Homily for Sunday 20A, 20 August 2023: Matthew 15:21-28

He answered her not a word.

St. Matthew doesn’t tell us why the Lord withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. St. Mark, in his slightly fuller account of the same incident, adds the detail that Jesus wanted to remain hidden there. At any rate, he certainly didn’t go to pagan territory in order to preach or teach or perform miracles. Why? Because Jesus was a faithful Jew, obedient to the law, as well as to his own mission from the Father. According to the law given to Israel, the Jews are a people set apart, a consecrated nation, a holy people of God. As the Psalm puts it: they are the sheep of God’s pasture, and the flock led by his hand (Ps 94/95:7).

Oblate Weekend August 2023 - Bishop Richard's Summer Talks 2023

Once again the Abbey hosted a special weekend for Oblates, from Friday 11th to Monday 14th August. Also once again Bishop Richard Moth, who is a Pluscarden Oblate, gave a series of talks for those attending. Bishop Richard has been coming to Pluscarden very regularly and faithfully since he was a teenage seminarian.

Homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration, Year A: DSP

Daniel 7:9-10.13-14 2 Peter 1:16-19 Matthew 17:1-9

We know the basic meaning of today's feast. On Mt Tabor Peter, James, and John caught a glimpse of the light of Easter, of Christ's divinity and of the glory of heaven. All that to strengthen their faith and “to remove the scandal of the Cross”, as we heard in the martyrology yesterday. I'm not so sure that “the scandal” was in fact entirely removed. You have to stumble over the humiliation of Jesus, over His suffering and over the finality of His death, in some ways that's the whole point – and all disciples would in fact stumble over it. They would be left grief-stricken, confused and utterly humiliated themselves – as those who staked their very lives on Jesus being the Messiah.

THE PILGRIM STATUE OF ST. MICHAEL AT PLUSCARDEN

Pluscarden Abbey is the 54th station in the journey of the Pilgrim Statue of St. Michael around Scotland. Our statue is a replica of the famous marble original, carved in 1507 by Andrea Sansovino, for the Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel at Gargano, in South East Italy. The plaster replica was commissioned specially for this Scottish project, which commenced in May 2022. It is scheduled to be at Pluscarden for about two weeks from 2 August 2023. 

Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, Sunday 16A: Romans 8:26-27

In today’s second reading we had just two verses from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Chapter 8. They concern how we pray in the Holy Spirit, or how the Holy Spirit prays in us.

Chapter 8 of Romans is all about Life in the Spirit, which is an essential aspect of Life in Christ. In Christ we have been redeemed, justified, adopted as Sons, sanctified and - at least incipiently - glorified. But as we’re painfully aware, we’re not yet in heaven.

Homily for Sunday 15A, July 16, 2023: Romans 8:18-23

Each Sunday, according to our current lectionary, the second reading at Mass follows its own cycle: independent of the cycle of Gospel readings. This year, from weeks 9 to 24 - that is, over 16 consecutive Sundays - we read brief extracts from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Today’s passage from Romans Chapter 8 is fraught with enormous significance and importance. Paul is here pulling together the threads of his argument so far.

Homily for St. Benedict 11 July 2023: Mark 10:17-30

Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

What a wonderful question this un-named man of the Gospel asks! He asks with such fervour, such frankness, such daring! No wonder Jesus loved him! Surely we also feel a certain instinctive attraction towards him. He puts his question not just for himself, but on behalf of all of us; on behalf of humanity as a whole.