Reflections from Turvey Abbey
17th DecemberO Sapientia Gen 49:2, 8-10Mat 1:1-17 O Wisdom, O holy Word of God,you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care.Come and show your peoplethe way to salvation. Today the Church silently selects her top liturgical gear. In the seven days before Christmas every collect, every antiphon and every piece of scripture has …
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THIRD WEEK OF ADVENTFRIDAYIsaiah 53:1-3. 6-8John 5:33-36 Read through the Scriptures texts. Notice the words and phrases which strike you. ‘Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity be manifest’ (Isaiah 53) What might salvation mean in your life today?
Isaiah 54:1-10Luke 7:24-30 Today’s reading from Isaiah 54 is also used in the Liturgy of the Word at the Easter Vigil. In the light of the Paschal candle this reading speaks of the promise of rescue from death and the hope of new life. In our Advent liturgy we can hear it as a text …
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WEEK THREEWEDNESDAY Isaiah 45:6-8.18. 21-25Luke 7:19-23 Today our anticipation of the coming of the Messiah gains momentum as Isaiah contrasts God’s powers with those of the popular Babylonian gods: Apart from me all is nothing.I am the Lord, unrivalled,I form the light and create the dark.I make good fortune and create calamity, it is I, …
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WEEK THREETUESDAY Zephaniah 3:1-2. 9-13Matthew 21:28-32 ‘In your midst I will leave a humble and lowly people, and those who are left in Israel will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.’ The promise that God will leave ‘a humble and lowly people’, a faithful remnant, runs throughout the Prophetic literature of the Old …
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THIRD WEEK OF ADVENTMONDAY Numbers 24:2-7,15-17Matthew 21:23-27 Today’s first reading is a rather unfamiliar text from the Book of Numbers. We hear one of the oracles of the prophet Balaam. How fair are your tents, O Jacob!How fair your dwelling, Israel!Like valleys that stretch afar,like gardens by the banks of a river,like aloes planted by …
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WEEK THREESUNDAY Isaiah 35:1-6, 10Matthew 11:2-11 Today Isaiah offers us poetic vision of all that God promises for the people of Judah: everybody and everything will be restored in a land governed by God. Judah has experienced a period of barrenness and dryness in her relationship with God. All of this God will turn into …
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WEEK TWOSATURDAY Ecclesiasticus 48:1-4. 9-11Matthew 17:10-13 The prophet Elijah is mentioned in both readings today. His message was simple: turn away from sin and turn towards God. Look back over your week. How has God called you to conversion? Photo by Eric Muhr on Unsplash
WEEK TWOFRIDAY Isaiah 48: 17-19Matthew 11:16-19 ‘If only you had been alert to my commandments,your happiness would have been like a river,your integrity like the waves of the see.’ (Is 48) ‘But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing …
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IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Genesis 3:9-15, 20Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12Luke 1:26-38 In her book, Born Contemplative, Madeleine Simon writes about the spiritual development of young children and explores her thesis that we are all born with an innate capacity for God. She says that a child’s faith journey begins the moment the mother knows that she is pregnant. …
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