John, the instrument of the Holy Spirit, I John 1:1_23

Night Office Readings.

Cuthbert Hedley O.S.B.

CHRISTMAS SEASON

          27 DECEMBER   

First Reading

27 DECEMBER

JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST

1 John 1:1 - 2:3

Year I Feast

          Responsory See 1 In 2:4;20:31

We proclaim to you the etemal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us. + We are writing this that you may rejoice and that your joy may be complete.

V. These things have been written that you may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and believing you may have life in his name. + We are writing ...

          Second Reading          From a sermon by Bishop John Cuthbert Hedley (The Light of Life, 376, 380-383)

John, the instrument of the Holy Spirit

Saint John's picture of Jesus is, first of all, of one who desires, and takes the means, to be a familiar friend. The Word made flesh not only seeks people out and deals with them personally, but seems to interest himself in all the concerns that can be called human. He turns the water into wine to befriend a poor bridegroom. He cannot think of the men and women around him without seeing them as a harvest, white for the sickle of his apostolate. He loves Lazarus, John, Mary, Martha; he weeps at the grave of his friend, he is troubled at the treachery of Judas; he prays for his apostles, and for the flock of every age and country. He prophesies, with the vision of Calvary before his eyes, that he will draw all things to himself. Let us notice, again, how he rejoices at the good things which his holy coming, his precious blood, are to bring to his people. He announces that he is to give them life, light, holiness, and the Holy Spirit. His words are burning; his zeal is infectious; those who come near him feel that a new era, a new dispensation, is about to dawn.

It is in Saint John that we hear chiefly of the "life" that the Son of God is to bring; that we read of the new baptism; the new birth; the taking away of sin; the banishing of the darkness; the Eucharistic gift, life and antidote of the spirit. It is in Saint John's Revela tion that we read of God's servants overcoming spiritual fear, wearing white robes on earth, becoming as refined gold, living on a hidden manna of paradise, holding white counters on which are written new names that no one knew. And these things appear in the writings of this beloved disciple, not as les­sons or homilies, not as the proverbs of a sage or the didactics of a Solomon; but as the record of the earthly career of the God-man. He has taken upon himself human nature: and his human nature is not dead and silent, like a painted face upon the canvas; it lives, moves, acts with a warm and abundant life, in a long and varied career, from the manger to the cross, and even to the ascension. And everyone of its recorded manifestations is a manifestation of the inmost mind and heart -let the expression be pardoned - of the everlasting and eternal God. And to John the Evangelist it has been given above all other men to write these things down, and to leave them, for you and for me.

The best panegyric of Saint John is that he was the instrument of the Holy Spirit in thus enforcing on the Christian generations this true knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, whom he had sent. That which he heard, that which he saw with his eyes, that which he looked upon and touched - that he has declared to the Church. No - not only that; but also that he whom his senses thus took note of was the "Word of life, 11 the Word which was to reveal to men and women who and what their God was.

    Responsory

Blessed be the apostle to whom heavenly secrets were revealed t as he reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper.

V. He drank from the streams of the living water flowing from the heart of the Lord t as he reclined ...

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John Hedley (bishop)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Catholicism portal

John Cuthbert Hedley (15 April 1837 – 11 November 1915) was a British Benedictine and writer who held high offices in the Roman Catholic Church.[1]

Born in Morpeth, Northumberland, he was educated at Ampleforth College.[2] He was professeda member of the Order of Saint Benedict in 1855 and ordained a priest of the order on 9 October 1862. He was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Newport and Menevia and Titular Bishop of Caesaropolis on 22 July 1873. His consecration to the Episcopate took place on 29 September 1873, the principal consecrator was Archbishop (later Cardinal) Henry Edward Manning of Westminster, with bishops Brown and Chadwick as co-consecrators. Hedley acted as editor of the Dublin Review, before appointed the Bishop of the Diocese of Newport and Menevia on 18 February 1881. His episcopal title was changed to Bishop of Newport in 1895.[1]

He published a number of works:

The Christian Inheritance: Set Forth in Sermons

Lex Levitarum: Or, Preparation for the cure of souls

Lex Levitarum with the Regula Pastoralis

The Light of Life: Set Forth in Sermons

Our Divine Saviour and other Discourses

A Retreat 33 Discourses with meditation for the Use of the Clergy, Religious, and Others

Bishop Hedley died in office on 11 November 1915, aged 78.[1] After his death, the see of Newport was elevated to an archdiocese and changed its name to Cardiff in 1916.

The Martyrdom of St. Stephen, Deacon

 

paolo_uccello_-_stoning_of_st_stephen_

  Acts 6:8-7:2,44-8:1 
ST. Stephen

www.stephencoc.com      

Saint Stephen (Koine Greek: Στέφανος, Stephanos; sometimes spelled "Stephan"), the first martyr of Christianity, was, according to the Acts of the Apostles, ...  

    

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The Martyrdom of St. Stephen, Deacon

Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said.

So they procured some men to say, 'We heard him using blasphemous language against Moses and against God.' Having in this way turned the people against him as well as the elders and scribes, they took Stephen by surprise, and arrested him and brought him before the Sanhedrin. There they put up false witnesses to say, 'This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law. We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.' The members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.

The high priest asked, 'Is this true?' He replied, 'My brothers, my fathers, listen to what I have to say. 'While they were in the desert our ancestors possessed the Tent of Testimony that had been constructed according to the instructions God gave Moses, telling him to make an exact copy of the pattern he had been shown. It was handed down from one ancestor of ours to another until Joshua brought it into the country we had conquered from the nations which were driven out by God as we advanced. Here it stayed until the time of David. He won God's favour and asked permission to have a temple built for the House of Jacob, though it was Solomon who actually built God's house for him. Even so the Most High does not live in a house that human hands have built: for as the prophet says:

With heaven my throne
and earth my footstool,
what house could you build me,
what place could you make for my rest?
Was not all this made by my hand?

'You stubborn people, with your pagan hearts and pagan ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted? In the past they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, and now you have become his betrayers, his murderers. You who had the Law brought to you by angels are the very ones who have not kept it.'

They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.

But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand. 'I can see heaven thrown open' he said 'and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul.

As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he knelt down and said aloud, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them'; and with these words he fell asleep. Saul entirely approved of the killing.

Acts 6:8-7:2,44-8:1

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Raymond on Christmas Day Homily 2014 (Nativity Icon)

   Fr. Raymond on Christmas Day Homily.

CHRISTMAS  2014 

 “All the world’s a stage and all the people are the players”.  That’s how Shakespeare puts it.  And every stage, we know, has a painted backdrop to it; a painted backdrop that sets the scene and puts the characters in context.  The scene might be indoors in a quiet room, or outdoors in a forest.  It might be on the open sea or on a mountain top.  Whatever it is, the appropriate backdrop has a great role to play in creating the whole atmosphere of the scene.  So, this evening we can well imagine the events that took place on that first Christmas Night as being “A scene set on a stage”, a stage that was world-wide.

 

Centuries before the advent of the international television broadcast, this scene was destined by Divine Providence to be set on a world-wide stage, and it was to be set in fact, on a stage much greater than this world alone.  The backdrop to this scene reaches from the very dawn of our race to the end of time itself and it even reaches up into the very heavens themselves.  St Luke tells us: “Suddenly there was a great throng of the heavenly hosts praising God and singing: ‘Glory to God in the highest and peace to men of good will’. 

Here we have another very important part of the drama:  the musical accompaniment, the singing of the angels.  The musical score is always understood by the great film directors as something of the utmost importance in bringing the screen-play to life.   What kind of fee would Cecille B De Mille not have been prepared to pay for the heavenly chorus that the Babe of Bethlehem had?   And what kind of fee would he not have been prepared to pay for the centuries of world-wide publicity that this Christmas Story has had?  In all this, we are the audience to this wonderful play, this wonderful drama.  It’s a story thought up by the divine mind of God himself.  It is a play inspired by the Holy Spirit of God and produced by God the Father.  And we all know who the Hero, the leading character is, and who the Leading Lady is.   But noblesse oblige and we are bound to take this little scene very seriously and to analyse it, character by character and try to enter into the depths of their hearts, whether it be the principle characters, Jesus, Mary and Joseph themselves, or the choir, the angels in the  heavens, or supporting cast, the shepherds in the fields, and the magi from far away. 

We have all had the privilege of being invited to this great ‘First night’ of the play.  We have all been given free tickets to what is truly the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’.  So let us all, with the Shepherds, ‘hasten to Bethlehem to see this great thing that has come to pass’  and surely, if we hasten with faith, we will find the joy that comes from the inner conviction that it is all just as the angels have told us.   All the hype of the patriarchs and prophets of old was no exaggeration.  All the wonderful promises of old were so much less than the reality that has now come to pass amongst us.

In the beginning the  Word was with God.

And the Word was God

And the Word was made Flesh and came to dwell among us.

  

Nativity icon

Shepherds and angels

 

   

In the picture, a couple of shepherds are on the right-hand side, and one of them is playing a flute. Below them, their sheep drink in a river. One of the shepherds looks up and is blessed by an angel looking down on him. The middle group of angels is kneeling or bowing in worship before Jesus, lying in his cave, while the angels on the left of the picture stand like a choir, singing.

  http://www.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/nativity_icon/P5/ 

Christmas Message and Urbi et Orbi blessing - Nativity, Sol. Feast

Midnight Christmas. 

News from Nunraw Abbey

  Christmas Message and Urbi et Orbi blessing - 2014.12.25 

  

 Starts at 11:50 AM - Pope Francis gives his traditional Christmas message and the Apostolic Blessing "Urbi et Orbi" to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square and to those listening to him on radio and television.

Jesus is the salvation for every person and every people

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Urbi et Orbi Message of Pope Francis
Thursday 25 December 2014

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2014-12-25 Vatican Radio

Urbi et Orbi Message of Pope Francis
Thursday 25 December 2014

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Christmas!

Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, is born for us, born in Bethlehem of a Virgin, fulfilling the ancient prophecies.  The Virgin’s name is Mary, the wife of Joseph.

Humble people, full of hope in the goodness of God, are those who welcome Jesus and recognize him.  And so the Holy Spirit enlightened the shepherds of Bethlehem, who hastened to the grotto and adored the Child.  Then the Spirit led the elderly and humble couple Simeon and Anna into the temple of Jerusalem, and they recognized in Jesus the Messiah.  “My eyes have seen your salvation”, Simeon exclaimed, “the salvation prepared by God in the sight of all peoples” (Lk 2:30).

Yes, brothers and sisters, Jesus is the salvation for every person and for every people!

Today I ask him, the Saviour of the world, to look upon our brothers and sisters in Iraq and Syria, who for too long now have suffered the effects of ongoing conflict, and who, together with those belonging to other ethnic and religious groups, are suffering a brutal persecution.  May Christmas bring them hope, as indeed also to the many displaced persons, exiles and refugees, children, adults and elderly, from this region and from the whole world.  May indifference be changed into closeness and rejection into hospitality, so that all who now are suffering may receive the necessary humanitarian help to overcome the rigours of winter, return to their countries and live with dignity.  May the Lord open hearts to trust, and may he bestow his peace upon the whole Middle East, beginning with the land blessed by his birth, thereby sustaining the efforts of those committed effectively to dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.

May Jesus, Saviour of the world, protect all who suffer in Ukraine, and grant that their beloved land may overcome tensions, conquer hatred and violence, and set out on a new journey of fraternity and reconciliation.

May Christ the Saviour give peace to Nigeria, where [even in these hours] more blood is being shed and too many people are unjustly deprived of their possessions, held as hostages or killed.  I invoke peace also on the other parts of the African continent, thinking especially of Libya, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and various regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I beseech all who have political responsibility to commit themselves through dialogue to overcoming differences and to building a lasting, fraternal coexistence.

May Jesus save the vast numbers of children who are victims of violence, made objects of trade and trafficking, or forced to become soldiers; children, so many abused children.  May he give comfort to the families of the children killed in Pakistan last week.  May he be close to all who suffer from illness, especially the victims of the Ebola epidemic, above all in Liberia, in Sierra Leone and in Guinea.  As I thank all who are courageously dedicated to assisting the sick and their family members, I once more make an urgent appeal that the necessary assistance and treatment be provided.

The Child Jesus.  My thoughts turn to all those children today who are killed and ill-treated, be they infants killed in the womb, deprived of that generous love of their parents and then buried in the egoism of a culture that does not love life; be they children displaced due to war and persecution, abused and taken advantage of before our very eyes and our complicit silence. I think also of those infants massacred in bomb attacks, also those where the Son of God was born.  Even today, their impotent silence cries out under the sword of so many Herods. On their blood stands the shadow of contemporary Herods.  Truly there are so many tears this Christmas, together with the tears of the Infant Jesus.

Dear brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit today enlighten our hearts, that we may recognize in the Infant Jesus, born in Bethlehem of the Virgin Mary, the salvation given by God to each one of us, to each man and woman and to all the peoples of the earth.  May the power of Christ, which brings freedom and service, be felt in so many hearts afflicted by war, persecution and slavery.  May this divine power, by its meekness, take away the hardness of heart of so many men and women immersed in worldliness and indifference, the globalization of indifference.  May his redeeming strength transform arms into ploughshares, destruction into creativity, hatred into love and tenderness.  Then we will be able to cry out with joy: “Our eyes have seen your salvation”.

With these thoughts I wish you all a Happy Christmas!

(from Vatican Radio)

Midnight Mass - Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord - Homily of Pope Francis

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“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined” ( Is 9:1). “An angel of the Lord appeared to [the shepherds] and the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Lk 2:9). This is how the liturgy of this holy Christmas night presents to us the birth of the Saviour: as the light which pierces and dispels the deepest darkness. The presence of the Lord in the midst of his people cancels the sorrow of defeat and the misery of slavery, and ushers in joy and happiness.

We too, in this blessed night, have come to the house of God. We have passed through the darkness which envelops the earth, guided by the flame of faith which illuminates our steps, and enlivened by the hope of finding the “great light”. By opening our hearts, we also can contemplate the miracle of that child-sun who, arising from on high, illuminates the horizon.

The origin of the darkness which envelops the world is lost in the night of the ages. Let us think back to that dark moment when the first crime of humanity was committed, when the hand of Cain, blinded by envy, killed his brother Abel (cf. Gen 4:8). As a result, the unfolding of the centuries has been marked by violence, wars, hatred and oppression. But God, who placed a sense of expectation within man made in his image and likeness, was waiting. God was waiting. He waited for so long that perhaps at a certain point it seemed he should have given up. But he could not give up because he could not deny himself (cf. 2 Tim 2:13). Therefore he continued to wait patiently in the face of the corruption of man and peoples. The patience of God. How difficult it is to comprehend this: God’s patience towards us.

Through the course of history, the light that shatters the darkness reveals to us that God is Father and that his patient fidelity is stronger than darkness and corruption. This is the message of Christmas night. God does not know outbursts of anger or impatience; he is always there, like the father in the parable of the prodigal son, waiting to catch from afar a glimpse of the lost son as he returns; and every day, with patience. The patience of God.

Isaiah’s prophecy announces the rising of a great light which breaks through the night. This light is born in Bethlehem and is welcomed by the loving arms of Mary, by the love of Joseph, by the wonder of the shepherds. When the angels announced the birth of the Redeemer to the shepherds, they did so with these words: “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger” ( Lk 2:12). The “sign” is in fact the humility of God, the humility of God taken to the extreme; it is the love with which, that night, he assumed our frailty, our suffering, our anxieties, our desires and our limitations. The message that everyone was expecting, that everyone was searching for in the depths of their souls, was none other than the tenderness of God: God who looks upon us with eyes full of love, who accepts our poverty, God who is in love with our smallness.

On this holy night, while we contemplate the Infant Jesus just born and placed in the manger, we are invited to reflect. How do we welcome the tenderness of God? Do I allow myself to be taken up by God, to be embraced by him, or do I prevent him from drawing close? “But I am searching for the Lord” – we could respond. Nevertheless, what is most important is not seeking him, but rather allowing him to seek me, find me and caress me with tenderness. The question put to us simply by the Infant’s presence is: do I allow God to love me?

More so, do we have the courage to welcome with tenderness the difficulties and problems of those who are near to us, or do we prefer impersonal solutions, perhaps effective but devoid of the warmth of the Gospel? How much the world needs tenderness today! The patience of God, the closeness of God, the tenderness of God.

The Christian response cannot be different from God’s response to our smallness. Life must be met with goodness, with meekness. When we realize that God is in love with our smallness, that he made himself small in order to better encounter us, we cannot help but open our hearts to him, and beseech him: “Lord, help me to be like you, give me the grace of tenderness in the most difficult circumstances of life, give me the grace of closeness in the face of every need, of meekness in every conflict”.

Dear brothers and sisters, on this holy night we contemplate the Nativity scene: there “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” ( Is9:1). People who were unassuming, people open to receiving the gift of God, were the ones who saw this light. This light was not seen, however, by the arrogant, the proud, by those who made laws according to their own personal measures, who were closed off to others. Let us look to the crib and pray, asking the Blessed Mother: “O Mary, show us Jesus!”.

Fr Robin Gibbons: The Nativity of the Saviour - December 25th - Independent Catholic News

The Nativity of the Saviour - December 25th
"the feast of the Saviour’s nativity needs little explanation".


    Fr Robin Gibbons: The Nativity of the Saviour - December 25th - Independent Catholic News 

Fr Robin Gibbons:

Posted: Wednesday, December 24, 2014 12:53 pm

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Ethiopian Christmas image For those of us brought up in Christian faith or who have close contact with it, the feast of the Saviour’s nativity needs little explanation, it is ingrained in the very fabric of our lives, but it is worthwhile to pause awhile and feast our hearts and minds on the immensity of love pouring into the world through the celebration of this festival.  The liturgical texts and readings are so rich, yet so familiar, we know them well, but for us familiarity does not breed contempt, it generates a deep yearning to find again that gift given so willingly and abundantly through Mary’s child, Emmanuel, God who is with us! Though we celebrate a birth in time, we are actually there in the constant enveloping of God’s time, that of the moment of eternity that bursts into daily life: God’s time which changes the pattern of life itself. God is with us. Now, today, in Christ God is one of us, today his birth places him as the first born of countless men and women, children though our relationship with him of the unseen God, but this is someone who identifies not with power and might but is unafraid to pitch in his lot with all those in poverty, loss, suffering, everyday , loving service is his mark, total self-giving is his way!  The Christmas story strips away from us the layers of deceit and arrogance, false pretensions and selfishness:. Instead in humility of heart we hear Isaiah reminding us that before any humans recognize the Christ, it is the animals , who we often treat so badly, that know their maker,;’ The ass knows its master; the donkey its owners manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand! (Is 1.3). As we prepare for Pope Francis Encyclical on the Environment in 2015, maybe this Nativity might be a time to renew our respect and appreciation for God’s handiwork in other forms of life and nature, for in the nativity all are one, all are reconciled again!  St Ephraim the Syrian (306-373) whose hymns are now being rediscovered by the Western church puts this feast into a wonderful word frame full of hope and rejoicing. The feast day of your birth resembles You, Lord Because it brings joy to all humanity. Old people and infants alike enjoy your day. Your day is celebrated  from generation to generation. Kings and emperors may pass away, And the festivals to commemorate them soon lapse. But your festival  will be remembered until the end of time. Your day is a means and a pledge of peace. At Your birth heaven and earth were reconciled,  That is the deep and ancient prayer of hope which we renew in our silent worship at the crib , creche and icons of the nativity today. Earth and heaven may not yet be fully reconciled but in symbols of the ox and the ass, the camel and sheep, the shepherds and kings, angels and ourselves, animals all, we shall know the love of the Christ Child again!

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Christmas and New Year filled of peace and good health

Christmas Season,

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The Great 'O' Antiphons: Christmas Eve - O Virgo Virginum

By: Fr Robin Gibbons

Posted: Wednesday, December 24, 2014 12:00 am

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Annunciation - Simone Martini O Virgo Virginum: The extra ‘O” ! A Thought for the Vigil of the Nativity O Virgin of virgins how shall this be? For neither before you was there any like you, nor shall there be after. Daughters of Jerusalem why do you marvel at me? The thing you behold is a divine mystery. The traditional seven ‘O’ Antiphons of the last week of Advent are a journey with the Prophet Isaiah and others, telling the story of the coming of the Christ from Creation to Bethlehem. For us in the Northern Hemisphere it is also a transition in two ways, firstly in liturgical terms from the glimmer of light as life began, to the rising of the Sun that never sets. It also comes at that point when the year turns, the darkest shortest day and longest night, the winter solstice takes place during this week. We have yet to face deep winter but the light is coming, alongside the cold days to come, a flash of sunlit hope appears. That then is our journey of the seven antiphons, but there were others. They came later and appear as part of the rich varied tapestry of developments fitting for one age, but perhaps not the next. One such extra O still remains in two living liturgical traditions. Unlike the more ancient seven, this one ‘O Virgo Virginum’ is all about Mary, the Mother of Jesus, she who conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. This antiphon has no connection with Isaiah, instead the words take the form of a short dialogue between Mary and the women of Jerusalem. This has echoes both of the poetic interplay between the daughters of Jerusalem and the woman in the Song of Songs and the Crucifixion narrative in Luke 23.28 where the women of Jerusalem are told by Jesus not to weep for him! Nobody is certain when it was introduced, possibly by Amalarius of Metz in the 9th Century. Because England had a profound devotion to Mother of God by Anglo Saxon times, it is unsurprising that this ‘O’ was found in several English liturgical rites; Hereford, York and Sarum where it occurred on the 23rd December, O Sapientia then being moved to the 16th! The other rite in which it occurs is that of the Premonstratensian Order of Canons Regular, founded in 1120 by St Norbert, who early on developed a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary . Whatever its history it seems a fitting way in which we come before that raw but profound moment of mystery and wonder, with Mary as she gives birth to her first born, Jesus! All we can do is let go of our questions and problems, placing our hopes, needs and wishes with her at the side of Christ, trusting in the power of intercession beyond all words. Her song, which always accompanies these antiphons sums up our prayers on the eve of the Nativity: ‘For the Mighty One has done great things for me-holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation’.( Lk 1.49)

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