If Thou Wilt, Thou Canst…
Today’s Gospel reminds us of one of the most fundamentally consoling truths of our faith: it is enough for Jesus to will our conversion and sanctification for it to be done, provided we ask Him sincerely to do so. “If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean”, prayed the leper. The Lord willed, and the […]
Monks And Wine
Every now and then when I meet someone and we speak of the new foundation in Tasmania, I am asked if the monks will make wine. The pragmatic answer is something like: “Who knows? Possibly. Tasmania produces some excellent quality wines, and it might be worth looking into”. The enigmatic answer would be more like: […]
The Holy Name Of Jesus
The Octave of the Nativity, which is also the day of the Circumcision, is the day on which the Name of Jesus was pronounced for the first time: And His Name was called Jesus, the name He had received from the Angel before He was conceived in the womb (Lk 2:21). Joseph is the one who […]
A New Year Of Grace
As I write these words, we here in Australia have already entered the New Year of Grace 2017. We wish to give thanks to Almighty God for all the graces of the past year, and to invoke HIs blessings upon all our undertakings in the year to come. Our gratitude extends to all those who […]
God’s Answer To Man’s Mess
The feast of Christmas, which each year renews our faith and incites us to deeper love for God and neighbour, is not without raising a few questions. Perhaps the most important of them is: if it is true that God has become a man to save us, then how is it that 2,000 years later […]
Hodie Scietis
Today, you shall know. Today, you shall see. Today, the Lord will come. Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow you will see His glory. These words of consolation and hope echo throughout the liturgy of this day called the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord, a day of prayer, a day of fasting, a day during […]
Super Missus Est
“Missus est Angelus Gabriel… The Angel Gabriel was sent by God….” It is this Ember Wednesday in Advent which gave us some of the most beautiful elevations of St Bernard in particular on the Gospel of the Annunciation (called homilies “Super Missus est”). So much has been written about that scene which took place in […]
She Will Crush Your Head
Such was the prophecy pronounced immediately after the Fall, and which is fulfilled on this day when the Virgin is conceived without sin. She crushes the head of the serpent at the very moment she begins to be, for she alone of all the children of men, is untainted by the original sin of our […]