{"id":415,"date":"2008-08-10T06:30:34","date_gmt":"2008-08-10T06:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/?p=415"},"modified":"2021-01-15T13:43:49","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T13:43:49","slug":"maryagnes-firstprofession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/maryagnes-firstprofession\/","title":{"rendered":"MaryAgnes First Profession not used"},"content":{"rendered":"

From left to right:  Fr Michael Gannon, Fr Raymond Idiong, Fr Ian Tomlinson SJ, Fr Moses Igba, Fr Ned Wall<\/span><\/p>\n

First Profession of Sister MaryAgnes Sunday 5th<\/sup> December 2010<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Homily given by Fr Ian Tomlinson SJ<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Second Sunday of Advent.  Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:409, Matt 3:1-12<\/span><\/p>\n

When I took my first vows in 1959, we said them individually in Latin.  One of the brethren missed out a very important word \u2013 voveo (I vow).  We were over 20 in number but the novice director noticed.  To fulfil the regulations, the poor novice had to repeat his vows properly after mass in the sacristy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Formalising commitments gives hard reality to what can otherwise be vague and vacuous aspirations.  MaryAgnes, a young woman from afar, is saying clearly and concisely, having come to know and love Jesus, that she wants to live her life poor as Jesus was poor, loving and open to all as Jesus was; above all, that she wants to work alongside Jesus, doing the Father\u2019s will as Jesus did and does,<\/em> serving the Lord in all things.<\/span><\/p>\n

I notice she is a young woman from afar.  This must be exciting for the Loreto congregation.  It is exciting that in Matthew\u2019s nativity story the wise men came from afar.  We live in a globalised world.  Today Matthew\u2019s message announces the Good News.  John the Baptist appears, preaching in the wilderness of Judea.  He cries out:  \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.\u201d  Matthew ends his Gospel with Jesus\u2019 final words: \u201cGo, therefore, make disciples of all<\/em> nations, baptising them …\u201d We rejoice that today that message is being preached; that the kingdom we work for is indeed here, close at hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

What encouragement does today\u2019s scripture give MaryAgnes.  In the second reading Paul reminds us that those people in the Old Testament who hoped and trusted in God, who didn\u2019t give up, were helped by God.  The Jubilarians we celebrated just a few weeks ago are a living reminder of what it means to hope and trust in the Lord over a lifetime.  Hope and trust, MaryAgnes, are not one-off, occasionally useful virtues.  They are the very essences of our lives.  May every setback make you eventually stronger in Christ; may every consolation ever deepen in your heart the joy and peace that only the Lord can give.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember too, MaryAgnes, the God in whom we hope and trust is always with us.  In the Contemplatio, Saint Ignatius says that \u201caccording to the diving plan …  God wishes to give me himself.\u201d  God\u2019s gift of himself to me is total.  In this Advent\/Christmas time Christ embodies diving grace beyond expectation.  God\u2019s grace will do more for you than you could ever imagine.  Remain in Christ and you will experience gifts beyond expectation.  That is what the life of grace is about.  That is why we have such lovely canticles:  Benedictus, Magnificat, the Gloria of the Angels on Christmas night, the Nunc Dimittis.<\/span><\/p>\n

God has a purpose for you, MaryAgnes: a flexible one too, because God is really interested both in your desires and hopes, and also in the desires and hopes of your congregation and community.  So, speak to God frequently but above all, like Mary of Nazareth and Agnes of Rome, listen attentively to God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam<\/span><\/p>\n

To the Greater Glory of God<\/span><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From left to right:  Fr Michael Gannon, Fr Raymond Idiong,Read More<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":24,"name":"Newsflash","slug":"newsflash","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":24,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":24,"category_count":1,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Newsflash","category_nicename":"newsflash","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"From left to right:  Fr Michael Gannon, Fr Raymond Idiong, Fr Ian Tomlinson SJ, Fr Moses Igba, Fr Ned Wall First Profession of Sister MaryAgnes Sunday 5th December 2010 Homily given by Fr Ian Tomlinson SJ Second Sunday of Advent.  Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:409, Matt 3:1-12 When I took my first vows in 1959, we said them individually in Latin. ..","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22249,"href":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415\/revisions\/22249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ibvm.org.uk\/new4\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}