Kindling Our Lamp - Symeon the New Theologian

Sanctuary Lamp glow and flickering
Cleft in the Log (Cleft in the Rock, Moses,Elijah)

MAGNIFICAT.COM

Last day of January

Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

MASS

Alleluia, alleluia! You will shine in the world like bright stars because you are offering it the word of life. AIleluia!

• A lamp is to be put on a lamp-stand, The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given .•

A reading from

the holy Gospel according to Mark       4:21-25

JESUS SAID TO his disciples, "Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand? For there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed, nothing kept secret except to be brought to light.

If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this." ...

MEDITATION OF THE DAY

Kindling Our Lamp

God is fire and he is so called by all the inspired Scripture (cf. He 12:29).

The soul of each of us is a lamp.

Now a lamp is wholly in darkness, even though it be filled with oil or tow or other combustible matter, until it receives fire and is kindled.

So too the soul, though it may seem to be adorned with all virtues, yet does not receive the fire-in other words, has not received the divine nature and light-and is still unkindled and dark and its works are uncertain.

All things must be tested and manifested by the light (cf. Ep 5:13).

The man whose sours lamp is still in darkness, that is, untouched by the divine fire, stands the more in need of a guide with a shining torch, who will discern his actions.

As he has compassion for the faults he reveals in confession he will straightway straighten out whatever is crooked in his actions.

Just as he who walks in the night cannot avoid stumbling, so he who has not yet seen the divine light cannot avoid falling into sin.

As Christ says, "If any­one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees this light.

But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because he has not the light in him" (In 11:9- 10).

When he said "in him", he meant the divine and immaterial light, for no one can possess the physical light in himself.

SAINT SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN +1022

The Discourses (Classics of Western Spirituality) [Paperback]

C. J. De Catanzaro (Author), Symeon (Author)

   4.8 out of 5 stars      See all reviews

 (5 customer reviews) Amazon com Book Description

Publication Date: January 8, 1980 | Series: Classics of Western Spirituality

Father George Maloney in his introduction to this volume focuses directly on the special importance of St. Symeon and on how similar the religious situation of his era is to our own. "Concretely, the battle of two opposing views of theology centered around St. Symeon and his mystical apophatic approach of the experiencing of God immanently present to the individual, as opposed to the "head trip" scholastic theology as represented by Archbishop Stephen of Nicomedia, the official theologian at the court of Constantinople. Stephen represented the abstract, philosophical type of theologizing while Symeon strove to restore theology to its pristine mystical tendency as a wisdom infused by the Holy Spirit into the Christian after he had been thoroughly purified through a rigorous asceticism and a state of constant repentance."

This great spiritual master of Eastern Christianity was an abbot, spiritual director of renown, theologian and important church reformer. These Discourses which form the central work of his life were preached by St. Symeon to his monks during their morning Matins ritual. They treat such basic spiritual themes as repentance, detachment, renunciation, the works of charity, impassiblity, remembrance of death, sorrow for sins, the practice of God's commandments, mystical union with the indwelling Trinity, faith and contemplation.   

February is dedicated to the Holy Family

February, 2013 - Overview for the Month

BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR FEBRUARY

VATICAN CITY, 31 JAN 2012 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for February is: "That all peoples may have access to water and other resources needed for daily life".
  His mission intention is: "That the Lord may sustain the efforts of health workers assisting the sick and elderly in the world's poorest regions".
BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/                    VIS 20120131 (70)


http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/02.cfm

The month of February is dedicated to the Holy Family. The first two and a half weeks of February fall within the liturgical season of Ordinary Time which is represented by the liturgical color green. Green, the symbol of hope, is the color of the sprouting seed and arouses in the faithful the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection. The remaining days of February are the beginning of Lent. The liturgical color changes to purple — a symbol of penance, mortification and the sorrow of a contrite heart.

The Holy Father's Intentions for the Month of February 2013

General: That migrant families, especially the mothers, may be supported and accompanied in their difficulties.

Missionary: That the peoples at war and in conflict may lead the way in building a peaceful future. (See also www.apostleshipofprayer.net)

Feasts for February

The feasts on the General Roman Calendar celebrated during the month of February are:

2. Presentation of the Lord, Feast
3. Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday
5. Agatha, Memorial
6. Paul Miki and Companions, Memorial
8. Jerome Emiliani; Josephine Bakhita, Opt. Mem.
10. Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday
11. Our Lady of Lourdes, Opt. Mem.
14. Cyril and Methodius, Memorial
17. First Sunday of Lent, Sunday
21. Peter Damian, Opt. Mem.
22. Chair of St. Peter, Feast
23. Polycarp of Smyrna, Memorial
24. Second Sunday of Lent, Sunday

Focus of the Liturgy

The Gospel readings for the Sundays in February are taken from St. Luke and are from Year C Cycle 1 of the readings.

February 3rd - Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time	In this Gospel Jeus is rejected by his own townfolk.
February 10th - Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time	This Gospel is about the miraculous catch of fishes after Peter and the Apostles had fished all night.
February 17th - First Sunday of Lent	Jesus is tempted by the devil in the desert.
February 24th - Second Sunday of Lent	The Gospel relates the story of the Transfiguration of Christ.

Highlights of the Month

The month of February is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Family. Between the events which marked Christmas and the beginning of Christ's public life the Church has seen fit to recall the example of the Holy Family for the emulation of the Christian family.

The Feast of the Presentation (February 2) or Candlemas forms a fitting transition from Christmas to Easter. The small Christ-Child is still in His Mother's arms, but already she is offering Him in sacrifice. February 12, Shrove Tuesday, will find us preparing for Ash Wednesday.

The saints that we will focus on this month and try to imitate are St. Agatha (February 5), St. Paul Miki & Companions (February 6), St. Jerome Emiliani and St. Josephine Bakhita (February 8), Our Lady of Lourdes (February 11), Sts. Cyril and Methodius(February 14), Peter Damian (February 21), Chair of St. Peter (February 22) and St. Polycarp(February 23).

The feast of St. Blaise (February 3), St. Scholastica (February 10) and the Seven Founders of the Orders of Servites (February 17), will not be celebrated this year because they are superseded by Sunday.

From Feast to Fast

Though the shortest month of the year, February is rich in Liturgical activity, for it typically begins in one Liturgical Season (Ordinary Time), ends in another (Lent), and contains a feast (Presentation of our Lord) that bridges two other seasons (Christmas and Easter)! In addition, the faithful may receive in February three of the four major public sacramentals that the Church confers during the liturgical year: blessed candles, the blessing of throats and blessed ashes.

The Solemnity of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2nd harkens back to the Christmas mystery of Light except that now, Christ, the helpless babe, is “the Light of Revelation to the Gentiles who will save his people from their sins.” Candles, symbolizing Christ our Light, will be carried in procession this day, as will be the Paschal candle during the Easter Vigil Liturgy.

"The Light of Revelation" shines more brightly with each successive Sunday of Ordinary Time, until its magnificence – exposing our sinfulness and need for conversion – propels us into the penitential Season of Lent. We accept the cross of blessed ashes on Ash Wednesday (February 22) and plunge ourselves into the major exercises of Lent – fasting, prayer, almsgiving – laying our thoughts and prayers on the heart of our Mother Mary. She, who offered her Son in the temple and on the Cross, will teach us how to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow after her Son.

COMMENT: Essence of Prayer

COMMENT:  

The ‘Mellifluous’ St. Bernard, as in the previous Reading, can be rather prolix.

What follows, a very much writing from Sr. Ruth Burrows is accessible in attractive words,  - not having the book!

from MAGNIFICAT.com

MEDITATION OF THE DAY

SISTER RUTH BURROWS, O.CD.

How the Seed Bears Fruit

I am totally convinced that our God, the God we see in Jesus, is all-love, all-compassion and, what is more, is all-gift; is always offering God's own Self as our perfect fulfilment. I believe, through Jesus, that we were made for this, and that it is divine Love's passion to bring it to perfect fulfilment in us. So when I set myself to pray I am basing myself on this faith and refuse to let it go. I just take it for granted that, because God is the God of Jesus, all-love, who fulfils every promise, this work of love is going on, purifying and gradually transform­ing me. What I actually experience on my conscious level is quite unimportant. In fact I experience nothing except my poor, distracted self.

From ‘Essence of Prayer’ 2006 by Sister Ruth Burrows is a Carmelite nun at Quidenham in Norfolk, England.

_________________________

The Essence of Prayer: 

Foreword by Sister Wendy Beckett

Ruth Burrows OCD

1 Review

Continuum International Publishing Group, 1 Jul 2006 - Religion - 224 pages

Prayer is a word we take for granted but what do we mean by prayer? Almost always when we talk about prayer we refer to something we DO. But Burrows argues that our Christian knowledge assures us that prayer is essentially what God DOES.
And what God is doing for us is giving us the Divine Self in love. This is the vision of a contemplative nun who contradicts the heresy of so much modern spiritual writing. The growing fascination in the contemplative and monastic life is evidence of the profound appeal of this approach.
For this there is a real hunger. Ultimately, we live for God and not for ourselves.

The Aqueduct - St Bernard

Scotland's longest and tallest aqueduct,
crosses the River Avon (Falkirk) 

Ordinary Time: January 30th

Wednesday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time

Holy Gospel Saint Mark 4:1-20.

...

And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them, 
Hear this! A sower went out to sow...

Commentary of the day : 
Saint Bernard (1091-1153), Cistercian monk and doctor of the Church 

Sermon for the Nativity of Mary « The Aqueduct », §13, 18

"The sower sows the word"

Brethren, we must take care that the Word who came forth from the Father's mouth and came down to us through the mediation of the Virgin Mary does not return back empty (Is 55,11) but that we return grace for grace to him through this same Virgin. Let us then call to mind unceasingly remembrance of the Father for as long as we are left to sigh after his presence. Let us make the torrents of his grace rise back to their source that they may return to us even more abundantly...

You keep the Lord in mind, therefore do not refrain from speaking, do not keep silent about him. Those who are already living in his presence do not need this warning...; but those who are still living in faith must be exhorted not to answer God with silence. For “the Lord speaks; he proclaims peace to his people”, to his holy ones, to those who return to themselves (Ps 85[84],9). He hears those who hear him; he will speak to those who speak to him. Otherwise he, too, will keep silent if you do not speak, if you do not proclaim his glory. “O you who are to remind the Lord, take no rest and give no rest to him until he re-establishes Jerusalem and makes of it the pride of the earth” (Is 62,6-7). For sweet and lovely is the praise of Jerusalem...

But whatever the offering you bring before God, remember to entrust it to Mary that grace may rise up to its source through the same channel that brought it down to us... Have great care to present God with the little you have to offer him through Mary's hands, those most pure hands, worthy of receiving the best welcome.

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/questions/yq2/yq351.htm 

Q: Can you comment on St. Bernard’s comparison of Mary to a channel?

At this point Bernard explains Mary’s mission to be the channel, which provides the fountain of life giving waters. She is the aqueduct connecting the Father, 'the heavenly source’, to the Son, who is the fountain. The aqueduct in itself cannot do anything but because of its connectedness, the aqueduct is always filled and ready to give. The aqueduct moreover is never as strong as the fountain or the original source, yet it is able to provide enough moisture for the needy. This indeed is the function of a well to be empty of self and constantly available to be used and consumed in the service of others. 

Now what is this fountain of life if it be not Christ the Lord? … For the ‘Fountain is conveyed abroad’ in a stream even to us; its waters flow ‘in the streets’ although ‘the stranger partake not of them’. This stream from the heavenly source descends to us through an Aqueduct; it does not indeed exhibit all the fullness of the Fountain but it serves to moisten our dry and withered hearts with some few drops of the waters of grace, giving more to one, less to another. The Aqueduct itself is always full, so that all may receive of its fullness, yet not the fullness itself.  You have already divined, dearest brethren, unless I mistake, to whom I allude under the image of an Aqueduct which, receiving the fullness of the Fountain from the Father’s heart, has transmitted to us, if not as it is in itself, at least in so far as we could contain it. Yea, for you know to whom it was said: “Hail, full of grace.”

Monastic Lectionary

... my silent 'cleft in the rock'
before the stillness of the dawn,

Ordinary Time: January 29th

Tuesday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time

First Reading

TUESDAY

Romans 9:1-18

                                                                   Responsory           Rom 9:7; Gal 3:29; 4:28

Not all are children of Abraham because they are his descendants.

+ If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.

V. We, like Isaac, are children of the promise. t If you are Christ's ...

Second Reading

From a meditation by Saint Therese of Lisieux

When he had gone up the hill, Jesus called those he wanted; and they came to him. Jesus does not call those who are worthy to be called, but those he wants, or as Saint Paul says, God takes pity on whomever he wishes, and has mercy on whomever he pleases. So what counts is not what we will or try to do, but the mercy of God.

For a long time I wondered why the good God had preferences, why every soul did not receive grace in equal measure. I was amazed to see him lavishing extraordinary favours on saints who had offended him, like Saint Paul and Saint Augustine, and whom he practically forced to accept his graces. Or else, when I read the lives of saints whom our Lord was pleased to cherish from the cradle to the grave, allowing no obstacle to stand in their way that would have prevented them from rising toward him, and visiting them with such graces that it was impossible for them to tarnish the immaculate brightness of their baptismal robe, I wondered why, for instance, poor people were dying in great numbers before they had even heard God's name. Jesus kindly explained this mystery to me. He placed the book of nature before my eyes, and I understood that all the flowers he has created are beautiful, that the splendour of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent or the daisy of its delightful simplicity. I understood that if all the little flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose its spring adornment, and the fields would no longer be spangled with flowerets.

It is the same in the world of souls which is the garden of Jesus.

He wanted to create the great saints who may be compared with lilies and roses; but he also created smaller ones, and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to gladden the eyes of the good God when he looks down at his feet. Perfection consists in doing his will, in being what he wants us to be.

I understood too that the love of our Lord is revealed in the simplest soul who offers no resistance to his grace as well as in the most sublime soul. In fact, since the essence of love is humility, if all souls were like those of the learned saints who have illuminated the Church by the light of their teaching, it would seem as if God would not have very far to descend in coming to their hearts. But he has created the baby who knows nothing and whose only utterance is a feeble cry; he has created people who have only the law of nature to guide them; and it is their hearts that he deigns to come down to, those are his flowers of the field whose simplicity delights him. In coming down in that way the good God proves his infinite greatness. Just as the sun shines at the same time on cedar trees and on each little flower as if it was the only one on earth, so our Lord takes special care of each soul as if it was his only care.

Responsory                                           Wis 6:7; Ps 113:13

The Lord made both small and great, and + he takes thought for all alike.

V. The Lord will bless those who fear him, both high and low. +He takes ...

Comment: Mystics In Search of Sanctity

photo by Thomas Merton

Following the Sunday Homily, there is this mystical rousing thought, 'True spiritual poverty is full of grace and so holy Scripture is understood by a truly poor spirit. Of this Christ says: The poor have the gospel preached to them, for only they comprehend it correctly.'
The Alternative Reading for our Night Office.

 From the Book of the Poor in Spirit by A Friend of God 

(Chapter 7, pages 85-86)

In the gospel Christ declared that Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled in him. and his hearers were scandalized. That only the spiritually poor can have a true understanding of holy Scripture is the teaching of this anonymous fourteenth century spiritual classic of the Rhineland school of mystics.

The holy Scriptures are from the Holy Spirit and he who desires to comprehend them correctly must be enlightened with the grace of the Holy Spirit. It might be objected that many understand the holy Scriptures who have not much grace nor live a holy life. That is true, but they understand them only according to the senses and not properly according to their true groundwork He who desires to understand them on their true ground must form his life to divine grace. Thus it is that holy Scripture is understood in the light of grace and not in the light of nature.

True spiritual poverty is full of grace and so holy Scripture is understood by a truly poor spirit. Of this Christ says: The poor have the gospel preached to them, for only they comprehend it correctly. This may also be observed in the apostles who preached the gospel and converted the people; they did not do this by cleverness of natural knowledge. Rather they did it in the power of spiritual poverty, for by it they surmounted all things and in it they comprehended all things. Surely grace is a flowing-out from God into the soul, but only into the soul that is empty and poor of all things that are not of God. And since holy Scripture is to be understood by grace alone, and since only a man who is poor in spirit is receptive to the grace of G od, then only a spiritually poor man correctly comprehends holy Scripture.

This is not to say that a spiritually poor man comprehends holy Scripture in all the ways in which it can be understood, but he does comprehend it in its essence and he comprehends the naked truth about which holy Scripture has been written. Since he understands the essence of truth it is not necessary for him to consider truth according to accidents nor that he should understand all figures of speech which are in holy Scripture. As Christ says to his disciples: To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven: but to them it is not given ... Therefore do I speak to them in parables. He who comprehends the naked truth does not need a parable. Hence, because a poor spirit is empty of all things that are not like the truth, he then comprehends the naked truth and he has enough with that alone.

THE BOOK OF THE POOR IN SPIRIT, by a Friend of God (14th Century). A Guide to Rhineland Mysticism, edited, translated and with an introduction by C. F. Kelly. Ph.D. (Prag.) (Longmans, 21s.; pocket edition ).

 louie,louie: 

At Thomas Merton's Hermitage

http://fatherlouie.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/at-thomas-mertons-hermitage.html  

 photo by Thomas Merton

This is too good not to share.

Brian has sent a link to an article in Image Magazine, "At Thomas Merton's Hermitage".  Franciscan priest, Fr. Murray Bodo, spends 6 days in the spring of 1995 at Merton's hermitage at Gethsemani.  The recounting of his contemplative explorations in Merton's space is profoundly insightful for those who seek a more silent and solitary balance to contemporary living and who like Merton lore. 

For example, I found it intriguing to see what Merton had on his bookshelf as he left for Asia:

On the table rest a few books I’ve pulled off the shelf from the original collection Merton had here when he left for the Far East in 1968: The Portable Thoreau, The Mirror of Simple Souls by an unknown French mystic of the thirteenth century, Early Fathers from the Philokalia, Western Mysticism, The Mediaeval Mystics of England, The Flight from God by Max Picard, The Ancrene Riwle, The Book of the Poor in Spirit by a Friend of God (fourteenth century), A Guide to Rhineland Mysticism, A Treasury of Russian Spirituality, The Teaching of SS. Augustine, Gregory, and Bernard.

Or, the way the way that time alone awakens one to the simple clarity of just being alive:

...

It's just an excellent article and I'm honored to add it to this eclectic collection of contemplative writing.  This is a really good find.  Thanks, Brian!

"At Thomas Merton's Hermitage", by Murray Bodo, OFM

Posted by beth cioffoletti at 7/07/2010 11:15:00 AM 

Such is the power of the Word. Lk. 1:21

 Ordinary Time: January 27th

Nunraw. Snow dispersing in hours, 'miraculous' thaw!

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Aelred - Homily.

In the history of the people of God, the creative Word of the 1st Chapter of Genesis is to be heard directly, through the proclaiming of Scripture, every time Israel is solemnly gathered together for a renewal for a the covenant made to  Abraham and Moses. Such is the power of the Word. It happened at the Dedication of the Temple under Solomon and at the inauguration of Judaism after the exile, which forms the setting for today’s 1^st Reading.

When the Jews returned home after 50 years of exile from Babylon, the nation had to be rebuilt from the grown up. Ezra called on the people to rededicate themselves to God. In a solemn liturgy of the Word he read to the people from the Law of Moses and the assembly responded with their Amen, with joy and thanksgiving. From this time on, the life and religion of Jews was based on adherence to the Law, and Ezra was regarded as the father of Judaism.

St. Luke, from whom today’s Gospel passage is taken, is also very interested in the history of the people of God. For him the history is made up of first, the period of Israel, and second, the period of Chris and his Church.  The first period, what we call the OT, is the time of preparation for the culminating event of Christ’s coming; ‘The law and the prophets were until John, since then the good news of the Kingdom of is preached’ (16:16) The second period begins with Jesus and is the whole time when he, as the exalted Lord, is present in the Church. Christ, the risen Lord, is always in the Christian community. The present moment is the time of fulfillment  The ‘today’ and the ‘now’ at Christ’s presence is the time of salvation. And now life is poured out in the Holy Spirit.

Snow clearing for the sheep grazing

Today’s Gospel shows us now Jesus began his ministry on his home soil with his Nazareth Manifesto. Jesus stands before his people in the Nazareth Synagogue and reads from the passage of Isaiah in which the prophet acknowledged himself to be anointed by the Spirit to his task of preaching to the poor and bringing liberty to captives. Jesus then declares that these words of their scriptures were being fulfilled in and by himself.

This was a startling claim. Jesus was saying that the whole sacred history of Israel was coming to a climax, now, in his ministry in his village synagogue. Little wonder that some of the people said: ‘This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary ...where did the man get all this?’ (cf. Mk 6:1-3).

And the primary recipients of Jesus good news were not to be leaders and guardians of Israel’s heritage, the Pharisees and Sadducees. Rather it was the captive, the blind, the oppressed, all who are weakest and powerless. The ‘poor’ in the biblical context means not only those whose poverty is ‘spiritual’, but the materially poor who really do need help, and the hungry who stand in need of nourishment. But they are also those who live on bread alone and who never hear the Word of God. And this must be true of many in modern western societies. Without frequent recourse to the Word of God is difficult to navigate our way through the murkiness of the much of modern life. Both in the public liturgy and in privacy of our homes whenever we open the Bible , we receive the intensely personal welcome of the Word and a sure guide for our lives. Such is the power of the Word.

+ + + + + + + + + +

+... Lord, in today’s Mass we hear how God’s promises are fulfilled in Jesus, the long-awaited Saviour of the poor and the oppressed.

+ ... Almighty God, grant that we may share generously with others the blessings we have received from you. We ask this through the same Christ our Lord.