Seventeenth Sunday – 25 July 2010
Gospel : Luke 11 : 1 – 13 Year C One day, Jesus was praying…. The Apostles were struck by Your prayers, Lord Jesus …. Silent prayer, prolonged, in the solitude of the night, or the mountain…. They have anticipated the mystery of Your prayer, a prayer which did not involve repetition of formulae learned by heart… and they also want to penetrate it…. Lord, teach us to pray …. Yes, I make my own the request of the disciple. Teach me to enter into Your prayer. To this end, I don’t have to transport myself back through 20 centuries. The Mystery of the Eucharist allows me to rejoin You. You are there, always with us, continuing Your prayer unceasingly, a prayer of praise, thanksgiving, intercession. There, You invite me to enter into Your prayer … Thank You, Lord! When you pray, say : Father .. This word says everything! It is the expression of the heart …. The Holy Spirit Which You promised us, comes to help us in our weakness, The Holy Spirit makes us sons; through Him, we can say, we also can say this simple word : Abba! Father! Dad! (Rom.8). Father, may Your name be held holy …. You draw us towards what is essential : May Your Father, our Father, be known, loved by all His children on earth! A loving heart does not think of itself … Your filial heart does not dream of anything but the glory of the Father. But the glory of the Father, is the “sanctification” of His children. His Name is held holy when we live fully in His love. His Kingdom comes when we welcome and share His divine life. Father, may Your Kingdom...
Read MoreSixteenth Sunday – 18 July 2010
Gospel : Luke 10 : 38 – 42 Year C Martha welcomed Him into her house. In Your apostolic life, You have encountered all types of situations, Lord. Sometimes You have known deprivation: The Son of man has no place to lay His head (Lk.9:58). But You have also known the welcome of friends…. In the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, You felt at home. It was the warmth and simplicity of true friendship. The two sisters express this friendship according to their own temperament: Martha by preparing a good meal, Mary by listening to You ….. Martha was distracted with all the serving …. How many “Marthas” in our world to-day! People busy, running about… Always stressed, they never have time to stop for a while and catch their breath, to listen to each other… And evidently, there is no time to “pray”, to think of You, Lord. We do not hear You repeating to us : Martha, Martha, you worry and fret! Lord…..tell her to help me! Seized by her desire to give You a good welcome, Martha ends up by ordering You. What counts for her is her task, a good task which she is doing for You … but she does not concern herself with what can so easily be the case with us also, Lord! We dream of doing wonderful things for You …. and we demand Your intervention …. without first of all asking Your opinion! Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to Him speaking … Here is the essential, “the better part”. You offer it to everyone, including all the Marthas of the world. Even in the midst of our many tasks it is possible to listen to You. Grant us, Lord, to know to consult You before becoming engrossed in our ideas, our projects …. It is You Who are the sole essential in our life! You want to come and live in us …. May our hearts be a home where You can feel welcome and listened to with...
Read MoreSSS American Scholastics visit Dublin
THe Dublin Blessed Sacrament community was happy to welcome our American Scholastics Br. Anthony Marshall, SSS and Br. John Christman, SSS last July 13, 2010. They visited Dublin after attending the ordination of their classmate Fr. Cuthbert Brennan, OSB in Glenstal Abbey, County Limerick. After their visit to Ireland, Bros. Anthony and John are going to attend the SSS International Preparation for Perpetual Profession Program (IP4) in La Mure, France, the birthplace of St. Peter Julian Eymard, founder of the Congregation of the Blessed...
Read MoreFifteenth Sunday – 11 July 2010
Gospel : Luke 10 : 25 – 37 Year C What must I do to have eternal life? The question is excellent ….. but the intention is not of the same quality! Because it is to disconcert You Lord, that the question is asked… But is it only something of ancient history?…. Am I not tempted sometimes to do the same in relation to others? What is written in the law? Always, You return us to the Word of God. There we have all the enlightenment necessary to have eternal life. But it also needs humility to welcome the enlightenment with a simple and attentive heart, not by reasoning, quibbling … And who is my neighbour? The doctor of the law continues the discussion. Your reply will invite him to leave the realm of ideas to cross over into the concrete situation and to question himself. Your parable will reverse the questioning process. The question is no longer : who is my neighbour? but rather :Who has been a neighbour to the injured man? The problem is no longer the other person, it is I. Do I have in my heart, a love that lets me forget myself… see others, no matter who, known to me or unknown, to see the needy who need help, who need to be loved? The neighbour is he to whom I come close. Go and do the same yourself! Through this parable, you depict Yourself, Lord Jesus. You have made Yourself close to us, so close that You shared our sufferings, our death. With love, You take care of each one of us … because the poor man, robbed, lying on the ground, is the man deprived of grace, wounded by sin, it is also me sometimes!… Lord, good Samaritan, I say a big thank You .. And in contemplating You, I hear You say to me once more : Go, and do the same...
Read MoreFourteenth Sunday – 4 July 2010
Gospel : Luke 10 : 1 – 20 Year C From among the disciples, Jesus appointed 72 …. You had chosen the twelve Apostles to share Your mission, Lord. They were the symbol of the rooting of Your Church in the People of God. We are grafted to the twelve tribes of Israel, recalls St. Paul. (Rom.11). But You have come for all people, Jesus. Since the Bible counted 72 nations in the world (Gen 10). The choice of 72 disciples expresses Your wish to carry the Good News to all people, to tell everyone, all peoples, of the love of the Father for His children. These towns and places where you should go are those of the whole world. He sent them ahead of Him … You want to need people for Your work….. You wanted to need Mary in order to take on our human nature…. You wanted to need John the Baptist to prepare for Your coming… You want to need us to come into the world of to-day… Like the 72 disciples, You send us out ahead of You. You send us to announce that the kingdom of God is near, to invite hearts to be open to You, to welcome Your message, Your message of peace, of love: Whatever house you go into, let your first words be: Peace to this house! … He sent them in pairs…. For this message to be spread more effectively, You send Your disciples in pairs. The Law of Moses demanded two or three witnesses to convey or support something. You want above all that they convey this peace in the first place by their example…. You send us to-day to a hardened, egoistical world, where violence reigns, “Every man for himself” … Let us be true messengers of love for all people through our mutual love in the first place: You have prayed for this: that they may be one… so that the world may believe! (Jn.17:21). Through Your Eucharist, come and put this love into us, Lord Jesus! And with You, we pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers… Increase Lord, these messengers of Your...
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