Episodes
Friday Jun 28, 2019
Schola Christi - Prayer of the Heart
Friday Jun 28, 2019
Friday Jun 28, 2019
This was the February gathering for Schola Christi, a meeting open to all members of the Secular Oratory and adults who are interested. We began with a discussion of The Practice of the Jesus Prayer in the context of the ascetical life of the Christian followed by a history of the use and making of the prayer rope. Presented by: Fr. David Abernethy, C.O. and Ren Witter
If it is true that only the prayer has the power to awaken and deepen the spirit within us, that which makes us human beyond the body and the soul, then only the one who prays is a normal human being. Because of this fact, prayer is above all things, before all things and must accompany them all. “Nothing good can be done without it,” says the Russian pilgrim. The Jesus Prayer is precisely the practice which offers us this path for, the pilgrim says, “it is the continual and uninterrupted invocation of the name of Jesus on the lips, the heart and the mind, in the feeling of His presence, in all places, at all times, even during sleep: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’”
Friday Jun 28, 2019
Schola Christi - Holy Day and Sacred Hour
Friday Jun 28, 2019
Friday Jun 28, 2019
On the second Saturday of March, Members of the Secular Oratory gathered with Fr. David for a discussion on 'Holy Day and Sacred Hour.' The group read and reflected upon a brief selection from 'Meditations Before Mass' by Msgr. Romano Guardini.
"It is the Paschal Mystery that becomes the cypher through which we understand the Divine Repose of the Sabbath. The Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord unfolds the deepest meaning of God's rest. Guardini writes: "The divine repose of the Sabbath now mingles with the triumph of the Resurrection. Into the hum of peace breaks the fanfare of victory. Promise and fulfillment have become one! For the Sabbath looked back in eternity to the beginning. Sunday looks forward in eternity to the end, to what is to come."
And this Divine Repose finds its expression in time in the Holy Mass. Eternity enters time! "This entry is the holy hour, the constantly recurring “now.” It is not as though there existed one hour which man reserves for his God; God Himself, bearing His salutary destiny, enters into the hour, which attains self-realization through Him. It now becomes part of the new creation. Through such an hour time contains eternity, and eternity embraces time."
For a brief moment, time enfolds eternity. Even in our adoration of the Blessed Sacrament when the Host is exposed to our gaze during Mass and one might say even when exposed for our worship during Adoration, we must not lose sight of this reality and allow it to become something banal! Rather we must let this reality permeate us and take this seed of eternity back into the world with us.
http://scholachristi.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-holy-day-and-sacred-hour-divine.html
Friday Jun 28, 2019
Schola Christi - The Revelatory Word
Friday Jun 28, 2019
Friday Jun 28, 2019
On the second Saturday of April, Members of the Secular Oratory gathered with Fr. David for a discussion on 'The Revelatory Word.' The group read and reflected upon a brief selection from 'Meditations Before Mass' by Msgr. Romano Guardini.
As an act, the Holy Mass speaks to us in a variety of ways. First, Guardini tells us, God makes Himself known through His words of revelation and through this also reveals to us what the world is and who we are as human beings. Through the readings and through the speaker - - God speaks. But the mystery of God's word extends to the inspiration it gives rise to in the heart of those who listen. The wisdom of God penetrates the individual and renews the soul. What takes place, then, is not simply the transmission of information but rather a personal encounter with the Living and True God. Thus, Guardini states, "It is not sufficient merely to accept ideas and understand commandments. We must lay bare our hearts and minds to the power that comes to us from beyond." We must prepare the soil of our hearts to receive the seed of God's word. It is a word that must be proclaimed, not simply read; heard and allowed to penetrate to the depths of a person's religiosity. We must cultivate that soil through preparing ourselves by meditating upon the scriptures ahead of time, reading passages in their entirety and in their context and developing a love for the Word within our hearts.
http://scholachristi.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-revelatory-word-encounter-with.html