In days gone by there were very many sequences, but in the Missal of St. Pius V these were reduced to 3, for Easter, Pentecost and Corpus Christi, plus Masses for the Dead, if you count the Dies Irae as a sequence. Nowadays we sing it more often than in the past, as we use it as a hymn for the last week of the Church’s year. We also sing a variety of sequences, in whole or in part, at Benediction or under the guise of hymns. In addition, of course, as Benedictines we have a special sequence for the feasts of St. Benedict.
Homily for St. Margaret’s Forres, 29 May 2022, Eastertide Sunday 7C; John 17:20-26
Father: may they all be one (17:21 (x 2), 22, 23; 11). Just before entering into his Passion, at the end of the Last Supper, Jesus prays that his redeeming mission be perfectly consummated. What did he come for? Certainly, it was to take away our sins, and to save us from death. But that was, as it were, only the first necessary stage. The ultimate goal of Jesus was to bring us to God. That is, Jesus came to bring each of us individually, and also all of us together, to God.
Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, Ascension Day, 26 May 2022
Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, Eastertide Sunday 6C, 22 May 2022: John 14:23-29
If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. We are in the Last Supper discourse of Jesus, as recorded by St. John. Twice already, in the previous few verses (14:15,21), though always in slightly different words, Jesus has spoken of the link between loving him and keeping his commandments. If you love me, you will keep my commandments, my instructions, my word.
Homily for the 8'oclock Mass, 5th Sunday of Lent Year “C”, 3 April 2022, John 8:1-11
The story of the woman taken in adultery follows on very well from last week’s parable of the Prodigal Son. We are even permitted to think that this story’s original place might have been the Gospel of St. Luke, rather than that of St. John. Our text is set in canonical scripture at the beginning of St. John’s eighth Chapter. But it’s lacking there in the earliest Greek manuscripts.
Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent C, 26 March 2022; Luke 15:1-3;11-32
No matter how many times we read it, and no matter how many homilies on it we hear, the parable of the Prodigal Son retains its power to move us, to astonish us, to stir us to the depths. The story is told entirely in human terms, but what it reveals to us is the compassionate love, the patience, the mercy of God. We read the story again now in mid-lent, to remind ourselves of our need for conversion, and also of the goal of our journey, both of lent and of life.
Homily for the 8 o’clock Mass, Lent 2C, Sunday 13 March 2022: Luke 9:28-36
What is the Transfiguration? It’s a confirmation of the identity of Jesus as God’s Son: confessed by Peter (Lk 9:20), predicted by the prophets, prefigured in the law. The prophets are represented by Elijah, the law by Moses. The 3 chosen witnesses stand for all the Apostles, and for the whole Catholic Church.