Revelation 11:19,12:1-6,10 1 Corinthians 15:20-26 Luke 1:39-56 The older I get the more time I seem to need to spend on paying attention to my body and making sensible choices. This is anything but self indulgent. When you live in community your own well-being is linked to the whole. There’s something of an implicit understanding that what …
Author Archives: Turvey Nuns
Preferring Nothing to Christ (7)
CHRIST Let them prefer absolutely nothing to Christ,and may he lead us all together to everlasting life. (Ch 72, On Good Zeal) That the Rule of St Benedict is Christological is evident on just about every page of the text. Whether St Benedict is speaking of ‘running in the way of God’s commands’ (Prologue), or …
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
Luke 12:32-48 This lengthy Gospel text from St Luke could almost be a manifesto for monastic life. I hear in every paragraph strong resonances with the Rule of St Benedict. ‘Sell your possessions and give alms.’ As I prepared to enter the monastery I went through several phases of divesting myself of my ‘worldly goods’. …
Preferring Nothing to Christ (6)
GOSPEL ‘Let us get up then, for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: It is high time for us to arouse from sleep. Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God.’ (Prologue, Rule of St Benedict) For St Benedict, Scripture is a living and active thing in the life of …
Transfiguration
Luke 9 :28-36 A voice came from the cloud saying,‘This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ Much of the spiritual life involves the following of a fairly ordinary path of joys and challenges, moments of insight and times of darkness. For some there will be a mountain-top experiences. For others there will …
Preferring Nothing to Christ (5)
‘Clothed then with faith and the performance of good works, let us set out on this way, with the Gospel for our guide, that we may deserve to see him who has called us to his kingdom.‘ (Rule of St Benedict, Prologue) St Benedict rouses us to action in his Prologue with a call that …
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)
Luke 12:13-21 Scholars tell us that in the time of Jesus 90% of people relied on the agricultural economy for their survival. The well-being of your family depended on the well- being and right use of the land. Many were tenant farmers who lived with the pressure of the landowner’s expectation of the biggest yield …
Preferring Nothing to Christ (4)
SEEK A senior chosen for his skill in winning souls should be appointed to look after them with careful attention. The concern must be whether the novice truly seeks God and whether he shows eagerness for the Work of God, for obedience and for trials. The novice should be clearly told all the hardships and …
Preferring Nothing to Christ (3)
SEEK Seeking his workman in a multitude of people, the Lord calls out to him and lifts his voice again: Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see good days? What, dear brothers, is more delightful than the voice of the Lord calling to us? Rule of St Benedict, Prologue For …
Preferring Nothing to Christ (2)
LISTEN ‘Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions,and attend to them with the ear of your heart.‘ St Benedict’s words are an invitation to intentional discipleship, an invitation to follow on a path that has been trodden for centuries. Listening with the ear of the heart is no small matter. It can challenge you …