Feast of Christ the King

From all eternity , O Lord, you are Ps.92.

Our Responsorial Psalm in today’s Liturgy gives us an insight into the depth and origin – although He has no origin – of this Person, this One in Three, whom we call our God, our King – the one St. Teresa of Avila, affectionately addressed as “Your Majesty”-. “The world you made firm from of old – yes, from all eternity, you are’.

During the past week, a few other passages from our daily Scripture, helped me to fathom a little deeper this line: ‘From all eternity, O Lord, you are’.

Amos, the prophet, tells us:

‘He it was who formed the mountains, created the wind –

he made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns the dusk to dawn and the day to darkest night.

He has built his high place in the heavens,

and supported his vault on the earth. Amos 4:5,9.

And this is only a brief glimpse into the mystery and wonder of it all.

We have only to read what our Scientists tell about the origins of our mountains and streams, our stars and planets, created billions of years ago – our minds boggle at the whole geographic scene, and yet this same mighty God is He who comes to us in a wafer of bread, and a drop of wine – his Body and Blood consecrated by the Priest at every Mass. As Cardinal John Henry Newman prayed: “You are now, though in Heaven, just the same as you were on earth; the mighty God and yet the little child – the all holy yet all sensitive one” – our Lord and King inviting us into His Kingdom. Only by faith can we even dimly comprehend this mystery – this love story.

‘Jesus, my King, whom I look at shrouded here below,

I beseech you send me what I long for so,
Some day to gaze on you face to face in light,

And be blest forever with your glory’s sight.

St. Thomas Aquinas O.P.

And now, your Majesty, I make one last prayer in the words of Jesus, your Son:

"Father, I want these you have given me to be with me where I am – so that they may always see the glory you have given me because you loved me before the foundations of the world" Jn:24.17.

Yes, indeed Father, may your Kingdom come to every one of your children.

Meeting of the International Commission of Dominican Nuns

 

 

Our community was privileged to host the annual meeting of the International Commission of Dominican Nuns from the 6th to the 13th October 2012.

The International Commission comprises eleven nuns who represent the eleven 'regions' into which the Domincan Nuns are divided.  They meet each year with the promoter for the nuns - presently Fr Brian Pierce OP hold this position.  The commission cannot legislate for the nuns but they are an important organ of communication between the Master of the Order and the nuns and also foster communication among the nuns themselves. 

It was a great joy for us to welcome these sisters, some of whom came from as far away as the Phillipines, South Africa, Peru, Mexico and USA while others came from countries nearer home - Italy, Czech Republic, Spain and Switzerland.  Fr Pablo Condrac OP joined them for a few days. All the meetings are conducted in English/Spanish - this year a Lay Dominican, Monica Maher who works in South America did the necessary translation from Spanish to English and English to Spanish.  The Eucharist, Lauds and Vespers were celebrated in Spanish on two days during the week. 

The members of the commission work very hard during this annual meeting but this did  not prevent them from joining our community on two evenings for the evening meal and recreation in our community room.  Mid week they took a day off and visited Glendalough - a few of our community accompanied them - unfortunately it was the one day that week which rained all day!! Later in the day we visited the Dominican Sisters in Wicklow who warmly welcomed us and told us about their work in the ecology centre. On our return jouney we joined our Domincan brothers in St Saviour's Priory for Vespers and supper where again we received a very warm welcome.

One of the highlights of the week was a cultural evening of song and dance - our photos do not fully capture the atmosphere of joy which pervaded our time together - however, we share them with you in order to give a little glimpseof what was a very happy and joyful evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit to Glendalough

 

 



Reflection on the Gospel - 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel, we see an anxious Scribe asking Jesus, ‘which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied. ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength’ – heart –soul – mind, strength, these are extremely strong words; if we stop to ponder them deeply, each contains a great depth of meaning, a call to give our love totally to God with every fibre of our being. Most of us are familiar with these words of Jesus. For myself, it is loving God with all my heart and soul and strength, that has always struck me forcibly, but reflecting anew on this Gospel text, it was the word ‘mind’ which drew my attention today.
What does it mean to love God with all my mind? At first sight it sounds very intellectual and even calculating, though we do speak of a person having a beautiful mind, or of someone asking us to be mindful of them in our prayer or in some other way. Our minds are indeed a very precious gift from God.

But it is the heart which is known world-wide as a symbol of love - we hear people say ‘I love this or that person with all my heart, but I have never yet heard anyone say, I love you with all my mind, there would surely be a few raised eyebrows, to say the least!

It is interesting to note that the Scribe who asked Jesus this question responded by saying: ‘Well spoken, Master; ……to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength….this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice’. He uses the word ‘understanding’ instead of ‘mind’ and this gives us the insight we need to ponder and reflect upon.

St. Paul enlightens us further when in his letter to the Philippians 2;1-6 he says; ‘ If in Christ there is anything to move you, any incentive to love….I appeal to you, make my joy complete by being of single mind, one in love, one in heart and one in mind. Make your own the mind of Christ’, he entreats us, ‘who being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped but he emptied himself.’ To be called to make our own the mind of Christ is indeed a profound, even fearful, challenge.

St. Paul throws further light on this call to love God with our minds as well as our hearts ,when in his letter to the Romans 12:1-2 he pleads with us ‘I implore you by God’s mercy to offer your very selves to God – a living sacrifice….the worship offered by mind and heart’. Further on in the same letter he again exhorts us ‘let your minds be re-made and your whole nature thus transformed. Then, and only then, will you be able to discern the will of God and to know what is good, acceptable and perfect’.
For those of us called to the Dominican way of life, our Rule reminds us the first reason for which we are gathered together in community is to live in harmony having one mind and heart in God.

In this year of Faith which our Holy Father Pope Benedict has inaugurated, he says in his Apostolic letter: ‘ever since the start of my ministry as Successor of Peter, I have spoken of the need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ’… he goes on to say ‘we must rediscover a taste for feeding ourselves on the Word of God…and on the Bread of life. What the world is in particular need of today is the credible witness of people enlightened in mind and heart, by the Word of the Lord, and capable of opening the hearts and minds of many to the desire for God and for true life, life without end’.

Pope Benedict ends his Apostolic letter by inviting us to ‘entrust this time of Grace to the Mother of God, proclaimed ‘blessed because she believed’. (Lk:1.45)

Responding generously to the appeal of Pope Benedict, with the help of God’s ever present Grace, we will truly be responding to today’s Gospel passage i.e. to ‘to love God with every fibre of our being , heart, soul, mind and strength’ as Mary did.

Mission Sunday - 29th Sunday of Year – Year B

 

 

The phrase which caught my attention in today’s Mass readings was: “offer his life” – we find it in the first reading – if the servant offers his life all will be well for him.

In the Gospel Jesus speaks about “offering his life as a ransom” and invites his disciples to follow his example.  This attitude of self offering implies a forgetfulness of self and a radical confidence in the One to Whom we surrender – the One who supplies all our needs and who makes up for our limitations and deficiencies.

Perhaps we can better identify with James and John who approached Jesus to ask for secure and prodigious seats in the kingdom.  But Jesus points out that true greatness lies in serving each other in love - emptying ourselves to become slaves.  Surely this is very contrary to our modern mentality! perhaps frightening also? but the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that we have a high priest, Jesus, who understands our weakness and assures us of mercy and grace when we are in need of help.

 Today on Mission Sunday, as we reflect on our calling and responsibility as Christians to spread the Good News of Jesus, these readings both challenge and encourage us. We do not need to go to far away places in order to be missionary.  We are missionary to the extent that we live our lives in and through Jesus who shares with us his very relationship with the Father in the Spirit. When we freely surrender to the One who has loved us so much that He lay down His life for us and allow Him to use us as He wishes we can be confident that He will act in and through us – often without our knowing it – to bring about His kingdom in our world. 

Meeting of Dominican Nuns in Krakow

From the 5th to the 10th of September Dominican nuns from the region of Europe which is outside Italy, France and Spain met at a Vincentian retreat centre at Krzeszowice near Krakow.  We came from the monasteries of Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, Vilnius, Oslo, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal (Fatima) and Srs Mairead and Breda from our community in Drogheda.  fr Brian Pierce OP the promoter for the Dominican  nuns was present throughout the meeting.  fr Viktor Hofstetter OP, a former promoter gave some of the conferences and fr Józef Zborzil, Promotor of the Nuns in Poland, fr Krzysztof Popławski, the Polish Provincial were present as invited guests and for the last two days we were privileged to have fr Bruno Cadoré, the Master of the Order with us - we greatly appreciated the fact that fr Bruno interrupted his work in S Sabina, Rome in order to come to share these days with us.

This is the third such meeting in recent years - the first being in Prague in 2005 and the second in Sthrhlfeld, Germany in 2008. Our biggest problem in this region is the language barrier but we had an excellent group of Dominican brothers and sisters who provided us with simultaneous translation.  One sister suggested that we spoke four languages - Polish, English, German and the language of the heart!  The liturgy was celebrated in a different language each day and we ended the day with a silent Eucharistic Hour.

 

 

Nodoubt this beautifully refurbished retreat centre was an ideal setting for our meeting - with the possiblity for walks on the grounds and in a nearby wooded park and along a river bank.  Of course the beatiful sunshine and warm weather was an added bonus for us coming from Ireland where we have been waiting for summer since last June but it never arrived!!!

 

The theme of the meeting was 'Obedience and Freedom'- we were fortunate that all the conferences were in English.  fr Bruno's input was encouraging and inspiring as he presented his vision of the place of the nuns at the heart of the Order - a life centred on the Word of God - a life given for the mission of the Order - to preach and bear witness to the coming down among us of God's Son to the people He loves.

 

We had discussions in language groups with some plenary sessions as well as informal gatherings during free time. We spoke about how we can care for our elderly sisters and how to provide a good formation for the young women who join us. It is encouraging that while a number of monasteries in our region have closed in recent years others are receiving vocations again after a gap of several years. 

 

On Saturday evening we were treated to a festive supper followed by song and dance and lots of fun.

 

After lunch on Sunday we went by bus to the shrine of Divine Mercy and afterwards to the Dominican Priory where we received a most interesting talk about the history of the Domincans in this very house for almost 800 years - we then joined the brothers for Vespers followed by supper. The following morning it was time to say our good-byes promising to keep in contact with each other.

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to our Dominican Brothers

Our congratulations, prayers and best wishes to the five men who were accepted into the Order yesterday (September 14th is the feast of the Triumph of the Cross and is also the feast day of the Irish Dominican Province). Also to the two Brothers who made First Profession today. May God continue to bless you all in your formation as Friars Preaachers.

(Images from www.irishdominicanvocations.blogspot.ie)

Br Ronan O Dubhghaill, Br Philip Mulryne, Fr Stephen Hutchinson OP (novice master), Br Jesse Maingot, Br Adam Conroy and Br Matthew Farrell - after the five novices were clothed in the habit of the Dominican Order and began their novitiate in Cork

Fr Gregory Carroll OP (prior provincial), Br Kevin O Reilly OP, Br Murchadh O Madagain OP and Fr Philip McShane OP (outgoing novice master) after the first profession of the two brothers.

With the first profession of our two brothers today and the reception of our five new novices yesterday, the Irish Dominican friars now have 22 in formation at various stages. Please pray for them and those considering joining the Order and the friars who assist them.

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary- 8th September

Athough it is a  little late we feel it is worth while offering you this homily preached by our brother Brian Pierce, (promoter of the Dominican nuns) during a regional meeting of Dominican nuns which took place over the past week in Krakow, Poland.  We will be sharing with you some highlights of this meeting in due course.

 

 Gospel: Mt 1:1-16, 18-23

·        Novels and short stories are two of the most popular kinds of literature. The gospel we have just heard is certainly not a short story!  In fact, it’s a very long novel-like story – one that is still being written and lived today.

·        If we read carefully, we will see that this very loooong story has a colorful list of characters in it.  There’s a lot of brokenness and sin woven through that long list of names … but there is a lot of grace, too.  It is Joseph’s story, but because of God’s mysterious plan, it is also Mary’s story.  And that means it is also our story, too.

 

·        Today we celebrate Mary’s birth.  But our gospel begins long before her birth. Not even Dostoevsky could write a story with so much drama and mystery and passion and pain – and love!

 

·        God’s story is a profound story.  Hundreds of years, thousands of years flowed into a single moment in history: the boy named Joseph grew up to be a man who met the lovely girl named Mary.  God was so patient, so creative.  So many people played a part in this love story.  Abraham married Sarah. Boaz – the son of Rahab – married the Moabite woman, Ruth.  And Ruth – not even an Israelite – became the great-grandmother of King David!  What a story!  What a mystery!  It’s Joseph and Mary’s story, and Jesus’ story.

·        And it is our story, too!  Do we realize what that means?  Do we realize that God has guided this whole journey with love and mercy and forgiveness and grace?  Do we realize that God knew us before we were born?  Are we aware of that river of grace and love that flows through us, that molds us and transforms us?

 

·        As the Psalmist sings:  “Lord, I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! … When I was being made in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth, your eyes foresaw my actions … my days were shaped, before one came to be.  How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them (139: 13-17)!

 

·        God is not in a hurry.  It’s a long story, and we’ve been invited to be part of it, to walk and to dream, to laugh and to have doubts, to love and be forgiven. 

·        We will make mistakes – just like they did.  Just like King David did.  We will be confused – just like Joseph was.  But we will also say “yes.”  We will have moments of clarity and trust and we will say, “Here I am, Lord.  Send me.”

 

·        God is in no hurry.  Grace is like a good cup of tea.  It needs time to steep.  It takes many days and years and generations for God to tell his story.  

 

·        Today we celebrate Mary’s birth.  Holy Mary.  St. Mary.  She was once a little baby – but that was a long time ago.  When she was born, she had no idea what life would bring.  None of us do.  All we are asked to do is let God write the story into our hearts and minds and into our hands and our feet.  Where the story will take us we do not know.  Our task is to say “yes” and keep on walking.  Mary said “yes.”  And Joseph – after a very long and dark night of tears and struggle – also said “yes”.  And Dominic said “yes”.

 

·         And now it is our turn to say “yes”.  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.