May 25 2022 - St. Bede - Frequent Meditation on the Scriptures

 

The Collect prayer spoke of how God brings light to the Church through the learning of the Priest Saint Bede, also known as Bede the Venerable. 

St. Bede is a doctor of the Church born around 672 AD a time in history often called the dark ages. But St. Bede’s Benedictine monastery was anything but dark, it was infused with the light of learning. Bede was a historian who wrote biographies, martyrologies, works of science, numerous commentaries on the bible and sacred chant. 

As a historian, his Ecclesiastical History of the English People has remained one of the most authoritative historical sources of that time period, so he is even venerated by secular historians. But that is not the extent of his impact. He is credited for beginning the custom of marking the dates of history from the Incarnation with the term anno domini. So we mark the year as 2022 AD, anno domini, because of St. Bede. 

Here was an extremely active soul, who put his intellectual gifts and his learning in service of the Church, and that changed the world. And, he encouraged all souls to do same, encouraging Christians to avoid idleness. He said, “Because we cannot totally avoid idleness, we should put it to flight, as far as we can, by stirring up good thoughts, and especially by frequent meditation on the scriptures, according to the example of the psalmist who said, “Oh, how I have loved your Law, O Lord; it is my meditation all the day.” 

So to meditate on the scriptures throughout the day is a powerful way of sanctifying time, making Christ more and more the center of our life, but also stirring up inspiration. The scriptures bring us into contact with the fount of life, to meditate on them is to drink of life-giving waters, and those waters refresh us, they give us spiritual energy for doing God’s will. 

St. Bede exemplified the Benedictine principal of Ora et Labora—work and prayer. His prayer infused his work, gave him strength for his work, and his work glorified God and has left a lasting impact on the world. 

So throughout the day, sanctify the time you’ve been given by meditating on the scriptures, praying the liturgy of the hours. You will be inspired, refreshed, challenged out of complacency, awakened out of idleness, comforted in weariness, and united to Christ.

May we, like St. Bede, make Christ the center of our history by making him the center of every day, meditating on his words, imitating his love for the Father for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That the Saints may inspire us and continue to help us put Christ at the center of our life. 

That the Saints may inspire us to works of charity and caring for the needy.

That the Saints may inspire us to confess our sins, strengthen in virtue, and be devoted to the spread of the Gospel.

That the Saints may inspire us to bear our sufferings in union with Christ, and may help the suffering to know the comforting presence of God, especially the sick, the elderly, those in nursing homes, hospitals, hospice care, addicts and those imprisoned, those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

In the wake of the horrific school shooting yesterday, we pray for the victims of this shooting and their families, for all the public safety responders and for the southwest Texas communities stunned by this unthinkable incident.

For our beloved dead…

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

May 25 2021 - St. Bede the Venerable - Gifts in God's service

 The Church honors three of her Saints today: St. Bede the Venerable, St. Gregory VII, and St. Magdalene de Pazzi.  Two of them, the Venerable Bede, and Pope Saint Gregory were Benedictine Monks.

St. Bede was born in 672 and at the early age of seven began monastic training at the Benedictine monastery in Wearmouth, England.  Talk about someone who gave up mother, father, house, and lands, for the sake of the Gospel!

After completing his schooling complete, he moved to the monastery at Jarrow, England, where he spend the remainder of his life. He spent his whole life in that monastery dedicating himself to the study of Sacred Scripture and the Early Church Fathers.  He was a philosopher, writer, poet and theologian and was considered one of the most learned men of his time.

He was the author of 45 volumes of books on history, rhetoric, mathematics, astronomy, poetry, grammar, homiletics, philosophy, and Scripture. He is called "the father of English historiography" for authoring the book "The Ecclesiastical History of the English People," and is the creator of the B.C. / A.D. calendar. So it’s no surprise that St. Bede is Patron Saint of scholars and historians and he is the only English Doctor of the Church. 

Though Saint Bede lived in a monastery from the age of 7, his impact on the Church cannot be measured, as his writing, and his thought, and approach to the interpretation of scripture and history is so woven into the life of the church. He is known as Bede the Venerable. Venerable Bede. 

He, too, is a reminder, that a saint is someone who puts their God-given talents and abilities in service to the Gospel. For Bede, his gift was scholarship, writing, and facility with scripture. Yet, each of us have a similar call, to “go out and make disciples” using whatever means we’ve been given. 

For Bede, it was his writing, for the other two saints honored by the Church today, St. Gregory and Magdalene de Pazzi, they poured out the gifts they had been given. Pope St. Gregory, of course, his administrative genius and his labors for the reform of the Clergy, and St. Magdalene de Pazzi, her gift of mystical prayer. But each of us have been given gifts for God’s service. May we imitate the saints great and heroic efforts in putting those gifts in service of the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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Through the intercession of St. Bede, there may be a flourishing of intellectual gifts in the Church, and that we may learn the lessons of history, as to not repeat its mistakes.

For an increase in vocations to the religious life, especially among the Benedictine Order, and that consecrate men and women may, through their poverty, chastity, and obedience, draw souls to the love of Christ.

That during this season of Ordinary Time, Christians may imitate the virtues of the saints in the ordinary duties of our lives.

For our young people coming to an end of another school year, that over summer vacation they may be kept safe from the errors of our culture and kept in close friendship with Jesus through prayer and acts of mercy.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord