 On this truly Holy Night, as we contemplate the implications of the fact of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ ever more deeply, it behoves me not only to wish each and every one here present a most blessed and holy feast of Easter, but to express my profound gratitude, and the gratitude of our entire monastic community, to all—here present and elsewhere in the world tonight—for all that they have contributed to the worthy and dignified celebration of the Holy Week ceremonies and most particularly of those of the Sacred Triduum, so that we might celebrate this ‘feast of feasts’ having been truly edified by the immense riches of the traditional rites of the Church’s liturgy celebrated as fully and as beautifully as we can. We are a small monastic community, but we are ambitions for the things of God and Almighty God, in His Providence, has blessed us with a large extended family of oblates, associates and friends who, out of the their love for Him and in their generosity, contributed of their time and energy and resources to embrace the disciplines necessary to sing and to serve at the altar, to clean, to sew, to paint, to erect an outdoor Way of the Cross, to arrange flowers unto His glory, etc. This evening we a privileged to inaugurate a splendid new set of solemn Mass vestments—a rich, visible manifestation both of the generosity of which we are truly blessed and of the glory we seek to give to Almighty God in each and all of our endeavours. From the bottom of our hearts: thank you. May God reward you richly! ------------------------------------------------------------ + Tonight we find ourselves here, in rural Provencal thousand-year-old church, indulging in ancient rites and chant that take hours to accomplish. We have lit a fire and taken its light to a candle, which we have serenaded as a sacramental of the salvific power of this night. We have listened to the solemn and ornate chanting of the history of God’s relations with the Jewish people, we have acclaimed the mystery of Christmas with bells and organ, and just now we have heard the solemn proclamation “He has risen.” All of this we have experienced as the world increasingly fragments and divides; in a world where where war seems to be spreading as rapidly as a virus, and where any belief or ideology or political programme is regarded as being as good as one another, regardless of its origin, intent, content or effects. To some we are curious enthusiasts for liturgical antiquities—people to be given that respect one gives to a rare species in a zoo. To others (indeed to some who should be our closest relatives, as it were) we are peculiar if not dangerous retrogrades to be ignored at all, costs and certainly not to be allowed to propagate. And to many, we are simply irrelevant: they can see absolutely no reason for anything that we do here—we are of no use or value to the world. They are literally ‘in the dark’ in respect of why we should be here, hour upon hour in the cold early mornings and late at night singing and processing and kneeling and adoring in the manner known within these very walls for over a millennium. And yet, for those of us who have been able to even glimpse that which the light that the Easter candle reveals, all that we have done makes utter sense—indeed, would that we could do more! For that light reveals the truth that this world so desperately tries to conceal: that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God who reveals to us the fact that, if we are faithful to Him and to his teachings, we shall share in his resurrection; we shall share in that unending life which no suffering or persecution or war or virus can take away. We too shall rise again, body and soul, to everlasting life with He who is risen on this holy night. But let us be clear: the light of the Paschal candle does not reveal the panacea of universal salvation. It does not for one moment suggest that everything will be all-right for everyone. That is not the truth revealed by Christ; rather, it is an insidious obfuscation of the devil. No: we must be faithful. We must convert our lives and be prepared to walk with Our Lord and allow Him to instruct us and lead us in ways and to places which, at times, we may not expect. We must even go with him to Calvary. Only then can we hope to share in His glorious resurrection. My brothers and sisters, as we go now to His altar to partake in the Eucharistic consummation of this great feast, let us give profound thanks for the ability to see by the light of Easter, and let us pray earnestly, as we did in the solemn prayers of Good Friday, that those who currently do not shall come so to do. For Jesus Christ is the definitive revelation of God in human history. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life—not only for peculiar liturgical enthusiasts, but for all men and women who have, or who shall, ever live on this earth. Amen. Alleluia! +   + Antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum. With these five words Our Lord provoked the utter indignation of the Jews who, convinced that this was sheer blasphemy, reached for stones in order to stone Him to death there and then. “Before Abraham came to be, I am.”
If we are to understand the sacred indignation of the Jews we must, of course, recall that our Lord is here attributing to Himself the name of God as revealed to Moses at the burning bush (cf. Exodus 3:14) claiming to pre-exist Abraham, the great Father of the Jewish people with whom God made the Covenant. Whatever of the stubbornness of the Jews, etc., as related in the Gospels, their utter shock at someone daring to assert that “Before Abraham came to be, I am” is more than understandable. The claim is outrageous. How can the son of a carpenter from Nazareth make such an assertion? My brothers and sisters, this is not an academic question for those interested in the study of Sacred Scripture. No: this is the question on which everything that has any importance in this world in fact turns. For in the answer to the question “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?” we find or we lose all hope, all meaning, all purpose. And this is precisely why, on this first Sunday of Passiontide, Our Holy Mother the Church plunges us into the heart of the conflict to which this question raises so violently for the Jews—for it is our conflict also, and in our response to the issues it raises lies nothing less than our eternal life or death. That is to say, we can so very easily leave aside the Nazarean carpenter’s son and regard His claims and teachings as the hopes and beliefs of yet another religious guru in history, whilst we get on with our lives seeking what power and influence we can obtain, anesthetising ourselves as best we can from the inevitable pain and suffering that comes our way by means of whatever pleasures are at our disposition. If we are fortunate—and ignore the plight of those who are not—on balance, in the end we may do well enough to be able to console ourselves at least somewhat in the face of the stark reality of our own inevitable eventual dissolution. This is a very bleak portrait of human existence, but alas, it is one that is utterly too real. How many people with whom we work or encounter, or perhaps even live, are in exactly this position! Modern life and its ambitions and pleasures all too readily consume us, deadening our ability to perceive any reality that does not pertain to the assuaging of my ego or to the tranquilization of any pain or discomfort I may encounter. Of course, ambition and pleasure are goods: that is to say that they are not of themselves evil, and that they can and do serve God and His Providential designs. But in our times they can and all too often become idols, if not gods, themselves, occluding their subsidiary nature. It is good for a young, talented person to be ambitious to place their energy, zeal and ability at the service of others: we benefit from innumerable advances in medicine, science and other academic research that is the fruit of such ambition. Even St Paul counsels being ambitious for the “higher gifts.” (cf. 1 Cor. 12:31) And there is nothing wrong with pleasure in itself: Our Lord himself rejoiced at feasts, miraculously providing the best of wines for the Wedding of Cana! (cf. Jn 2:1-11). No: we are not Quietists who are unable to get up and do anything, nor are we Manicheans or Jansenists who must regard every earthly pleasure as illegitimate and as a penance to be endured. Such positions have rightly been condemned as heresies. Nor are we counted amongst the myriads of modern pagans who worship ourselves and our abilities and the pleasures that this life affords (even as these temptations are constantly before us and can, at times, thwart God’s call and designs). For whilst we do not reject anything that is good of this world, we worship He who was before Abraham existed as the definitive revelation of God in human history. For the Carpenter’s Son from Nazareth offers us far more than career prominence or contentment. He offers us something substantially greater than any passing pleasure—legitimate or otherwise—that we may experience in this life. He offers us the possibility of never tasting death, of life that cannot be quenched by pain or suffering or illness—nothing less. My friends, in this season of Passiontide our Holy Mother the Church insists with increasing intensity that we confront anew the question “Who is Jesus of Nazareth?” Our Lenten disciplines are supposed to have cut away the distractions that encumber us so often so that now, in the stark days of the coming fortnight, we can focus more clearly on this, the one question that has literally eternal significance for each one of us, for our families and loved ones and indeed for all human persons. Let us live these days, then, particularly through the pregnant rites and texts of the Sacred Liturgy of Passiontide, with greater attention and fruitfulness. For in faithfully worshiping He who before Abraham was, is, lies our salvation. + Today’s conventual Mass of the Solemnity of Saint Benedict was sung for the intentions of the monastic community,
its oblates, associates, friends and benefactors, living and dead. Following Mass his relics were solemnly venerated. May Saint Benedict intercede for us all! La messe conventuelle d’aujourd’hui, célébrée à l’occasion de la solennité de saint Benoît, a été chantée aux intentions de la communauté monastique, de ses oblats, de ses associés, de ses amis et de ses bienfaiteurs, vivants et défunts. À l’issue de la messe, ses reliques ont été solennellement vénérées. Que saint Benoît intercède pour nous tous ! On Wednesday, before singing first vespers of St Joseph, we processed to his shrine in our woods, singing his litany, so as to chant a Te Deum in thanksgiving for his intercession in helping us to obtain our new home some six years ago.
Mercredi, avant de chanter les premières vêpres de saint Joseph, nous nous sommes rendus en procession jusqu'à son sanctuaire, situé dans notre bois, en chantant sa litanie, afin de chanter un Te Deum en action de grâce pour son intercession qui nous a aidés à acquérir notre nouvelle maison il y a environ six ans. Sancte Joseph: ora pro nobis!  Au cours de la semaine dernière, le monastère a eu le grand plaisir de recevoir un don généreux composé de deux races de volailles exceptionnellement rares : des canards de Barbarie noirs de Bresse et des poules noires gauloises de Louhans. Ils sont désormais bien installés dans le jardin du monastère, sous la protection de nos chiens, et nous espérons qu'ils se multiplieront cette saison afin que leurs races puissent s'épanouir et perdurer. Nous sommes profondément reconnaissants envers le bienfaiteur pour sa générosité et sa confiance. In the past week the monastery very happily received a generous benefaction of two exceptionally rare breeds of poultry: black barbary ducks of Bresse and black Gauloise chickens of Louhans. They are now safely installed in the monastery garden under the protection of our dogs and shall, we hope, increase in number this season so that their breeds can become more numerous and secure. We are profoundly grateful to the benefactor for his generosity and trust.
+ As the Gospel informs us, the Jews wanted to crown Christ king, but only because He gave them the bread they wanted without their having to work for it. They sought Him only for the immediate material benefits He could provide. Our Lord fled such treatment as unworthy. The bread he provided was rather in recompense for their having made the effort to contemplate Him and the words He had to say in the wilderness. Without that bread they would not have had the strength to get home. St John’s presentation of the seven signs of Our Lord is, nonetheless, clear. The miracles that are worked to manifest to the people who He is. Seeking to crown Him for the food that was given to them is in fact the antithesis of what was taught by this miracle.
Whilst the miracles of Christ, especially as recounted by the other Evangelists, often remove ailments from which somebody suffers, we must not follow Christ for our comfort, bodily or otherwise. The Church cannot be used as an instrument to provide for some material good that I want. This is the base of the sin of simony. Whilst simony is properly speaking the attempted purchase of grace, be it through relics, indulgences, or sacraments, etc., it is perfectly possible to make the purchase in kind. How often do we hear of curial officials promised a mitre in exchange for some service rendered to a higher authority? By analogy, simony can be applied to using the church for any other material benefit that might seem desirable. “Go to Mass in Spanish” they say, for example, “that you might learn Spanish”. No, we go to Mass only to worship and glorify God. We make the effort to participate in the Mass for its own sake only – not for some other end. By feeding five thousand in the wilderness, Christ demonstrates that the workman deserves his wages (Luke 10:7). Material goods are necessary for our well-being as much as to undertake the work which God has given us. Those who have left everything to follow Christ still need to have what is necessary to undertake their work, even whilst realising that the work is not for their own personal benefit. How perfectly St Paul demonstrates this point. He has earned his bread from the preaching of the Gospel, yet he continues to make his living by making tents not wanting to be a burden on those to whom he is preaching (cf. Acts 18:3, II Cor. 12:13-16). The apostle holds nothing back for himself, assuring that his tireless preaching does nothing to cause undue discomfort to his hosts. It is in imitation of this apostolic example that monks have never made a vow of poverty. The monastery cannot give what it does not have. Whether it be rooms and food for hospitality or a library to assure the brethren can provide spiritual nourishment fostered in the riches of the tradition. A monastery works that she can give of what has been produced. Even whilst dependant on benefactions they are received so the monastery can give of itself ever more generously to the service of the Church and her supernatural ends. Through this miracle of feeding the five thousand, Our Lord is teaching us far more than the correct use of material goods. The contemplation of God, the seeking of divine justice is a work which must be placed before all else if we are to truly serve God and His Church. This is the bread of life without which we cannot live. But more substantially still Our Lord uses this miracle as an introduction to His great Eucharistic discourse. “Unless you eat my flesh”, He says, “and drink my blood you have no life in you” (John 6:53). These words would scandalise the majority of His listeners, who left Him, yet St Peter would respond to the invitation to depart saying, “where else would we go you have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Only the True and everlasting bread could suffice. Those who in fact stayed with Him knew Our Lord as God: they would never dream of crowning Him just for their bread. +  + At the end of the Gospel of this Holy Mass Our Lord responds to those praising the privilege given to His Blessed Mother in bearing Him with the unexpected yet poignant riposte: “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!” The Church meditates on this teaching throughout much of the year in the Gospel of the third votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturdays. But on this third Sunday of Lent—and throughout the coming week—we would do well to ponder it a little more closely.
If we are here this morning (or reading this text) it is probable that we are blessed by God’s Providence to be amongst those who have heard the Word of God—that we self-identify as Catholics. We can sing the Creed with faith, and indeed we believe it. Deo gratias! But of course, the gift of faith is not a gnostic treasure to be guarded parsimoniously. It is not a lamp to be hidden under a bowl but is to shine for all to see so that others may come to live in and by its light. (cf. Mt. 5:15) Now, whilst it is, please God, true that we believe and are indeed grateful for the gift of faith, we may at times hesitate to put the light of our faith on a stand so that others can come to that same faith and be sustained in living it by the radiance of our example. Indeed, at times, the light shed by our own living of the faith may currently be somewhat dim for various reasons. Our Lord’s command to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven,” (Mt. 5:16) may cause us more embarrassment at times than anything else—be that in respect of our fundamental living of Christian life, or be it in respect of our particular vocation. For it is not enough simply to hear the Word of God, to have faith, to hear His call; no: in order to enjoy the beatitude of eternal life we must also keep His Word—we must live according to it; we must respond wholeheartedly to His call. It is apposite, then, that Our Holy Mother the Church confronts us with this teaching as Lent progresses. For Lent is indeed the time to make a frank assessment of my Christian life. Lent is the time to strip away the distractions and pretences through self-denial and to take time to ask myself in all candour in the silence of prayer: do I keep the Word of God? Am I responding wholeheartedly and without reservation to God’s call to serve Him in my particular vocation? Or am I holding back? Am I happy enough to be Catholic, for sure, but am nevertheless not quite prepared to give myself to God completely so that He can make use of me according to His plan—in ways that I simply cannot presently imagine? Am I too attached to my own will? Do I cling to my vices, even as I know that they are sinful? In examining our consciences in respect of keeping the Word of God, the Gospel of Sexagesima Sunday (the Parable of the Sower; Lk 8:4-15) is of real help. The Sower, as we know, scattered the seed in different places and on different types of soil. Our Lord explains: “The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Where am I in respect of this? What type of soil is my heart, mind and soul? What rocks and thorns need to be removed from them so that, as well as hearing the Word of God, I shall actually faithfully and fruitfully keep it? What do I need to change so that in due season I shall bring forth that fruit that only the generous following of my particular vocation can ensure? My brothers and sisters, these questions cannot be ignored or postponed forever. Spiritual procrastination risks spiritual death and eternal condemnation—which is why our Holy Mother, the Church, calls us each year in Lent to put aside the distractions and diversions that surround us and to take stock of the state of our souls. Let us contemplate Our Lord’s insistence that we keep the Word of God carefully in these sacred days, for even our busyness about right and good things can become a distraction that prevents us from responding to God’s will and His call, be we in the world or in the cloister. As we go now to His altar let us ask anew for the grace and humility this Lent ever to be more attentive to His voice so that we may come to rejoice in the beatitude of those “who hear the Word of God and keep it.” +  + Not everybody is ready to see Christ transfigured. Nor can all yet hear those words of the Father, “This is my beloved Son, listen to Him.” Those select apostles who were taken up the mountain to witness this great event were carefully instructed not to tell the others what they had witnessed until Christ had risen from the dead. Thus, it is with the graces we receive. Whilst they are a great gift, they are not easily sharable, nor should we try to do so without due consideration. The desert fathers, moreover, compare the mouth that is ever speaking of the graces that person has received to a dam with the floodgate open: it can never store up a reserve to be used in due season.
Speech, nonetheless, is necessary. Evil must be combatted, error corrected. Above all, God must be glorified. At the heart of so doing is the missionary imperative, to go out, convert the nations baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19). This obligation rests on all Christians. Indeed, so strong is the obligation that Christ commands us to shout it from the rooftops (Matthew 10:27), whilst St Paul speaks of preaching at both opportune and inopportune moments (II Timothy 4:2). Yet we live in a society very different from that of the first century. No longer is the Gospel received as good news. Rather, it is treated as old news that has lost its vigour. It is treated as no news, but as hearsay which has been heard and dismissed before. Its silent transformation of society has occurred, yet the devolution away from the Gospel is led by the mob, not content with a version of Christianity which is merely cultural, which lacks the power of God. Moreover, truth, they have convinced themselves, does not exist. But even they accept that truth does exist when it suits them. Anything which expresses legitimate or illegitimate difference between peoples and cultures is reprehended as erroneous. Likewise, truth is claimed to be found in the laws of science, politically manipulated to appear to contradict the Gospel. Yet the truth of nature is to be found first in God: no scientific theory can invert that. Rather, natural science can, and in itself does, point to God as Creator. It does prove the reality of truth to any who doubt its existence. We could go on... It is now very rare to find a time that is opportune for proclaiming the salvation of Christ... It is rare for people to search for truth. Before they can do so, they must accept that truth exists. Such an acceptance would call into question much, if not all, upon which they currently depend. Yet this is precisely what we need. To face truth and allow it to unsettle each and every vice that has not been completely uprooted. To allow truth to transform every aspect of our social structures which are built on ambition, jealousy, lies, or ideology. The Church's Tradition has given us the Lenten fast to reexamine that we are truly seeking God and to serve His Church. Only then can we start to find opportune times for the direct preaching of Christ. Christ is the Truth Himself. Only in Him does anything make sense. Only in Him can we live in full freedom. Peace can only come from Him. It is not a matter of awaiting the right opportunity to preach His name, but of creating the opportunity. If the transfigured Christ is going to be imprinted onto hearts everywhere, we must first renew our own wonder of God. The Incarnation must truly be good news. It must excite and animate us. Then shall the power of God show forth in the world. + |
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