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Saint Maelruain, Bishop and Abbot

July 7th, 2010

“New wine in fresh skins”
Mt 9 : 17

Here we see Jesus in controversy once more with the Pharasees, and this time about fasting. Jesus was not against fasting so much as against exaggeration in fasting that could show the love of God. If ever we fast, we should do so in solidarity with the people of the many Third World countries who have no option but to fast every day.
At times, we allow man-made customs to prevent us from proclaiming the message of the Gospel with Joy and Love. God’s ways are human and earthly but there is always the straight path of joy and celebrations. “How can the wedding guests go on mourning so long as the groom (Jesus) is with them?”

We should always try to remain at peace, seeking and praying to be worthy disciples as Jesus calls us to pour new wine into new wineskins. We have to be made new to be able to absorb Jesus’ words and life, ready at all times to accept change.
Religion is to be deeply enjoyed and God is to be celebrated. If we want to find the language to celebrate, nothing will surpass the Psalms as a source.

Prayer


Prayer Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth, serve the Lord with gladness. Come before him singing for joy. (Psalm 99)

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Just a Thought

How the Holy Family prayer: A Reflection by Pope Benedict XVI

“I would like to invite you to reflect on the place of prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home of Nazareth, in fact, is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to ponder and to penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.

Pope Paul VI during his visit to Nazareth said “we come to understand the need for a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ.” And he added: “First, it teaches us silence. Oh! That there would be reborn in us the esteem for silence, that wonderful and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit: while we are deafened by so many noises, sounds and clamorous voices in the frantic and tumultuous times of modern life. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be resolute in good thoughts, intent upon the interior life, ready to listen well to the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of the true masters.”

We can glean several insights on the Holy Family’s prayer and relationship with God from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ childhood. We may begin with the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, “when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”(2:22). Like every observant Jewish family, Jesus’ parents go up to the temple to consecrate the firstborn son to God and to offer sacrifice. Moved by fidelity to the law’s prescriptions, they set off from Bethlehem and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus, who is now forty days old. Instead of a one-year-old lamb, they present the offering of simple families; that is two young pigeons. The Holy Family’s pilgrimage is one of faith, of the offering of gifts, a symbol of prayer, and of encounter with the Lord, whom Mary and Joseph already see in the son Jesus.”

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