by Sr Tamsin Mary Geach o.p.
It is fashionable to decry the old-fashioned three-fold disciplines of Lent – prayer, fasting and almsgiving- as ‘negative’, over against a more ‘positive’ approach – ‘taking up’ rather than ‘giving up’. For example a certain person has publicised on the internet their intention to take up the Saxophone for Lent, as well as signing up for a well-publicised 40 days of colour-coded online sponsored act of generosity.
by Sr Mary Felix Rileyo.p.
To-day February 2nd we celebrate a feast-day which is accepted by The Church as The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord which celebrates the events recorded in today’s Gospel reading taken from St. Luke ch.2: 20-35 which is worth reading, pondering, and questioning.
by Sr Tamsin Mary
A Talk given at the Dominican Seminar
My community – which is small - decamped en masse to our Mother House at Stone for Christmas. A certain sister there who is in her eighties took my breath away as she outlined her programme for the next few days. She would be taking part in an ecumenical walk singing carols through the town on Christmas Eve. Then she would be playing the flute at a Mass for Children in the evening in Stone, and then she would be playing again at the main Mass on Christmas morning in another parish. Meantime other sisters from that community were dispersing themselves through the deanery – we were present and represented at eight Masses in four different parishes over Christmas.
Why am I mentioning this?
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by Sr M.Pauline Burling
Today’s feast has several fine images which could provide the starting point for a good meditation: the guiding star, the three gifts, the camels, the wise men themselves or the mighty, yet fearful King Herod.
Instead I would like to take the lines of our reading from Paul’s letter to Titus 3:4-5
‘When the kindness and love of our Saviour appeared, he saved us. It was not because of any good works we ourselves had done but because of his own mercy that he saved us through the washing by which the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and life.’
To Praise, To Bless, To Preach.