COMMENT 2, Augustine 'On Loving God'

In short Reading of Bernard the word 'love' occurred 33 times.
In short Reading of Augustine the word of  'love' occurred 30 times.
Asks for comment!

Night Office
Seventh Week of Easter Wednesday Year 1

First Reading

From the first letter of John (5:1-12)

Second Reading
From a homily on Saint John's gospel by Saint Augustine (Tract 87, 1: CCL 36,543-544)

Love* as the source of all the fruits of the Spirit is the theme of this extract from a homily given sometime between 414 and 416.[* ‘love’ 30 times].

My command to you, says the Lord, is to love one another. This is the fruit we are asked to bear, according to that other statement of his: I have chosen you to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will endure. And when he adds, so that the Father may give you whatever you ask in my name, he clearly means that the Father will readily grant our requests provided that we love one another. But surely this love is his own gift to us, for he chose us while we lacked fruit of any sort — remember that it was he who chose us and not we him — and made it possible for us to bear fruit, in other words to love one another. We can never hope to bear such fruit unless he helps us with his grace — just as no branch can produce fruit unless it forms part of a living vine. Love, then, is our fruit; love that Saint Paul describes as springing from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Such is the source of our love for one another, and the source of our love for God.

Only if we love God can our love for one another be true love. If we love God, then we shall also love our neighbor as ourselves. Anyone who has no love for God has none for himself either. On the twofold precept of charity depends the whole of the law and the prophets. This love is the fruit the Lord has in mind when he says to us: My command to you is to love one another. That is why the apostle Paul, contrasting the fruits of the spirit with the works of the flesh, begins by saying: The fruit of the spirit is love, and then enumerates all the rest as though they flowed from love and looked to it as their source; they are, he says, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness, and self-control

For who can properly rejoice, if they do not love some good in which to find their joy? Who can experience true peace, if they cannot be at peace with their beloved? Who will have the patience to persevere in doing good, if they are not constantly urged onward by love's prompting? Who will show kindness if they do not love those they set out to benefit? Who will be good if they are not made so by loving? Whose faith will profit them, but those whose faith works through love? How wise was our good Master when he so persistently recommended love to us as the one thing necessary, a treasure without which all other virtues avail us nothing, yet which cannot itself be had except in company with those other qualities which perfect us in virtue.

Responsory 1 John 4:7; Sirach 15:1-2

Beloved, let us love one another,

—   for love comes from God. alleluia

Harmony in the family and love among neighbors
is most pleasing to God and to other people.

— For love comes from God. alleluia.

Abbot of Pluscarden Bishop-elect of Aberdeen

COMMENT Bernard 'On Loving God'

Google About 4,180,000 results (0.32 seconds) 

1. Bernard of Clairvaux: In Christ We See the Object of Our Love, by ...

   4 Jun 2011 ... Bernard of Clairvaux and CISTERCIAN and MONASTIC charity, Christ, ... No one who loves God need have any doubt that God loves him. ...
   enlargingtheheart.wordpress.com/.../bernard-of-clairvaux-in-christ-we-see-the-object-of-our-love-by-the-spirit-we-are-empowered-to-love-him... - Cached
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2. On Loving God: By St. Bernard of Clairvaux - Paths of Love

   The faithful know clearly how much need they have of Jesus, and him ..... I have already said (when it was a question of wherefore and in what manner God ... So, all the more, one who loves God truly asks no other recompense than God ...
   www.pathsoflove.com/bernard/on-loving-god.html -Cached - Similar
4. On Loving God | Christian Classics Ethereal Library

   I have already said (when it was a question of wherefore and in what manner God ... So, all the more, one who loves Godtruly asks no other recompense than God .... He is such thatlove to Him is a natural due; and so hope in Him is ...
   www.ccel.org/ccel/bernard/loving_god.ix.html - Cached
5. [PDF] 

   On Loving God

   File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
   On Loving God By St. Bernard of Clairvaux. 1. On LovingGod ... God is God Himself; and the measure of love due toHim is immeasurable love. Is this plain? Doubtless, to a ....heathen, to love God. The faithful know how much need theyhave of ..... True love does not demand a reward, but it deserves one. Surely no ...
   www.jesus.org.uk/vault/.../bernard_of_clairvaux_on_loving_god.pdf- Similar    
6. St. Bernard of Clairvaux: On Loving God

   We are to love God for Himself, because of a twofold reason; nothing is more ... The faithful know how much need theyhave of Jesus and Him crucified; ..... But no one denies that they still hope and desire to receive their bodies ...
   people.bu.edu/dklepper/RN413/bernard_loving.html -Cached - Similar
7. Bernard, "Love of God" 1-7

   The faithful know how much need they have of Jesus and Himcrucified; ...... I have already said (when it was a question of wherefore and in what manner God ... So, all the more, one who loves God truly asks no other recompense than God ...
   www.ldysinger.com/@texts2/1150_bernard/04_lov_god_1-7.htm - Cached

Bernard "No one who loves God need have any doubt that God loves him" Cue by Google

Night Office

Seventh Week of Easter Monday Year I

First Reading

From the first letter of John (4:1-10)

1 John 4:9; John 3:16

Responsory

God showed his love for us

by sending his only Son into the world

- so that all who believe in him may have eternal life, alleluia

God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son.

- So that all who believe in him may have eternal life, alleluia

Second Reading

From a letter of Saint Bernard (Ep. 107, 8-9: PL 182, 246-247)

This letter was written to Thomas, Provost of Beverley in England In the following extract Bernard teaches that the death of Christ and the gift of the Spirit is a twofold proof of God's love for us. The Spirit empowers us to return that love.

Bernard of Clairvaux: In Christ We See the Object of Our Love, by the Spirit We are Empowered to Love Him.

No one who loves God need have any doubt that God loves him. God gladly returns our love, which was preceded by his own How could he be reluctant to love us in response to our love for him, when he already loved us before we ever loved him at all? Yes, I say, God loved us. We have a pledge of his love in the Spirit and a faithful witness to it in Jesus - a double and irrefutable proof of the love God bears toward each one of us.  
*x10 times ‘love’

Christ died. and so deserves our love. The Spirit moves us by his grace and so enables us to love. Christ gives us the reason the Spirit gives us the power. The one sets before us the example of his own great love, the other gives us the love itself. In Christ we see the object of our love, by the Spirit we are empowered to love him. We can say then that the former supplies the motive for charity, the latter the volition. x6

How shameful it would be to see God's Son dying for us without being moved to gratitude! Yet this could easily happen if the Spirit were lacking. Now, however, the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit he has given us, and so we love him in return for his love, and by loving him we deserve to be loved still more. If while we were still his enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son. how much more, now that we are reconciled. shall we be saved through his Son's life! God did not spare his own Son. but gave him up for us all, how could he fail to accompany such a gift with everything else we need? x4

We possess, then. a double token of our salvation. the twofold outpouring of blood and Spirit. Neither is of any profit to us without the other. The Spirit is only given to those who believe in the Crucified. and faith is only effective when it works through love. But love is the gift of the Spirit The second Adam (I mean Christ) became not merely a living being but also a life giving spirit. As a living being he died; as a life-giving spirit he raises the dead The mortal principle in him cannot help me without the life—giving principle. The flesh is of no avail, it is the Spirit that gives life. And to say that the Spirit gives life is only another way of saying that the Spirit justifies us by rectifying our relationship with God. Since the death of the soul is sin (as Scripture says: The soul that sins shall die), it is beyond dispute that the life of the soul is justice or righteousness, because, again as Scripture says, The just shall live by faith. x2

And who are the just? Are they not those who pay their debt of love to the God who loves them? Now it is impossible for them to do this unless they have received in faith the Spirit's revelation of God's eternal plan for their future salvation. That revelation is none other than an infusion of spiritual grace, through which, as we mortify the works of the flesh, we are made ready for the kingdom which flesh and blood cannot possess. In the one Spirit we receive both the audacity to believe ourselves loved and the power to love in return, so that God’s love for us may not go unrequited. x5

Bishop-Elect Hugh Gilbert. was born Edward Gilbert in Emsworth, Hampshire on 15 March 1952.

Hugh Gilbert was the Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey in Moray

Abbot of Pluscarden appointed Bishop of Aberdeen Posted: Saturday, June 4, 2011

At 12 noon today in Rome (11am GMT) it was announced, that Pope Benedict XVI had nominated Abbot Hugh Gilbert as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Aberdeen.

He will succeed Bishop Peter Moran who has been Bishop since 2003. Reacting to his appointment, Abbot Hugh who is currently Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey near Elgin said: “The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, has nominated me to succeed Bishop Peter Moran as Bishop of Aberdeen. As a Catholic Christian and Benedictine monk, I accept this as the call of Christ, and, trusting in the help of God and the saints, intend to give myself wholeheartedly, like my predecessors, to the lay people, religious, priests and deacons of this beautiful diocese.”

The Bishop-elect added: “I have much to learn, and it will not be easy to leave my monastery after 37 years. But I do so knowing that I am not going among strangers. I commend myself to the kind hearts and prayers of all whom I am called to serve. Together in Christ may we shine with the light of his Resurrection!”

Responding to the news Bishop Peter Moran said: “After my nine years at the helm of Aberdeen Diocese, seven of them as Bishop, I am happy that the Holy Father has named Abbot Hugh Gilbert to take over as my successor.  He is, of course, well known in the diocese to clergy and laity alike. I welcome him most warmly.”

“During his nineteen years as Abbot, Pluscarden Abbey has continued to be the serene spiritual heart of this diocese.  I am confident that his spiritual leadership as bishop will bring many graces to the members of the diocese, and to the wider community, in the years to come.”

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland said: “I am delighted to welcome Abbot Hugh Gilbert, Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey, as the new Bishop of Aberdeen - and, consequently, as a member of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland.     The name and the reputation of Abbot Hugh are well known outside the confines of his monastery.  His spirituality and his writings, have inspired many throughout Scotland and indeed in other parts of the world.     May God indeed bless him at this present time, as we say a very sincere thanks to his immediate predecessor, Bishop Peter Moran, who has fulfilled his apostolate as Bishop of Aberdeen and a member of our Bishops' Conference, in an exemplary manner.”

Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow said; "As native of Aberdeen diocese, where I spent 25 happy years as Bishop, I am delighted at the appointment of my second successor.  The Abbot is well known to me. I had the joy of ordaining him priest almost 30 years ago and later of blessing him as Abbot of Pluscarden. If it can be said that Abbot Hugh's appointment is a loss to the Abbey, there is great gain for the diocese of Aberdeen and the wider Catholic community of Scotland in his being named Bishop.  The news will be particularly welcomed in Aberdeen diocese, where Pluscarden has warm links with every part of the territory and is recognised as a thriving centre of spirituality, monastic practice and culture in the north of Scotland. Abbot Hugh has played a key role in the success story that is Pluscarden over the last few decades, a period which has seen it expand its influence far and wide.” 

"I also wish to pay warm tribute to my friend and colleague Bishop Peter Moran whose resignation on age and health grounds has now been accepted. Bishop Peter's wise and warm leadership mean that Abbot Hugh will inherit a diocese in fine heart.

Abbot Hugh Gilbert, O. S. B. leads a community of Benedictine monks at Pluscarden Abbey a mediaeval monastery outside Elgin in Morayshire. See: http://www.pluscardenabbey.org 

Bishop-Elect Hugh Gilbert. was born Edward Gilbert in Emsworth, Hampshire on 15 March 1952. He was baptised in the Church of England. He became a Roman Catholic at the age of 18. He was educated at St Paul’s School, London, and at King’s College, University of London, where he gained a 1st class degree in History.

He entered the Benedictine monastery of Pluscarden Abbey in 1974, receiving the name Hugh. He made his final profession on 10 March 1979. He did his theological studies at the former abbey of Fort Augustus, on the shores of Loch Ness. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Mario Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow (and previously Bishop of Aberdeen) on 29 June 1982. He became Novice Master in 1985, and Prior of the monastery in 1990. He was elected Abbot in 1992.

He has given retreats to monastic communities, male and female, in England, Ireland, France and the USA, as well as to priests and lay groups. He has assisted in the conduct of monastic Visitations in England, Ireland and Australia, and taken part in General Chapters and Congresses of Abbots in Italy. He has published several articles on a variety of topics, and two books: Unfolding the Mystery (Gracewing, 2007), a collection of homilies and conferences on the liturgical year, and Living the Mystery (Gracewing, 2008), reflections on aspects of the Christian life.

The Episcopal Ordination will take place in St Mary's Cathedral, Aberdeen on Monday 15 August 2011, the Feast of the Assumption and the Patronal Feast of the Cathedral.  The Principal Consecrator of the new Bishop will be Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, with the Co-Consecrators being Archbishop Mario Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow and previous Bishop of Aberdeen, along with Bishop Peter Moran, the immediate predecessor of the new Bishop.

Source: SCMO

Message for World Communications Day 2011

As we enter the Seventh Sunday of Easter, between Ascension Thursday and next Sunday Pentecost, the disciples returned from the Mount of Olives to the UPPER-ROOM. There they were gathered with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and  other disciples and waited for the Promised Spirit.

The UPPER-ROOM became a 'waiting room'.

Our Mass is our WAITING ROOM for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

+ + +

---

SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER*
SUNDAY, JUNE 5
JOHN 17:1-11a
(Acts 1:12-14; Psalm 27; 1 Peter 4:13-16)
KEY VERSE: "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you" (v 1).
READING: Since the sixteenth century, this intimate prayer to the Father has been called Jesus' "high priestly prayer." Jesus spoke as though he was poised between heaven and earth. He had finished the work that had been given to him, that of revealing the one, eternal, merciful, righteous and ever-present God who he called "Father." Through Jesus' words and deeds, and finally through his passion and death, everything he did gave glory to the Father. At the resurrection, the Father would glorify the Son. As high priest, Jesus interceded for those who would continue his work on earth. As in the Lord's prayer, Jesus prayed that the Father's sacred name (God's saving power) would protect his followers from evil (Matt 6:13). [Kay Murdy www.daily-word-of-life.com].

+ + +

Communications Sunday

• Written By: SCMO  Scottish Catholic Media Office

Sunday 5 June 2011

+ Philip Tartaglia
Bishop of Paisley

Message for World Communications Day 2011
from Bishop Tartaglia.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Scotland last September taught the Catholic community a great deal about the media. We learned how the media is an amazingly influential opinion former in our culture, as every moment of the Pope’s visit was reported, analysed and broadcast to the whole world in print and through radio, television and the internet. Before the visit, someone remarked that the Pope’s visit would be a success if the media declared it to be a success. Thankfully the Pope’s visit was a success and we are grateful to the media for playing its part so professionally and so well.  

Catholics were also reminded that the media is not simply a news-gathering or truth-seeking organisation. Newspapers, broadcasters and websites can have their own agenda and favourite narrative, even when such a narrative is shown to be exaggerated or mistaken. We learned this painful truth in the months leading up to the Pope’s visit as some sections of the media perpetuated an agenda predicting the visit would be a failure, mired in controversy and blighted by indifference. Thankfully when the Pope arrived in our midst, his graciousness, gentleness and compassion quickly dispelled the pre-visit caricatures and the media rose to the occasion, offering us some glorious coverage of the Pope’s visit.

In the context of the papal visit, we also saw that some sections of the media in part reflected and in part generated quite deep anti-Catholic sentiment. Commentators expressed severe and intemperate judgements, and media organisations gave disproportionate space in newspapers, radio and television to people who have the most critical opinions about the Catholic Church. At times it seemed we were being overwhelmed in a sea of opprobrium.

Yet the media chastisement of the Catholic Church may still have served a good purpose. As St Paul reminds us, “Omnia in bonum” – "All turns out for the good of those who love God". (Romans 8:28).  It created a climate of sorrow and penance within the Church for the sin of sexual abuse and for its mishandling by church authorities; it highlighted the significant voice the Church continues to exert in public life and galvanised Catholics to show their loyalty and affection for the successor of Peter.

This year the Holy Father once more focuses on the enormous potential of the internet and social networks in his World Communications Day Message, affirming boldly that, “there exists a Christian way of being present in the digital world.”

I warmly welcome the Holy Father’s words and encourage all our parishes and organisations to make use of the new opportunities the digital media offer us. At the same time the Church affirms the mass media in its work, encouraging it to carry out its essential role in our society truthfully, fairly and impartially. The Catholic Church esteems media professionals and underlines their right to work in freedom and safety. The Catholic Church unequivocally affirms the media as a force for good in the modern world.

The Media Office and communications professionals working for the Church in Scotland were at the forefront of the success of the Pope’s visit to Scotland, briefing and assisting the world’s media in myriad ways, instigating the St. Ninian’s Pageant in Edinburgh, defending the Pope and the Church against some outrageous accusations, and attempting to bring truth and perspective to the negative narrative which persisted in the pre-visit period. The special collection at today’s Mass traditionally goes to support our Communications and Media Office. The papal visit showed that this is a good and necessary cause, and I ask you to be generous today in supporting it.

Yours devotedly,
+ Philip Tartaglia
Bishop of Paisley
President of the Communications Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

+ + + + + + + + +

COMMENT on Collection for the World Communications Day.
Excuse the axe to grind on the Collecting.
It is important to pray for the Apostolate of Communications.
The irony is in some popular Catholic Books. The first page of these books carry a fierce  WARNING on COPYRIGHTS and prohibitions. It can amount to barriers to communications in this field.
An example,

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in Ireland issued by the Irish Copyright Licencing Agency Ltd The Irish Writers Centre. 

This kind of disincentive is in contrast to some Catholic publications.
The digital world of fiction and religious publications are made accessible on line on the Internet on a global spread.
While making generous 'contributions' are welcome, prayer for the Apostolate of Communications can be even more vital.

________________________________

COMMENT Epilogue of Ascension

Thank you, William.

----- Forwarded Message ----   From: WILLIAM …  To: Fr Donald ... Sent: Thu, 2 June, 2011 22:32:41Subject: Re: [Blog] Epilogue "Jesus of Nazareth II"

Dear Father Donald,

What a reading you present to us! I have been quite enthralled. For me, there are four 'gems': 

One particularly personal passage in this Epilogue which brings out for me Pope Benedict's statement that the book represents his personal approach - Can we pray, therefore, for the coming of Jesus? Can we sincerely say: "Marana tha! Come, Lord Jesus!"? Yes, we can. And not only that: we must! We pray for antici­pations of his world-changing presence. We pray to him in moments of personal tribulation: Come, Lord Jesus, and draw my life into the presence of your kindly power. We ask him to be close to those we love or for whom we are anxious.and he adds in the awareness of his calling: We ask him to be present and effective in his Church. [292]*edit

The images of revelation that he applies are quite out of the orbit of my Lectio... The cloud presents Jesus' departure.. as his entry into the mystery of God. It evokes an entirely different order of magnitude, a different dimension of being; [282] and later in the text Pope Benedict brings its meaning out for us...The words of the message, handed on by the witnesses, are the cloud that brings Christ into the world—here and now: [291 ]and so appealing is the image of  the Lord on the mountain of the Father. Therefore he sees us. Therefore he can get into the boat of our life at any moment. [284]

Pope Benedict brings out the significance of the meaning of Jesus' words in a way far beyond my level of awareness... the Lord says the opposite: now [Mary Magdelene] cannot touch him or hold him... the old manner of human companionship and encoun­ter is over. From now on we can touch Jesus only "with the Father". Now we can touch him only by ascending... In his communion with the Father, he is accessible and close to us in a new way. [285] Benedict XVII brings the meaning to us: if we enter fully into the essence of our Christian life, then we really do touch the risen Lord, then we really do become fully ourselves. Touching Christ and ascending belong together. And let us not forget that for John the place of Christ's "exaltation" is his Cross and that our own ever-necessary "ascension", our "going up on high" in order to touch him, has to be travelled in company with the crucified Jesus. [286]

Benedict XVII acknowlegdes the inherent tension in Christian expectation of the Lord's return... Are we to expect [Jesus], or do we prefer not to? [290] Benedict XVII shows us where to look....Marana tha(Lord, come!), or Maran atha (the Lord has come). This twofold reading brings out clearly the peculiar nature of the Christian expectation of Jesus' coming... Christians pray for Jesus' definitive coming, and at the same time they experience with joy and thankfulness that he has already anticipated this coming and has entered into our midst here and now. [289] And he concludes with words that raise my eyes to gaze upon our ascending Lord with new sense of expectation: Jesus' presence will be definitively fulfilled: the presence is not yet complete. It pushes beyond itself. It sets us in motion toward the definitive... [290] and he concludes with the key to our understanding - it is an eschatology of the present. [291]

Reading this masterpiece, the Ascension is no longer a remote 'event' on a hilltop so many years ago: it is happening before our eyes, it is happening to us.

Thank you Father.

…  in Our Risen Lord,

William