Fourth Sunday of Advent "This Is How ......"

Homily Fr. Raymond 

----- Forwarded Message ----
From:                   
Sent: Sun, 19 December, 2010 15:07:50
Subject: Fourth Sun Advent

THIS IS HOW......                                            

“This is how Jesus Christ came to be  born”.  St Mathew begins his account of the Christmas story with these simple words.  But when we look into the depths of the mystery of the incarnation we find that we can apply this same phrase to the opening of any chapter in the long history of salvation, from the story of the garden of Eden to the last trumpet of judgement itself.  

When God first threw the planets into space it was to support our own insignificant little orb because that was where he intended to make his abode among us.........
“This is how Jesus Christ came to be  born”.
When he first set about making this planet a beautiful garden for Adam and Eve to live in it was to create a human family into which he could be born......... 

“This is how Jesus Christ came to be  born”.

When he directed the lives of the patriarchs down the centuries it was to set aside a suitable lineage from which the messiah could come. .........
“This is how Jesus Christ came to be  born”.

When he led Israel out of Egypt and into Palestine it was to establish a people and a homeland for the Messiah .........
“This is how Jesus Christ came to be  born”.

All of history before the first Christmas was planned to lead up to it and all that has happened since flows from it.

Late Advent 2nd Antiphon O Adonai

Late Advent Weekday O Adonai

Advent: December 18^th 

Saturday of the Third Week of Advent

Today is the second of the O Antiphons,
O Adonai  (O Almighty God).

MATTHEW 1:18-25
(Jeremiah 23:5-8; Psalm 72)
Luke's nativity narration was told from Mary's perspective.
Matthew's point of view was Joseph to whom she was was betrothed.

The Mass gives us Joseph and the Holy Spirit stage centre of the Gospel.
In Joseph’s dream,
1. Mary conceives the Child
2. By the Holy Spirit Joseph has guidance.
3. By the holy Spirit Joseph was instructed to name Jesus, Yeshua meaning Yahweh Saves.

The Late Advent Liturgy is over crowded with Readings.

The Night Office had Isaiah 40 and commentary by Blessed Newman. His ‘Discourse  to Mixed Congregations’ mesmerized the reader by added commas and semicolons in prolonged sentences.

The weekday Mass is restricted to the two Reading, relating the First Reading to the Gospel.
We can link Jeremiah 23:5-8 with Matt 1:18-25. Jeremiah’s voice, fills with the words of, ‘Behold days are coming, David’s root, Judah, Israel’ carry the message of promise and fulfillment. No Jeremiad here. The essence, the whole purpose of the Prophets, Jeremiah a leading example, is to prepare the way to the Messiah.

The Liturgy ranges from name of ‘O Odonai’ to the name of Jesus- Yahweh Saves.

In our Mass we ask St. Joseph too for the Holy Spirit's guidance in our part in the mystery of the Incarnation

Advent O Antiphons

Catholic Culture org

O WISDOM December 17 Symbols: All-Seeing Eye and the Lamp Come, and teach us the way of prudence. O Wisdom, who came from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly, Come, and teach us the way of prudence. O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter, suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae. The "all-seeing eye" represents the all-knowing and ever-present God. During the late Renaissance, the eye was pictured in a triangle with rays of light to represent the infinite holiness of the Trinity. The lamp is a symbol of wisdom taken from the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25. Recommended Readings: Proverbs 8:1-12

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Nivard ...
Sent: Thu, 16 December, 2010 17:12:41
Subject: Advent third Friday  

Today we have the genealogy of Christ, through St Joseph, according to Matthew.

   The key phrase is, "Mary, of whom was born Jesus

”

   Matthew uses three titles for Jesus. 

            He is "Christ." 

            He is "Son of David" and

            he is "Son of Abraham." 

   These show that Jesus was the realization of the Old Testament Messianic hopes.

   Jesus was the faithful "Son of Abraham". Thus He fulfilled the promises that all nations would be blessed through him (Gn 12:3).

   Jesus was the messianic king, the "Son of David." Thus He fulfilled the promise that his kingdom would be everlasting (2 Sm 7:16).

   Jesus' genealogy revealed that he came for the salvation of all people regardless of race, nationality or gender.

Opening Prayer.

   Father, creator and Redeemer of mankind, you decreed, and your Word became man, born of the Virgin Mary. May we come to share the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share our human nature, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever.

Bidding Prayer:                        

Father, in your strong yet tender care, send us your Wisdom and show us the way to salvation,                       

We ask this through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Prayer after Communion,

    God our Father, as you nourish us with the food of life, give us also your Spirit, so that we may be radiant with his light at the coming of Christ you Son, who is Lord for ever.

"O Wisdom . . . . . "   

St. John of the Cross

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church (1542-1591) Intro Mass                                Fr. Mark St John of the Cross’s name conjures up images of the Dark Night of the Soul and of the utter Otherness of God.  Indeed, it seems that he was a very serious type of saint.  But his life was linked with that of St Teresa of Avila, that warm and highly extrovert woman who urged and helped him to reform the Carmelite Order.  Theirs was not just a relationship of opposite sexes but of two different and complementary temperaments which they made to work together for the good of the Church, of the Order and themselves. Penitential Rite 1.      Lord God, you are totally Other and yet in Christ your Son you are very near to us.                           Lord, have mercy. 2.      Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world but you are close to us in our darkness.                            Christ, have mercy. 3.      In the Holy Spirit we find the love and joy of God, now and for ever.                                                     Lord, have mercy. _________________ Conclusion to Prayer of Faithful God our Father, we go to you confident that you hear and help us in our lives through Christ our Lord.

Advent 3rd Sunday Matt 11

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT Year A  

Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11and the Harmony Gospel Luke 7

John the Baptist’s Question.

The Baptist is in jail and very live and active.

He is sending two disciples to question Jesus if he is the One, the Messiah.

John and Jesus are pending not long to undergo death.

If Advent is all about Christmas it might seems about the cosy Nativity scenes as in the Christmas Cards coming in.

Both John and Jesus awake up the whole story of life, death and resurrection for us all, at all time.

. . .

Let us breathe a moment to pray our confession to begin the Mass.

Navarre Bible Commentary  
Mat 11:2-11 -     

•  2.  John knew that Jesus was the Messiah (cf. Mat_3:13-17  ). He sent his disciples to Jesus so that they could shed their mistaken notions about the kind of Messiah to expect, and come to recognize Jesus.  
•  3-6.  Jesus replies to the Baptist's disciples by pointing to the fact that they are witnessing the signs which the ancient prophecies said would mark the advent of the Messiah and his Kingdom (cf. Isa_35:5  , Isa_61:1  ; etc). He says. in effect, that he is the prophet who "was to come". The miracles reported in the Gospel (chapters 8 and 9) and the teaching given to the people (chapters 5-7) prove that Jesus of Nazareth is the expected Messiah. 
•  6.  Jesus here corrects the mistaken idea which many Jews had of the Messiah, casting him in the role of a powerful earthly ruler--a far cry from the humble attitude of Jesus. It is not surprising that he was a stumbling block to Jews (cf. Isa_8:14-15  ; 1Co_1:23  ). 
•  11.  With John the Old Testament is brought to a close and we are on the threshold of the New. The Precursor had the honor of ushering Christ in, making him known to men. God had assigned him the exalted mission of preparing his contemporaries to hear the Gospel. The Baptist's faithfulness is recognized and proclaimed by Jesus. The praise he receives is a reward for his humility: John, realizing what his role was, had said, "He must increase, but I must decrease" ( Joh_3:30  ). St John the Baptist was the greatest in the sense that he had received a mission unique and incomparable in the context of the Old Testament. However, in the Kingdom of heaven (the New Testament) inaugurated by 'Christ, the divine gift of grace makes the least of those who faithfully receive it greater than the greatest in the earlier dispensation. Once the work of our redemption is accomplished, God's grace will also be extended to the just of the Old Alliance. Thus, the greatness of John the Baptist, the Precursor and the last of the prophets, will be enhanced by the dignity of being made a son of God. 

Pericope Org
Matthew 11:2-11

 "John the Baptist pointing to the royal highway, the Holy Way"
Reprinted from Icon: Visual Images for Every Sunday, copywrite© 2000 Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission.

JESUS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST

This passage is paralleled only in Luke 7:18-28. With reference to Luke 7:18-28 Stoeckhardt says: "The fame of the great deeds of Christ had spread over all Judea and the surrounding regions, reaching into the mountain castle of Machaerus on the other side of the Dead Sea where John sat imprisoned."

Note that Luke 7:21 gives us additional information as to what Jesus was doing when the disciples of the Baptist arrived to ask Jesus. Evidently this account in Luke fits into the chronological order of events, not Matthew. Fahling says the order of events in Matthew 11:2-12 is transposed.

Since this account is not found in Mark, higher critics claim that Matthew and Luke found this account in the Q source. In the first place, no Q document has ever been found, and secondly, from the order of events in Luke it seems that the disciples of Jesus were with him. Matthew very likely witnessed this.

Matthew 11:2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples

From verse 11 we know that this was the Baptist and from verse 2 we know that he was in prison. From Luke 7:18 we know that John heard it from his disciples.

"What Christ was doing" includes both miracles and preaching. That is clear from verse 5.

    

My soul glorifies the Lord

Monster Icicle under Abbot's window.
Word icicle not in the Bible

Comment by Mary: Wow!  I wouldn't like to be below the "Abbot's window when that monster icicle decides to drop down.  I did notice a trodden path  going past the Abbot's window and I was thinking that you may need to put up a "Hazard" sign. 

Christmas POST-IT

·         September Papal Visit was the ‘Benedict Bounce’ (Cardinal), an uplift for all of us.

·         Fr. Luke (89) ocso b.1921, d.8 Nov 2010, 56^th year of monastic profession

·         Snowed Under November into December and Christmas. Nunraw deepest snow in the Lammermuirs (Met Office), and gave us the Scottish TV exposure as well.

·         3^rd December showing Film “Of Gods and Men – Des Hommes Et Des Dieux”. It is the story of our Brothers, the Seven Monks of Atlas, Algeria.

·         The message is monastic, Ecumenical, Inter-Faith, to inspire love and peace.

·         We share the joy and prayer of Christmas and New Year.

Courtesy of MAGNIFICAT Missalette

The Light Shines in the Darkness
Artwork of the front cover, The Birth of Christ (c. 1520), Giovanni Calcar (c. 1499-c. 1546) [circle ofl, 85 x 57.5 cm, Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia, © Artothek.
The Flemish-born painter known as Giovanni Calcar settled in Italy where he studied with Titian and Raphael. It is said that he became so adept at imitating these two masters that even they could not tell the difference between his copies and their originals!
Calcar's fondness for the shimmering caress of fine costly fabrics is on full display here: the gown of the angel in the foreground, in a sumptuous yet restrained hue, is a masterpiece of refinement. The painter's predilection for handsome architectural features is also evident in the background, beyond the manger, in the ruins of the Jerusalem temple. Finally, careful observation of each element of this work reveals his mastery of the art of subtly-honed detail.
Such an accomplished depiction of persons, patterns, and precise details might have distracted attention from the main subject had Calcar not been inspired to make of the newborn Child the source of light which illumines and gives life to his entire composition. Georges de La Tour would later develop the study of light, using the artifice of a candle to express its full beauty. Calcar, for his part, has no need of any such prop to render visible, quite literally, that the Word, "the true light, which enlight­ens everyone, was coming into the world" (ln 1: 9).
                                                                     • Pierre-Marie Dumont

Of Gods and Men - Des Hommes Et Des Dieux

The film of the Seven Monks of Algeria has become a Media Event.
Access is open to the Web on a amazing exposure.
Day after the release 4th December the Goggle trawled about 11,400 results (0.27 seconds),
today about 42,500 results (0.25 seconds).   

Search Music - Amazon com Sampler

Here’s an interesting Review on Of Gods and Men music.

Amazon.Com Review.

4.0 out of 5 stars beautiful religious chants, September 19, 2010

By Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France)

This review is from: Des Hommes Et Des Dieux (OST) (Audio CD)

This music accompanies a film of quite extraordinary sensibility. Though I am not at all religious, I greatly loved this music in the context of the film. The performances are clear and vivid, adding a great deal to the film. They are in French and Latin, ancient rhymes and chants, most often from the old testament, I believe. 

Listen to Samples

To hear a song sample, click on "Listen" by that sample. Visit our audio help page for more information.

Try our music sampler to hear all song samples from this album:

Of Gods and Men - cast of the film.
1. L' Amour Selon Frère Luc	Listen
2. Seigneur, ouvre mes Lèvres	Listen
3. Puisqu'il Est Avec Nous	Listen
4. Psaume 142	Listen
5. Dieu, viens à mon aide	Listen
6. Nous Ne Savons Pas Ton Mystère	Listen
7. Notre Père	Listen
8. En Toi Seigneur nos Vies reposent	Listen
9. Psaume 4	Listen
10. Cantique de Siméon	Listen
11. Voici la Nuit	Listen
12. Salve Regina	Listen
13. Ô Père des Lumières	Listen
14. Lac des Cygnes, Op. 20 Scene Moderato	Listen
15. Testament Spirituel De Frère Christian [Extrait]	Listen

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 Go to follow the Links on Amazon.

Sony Picture Stills

http://www.sonyclassics.com/ofgodsandmen/stills.html

CAMBRIDGE

http://www.viewcambridge.co.uk/films/of-gods-and-men-des-hommes-et-des-dieux-film-review-36578.html?utm_source=VenueSiteStats&utm_medium=internal&utm_campaign=VenueSiteStats

At the Cannes Film Festival the 2010 Ecumenical Jury awards its Prize to

Sunday best ... Of Gods and Men

It could be the ultimate Christmas film this year, with great drifts of snow but also a message of hope in a dangerous world. It's the latter that makes Of Gods and Men the perfect nip of seasonal philosophy. The film explores events leading up to the 1996 kidnap and massacre of seven French monks living in Algeria – an event that horrified France and stirred up a cauldron of controversy in a country that had just finished watching the banlieues burn in Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tsnPmmVYx4 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MKAimekUFc&feature=channel

Prior Christian de Cherge's
Testament

Brother Christian’s testament

Should it ever befall me, and it could happen today, to fall victim to the terrorism which seems to now want to engulf all the foreigners living here, I would like my community, my church and my family to remember that my life was GIVEN to God and to this country.

May they accept that the Unique Master of all life could not be a stranger to this brutal departure. May they be able to associate this death to so many other violent ones, consigned to the apathy of anonymity.

I've lived long enough to know that I am complicit in the evil that, alas, seems to prevail over the world and even of the one that would strike me blindly.

I could never desire such a death. In fact, I don’t see how I could ever rejoice in this people I love being indistinctly accused of my murder.

I know the contempt the people of this country may have indiscriminately been surrounded by. And I know which caricatures of Islam a certain Islamism encourages.

This country and Islam, for me, are something else. They are a body and a soul.

My death will of course quickly vindicate those who hastily called me naïve or idealistic, but they must know that I will finally be freed of my most burning curiosity and will be able, God willing, to immerse my gaze into the Father's in order to contemplate with him his children of Islam as he sees them.

In this THANK YOU, where from now on all is said about my life, I include you of course, friends of yesterday and today, and you as well, friend of the last minute, who knew not what you were doing.

Yes, for you as well I want this THANK YOU and this FAREWELL which you envisaged.

And may we meet again, happy thieves in paradise, if it pleases God, the Father of us both.

AMEN! INCH’ALLAH!

from Press-kit, SONY Classic Pictures

Nunraw Abbey  Memorial Grove of the Seven Monks of Atlas
Under snow 8th December 2010

Immaculate Conception BVM

Sermon for the Community Chapter by Dom Raymond 

Snow lying for long
December sundown

                                                                                                                                      

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Raymond 
Sent: Mon, 6 December, 2010 10:43:52
Subject: Immaculate Conception

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 2010

In war, no matter how long the war lasts, no matter how many reverses one side or the other may suffer, it is always the winner of the last battle who triumphs.  This is especially true in the hidden realm of the primordial war of the spirit; the struggle between good and evil; the war between God and Satan in their contest for the soul of man. The very first battle was fought in the Garden of Eden and Satan won that hands down, but then the very last battle was fought in the Garden of the Tomb and Calvary and Christ won that by his resurrection and triumph over death.  The whole history of mankind is enclosed between these two great battles.

Let us compare these two battles one with the other; The Battle of the Fall and the Battle of the Resurrection;  the Battle of Eden and the Battle of Calvary.  On one side we have all the power of Satan, who fell like lightening from heaven, and on the other, we have puny mankind in the persons of Adam and Eve.  This so very unequal war is still being waged across the centuries right down to our very own day.  You and I have to live a life that has to be described as a warfare and a very unequal combat it is.  Jesus himself assures us that Satan has claimed power to sift us as wheat.  What hope is there for us then?  Obviously we need a champion, a David who can tackle this Goliath for us.  At once the name of Christ, the new Adam springs to our mind.  But there is something particularly beautiful about the way in which the new Adam overcomes our enemy.

When God created mankind He created them man and woman, ”male and   female he created them”.  When he gave them the promise of immortality it was as to a couple,  male and female, that he promised this great gift to them.  When they failed the test it was as a couple, as male and female, that they failed.  When he promised them the Redeemer to come it was as through a couple, male and female, the Woman of primordial promise and the child her son, that the promise was to be fulfilled.  And thus we have Mary conceived immaculate, free from all stain of original sin and joining her Son in the ultimate triumph over Satan.

Cistercian Monks of Our Lady of Atlas (Algeria)

Past Posts on the Atlas Martyrs

Friday, 24 September 2010    

AWARD at Cannes - Film 'Of Gods and Men'

Trappist community of Mt Atlas  

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/2010/09/trappist-community-of-mt-atlas.html
Film issued December 2010
"No controversy here.  The film won the Ecumenical Prize at Cannes 2010.  It also won the Grand Prix du Jury from the festival itself." (P. Malone).

Wednesday, 20 May 2009

 "Monks of Tibhirine of Algeria" 
http://nunraw.blogspot.com/2009/05/monks-of-tibhirine-of-algeria.html

Book:

“Christian Martyrs for a Muslim People” is written by Father Martin McGee, an English Benedictine monk of Worth Abbey.
(Publisher: Paulist Press, Publication Date: 2 September 2008)

Tells the moving story of the nineteen priests and sisters who were assassinated in Algeria between 1994 and 1996 during a reign of terror by Islamic fundamentalists

SynopsisIn the mid 1990s, Algerian society was terrorized by the GIA (The Armed Islamic Group), a fundamentalist organization that had given an ultimatum to all foreigners : depart or die. At the time, the beheading of seven Trappist monks at the Tibherine monastery was widely reported in the world press. This book tells their story, but also tells the story of twelve other priests and religious sisters who, like the Monks of Tibherine, had courageously chosen to stay in Algeria despite the threat, and who ultimately paid for their dedication with their lives. Drawing on letters, journals, and his own interviews with people who knew the nineteen religious, the author shows how they operated schools, performed vital medical assistance, sponsored community gardens, taught trades, prepared students for state examinations, and maintained libraries mainly in poor neighborhoods and rural villages. By witnessing Christ in their actions without ever attempting to make converts, the nineteen martyrs won the love of the Algerian people, a love that did not cease with their deaths.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Atlas Martyrs Anniversary  - article

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/2010/05/atlas-martyrs-anniversary.html

Monks of Tibhirine 7 July 2009

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/2009/07/monks-of-tibhirine-7-july-2009.html