On the Feast of St Brigid

On this feast we offer the following links in recognition that social media, Facebook in particular, often seeks to suppress Christians and their beliefs and practices so the following is from a blog that has received such treatment from FB - because, apparently, it is dangerous stuff!

Visit Shower of Roses Blog  HERE and see for yourself if this is worth suppression!  Needless to say FB allows porn, propaganda, and all sorts of incivilities without question.

A Collect for this day.
Merciful God,
origin and reward of all charity,
you called Saint Brigid to teach the new commandment of love
through her life of hospitality and her care of the needy;
give to your people, by her intercession,
a generous spirit,
so that, with hearts made pure,
we may show your love to all.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.


FIRST READING Job 31:16-20, 24-25, 31-32
Have I been insensible to poor men’s needs,
or let a widow’s eyes grow dim?
Or taken my share of bread alone,
not giving a share to the orphan?
I, whom God has fostered father-like, from childhood,
and guided since I left my mother’s womb.
Have I ever seen a wretch in need of clothing,
or a beggar going naked,
without his having cause to bless me from his heart,
as he felt the warmth of the fleece from my lambs?
Have I put all my trust in gold,
from finest gold sought my security?
Have I ever gloated over my great wealth,
or the riches that my hands have won?
The people of my tent, did they not say,
‘Is there a man he has not filled with meat?’
No stranger ever had to sleep outside,
my door was always open to the traveller.

Or: Ephesians 3:14-21
This is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name:
Out of his infinite glory, may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God.
Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine;
glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.
Amen.


RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 106 (107):35-38, 41-42.

R/. (v.1) Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love has no end.
He changes desert into streams,
thirsty ground into springs of water.
There he settles the hungry
and they build a city to dwell in.
R/. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love has no end.
They sow fields and plants their vines;
these yield crops for the harvest.
He blesses them; they grow in numbers.
He does not let their herds decrease.
R/. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love has no end.
He raises the needy from distress;
makes families numerous as a flock.
The upright see it and rejoice
but all who do wrong are silenced.
R/. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love has no end.


ALLELUIA 1 John 4:12
As long as we love one another,
God will live in us
and his love will be complete in us.


GOSPEL Luke 6:32-38
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.’ ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’


PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
As we present these gifts, O Lord,
on the feast of Saint Brigid,
may we come to know you as the source of all true love.
Through Christ our Lord.


FROM WIKI
Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland (Irish: Naomh Bríd; Latin: Brigida; c. 451 – 525) is one of Ireland's patron saints, along with Patrick and Columba. Irish hagiography makes her an early Irish Christian nun,^[3] abbess, and foundress of several monasteries of nuns, including that of Kildare in Ireland, which was famous and was revered. Her feast day is 1 February, which was originally a pagan festival called Imbolc, marking the beginning of spring. Her feast day is shared by Dar Lugdach, whom tradition says was her student and the woman who succeeded her.

Mary at the Circumcision of Jesus

Eight days ago, we were celebration the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1: 14). Today, the church is inviting us to follow the new born Jesus to the Temple. There, he will go through the rite of circumcision. It is not only physical (Jesus was physically circumcised), but also spiritual (Jesus surrendered to the will of the Father).

But at that event, His mother, Mary also circumcised herself by submitting to the will of the Father. She circumcised her heart by not occupying it with worldly desires and passions and by occupying it with meditation on the words of God.

Mary teaches us how to draw to Jesus. What is this lesson that she offers?

Saint Luke gives us a beautiful answer in his Gospel. He writes: “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (2:19), and tells us yet again: “and his mother kept all these things in her heart” (2:51b). On these two separate occasions—the presentation of Jesus in the temple as an infant, and finding Him there as a twelve-year-old child after searching for three days—Mary reacts to the mysteries of God in the same way. She reflects. She ponders. She keeps all these things in her heart.

What things? The angel Gabriel’s words. Her cousin Elizabeth’s words. The shepherds’ words. The Old Testament words about the Messiah’s coming. Every developing event, every new word.

Each time, she would arrange the pieces anew, placing the various elements in fresh configurations.

Today she would, perhaps, place the shepherds’ words beside a passage from an Old Testament prophet. Tomorrow she might place the shepherds’ words beside the words of Gabriel. On the next day, she might consider the shepherds’ words as they related to Elizabeth’s greeting.

We also must try to find a time and place, even in the midst of this noisy world, to meditate, to surrender to the will of God. “Yes, Father Thierry, I know all that, but how do I know that it’s God talking to me”? My answer to that question is always, “because you are too noisy; when you are talking, God can’t talk”. Keep quiet and you will hear God speaking to you as clear as the day. Pondering and meditating lead to hearing, and hearing the voice of God. A wise person doesn’t talk too much. He listens a lot, ponders a lot, and talks less.

Mary reverently held each word to the light and compared it with the other treasures in her bag.

Paul exhorts us to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16).

Why? Because when the word of God dwells in us over the years or over time, it flows over and touches others. You can’t help it, but go proclaim what God has revealed to you in your time of pondering and meditating.

Pondering leads to proclamation  

Mary didn’t just ponder. After some time, she carried the Good News of the Incarnation to others. Just after the Annunciation narrative, we read that Mary “set out and traveled to the hill country in haste” to tend to her pregnant cousin Elizabeth (1:39). Mary’s life of contemplation filled her with a desire to share with others the divine mysteries that had been revealed to her, so that they, too, might become people whose souls “proclaim the greatness of the Lord” (1:46b).

“The shepherds made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child”…”And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”

Mary teaches us to seek the face of Christ in all aspects of life, whether in the radiant light of joyful moments or in the darkness of sorrow and death, and even in the midst of our doubt or confusion, to continue open ourselves up to profound trust by pondering all things in our hearts. As we contemplate with our Mary the mysteries of her Son, she becomes for us “a means of learning;” she teaches us “to ‘read’ Christ, to discover his secrets and to understand his message”, so that we may then share that message with all people.

Please don’t forget our challenge this year: everyone is required to (1) bring one person to Jesus and (2) bring one person to our church.

I pray that the word of God may richly dwell in you and transform your lives to become the light that will shine in the darkness all those around you.

Happy New year!

Fr. Thierry

Peace and blessings!

"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay??? (Habakkuk 2:3).