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Is it Good News?

by Sr Ann Catherine Swailes

A sermon for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Adoration

When I was growing up in rural North Devon, members of local churches banded together to visit their neighbours who had fallen away from the practice of Christian faith, handing out free copies of the gospels, in order to encourage them to return to the fold. In a at least one case, however, this enterprise proved a little counter-productive.  My own family, at that point, might best have been described as lapsed CofE, and it did nothing to persuade my mother to revisit the question of church-going, abandoned in her teens, when she encountered on the door step the organist from the Anglican church in the village, who greeted her seemingly more in sorrow than in anger and announced in lugubrious tones, “well, Mrs Swailes, I’m afraid I’ve brought you the good news…”

I truly mention this not to scoff at what was undoubtedly a worthy and courageous initiative, but, rather, to acknowledge what might, if we were honest, form at least part of our own reaction  to the gospel passages which we hear read as we approach the beginning of Lent in which we hear we hear the Lord offer not, at first sight at any rate, words of reassurance, but rather words of condemnation.

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Touching the untouchable

by Sr Ann Catherine Swailes

Evensong Sermon, Clare College Chapel, February 16th 2020  (Matt. 9.20-22; Mark 25-9; Luke 8.43-48)

The Woman with the issue of blood
The Woman with the issue of blood

In our exploration together of encounters with Jesus, we have this week something of a mid-term special offer: two for the price of one. Or, rather, more-  potentially infinitely more -  than two for the price of one. Because behind and within the stories of the two women we have just heard we can discern in outline stories of other encounters with Jesus.  Even, perhaps, our own.

I said the stories of the two women, but perhaps it would be better to say the story. When the woman with the issue of blood appears on the scene, she interrupts a narrative already in train – the Lord has started out on his way to the house of Jairus when she pushes her bashful way through the crowd. But it’s not just an interruption; and nor are these two random snapshots of a day in the life of Jesus, which just happen to be juxtaposed, with no intrinsic connection between them.

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Presentation Weekend

by Sr Tamsin Mary 

Some weekends in our house are very quiet;  others much less so.   Last weekend, the weekend of the Presentation was exceptionally busy:

On Friday Sr Mary Magdalene was in Stone, delivering a 'St Thomas weekend' on the topic 'Participation in Trinitarian Life'.  About 20 people attended, including two enquirers who are currently staying with us.

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“Give me Bow, give me Bow”

A sermon to celebrate 150 years of religious life in Bow

by Fr Javier Ruiz-Ortiz

Fr. Javier preaching
Fr. Javier preaching

 

Today is the 40th day after Christmas: the day of the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple, the day of the Purification of Our Lady. This is the also the Day in which the Church celebrates Consecrated life, that is, this is the day when we give thanks to God for those women and men who have decided to follow God in a path of obedience, poverty and chastity.

Many of us have benefited from the witness, care and dedication of consecrated people.  I was taught in my primary school by the members of the Order of the Company of Mary our Lady. The ministry of the Verona Father (Comboni fathers) first planted the idea of missionary work in my heart.  And I have fond memories. Perhaps you have too. Despite the bad press some orders have had in the past years and acknowledging that some members of those orders have fallen short of their vows, nonetheless today we gather to give thanks to God that He has inspired men and women to dedicate themselves to the service of God, his Church and society.

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The best words in the best order?

OP Seminar 2020: A Dominican Approach to Poetry

by Sr Ann Catherine Swailes

Sr Ann Catherine preaching at the Dominican Seminar
Sr Ann Catherine

 

When Fr Martin asked if I would give this paper, I felt honoured, intrigued and excited – but also somewhat daunted. I’m – obviously – a Dominican, and, in one way or another, I’ve been approaching poetry for most of my life. But I was nonetheless hitherto unaware that there was such a thing as a Dominican approach to poetry as such.  I was tempted, initially, to model my approach on the story - sadly, probably apocryphal - of a certain 19th century Oxford undergraduate.  In those days, whatever one’s principal area of study, everyone reading for an Oxford degree was required to pass a short, and, truth to tell, not terribly taxing examination in divinity at the end of their first year.  It became generally known among the student body that, in the section on the Old Testament, examinees would be asked to name either the Kings of Israel, or the Major and the Minor prophets. 

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