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 has 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,
Fr
Mark and Community
Nunraw Abbey, Haddington, Scotland, EH41 4LW. Email: nunraw.abbot@yahoo.co.uk
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