Such is the power of the Word. Lk. 1:21

 Ordinary Time: January 27th

Nunraw. Snow dispersing in hours, 'miraculous' thaw!

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Aelred - Homily.

In the history of the people of God, the creative Word of the 1st Chapter of Genesis is to be heard directly, through the proclaiming of Scripture, every time Israel is solemnly gathered together for a renewal for a the covenant made to  Abraham and Moses. Such is the power of the Word. It happened at the Dedication of the Temple under Solomon and at the inauguration of Judaism after the exile, which forms the setting for today’s 1^st Reading.

When the Jews returned home after 50 years of exile from Babylon, the nation had to be rebuilt from the grown up. Ezra called on the people to rededicate themselves to God. In a solemn liturgy of the Word he read to the people from the Law of Moses and the assembly responded with their Amen, with joy and thanksgiving. From this time on, the life and religion of Jews was based on adherence to the Law, and Ezra was regarded as the father of Judaism.

St. Luke, from whom today’s Gospel passage is taken, is also very interested in the history of the people of God. For him the history is made up of first, the period of Israel, and second, the period of Chris and his Church.  The first period, what we call the OT, is the time of preparation for the culminating event of Christ’s coming; ‘The law and the prophets were until John, since then the good news of the Kingdom of is preached’ (16:16) The second period begins with Jesus and is the whole time when he, as the exalted Lord, is present in the Church. Christ, the risen Lord, is always in the Christian community. The present moment is the time of fulfillment  The ‘today’ and the ‘now’ at Christ’s presence is the time of salvation. And now life is poured out in the Holy Spirit.

Snow clearing for the sheep grazing

Today’s Gospel shows us now Jesus began his ministry on his home soil with his Nazareth Manifesto. Jesus stands before his people in the Nazareth Synagogue and reads from the passage of Isaiah in which the prophet acknowledged himself to be anointed by the Spirit to his task of preaching to the poor and bringing liberty to captives. Jesus then declares that these words of their scriptures were being fulfilled in and by himself.

This was a startling claim. Jesus was saying that the whole sacred history of Israel was coming to a climax, now, in his ministry in his village synagogue. Little wonder that some of the people said: ‘This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary ...where did the man get all this?’ (cf. Mk 6:1-3).

And the primary recipients of Jesus good news were not to be leaders and guardians of Israel’s heritage, the Pharisees and Sadducees. Rather it was the captive, the blind, the oppressed, all who are weakest and powerless. The ‘poor’ in the biblical context means not only those whose poverty is ‘spiritual’, but the materially poor who really do need help, and the hungry who stand in need of nourishment. But they are also those who live on bread alone and who never hear the Word of God. And this must be true of many in modern western societies. Without frequent recourse to the Word of God is difficult to navigate our way through the murkiness of the much of modern life. Both in the public liturgy and in privacy of our homes whenever we open the Bible , we receive the intensely personal welcome of the Word and a sure guide for our lives. Such is the power of the Word.

+ + + + + + + + + +

+... Lord, in today’s Mass we hear how God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus, the long-awaited Saviour of the poor and the oppressed.

+ ... Almighty God, grant that we may share generously with others the blessings we have received from you. We ask this through the same Christ our Lord.

Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing

  

Sunday, 27 January 2013

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Saint Luke 1:1-4.4:14-21.

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us,...

...He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." v.21

Saint Ambrose (c.340-397), Bishop of Milan and Doctor of the Church

Commentary on Psalm 1, §33 ; CSEL 64, 28-30

"Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing"

Nunraw, Sunday - dramatic thaw of snow

Drink first of the Old Testament so as to drink afterward of the New. If you do not drink of the first you will not be able to quench your thirst at the second. Drink of the first to take your thirst away, of the second to staunch it completely... Drink of the cup of both the Old Testament and the New for in these two you drink Christ. Take away your thirst with Christ for he is the vine, he is the rock that caused water to gush forth, he is the spring of life. Drink Christ for he is “the stream whose runlets gladden the city of God”, he is peace and “from his breast flow rivers of living water”. Drink Christ to quench your thirst with the blood of your redemption and the Word of God. The Old Testament is his word and so is the New. We drink Holy Scripture and we eat it and then the eternal Word descends into the veins of the spirit and the life of the soul: “Not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God”. Therefore, quench your thirst with this Word yet in its proper order: first drink it in the Old Testament and then, without delaying, in the New.

He himself says almost insistently: “People who walk in darkness, see this great light; you who dwell in a land of death, a light has shone upon you”. So drink without delay and a great light will enlighten you: no longer the ordinary light of day, whether that of the sun or the moon, but the light that casts out the shadow of death.

(Biblical references : Jn 15,1; 1Co 10,4; Ps 36[37],10; 45[46],5; Eph 2,14; Jn 7,38; Dt 8,3; Mt 4,4; Is 9,1 LXX; Mt 4,16; Lk 1,79)

Venerable Anne Anne of Jesus and St. Therese

COMMENT:
http://saintthereselittleway.blogspot.co.uk/2007/01/spiritual-roses-from-story-of-soul_09.html
Following Fr. Raymond's Sermon, on the Cistercian Holy Founders, the Quotation about the Venerable Anne Anne of Jesus and St. Therese, I was interested to find our library, 
Excerpted from Story of a Soul, ICS Publications, Third Edition, page 190. This book and many others along with a line ofholy cards and photos of St. Therese imported from her monastery in Lisieux can be found at my webstore The Little Way. 

The donated copy is signed as from St. Mary's, Kinnoull, PERTH, Tuesday 11th, 1984.
Happily the quotation was Posted in the attached Blogspot.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 09, 2007

Spiritual Roses from Story of a Soul - Venerable Anne of Jesus

Welcome to my series featuring excerpts from the book that started it all - Story of a Soul. I'm calling the series Spiritual Roses from Story of a Soul and I hope that you will visit here every day for an inspirational message from our dear little saint. 

"O Jesus, my Beloved, who could express the tenderness and sweetness with which You are guiding my soul! It pleases You to cause the rays of Your grace to shine through even in the midst of the darkest storm! Jesus, the storm was raging very strongly in my soul ever since the beautiful feast of Your victory, the radiant feast of Easter; one Saturday in the month of May, thinking of the mysterious dreams which are granted at time to certain souls, I said of myself that these dreams must be a very sweet consolation, and yet I wasn't asking for such a consolation. In the evening, considering the clouds which were covering her heaven, my little soul said again within herself that these beautiful dreams were not for her. And then she fell asleep in the midst of the storm. The next day was May 10, the second SUNDAY of Mary's month, and perhaps the anniversary of the day when the Blessed Virgin deigned to smile upon her little flower. 

At the first glimmerings of dawn I was (in a dream) in a kind of gallery and there were several other persons, but they were at a distance. Our Mother was alone near me. Suddenly, without seeing how they had entered, I saw three Carmelites dressed in their mantles and long veils. It appeared to me that they were coming for our Mother, but what I did understand clearly was that they came from heaven. In the depths of my heart I cried out: 'Oh! how happy I would be if I could see the face of one of these Carmelites!' Then, as though my prayer were heard by her, the tallest of the saints advanced toward me; immediately I fell to my knees. Oh! what happiness! the Carmelite raised her veil or rather she raised it and covered me with it. Without the least hesitation, I recognized Venerable Anne of Jesus, Foundress of Carmel in France. Her face was beautiful but with an immaterial beauty. No ray escaped from it and still, in spite of the veil which covered us both, I saw this heavenly face suffused with an unspeakably gentle light, a light it didn't receive from without but was produced from within.

I cannot express the joy of my soul since these things are experienced but cannot be put into words. Several months have passed since this sweet dream, and yet the memory it has left in my soul has lost nothing of its freshness and heavenly charms. I still see Venerable Mother's glance and smile which was FILLED with LOVE. I believe I can still feel the caresses she gave me at this time.

Seeing myself so tenderly loved, I dared to pronounce these words: 'Oh Mother! I beg you, tell me whether God will leave me for a long time on earth. Will He come soon to get me?' Smiling tenderly, the saint whispered: 'Yes, soon, soon, I promise you.' I added: 'Mother, tell me further if God is not asking something more of me than my poor little actions and desires. Is He content with me?' The saint's face took on an expression incomparably more tender than the first time she spoke to me. 'God asks no other thing from you. He is content, very content!' After again embracing me with more love than the tenderest of mothers has ever given to her child, I saw her leave. My heart was filled with joy, and then I remembered my Sisters, and I wanted to ask her some favors for them, but alas, I awoke!
O Jesus, the storm was no longer raging, heaven was calm and serene. I believed, I felt there was a heavenand that this heaven is peopled with souls who actually love me, who consider me their child. This impression remains in my heart, and this all the more because I was, up until then, absolutely indifferent to Venerable Mother Anne of Jesus. I never invoked her in prayer and the thought of her never came to my mind except when I heard others speak of her, which was seldom. And when I understood to what a degreeshe loved me, how indifferent I had been toward her, my heart was filled with love and gratitude, not only for the Saint who had visited me but for all the blessed inhabitants of heaven."

Excerpted from Story of a Soul, ICS Publications, Third Edition, page 190. This book and many others along with a line ofholy cards and photos of St. Therese imported from her monastery in Lisieux can be found at my webstore The Little Way. 

St. Therese, open our hearts to your little way. Teach us to throw ourselves into the arms of Our Lord, casting away all doubt and fear and accepting all that He sends us as graces for the salvation of our souls.

Cistercian Holy Founders

Nunraw snowed under

Sts. Robert, Alberic and Stephen  

Solemnity Community Chapter Sermon. 

From: Fr. Raymond , , , 
Subject: Holy Founders
To: "Donald Nunraw" <nunrawdonald@yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, 25 January, 2013, 18:57

Sts Robert, Alberic and Stephen, 26 January

 

HOLY FOUNDERS 2013

None of our three Holy Founders has the personal individual fame of their great protégée St Bernard, nor do we have nearly so much biographical information about them.  That is a great pity, and yet there is something very fitting and relevant about their anonymity and the silence and the obscurity of their lives.  They were destined, after all, to found an Order whose members were, by profession, to live lives of anonymity and obscurity.  St Bernard’s life, however, was hardly obscure and anonymous.  It is true that he was a great monk but he was hardly a typical monk. Certainly not in the way that Robert and Alberic and Stephen were.

However, our debt to them and our devotion to them do make us eager to learn as much about them as we can.  Knowledge and love are two inseparable concepts.  If we love anyone, we want to know as much as possible about them.

This seems to leave is in a bit of dilemma.  If we know so little about them how can we in any way get close to them?  How can we gain any inspiration from them?  How can we be drawn to imitate them?  How can we really respect and love them?

On consideration, however, this lack of knowledge of the external details of their lives is no great obstacle to our coming to know and love and appreciate them.  How much, for instance, we know about the details of the lives of the great figures of ancient human history: the Pharoahs, The Gengis Khans, the Napoleons, the Stalins, the Hitlers, the Churchills, and countless others, and yet how little do we really know them as persons.

The  case is very different however, with our Holy Founders.  We have a knowledge of them which is, in a way, very deep and intimate.  It is the knowledge that comes from the fact that we share in the deepest and most intimate aspirations of their minds and hearts.  We share in their ideals of poverty; of leaving behind all the goods of this world.  We share in their desire to commit themselves to God’s will in a life of obedience to a rule and an abbot.  We share in their love for God alone in a life of consecrated chastity.

 

Moreover, although the condition of human life has changed almost beyond recognition since those mediaeval times, yet the basic round of monastic life: The Divine Office, Lectio, Work, remains basically still the same for us as it was for them.

Indeed then we can know and love our Holy Founders and indeed we can know them for precisely who and what they were.

 

In the matter of our own personal relationship with our founders we can find great encouragement in a passage from Therese of Lisieux’s  autobiography.

She tells us “I dreamt that I was standing in a sort of gallery where several other people were present but our Mother (Celine) was the only one near me.  Suddenly, without seeing how they got there, I was conscious of the presence of three Carmelite sisters..........  What was borne in upon me with certainty was that they came from heaven.  I found myself crying out .......in the silence of my heart: “Oh how I would love to see the face of one of these Carmelites!”  Upon which, as if granting my request, the tallest of the three Saintly figures moved towards me, and, as I sank to my knees, lifted her veil right up and threw it over me.   I recognised her without the slightest difficulty;  the face was that of our Venerable Mother Anne of Jesus, who brought the reformed Carmelite order into France.  There was a kind of ethereal beauty about her features, which were transfused with a light that seemed to come from her.

I can’t describe what elation filled my heart; an experience like that can’t be put down on paper.  Months have passed now since then but the memory of it is as fresh as ever, as delightful as ever.  I can still see the look on Mother Anne’s face, her loving smile;  I Can still feel the touch of the kisses she gave me...........

What gave more strength to this impression was the fact that, up till then, Mother Anne of Jesus had meant nothing to me.  I’d never asked for her prayers, or even thought about her, except on the rare occasions when her name came up in conversation.

Calendar  

www.ocso.org/index.php?option=com_content...Share

Sts Robert, Alberic and Stephen, 26 JanuaryJANUARY. 10 St. Gregory of Nyssa, Bishop. St. William of Bourges, Bishop O.N.. 12 St. Aelred, Abbot O.N., ...

St. Paul Conversion. Sermon of. St Bernard

At a time, St. Bernard's passage lends itself to poem form.

Caravaggio  1600/01

These were the words for the monks at the Clairvaux Chapter.

Friday, 25 January 2013

The Conversion of Saint Paul, apostle - Feast

Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and doctor of the Church 

1st Sermon for the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, 1, 6 ; PL 183, 359 

"Lord, what would you have me do?"

Rightly, beloved brethren,
is the conversion of “the teacher of the Gentiles” (1Tim 2,7)
a feast that all nations joyfully celebrate today.

Numerous indeed are the shoots that have sprung from this root:
once converted, Paul became the instrument of the whole world's conversion.

In former days, while he was still living in the flesh but not according to the flesh (cf. Rom 8,5f.),
he converted many to God by his preaching, and still today,
now that he is living a happier life in God,
he does not cease to work for our conversion by his example,
prayer and teaching...

This feast is a great source of blessings for those who celebrate it...
How can we despair, however great the enormity of our sins, when we hear that:
“Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord”
was suddenly transformed into “a chosen instrument”? (Acts 9,1.15)

Who could say from beneath the weight of their sins:
“I can't raise myself up to live a better life” when, on the very road that his heart,
thirsting with hatred, was leading him, this implacable persecutor
suddenly became a devoted preacher?

This conversion alone shows us on a splendid day
the greatness of God's mercy and power of his grace

Take good note, my brethren, of this perfect model of conversion:
“My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready...
What would you have me do?” (Ps 57[56],8; Acts 9,6).
Brief words but how pregnant, alive, efficacious and worthy of being answered!
How few there are who share this disposition of perfect obedience
and have denied their wills to the extent that their own hearts
no longer belong to them.
How few there are who seek at every moment not what they themselves want
but what God wants and who are continually saying to him:
“Lord, what would you have me do?”

Gabrielle Bossis. 'Tender-heartedness' Ephesians 4:32

Christian Unity  - Tender heartedness   There is a path for the river of faith through the cavernous woods Roaring over the rocks of the gorge where the rapids hold sway Yet lapping peacefully upon the pebbles of the lake shore The waves of tender-heartedness Dogma demands the formalising of the torrents’ way Between and beyond the boulders of proud definition Yet hardly touching the sheltered cove of believers’ trust The ripples of tender-heartedness Tradition exhorts all escaping streams to flow determinedly Between the twisted roots of old oaks and unbending firs Yet softly flowing beneath gently bending boughs The course of tender-heartedness Faith and love tumble despairingly within the foaming currents The raging waters seeping low into dry pools of shale Yet trickling on within the warmth of devotion in constant stream The spring of tender-heartedness

 ----- Forwarded Message -----

From: William W ...
To: Donald ...
Sent: Thursday, 24 January 2013, 21:06
Subject: Re: Tender-heartedness

Dear Father Donald,

Amidst my torrent of words (!) on Unity, delighting in the writings of Gabrielle and Balthasar, and in the poetry of your inspiration, there runs in my mind a stream of spiritual "tender-heartedness" (a wonderfully minted word!)  I wonder indeed how the joy of unity can be a expressed otherwise than in poetry? May the poetry of the Spirit speak to us!

With my love in Our Lord,

William 

Christian Unity  - Tender heartedness

There is a path for the river of faith through the cavernous woods

Roaring over the rocks of the gorge where the rapids hold sway

Yet lapping peacefully upon the pebbles of the lake shore

The waves of tender-heartedness

Dogma demands the formalising of the torrents’ way

Between and beyond the boulders of proud definition

Yet hardly touching the sheltered cove of believers’ trust

The ripples of tender-heartedness

Tradition exhorts all escaping streams to flow determinedly

Between the twisted roots of old oaks and unbending firs

Yet softly flowing beneath gently bending boughs

The course of tender-heartedness

Faith and love tumble despairingly within the foaming currents

The raging waters seeping low into dry pools of shale

Yet trickling on within the warmth of devotion in constant stream

The spring of tender-heartedness

 + + + + + + + + +

Dear William,
In tune with the Gabrielle the words talks as if in monosyllabic, the great simplicity. 
Then, in Hans Urs von Balthasar, opens words of presence in tand differen style. His phrases elaborate more phrases, as it were, multi-sylabic expressions. For the occasion I think of minting the new word, 'tender-heartedness.' It gives me a possible five metre line for poet or hymn.
What am mulling over???
In Dno.
Donald

   

HE AND i, Gabrielle Bossis 

1939 May   26 - 5:30  A. M.

 "From the moment you wake up, intercede for others. Claim sinners from Me. You cannot know the joy you would give Me. I died for them. It wasn't illness that made Me die. I was struck down in the fullness of life. If you don't help Me today I won't be able to save this soul or that one, and you know I love them. Then save them as though you were saving Me. "

[edit: English, insert 1980 page 55–(Later - not in the later edition 1985)— check with the French; discovers varied versions 14^th and 26^th . ]

“Come and take My infinite tenderness. [Sers-toi, dans Ma douceur infinite] You could never find enough in yourself. And I’m so happy to give you whatever you lack. Tell Me that you count on Me.

Force the door of the tabernacle. Force it with blows of love. You deliver Me when you deliver souls and it is love that sets free.”

“Of course! Everyone I say to one of My children is for all of them. Each soul is my Favourite... If only you knew My love for each one... Believe in this love. Make the most of it.”

Gabrielle Bossis. Auteur de Lui et moi by Madame de Bouchaud (1 Apr 1997)

« 14^e édition

No 179. – 26 mai

« Sers-toi, dans Ma douceur infinie. Tu serais incapable d’en trouver suffisamment en toi-même. Et Moi, Je suis si heureux de te procurer ce qui te manque. Dis-Moi que tu compte sur Moi.

« Force la port du Tabernacle. Force-la, à coups d’amour! Tu Me délivres, quand tu délivres des âmes, et c’est l’amour qui délivre. » ** next other Edition …

« 26^e édition No 227

« Bien sûr! Tout ce que Je dis a une âme, c’est pour toutes les âmes.

« Toutes, sont Mes Preferences…

Ah !si l’on savait Mon amour pour chacune

« Crois à cet amour. Exploite-le. »

 Dom Donald's Blog: He and I, Gabrielle Bossis Jan. 1938

20 Jan 2013

If I give you favours of tenderness, it is to encourage you to stoop to make sacrifices for your brothers. Give as you have received. I want to go down to the very heart of your heart and make My home there. It will be simple and ...

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/

Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle. St Catherine of Siena Meditation

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Day Eight: Walking in Celebration

The biblical texts on this day speak about celebration, not in the sense of celebrating a successful completion, but celebration as a sign of hope in God and in God’s justice. Similarly, the celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is our sign of hope that our unity will be achieved according to God’s time and God’s means.

Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul - Jan. 25

Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22  +  Psalm 117  +  Mark 16:15-18

January 25, 2013

“ ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene whom you are persecuting.’ ”  [Acts 22:8]

COMMUNION ANTIPHON

Cf. Ga 2:21 I live by faith in the Son of God, who has loved me and giver himself up for me.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

May the Sacrament we have received, O Lord our God, stir up in us that fire of charity

with which the blessed Apostle Paul burned ardently as he bore his concern for all the Churches.

Through Christ our Lord .

MEDITATION OF THE DAY (Magnificat.com)

The Effects of Paul’s Conversion

This is what the dear trumpeter Paul did. He clothed himself in Christ crucified, and was stripped of the joy of [seeing] the divine Essence. He clothed himself in the human Christ-that is, in the sufferings and humiliations of Christ crucified, and wanted no other joy. He even said, "I refuse to glory except in the cross of Christ crucified."

And that pleased him so much that-as the same apostle once said to a servant of his, "My dear daughter, I so clasped it to myself with the bond of affection and. love that it was never lifted, never loosened a bit, except when life was taken from me." Dear Paul seemed truly to have studied this teaching. He knew it so thoroughly that he became a person who ate and savoured souls. He became like a sponge absorbing water, so that as he travelled along the way of humiliation he absorbed the boundless charity and goodness with which God supremely loves his creatures.

He saw that [Christ's] will is for the eternal Father's honour and our salvation and holiness, and that he gave himself up to death in order to realise this holiness in us.

Paul grasped and understood this, and once he had understood it he at once devoted himself to giving honour to God and his best efforts to his neighbours. Courageously he proclaimed the truth. He was zealous, not holding back for lack of concern. And he became a vessel of love filled with fire, to carry and preach God’s Word.

Saint Catherine of Siena