Our community at St. Mary's Petersham mourns the passing of its brother Jerome Leo, who died after a long illness on 3rd July 2023.
Pluscarden Benedictines No. 202 News and Notes for our Friends Summer 2023
Annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Pluscarden
Homily for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A: 25th June 2023
Jeremiah 20:10-13 Romans 5:12-15 Matthew 10:26-33
There's not much Good News in today's Gospel, if we are honest with ourselves. True, I can pick out one or two highlights, focus on them and ignore the rest. It is nice to think that every hair on my head has been counted, for example, that I am valued by God.
But then one can do the opposite and quickly discover that pieces of “Bad News” significantly outnumber the highlights here. Jesus seems to ask of his disciples things that are either extremely uncomfortable or downright terrifying. And the command “do not be afraid” rings out like a refrain throughout.
Homily for the Priestly Ordination of Br Joseph Carron
Ordination of Fr. Joseph Carron
The sun shone as Bishop Hugh ordained our Dom Joseph Carron to the Sacred Priesthood on Monday 12 June. No member of Fr. Joseph's family was able to come, but plenty of friends and admirers were there. A most pleasant buffet meal was served in the cloister garden after the Mass, much appreciated by all present.
Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, 11 June 2023: Corpus Christi
Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14-16; John 6:51-58
Today’s magnificent Collect, or opening Prayer of the Mass, was written by St. Thomas Aquinas. At least; like almost all the non-scriptural parts of today’s liturgy - hymns, Antiphons, Sequence and the rest - it’s ascribed to St. Thomas. But as with the case of William Shakespeare, there are always theorists about who speculate it could have been by someone else. This Collect is anyway a work of genius: concise and clear; simple, yet profound; euphonious and strong. Of course it was written in Latin, as part of an exclusively Latin language liturgy. But even in translation it remains powerful.
Homily for Trinity Sunday Year A: 4 June 2023; John 3:16-18
God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
However many times we hear this text repeated, it retains its power to astonish us, to humble, thrill, amaze, move, inspire; to bring us to our knees in worship and thanksgiving, or to lift us up in joyful wonder. John 3:16 is a good text for the Feast of the Holy Trinity, because today especially we step back, as it were, simply to praise God: for what he is, and for what he has done; to contemplate his greatness and glory, and to ponder our eternal destiny with him.