The Fellowship of St. Columbanus

Spending Ash Wednesday ill in bed, I was unable to write an appropriate reflection for the Fellowship, or even attend mass. The only devotion I managed was reciting Psalm 103 in my little Authorized Version psalm book. Of course, I chose this psalm because I remembered that it echoed the line from Genesis, "Dust you are and to dust you shall return." (Gen. 3:19) Imagine my surprise, then, to realize when I reached verse 14 that in fact it read, "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." Polish priest imposing ashes (unknown, 1881) The Psalmist has taken a refrain from throughout the Old Testament, a reminder to mankind that we are mortal, that we are sinful, and that we must act accordingly, (see Eccl. 5:15, Ps. 104:29, Isa. 40, and Ps. 90) and turned it on its head. There is more to "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust" than only the command to "redeem the time, because the days are evil." (Eph. 5:16) There is another side: t...

Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 I Corinthians 10:31-11:1 St. Mark 1:40-45 By: Matthew David Wiseman Leprosy is usually associated with what is called Hansen's Disease, and not without some reason. Both are highly contagious skin infections which have traditionally excluded people from society. However, even a cursory reading of today's lection from Leviticus makes it clear that the biblical leprosy is not the same as Hansen's Disease. There is no deformation of fingers and toes here, and the lesions are rather different from Hansen's. The truth is that there is no clear disease or pathology which these chapters of Leviticus describe. In fact, some Jewish commentators conclude from this that there is no such disease, but rather that leprosy was a special curse from God. Ikon of Christ cleansing the leper All of this only contributes to the strangeness of what is already, for modern readers, a very strange story in St. Mark chapter 1. In our socially conscious, ev...

Job 7:1-4, 6-7 St. Mark 1:29-39 By Evan Underbrink             If you were to scan literature section of your local library or bookstore, I would bet that you’d find the happy endings are outnumbered, flanked on all sides. Upon that library shelf, where all the timeless classics reside, you'll find the joyful ends of the Divina Commedia and Odyssey . But surrounding these on all sides there is a Hamlet , Antigone , Media … Job on the dunghill, Gonzalo Carrasco             This is really no surprise that the really profound works have some necessary glare into the dark. As human beings, we do not like to contemplate death or tragedy much, and so it is right for books and art to take is places we wouldn't readily go. What benefit is there to the melancholy of death? I mean here true death and grief, not the fondled desires of morbid minds, wondering how peopl...

Malachai 3:1-4 Hebrews 2:14-18 St. Luke 2:22-40 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel. (St. Luke 2:29) Today, the Feast of the Presentation (historically the Feast of the Purification of Mary), marks the end of the celebrations of the Incarnation. In today's Gospel, Christ is taken to the Temple to be presented. According to Exodus 13, God claims the firstborn sons of Israel because they were spared in the Plague of the Firstborn in Egypt, making them holy. The image of Christ in this observance is startling: death passes over the firstborn of Israel, redeeming them from slavery and sanctifying them to God, a symbol of the death and resurrection of the firstborn of the Father. Mosaic of the Presentation. Jesuit infirmary, Rome. At the Temple, the Holy Family...

Epistle : 1 Corinthians 9:24 – 10:5      Gospel : St Matthew, 20:1-16 Collect : Graciously hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayers of thy people: that we, who are justly afflicted for our sins, may be freed by thy mercy for the glory of thy name. Today, in those communities that use either the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or the Ordinariate Rite, the Sunday of Septuagesima is kept. This Sunday marks the beginning of the three weeks of preparation before Lent. The solemnities of Christmas and of the Epiphany, in which we celebrate the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word of God, are behind us. Now, this season of Fore-Lent opens for us a new cycle in the liturgical year that will take us through the drama of our Redemption, culminating in the holy celebrations of Easter, of Our Lord’s victory over death. It is a prelude to the preparation that is Lent. It may seem redundant that we have to prepare ourselves before entering a time of -- p...

Two stories have broken this week which highlight one of the primary concerns of our Community: a breakdown in our society's ability to have a conversation. First, an interview with the psychologist Jordan Peterson went viral. The reasons for its popularity had mainly to do with the positions he took which are more friendly to Conservatives than those that are often given either in major media outlets, or by academics. But what struck me most when watching the interview is a point covered very well by the Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf, that the interviewer did not seem to hear or understand what Peterson was actually saying. Instead she consistently caricatures him and sets up straw men to knock down. John William Waterhouse's "The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius" When told that Rome fell to the Vandals, Honorius thought the chicken he had named "Rome" had died, and was relieved to find out it had not. This is only one prominent example o...

Jonah 3:1-5, 10 St. Mark 1:14-20 The truth will come out; that is the nature of truth. But human nature is not so certain. If we share the truth without love, we risk Jonah’s end, alone beneath the dead trees which might have borne us fruit. (Jon. 4:2, 7-8) If we share in love, we may often be returned hatred. But if we share the truth from a place of simple love for those with whom we share, like Christ did, we rarely spend life alone. (Eph. 4:15-16) Van Heemskerck's Jonah under the Gourd The cure for loneliness is spiritual friendship, like Abraham’s friendship with God, (Isa. 41:8-10) or the old Irish idea of the “soul friend.” And I do not mean that loneliness which strikes like some hunger pang, and is satiated by joining the virulent roustings of humans: to meet and drink and sing carouse. This is earthly desire, and is even a great good in its season. (Eccl. 3:4) I mean the loneliness which is the shadow of our own soul. This portion of our being is ...