Sermons

Sermons preached at various occasions by Brothers of St Benedict’s Priory

Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

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Scripture Readings

In the period leading up to the stories we heard from Mark’s Gospel this morning, Jesus has been quite busy, with many demands on his time and attention and energy. He had tried to take his disciples aside to what should have been a quiet place, only to be met by a crowd of over 5,000 people, all of whom he had somehow fed. He managed to end that day alone in prayer, but started the next day by walking across a lake on the water to re-join his disciples. Since then, there had been no end of crowds, with everyone bringing their sick to him for healing. There had also been an argument with Pharisees and scribes, which he turned into a teaching moment for the crowd and then for his disciples.

Perhaps Jesus went to Tyre and Sidon in the hope that nobody in that territory would recognize him, and he could have some time and space to himself. If so, it didn’t work. He is met by yet another person who not only knows who he is, but needs his help. He doesn’t seem to respond at all graciously to the disturbance.

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Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after PentecostRead More »

Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost Read More »

The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost – Sermon by Br Daniel

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Scripture Readings

We do not seem to get away these days from Jesus and bread, and what it might mean. Last week Jesus told us: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Today Jesus tells us: “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Big stuff. Fearful stuff to ponder.

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The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost – Sermon by Br Daniel Read More »

Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

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Scripture Readings

Why are you here this morning? What are you expecting or hoping for from our time together?

This morning’s gospel reading continues the story from last week. The crowds were following Jesus then, and today they’re looking for him again. Why? What were they expecting or hoping for?

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Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost Read More »

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

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Scripture Readings

This morning’s gospel reading is a fascinating drama with many entry points for our imaginations, beginning with the first line. I wonder what it would have been like for the disciples to get back into the boat and cross over the sea again with Jesus, after their experience of the overwhelming storm and astonishing actions of Jesus on the previous journey, which Br Aelred reflected on with us last week? Interestingly, this time Mark does not even mention the disciples. It is almost as if Jesus is alone in the boat.

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Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Read More »

Chapter 2024 Sunday Volmoed

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readings for the day

This meditation is primarily directed toward the Brothers from the Order of the Holy Cross, but I also tend to believe what Br George Guiver, Community of the Resurrection asserts in his new book, all Christians are monks… so you are not off the hook.

When Rob asked me if I wanted to preach today, he suggested it might be my swan song. I know he meant this is the kindest possible way, but spoiler alert – the swan dies. Here is a short poem in case you don’t remember the story: The silver Swan, who, living, had no Note, when Death approached, unlocked her silent throat, leaning her breast upon the reedy shore, thus sang her first and last, and sang no more: “Farewell, all joys! O Death, come close mine eyes! More Geese than Swans now live, more Fools than Wise.” I’m not sure why, but this feels relevant to Chapter…

I’m hoping that Rob meant swan song in the artistic sense… not that he has some peculiar knowledge about my imminent demise…

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Chapter 2024 Sunday Volmoed Read More »

Sermon for Trinity Sunday

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Scripture Readings

Today in the Church calendar is Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost. The doctrine of the Trinity has been developed since the early years, as the Church has thought together and argued a lot about the nature of God, eventually deciding for the most part on a Trinity of persons in a Unity of being. Some theologians might like us to consider aspects such as the homoousias and hypostases of God this morning. But we’re not going to do that.

Instead, I intend to heed the sage advice of Columbanus, a Celtic monk from the 6th century who insisted that “no one must presume to search for the unsearchable things of God: God’s nature, the manner of God’s existence, God’s selfhood. These are beyond telling, beyond scrutiny, beyond investigation. Who then is God? God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God. Do not look for any further answers concerning God.”

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Sermon for Trinity Sunday Read More »

Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost – The Works of the Holy Spirit – by Br Mpumelelo, N/OHC

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Scripture Readings

As I was contemplating on today’s Lessons during the week, the thing that attracted my heart the most in the book of the Acts is where the HOLY SPIRIT gives the disciples the ability to speak about GOD’s Deeds of Power in different languages so that everyone who is there can hear what GOD is saying to them in their own languages, which made me highlight the love of GOD that brings His people back to Him! The love of GOD that brings all nations back to Him! God’s love that brings back all languages to Him! God’s love that brings all races back to Him! This is the first thing the HOLY SPIRIT did to make it clear that no one living under the sun is shut out from hearing the Gospel. Everyone created in the image of GOD is invited to the Feast of the Kingdom of Heaven! That is why we must not fail to spread the good news of JESUS even today to all the people we live among or meet because everyone is called to hear the mighty works of our GOD who created us with His amazing love!

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Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost – The Works of the Holy Spirit – by Br Mpumelelo, N/OHCRead More »

Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost – The Works of the Holy Spirit – by Br Mpumelelo, N/OHC Read More »

Sermon for the Initial Profession of Br Josias Morobi

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Readings used for the service

There is an old lament in monastic communities that people comes and they goes, but mostly they goes… It reflects the reality that many more people enter a Monastery than are ever life professed. It may seem surprising, but that is exactly how it should be. People come and test a vocation and that testing confirms that most people, even very wonderful people, are not truly called to be monks. So, they go. It is a healthy process – though it can be painful.

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Sermon for the Initial Profession of Br Josias Morobi Read More »

Thursdays at Volmoed – Sermon for St Mark the Evangelist

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Scripture Readings

Today in the Church calendar is the feast day of St Mark the Evangelist, by whom is meant the author of the Gospel of Mark. The first difficulty is that we aren’t completely sure who that was. The Gospel itself is essentially anonymous, with both the author and the intended audience left unidentified within the received text. A tradition that was strongly developed very early in the history of the Church is that the Gospel was composed by a Mark who was a close associate of the apostle Peter and who wrote down what Peter taught him about what Jesus said and did.

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Thursdays at Volmoed – Sermon for St Mark the Evangelist Read More »

Homily For Easter 2 B – Preached by Br Luc

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Scripture Readings

br luc

Good Morning and a very Happy Easter to you!

The beauty of Easter is that we celebrate it for a very long time and intensely. First we have the Octave, which is an eight day celebration of this great event in the history of creation with the same solemnity as the resurrection Sunday itself, followed by at least six weeks(42 days to be precise) of what we call Eastertide to allow the message sink. The gospel readings during this period are passages that deal with one or the other account of the appearances of the risen Lord

Today’s passage majors on Thomas, popularly known as the doubter but was he really? Humanity has a way of putting labels on people based on perceived negatives at the expense of the numerous positive or good things the same individuals may have done. If we follow scriptures closely, slightly before Jesus went to Bethany to raise Lazarus, shortly after the Jews attempted to kill him by stoning and the disciples were cautioning him about it, it is Thomas who is quoted declaring… “Let us also go that we may die with him” (John 11:16). That right there is courage even in the face of death but instead of Thomas being called the ‘courageous one’, all we seem to remember is the doubt. Thomas is portrayed as a person who operated from the mind or experiential knowledge level and therefore had to see in order to believe. Some preachers make Thomas sound like he wanted to believe but his mind or intellect, or call it want of empirical knowledge, kept him from following his heart in what it desired.

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Homily For Easter 2 B – Preached by Br LucRead More »

Homily For Easter 2 B – Preached by Br Luc Read More »

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