Churches of the Day
Pictorial Thought for Today
Oct 29 - St Hilda (614-680) abbess of Whitby
Summary: St Hildawas of the royal house of King Edwin of Northumbria and became abbess of the double monastery of men and women at Whitby. Because of the school she founded there she is honoured as a patroness of women's education.
Even though she favoured the Celtic model of the Church, she accepted the decision of the Synod of Whitby to abide by the Roman Church practices.
Patrick Duffy tells her story.
A Christian Princess and King Edwin of Northumbria
Ethelburga of Kent was a Christian princess, who came north to marry King Edwin of Northumbria. As queen, Ethelburga had a strong Christianising influence on the thinking of her husband and his household.
Hilda baptised with the household
Hilda was an orphan who had become a member of the household of her great uncle, King Edwin. At age 13 she was baptised along with his household at Easter, 627. The ceremony was performed by the monk-bishop Paulinus, who had come from Rome to Canterbury with St Augustine and accompanied Ethelburga as she came north to marry King Edwin.
Abbess at Hartlepool
About 20 years later, Hilda was planning to join her sister as a nun at the monastery of Chelles in Paris, when St Aidan of Lindisfarne, persuaded her not to leave Britain. He gave her land on which to start her own monastery and later appointed her abbess of Hartlepool.
Foundation at Whitby
Sometime later King Oswiu of Northumbria charged Hilda with educating his daughter and gave her the land on which she founded a double-monastery at Whitby. This comprised two communities - one male and one female - living separately but gathered together for chanting the office. This was not uncommon in Celtic monasticism.
A Wise Spiritual Director
Hilda was a wise spiritual director. She established a library and theological school and set a high standard of holiness and charity. Five of her students became bishops, two of whom - John of Beverley and Wilfred of York - are honoured as saints. Among her disciples was the cowherd Caedmon, who became a monk and teacher at the monastery and composed poems on the terrors of the last judgment, the pains of hell and the joys of heaven. Bede says of her monastery: "No one there was rich or poor, for everything was held in common and none possessed any personal property".
The Synod of Whitby 664
The prestige of Whitby is reflected in the fact that King Oswiu chose it as the host location for the famous synod in 664 to resolve the differences between the Celtic and Roman models of Church. While Hilda herself would have preferred the Celtic practices, she accepted the Synod's decision to implement Roman practice. The monks of Lindisfarne, by contrast, could not accept the decision; they withdrew, first to Iona and later to Ireland.
Death and InfluenceChronically ill for the last six years of her life, Hilda died in 668ad. Both Glastonbury and Gloucester claim to have her relics. She had been advisor to kings, saints, and ordinary folk.
Her abbey was destroyed by the Danish invaders in 867. After the Norman conquest of England, monks from Evesham re-founded the abbey as a Benedictine house for men and it continued until the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1539. The ruined remains of the abbey is a landmark for sailors on top of the sea cliff.
A college in Oxford is named after St Hilda and she is the patroness of women's education.
St Hilda and the Ammonites
Ammonite fossils found on the shore at Whitby are said to be the petrified remains of snakes that once infested the Whitby area. Hilda brought the infestation to an end turning the snakes into stone so as to clear a site for the building of her abbey. There are three snakestones in the arms of the town. And Hilda is often depicted holding an ammonite, or snake stone, in one hand and a model of her abbey in the other. St Hilda's actions are immortalised in Sir Walter Scott's poem Marmion :
When Whitby's nuns exalting told,
Of thousand snakes, each one
Was changed into a coil of stone,
When Holy Hilda pray'd:
Themselves, without their holy ground,
Their stony folds had often found.
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Memorable Saying for Today
'Don't think you are not doing what God called you to do.
If you are a woman who honours God right where you are,
you are in ministry.'
Lysa Terkeurst
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Liturgical Readings for: Wednesday, 30th October, 2024
Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
Optional Memorial of St Colman, bishop, founded 2 churches on Inis Mór, and a foundation at Kilmacduagh.
FIRST READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Ephesians 5:21-33
This mystery has many implications for Christ and the Church.
Give way to one another in obedience to Christ. Wives should regard their husbands as they regard
the Lord, since as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife; and as the Church submits to Christ, so should wives to their husbands, in everything. Husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy. He made her clean by washing her in water with a form of words, so that when he took her to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless.In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies; for a man to love his wife is for him to love himself. A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church, because it is his body-and we are its living parts. For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one body. This mystery has many implications; but I am saying it applies to Christ and the Church. To sum up; you too, each one of you, must love his wife as he loves himself; and let every wife respect her husband.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 127
Response O blessed are those who fear the Lord!
1. O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways!
By the labour of your hands you shall eat. You will be happy and prosper. Response
2. Your wife like a fruitful vine in the heart of your house;
your children like shoots of the olive around your table. Response
3. Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord.
May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life! Response
Gospel Acclamation Jn 15: 15
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Or Mt 11: 25
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 13:18-21
The seed grew and became a tree
Jesus said, 'What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with?
It is like a mustard seed which a man took and threw into his garden: it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air sheltered in its branches.'
Another thing he said,
'What shall I compare the kingdom of God with?
It is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.'
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
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Gospel Reflection Tuesday Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Luke 13:18-21
In today’s gospel Jesus takes an image from the world of men and the world of women in that culture, a man who takes a mustard seed and throws it in his garden and a woman who takes some yeast and mixes it in with three measures of flour. In each case the small gesture produces significant results. The mustard seed becomes a tree where the birds find shelter; the yeast mixing with the flour produces bread which satisfies human hunger. These are images, Jesus declares, of the kingdom of God. Jesus seems to be saying that the coming of God’s kingdom is not always about grand gestures.
The coming of God’s kingdom, the doing of God’s will on earth as in heaven, is often to be found in what to an outside observer seems small and insignificant. Jesus is suggesting that God can work powerfully through the smallest gestures, when they reflect something of God’s Spirit. God is present in our world in and through our small acts of kindness, through our largely unnoticed actions of caring for one another. Jesus would say that even the giving of a cup of cold water has significance beyond our imagining. The eternal can be present in the simplest of gestures. Our daily efforts to be faithful to the gospel in small ways can have consequences that would surprise us. The miraculous is all around us, working through our smallest efforts at goodness, if we have eyes to see.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2024: The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications 2022/23, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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Liturgical Readings for: Wednesday, 30th October, 2024
CÉAD LÉACHT Sliocht as an céad Litir Naomh Pól chuig na hEifísigh 5:21-33
Is mór an rúndiamhair í seo, ach is á tagairt atáimse do Chríost agus don Eaglais.
A bhráithre, bígí géilliúil dá chéile le hómós do Chríost. Bíodh na mná umhal dá gcuid fear mar a bheidís don Tiarna, mar tá an fear ina cheann ar a bhean ar nós mar atá Críost ina cheann ar an Eaglais agus ina shlánaitheoir ar an gcorp. Faoi mar atá an Eaglais faoi smacht Chríost, ar an dála céanná bíodh na mná faoi smacht a gcuid fear i ngach ní.
A fheara, bíodh grá agaibhse do bhur mná faoi mar a bhí grá ag Críost don Eaglais agus thug suas é féin ar a son d’fhonn í a choisreacan do Dhia. Rinne sé í a íonglanadh le briathar i bhfothragadh an uisce d’fhonn í réiteach dó féin ina hEaglais niamhrach, gan smál ná roc uirthi ná aon ní dá shórt ach í naofa gan cháim. Go deimhin, tá d’fhiacha ar na fir a mná a ghráú mar a ghráíonn siad a gcolainn féin, mar an té a thugann grá dá bhean is dó féin a thugann sé grá. Ní raibh aon duine riamh a thug fuath dá cholainn féin; is amhlaidh a dhéanann sé í a chothú agus a chumhdach faoi mar a dhéanann Críost don Eaglais, de bhrí gur baill dá chorp sinne. “Mar sin de, fágfaidh duine a athair agus a mháthair chun bheith dlúth i bpáirt lena bhean agus aon cholainn amháin a bheidh sa bheirt acu.” Is mór an rúndiamhair í seo, ach is á tagairt atáimse do Chríost agus don Eaglais. Ar aon chuma grádh gach duine agaibhse a bhean mar é féin agus tugadh an bhean ómós dá fear.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Salm le Freagra Sm 127
Freagra Is aoibhinn do chách lenarb eagal an Tiarna.
1. Is aoibhinn do chách lenarb eagal an Tiarna, agus a shiúlann ina shlite.
Íosfaidh tú toradh de shaothair féin; beidh tú go sona séanmhar. Freagra
2. Beidh do bhean chéile mar fhíniúin thorthúil, i gceartlár do thí.
Beidh do chlann mar bhuinneáin crainn olóige, mórthimpeall do bhoird. Freagra
3. Is amhlaidh a bheannófar an duinear a mbíonn eagla an Tiarna.
Go mbeannaí an Tiarna thú amach as Síón; gach uile lá de do shaol. Freagra
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as an Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Lúcás 13:18-21 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
Fás an gráinne agus rinne crann mór de agus chuaigh éanlaith an aeir ar foscadh ina chraobhacha.
Dúirt Íosa:“Cad leis a bhfuil ríocht Dé cosúil? Cad leis a gcuirfidh mé I gcomparáid í? Tá sí cosúil le gráinne de shíol mustaird a thóg duine agus a chaith sé uaidh ina gharraí, agus d’fhás sé agus rinne crann mór de agus chuaigh éanlaith an aeir ar foscadh ina chraobhacha.”
Agus dúirt sé arís:
“Cad leis a gcuirfidh mé ríocht Dé i gcomparáid? Tá sí cosúil le gabháil a thóg bean agus a d’fholaigh sí i dtrí peice plúir nó go raibh sé gabh áilte ar fad.
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 3rd November, 2024
The Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Deuteronomy 6:2-6
Listen, Israel: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.
Moses said to the people:
If you fear the Lord your God all the days of your life and if you keep all his laws 
and commandments which I lay on you, you will have a long life, you and your son and your grandson.
Listen then, Israel, keep and observe what will make you prosper and give you great increase, as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you, giving you a land where milk and honey flow.
Listen, Israel: The Lord our God is the one Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Let these words I urge on you today be written on your heart.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 17:2-4.47. 51
Response I love you, Lord, my strength.
1. I love you, Lord, my strength, my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
My God is the rock where I take refuge; my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise: when I call I am saved from my foes. Response
2. Long life to the Lord, my rock! Praised be the God who saves me.
He has given great victories to his king and shown his love for his anointed. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews 7:23-28
Christ, because he remains forever, can never lose his priesthood.
There used to be a great number of priests under the former covenant, because death put an end to each one of them; but this one, Christ, because he remains for ever, can never lose his priesthood.It follows then, that his power to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.
To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because he has done this once and for all by offering himself. The Law appoints high priests who are men subject to weakness; but the promise on oath, which came after the Law, appointed the Son who is made perfect for ever.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation Jn 6:63. 68
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life: you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
or Jn 14:23
Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 12:28-34 Glory to you, O Lord.
This is the first commandment: The second is like it.
One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him,
'Which is the first of all the commandments?'
Jesus replied,
'This is the first:Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.'
The scribe said to him,
'Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true: that he is one and there is no other.
To love with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength and to love your neighbour as yourself,
this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.'
Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken said, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.'
And after that no one dared to question him any more.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here: https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/
Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 3rd November, 2024
CÉAD LÉACHTSliocht as an Leabhar Deotranaimí 6:2-6
Éist, a Iosrael: Gráigh an Tiarna do Dhia ó do chroí go hiomlán
Duirt Maois leis an bpobal:
Má bhíonn eagla an Tiarna do Dhia ort, ar an gcuma sin, gach lá de do shaol, agus má choimeádann tú na dlíthe agus na nósanna go léir a leagaim ort, beidh fad saoil agat, agat féin agus ag do mhac agus ag mac do mhic. Éist mar sin a Iosrael agus féach chuige go gcuirfidh tú i ngníomh na nithe a chuirfidh conách agus rath go hiomarcach ort, faoi mar a gheall an Tiarna Dia do shinsear duit I dtír ina bhfuil bainne agus mil ina slaoda.“Éist, a Iosrael: an Tiarna ár nDia, an t-aon Tiarna.
Gráigh an Tiarna do Dhia ó do chroí go hiomlán,
ó do anam go hiomlán, agus ó do neart go hiomlán.
Na briathra seo a ordaím duit inniu, bídís greanta ar do chroí.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia.
Salm le Freagra Sm 17
Freagra Mo ghrá thú, a Thiarna, mo neart thú.
I. Mo ghrá thú, a Thiarna, mo neart thú.
mo charraig thú, mo dhaingean is mo shlánaitheoir. Freagra
2. Mo Dhia thú, mo charraig, is mo dhídean; mo sciath, adharc mo shlánaithe, mo dhún.
Glaoim ar an Tiarna dar dleacht moladh agus déantar mo shaoradh ó mo naimhde. Freagra
3. Go maire an Tiarna! Is é mo charraig é Go raibh Dia mo Shlánaitheoir á mhóradh.
Thug sé caithréimeanna dá Rí agus nocht sé a ghrá dá Ungthach. Freagra
DARA LÉACHT
Sliocht as an Litir chuig na Eabhraig 7:23-28
Is sagartacht shíoraí atá ag Íosa de bhrí go bhfuil sé ann go deo.
A bhráithre, nárbh fholáir sluaite de na sagairt eile úd a bheith ann toisc nach raibh duine acu buanmharthanach mar gheall ar an mbás. Ach is sagartacht shíoraí atá ag Íosa de bhrí go bhfuil sé ann go deo. Dá thoradh sin, is féidir leis na daoine a thagann chun Dé tríd a shlánú go hiomlán de bhrí go maireann sé de shíor chun idirghuí a dhéanamh ar a son.
Ba é a leithéid sin d’ardsagart a bhí oiriúnach dúinn: sagart naofa, neamhurchóideach, gan smál, a bhí scartha ó na peacaigh agus tógtha suas os cionn na bhflaitheas; sagart nár ghá dó, faoi mar ba ghá do na hardsagairt eile úd, íobairt a ofráil go laethúil in éiric a ph eacaí féin ar dtús agus ansin in éiric peacaí an phobail. Níor ofráil seisean íobairt ach aon uair amháin riamh agus sin nuair a d’ofráil sé é féin. Rinne an dlí ardsagairt de dhaoine a raibh laige éigin iontu. Ach an briathar a neartaíodh le mionn a thug Dia i bhfad níos déanaí ná an dlí, rinne sé sin ardsagart den Mhac, eisean a bhfuil buaic na foirfeachta bainte amach aige go deo.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia.
Alleluia Véarsa Eo 6: 63, 68
Alleluia, alleluia!
Na focail atá ráite agat, a Thiarna, is spiorad agus is beatha iad.
Is agatsa atá briathra na beatha síoraí
Alleluia!
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as an Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Marcas 12:28-34 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
San am sin tháinig duine de na scríobhaithe chuig Íosa agus chuir sé ceist air:“Cén chéad aithne de na haitheanta go léir?”
D’fhreagair Íosa:
“Seo í an chéad cheann: ‘Cluin, a Iosrael, an Tiarna ár nDia is aon Tiarna ann agus gráóidh tú do Thiarna Dia ó do chroí go hiomlán,
agus ó d’anam go hiomlán agus ó d’aigne go hiomlán agus ó do neart go hiomlán.’
Seo í an dara ceann: ‘Gráóidh tú do chomharsa mar thú féin.’
Níl aithne eile is mó ná iadsan.”
Dúirt an scríobhaí leis:
“Maith mar a labhair tú, a Mháistir. Dúirt tú le fírinne gur aon é agus nach bhfuil aon neach eile ann ach é. É a ghráú ón gcroí go hiomlán, ón tuiscint go hiomlán, agus ón neart go hiomlán, agus an chomharsa a ghráú mar an duine féin, is mó sin go mór ná na híobairtí dóite agus na hofrálacha go léir.”
Nuair a chonaic Íosa gur labhair sé go ciallmhar, dúirt sé leis:
“Ní fada thú ó ríocht Dé.”
Ní raibh sé de mhisneach ag aon duine ceist a chur air as sin amach.
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
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Machtnamh ar Bhriathar Dé dia Domhnaigh
An Grá agus Aitheanta Dé
Cad é an nasg idir an ghrá agus na Deich Aitheanta, atá in onóir ag Iúdaigh agus na Críostaithe mar an teagasg morálta is áirde? Mar aon le hÍosa, feiceann naomh Pól nasc riachtanach idir an Dlí agust himpleachtaí a bhaineann le grá: “Iadsan a chleachtaíonn an grá, tá an Dlí comhlíonta acu" (Róm 13: 8). Ach ní féidir an abairt sin a aisiompú go simplí, amhail is dá mbeadh an dlí a choimead mar an gcéanna le grá ár n-chomharsa. Ar ndóigh, tá cosc ? ar dhúnmharú, goid, adhaltranas agus luí; ach iarrann Íosa i bhfad níos mó ná sin, de réir a shampla féin ("bíodh grá agaibh dá chéile faoi mar atá agamsa libh") agus de réir sampla an dea-Samaritánaigh: "Téigí agus déanaigí mar an gcéanna" (Lk 10:37). Ós chion de sheachaint ó’n bpeaca, ní mór dúinn an dlí a choinneáil i spiorad an ghrá.
Pádraig Ó Rúairí, cp,
Sliabh Argus, Átha Cliath.
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AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
