Redemptorist News
Soul Food for Young Adult Communities: Dec.15th 2013. Third Sunday of Advent, Year A
Altar Front, Esker Church, for 3rd Sunday of Advent, 'Rejoice' Sunday.
Soul Food for Young Adult Communities: Dec.15th 2013. Third Sunday of Advent, Year A.
Click here or here for the Mass Readings for this Sunday. The Gospel is Matthew 11:2-11
Dear Friends.
Now, last Sunday the 8thof December, we usually would have celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, but because it fell on a Sunday, the day of the Eucharist, the Sunday took precedence over the wonderful Feast Day. But this by no means diminished the centrality of Mary,
Pointing to her Son
but rather it illumined her even more. Mary always points to Christ, and never away from Him. So it was apt then that we honour her demand “do as He tells you”. Now, just to remind you,- because it is a simple mistake that many people make- the Immaculate Conception refers to Mary’s own conception in the womb of her mother Ann. This was all part of God’s plan in bringing His Christ to us. Before Jesus came, someone was always preparing a spot for Him, a place only He could fill.
Pointing to Jesus, the 'Lamb'
In today’s Gospel we read of another character who points to Christ, and that is John the Baptist. We heard something about him last week, but today we learn that he is “even more than a prophet”, as Jesus tells us that John “is the man of whom Scripture says: I send my messenger ahead of you to prepare the way before you”. How important is this messenger? Well, very important. Can you recall the Annunciation? It was the moment in time the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said ‘Yo Mary, will you like be like the mother of God’s only Son…like?’, and she in her
humility responded “yes”. Then, what did she do? Did she brag to her friends that God had chosen her among all women? No. She went on a long trek over the hills to visit her cousin Elizabeth who, as the angel Gabriel promised was also pregnant. But, who was she pregnant with? I think we need to ask Zechariah. Oh, wait he can’t speak until Elizabeth gives birth. I will tell you anyways, her son is John. Jesus and John are related, they are cousins…like. There are some beautiful pictures which portray the infant John and the child Jesus playing together, watched over by Mary. Isn’t it
Mary and Elizabeth meet.
spectacular? I wonder what games they would have played as youngsters.
John was in the desert, pointing towards Jesus, and he admitted that he wasn’t even worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals, that the one coming was better than he. And this isn’t because Jesus always beat him at monopoly or scrabble, but because Jesus was someone great. Even before they were born, John was letting everyone know that Jesus was something else, was someone else, because as soon as the voice of Mary was heard speaking to Elizabeth, John leaped in the womb and so began his mission. He was eager.
I was thinking, wouldn’t it be great if we could all reflect something of Jesus? How wonderful the world would be if we could all be little Christs roaming around and doing good. But we can, no matter how idealistic it may sound. We all have the ability to point to Jesus, to bring others to Him. As I said last week, my wilderness is Dublin, but even here I have the potential to bring Christ to others. And that is what we must do.
Regardless of our surroundings, we must always point to Jesus. As the first reading tells us “let the wilderness and the arid land rejoice, the desert be glad and blossom”. The American poet Sylvia Plath in her poem ‘Black Rook in Rainy Weather” alludes to a something like this, a moment being “tricked” into radiance. That is just it. Every moment has the potential to radiate God, because He is in that moment.
Every morning as I walk to the bus, I always look at the sky. I probably look mad, but anyways. At that hour what I see is mesmerising. I see the stars, the sun, and the moon. I see clouds rolling over the dark blue tapestry becoming light. It is a wonderful sight to behold. It is all pointing towards someone, God. I stand in awe, and I am filled with such wonder. All this before 8am.
Today, Sunday the 15th of December is traditionally known as Gaudate Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, and ‘Gaudete’ means ‘Rejoice’. So regardless of what is going on, rejoice. Jesus is on His way: John in his prison wasn’t quite sure, so he sent messengers to Jesus asking ‘Are you the one who is to come?’ Jesus’s answer to them was to go back 
and tell the imprisoned (soon to be beheaded!) John,- “the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life and good news is reaching the poor”. So come on, let’s all REJOICE!!! Like John the Baptist in the womb, leap with joy, you who hear the voice of Mary and who now hear with joy the words of Christ today. REJOICE…!
God bless
Sarah.
To read ‘Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities’ for this Sunday, click here.
Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: Dec.15th 2013: 3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A
Esker Church, for Third Sunday of Advent, 'Gaudete !' Sunday, -'Rejoice !'
Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: Dec.15th 2013: 3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A.
Malachy 3:1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. (quoted in today’s Gospel, Matthew 11:2-11.
A Reflection:
A DISCOURAGED WORLD MEETS THE LIGHT!
Newgrange Dawn
The days are short and getting shorter, the nights are long and getting longer. At least for the moment. But come the end of this week and we will have reached the turn of the year, the longest night of the year, the shortest day of the year, on Saturday 21st December. Our Irish ancestors, over 5000 years ago, watched for this, too, and the burial mound at Newgrange testifies to this,- they watched for the rising of the sun on this morning of December 21st, when the light flooded into the darkest and deepest chamber. A bit like our hearts and our societies at times, when all there seems to be around us is darkness, weariness, discouragement, violence, sadness. And then that day comes when there is the turning of the year, and light floods our hearts, our communities, right to our depths. ‘It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness‘.
And in the face of that, how about this? The first Reading this third Sunday, this ‘Rejoice’
Sunday, speaks to all of us who have ‘weary hands…trembling knees… faint hearts’. Isn’t this what the approaching celebration of the coming of the Christ into our world and into our lives, is all about? Hear the words deeply:
Strengthen all weary hands, steady all trembling knees, and say to all faint hearts ‘Courage! Do not be afraid. Look, your God is coming.’ ‘
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy, for those whom the Lord has ransomed shall return….everlasting joy shall be on their faces…sorrow and lament will be ended.”
“They shall see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God.”
Our Lord,- yours and mine and all of ours- is on the way towards us, to flood the chambers of our hearts and communities with his glory, his presence, his own joy, his light. Our faces will be radiant when we gaze at the human child, the Son of the Most High, lying there for the world and for us in the feeding trough of the animals, and wrapped in the swaddling clothes of our welcome.
And then, in our blindnesses we will see, in our lameness we will begin to walk again, in
our diseases we will be cleansed, our deafness will be taken away, and our deadness will waken up to a whole new aliveness, as we hear glad tidings of great joy announced to each of our hearts and communities.
‘Rejoice in the Lord, always! Again, I say, Rejoice! The Lord is near!’
Everlasting joy shall be on our faces!
Fr. Seamus Devitt C.Ss.R. seamus.devittcssr@gmail.com
To see ‘Soul Food for Young Adult Communities’ for this Sunday, click here.
Soul Food for Young Adult Communities: Dec.8th 2013, Second Sunday of Advent, Year A
Soul Food for Young Adult Communities: Dec.8th 2013, Second Sunday of Advent, Year A.
(Click here for Mass Readings for this Sunday. Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 71, Romans 15:4-9, Matthew 3:1-12, or find them in your Bible.)
Dear Friends,
We are now entering the second week of Advent. How are you feeling? Did you know that today (Dec.8th) is known in Dublin as “cultchie’s day out?”. I’m not a fan of this expression, hailing from a
Dublin Shoppers
small town in the West of Ireland. However, over the last few months, Dublin has become my home. Yet, it will never be the home in my heart, that will always rest in the west.
In today’s Gospel, we read about a wilderness or in some translations a desert. As I reflected on today’s Gospel, this word kept coming into my mind. And I asked myself, where is my wilderness? When you think of a wilderness, sometimes the image that comes to mind is a land of desolation, dry and arid, alone and empty, spacious and dark. For me, I discovered my wilderness is Dublin. You’d think with all the people,
In the West of Ireland...
the noise and the excitement that it would be quite the opposite. It is for the very reasons that I have mentioned that it is for me a wilderness. Yet, my home in the west, may seem to others a wilderness, surrounded by nature, wildlife, vast open scenes of rolling hills, and no one for miles. To me, this is everything. I remember times when I would go to discos with friends, and in a place full of people, it felt so empty, another wilderness. Yet I noticed that in a Church, in silence and solitude, and on my own with Jesus, I feel so full and surrounded by love.
Now, what about the wilderness within? It is so easy to close our doors at night, pull the covers up over our heads, and block the wilderness outside. But what about that inner chaos? That which steals our peace, and blocks that space we should be making for Jesus
this advent: “prepare a way for the Lord” in today’s Gospel invites us to make this space. It doesn’t just mean in the world around you, but the world within you. We need to begin that inner transformation, preparing a place suitable for Jesus. Remember, when He came, He found His rest on a bed of straw, so don’t for one minute think that your heart isn’t good enough for Him, when your heart was made for Him.
So dear friends,
On this second week of Advent, prepare.
'...In the stillness the most amazing answers come to you - for questions you didn't know you were asking..'
God bless,
Sarah.
P.S. FIND ‘ESKER REDEMPTORISTS‘ on FACEBOOK from today! Spread it if you ‘LIKE’ it! Thanks! (Ed.)
P.S. 2: Click here for Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities, for this Second Sunday of Advent 2013,- ’Conscience Money- and Fire in the Belly’
SOUL FOOD for Hungry Adult Communities: Dec.8th 2013, Second Sunday of Advent.
SOUL FOOD for Hungry Adult Communities: Dec.8th 2013, 2nd Sunday of Advent. Click here for the Mass Readings for this Sunday. Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 71, Romans 15:4-9, Matthew 3:1-12.
CONSCIENCE MONEY, and FIRE IN THE BELLY:
'He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.'
A Question: By any chance, do some of our societies have people whose behaviours are actually robbing fellow-citizens? Do we have people who gladly walk all over other people, and over the public, to get ahead at all costs? By any chance, do we have people who, by their demands, put their hands in the public purse and help themselves to gross salaries?
I think every society has its quota of such behaviours. We’re no different. We cannot point the finger.
Maybe today, at this time of new beginnings, and with the Gospel that is put before us, we could recall a very useful phrase
which seems to have dropped out of use,- ‘Conscience Money’. It used to refer to money that a person paid back, probably anonymously, because of tax or other obligation avoided, and it was done to ‘relieve’ one’s conscience. There’s an acute awareness of a past or present behaviour that is morally wrong, an ignoring of the common good of all, and then, following that awakening of awareness or conscience, the consequent decision to put matters to right until the conscience is now at peace. Of course, this decision can be avoided, and the acute awareness is allowed to fade. It will not go away, of course.
Some definitions from various dictionaries: Conscience Money…
- ‘is money paid usually anonymously to relieve the conscience by restoring what has been wrongfully acquired.
- money paid because of feelings of guilt, especially about a payment that one has evaded: (an example of such usage: ‘the country regards aid as conscience money from the West’)
-payment made voluntarily to reduce guilt over dishonest dealings
-money paid, often anonymously, to relieve one’s conscience, as for an obligation previously evaded. [1840–50]
-Money paid in compensation or atonement, as for a dishonest or morally objectionable act.
It has to do with coming to our senses, and giving proof of our repentance.
Pope Francis in our time (in his recent Apostolic Exhortation ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ or ‘The Joy of the Gospel’) , and John the Baptizer in his time (heard in today’s Gospel to us), are 
voices in the wilderness, speaking to those who are willing to hear, calling for repentance from immoral or humanly wrong behaviours, from grasping money, from oppressing the poor by the structures that we accept, the practices we condone in society and as societies. We are all complicit in much that is morally wrong in society, by our silence or our fears, or our own comfort. ‘The hole is not in our end of the boat, so why worry?’
Now, change ‘Pharisees and Sadducees’ to our own names and societies and the structures of commerce, banking, politics, church,- and we then listen to these words to our own selves: ‘Brood of vipers, who warned you to fly from the retribution that is to come? But if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruit!’ ‘Even now the axe is laid to the trees, so that any tree that fails to produce good fruit will be cut down…’ Societies that do not care for all their members, for the common good, for the little ones, the vulnerable, the weak, the
elderly sick, the poor,- such societies, not matter how great or seemingly powerful, will fall by their own corruption and injustice. Justice means right relationships. If these right relationships are corrupted, the society will eventually crumble and fall. And that goes for the church as well,- there is always the constant need to look and see and repent and change, – change hearts and change structures. Christ founded a church, a community of sinners, and that is ‘as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.’ We are a pilgrim people, holy in our deepest humanity, and yet broken in so many ways and relationships.
And as we continue to repent and show proof of repentance by our actions, Jesus (‘the one who comes after me’ said John) will baptise us with, and steep us in, the Holy Spirit and fire,- the fire of longing for justice, for peace, for reconciliation, for right relationships, – that was in his own heart. That is the work of the Spirit, that is the ‘fire’ that is put into our bellies for the sake of our suffering and injured sisters and brothers, near and far.
A promise given, to every community of disciples.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, help us to hear the call to repent, to change our hearts, attitudes and structures, to be filled with your Spirit and the fire to be passionate about human beings, whoever and wherever they are. Teach us to listen prayerfully at this time of the approach of Christ, to your voice in our hearts, to our consciences calling to us now, as we look out at our world today.
And the new time, what will it look like? This is what is promised! This will happen! We believe the promises made to us by the Lord!
The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon our communities:
a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
a spirit of counsel and of strength,
a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and (our) delight shall be the fear of the LORD. (See Isaiah 11:1-10)
It will be like this, when we have repented and been washed clean and filled with the
Spirit and the ‘fire’ of Jesus Christ: (and this passage is not about Animal Welfare, but about human communities and societies! it’s the dream for us, or what ‘the kingdom of God’, God’s kind of society, will be like! )
“Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbours,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.”
Pope John XX111, who called the Vatican Council.
‘Give us once again all the miracles and gifts of Pentecost!- the prayer of John 23rd when he called the Council all those years ago.
‘Give us once again all the miracles and gifts of Pentecost!’ is our prayer today.
Fr. Seamus Devitt C.Ss.R.
P.S. RED LETTER DAY! Find ‘Esker Redemptorists’ now on Facebook! A new day dawns!
P.S. 2: Click here for ‘Soul Food for Young Adult Communities’, for this 2nd Sunday of Advent 2013
From ‘THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL’,- excerpt: Pope Francis.
‘Evangelii Gaudium’,- ‘The Joy of the Gospel’- Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation,
Nov. 2013.
From the opening two paragraphs:
1. THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew.
In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.
A JOY EVER NEW, A JOY WHICH IS SHARED
2. The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers too. Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ.
a renewed personal encounter with Jesus, the Christ
3. I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.[1]
Soul Food for Young Adult Communities: Dec.1st. 2013: First Sunday of Advent. Year A.
Soul Food for Young Adult Communities: Dec.1st 2013: First Sunday of Advent, Year A.
Click here for Mass Readings for this Sunday. Gospel is Matthew 24:37-44. Find it in your own Bible.
(Greetings to the Leaving Cert Students from Tulla, in County Clare! Thanks for coming to Esker! It was a delight to have you here for these two days! Best wishes and every blessing!)
Dear Friends,
Have you ever noticed at traffic lights, that when the little red man pops up, it warns us that we as pedestrians must stop!!! Then, after waiting, waiting and some more waiting, finally his green counterpart awakens and we can then proceed safely with our journey. Everything we do in life involves a somewhat waiting process. And all for good reason, though at the time we feel delayed and held back. It’s true what they say ‘good things come to those who wait’.
As we enter the Season of Advent, we begin the wait for the coming of Our Lord Jesus
Christ. The word Advent itself comes from the Latin word adventus, which means arrival or coming. As St. Paul tells us in the second reading today “this is the time to awake, for our salvation is now nearer than when we first believed”. This is a solemn time when we prepare our hearts for His wonderful coming. Just as with the traffic lights, each week as we journey deeper and deeper into this mystery
The coming Light is Christ.
another light beckons us further and further on our way, moving closer to Jesus. Finally, the White candle is ignited, and all life is changed, and we are changed by its radiance. That radiance is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Light that beckons us forward, like the little green man at the lights, but just like that, we must wait with anticipation for Him.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to “Stay awake, then, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come”. This calls for alertness and readiness on our part. We must be ready for that
moment when the Lord comes. The moment He entered this realm of flesh, He was a tiny infant. So small and fragile. But still, he came, after a long wait. Jesus points out that the coming of the Son of Man will be similar to the time of Noah “before the flood”.
When He comes, everything will be like new, just like after the flood. But when this time is due, no one knows, because “if the owner of the house knew that the thief would come by night around a certain hour, he would stay awake to prevent his house to be broken in to”. 
There is one song we sing at Mass during this time that I love, it’s called ‘Stay Awake, Be Ready’, which I learned a few years ago in a choir I once belonged to. We would clap our hands between Stay Awake, and Be Ready. To reflect now, the clapping reminds me of the ticking of a clock. At each clap, the hand moves closer and closer to the hour, the time, the moment when the Lord will come “the night is almost over and day is at hand”.
So, friends, stay awake, be ready and prepare your heart
for His coming.
God bless,
Sarah.
Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: First Sunday of Advent: December 1st 2013.
Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: First Sunday of Advent, Year A: December 1st 2013.
Gospel: St. Matthew 22:36-44. First Reading: Isaiah 2:1-5: Psalm 122: Second Reading: Romans 13:11-14. Click here for this Sunday’s Mass Readings.
Advent- it's a gift of God to us! -to be opened up.
ADVENT IS A GIFT!
Jingle, bells! Jingle, bells!
Ever find yourself waking up in a strange place? ‘Where am I? There’s an alarm ringing! Is it the burglar alarm? Or is it my alarm clock, my wake-up call? I take my bearings,- I remember now where I am, and what the alarm bell is about. It’s time to begin a new day.’
Or: I can ignore the alarm. Let it ring! It will stop in a couple of minutes. Then, I can go back to sleep.
Well, Advent is a wake-up call for us all, – a ‘Jingle, bell!’ time to look at where we are, and to set our faces to begin a new day: time for us to look again at how we are doing.
Or: We can let Advent simply pass us by: ignore it; turn a deaf ear to it. It will stop ringing in a little while.
Then Christmas will come, we’ll give the presents, eat the dinner, and sleepwalk right through the whole season. We will have the experience, but will miss the meaning.
‘Wakey! Wakey!’ That’s what the call is, this Sunday. “Come, let us go up to…the LORD…that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. Come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!’ It’s time to wake up, and to come to the Lord, so that we may learn once more or for the first time, to ‘walk in his paths’, to ‘walk in the light of the LORD.’
LIGHTS, LIGHTS, LIGHTS, everywhere, as we approach Bethlehem! There’s a star that’s calling us to the manger, and the manger itself is full of light, for us, for the world, – so that we may set aside our bitterness, our wars, our hatreds, our meanness, our darkness of heart towards each other, and turn our
hearts of war into hearts of peace, our hearts of destruction into hearts that bring life;- or, as the prophet Isaiah puts it today for us ‘(The peoples) shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.’
And again: ‘You know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep…the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on…light…put on the Lord Jesus Christ.’ That’s Paul, today, talking to the Roman Christians and to us.
The word ‘Advent’ means the Approach, or the Coming: Advent is our call to prepare, reminding us that the dawn is near, Christ is near- it’s time for us to wake up and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, time to get out of our ‘sleeping’ clothes, and clothe ourselves with Christ.
Christ will light up the heart of the world!- including ours!
The Dawn is coming. The sun of Bethlehem will light up the world. And, it’s good to hear our alarm bells ringing. Christ is trying to break into our world!
Pray ‘Jingle, bells! Jingle, bells!’ Pray that we will all be woken up! Wakey! Wakey!,- that’s the call to us, this First Sunday of Advent. The Lord is coming!
Fr. Seamus seamus.devittcssr@gmail.com
SOUL FOOD for Young Adult Communities: Nov.24th 2013, Feast of Christ the King.
SOUL FOOD FOR YOUNG ADULT COMMUNITIES: NOV.24th 2013:
Salvador Dali's ' Crucifixion'
Today, we celebrate the final Sunday of the Church’s Year, Feast of “Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe”.
The Gospel is from Luke 23: 36-43. Find it in your Bible, or click here for Mass Readings for this Sunday.
Greetings to the young men and women, Leaving Cert Students from St. Brendan’s Community School in Birr, Co. Offaly, who were with us on retreat during this past week! Thanks for being here, you were a real joy to be with.
Dear Friends,
Sometimes in life, we are caught by surprise when we find things turned upside down, or back-to-front,- when we are, literally, caught by surprise. We don’t expect the unexpected! A very young person, a child maybe, turns out to be very wise. A shy person we know turns out to have a wonderful smile. And someone we thought didn’t deserve a second look, suddenly captivates you by who they really are, or by something wonderful they do. The way we thought about that person isn’t in fact the real person at all.
Jesus surprises people all the time.
How about the no-hoper on Calvary, who was hanging on one side of Jesus while his companion-in-crime was hanging on the other side? As his life was ebbing away, and he
I.N.R.I.
was in the last hour or so before death, he saw the man in the middle, and the sign that was nailed above his head, detailing his ‘crime’ for which he was being put to death. It was written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, for all passers-by to read. It read, in Latin, ‘IESUS NAZARENUS, REX IUDEORUM’, or ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’. (We see it on our crucifix with just the first letters I.N.R.I.) Then he saw the ‘crown’ on this king’s head,- thorns twisted together into a crown of mockery. And, for all his suffering, this ‘king’ was calm. We’re told by Luke that ‘the people stayed there, watching Jesus’.
One criminal began to mock Jesus, telling him to get them all down from their crosses. The other one, however, rebuked him, and then turned to this ‘king’ beside him and simply said ‘ Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.’ He was the only one in the whole place to call him by his first name, ‘Jesus’ (it means ‘saviour’).
The ‘king’ beside him, – and he really was and is ‘king’ of people’s hearts- turned and answered him: ‘this day, you will be with me in paradise’. The thief had stolen heaven by simply turning to Jesus, the saviour-king.
A famous French painter, George Rouault, often painted Jesus looking like a clown. This
‘king’ with a very strange ‘crown’ might look like a clown to many, but his whole life and love (‘greater love than this no-one has…’) tells us the deepest truth of all,- how immensely loved each one of us is by the One who has come to save us and set us free.
No hopers? Not any more! We sure have some ‘king’!
'Greater love than this no-one has...'
Fr. Seamus. seamus.devittcssr@gmail.com
Click here to read ‘A CLOWN IS CROWNED’ in www.emptifulvessels.com.
Death of Fr. Alec Reid, Redemptorist, Peace-Maker.
Fr. Alec Reid C.Ss.R., (RIP) died 22nd November 2013
The Funeral of Fr. Alec Reid, ‘the quiet peacemaker’, took place on Wednesday November 27th, at 12 noon, in Clonard Monastery. You can watch it on the archives on www.clonard.com
Earlier Announcement:
We wish to announce the death of our colleague Fr. Alec Reid. He died peacefully in a Dublin Hospital at 6.40am this morning (Nov. 22nd).
We extend our deepest sympathy to his family, friends and those who got to know him as a Redemptorist in the various roles and ministries he held. He will be especially remembered for his work in the Northern Ireland peace process.
Click here for a BBC News report on his life, ministry, and his death.
Click here for his funeral notice on www.rip.ie, or as it appears in the papers.
Funeral arrangements are as follows:
Remains will be reposing at Marianella Chapel, 75 Orwell Road, Dublin 6 on Saturday 23rd from 2pm – 8pm and Sunday 24th from 1pm – 8pm.
Monday 25th Mass in Marianella Chapel @ 11am.
Following Mass Fr. Reid will be taken to Clonard Church, Belfast.
Remains will be reposing at Clonard Church on Monday 25th from 4pm – 9pm and Tuesday 26thfrom 9am – 9pm.
Tuesday 26th 7:30pm Ecumenical Service of Gratitude for Fr. Reid’s life and ministry in Clonard Church. Follow live on www.clonard.com
Wednesday 27th Funeral Mass @ 12 noon in Clonard Church. Follow live on www.clonard.com
May he rest in peace.
The death has occurred today, November 22nd, of Fr. Alec Reid, an Irish Redemptorist, who played a major role over many years in working for peace and reconciliation in the North of Ireland. Fr. Alec was 82 years of age. May he rest in peace.
His role was usually in the back-ground, but in March 1988 he was photographed
kneeling beside the body of a british soldier who had just been shot dead. This image went all over the world a day or two later when the photographer reluctantly allowed it to be published. It has become one of the iconic images from that time in Ireland.
The story was told in a special BBC programme in March 2013, 25 years after the events, entitled ’14 Days’. ”Watching 14 Days on BBC Northern Ireland last night was the most powerful sermon on following Jesus I have experienced in a long, long time”, wrote one person from Fitzroy Presbyterian community. As Rev Ken Newell, the now-retired minister of Fitzroy Presbyterian, says
“I saw in the photograph Alec himself looking straight into the camera, and I just saw a man of compassion, a man of prayer, a man of faith. It’s an astonishing picture because one of the soldiers was lying semi-naked in the shape of a cross, and his body was blood-splattered. And in that I saw an amazing link with the crucifixion of Christ.”
Fr. Alec was born in Nenagh, County Tipperary in 1931. We understand that he played hurling with the Tipperary Minors before leaving home to join the Redemptorist Congregation in August 1949. He was professed as a Redemptorist in 1950 here in Esker, Athenry, and was ordained priest seven years later in Cluain Mhuire, Galway. He ministered for most of his life in Belfast, and for a period in Dundalk. He passed away peacefully in St. Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin on November 22nd, 2013.
Click here to see an RTE programme about Fr. Alec Reid, entitled ‘The Secret
Rev. Harold Good (left) and Fr. Alec Reid (Right) after receiving the "René Cassin" Human Rights Award from the Basque government.
Peacemaker’.
Check out BBC for their programme ’14 Days’, shown in March 2013.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. (May his faithful soul be on the right hand of God!)
Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: November 24th 2013: Feast of Christ the King.
Soul Food for Hungry Adult Communities: November 24th 2013:
FEAST OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE.
Gospel Reading: Luke 23:35-43. Find it in your Bible, or missal, or click here for Sunday Mass Readings.
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD ! JESUS CHRIST IS KING ! IOSA CRÍOST, RÍ !
Christ is the Servant King. Click here for Youtube, for Graham Kendrick singing ‘The Servant King’:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.…
Behold your ‘king’! What kind of ‘king’?
” ‘Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And he called a child and set him before them.”
Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God, a king upon the ‘throne’ of his cross, and in every child, and in the hearts of all who welcome him.
Christ, with the rough hands of a carpenter.
Christ being baptized in the Jordan river, by John.
Christ laying his hands of blessing on children.
Christ asking ‘who is the greatest in the kingdom?’ and then calling a little child and placing the child in front of his disciples.
Christ eating at table with outcasts and other sinners.
Christ showing the disciples the wounds in his hands and side and feet.
Jesus Christ, the Redeemer: showing the wounds in his hands, for us. From apse of Clonard Redemptorist Church, Belfast.
Christ breaking bread and sharing it among the disciples,- ‘my body’.
Christ giving them the blessed cup of the blood,- his blood- of a new Covenant with God’s people,- blood poured out for all for the forgiveness of sins.
Christ on his knees before those who would shortly run away.
Christ on his knees in the garden of Gethsemane.
'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!' (Luke 23:42)
Christ turning his crowned head towards the repentant thief,- ‘this very day, you will be with me in paradise’. Imagine, salvation for the no-hoper!- and for each and every no-hoper who just turns and looks at Jesus, as this dying thief did.
Christ Jesus, nailed to the wood of the cross, about to enter into his kingdom.
Christ, ‘I am among you as one who serves’.
Christ is king! ‘Behold the Lamb of God! Behold him who takes away the sins of the world.’
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Christ is king of people’s hearts who welcome him.
He is the king who is at their service, praying with and for them, saying ‘you are my friends…!’, saying ‘Father, not my will but yours be done!’, saying ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!’
Christ saying ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!’, saying ‘Receive the Holy
The Most Holy Redeemer: see crown of thorns, and the whip for scourging him, on either side of his 'Crown': detail, from apse of Clonard Redemptorist Church, Belfast
Spirit!’, saying ‘Go out to all the world…’, saying ‘Greater love than this no-one has…’, saying ‘Come, follow me!’, saying ‘Take and eat… this my body given for you’, saying ‘Take and drink… the cup of the new covenant’ saying ‘love one another the way I have loved you’, saying ‘the way my Father loves me, that’s how much I love you! Make your home in my love! (John 15:9,10)
Christ, saying ‘Peace I leave you, my peace I give you!’; saying ‘place your finger into the
'Christ the Light of the World' - 'See, I stand at the door, knocking...' (Rev. 3:20)
wounds in my hands, and your hand into the wound in my side’; saying ‘See, I stand at the door knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sit down and have supper with that person.’ (Revelations 3:20)
And we are saying ‘Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus’.
‘I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me!’
Today’s Question: IS HE ‘KING’ OF MY HEART, -OF OUR HEARTS TOGETHER?
Seamus Devitt C.Ss.R. seamus.devittcssr@gmail.com
A Redemptorist Ireland Website