John 6:51-58. I am the living bread that came down from heaven... Homily Fr. Raymond

Sunday, 19 August 2012

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 6:51-58.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Raymond . . .
Sent: Sunday, 19 August 2012, 16:01
Subject: 

SUNDAY 20B           

Jesus said to the crowd “I am the Living Bread which has come down from Heaven.  Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.”  We can note from this wonderful saying, first of all, that Jesus is speaking directly and explicitly of himself.  He is not speaking about some  sign or symbol of himself.  He is not speaking about somerepresentation of himself.  He is speaking purely and simply, and very explicitly, ofhimself; his own true, living self:  “I.... am the Living Bread”.  And then he tells us where He comes from, “I am the Living Bread which has come down from Heaven”   So, He immediately leads us into mystery, the great mystery, of the Son of God’s Incarnation and of his Sacramental Communion with us; His communion with all who can find the faith to believe in Him; His promised communion with all who have the humility and the courage to believe in the truth of his words; even though, like the apostles, when they first heard them, they just couldn’t understand them.  “This is a hard saying”, the crowd said “and who can believe it”, but the Apostles said “To whom shall we go?  It’s you who have the words of eternal life”.  This faith of the apostles is faith in Jesus at its deepest.  It is not to be defined as a faith in the truth of what Jesus says or in the power he displays in his miracles, but it is purely and simply a faith in Jesus;  a faith that trusts itself to him no matter what he says, no matter what he does; and indeed, eventually it would prove to be a faith  and a trust in him no matter what might happen to him.

The next thing we can note in these words is that he calls himself “Bread”, “I am The Living Bread”.  For the Jews of his day, as for ourselves to this day, the word “Bread” conjures up the idea of mankind’s basic need for subsistence.  Man must eat to live.  In calling himself “Bread” therefore, Jesus is implying that our very life depends on him; our very subsistence depends on our communion with him.  He puts this very explicitly in another phrase: “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man you cannot have life in you”.    The Sacrament of Holy Communion then is something that is much more than just a gift to us.  It is of course a gift, a most wonderful gift, a gift beyond price, but, for the life of our souls, for our life in the spirit, it is also so much more than just a gift.  It is an absolute necessity.  It is an absolute necessity for us if we are to stay alive at all.  “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man you cannot have life in you”.

We are not, all of us, capable of great spritual insights  into the riches of the eucharist.  We are not, all of us, capable of deep theological understanding of the mysteries of our faith.  We are not, all of us, capable of rising to the heights of great spirituality.  But we are, each and every one of us, no matter what our spiritual stature before God, we are all able to come to the table of the Eucharist and “take and eat” as the Lord commanded us.

“Do this in memory of me”

 

Poem-homily for Vigil of the Assumption. Fr. Edward, Iceland

Ephesus House The exterior view
of the restored house, now serving as a chapel.

Dear, Fr. Edward,

Thank you for Afterview to Assumption Vigil.

It is a long way from Iceland to” That was the situation John knew as exiled to Patmos, being present at her Assumption. Probably he alone was present then at Seljuk.”

The names of John and Seljuk and Patmos place the Dormition of Mary - more securely than at least two places in Jerusalem.

How does Google Earth clarify the geography locations..

Your poem reaches beyond to the “above all spiritual Creatures, she was populating the heavens with the rising wave of heroic Chosen all divinized into its rest.

In Dno,

Donald

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: edward ...
To: Donald ...
Sent: Friday, 17 August 2012, 22:55
Subject: Poem-homily for Vigil of the Assumption

Dear Donald,

This is a little speculative, but I hope that you will find it acceptable.
Could you give a copy to H...?

Thank you!

Blessings in Domino,

fr Edward O.P.

... Stykkishólmur, Iceland.

Assumption Vigil – an Afterview

At the beginning

with Herod's menaces to the life of Jesus at Bethlehem,

Joseph took Jesus and Mary by night to Egypt;

they settled among Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.

At her life's end, with John she was again on pagan soil:

taken by John from Jerusalem to just outside Ephesus,

to an outlying village of Seljuk,

their house remains much repaired, a centre of pilgrimage.

Ephesus itself had been a centre of pagan worship to their goddess Diana.

What had brought John and Mary there to the Romanized province of Asia

is not known.

There must have been a personal link, Christian or Jewish:

probably a Christian scholar, and converted through an earlier contact

perhaps in Jerusalem.

They must have lived in obscurity,

probably known well only to a few as in Old Cairo.

Already in the Apocalyptic vision John is reminded twenty years later

of a Golden Age of the Ephesus church at the beginning

from which it had fallen. and to which it must return through penance (Ap 2,6-7).

He is also shown Mary's present place

begetting the Church in travail and actual danger:

she a compassionate viewer in her state of Assumption,

watching from a desert alone on the earth, but “reigning” in Heaven.

She was assumed there and the dragon expelled, cast down on the earth;

she with the angelical hierarchies matching his power

in a situation of conflict (ib 12,1-17)

That was the situation John knew as exiled to Patmos,

being present at her Assumption.

Probably he alone was present then at Seljuk

observing her Ascent so far and so long as it was possible:

the single- and great-minded handmaid of the Lord

raised to companionship with her Son;

he saw body and soul disposing themselves to the call from Above

in their final and complete transfer,

absorbed and divinely fulfilled into the glory of

triumphant spiritual labour where,

above all spiritual Creatures,

she was populating the heavens with the rising wave of heroic Chosen Ones

all divinized into its rest.

Stykkishólmur

17 August 2012

On the Assumption of Mary by St. Alphonsus de Liguori

http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/The%20Assumption%20by%20St.%20Alphonsus.html 

Many thanks, Kieran.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Kieran ...
To: Donald ...
Sent: Wednesday, 15 August 2012, 18:23
Subject: The Gift of Miracles

http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/The%20Assumption%20by%20St.%20Alphonsus.html

God bless
Kieran 

The Assumption by St. Alphonsus
The Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

Discourse VII: On the Assumption of Mary
by St. Alphonsus de Liguori

On this day the Church proposes to us to celebrate two solemn observances in honor of Mary: one, her happy departure from this earth; the other, her glorious assumption into heaven. In the present discourse we shall speak of her departure from this earth, and in the next of her assumption.

How precious was the death of Mary! 1st, On account of the special graces which attended it; 2d, On account of the manner of it.

Death being the punishment of sin, it would seem that the divine mother, all holy and exempt from every stain, should not be subject to death, nor suffer the same misfortune as the children of Adam, who are infected by the poison of sin. But God, wishing Mary in all things to be like to Jesus, required, as the Son had died, that the mother should also die; and because He wished to give to the just an example of the blessed death prepared for them, He decreed that the Virgin should die, but by a sweet and happy death. Hence we will enter upon the consideration, how precious was the death of Mary. 1st. On account of the special graces by which it was accompanied. 2d. On account of the manner in which it took place.

Point First.--Three things render death bitter, namely, attachment to earth, remorse for sin, and the uncertainty of salvation. But the death of Mary was entirely free from any such causes of bitterness, and was attended by many circumstances which rendered it precious and joyful. She died as she had always lived, entirely detached from all earthly things; she died in the most perfect peace of conscience; she died in the certainty of eternal glory.

COMMENT: HE AND i

from Biographical Sketch of Gabrielle Bossis  

  

He and i - Gabrielle Bossis

"Each soul is my favourite" says the Voice, "I choose some only to reach the others."

"Take care in setting down My words," says the Voice, "so that what springs from My heart may belight and joy easy to capture..." Having done this, I can only hope and trust that the reader may find what I have found in these pages - what the Voice describes as "a never-ending beginning again of the joy of hearing Me".

 from Preface. E.M.B.

HE AND i Gabrielle Bossis quote for Assumption day

It has been an eventful day.
The Abbey of Sancta Maria, Nunraw, has the Patronal title of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin of Mary.

Dom Richard, the Abbot of  Roscrea our affiliations abbey, is with in the regular visit of the community.

The usual Solemn Vespers was followed with Benediction of  Blessed Sacrament.

A thought, 'Mary had a faith ...' for the day of Assumption.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/98805520/He-and-i-Gabrielle-Bossis

December 24 1940

-

 I was reading, 'Mary had a faith that no other human being will ever have'.

 "All that a mother has also belongs to her children. Have you ever met a mother who refused toshare? She gives you everything if you ask her. Everything! So grow rich through her, for My glory,My poor little girl."

  

15th August Assumption of BVM "WOMAN OF THE EUCHARIST"

Assumption of the BVM.

The Triumph of Humility

MAGNIFICAT art commentary.

The Coronation of the Virgin with Six Saints (detail), Ridolfo Ghirlandaio (1483-1561), Petit Palais Museum, Avignon, France. © RMN / René-Gabriel Ojéda.

 Ridolfo di Domenico Ghirlandaio (1483-1561) was the longtime friend of Raphaël with whom he received his train­ing in Florence. In their early works, the two painters used the same brushes as a way of sealing their unwavering friendship. Upon achieving fame in Rome, Raphaël begged his friend to join him in order to share in his glory. But Ridolfo feared noth­ing more than to lose his soul at the tumultuous court of the Renaissance popes. He preferred the peace of family life, at the service of his art and his loved ones. He had fifteen children and, according to his contemporaries, he sowed goodness all around him.

A reflection of the artist’s beautiful soul shines through in this painting. On a cloud which reveals the divine presence, the Virgin Mary is crowned by her Son, the King of eternal glory. Unlike traditional representations, this scene does not take place in Paradise, but before the door that opens into the hereafter. This door is a radiant disc of sunlight whose edges ripple with the colours of the seven heavens, forming steps to the throne of God. Sinners cannot cross its threshold without undergoing the baptism of death. But Ghirlandaio already gives us access to the heart of the mystery through the sublime attitude of humility we see in our Lady. Kneeling before the Lord with her hands joined in prayer, Mary wears a mantle of blue, colour of the waters of baptism, which symbolizes her Immaculate Conception while at the same time recalling that she is a daughter of Eve. Yet this mantle almost completely covers her glorious red gown, raiment of the extraordinary deeds the Holy Spirit has accomplished in her. What better way to show how humility is not abolished by the triumph of the blessed but rather comes to full fruition? O the resplendent face of Mary, bathed in the same light and bearing the same expression as at the moment of the Annunciation! Yes, it is indeed the very same young girl – utterly humble, utterly ready to do God’s will – who received the angel’s greeting and who today is crowned Queen of the angels! O Satan, monster of pride, where is your victory?

 Pierre-Marie Dumon

  http://www.iec2012.ie/media/level2ODonnellFriday1.pdf  

50^th International Eucharistic Congress,

10-17 June 2012, Dublin, Ireland

THE SACRED HEART AND MARY’S UNIQUE ROLE AS

“WOMAN OF THE EUCHARIST”

Dr. Timothy O’Donnell

Christendom College, Virginia USA

Friday 15^th. June 2012

ad usum privatum

Tá glionadar chroí orm a bheith anseo libhse!

“Let all people tremble, let the whole world shake and the heavens burst into praise, when

Christ, the Son of the ever-living God, is present on the altar in the hands of a priest.  How are we to

understand the sublime humility of this – that the very Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God

so humbles himself for our salvation (Philippians 2:5-8).  Fix your eyes, my friends, on the humility

of God and pour out your hearts in devotion to Him!  (Psalm 61:8).  I implore you, hold back nothing

of yourself, so that He who gives himself completely for you, may completely receive you (Matthew

10: 32-33.)”

~St. Francis of Assisi, “Letter to the Order

1

The Eucharist is the Gift of His Love, the Gift of His Heart.

Introduction:

It is a great joy and honor for me to be with you today here in Dublin at this congress, held in

Ireland, a nation traditionally honored by Catholics around the world for its love for the Priesthood of Jesus Christ and its tenacious unconquerable love for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which brings

us Christ’s real Presence in the Eucharist.  How wonderful to share this time with you during the

Octave of Corpus Christi, as we prepare for the great Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. 

Our topic today is “The Sacred Heart and the Eucharist.”

This session will explore the deep relationship which exists between devotion to the Heart of Jesus

and the Holy Eucharist, illustrated by Mary’s unique role as “woman of the Eucharist” (Blessed John  Paul II) It will demonstrate theologically and historically the intimate bond which exists between the devotion of love and the Sacrament of Love revealing the Holy Eucharist as the gift of His Heart.

Archbishop Marini in his address to the Episcopal Conference on this Eucharistic Congress encouraged examination of recent statements of the Magisterium and explicitly mentioned John Paul II’s Ecclesia de Eucharistia and Mane Nobiscum Domine.   ..........

Nunraw Abbey Compline Movie 2

"BIKE", Wasp Nest on Oratory Window
at this point CAMERA fallen
to the concrete. fatally  damaged

Dear Anne Marie,
Many, many thanks for your YouTube COMPLINE MOVIE 2
The pictorial commentary stretches across Atlas and Nunraw to Cameroon
Behind the monks choir, the guests are to the fore and I think Andy and Anne Marie are leading the voices.

The technology and the artistry are brilliant.
It has broadcasted accurately.
I will send the test back to your Email and if successful it wll carry in the Blogspot.
OK.
Donald

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Anne Marie - - -
Sent: Sunday, 12 August 2012, 23:34
Subject: Fwd: annemkm sent you a video: "COMPLINE MOVIE 2"

WASP NEST 'bike'

I have uploaded the video with a mixture of Nunraw photos and Bemenda.  Hope you like it.

Sorry to hear about the camera but the silver lining is that you need to get another one.  I thought you had been attacked by the wasps. Photos are amazing.  Thanks for giving me the pleasure of seeing the flowers in bloom. Carfin was very prayerful and it stayed dry.   Night night

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

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Date: 12 August 2012 23:29:46 GMT+01:00
To: amkavanaghmilwain@hotmail.com
Subject: annemkm sent you a video: "COMPLINE MOVIE 2"

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'I have come down from heaven'?" John 6:41

PREAMBLE:  

One phrase of Jesus in the Gospel in John’s Eucharistic Chapter may well be sufficient for lasting thought, as today’s Reading, “I have come down from heaven.” , re-echoing the Jews and missing the mark.

After pausing and silent, the dramatic expressions from the DAY BY DAY reflection, ”That eating human flesh is the deepest, darkest, most unmentionable of taboos. ...” - enters more deeply as below.

Sunday, 12 August 2012

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Saint John 6:41-51.

The Jews murmured about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven," ...

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

May the communion in your Sacrament

that we have consumed, save us, 0 Lord,

and confirm us in the light of your truth.

Through Christ our Lord.

Magnificat

DAY BY DAY

Heather King

From Redeemed: A Spiritual Misfit Stumbles Toward God, Marginal Sanity,  and the Peace That Passes All Understanding. 2008, Viking Publishing, Penguin Group, Inc .• New York, NY.

"I am the living bread"

The mystery of the Eucharist alone - that Christ left his Body and Blood for us to eat and drink - I could ponder forever and not fully plumb its depths. That it's his actual (real) Body and Blood - not "virtually real", not a symbol. That he literally becomes part of us and we become part of him. That by leaving us "food" eat and drink, he acknowledges and appeases our ravenous spiritual hunger. That eating human flesh is the deepest, darkest, most unmentionable of taboos. The very worst thing a human being could do - butcher a man, torture to death a person who's completely innocent, and eat him - Christ says, I'm going to let you do it: I'm going to offer myself up. I'm in solidarity not only with your humanity, your brokenness, your sins; I'm in solidarity with your pathologies. And in offering up my very flesh, I am going to transform the consciousness of all humanity, for all time. I'm going to descend to the depths and ascend to the heights of the human spirit and, to all who want to avail themselves, open up the possibility of becoming truly awake and alive to reality.

While I could never plumb the depths of the Eucharist - yet a simple fisherman would understand all that needs to and probably can be understood about it: it's a gift, and it's holy. Someone sacrificed himself and left his very Body and Blood to us as a gift, an offering, the answer to our deepest prayer: Oh, please let there be something beyond me and my sadly, pathetically limited powers. Let there still be something holy in the world, let there be something we haven't wrecked with our greed, our fear, our lust. Let the terrible, terrible suffering of me and every other human being on earth have meaning. The Mass is a celebration and re-enactment of the sacrifice: the consecration of the Host, the bridging of the gap between life and death, light and dark, heaven and earth, the material and spiritual. The Eucharist is the eternal coming-into-being of the power that on the one hand has the ability to shake the foundations of the universe, and on the other, perpetually, gently assures us that we are known, seen, cherished; that God hungers for us, thirsts for us.

HEATHER KING

Heather King is a convert to Catholicism and a writer from California. 

You remember My seamless robe? - HE AND i Gabrielle Bossis

Tuesday, 7 August 2012 Older Post

You aren't a little church all by yourself. You are part of the great activity of Christ in the breath of the Spirit

    Catmint herbal in Atlas Grove        

"You remember My seamless robe", these briefest phrases follow the beauty of sense of presence of "He".

Below, it is worth editing this paragraph poem style...

August 3 - After communion (absentminded)   

“I'm here." (In a tone of gentle reproach)

This passing phrase of Gabrielle was sufficient for several days - simply the Lord, “I'm here." 

And in turn a fuller passage is alive, giving voice to the seeds already growing, "You aren't a little church all by yourself. You are part of the great activity of Christ in the breath of the Spirit."

YOU AND i by Gabriel Bossis.

1949 August· 4 - Holy hour.

''When you are at My feet praying or meditating, why not be one in spirit with all the pure in heart who are praying and meditating? 

You aren't a little church all by yourself. 

You are part of the great activity of Christ in the breath of the Spirit. 

And in isolating yourself you would break the chain. 

So be linked together with-other fervent people and aware of My desire for you all .to be one. 

You remember My seamless robe?

A grove of prayer

St Bernard 9th centenary 20 Aug 2012 to 20 Aug 2013 Vocations

Inside of the Citeaux abbey, Burgundy (French region)

Inside of the Citeaux abbey, Burgundy (French region)

General News

    

The ninth centenary of St Bernard’s entry into the Abbey of Cîteaux  

Monday, 06 August 2012

On the occasion of the ninth centenary of St Bernard’s entry into the Abbey of Cîteaux, Dom Olivier, abbot of Cîteaux, has asked us to pass on the following invitation to all the members of the Order:

Our community is going to celebrate the ninth centenary of St Bernard’s entering Cîteaux (1112 or 1113?).  To mark the event, we are setting up a campaign of prayer for vocations, from  20^th August 2012 to 20^th August 2013.  We invite you to join us with this prayer:

PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS

Most gracious Father,

in setting up the New Monastery

our fathers followed the poor Christ into the desert.

Thus they lived the Gospel

by rediscovering the Rule of Saint Benedict in its purity.

You gave Bernard of Fontaine

the ability to make this new life attractive and appealing to others,

in the joy of the Holy Spirit.

Grant that we today, after their example,

may live our charism deeply

in a spirit of peace, unity, humility,

and above all, in the charity which surpasses all other gifts.

May men and women of our time

be newly called to follow the Gospel in monastic life,

in the service of the Church’s mission,

and in a world forgetful of You.

Remember Lord, Cîteaux,

where Bernard arrived with his companions.

May the brothers there

continue to live in the enthusiastic and generative spirit of the founders.

Remember all who live the Cistercian charism.

Remember all Cistercian communities,

those which are aging and those newly-born,

in all parts of the world, north and south, east and west.

Let them not lose courage in times of trial,

but turn to her whom Bernard called the Star of the Sea.

Holy Father,

from whom we have already received so much,

grant us again your blessing

that our communities may grow in numbers,

but above all in grace and in wisdom,

to your glory,

who are blessed for ever and ever.

Amen.