Of Dust, Ashes And Fire
One week ago, Holy Mother Church reminded us that we are but dust and to dust we shall return. In doing this, she sprinkled our heads with ashes made from last year’s palms. The ashes are therefore the produce of fire, but they are used with words that remind us of the dust of the […]
The Wonderful Lady Of Cana
Here at Notre Dame Priory we celebrated yesterday our first patronal feast as a community. As you may know, there is no existing feast of Our Lady of Cana in the Roman Liturgy, even though the mystery is commemorated today, the Second Sunday after Epiphany. We have, with provisional permission from the Archbishop of Hobart, put […]
Going Out And Going In
It’s been too long since my last blog. My excuse (a good one of course!) is that internet access in our new priory is quite unstable. It works, it doesn’t work… same for the phone… So be it, it’s a very small way of taking part in the Lord’s poverty. I wanted to write something […]
Monks And Families
Today, the traditional Roman calendar celebrates the feast of the Holy Family. This devotion to Jesus, Mary and Joseph as a family is rather modern in its expression. It is undoubtedly one of the providential ways in which God sends us in every age the devotions that we need most. Today, the family is endangered […]
The Wise And The Brave
Wise men, Magi as they are called, come from the East in search of the great King, the one who had been announced as the Saviour, the very one who, from the beginning was promised as the woman’s seed and who would crush the head of the serpent. The Wise Men come from a pagan […]
“Missus Est”, A Day Of Grace
Today, Ember Wednesday in Advent, the liturgy invites us to turn our gaze to the Immaculate Virgin receiving from the archangel Gabriel the announce of the Saviour, and asking her to consent to God’s amazing plan in her life. The story we know, but each day we need to renew our faith in a God […]
I Say It Again: Rejoice!
Holy Mother Church reminds us today of those dear words of the Apostle St Paul: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, Rejoice… For the Lord is near”… Joy, real joy, is a rare commodity nowadays. It seems that there is a strict proportion between an increase in pleasures of the senses and the […]
What Will He Find?
Advent is upon us, and the liturgy of this Sunday invites to reflect carefully upon the end times, when Jesus Our Lord will return in glory to judge the living and the dead. What will He find when He returns? Will He find a people living in His love and awaiting joyfully his return? Or […]
He Knew What He Would Do
In today’s Gospel we have St John’s account of the second multiplication of loaves in which the only matter available are five barley loaves and two fish. Not much for the great multitude who were coming to Jesus. St John tells us explicitly that Jesus knew very well what He would do, but He put […]