Here I have put together a selection of homilies. The Word of God is ‘alive and active’ says the Letter to the Hebrews. That is not to say that it lives a hidden organic life we can trace through a microscope, as if it were a virus; but that it is inspired, a bearer of God’s eternal Spirit. Therefore it resounds to this day with quite as much force as when it was first spoken. It ever has something new to say. The preacher’s first task is to listen intently to this Word at once ancient and new, then to make his own, necessarily limited words its vehicles. I have not been able to provide translations of texts in other languages; but if you rummage around a little you will find a fair amount of material in English.

St Benedict

11 July 2016 Mount Saint Bernard
What is a monk? A monk is a man who is entirely given. Continue reading

12. Sunday C

19 June 2016 Mount Saint Bernard
What contradiction Christ knew, humanly speaking! In communion with the Father through the Spirit, in communion with mankind through the flesh, his earthly life culminated in a cry of dereliction that rent his heart within even as, outwardly, it was pierced by a lance. Continue reading

Good Friday

25 April 2016 Mount Saint Bernard
Let’s not judge just by what we see, be sensible and say, ‘Oh, it was nothing’. It is everything! Continue reading

Maundy Thursday

24 April 2016 Mount Saint Bernard
A ceremonial from 1600, the heyday of Francis de Sales, mentions the custom of bishops washing the feet of cathedral canons, but says it might be better still, as a lesson in humility, to seek out ‘poor people’ instead. It was Pius XII, pope during WW2 and its aftermath, who integrated the washing of the feet into Maundy Thursday’s Mass, limiting it to ‘twelve chosen men’. Continue reading

Christmas Day

25 December 2015 Mount Saint Bernard
The art and poetry of Christmas loves to meditate on this stunning paradox: that the Maker of all things, the invisible, boundless God, should be corporeally present in a human person, an infant wrapped in swaddling cloths, the most confined posture imaginable. Continue reading

Solemn Profession of Br Nicholas Palmer

8 December 2015 Mount Saint Bernard
More than once, I assure you, some angel will bring you a commission to which, like Mary, you can only reply with consternation: ‘How shall this be?’ At such times, like her, do not be afraid; entrust yourself to God’s providence. Continue reading

34. Sunday B

22 November 2015 Sjømannskirken i London
Et videre problem: Hva forbinder vi nå med kongestand? Vi tenker oss pliktoppfyllende, velfriserte damer med kjærlighet til pølsehunder; vi tenker oss herrer i lysegrå dress som åpner broer og taler til nyttår. Continue reading

Our Lady of the Rosary

7 October 2015 Mount Saint Bernard
Sixteenth-century Catholics saw that a spiritual battle underlay the clash of superpowers. They saw that the soul of Christian Europe was at risk. Continue reading

23. Sunday B

6 September 2015 Mount Saint Bernard
There is a risk that we reduce Scripture to a medley of favourite themes, a Classic FM collection, with only lyric second movements and the occasional piece for solo harp. We like bits of Scripture that promise consolation; we’re unkeen on those that speak of judgement. Continue reading

St Jerome

3 September 2015 Holy Cross Abbey, Whitland
St Jerome's awful temperament was proverbial. His vast store of invective would have been a goldmine for Monty Python, had it occurred to John Cleese to look up the Patrologia Latina. Continue reading

Sts Joachim and Anne

26 July 2015 Mount Saint Bernard
We are responsible not just for enacting our own assent to God’s call in the form of a Suscipe; we are also responsible for helping others enact theirs. We are called to share the gifts we have received, to make our talent increase, then pass on the capital, to nurture the realisation of others’ potential. Continue reading

Br Jonathan Gell RIP

25 July 2015 Mount Saint Bernard
I would say that sometimes Br Jonathan seemed almost luminous. He was possessed of a joy, a lightness, and a strength that made him appear, right to the end, the bearer of some glorious secret Continue reading

Good Friday

7 April 2015 Mount Saint Bernard
What today seems like the end is the beginning of everything. Continue reading

Easter Day

5 April 2015 Mount Saint Bernard
Fifteenth-century painters show Christ literally rising out of death, standing up from a stone coffin, one foot within, one foot outside, his hand holding a banner of victory. A century or two later, naturalistic settings with elaborate tombs are in vogue, with the Lord coming forth robed in white, all gleaming and unworldly. Continue reading

Maundy Thursday

2 April 2015 Mount Saint Bernard
Some of us could write treatises on transubstantiation - that is good and can be useful. But it is not what the Twelve would have thought of then—that is now—in the Upper Room. Continue reading

Ash Wednesday

18 February 2015
Our longing for life, for love, for communion is what really defines us, much more so than our bodies with its passing pains and pleasures. We have a soul, and our soul lifts up our whole being in a yearning to live forever. Continue reading

Br Boniface McGinley RIP

6 February 2015 Mount Melleray Abbey
As Mt Melleray’s porter he exercised for decades a ministry of welcome, receiving all comers kindly. He practised the asceticism of suspended judgement. Continue reading

2. Sunday B

18 January 2015 St Edmund’s College, Cambridge
Israel was divided and imperilled. Its religion was decadent, administered by reprobates like Hophni and Phineas, Eli’s sons, filling their already fat bellies with choice pickings from the altar at Shiloh. Continue reading

Christmas Midnight Mass

24 December 2014 Mount Saint Bernard
We remember everything that is not peace: wars, famine, poverty; conflicts at work; friendships that have died; difficulties in our families. We may experience a strange disconnectedness, as if the peace enjoyed at prayer, for seeming real, does not really touch the rest of our busy, messy, sometimes painful lives. Continue reading

Solemn Profession of Br Francis and Br Moses

30 June 2014 Bamenda Abbey, Cameroon
Brothers, the Lord has called you to be monks to make you happy; also, I may add, that others may find happiness through you. He has asked you to give all because there is no limit to the gifts he wants to give; he would have you embrace the fullness of life, never settling for less. Continue reading

Easter Day

20 April 2014 Mount Saint Bernard
What nurtures me, what gives me joy, what fills me with such peace is not an idea, not something but Someone, Someone alive who, astonishingly, cares for me. Continue reading

Palm Sunday

13 April 2014 Mount Saint Bernard
The world’s redemption is about to be accomplished; the Lord is entering his temple. And this fellow’s response is, Hello, donkey! Continue reading

Corinne Camilleri Ferrante RIP

2 April 2014 Nottingham
Giving was natural to her; she delighted in it, quite unconcerned that many of her guests could not hope to reciprocate her generous treatment. Scripture teaches us to recognise this attitude of hers as a reflection of the kindness of God. Continue reading

Fr Matthew Dunn RIP

8 March 2014 Mount Saint Bernard
When Fr Matthew’s rational defences fell away one after another, when his heart lay open for all to see, not a trace of impurity was left. All we saw was light and love and trust and kindness - truly, he was a monk. Continue reading

Christmas Day

25 December 2013 Mount Saint Bernard
We think of the ox as plodder: to call someone bovine is not to pay a compliment. Earlier civilisations perceived the ox differently. Continue reading