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Jesus “lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: Blessed are you”!
He formally and publicly declared his disciples blessed, that is, righteous before God – over against the self-appointed judges of righteousness, usually represented in the Gospel by the Scribes and the Pharisees.
Some more progress is now being made with the restoration of our Lodge, in that joiners have been in to start work on a new roof.
Our new St. Joseph's guest house kitchen has been completed by the installation of a beautiful stained glass panel.
The Prior and Monks of Pluscarden invite young people (aged 18-35) to celebrate the Liturgy with them from Wednesday of Holy Week until Easter (16 – 21 April).
Pope St. John Paul II designated Candlemas, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, 2 February as a special World Day for the Consecrated Life. This year 2 February fell on a Sunday, making a special gathering on that day less convenient. So our Bishop Hugh decided to gather the Religious of his Diocese together, here at Pluscarden, on the Monday following.
A significant recent acquisition of the community is a beautiful new (relatively) tractor for our garden. Its predecessor defied all efforts to get it functioning quite some time ago, and has been much missed.
Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
40 days after Christmas, the Lord comes to his Temple. In this way he fulfils the prophecy of Malachi, which we had in our first reading today. All lovers of Handle’s Messiah will instantly recognise these words: The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple... Who shall stand on the Day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire… And he shall purify the sons of Levi...
Jerusalem: probably around 80 years after the decree of Cyrus, allowing the Jewish exiles to return home from Babylon. A Second Temple, much inferior to the First, is more or less up and running. But the Jewish people remain dominated by enemies all about. If some of them inhabit the holy City, they do not possess it.
Between Vespers and Benediction on the Feast of the Epiphany, here at Pluscarden, we sang part of Christina Rossetti's 1972 Carol "In the Bleak Midwinter":
The word “phenomenon” came into English from the Greek, and technically means a thing or fact perceived, the immediate object of actual perception. Today we are celebrating the Epiphany of the Lord. The word “epiphany” is related to the word “phenomenon” and denotes a manifestation of a supernatural being.