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ry medal of merit was established at the end of the assembly and bestowed upon initially all current members of the priory it will henceforth be awarded annually on the feast of blessed adrian fortescue patron of the priory to volunteers and benefactors of the order in britain whose contribution is noteworthy during holy mass benedict and hannah jennings made the promise of obedience please pray for them the celebrant and preacher was our chaplain monsignor john armitage we are grateful to him for the text of this sermon where sin abounds grace abounds all the more romans 5 29 when we see the abundance of sin and evil in our world we have to remind ourselves of this truth of our faith for it is a truth of faith needed in each generation to guide humanity through the abundance of sin found in every age the sense of powerless that comes in the face of man s inhumanity to man was described by the roman historian livy in 56 bc here are the questions to which i should like every reader to give their close attention what life and morals were like what men and what policies in peace and in war territory was established and enlarged then let him note how with the gradual relaxation of discipline morals first subsided as it were then sank lower and lower and finally began the downward plunge which has brought us to our present time when we can endure neither our vices nor their cure amid such turmoil the word became flesh and lived among us as the world today faces the challenges of war and peace our awareness that we can can endure neither our vices not their cure is either a recipe for despair or a public witness to the truth of our faith that where sin abounds grace abounds all the more the suffering of the people of ukraine the holy land and the many countries trapped in the grip of violence injustice and poverty witness to a seemingly never ending story of violence and despair the hymn abide with me describes the turmoil of change and decay but most importantly gives the remedy o thou who changest not abide with me let us not be disheartened by the challenges that face the world for the suffering of humanity unlocks the wellspring of god s mercy which can make even the driest land become a garden can restore life to dry bones cf ez 37 1 14 so let us become agents of this mercy channels through which god can water the earth and make justice and peace flourish this mercy is lived out each day as the church seeks to witness to the teaching of the good news that sets people free and the service of god s people especially the poor and the sick the talk of the order s ambassador to the palestinian authority last friday on the work of the holy family hospital in bethlehem expressed in the most powerful way the continuation of a work of the order inspired by our catholic faith and the call to serve the sick and poor the holy family hospital has a direct link to the first hospital in jerusalem set up by blessed gerard and which continues to this day to be open to all regardless of faith or nationality in these troubled times may our prayerful support and generosity to our hospital be great as our brothers and sisters face a turmoil as great as any in the time of blessed gerard so where is the abundance of grace which will overcome the abundance of sin in our time it is where it has always been in the hearts of faithful men and women who recognise that despite the change and decay god always abides with his people for the word became flesh and lived among us new life does not come about by a change in structures but by the renewal of the human heart for you renew the church in every age by raising up men and women outstanding in holiness living witnesses of your unchanging love they inspire us by their heroic lives and help us by the constant prayers to be the living sign of your saving power today we also celebrate our fellow countryman st edward the confessor who lived through the change and decay of his times his simple piety the unaffected generosity of his nature enabled him to serve the men and women about him by easing their burdens relieving their necessities and confirming them in their allegiance to the faith mgr knox reflected that the conqueror who diverted the stream of history went to his grave disappointed and lies there a historical memory the confessor whose ambitions could be satisfied by finding a poor man his dinner saw no corruption in death and lives the patron of his fellow countrymen mgr ronald knox like all the saints we celebrate this month st therese st bruno st john leonardi their lives were shaped by the knowledge that the one who never changes would always abide with them this is a definition of holiness where ordinary men and women who do extra ordinary things because they believe like our lady that the promises made them by the lord would be fulfilled in the aftermath of the reformation pope paul v asked st john leonardi to reflect upon the problems facing the church of their time those who want to work for moral reform in the world must seek the glory of god before all else if at first glance they appear difficult compare them with the magnitude of the situation then they will seem very easy indeed great works are accomplished by great men and women and great women and men should be involved in great works the truth is we know we have to change as st john henry newman reminds us for to live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often we are troubled in our conscience by our cowardice our complacency our lack of courage we feel guilty that we don t do more and this is where we stop perfection simply means becoming the person god has created me to be be cannot change structures unless we first change our selves we give up what we are now with the help of god s grace for what we can become as we celebrate the great works of blessed gerard if they are to be more than the history of the past the church calls challenges even demands each one of us today to build an order of great works fit for our times as we defend the church by our service of the sick and poor great works are accomplished only by great men and women and great women and men should be involved in great works and if at first glance our structural challenges appear difficult compare them with the magnitude of the situation we face as servants of gods mercy to our fallen world then the minor issues we face will seem very easy indeed gerard teaches us by his life that the changes we all long for in our troubled world can only begin with the human heart and this comes about by humility which understands that all i have is a gift of god and the gift grows only by sharing it with others the consequence of this gift is a greatness of the spirit that we know as nobility of heart it is a depth of generosity at the very centre of who we are that we willingly share wight those most in need i am what i share and i share what i have received for a loving god it is holiness alone that renews and changes the world the church and the order and in our founder we hear why he was called the humblest man in the east the servant of the poor and kind to strangers his appearance was not impressive but it was a noble heart that made him conspicuous on this his feast day let us renew our vows and promises made at our profession and when we joined the order much is to be done as in our time as we commit ourselves once again to be instruments of grace to overcome the evil and suffering of our world inspired by gerard s humility and nobility of heart may we walk in his footsteps as witnesses of hope as great men and women who have committed themselves to the great works of our beloved order for where sin abounds grace abounds all the more blessed gerard pray for us grand priory of england ad multos annos posted on monday october 23 2023 category click to see all related catholic life grand prior reports saint joseph a meditation this wonderful meditation upon saint joseph was preached at the august day of recollection by fr paul keane chaplain of the university of cambridge priest of brentwood diocese and recently a magistral chaplain of our order we are very grateful to him for these spiritual insights from the holy family and st catherine by bordoni devotion to st joseph amdg i was not meant to be here nor were the professed knights this weekend we were to be on retreat at farnborough abbey but the abbey became unavailable and instead we shall make the retreat in october but with every loss there is a gain we can be here however let me bring something of farnborough to golden square not its beautiful chapel or the tomb of emperor napoleon iii but st joseph even if we know farnborough we may not immediately associate it with the spouse of our lady but the national shrine of st joseph is at the abbey if any of us did not know there was a national shrine of st joseph you have not failed your english catholic proficiency test its existence has been a well kept secret since it was originally established at mill hill in 1866 by fr herbert vaughan the future cardinal archbishop of westminster he sought and received from blessed pope pius ix permission for a canonical coronation of a statue of st joseph receiving the pope s specific blessing for the crowning of images of our lady began in the early seventeenth century such coronations were extended to only one other saint st joseph in the late eighteen century it began with the crowing of his image at kalisz in central poland in 1796 sadly mill hill was closed and sold in 2006 but thankfully it was arranged that the crowned statue of st joseph and its surrounding shrine should go to farnborough this was apt because the foundress of the abbey empress eugene the wife of napoleon iii gave a donation to help found the st joseph s society for foreign missions for which mill hill was built in brief we have had a national shrine to st joseph since 1866 its crowned statue is now at farnborough we may not be at the abbey but for this first talk in golden square let us spend time with st joseph to go to joseph is something st teresa of avila would heartily support in her autobiography she wrote of him i am quite amazed when i consider the great favours our lord has shown me through the intercession of st joseph and the many dangers both of body and soul from which he has delivered me it seems that to other saints our lord has given power to succour us in only one kind of necessity but this glorious saint i know by my experience assists us in all kinds of necessities hence our lord it appears wishes us to understand that as he was obedient to him when on earth so now in heaven he grants him whatever he asks chapter 5 as catholics we have customs and expressions that others may find odd for example if you feel crowded in a restaurant just say grace before you eat and make the sign of the cross you will find that your neighbouring diners will promptly edge away and whilst on that experience teaches that however sure you are that the waiter or waitress has brought everything to the table the moment you begin grace they will bring over a forgotten condiment or begin pouring your wine either way they freeze in shock or are blithely unaware of your muttered prayer while we end up feeling embarrassed as if caught out but say grace we should because we should never eat the fruits of the earth and sea causally and ungratefully a catholic phrase that we use is i have a devotion to followed by some saint s name or prayer such as the rosary no one else uses the word devotion so casually and devotion is a strong word it implies a wholehearted adherence to a person or thing it makes me think of helena s passion for demetrius in a midsummer s night dream helena says to him i am your spaniel and demetrius the more you beat me i will fawn on you use me but as your spaniel spurn me strike me neglect me lose me only give me leave unworthy as i am to follow you act ii sc i now such sentiments we could judge as a little over the top and the thing about devotion within catholic theology is that it is not first a matter of our emotions but a choice of our will to be exact devotion is a virtue of religion when we choose to give god what is his by right such as giving thanks before we eat devotion is an act of the will a choice to serve our creator in fact any real act of prayer or service comes from devotion now at the same time devotions has become the word we use for pious practices or certain prayers which can be ways of focusing our hearts our minds our wills that they bring us closer to god some devotions will work for some others for others i love the stations of the cross i know clergy who do not some cling to the rosary others are left cold st teresa however would have us all become devoted to st joseph she says in her autobiography i have never known anyone who was truly devoted to st joseph who performed particular devotions in his honour that did not advance more in virtue for he assists in a special manner those souls who recommend themselves to him st teresa was ahead of the field popular devotion to st joseph had been slow to develop it was only from 1479 that a feast day was kept for him in rome perhaps certain apocryphal texts were to blame for this in the first centuries of the church there was a desire to know more about jesus childhood years than the gospels recalled what was his life like as he grew up as he grew up in nazareth so fictional accounts appeared which though the church taught were untrue became popular perhaps the most famous is the gospel of thomas where for example the child jesus struck dead a fellow child who accidentally hit him in this apocryphal gospel st joseph is depicted as a bad carpenter after all who was st joseph to teach the son of god and jesus must intervene for example when joseph cuts a plank too short for furniture our lord stretches it to the right length in many ways for a long time joseph was reduced in the popular imagination to a pretend husband and even more pretend father yes many who have gone before us thought he was not a real man because his marriage was not consummated and he was not the biological father of jesus yet st augustine in one of his sermons says of st joseph he was so much more truly the father as he was virginally the father 51 26 how is this so augustine thinks of joseph as having adopted jesus and when we adopt we are saying yes to a child who in some way we have come to know unlike most other parents who when they become parents that is create a new life have not chosen a particular child who they have come to know they must wait nine months and more to see what sort of child they have conceived therefore augustine says the father who adopts has chosen the child with his heart not simply created him from his loins it is perhaps easy for us to see our lady as a two dimensional figure a character in salvation history whose lines were written for her we forget t...
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