the Blessed Mother, under whose protection did he place himself to do the Lord's work did this place become holy for the members of the Franciscan family and for the Church universal. As a place of pilgrimage, the holy Portiuncula is a poignant reminder of how important the encounter with Christ was for Saint Francis and how much the encounter ought to be pivotal for us today. Without meeting Christ, little makes sense. Saint Bonaventure had this to say about this devotion:

The Portiuncula was an old church dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God which was abandoned. Francis had great devotion to the Queen of the world and when he saw that the church was deserted, he began to live there constantly in order to repair it. He heard that the Angels often visited it, so that it was called Saint Mary of the Angels, and he decided to stay there permanently out of reverence for the angels and love for the Mother of Christ. This is also the place where St Clare took her vows and where Saint Francis died.

Consider the words of an early biographer of Saint Francis of Assisi:

From there he moved to another place, which is called the "Portiuncula," where there stood a church of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God built in ancient times.  At that time it was deserted and no one was taking care of it.  When the holy man of God saw it so ruined, he was moved by piety because he had a warm devotion to the Mother of all good and he began to stay there continually. The restoration of that church took place in the third year of his conversion. At this time he wore a sort of hermit's habit with a leather belt. He carried a staff in his hand and wore shoes. One day the gospel was being read in that church about how the Lord sent out his disciples to preach. The holy man of God, who was attending there, in order to understand better the words of the gospel, humbly begged the priest after celebrating the solemnities of the Mass to explain the gospel to him. The priest explained it all to him thoroughly line by line.  When he heard that Christ's disciples should not possess gold or silver or money, or carry on their journey a wallet or a sack, nor bread nor a staff, not to have shoes nor two tunics, but that they should preach the kingdom of God and penance, the holy man, Francis immediately exulted in the spirit of God. "This is what I want," he said, "this is what I seek, this is what I desire with all my heart." The holy father, overflowing with joy, hastened to implement the words of salvation, and did not delay before he devoutly began to put into effect what he heard. (From The Life of Saint Francis by Thomas of Celano)