SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

In other years: St Raymond of Peñafort (1175-1275)

Readings of the day: RB Prol. 45-50

Mass: Isaiah 60:1-6; Resp. Psalm 72; Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12

WE SAW HIS STAR AT ITS RISING. 

From Karl Rahner, The Great Church Year

Thrown down your defenses! The star is shining! Why shouldn’t we, then, believe and go on the journey? Why shouldn’t we look to the star in the firmament of our hearts? Why not follow the light?

A new year has begun. During this year, too, all the paths from east to west, from morning until evening, lead on and on as far as the eye can see, through the deserts of life with all its changes. But these paths can be turned into the blessed pilgrimage to the absolute, the journey of God. Set out, my heart, take up the journey! The star shines. You can’t take much with you on the journey. And you will lose much of it along the way. Let it go. Gold of love, incense of yearning, myrrh of suffering—these you certainly have with you. He shall accept them. And we shall find him.

                                                         

ON ENTERING THE HOUSE THEY SAW THE CHILD WITH MARY HIS MOTHER.

THEY PROSTRATED THEMSELVES AND DID HIM HOMAGE.

When the king of heaven was born, the heavens knew that he was God because he immediately set forth a star; the sea knew him because it allowed him to walk upon it;

the earth knew him because it trembled when he died; the sun knew him because it hid the rays of his light.

(Saint Gregory the Great)

THEN THEY OPENED THEIR TREASURES AND OFFERED HIM GIFTS OF GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH.

What shall we let go of this year?

Let us offer it to the CHILD; HE shall accept it.

Saturday before Epiphany, Saint André Bessette (d. 1937)

First Saturday of the Month

Readings of the day: RB Prol. 39-44

Mass: 1 John 5:5-13; Resp. Psalm 147; Mark 1:7-11 or Luke 3:23-38

From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

(Communion Antiphon, Mass)

Saint Benedict exhorts us to prepare our hearts and bodies to serve the Lord under the guidance of holy obedience. At the same time, we should remain conscious of our own weakness and ask the Lord to give us through his grace the help we need (Prol. 40). Brother André was a man aware of his weaknesses yet he persevered, leading a humble life of prayer and service, not without controversy. He died at the age of 91. It is said a million people filed past his coffin. Grace upon grace.

Saint Ándre Bessette, pray for us.

Friday before Epiphany: Saint John Neumann, First American Male Saint (1811-1860)

First Friday of the Month

Readings of the day: RB Prol. 33-38

Mass: 1 John 3:11-21; Resp. Psalm 100; John 1:43-51

It seems to me what we hear today can’t be more straightforward, apparently the same message we’ve heard for some time now, namely, ‘Beloved: This is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another’. Continuing to listen, we hear words that are not minced. Don’t go the way of Cain who belonged to the Evil One. If we don’t love, we remain in death. Everyone! who hates her sister or brother is a murderer. The saying is banal but right on: They know we are Christians by our love. Or, they should know we are Christians by our love. We ought to lay down our lives for our sisters and our brothers. When we see someone in need, extend compassion. Love in deed and truth. Turn to the Prologue of the Holy Rule for more: keep our tongue from evil; let our lips speak no deceit; turn away from wrongdoing; seek peace and pursue it. Been there and done that, so to speak, I still ask why we can’t all just love one another and get along. Why do people raise their voices and scream at one another? Why pierce others with accusatory glares? Extending love and compassion is draining. Look at John Neumann, so exhausted from eight years of intense pastoral work he dropped dead on Vine Street, Philadelphia! Our loving God waits patiently for us, Saint Benedict reminds us: ‘The Lord waits for us every day to see if we will respond by our deeds, as we should, to his holy guidance.’ Saint Paul, too: ‘Do you not know that God is patient with us so as to lead us to repentance?’ (Rom 2:4/Prol. 37). The Prophet Ezekiel: ‘I do not want the death of a sinner; let all sinners rather turn away from sin and live’ (Ezk 33:11/Prol. 38).

Loving, gentle Jesus, please grant us the grace.

May they say of us: There is no duplicity in them.

God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God.

(1 John 3:21)

Thursday before Epiphany

Readings of the day: RB Prol. 21-32

Mass: 1 John 3:7-10; Resp. Psalm 98; John 1:35-42

 

Elizabeth Ann Seton

SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON

(1774-1821)

Wife, Mother of Five, Widow

Foundress, American Sisters of Charity

Beatified by Pope John XXIII, Canonized by Pope Paul VI, 14 September 1975

First Native Saint of the USA

Patron of Catholic Education in America

Today, Saint Benedict reminds us of two very important teachings from Saint Paul’s Epistles:

By the grace of God I am what I am.

(1 Cor 15:10/RB Prol. 31)

Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

(2 Cor 10:17/Prol. 32)

I imagine Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton took these very words to heart.

May she intercede for us.

From the Homily of Pope Paul VI at our Saint’s Canonization

14 September 1975

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton is an American. All of us say this with spiritual joy, and with the intention of honoring the land and the nation from which she marvellously sprang forth as the first flower in the calendar of the saints. This is the title which, in his original foreword to the excellent work of Father Dirvin, the late Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, attributed to her as primary and characteristic: ‘Elizabeth Ann Seton was wholly American’! Rejoice, we say to the great nation of the United States of America. Rejoice for your glorious daughter. Be proud of her. And know how to preserve her fruitful heritage. This most beautiful figure of a holy woman presents to the world and to history the affirmation of new and authentic riches that are yours: that religious spirituality which your temporal prosperity seemed to obscure and almost make impossible. Your land too, America, is indeed worthy of receiving into its fertile ground the seed of evangelical holiness. And here is a splendid proof—among many others—of this fact.

Wednesday before Epiphany: The Most Holy Name of Jesus

Readings of the day: RB Prol. 14-20

Mass: 1 John 2:29-3:6; Resp. Psalm 98; John 1:29-34

O LORD, OUR LORD,

HOW MAJESTIC IS YOUR NAME THROUGH ALL THE EARTH!

(Mass, Communion Antiphon for Optional Memorial)

The Amplexus
(Christ embraces St Bernard  from the cross)

Introduced to Bernard of Clairvaux’s (1090-1153) Sermons on the Song of Songs during retreat in preparation for perpetual monastic profession, I have been intrigued ever since. Of the Sermons as a whole, the author of the Introduction appropriately states: ‘The genius of St Bernard expresses itself to the full in his eighty-six Sermons on the Song of Songs. Nowhere else does his spiritual doctrine and experience display itself with such depth, vitality and spontaneity as in these conferences which are the fruit of his most mature years’ (M. C. Halflants). One Sermon is particularly fitting for today’s Memorial, that is, Sermon 15, ‘The Name of Jesus’. I’ve used the Sermon in classes with seminarians and share here a few marked passages we discussed, merely a taste of the riches contained therein:

Write what you will, I shall not relish it unless it tells of Jesus. Talk or argue about what you will, I shall not relish it if you exclude the name of Jesus. Jesus to me is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart.

It is a medicine. Does one feel sad? Let the name of Jesus come into his heart, from there let it spring to his mouth, so that shining like the dawn it may dispel all darkness and make a cloudless sky…The hardness of heart that is our common experience, the apathy bred of indolence, bitterness of mind, repugnance for the things of the spirit—have they ever failed to yield in presence of that saving name? The tears dammed up by the barrier of our pride—how have they not burst forth again with sweeter abundance at the thought of Jesus’ name?

For when I name Jesus I set before me a man who is meek and humble of heart, kind, prudent, chaste, merciful, flawlessly upright and holy in the eyes of all; and this same man is the all-powerful God whose way of life heals me, whose support is my strength.

(Sermon 15, 6)

O the healing, comfort, and strength in the name of Jesus.

JESUS.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk.

(Acts 3:6)

Tuesday before Epiphany: Saints Basil the Great (d. 379) and Gregory Nazianzen (d. 390)

Readings of the day: RB Prol. 8-13

Mass: 1 John 2:22-28; Resp. Psalm 98; John 1:19-28

 

Our Holy Father, St Benedict

Let us get up, then, at long last, for the Scriptures rouse us when they say:

It is high time for us to arise from sleep (Rom 13:11).

Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God, and our ears to the voice from heaven that every day calls out this charge:

If you hear his voice today, harden not your hearts (Ps 94 [95]:8).

(RB Prol. 8-10)

If you’re still groggy from the New Year celebrations, Saint Benedict’s call should stir our minds and hearts to action. The Prologue almost leaves one breathless with the intensity of its summons: listen; attend; put it into practice; give up your own will; do battle; persevere; do not weaken; obey; get up; arise from sleep; open our eyes and ears; run. This is in the first 13 verses alone! Saint Benedict is about moderation, not mediocrity. We are not meant to settle for the least common denominator. The WORD calls us to get with the program so to speak, to be our best selves, for our own good, yes, but also for the good of our brothers and sisters with whom we live, work, and encounter on a daily basis. The psalmist cries, ‘Today!’, not tomorrow. The voice is crying out in the desert: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’! We must remain in HIM, in whom we live, and move, and have our being, so that when HE appears we have confidence and are not put to shame at HIS coming.

Shall we not do today what we have been putting off until tomorrow?

Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen,

pray for us.

Solemnity, Mary, the Holy Mother of God: World Day of Peace

Readings of the day: RB Prologue 1-7

Mass: Numbers 6:22-27; Resp. Psalm 67; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21

Mary treasured all these words, and pondered them in her heart.

Dear fellow bloggers,

Please accept apologies for the brief hiatus in posts. The author has been under the weather. Thankfully, things are looking up on this glorious day with so much to celebrate and be grateful for. We embark upon the new calendar year 2018, go back to the very beginning of the Rule of Saint Benedict, celebrate the 51^st World Day of Peace, and most importantly, honor Mary, the Mother of God. 

May we be more fervent in prayer:

Make prayer the first step in anything worthwhile that you attempt. Persevere and do not weaken in that prayer. Pray with confidence, because God, in his love and forgiveness, has counted us as his own sons and daughters.

(RB Prol. 4-5)

May we be a peaceful presence in our homes, communities, and places of work, study, and leisure:

The Lord bless you and keep you!

The Lord let his face shine upon you!

The Lord look kindly upon you and give you peace!

(Numbers 6:24-26)

May we proclaim the greatness of the Lord and rejoice in God our Savior:

Let Mary’s soul be in each of you to proclaim the greatness of the Lord.

Let her spirit be in each to rejoice in the Lord.

Christ has only one mother in the flesh, but we all bring forth Christ in faith.

(Ambrose of Milan)

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