Sermons

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

The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany – Sermon by Br Daniel

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I wasn’t going to prepare a sermon for today, because this was rather a different week and our Superior preached a wonderful sermon on love and discernment yesterday, taking care of the Corinthians reading. So, I was going to find a nice sermon online and just read it for today.

I wasn’t going to preach on being known and being consecrated by God before he formed us in the womb. How we are not to be afraid, because the Lord is with us to deliver us from those who might hurt us when we do our Good Lord’s bidding. I wasn’t going to preach on the incredible love which God confesses for us in this Jeremiah passage.

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Sermon for the initial profession of Br Mpumelelo – by Br Robert James

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Scripture Readings for the Feast of the Presentation

Just as I was beginning to work on this sermon, an old friend said, “I feel as if I have dropped into my own life, and it fits.” He went on to say that it was more about what was happening within him than what was happening around him. It made me smile. It was such a great description of what we all want to be able to say. There are moments in our lives when our senses awaken and open to a greater reality, a larger world, a more whole life. Those are the moments when our seeing gives way to recognition and acknowledgement of a deeper longing and more profound reality. They are the moments of meeting, moments when divinity and humanity touch, and heaven and earth are joined. That’s what this day, the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord, is about. It’s about presence and longing. We’ve all had those moments when we were fully present, acknowledging that somehow all the pieces of our life fit with an integrity and authenticity and a reality greater than the circumstances of the moment. We’ve all had those moments, even if only briefly. And it was because of such a moment that Mpumelelo requested to make his Initial Profession. In those moments we are living today’s Feast, and we catch a glimpse of what all those present experienced. 

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Sermon for the initial profession of Br Mpumelelo – by Br Robert JamesRead More »

Sermon for the initial profession of Br Mpumelelo – by Br Robert James Read More »

Sermon for Thursday after Epiphany III

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Following a time of testing which seemingly confirmed and deepened his sense of his vocation, Jesus returns to his hometown, to the place where people thought they knew who he was, because he had grown up among them. In the already ancient words of the prophet Isaiah, he shares with the people there his sense of both his identity and his purpose. He has been anointed by the Spirit of God in a time of God’s favour, to reveal the depths of God’s heart by bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free. Poverty, captivity, blindness and oppression can be both physical and spiritual conditions, and Jesus worked against all of them as he carried out his earthly ministry.

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Sermon for Thursday after Epiphany III Read More »

Reflection for Sunday 26 January 2025 – Epiphany III – by Br Aelred

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May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

January 2025: a new year, new beginnings, new opportunities, new, new, new. A time when we sit and reflect on what  God’s will and purpose is for us in this new calendar year.

In our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he explains that we are many members of one body, in Christ. Just as the different members have different functions, we too are called to different ministries within this great body of Christ, for we all have received different gifts.

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Reflection for Sunday 26 January 2025 – Epiphany III – by Br AelredRead More »

Reflection for Sunday 26 January 2025 – Epiphany III – by Br Aelred Read More »

Sermon by Br Josias for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany

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Scripture Readings

What happens when we advocate for other people? How and where are we involved in God’s promise work of liberation that is good news to the marginalized in our day? With the ongoing injustice, exclusion and oppression that is taking place in various parts of the world, is liberation theology still a prominent theological movement?

These questions came to mind when I was looking at the first reading for this morning. The prophet’s lamentation comes out in a period of despair and disbelief, one that does not expect God to change things. Silence normally accompanies such feelings, but the prophet sets an example for us. He declares:

“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest till her righteousness shines out …”

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Sermon by Br Josias for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany Read More »

Homily by Br Luc for the Feast of the Epiphany

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May the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be praised! Today we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany whereby God manifested or revealed His only begotten Son to the peoples of the earth by the leading of a star.

Our first lesson this morning comes from the book of the prophet Isaiah. “Arise and shine!” The prophet calls to the people of Israel and to us this morning. “For your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!” (60:1). This is a wake-up call that carries with it a lot of optimism, spoken to a people that were just returned from exile and who may have given up and most probably would have wanted to pull up the covers and continue in their slumber of the status quo. The prophet Isaiah presents a vision of hope and restoration, not just for the people of Israel but for all the nations… us included! He offers a vision of timeless majesty and the power of God’s reign breaking into our world and into everything.

Isaiah is trying to renew the hope of a community familiar with the imagery of light. Although this portion of the book, usually called 3rd Isaiah, was written slightly after the first wave of exiles had returned home from Babylon, they still needed encouragement so that they could become fully alive to the doings of God. The imagery helps move them from moments and clouds of confusion and despair to a brightness full of illumination and splendor. Isaiah reveals for them the morning sunlight streaming in as through a window after a dark night and shouts to them that the glory of the Lord is shining, “Wake up and shine along!”

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Homily by Br Luc for the Feast of the Epiphany Read More »

The First Sunday after Christmas – Sermon by Br Daniel

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We tend to live our lives from one happening to the next. We all have diaries or reminders on our cell phones or laptops or tablets, or whatever electronics we use. We have lists of stuff to do. And once we have attended to the schedule, we delete it with satisfaction; job well-done. And so, it seems with Christmas: it was on the list and now it is done and deleted; job well-done. Thing is, John has a different understanding of Christmas. John invites us to contemplate a Christmas that fills us with hope and joy the whole year.

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The First Sunday after Christmas – Sermon by Br Daniel Read More »

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

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“In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.” In what days? And who are these people?

The appointed reading for today has dumped us unceremoniously into the middle of a lengthy narrative in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. The days, Luke tells us, are those of King Herod of Judea. Zechariah is a priest, married to Elizabeth; both are getting on in years, and they are childless, a source of deep embarrassment in that society. I should say, they have been childless, for it is clear that Elizabeth is now pregnant. Her young relative Mary is a virgin engaged to be married to Joseph, who doesn’t get a speaking part in Luke’s story. Elizabeth refers to Mary as a mother; in fact, Mary, too, is pregnant with her first child, and quite recently so. She remains a virgin, though; Luke quotes her as saying that she has no knowledge of man.

Oh, there’s another significant character in the story so far. He’s an angel named Gabriel.

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Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent Read More »

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent by Br Mpumelelo

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Let us pray: Make us to know Your Ways, O LORD JESUS CHRIST; teach us Your Paths. Lead us in Your Truth, and teach us, for You are the GOD of our Salvation; for You we wait all day long. Amen.

Last week we were told about John the Baptist, that “he is a voice crying in the wilderness, saying: Prepare the way of the LORD, make his paths straight” — as it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah — and I believe that each one of us had a question in their heart: “How do we prepare the way of the LORD? How do we make His paths straight?” Today, we see GOD answering that question through His Word clearly: to prepare the way of the LORD, and to make His paths straight, means to repent and bear fruits worthy of repentance! This is why Mark once said: “John was proclaiming the baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins!” (Mark 1:4)

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Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent by Br MpumeleloRead More »

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent by Br Mpumelelo Read More »

Sermon by Br Josias for the Second Sunday of Advent

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Scripture Readings

In the Name of God the Creator, the Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen!

This week marks the second week of Advent. The period of Advent for me is a time of reflection. We look at what is and anticipate what ought to come. We reflect on the life that is and hope for something better. This second week of Advent takes us from thinking about hope to a related idea of peace, something we all need to think more about.

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Sermon by Br Josias for the Second Sunday of AdventRead More »

Sermon by Br Josias for the Second Sunday of Advent Read More »

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