Our Lady and St. Benedict
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“..out of you will be born for me..”
..out of the least of tribes in a non descript country village, Christ was born then..
& is to be born again on Monday evening, out of us, this our motley crew/tribe of beloved simple disciples in this non descript village of Ampleforth..
“..out of you will be born for me..”
..it couldn’t be here, out of all the stables of Christendom world wide..it couldn’t be that it will be here, could it?..
& “..out of you will be born for me”  don’t imagine it..live it please..for me..
my words or Christ’s words, voiced through me to you..you decide..
 
“till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth..”               ; Lord have mercy
“..they will live secure from then on..”                                               ; Christ have mercy
“..he himself will be peace..”                                                               ; Lord have mercy
May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, & bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.
 
 
 
He always wanted to explain things, but no one cared..so he drew.
Sometimes he just drew & it wasn’t anything.
He wanted to carve it in stone or write it in the sky
He would lie out on the grass & look up in the sky
& it would be only the sky & the things inside him that needed saying.
& it was after that that he drew the picture. It was a beautiful picture.
He kept it under his pillow & would let no one see it.
& he would look at it every night & think about it.
& when it was dark & his eyes were closed, he could see it still.
& it was all of him & he loved it.
When he started school he brought it with him,
not to show anyone but just to have it with him like a friend.
it was funny about the school. He sat in a square brown desk like all the other square brown desks, & he thought it would be red.
& his room was a square brown room like all the other rooms,
& it was tight & close & stiff.
He hated to hold the pencil & the chalk, with his arm stiff & his feet flat on the floor,
with the teacher watching & watching.
The teacher came & spoke to him. She told him to wear a tie like all the other boys.
He said he didn’t like them & she said that didn’t matter.
After that they drew, & he drew all yellow, & it was the way he felt about the morning,
& it was beautiful.
The teacher came & smiled at him “what’s this?” she said.
“why don’t you draw something like Ken’s drawing?..isn’t Ken’s drawing beautiful?”
After that his mother bought him a tie & he always drew aeroplanes & rocket ships
like everyone else.                        
What did he want to be?..different..”Mary set out” one of my favourite walks is on sea front at Tynemouth  in shadow of Benedictine priory ruins that, like Whitby, look both ways..out to sea with its risks dangers & journey of adventure..advent-ure..& inland to towns cities with stability, safe home space & calm harbours..the thrill of seeing huge ship gliding effortlessly down the Tyne & out beyond breakwater & suddenly seeing it feeling it reacting to swell of sea & force of wind..ship starts to pitch as its passengers & crew begin to feel the reality of the passage towards their shared destination..Mary “set out” out of safety of her home family & innocence, out beyond breakwater to face need of someone worse off..or better off you may want to read re-read it..a week last Monday Holy Spirit moment..an Advent encounter..vespers 30mins later due to Chapte, & I was working in my office 20mins after usual vespers time..heard thud downstairs & realised Fr Dominic had fallen; I was there in 20 secs..he was in agony having broken his leg..as Infirmary nurses mobilised, in pain & shock, his first reaction was to ask that we pray together..I naturally expected us to pray for him..he read situation differently..instead of
looking inward inland to his own crisis tragedy he said “Bede let us pray for those at this moment are in more pain than I am”..what an Advent moment..”out of you Dominic will be born for me..” out of an elderly grieving partially sighted unconfident monk in a non descript room, Christ was to be born for me..& now, through the retelling a moment of incarnation, for each of you two days early..a wonderful opportunity for us to look out to sea its risk & choppy waters & make or remember an Advent resolution with 48hrs left to complete it or especially to begin it..it is never too late..”why should I be honoured with  a visit from the mother of my Lord?” why Elizabeth then & why you & me now?..why should you & I be honoured to be looking forward to this Christmas with unusually different expectations ?..a first & different Christmas for me is how it feels..to want to look up in the sky, to keep looking at the picture, & to feel all yellow..& not to be dragooned into wearing a tie & dreaming of white Christmas’ like everyone else..for “out of you will be born for me” ..out of you for me..unbelievably different..so what of my sign of peace to person next to me in 15mins time..will it be a polite meet & greet in a square brown pew, stiff with my feet flat to floor, my knees to the kneeler, with the priest watching & watching?..or could it be, will it be, a different moment, a divine visitation?  “& when it was dark & his eyes were closed, he could see it [see him] still, “& he was all of him & he loved him”.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           [4thSunAdvent YrC Lk1;39-44]

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