Newsletter
- Christmas 2014
Doesn't it feel
that Christmas has come along quicker than it used to? It's as if someone turned too many pages of
the calendar and has left everyone confused.
It's beginning to look like a moveable feast. Perhaps that's why so many of us are late
with our Christmas mail. It's strange
that when we plan to do some work the time it takes works to a different, opposite,
universal law.
Since last
Christmas, as most of you will be aware, we have sold our guesthouse and some
of the surrounding property. The new
owner, Linda Leith, has wasted no time with her plans to start renovating the
buildings and to have the scrub cleared in the woodland area.
Our own plans to
set up one of the wings of the abbey as a new place to house the guests will,
we hope, begin in the summer of 2015. Before
that happens, we will be converting an area to provide proper infirmary rooms
for some of the more needy members of the community. This work is scheduled to
begin after Christmas.
We have not been
idle in the last couple of years. Our
work staff have been busy doing needy repairs throughout the building to good effect.
With the first Sunday
of Advent, we began the year dedicated to Consecrated Life in the Church. Pope Francis wants to draw the attention of
the whole people of God to those who have given their lives to seeking God as
Religious sisters, brothers or priests.
God is to be found
in any lifestyle, as we know. However, as
we seek God in our own lives, we are being asked throughout this year to take
stock of the various Religious vocations within the Church
We are all meant
to deepen our own commitment to what we have undertaken in our following of the
gospel. This implies that we keep ourselves
always open to what God is asking of us in our present state of life, and even,
perhaps, something entirely different. We
could, for example, be drawn to serve God in an active Congregation of sisters
or brothers or to do that in a more enclosed community life such as at Nunraw.
Making such a
change means taking a big, even a radical, step in another direction from what
we have been used to. What must be said,
however, is that once it has been taken, the change may not be as hard or
difficult as expected. Most of the
everyday realities we will meet there are the same. However, the distinction lies in the vows and the
structure of community life. That's what
makes all the difference. If it is very difficult, it probably means
this is not what God wants for us. We
then need to remain open in prayer and stillness for some further indication
from God as to where we should continue our search as we seek to get closer to
God.
Becoming a
member of a Religious Congregation or Order won't make us totally different
people. It should, however, give us a new or renewed perspective on life and of
people.
As already
mentioned in our last newsletter, our novice, Br Seamus, made his first profession
in the summer. Now, this Advent, we have
another addition to our numbers with the entry of Michael, our new
postulant. We wish both of them well in
these their early years in the community.
May this Christmas
and coming year be a time of blessing and happiness in your lives and
families. We keep you and your
intentions in our prayers
As a post note,
we remind you that both our tearoom and shop are opened every day from 2.00 pm
until 4.30. You may be passing nearby or
thinking of going for a drive and would like to stop for a cup of tea and a
biscuit.
Our Community
Mass on Sundays and Days of Obligation will be reverting to the later time of 11.00
am, beginning 1st January 2015. That
should make it more convenient for anyone who is travelling from a distance and
would like to be here for the Mass.
With our kind
regards and good wishes for a Happy Christmas,
. . . Abbot and Community
Nunraw Abbey, Haddington, Scotland, EH41 4LW. Email: nunraw.abbot@yahoo.co.uk
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| Nunraw Abbey view by H. Dittrich -'down through trees'. |
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