Karl Rahner SJ. Second Week of Advent Year II, Sunday

Monastic Office of Vigils, 

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT Year II

SUNDAY

First Reading    Isaiah 22:8-23

Responsory   Rv 3:7.8

This is the message of the holy and true one, who holds the key of David: + Behold I have put before you an open door which no one is able to close.

V. You have kept my word and have not denied my name. + Behold I have ...

Second Reading

From the writings of Karl Rahner, S.J. (Everyday Faith, 11-13)

The Son of Man is to judge

What was really meant and actually happened by the coming, the "advent," of the redeemer is best gathered from that completion of his coming which we rather misleadingly call the "second coming." For in reality it is the fulfillment of his one coming which is still in progress at the present time. From the picture of the ful­fillment we are to gather what in reality is already happening in the depth of our life and our reality, though unobtrusively and quietly and therefore in a way which in our sinful blindness we may overlook. God has started on his way. He is already there, hidden, and the revelation of his being is at hand.

Now when it is manifest that he has come, we shall see him as the Son of Man. As one of us. As one who has lived our life among us, just as it is, short, bitter, mysterious. It is as the Son of Man that God will then question us about our life. In that judgment we shall not be able to say that he, the eternal in his infinite harmony, cannot after all enter into our life with sympathetic understanding of its fragility and unsolved enigmas. He not merely entered into it by sympathetic understanding, he literally lived it. He himself be­came flesh. Not the remote God but the Son of Man will be the judgment or the justification of our lives. The man who is God will be our judgment. Because he is man, he knows just how it is with human beings. Yet he, the eternal, remote God, is as closely concerned about us as only a man can be who loves what is human and hates inhumanity in man from his own experience.

Is it more blessed or more dangerous to be judged by a man and not solely by a God who was not himself involved in the history he is judging? Who can say? At all events the gospel tells us the fact. The Son of Man is to judge. If, however, the man who is God is to be our judgment, and if in his coming he traveled as we do from the womb of his Mother to the bosom of the earth, then the face of the Son of Man, in which we shall one day read our judgment, already mysteriously gazes at us from every human face, because all are his brothers and sisters: the pure face of the child, the careworn faces of our so-called opponents and enemies.

One day we shall have to "raise our heads" and look into the face of him who comes as Son of Man, for he is after all the God of eternity. And from his countenance all will look at us: all those around us through whom we were good or guilty. A voice will come from that mouth: What you did - or did not - do to the least of my brethren. That voice from that face will not die away and will fill our eternity from end to end. Shall we be able to raise our heads with the confidence of the forgiven and the living to­ward that face of the Son of Man?

Responsory     Jer 33:15; Is 16:5

I will raise up for David a righteous branch; he will do what is just and right on the earth, + and they shall call him: The Lord, our justice.

V. A throne shall be established in mercy, and on it shall sit one who judges justly and seeks what is right. +And they shall ...

Advent The Jesse Tree 15 Days links

Catholic Culture Advent
The Jesse Tree

 http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/seasons/advent/jesse_tree_day8.cfm 

 

Day 8

JOSEPH  December 8 Symbols: Coat of many Colors, Sheaf, Silver Coins Joseph's brothers were furious that their father favored their younger brother above all of them, and when Jacob gave Joseph an expensive, many-colored coat, they conspired against him. Like Christ, Joseph was sold for silver, but the hand of God led him to become a leader of the nation of Egypt. Later, his brothers, leaders of the Chosen People after their father Jacob, came to Egypt and settled under his rule. The many-colored coat has become the symbol of Joseph, since it was so instrumental in his life. Recommended Readings: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-24, 28; 45:3-13   Day 9

MARY  December 9 Symbols: Lily, Crown of Stars On this holyday of obligation, the Church celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an event that heralds God's choice of Mary to be the Mother of the Redeemer. The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved from any stain of sin, including original sin, from the moment of her conception in her mother's (St. Anne) womb. The Virgin Mary, chosen Mother of the Redeemer, is robed in the splendor of her stainless innocence, and clothed with the beauty of one redeemed in Christ and prepared to receive Him in her womb. Recommended Readings: Revelation 12; Song 4:7

HE AND i. Gabrielle Bossis, 11 Nonvember 1934

HE AND i, Gabrielle

1943 November - 11  -   Le Fresne church.  -   - (. . . ) 

"If you have failed in something, you say, 'My dear All, I could have been more faithful today. Forgive me. ' You humble yourself most sincerely. 

And without your knowing it, I press you to My heart burning with love. 

That is what you call grace, and My grace is sufficient for you. 

Do you believe that? This should be your one fixed desire: To live only for Me. 

Your life will be filled to the brim with good things. I've been waiting so long for the joy of giving you more. Help Me. 

Ask Me to do so. Stretch out your two empty hands to Me. Give Me a big place in your life. 

Give Me all of it. 

Do you realize that you are in exile, waiting for the return of the Beloved? 

Listen from afar. 

Say to Him, 'Breathe on this breath of mine which is yours. 

Your home shall be My home. I could no longer live without Your step in mine and Your voice in my voice.

 'Don't people pray, 'Open Thou my lips'? 

That's so that the Spirit will speak in you, children of God. "

St. Cyril of Jerusalem First Week of Advent. Friday

Chronicle:  

Back to the Monastic Office of Vigils after being away.
On the Fist Sunday of Advent, I had the joy of a visit to Mt. St. Joseph Abbey, Roscrea.
The celebration of the Community Mass with the pupils of the college guest and the public congregation was an impressive jubilation of word and music and prayer.
I visited the cemetery, remembering of the friends, 'Light in Heaven to their souls'.

 Church Fathers
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310110.htm

First Week of Advent. Friday

 

Isaiah 19: 16-25

Second Reading:

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Cat x, 19-20).

You are called a Christian.

19. Many, my beloved, are the true testimonies concerning Christ. The Father bearswitness from heaven of His Son: the Holy Ghost bears witness, descending bodily in likeness of a dove: the Archangel Gabriel bears witness, bringing good tidings to Mary: the Virgin Mother of God bears witness: the blessed place of the manger bears witness.Egypt bears witness, which received the Lord while yet young in the body : Symeonbears witness, who received Him in his arms, and said, Now, Lord, let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people. Luke 2:29-30 Anna also, the prophetess, a most devout widow, of austere life, bears witness of Him. John the Baptist bearswitness, the greatest among the Prophets, and leader of the New Covenant, who in a manner united both Covenants in Himself, the Old and the New. Jordan is His witnessamong rivers; the sea of Tiberias among seas: blind and lame bear witness, and dead men raised to life, and devils saying, What have we to do with You, Jesus? We knowYou, who You are, the Holy One of God. Mark 1:24 Winds bear witness, silenced at His bidding: five loaves multiplied into five thousand bear Him witness. The holy wood of the Cross bears witness, seen among us to this day, and from this place now almost filling the whole world, by means of those who in faith take portions from it. The palm-tree on the ravine bears witness, having supplied the palm-branches to the children who then hailed Him. Gethsemane bears witness, still to the thoughtful almost showingJudas. Golgotha , the holy hill standing above us here, bears witness to our sight: theHoly Sepulchre bears witness, and the stone which lies there to this day. The sun now shining is His witness, which then at the time of His saving Passion was eclipsed : the darkness is His witness, which was then from the sixth hour to the ninth: the light bears witness, which shone forth from the ninth hour until evening. The Mount of Olivesbears witness, that holy mount from which He ascended to the Father: the rain-bearing clouds are His witnesses, having received their Lord: yea, and the gates of heaven bearwitness [having received their Lord ], concerning which the Psalmist said, Lift up your doors, O you Princes, and be lifted up you everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. His former enemies bear witness, of whom the blessed Paul is one, having been a little while His enemy, but for a long time His servant: the Twelve Apostles are His witnesses, having preached the truth not only in words, but also by their own torments and deaths: the shadow of Peter Acts 5:15 bears witness, having healed the sick in the name of Christ. The handkerchiefs and aprons bear witness, as in like manner by Christ's power they wrought cures of old through Paul. Persians and Goths , and all the Gentile converts bear witness, by dying for His sake, whom they never saw with eyes of flesh: the devils, who to this day are driven out by the faithful, bear witness to Him.

20. So many and diverse, yea and more than these, are His witnesses: is then theChrist thus witnessed any longer disbelieved? Nay rather if there is any one who formerly believed not, let him now believe: and if any was before a believer, let him receive a greater increase of faith, by believing in our Lord Jesus Christ, and let him understand whose name he bears. You are called a Christian: be tender of the name; let not our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be blasphemed through you: but ratherlet your good works shine before men Matthew 5:16 that they who see them may inChrist Jesus our Lord glorify the Father which is in heaven: To whom be the glory, both now and for ever and ever. Amen.

About this page

Source. Translated by Edwin Hamilton Gifford. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 7.Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310110.htm>.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 atnewadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.

Copyright © 2009 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

J.H. Newman, ‘David defended his father's sheep at Bethlehem; Christ, born and heralded to the shepherds at Bethlehem, suffered on the cross in order to conquer.’

34^th Week in Ord. Time, Wednesday

First Reading

Ezekiel  37:15-28

Responsory   Ez 37:21.24; In 10:16

I am going to take the Israelites from their places of exile and restore them to their own land. + My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd.

V. There shall be one flock and one shepherd. + My servant ...

Second Reading

From a sermon by John Henry Newman

Parochial and Plain Sermons, VII, 235-242

From the time of Adam to that of Christ, a shepherd's work has been marked out with special divine favor, as being a shadow of the Good Shepherd who was to come. Righteous Abel was a keeper of sheep, and in process of time he brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. And who were they to whom the angels first brought the news that a savior was born? Shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And what is the description given of the chosen family when they descended into Egypt? Your servants, they say, are shepherds, both we and also our fathers; and what, in consequence, was their repute in Egypt, which surely is a figure of the world? Every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

David was the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, but he was found among the sheep. He took him away from the sheepfolds; as he was following ewes great with young ones, he took him, that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them with a faithful and true heart, and ruled them prudently with all his power. When he was brought before Saul, he gave an account of how a lion and a bear took a lamb out of the flock, and he went after them, and slew them both, and delivered it. Such were the shepherds of old times, men at once of peace and of war; men of Simplicity, indeed, plain men living in tents, the meekest of men, yet not easy; indolent men, Sitting in green meadows, and by cool streams, but men of rough duties, who were under the necessity to suffer, while they had the opportunity to do exploits.

And if such were the figures, how much more was the Truth itself, the Good Shepherd, when he came, both guileless and heroic? If shepherds are men of simple lives and obscure fortunes, uncorrupted and unknown in kings' courts and marts of commerce, how much more he who was the carpenter's son, who was meek and lowly of heart, who did not strive nor cry, who went about doing good, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, and who was despised and rejected of men? If, on the other hand, they are men of suffering and trial, how much more so he who was a man of sorrows, and who laid down his life for the sheep?

David defended his father's sheep at Bethlehem; Christ, born and heralded to the shepherds at Bethlehem, suffered on the cross in order to conquer.

My brethren, we say daily, We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Again, we say, we have erred and strayed from your ways, like lost sheep: let us never forget these truths; let us never forget, on the one hand, that we are sinners; let us never forget, on the other hand, that Christ is our guide and guardian. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is a light unto our ways, and a lantern unto our paths. He is our shepherd, and the sheep know his voice. If we are his sheep, we shall hear it, recognize it, and obey it. Let us beware of not following when he goes before: He  goes before, and his sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Let us beware of receiving his grace in vain.

Sermon 16. The Shepherd of Our Souls

"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep." John x. 11.   http://www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume8/sermon16.html 

Sermon 16. The Shepherd of Our Souls

"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep." John x. 11.

{230} OUR Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." And in like manner St. Peter speaks of our returning "to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls." [Ezek. xxxvii. 24. Zech. xiii. 7. 1 Pet. ii. 25.]  

34th Wed. Luke 21:18 "not a hair of your head"

Mass Intro:

On Tuesday, 26 November 2013,
From: Nivard...

Daily Reading & Meditation  (c) 2013 Don Schwager

34 Wed 27 Nov 2013
Lk 21_12-19

"Not a hair of your head will perish"

   What is Jesus' response to hostility and persecution?

   Only love can defeat prejudice and hatred.

   God's love purifies our heart and mind of all that would divide and tear people apart.

   Knowing and loving God's truth is essential for overcoming evil.

   Jesus promises to give us supernatural strength and wisdom to take a stand and witness to the truth and love of Jesus.    

   The gospel is good news for the whole world because it is God's eternal word of truth, love and pardon.

   Jesus has won the victory for us through the cross and his rising from the grave.

   That is why the gospel has power to set people free from sin and destruction.

 

 Father, by the atoning death of your Son you have redeemed the world. Fill us with joyful hope and boldness to witness the truth of your love for sinners through Christ our Lord.  

__________________________________________________________________________

‘words of THE WORD’
ponders the Sacred Scriptures, the Sacred Liturgy, Fathers of the Church and RCIA
that by the grace of
God the Holy Spirit
all may encounter
God the Son, Jesus the Incarnate Word
and be drawn in love as adopted children to

God our Father Who is Merciful Love. 

  http://toulogoilogou.blogspot.co.uk/    

Voices ever ancient, ever new. Sunday-Week33-2013.

“... but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.” (Luke 21:18)

Saint Augustine of Hippo comments on this verse from today’s Gospel:

“We should have no doubt that our mortal flesh also will rise again at the end of the world. This is the Christian faith. This is the Catholic faith. This is the apostolic faith. Believe Christ when he says, “Not a hair of your head shall perish.” Putting aside all unbelief, consider how valuable you are. How can our Redeemer despise any person when he cannot despise a hair of that person’s head? How are we going to doubt that he intends to give eternal life to our soul and body? He took on a soul and body in which to die for us, which he laid down for us when he died and which he took up again that we might not fear death.” (Sermon 214)

---

Hubert van Zeller, ‘This is a tremendous vision. Somehow the idea of sound is better expressed in Ezekiel than in other sacred writers - Nahum not excepted. Between the sky-cracking claps of thunder we can hear the rattle of bones as they come together with the impact of obedience.’

Monastic Office of Vigils,

 

First Reading

TUESDAY

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Responsory          Ez 37:12-13; In 11:25

I am going to open your graves and raise you up from them. + Then you will know that I am the Lord.

V. I am the resurrection and the life; those who believe in me, even if they die, shall live. + Then you will ...

Second Reading

From Ezekiel, Man of Signs, by Hubert van Zeller, pp. 113-115 

This is a tremendous vision. Somehow the idea of sound is better expressed in Ezekiel than in other sacred writers - Nahum not excepted. Between the sky-cracking claps of thunder we can hear the rattle of bones as they come together with the impact of obedience. Not an empty socket, not a finger-bone out of place. There is no mention of rain but we feel sure that a downpour followed close upon the thunder and the earthquakes; we seem to hear the water beating down upon the parched valley until eddies of it swirl and bubble round the ankles of an innumerable army of hitherto dry skeletons. But only for a minute are they skeletons. And I saw, and behold the sinews and flesh came upon them, and the skin was stretched out over them ... but there was no spirit in them.

There they stood, these bodies, simply waiting to become alive. The spirit only was wanting. Surely there is a link here between Ezekiel and Genesis? It is as if a repetition of God's creative act were needed for the restoration of the body of the faithful ... the material is prepared, but for the making of the new human being there must be the breath of God. And is there not also a purely symbolical interpretation to the progressive bestowal of life? Often enough there is the body of religion when at the same time the soul is lacking: knowledge has seen to it that every sinew is in position and that there is skin to cover the frame, but that is as far as it has got. Love is absent. And it is the spirit of Love - God's Spirit - which gives life.

And I prophesied as he had commanded me, and the spirit came into them and they lived. A rush of air swept down upon the lifeless bodies and they lived. We can imagine a great silence following. We see a great host of people standing silent before the face of God. "Can bones live again?" we imagine the Lord repeating to his prophet in the stillness. "Lord, you know" would be the whispered reply, and this time would be added - "that they can."

The whole thing is so short: eleven verses. And what are not its possible applications? It can stand for dead souls as well as dead races; it can apply to an ideal that has been scattered and wasted as well as to a faith that has dried up in the valley of the soul. It can apply to a devotion or a friendship or a project or a prayer; it can apply to anything that has petered out under the glare of the sun. But the bones can live again. We may not say, as Judah said, We are dried up, our hope is lost. Our hope is not lost, we are not cut off permanently.

Thus when we hear the invocation "send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you will renew the face of the earth" we can recall the vision of Ezekiel. We can recall also its fulfilment. God did send forth his Spirit, his people were created anew, and face of the earth smiled beneath the sunshine of his favour.

Responsory          Ps 104:30; Wis 1:7

When you send forth your Spirit they are created, and + you renew the face of the earth.

V. The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world. + You renew

Augustine"For the Church without spot or wrinkle, gathered from every nation and des­tined to reign eternally with Christ, is itself the land of the blessed, the land of the living."

Vision of Ezechiel - Raphael

34^th Week Ord Time Monday  2013

First Reading

Ezekiel36:16-36           

Responsory            Ez 11:19-20.19

I shall take away the heart of stone from their bodies, and give them

a heart of flesh, so that they may walk in my ways; + and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

V. I will give them a new heart, and put a new spirit within them. + And they shall ...

Second Reading

From the treatise Teaching Christianity by Saint Augustine

De Doctrina Christiana III,, 48-49: CCL 32, 108-110

The Lord said: I mean to display the holiness of my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you profaned in their midst, and the nations will know that I am the Lord. Let the reader therefore take note of how a single people will be superseded and all peoples added to it, for he continues: when, through you, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

And I shall take you out of the nations and gather you from every land, and bring you to your own land; and I shall pour clean water over you, and cleanse you of all your idolatry, and I shall purify you and give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.

Now no one who looks into the matter can doubt that this is a prophecy of the New Testament, which applies not only to the remnant of that one people, of whom it is written elsewhere:  

Even if Israel should have as many descendants as there are grains of sand on the seashore, a remnant will be saved, but also to the other nations according to the promise made to their ancestors who are also our ancestors; and that it is also a promise of those waters of regeneration that we now see imparted to all nations. Thus the spiritual Israel is composed not of one people but of all peoples, who were promised to the patriarchs in their offspring, which is Christ.

This spiritual Israel is therefore distinguished from the natural Israel, which consists of one nation, by newness of grace, not nobility of descent, and by sentiments rather than race. But while the sublime prophecy speaks of or to the natural Israel, it secretly refers to the spiritual Israel, in such a way that while speaking of or to the latter it still seems to be speaking of or to the former. It does this not from an unfriendly attitude that begrudges us an understanding of the scriptures, but rather, like a physician, to exercise our understanding.

Therefore, when the Lord says: And I shall bring you to your own land, and a little later, more or less repeating himself, And you will live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, we ought to understand this not literally as though it referred to the natural Israel, but spiritually, of the spiritual Israel. For the Church without spot or wrinkle, gathered from every nation and des­tined to reign eternally with Christ, is itself the land of the blessed, the land of the living. We are to understand that it was given to our ancestors when it was promised to them by the certain and immutable will of God; for what they believed would be given in its own time was for them, on account of the firmness of the promise and predetermination, the same as if it were already given. Writing to Timothy about the grace given to the saints, the Apostle says: not for any merit of ours but for his own purpose and by the grace granted to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, and now revealed by the coming of our Savior. He speaks of the grace as given when those who were to receive it did not yet exist, because by the arrangement and predetermination of God what was to take place in its own time, or, as the Apostle says, be revealed, had already been accomplished.

Responsory     Ez 36:23.25

I mean to display the holiness of my great name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you have gone. + When through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes, then they will know that I am the Lord.

V. I shall pour clean water over you, and cleanse you of all your defilement. + When through you ...

HE AND i "Lord, I am here before You like the dry ground upon which the prophet called down the dew. " 25 Nov 1948

Chronicle:
25th November is the Greeting Birthday for Sr. Noreen.
And it was a happy alighting on the sentences from 'HE AND i', date of 25 November.
The French manuscript of Gabrielle Bossis has a better Shakespearean dialogue by phrases. 

HE AND i, Gabrielle 1948  

 

November 25  -  "Lord, I am here before You like the dry ground upon which the prophet called down the dew. " 

 "I am the Prophet and I am the Dew. My Word is meat and drink, have you noticed? It offers itself to you; you accept it and immediately it begins to grow. This is the Dew that falls from heaven. What a banquet, My child! What new transports of delight! Set off again. You understand: no halting place. Run straight to God as you used to run along the road to meet your father. How happy he was, this earthly father. . . Your Father in heaven is more so,for eagerness is also love  -  love, faith and hope. Do you think that God would turn a deaf ear to the calls of His darling child? He will multiply His gifts, for His treasures are as great as His desire to bestow them. Poor little ones, you have such a false idea of your Saviour. Do you think He would redeem you and then abandon you? Don't set limits to your confidence. He sets no limits to His favours. Hunger for God and you will receive. If you don't call Him, how can He come? Do you go to see people who don't want you?"

"Never stop coming, Lord, I never stop wanting You. " 

 "And when you call Me, believe that I come. "

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

iBreviary   

Sunday, 24 November 2013
Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

SECOND READING

From a notebook On Prayer by Origen, priest
(Cap. 25: PG 11, 495-499)

                      Your kingdom come    

The kingdom of God, in the words of our Lord and Savior, does not come for all to see; nor shall they say: Behold, here it is, or behold, there it is; but the kingdom of God is within us, for the word of God is very near, in our mouth and in our heart. Thus it is clear that he who prays for the coming of God’s kingdom prays rightly to have it within himself, that there it might grow and bear fruit and become perfect. For God reigns in each of his holy ones. Anyone who is holy obeys the spiritual laws of God, who dwells in him as in a well-ordered city. The Father is present in the perfect soul, and with him Christ reigns, according to the words: We shall come to him and make our home with him.

Thus the kingdom of God within us, as we continue to make progress, will reach its highest point when the Apostle’s words are fulfilled, and Christ, having subjected all his enemies to himself, will hand over his kingdom to God the Father, that God may be all in all. Therefore, let us pray unceasingly with that disposition of soul which the Word may make divine, saying to our Father who is in heaven: Hallowed be your name; your kingdom come.

Note this too about the kingdom of God. It is not a sharing of justice with iniquity, nor a society of light with darkness, nor a meeting of Christ with Belial. The kingdom of God cannot exist alongside the reign of sin.

Therefore, if we wish God to reign in us, in no way should sin reign in our mortal body; rather we should mortify our members which are upon the earth and bear fruit in the Spirit. There should be in us a kind of spiritual paradise where God may walk and be our sole ruler with his Christ. In us the Lord will sit at the right hand of that spiritual power which we wish to receive. And he will sit there until all his enemies who are within us become his footstool, and every principality, power and virtue in us is cast out.

All this can happen in each one of us, and the last enemy, death, can be destroyed; then Christ will say in us: O death, where is your sting? O hell, where is your victory? And so what is corruptible in us must be clothed with holiness and incorruptibility; and what is mortal must be clothed, now that death has been conquered, in the Father’s immortality. Then God will reign in us, and we shall enjoy even now the blessings of rebirth and resurrection.

RESPONSORY
Revelation 11:15; Psalm 22:28-29

The kingdom of this world belongs to our Lord and his Christ,
– and he shall reign for ever and ever.

All the families of nations shall bow down before him,
for the Lord is our king.
– And he shall reign for ever and ever.

If the Optional Vigil is not celebrated, the Office continues with the Te Deum.

St. Columban. FAR EAST, Columban Missionaries

Community Chronicle.

On St. Columban's day we prayed for Fr. Jim McGlynn and Fr. Eddie Sherry and wonderful Columban Missionaries. 

Fr. Jim used to visit the family on breaks from Australia. 

Fr. Eddie was the brother of our Fr. Michael who Edited the FAR EAST magazine in Australia. During his home leave, and in Europe searched for Old Master painting for the Columban Calendar.

Samuel Mulcahy was a Columban Seminarian in Dalgan. He was directed to find his vocation to Roscre Abbey. 

Samuel became, novice Br. Columban. In the end he became the first Abbot of Nunraw Abbey in Scotland.

From the Director - God became one of us The Gospels relate that Jesus was born in a stable, there was no room at the inn. Today we know there is no room in the world for millions of people seeking a better life. Part of our human condition is that we are both merciful and merciless. (more)

Saint Columbanus Abbot November 23 - Optional Memory

Ireland c. 525-530 - Bobbio, Piacenza, November 23 615 Columba is one of the representatives of the monastic world that give rise to the 'pilgrimage pro Domino', which was one of the factors of cultural renewal and evangelization of Europe. From Ireland passed (c. 590) in France, Switzerland and Northern Italy, creating and organizing community church and founded several monasteries, some of which, for example Luxeuil and Bobbio, famous for the liturgical books of the same name. The monastic rule that encodes its spirituality is marked by great precision and intends to associate with the monks in the sacrifice of Christ. His practice has influenced the new monastic penitential discipline of the West. (Message Rom) Etymology: Columban = mild, delicate Emblem: Pastoral Staff Martyrology: St. Columba, Abbot, that of Irish origin, who became a pilgrim for Christ in the Gospel to educate the people of France, he founded along with many other monasteries that of Luxeuil, which he ruled in strict observance of the rule; forced to ' exile, crossed the Alps and founded the monastery of Bobbio in Napa, famous for its discipline and studies, where well-deserving of the Church, he died in peace, and his body was laid on this day.

http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/30200

2014-Columban Art-Calendar

For the Memorial of Saint Columban:

SECOND READING

From an instruction by Saint Columban, abbot
(Instr. 11, 1-2; Opera, Dublin, 1957, 106-107)

Man’s likeness to God, if preserved, imparts high dignity

Moses wrote in the law: God made man in his image and likeness. Consider, I ask you, the dignity of these words. God is all-powerful. We cannot see or understand him, describe or assess him. Yet he fashioned man from clay and endowed him with the nobility of his own image. What has man in common with God? Or earth with spirit?—for God is a spirit. It is a glorious privilege that God should grant men his eternal image and the likeness of his character. Man’s likeness to God, if he preserves it, imparts high dignity.

If man applies the virtues planted in his soul to the right purpose, he will be like God. God’s commands have taught us to give him back the virtues he sowed in us in our first innocence. The first command is to love our Lord with our whole heart because he loved us first from the beginning, before our existence. Loving God renews his image in us. Anyone who loves God keeps his commandments, for he said: If you love me, keep my commandments. His command is that we love each other. In his own words: This is my command, that you love each other as I also have loved you.

True love is shown not merely in word, but in deed and in truth. So we must turn back our image undefiled and holy to our God and Father, for he is holy; in the words of Scripture: Be holy, for I am holy. We must restore his image with love, for he is love; in John’s words: God is love. We must restore it with loyalty and truth, for he is loyal and truthful. The image we depict must not be that of one who is unlike God; for one who is harsh and irascible and proud would display the image of a despot.

Let us not imprint on ourselves the image of a despot, but let Christ paint his image in us with his words: My peace I give you, my peace I leave with you. But the knowledge that peace is good is of no benefit to us if we do not practice it. The most valuable objects are usually the most fragile; costly things require the most careful handling. Particularly fragile is that which is lost by wanton talk and destroyed with the slightest injury of a brother. Men like nothing better than discussing and minding the business of others, passing superfluous comments at random and criticizing people behind their backs. So those who cannot say: The Lord has given me a discerning tongue, that I may with a word support him who is weary should keep silent, or if they do say anything it should promote peace.

RESPONSORY
Luke 6:47, 48; Sirach 25:15

Anyone who comes to me
and listens to my words and acts on them,
I will show you what he is like.
– He is like a man who while building his house
dug deeply and laid his foundation on rock.

Happy is the man who fears the Lord.
Who is his equal?
Who can compare with him?
– He is like a man who while building his house
dug deeply and laid his foundation on rock.

CONCLUDING PRAYER
   
Let us pray. 
O God, who in Saint Columban
wonderfully joined the work of evangelization
to zeal for the monastic life,
grant, we pray,
that through his intercession and example
we may strive to seek you above all things
and to bring increase to your faithful people.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.