Our Lady of Aberdeen 9 July 'in the infirmity of old age' St Aelred

Monday, 09 July 2012

Monday of the Fourteenth week in Ordinary Time

Our Lady of Aberdeen

Procession at Saint Andrews Catedral ruins, 

Statue of Our Lady of Abedeen

 " Bishop Toal said in his sermon, "whether we be in the grandest Cathedral, lowliest hovel, outdoors braving the elements or at home, we are all united in  one Faith, one Church".

Pictures: http_benedictoblate_blogspot 

"Aberdeen -- Our Lady at the Bridge of Dee, described as Our Lady at the Brig is mentioned in 1459. Near to the chapel was a well dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, where miraculous favours were obtained. In the cathedral were four altars of Our Lady, each with her image, one being of silver. "


On the Feast of Our Lady of Aberdeen, the Cantor selected the Night Office Optional Reading, from the Common of the BVM, by St. Aelred.
The theme could be described as "in the infirmity of old age"
Following the Mass Deacon referred to Our Lady of Good Success.
Aelred says;
Scripture says, 'Praise the Lord in his saints'. If our Lord is to be praised in those saints through whom he performs mighty works and miracles, how much more should he be praised in her in whom he fashioned himself, he who is wonderful beyond all wonder.
Again such such wonderful relationships.

COLLECT (Magnificat)

Grant we pray, almighty God,

that this your Holy Church in Scottlan,

gather in your name to honour

Our lady of Aberdeen,

may shine forth with that fire of faith and charity

which the Spirit dwelling in her set ablaze.

Thro...

Alternative           Sermon 20

A reading from the sermons of  St. Aelred of Rievaulx

Mary, our Mother

Let us come to his. bride, let us come to his - mother, let us come to the best of his handmaidens. All of these descriptions fit Blessed Mary.

But what are we to do for her.? What sort of gifts shall we offer her? O that we might at least repay to her the debt we owe her ! We owe her honour, we owe her devotion, we owe her love, we owe her praise. We owe her honour because she is the Mother of our Lord. He, who does not honour the mother, will without doubt dishonour the son. Besides, scripture says: 'Honour your- father and your mother.'

What then shall we say, brethren? Is she not our mother? Certainly, brethren, she is in truth our mother. Through her we are born, not to the world but to God.

We all, as you believe and know, were in death, in the infirmity of old age, in darkness, in misery. In death because we had lost the Lord; in the infirmity of old age, because we were in corruption; in darkness because we had lost the light of wisdom, and so we -had altogether perished.

But through Blessed Mary we all underwent a much better .birth than through Eve, inasmuch as Christ was born of Mary. Instead of the infirmity of age we have regained youth, instead of corruption incorruption, instead of darkness light.

She is our mother, mother of our life, of our incorruption, of our light. The Apostle says of our Lord, ‘Whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and redemption.

She therefore who. -is the mother of Christ is the mother of our wisdom, mother of our righteousness, mother of our sanctification, mother of our redemption. Therefore she is more our mother than the mother of our flesh. Better therefore is our birth which we derive from Mary, for from her is our holiness, our wisdom; our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption.

Scripture says, 'Praise the Lord in his saints'. If our Lord is to be praised in those saints through whom he performs mighty works and miracles, how much more should he be praised in her in whom he fashioned himself, he who is wonderful beyond all wonder.

RESPONSORY

R/ Blessed is the holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise; * through her has risen the Sun of, Justice, Christ our God, by whom we are saved and redeemed.

V/ Let us joyfully celebrate this feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary.* Through her has risen ...

http://www.stmaryscathedralaberdeen.org/our-lady-of-aberdeen.html
Our Lady of Aberdeen

  http://nunraw.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/our-lady-of-aberdeen.html  

The bridegroom is with them Mt 9:15 COMMENT

Arbel   view to the sea of Galilee

COMMENTS

Dear William,

Thank you, our best Reader.

My perceptions are striving in the addled brain, and wakened up in your fresh viewing.
It is the grace of pausing, lighting and spotlighting.

Praise the gifts of the word.

Yours ....

Donald.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William...
To: Donald...
Sent: Sunday, 8 July 2012, 9:28
Subject: Fw: Gabrielle Bossis... St John of the Cross

Dear Father Donald,

 

There is a wonderful glimpse of the relationship of St John of the Cross with Our Lord on today's DGO, written in a way that carried my thoughts to your extracts from Bossis:

 

Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church - Living Flame of Love, st. 3, 6 (©Institute of Carmelite Studies)

"The bridegroom is with them"

When one loves and does good to another, he loves and does good to him in the measure of his own nature and properties. Thus your Bridegroom, dwelling within you, grants you favors according to his nature. Since he is omnipotent, he omnipotently loves and does good to you...

He makes you his equal, gladly revealing himself to you in these ways of knowledge, in this his countenance filled with graces, and telling you in this his union, not without great rejoicing: "I am yours and for you and delighted to be what I am so as to be yours and give myself to you." Who, then, will be able to express your experience, O happy soul, since you know that you are so loved and with such esteem exalted?


Quietly reflecting on such wonderful relationships,

with my love in Our Lord,

William

Saturday, 07 July 2012

Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time

Saint Matthew 9:14-17.

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, «Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?» 

Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.. . . . 

See commentary below or click here
Saint John of the Cross : "The bridegroom is with them"  

Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church. Living Flame of Love, st. 3, 6 (©Institute of Carmelite Studies)

"The bridegroom is with them" 

"homonymy" between Peter and Jesus (Benedict xvi) Acts 4: 11-12

Third Week in Ordinary Time WEDNESDAY Year II

A Word in Season, Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours. Augustinian Press 1999.

Night Office

First Reading

Nehemiah 9:1-2.5-21

Second Reading:

From the writings of Nicolas Cabasilas (Vita in Christo VI, 13: PG 150, 681-683).

There is no other name by which we must be saved.

That we may be able always to pay attention to Christ, and be zealous in this at all times, let us call on him who is the subject of our thoughts at every moment. And of course those who call upon him need no special preparation or special place for prayer, nor a loud voice. For he is present everywhere, and is always with us; he is even nearer to those who seek him than their very heart.

It is fitting, then, that we should firmly believe that our prayers will be answered. We should never hesitate on account of our evil ways, but take courage because he on whom we call is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. In fact he is so far from ignoring the entreaties of the servants who have offended him, that before they had called on him or even thought of him, he had already called them himself by his coming to earth - for he said, I came to call sinners.

Then if that was the way he sought those who did not even want him, how will he treat those who call on him? And if he loved us when we hated him, how will he reject us when we love him? It is just this that Paul's words make clear: If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, how much more, when we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Again, let us think about the kind of supplication we make. We do not pray for the things that friends are likely to ask for and receive, but rather for such things as are specifically prescribed for those who are called to account, servants who have offended their master. For we do not call upon the Lord in order that he may reward us, or grant us any other favour of that kind, but that he may have mercy on us. Who, then, are likely to ask for mercy, forgive­ness, remission of sins and things of that sort from God who loves humanity, and not go away empty-handed? Those who are called to account, if indeed those who are well have no need of a physician. For if human beings are at all in the habit of calling upon God for mercy, it is those who are worthy of mercy, in other words sinners.

So let us call on God with our voice and in mind and thought, so that we may apply the only saving remedy to everything through which we sin, for in the words of Peter: there is no other name by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

Responsory                                          Ps 141:1-2; 143:1

I call to you, Lord; hasten to help me; hear my voice when I cry to you. + Let my prayer rise before you like incense, the raising of my hands like an evening sacrifice.

V. Lord, hear my prayer; listen to my plea. + Let my prayer ...

"homonymy" between Peter and Jesus (Benedict xvi)

"This [Jesus] is the stone... there is no other name... given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4: 11-12). In the passage of the Acts of the Apostles the first reading the singular "homonymy" between Peter and Jesus strikes us and makes us reflect: Peter, who received his name from Jesus himself, here asserts that he, Jesus, is "the stone". In fact, the only true rock is Jesus. The only name that saves is his. The apostle, and therefore the priest, receives his "name", his very identity, from Christ. Everything he does is done in his name. His "I" becomes totally relative to the "I" of Jesus. In the name of Christ, and most certainly not in his own, the apostle may perform acts of healing for the brethren, may help the "crippled" to rise again and take their path (cf. Acts 4: 9-10). In Peter's case, the miracle that had just occurred makes this especially evident. And even the reference to what was said in the Psalm is essential: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the corner stone" (Ps 118[117]: 22). Jesus was "rejected", but the Father favoured him and put him as the foundation of the Temple of the New Covenant. Thus the apostle, like the priest, experiences in turn the Cross, and only through this can he become truly useful to the building of the Church. God loves to build his Church with people who, following Jesus, place their entire trust in God, as the Psalm itself mentions: "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes" (v. 8-9).

Poe Benedict during the Ordination to the Priesthood of 19 Deacons 3 May 2009

Thomas Apostle Jn. 20: 24-29

From Post: Saturday, 3 July 2010

Apostle Thomas 3 July Feast

Saint Thomas: "My Lord and my God"

From a sermon by Ronald A. Knox 
(Pastoral Sermons, pages 402-403)

Night Office, on this Feast of Saint Thomas, the Reading from Fr. Ronald Knox, was used in the Second Nocturn. Fr. H., the Reader, made this choice from the alternatives from the Lectern. It was  well heard, and gave us Fr. Ronald's touch of presence, as in the cases of Thomas encounters with Jesus.

Thomas, as we know from his record, was loyal to a fault; had been the first to suggest that they should all go and die with their Master. But he was one of those people who will always ask the inconvenient question. He has been chosen to be an eyewitness, vouching personally for every event in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. And he was not an eyewitness of this appearance in the upper room; it will not do. How can they be certain it was really their Master they saw? What tests did they make? Until I have seen the mark of the nails on his hands, until I have put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, you will never make me believe.

That it was all providentially ordained, one apostle being absent, and that one Thomas, with his bulldog way of looking at things, is beyond question. "Our faith," says Saint Gregory, "owes more to the faithlessness of Thomas than to the faith-fullness of all the other apostles put together." Because Thomas doubted, our Lord appeared a second time in the upper room; because Thomas doubted, they were privileged to see, and to touch if they would, the indelible scars of Calvary. What our own eyes have seen of him, what it was that met our gaze, and the touch of our hands - so John wrote, long afterwards, with that unforgettable scene for his inspiration. In a moment, the verdict of the jury became unanimous; Thomas could cry out: My Lord and my God! with the rest. Only, there is a postscript. You have learned to believe, Thomas, because you have seen me.Blessed are those who have not seen, and believe all the same.

For our sakes, it was a good thing that Thomas doubted. But for himself, he had come short of the ideal, he had missed an opportunity; surely we are meant to see that. In however insignificant a degree, he was at fault. He had all the record of our Lord's life and teaching in front of him; he had the unanimous testimony of those others, his tried companions in arms, and yet ... some pride, some wilful obstinacy, some chagrin, perhaps, at having been left out when this experience was granted to the rest, made him withhold his assent. "I will not believe"; mysteriously, it is possible to withhold your assent by an act of the will. He ought to have capitulated.

Our Lord doesn't complain. Our Lord wasn't like us; he didn't go about after his resurrection finding fault and saying "I told you so"; he looked forward to the future. He looked down the centuries at people like you and me, who had no chance of seeing him in his incarnate state, and yet do manage to cry out, My Lord and my God; and he said, "What lucky people you are!" When he started out on his ministry, you remember, he gave us the eight beatitudes, Blessed are the patient, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the peacemakers, and so on. And now, when he is just going to leave us for heaven, he pronounces a last beatitude, Blessed are those who haven't seen, and believe all the same.

Our Lord, as we know, was fond of paradox; and this congratulation of his does seem rather unexpected. Earlier on, he said to his apostles, There have been many prophets and just men who have longed to see what you see, and never saw it; we un­derstand well enough what he means by saying, Blessed are your eyes in that connection. To see our Lord in the flesh, to hear his gracious accents, to feel the touch of his hand - what an opportunity it was that they had, and we have missed! But that is not his last word on the subject. He singles out people like you and me for a special congratulation; because we have not seen? No, because, not having seen, we believe.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Gabrielle Bossis - The last Altar of Repose is in heaven

Thanks from the Canada Edmington Group at the International Eucharistic Congress.
We were happy to welcome the pilgrims as they came to Nunraw Abbey

Precious Blood Chalice Christ

July devoted to the Precious Blood 

Gabrielle Bossis, HE AND i, p.338

June 16,1949 - Corpus Christi (As I awakened)

"Happy Feast Day, my dear God."

( ... ) "Can you seek Me and not find Me? Here or there, am I not always waiting for you? Since I love you so dearly, just let yourself be loved and come to meet My love. Then it will really be Corpus Christi, My feast.

You know, there need not be any interruption between Corpus Christi on earth and Corpus Christi in heaven. The procession never stops. The last Altar of Repose is in heaven – the Heart of God where My blessed ones live. So begin right now to sing and thank and adore. Do you know what an Altar of Repose is? It's an élan of love and joy, an outburst of enthusiasm. So put altars of repose into your life, into each one of your days.

Take a moment to love Us better. To talk to Me about yourself, above all about your weaknesses. I know them well, but in telling Me about them you wipe them out, just as though you wrote them on the moving sand of the great desert that the wind never ceases to restore, smooth and unwrinkled. This is what My love does. It never ceases to act. Leave yourself to Me.

Be the clay and let Me be the Potter. Often – I was going to say, 'always'."

Headline from the Catholic Herald:

Pope asks all to join in hour of Adoration

On June 2, the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ in most countries, the Pope will lead the solemn adoration of the Eucharist and is asking every cathedral and parish to have an hour of silent contemplation before the Blessed Sacrament at exactly the same hour, Archbishop Fisichella said.

Peter and Paul Solemnity Homily

Cistercian Breviary

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Raymond . . .
Sent: Friday, 29 June 2012, 9:47
Subject: 

Ss Peter and Paul

Saints Peter and Paul were both called to be Apostles and both shed their blood for Christ.   But another thing they had in common was that both of them had their self confidence deeply shaken in their encounters with Jesus.  Peter was shaken by his triple denial of Jesus at the trial and Paul by his Damascus experience.  But there the similarity ends.  In fact the contrast between these two great Saints could hardly be greater. 

Peter was always one of the twelve,  – a bunch mostly of fishermen-friends who all knew each other.  Some of them were even related to each other.  Paul’s call, on the other hand, was a very solitary one, a call that left him alone; isolated from all his previous acquaintances.

Peter was simple and relatively uneducated; Paul was about as highly educated as one could be in Jewish society.

Peter was headstrong, and impulsive. When Jesus called him to walk on the water, he immediately leapt over the side. When he was faced with the mob in Gethsemani he drew his sword and struck out with it.  At the trial, when he cursed and swore that he knew not the man, it was an impulsive reaction of fear that spoke.  But the real deep Peter was the one who went out and wept bitterly over it.  

Paul, on the other hand, met crisis by withdrawing into himself in deep thought and careful analysis of the situation. For example, after his Damascus experience, he withdrew into three days of fasting and prayer.  Again, in typical fashion, when he found that his doctrine regarding freedom from the old law was being undermined by Peter and James, he didn’t just explode in self assurance of the correctness of his teaching and go off on his own way; that is how most divisions in the Church begin; no he went up to meet and consult with the other apostles and have the whole matter thrashed out among them.

Thus the two great pillars of the Church stand in marked contrast to each other and yet at the same time with a complementarity that was surely providential for the solid foundation of Christ’s Church.  

Saint Irénée, Lyon, France

eglise-st-irenee-lyon Saint of the day: 28th June Saint Irenaeus of Lyon Bishop. Born in Smyrna around 140, as a boy he was a friend of St Polycarp who had heard St John the Evangelist preach. "The things we learn in childhood are part of our soul," he wrote. St Irenaeus cherished Polycarp's teachings, saying they were written "not on paper but in my heart." St Irenaeus was an important theologian. He fought against false teachings and wrote a systematic presentation of Catholic doctrine. He died at Lyon in 200 and was buried in the crypt of the church of St John. In 1562 his shrine was destroyed by Calvinists.

Cyril - Defender of the divine motherhood of the Virgin Mary

COMMENT: The Google search on, 'Defender of the divine motherhood of the Virgin Mary'
   About 3,610,000 results (0.60 seconds).
Begins amazing Links - - -
_______________________________________________________
Wednesday 27 June 2012   

Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Doctor

Theotokos

Night Office and Mass – The Word (Lectio Divine) today seemed to in neutral gear until the prayer of the COLLECT opened up ‘the daylight.’

“Almighty God and Father, you gave Saint Cyril of Alexandria the grace to defend vigorously the divine motherhood of the Virgin Mary.”

The Commentary of St. Cyril speaks of his life, of his love Mary, Mother of God and in faith of Emmanuel, Christ, the one true Son, both God and man. 

About Universalis Website     

  “The purpose of the Divine Office is to sanctify the day and all human activity.”  Apostolic Constitution,Canticum Laudis  

  http://www.universalis.com/20120627/readings.1.htm

Universalis Wednesday 27 June 2012    Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Doctor  or Wednesday of week 12 of the year About today

Reading

From a letter by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop

Defender of the divine motherhood of the Virgin Mary

That anyone could doubt the right of the holy Virgin to be called the Mother of God fills me with astonishment. Surely she must be the Mother of God of our Lord Jesus Christ is God, and she gave birth to him! Our Lord’s disciples may not have used those exact words, but they delivered to us the belief those words enshrine, and this has also been taught us by the holy fathers.

In the third book of his work on the holy and consubstantial Trinity, our father Athanasius, of glorious memory, several times refers to the holy Virgin as “Mother of God.” I cannot resist quoting his own words: “As I have often told you, the distinctive mark of holy Scripture is that it was written to make a twofold declaration concerning our Saviour; namely, that he is and has always been God, since he is the Word, Radiance and Wisdom of the Father; and that for our sake in these latter days he took flesh from the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and became man.”

  Again further on he says: “There have been many holy men, free from all sin. Jeremiah was sanctified in his mother’s womb, and John while still in the womb leaped for joy at the voice of Mary, the Mother of God.” Athanasius is a man we can trust, one who deserves our complete confidence, for he taught nothing contrary to the sacred books.

The divinely inspired Scriptures affirm that the Word of God was made flesh, that is to say, he was united to a human body endowed with a rational soul. He undertook to help the descendants of Abraham, fashioning a body for himself from a woman and sharing our flesh and blood, to enable us to see in him not only God, but also, by reason of this union, a man like ourselves.

It is held, therefore, that there are in Emmanuel two entities, divinity and humanity. Yet our Lord Jesus Christ is nonetheless one, the one true Son, both God and man; not a deified man on the same footing as those who share the divine nature by grace, but true God who for our sake appeared in human form. We are assured of this by Saint Paul’s declaration: When the fullness of time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law and to enable us to be adopted as sons.

---

Let us pray.

Almighty God and Father, you gave Saint Cyril of Alexandria the grace to defend vigorously the divine motherhood of the Virgin Mary.

  We believe she is truly the Mother of God; grant that we may be saved by Christ your Son, made man,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

  God for ever and ever.

Amen.

 QUOTE:

Cyril's theme: "Only if it is one and the same Christ who is consubstantial with the Father and with men can he save us, for the meeting ground between God and man is the flesh of Christ. Only if this is God's own flesh can man come into contact with Christ's divinity through his humanity. Because of our kinship with the Word made flesh we are sons of God. The Eucharist consummates our kinship with the word, our communion with the Father, our sharing in the divine nature—there is very real contact between our body and that of the Word" (New Catholic Encyclopedia).

COMMENT Breviariun Cisterciense

Litugical visuals - Scriptural texts illustrate the Cistercian Breviary, the Missals, Antiphonaries, etc.. 

The detail of the engravings is amazing. 

Scenes within scenes unfold the Biblical events.  

Contemplation nourishes the spirit.

Who was the Artist, or the school of artisans?

The survivors from the Westmalle Abbey printery may be able to tell us the story of the dedicated industry.

In Nativitate S. Joannis Baptistae
Breviariun Cisterciense

1.    1Ki 21:18  Arise, and go down to meet Achab, king of Israel (DRB)
1Ki 21:18  surge et descende in occursum Ahab regis Israhel (Vulgate)

2.     Jer 1:5  Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, (DRB)
Jer 1:5  antequam exires de vulva sanctificavi te (Vulgate)

3.    Isa 49:1  The Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother. (DRB)
Isa 49:1  …  Dominus ab utero vocavit me de ventre matris meae ...(Vulgate)

4.    Luk 1:63  Then Zachariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, His name is John. (DRB)
Luk 1:63  et postulans pugillarem scripsit dicens Iohannes est nomen eius .. ...(Vulgate).

5.     Isa 40:3  The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. (DRB)
Isa 40:3  vox clamantis in deserto parate viam Domini (Vulgate).

6.    Mal 3:1  Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way (DRB)  
Mal 3:1  ecce ego mittam angelum meum et praeparabit viam   (Vulgate).

7.    Isa 6:6  And one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. (DRB)
Isa 6:6  et volavit ad me unus de seraphin et in manu eius calculus quem forcipe tulerat de altari (Vulgate).

DGO restored. Thank you.

Sacristan goes for chalices

Daily Gospel - there was a breakdown of  the DGO Website for a few days. It was quickly remedied.
Appreciated and thanks for the Mass Readings and daily Commentary.
The restoration is marked by a Saint Benedict commentary for the day. 
From: DGO 

To: Donald...
Sent: Monday, 25 June 2012, 21:03
Subject: The Daily Gospel

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 7:6.12-14.

Tuesday, 26 June 2012.

On the Twelfth week in Ordinary Time. 

  . 

Commentary of the day :   
Saint Benedict (480-547), monk 
The Rule, Prologue 



“ Enter through the narrow gate ”

The Lord, seeking his laborer in the multitude to whom he thus cries out, says again, "Who would have life and desires to see good days?" (Ps. 34:13) And if, hearing him, you answer, "I am the one," God says to you, "If you will have true and everlasting life, keep your tongue from evil and your lips that they speak no guile. Turn away from evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it" (Ps. 34:14-15)... What can be sweeter to us, dear brothers, than this voice of the Lord inviting us? In his loving kindness the Lord shows us the way of life. Having our loins girded, therefore, with faith and the performance of good works (Eph. 6:14), let us walk in his paths by the guidance of the Gospel, that we may deserve to see him who has called us to his Kingdom (1 Th 2:12). For if we wish to dwell in the tent of that kingdom, we must run to it by good deeds or we shall never reach it. Let us ask the Lord, with the prophet, "Lord, who shall dwell in your tent, or who shall rest upon your holy mountain?" (Ps. 15:1) After this question, brothers, let us listen to the Lord as he answers and shows us the way...

      And so we are going to establish a school for the service of the Lord. In founding it we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome. But if a certain strictness results from the dictates of equity for the amendment of vices or the preservation of charity, do not be at once dismayed and fly from the way of salvation, whose entrance cannot but be narrow. For as we advance in life and in faith, our hearts expand and we run the way of God's commandments with unspeakable sweetness of love (Ps. 119:32). Thus, never departing from his schooling but persevering in the monastery according to his teaching until death, we may by patience share in the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 4:13) and deserve to have a share also in his Kingdom.

Birth John Baptist - Homily

'His name is John'. Cistercian Breviary

 Homily - Abbot Mark.   

Birth of John the Baptist,. (24 August,2012)

            Homily  11.00 am

John the Baptist is the only person outside the Holy Family to have two days set aside for him in the Church’s universal calendar.  He is obviously an important person in the life of the Church.  John links the two Testaments.  He is born in the Old to prepare the way for the New.  In later life John comes over in the gospels as rather a fierce character.  Films, plays, and even opera have portrayed him as a wild man, even a fanatic.  It makes for good theatre.

There are people who preach religion but for all their fine words reveal only themselves.  There are others who never get in the way of their message  but point beyond themselves.  John was caught up by his love for God and the desire he had to bring the hearts of people back to God.  However blunt his words, he did not claim anything for himself.  John was humble.  When he recognised Jesus, John knew his work was nearly over.  “He must grow greater”, he said and, “I must grow less.”  John knew when to let go.

As an only child born to elderly parents who had long ago given up hope of having a family, John the Baptist must have been a much-loved child.  At the same time it is very likely that he was a spoiled one as well.  .  Elizabeth and Zechariah knew that their son was even more special than other children.  The meaning of his name is “God’s gracious gift”.  The name, John, broke with the tradition of his family and yet both father and mother had independently picked it.  They were of course inspired by the Holy Spirit

The people throughout the area were speaking about the unusual circumstances of his birth.  He was quite a little celebrity.  And it was the same when he began his ministry.  Crowds flocked to him and, for a while, he was again a celebrity.  This time the whole of Jerusalem were talking about him.  Some were saying openly that he was the Messiah.  Talk like this could go easily to a man’s head.

And yet, somehow John was aware, deep within himself, that he was not the one the people thought he was.  He knew that there was one coming after him who was more important than he was and that his job was to step aside and make way for him...This labour without reward or recognition must have been hard at times.   As he lay in prison hearing about the crowds now following Jesus, he must have wondered if he had toiled in vain and had exhausted himself for nothing.  Surely there must have been times in that prison when he hankered again for his younger days when people were over-awed by him and he was both popular and successful.

John’s experience is a kind of model for all those whose best days are behind them.  Men and women who were once well-known and had succeeded in their lives, inevitably have to give way to others younger than themselves.

We should remember such people as they try to cope with the changed circumstances in their lives.  They are not now useless, simply that their circumstances have changed.  They do need to adapt to a changed reality where their usefulness is not ended but different.  They can always do something else.  And, if that becomes too difficult, they can certainly be themselves. 

John himself remains a model for us in that he shows that we can and should step aside so that Christ is the one who stands first in our lives.  We find Christ when the time comes for us to step back and let the other people in our lives and our work move into a more central role.

John let go when the time came, and - with his help - so can we!