A Reflection on the Sunday Readings

“Come: follow me”, said the LORD.

“I will make you fishers of men.”

(Benedictus antiphon for the 3^rd Sunday of the Year)

“At once, they left their nets and followed Him.” (Mk 1:18)

That was Peter and Andrew.  A little later, He called James and John the sons of Zebedee, “…and leaving their father Zebedee in the boat … they went after Him” (Mk 1:20).

Jesus hadn’t worked any miracles when He called these young men – they had been disciples of John the Baptist, at least James, John and Andrew were; and they had heard John [the Baptist] say wonderful things about Jesus.

“He will baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Mt 3:11).  So, when He called them, they jumped to answer.  Their time with John the Baptist was a preparation – a Novitiate of sorts – and they were ready.

‘Readiness is everything.’

Jesus’ call is imperative!  Think of Matthew the tax collector.  He would have heard Jesus preaching to the people on the seashore and seen His miracles.  He must have longed to follow Him, but felt utterly unworthy as a despised tax collector. 

Jesus passes by and says, ‘Follow me’ and Matthew straightaway jumps to follow Him.

Today we also have the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul.

Here was Saul – a highly educated Pharisee, determined to put an end to this movement which seemed to him heretical.  He had encouraged the killers of Stephen and had gone on to imprison men and women “followers of the Way” (cf Acts 9:1-3).  And now he was on the way to Damascus to catch the frightened followers there.

Ah!  But wait, Saul!

The Church in Jerusalem, gathered around Mary, is praying. 

I can imagine the disciples saying, ‘Let’s ask God to remove that Saul, before he destroys us all,’ and Mary saying, ‘No.  Let’s ask God to change his heart from hatred to love.’

As Saul reached Damascus, Jesus appears in a great light.

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

“Who are you, Lord?”

“I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me.”

And what a change of heart came to Saul!  He became one of the greatest lovers of Christ.

‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?’ (Rom 8:35)

No!  We come through all these things triumphantly victorious by the power of Him who loves us, he tells us in his letter to the Romans.

It was the prayer of Mary and those first Christians gathered around her that brought about the change in “Saul, to Paul the greatest apostle of them all.”

Let us gather around her now

and pray for a change of heart in our leaders

who are trying to undermine the teaching of Jesus.

Feast of Epiphany - 2015

 

My memories of Epiphany as a child are of a big party, the last one of the Christmas season and back to school on the 07^th January, next day. The story of the three wise men, the carols, the colourful clothes of the three kings and their loads on the back of the animals were all a part of that day but I am afraid the spirituality of the feast and its depth never reached us.

Of course in reality Epiphany is one of the greatest feasts of the Church year.

In fact in many places and especially in the Eastern Church this glorious feast of Epiphany holds an even higher place than the Birth of Christ.  It is announced and celebrated with very great Solemnity.

The readings at Mass and Office for the day throw a lot of light on its depth and meaning. Isaiah begins by telling us “your light has come, the glory of the Lord is rising on you”. Saint Paul tells us of the manifestation of Christ to the peoples and the nations and of course St Matthew too gives all the details we want to know .We can learn so much from this text.

A sentence from today’s Preface sums up perfectly the feast “For today you have revealed the mystery of our salvation in Christ as a light for the nations, and when He appeared in our mortal nature, you made us new by the glory of his immortal nature.”

As St Leo said on Christmas Day “Let us then be quit of the old self and the habits that went with it. Sharers now in the birth of Christ, let us break with the deeds of the flesh. O Christian, be aware of your nobility- it is God’s own nature that you share”.

Epiphany means “to shine upon” or made “known”. When the three wise men saw the star they recognised it as the star of the infant Jesus and because they were wise they followed the star, they were searching for someone, they were rewarded for their unwearied search, the long tiresome journey, they never deviated but stood by their resolve to find him.

And going into the house they found the child with his mother Mary. I wonder were they taken aback at the very ordinary scene they encountered. After all they were looking for an “infant king”, no palace, no servants, no security gates or door. Yet the wise men had enough insight to recognise that they were in the presence of something very special. They immediately fell down and worshipped the Divine Infant.

Christ made himself known first to these Gentiles and they were the first to do homage. These men represent all the peoples outside Israel to whom the Gospel will be preached, a great missionary feast.

 

Today as Pope Francis says “God is not afraid of new things that is why He is continually surprising us, opening our hearts and guiding us in unexpected ways”.

The wise men offered gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They knew by a revelation who they were worshipping.

 We may no have such gifts, but as Christina Rossetti says in her poem:

“What can I give Him,

Poor as I am?

If I were a Shepherd

I would bring a lamb,

If I were a Wise Man

I would do my part

Yet what can I give Him,

Give my heart.”

                                                                      -Christina Rossetti

 

The wise men were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, a duplicitous and seductive voice of the evil one and returned to their own country by a different way.

Jesus is The Way for us. Are we willing to go a different way this coming year, a year specially for consecrated people, can we learn from today’s feast to let the star of faith lead and guide us, on maybe a different path, a new way and be willing to radiate the light which is Christ to all who pass our path and depend more on God’s grace and strength.

Arise, shine out, for your light has come, the glory of the Lord is resting on you.

        

 

 

We are on "Christmas with Miriam"

Miriam with the Community

We were on the Radio yesterday morning. It was an hour long show and Miriam interviewed five of us - we talked about our vocation as Dominican Nuns, our own personal vocation stories and, of course, Christmas. There is also some music, and you can hear us singing parts of the Divine Office.

Click the link below to listen in RTEPlayer.
Listen.

Christmas Reflection

We wish all our readers a peaceful and joyful Christmas as we remember all your intentions in prayer.

The theme of light plays a prominent part in the Advent and Christmas liturgies. This theme of light is woven into the pages of both the Old and New Testaments – from the first chapter of Genesis where God said ‘Let there be light’ to the last chapter of the Apocalypse where the glory of God is the radiant light which illumines the New Jerusalem.

We have come forth from God and we return to Him who is the Light.  When calling us into being God seems to have built into each human heart a ‘homing instinct’; a nostalgia for Himself – a yearning which draws us.  We even see this attraction to the light in nature – tiny shoots will push their way through all kinds of rubble and even solid tarmac, attracted by the light.  Plants will turn towards the light and some flowers will open to light but remain closed in darkness. 

 In the Old Testament light is very often associated with God’s glory, His Presence, His face.  There is a yearning to see God’s face: “let me see your face” - “when can I enter and see the face of God” - “let your face shine on us and we will be safe.”  We get the image of a luminous face – a glorious face which lights up everything – the Light of life.

Moses was told that he cannot see God’s face for no human being can see Him and survive.  However, tonight we celebrate the breaking into our time of God’s light – the revelation of God’s Face in the form of a helpless baby who will grow and develop according to the laws of nature and will manifest the Face of God’s love to all who are open and ready to recognise and receive Him.  Tonight is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” The Word, who was in the world that had come into being through him, although the world did not recognise him, now enters this world in a new way.  Yet he comes in such a gentle and ordinary fashion that He is recognisable only to the eyes of faith - not all are open to receive the light but prefer the darkness.  St John tells us:

“He came to his own

and his own people did not accept him.
but to those who did accept  him
he gave power to become children of God.”  (Jn 1: 11 - 12).

We celebrate tonight the great mystery of the Word taking flesh and living among us – apart from his transfiguration, He will remain hidden in an ordinary Man and will identify himself with every man and woman – “whatever you do, or not do, to the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you do, or not do to me.”  As he was dependent on Mary and Joseph when he first came – so now he makes himself dependent on us, his disciples - frail human beings that we are – to be His Presence in our world.  He needs our hearts to radiate his light and love, first of all to those with whom we live and then to all with whom we come in contact – what a great mystery and one of which we all too often are unaware.  As St Paul describes it well when he says “all of us with unveiled faces, like mirrors reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the image that we reflect in brighter and brighter glory. (2Cor 3:18).

And so as we once again celebrate the birth of our Saviour at Bethlehem we ask Mary to help us believe as she did – may she teach us to recognise the radiant Face of her Son hidden in the ordinary and in every person we meet. 

“It is Your Face O Lord that we seek - Let your face, shine on us and we shall be safe." 

O Antiphons - 23rd December 2014

A reflection given by one of our sisters on today's Magnificat Antiphon, which addresses Christ as Emmanuel - God with us. (To listen, click the 'play' button in the box below).

For an alternative audio player click here.

 O Emmanuel

  Today we have come to the 7^th and final ‘O’ Antiphon – the climax of them all.

“O Emmanuel, King and Lawgiver, desire of the nations; Saviour of all peoples: 
come and set us free, Lord our God.” 

Or

“O Emmanuel, You are our King and Judge; the One whom the peoples await and their Saviour.   
O come, save us, Lord, our God,”

In it, the Messiah is addressed in person and is asked to remain with us as Emmanuel.

This – the last – is appointed for the day before Christmas Eve, when we are about to celebrate the coming of God to earth in human flesh.

Since this is the last and climax of the antiphons, “O Emmanuel” repeats phrases and ideas which have occurred previously, in particular ‘King’ and ‘Lawgiver’.  These two words are significant as they indicate the great difference between us and God; the vast gap between Creator and creature; Ruler and ruled.  ‘Lawgiver’ occurs in the other antiphon with a Hebrew title, “O Adonai”, which means Lord and is also a reverent way of indicating, without uttering, the Divine Name.

The word ‘Emmanuel’ occurs only three times in the Bible: in Is 7:14; 8:8; and Mt 1:23, but the idea it expresses is found in practically every book.  “The Lord is with you” … “The Lord will be with you” … The basic meaning of ‘God with us’ is that God acts on our behalf.  In Jdg, “The Lord is with you, mighty man of valour … I will be with you and you will smite the Midianites as one” (6:12, 16).

The initials of each antiphon in the Latin – in reverse – create the words ‘ERO CRAS’ meaning ‘To-morrow I shall be there’ – which is seen as the answer of Christ to the petitions in the other six antiphons.

“You are the one whom the people await.”  Our time of waiting is nearly over – as Kipling said long ago, ‘waiting and not being tired of waiting.”  For 4,000 years the Jewish people waited and waited and longed for a Saviour to come and free them form slavery and to save them.  And the angel said, “You shall call Him Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.”

Emmanuel, God with us in the fully human Person of Jesus Christ, born on this earth of Mary in a certain place, at a certain time.  It beggars belief that God should empty Himself of His Godhead and become one of us, a tiny baby, lying in a manger.  “What a wonderful exchange.”  ‘What great nation is there, that has its gods so near, as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call Him?” (Dt 4:7).  It is for us that Christ is born – we will hear at Midnight Mass, the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘A child is born for us, a Son given to us.’ (First Reading)

The ideas in the now famous Christmas Carol, “Oh! Holy Night”, written 1847 by Placide Cappeau, have always appealed to me –

‘The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,

In all our trials, born to be our friend.

He knows our need, He guardeth us from danger …’

St Matthew quotes the ‘Emmanuel’ text (cf1:23) in the first chapter of ‘his’ gospel and he concludes with the promise of Christ on appearing to His disciples after His resurrection, ‘Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age’ (28:20).  He is with us every day in the Holy Eucharist; He is with us deep in our hearts; He is with us, gathered together in His Name.  What gratitude can we show?

Again, from ‘Oh! Holy Night’ –

‘Fall on your knees …

‘Behold your King, before Him lowly bend,

Behold your King, before Him lowly bend.’

O Come, Emmanuel

O Antiphons - 22nd December 2014

 

A reflection given by one of our sisters on today's Magnificat Antiphon, which addresses Christ as King. (If you prefer to listen, click the 'play' button in the box below).



For an alternative audio player click here.

 

“O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone

which makes all one. O come and save us whom you made

from clay.”

 

In this sixth ‘O’ Antiphon the Incarnate Word is given the title of ‘King’, a title which appears very much in the psalms – for example psalm five:

 

‘To my words give ear O Lord,

give heed to my groaning.

Attend to the sound of my cries,

my King and my God.”

And our entrance Antiphon at Mass this morning from psalm 23 read:

“O gates lift high your heads; grow higher, ancient doors.

Let him enter, the King of glory.”

 

Although he was the King desired by all the people of the Old Testament, and  those of the New Testament, we too have within us this same desire, this need, this longing to meet  God, to see Him face to face:

 “ It is your face O Lord that I seek, hide not your face” ( Psalm 26)

St. Irenaeus’ famous saying :

“ The glory of God is man fully alive and the glory of man is the vision of God “ – the second part of this sentence – the glory of man is the vision of God - is usually neglected and certainly has not been given worthy attention for we long and thirst for the vision of God. Perhaps it is only poetry, the poetry of the psalms that can express this desire adequately:

“ O God you are my God, for you I long.

For you my soul is thirsting.

my body pines for you,

 like a dry weary land without water.” ( Psalm 62)

 

Ronald Rolheiser in his book; “The Restless Heart” states that our nature is such that we have within ourselves an unquenchable thirst for God. The human heart, regardless of its time and place in history, regardless of the success or failures it meets, or of the amount of human affection or rejection it experiences, still yearns and pines always to see the face of God, for God has made us in such a way that there is within each of us a certain space, call it an emptiness, a capacity which only God Himself can fill. Sadly, some people, not realising this, try to fill this painful emptiness by using drugs, alcohol,  power, money etc.

But it is as  St. Augustine says: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”- till they rest in God.

All of us are here because we have come to realise that only God can fill our emptiness and so we come into His Presence here, worshipping Him in private prayer, Adoration and in the public prayer of the church,- the celebration of the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours.

Our monastic vocation is a continual search for  God but just when we think we have found him he eludes us, as in the Song of Songs, and we must continue to seek him in a different way. It is t the love of God that compels us to seek deeper and deeper union with Him and with one another as we pray that all humankind, every person on earth, will be touched by the healing love of Christ and be saved. So, we too, all of us can claim to be part of all the people, referred to in today’s ‘O’ Antiphon, who desire the coming of our King, who is also our Saviour and Healer – come and save us whom you made from clay.

The second theme I see in this Antiphon concerns  ecumenism as the second line reads:

“ you are the cornerstone which makes all one”

It brought to my mind Jesus’ prayer for unity in Chapter 17 of John’s Gospel: Verse 21 reads:

          “ May they all be one. Father may they be one in us,

as you are in me and I am in  you”

            

Just recently I finished reading a book entitled: “Blessed Gabriella of Unity. She was a Trappistine nun, born in Sardinia in 1914, who entered the Monastery of Grottaferrata, Italy, in 1935, when she was 21 years old. Following a lecture on ecumenism by Abbé Paul Couturier, a French Ecumenist, her monastery began to support the week of Prayer for Christian Unity and put its spiritual weight behind the ecumenical movement. Soon after this, Sister Gabriella confided to her superiors that she wanted to offer her life for the unity of the Church as she had come to understand the need for prayers and spiritual sacrifices for the unity of Christians. She was given permission by her superiors. Early in 1938 she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died about a year later on April 23^rd 1939, at the age of 25.

Pope St. John Paul II canonized her on the 25^th January 1983, at the end of Church Unity Week- and fittingly so-  and made the following reference to her in his encyclical letter, Ut Unum Sint,( That they be one),  on commitment to ecumenism, under the heading of : The Primacy of Prayer:

“ Sr. Maria Gabriella, called by her vocation to be apart from the world, devoted her life to meditation and prayer centered on Chapter17 of St. John’s Gospel, and offered her life for Christian Unity. This is truly the cornerstone of all prayer: the total and unconditional offering of one’s life to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit.”

Pope John Paul II goes on to say that: “ A change of heart and holiness of life, along with public and private prayer for the unity of Christians, should be regarded as the soul of the whole ecumenical movement, and can rightly be called ‘spiritual ecumenism’.

This touches deeply on our own lives as contemplatives and on those who join us so regularly and faithfully for public prayer in the Eucharist and Liturgy of the Hours and also for private prayer and Adoration of the Exposed Blessed Sacrament – as prayer is considered the soul of the Ecumenical Movement and a very good example of this is our Benedictine Brothers in Rostrevor – living a deep contemplative life.

Jesus is truly the cornerstone  which makes all one for we  address all our prayer to the Father,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             through through Our Lord Jesus Christ, his Son, in the unity of the Holy  Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

O Antiphon - 21st December

A reflection given by one of our sisters on today's Magnificat Antiphon, which addresses Christ as the Rising Sun. (If you prefer to listen, click the 'play' button in the box below).



For an alternative audio player click here.

“O Rising Sun,

you are the splendour of eternal light

and the sun of justice.

O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness

and in the shadow of death.”

In today’s antiphon we contemplate Jesus as the Rising Sun, the eternal light that enlightens us. This is something of a preview; an expression of the divine glory and beauty of the one who is to come, a glimpse of truths that are expanded upon and expressed more deeply and richly in the Mass readings for Christmas Day, particularly in the powerful imagery of the Prologue to John’s Gospel .

Is 52:7 “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news.”

Jn 1 “the light of men, a light that shines in the dark … the true light that enlightens all men … we saw his glory”

This light, beauty and glory is not that of a impersonal, distant, ‘divine absolute’ but of a loving and caring Lord who comes to help and enlighten us, to bring us to share in his life “God is light” (1Jn 1:5).

Christ comes to enlighten us. This is why prayer and contemplation are so important for study and preaching, hence a motto of our Order is: “to contemplate and give others the fruits of our contemplation.” Christ, who is our light, enlightens our minds and guides us to a correct understanding of the truths of the faith; as he said to Peter “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 16:17). This understanding comes when we “walk in the light” (1Jn 1:7) and that is not always easy:

(Jn 3:19) And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

But we need not despair. As this Antiphon makes clear, I don’t need to laboriously climb to the light of God’s presence by my own efforts – the Son comes and brings his healing and cleansing light into the dark places and sinful deeds of my life. All that I need to do is to welcome Him and be willing to live in the light of his presence. Of course, this influx of light can be painful (think of the pain in you eyes when you go suddenly from a dark room into bright sunlight), nor do we like seeing our selfishness and sinfulness, and so we often prefer to hide from the light (from God’s loving approach) and continue as we are.  

I pray that in this last few days before Christmas may we each have the courage to welcome Christ’s light into our lives, to see ourselves as he sees us and be willing to make whatever changes he is asking of us.