Wednesday, April 17, 2013 - Litany Lane Blog:
F, Psalms 66:1-7, Acts 8:1-8, John 6:35-40, Pope Francis Daily Homily - The Church is Not a Babysitter, Saint Donan, Eigg Scotland, Catholic Catechism Part Two: THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH - Article 3:3 The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013
P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have
flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge and free will,
make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in
Heaven. The Seven Gifts of
the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe (fear of the
Lord) , counsel, knowledge, fortitude, and piety (reverence) and shun
the seven Deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and
gluttony...Its your choice whether to embrace the Gifts of the Holy Spirit rising towards eternal light or succumb to the Seven deadly sins and lost to
eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and
survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes
from this earth to the Darkness, Purgatory or Heaven is our Soul...it's God's perpetual
gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...~ Zarya Parx 2013
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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Prayers for Today: Wednesday in Easter
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
Pope Francis April 17 Homily :
The Church is Not a Babysitter
(2013-04-17 Vatican Radio)
The Church cannot be merely “a babysitter who takes care of the child just to get him to sleep”. If she were this, hers would
be a “slumbering church”. Whoever knows Jesus has the strength and the
courage to proclaim him. And whoever has received baptism has the
strength to walk, to go forward, to evangelize and “when we do this the
Church becomes a mother who generates children” capable of bring Christ
to the world. This, in sum, was the reflection proposed by Pope Francis
this morning, Wednesday 17 April, during the celebration of Mass in the
Chapel of the Domus Sanctaeeee Marthae, at which many employees of the
Institute for Religious Works were present, accompanies by Ernst von
Freyberg and Paolo Cipriani, respectively President of the supervisory
board and the general director of IOR. Among the concelebrants were
Bishops Vicenzo Pisanello of Oria, and Giacinto Boulos Marcuzzo, Vicar
of the Patriarch of Jerusalem for Latins in Israel.
“Let us ask the Lord,” he concluded, “for the grace to become baptized persons who are brave and sure that the Holy Spirit who is in us, received at baptism, always moves us to proclaim Jesus Christ with our life, our testimony and even with our words”.
“Let us ask the Lord,” he concluded, “for the grace to become baptized persons who are brave and sure that the Holy Spirit who is in us, received at baptism, always moves us to proclaim Jesus Christ with our life, our testimony and even with our words”.
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Liturgical Celebrations to be presided over by Pope: April–May
Vatican City, 3 April 2013 (VIS)
Following is the calendar of celebrations scheduled to be presided over by the Holy Father in the months of April and May, 2013:
APRIL
7 April, Second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday: 5:30pm,Mass in the Basilica of St. John Lateran for the Bishop of Rome to take possession of the Roman cathedra.
14 April, Sunday: 5:30pm, Mass in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls
21 April, Sunday: 9:30am, Mass and priestly ordinations in St. Peter's Basilica.
28 April, Sunday: 10:00am, Mass and confirmations in St. Peter's Square.
MAY
4 May, Saturday: 6:00pm, Recitation of the Rosary in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
5 May, Sunday: 10:00am, Mass for Confraternities in St. Peter's Square.
12 May, Sunday: 9:30am, Mass and canonizations of Blesseds Antonio Primaldo and Companions; Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya y Upegui; and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala.
18 May, Saturday: 6:00pm, Pentecost Vigil in St. Peter's Square with the participation of ecclesial movements.
19 May, Pentecost Sunday: 10:00am, Mass in St. Peter's Square with the participation of ecclesial movements.
Following is the calendar of celebrations scheduled to be presided over by the Holy Father in the months of April and May, 2013:
APRIL
7 April, Second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday: 5:30pm,Mass in the Basilica of St. John Lateran for the Bishop of Rome to take possession of the Roman cathedra.
14 April, Sunday: 5:30pm, Mass in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls
21 April, Sunday: 9:30am, Mass and priestly ordinations in St. Peter's Basilica.
28 April, Sunday: 10:00am, Mass and confirmations in St. Peter's Square.
MAY
4 May, Saturday: 6:00pm, Recitation of the Rosary in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
5 May, Sunday: 10:00am, Mass for Confraternities in St. Peter's Square.
12 May, Sunday: 9:30am, Mass and canonizations of Blesseds Antonio Primaldo and Companions; Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya y Upegui; and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala.
18 May, Saturday: 6:00pm, Pentecost Vigil in St. Peter's Square with the participation of ecclesial movements.
19 May, Pentecost Sunday: 10:00am, Mass in St. Peter's Square with the participation of ecclesial movements.
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed 04/17/2013.
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April 2, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:"Dear children, I am calling you to be one with my Son in spirit. I am calling you, through prayer, and the Holy Mass when my Son unites Himself with you in a special way, to try to be like Him; that, like Him, you may always be ready to carry out God's will and not seek the fulfillment of your own. Because, my children, it is according to God's will that you are and that you exist, and without God's will you are nothing. As a mother I am asking you to speak about the glory of God with your life because, in that way, you will also glorify yourself in accordance to His will. Show humility and love for your neighbour to everyone. Through such humility and love, my Son saved you and opened the way for you to the Heavenly Father. I implore you to keep opening the way to the Heavenly Father for all those who have not come to know Him and have not opened their hearts to His love. By your life, open the way to all those who still wander in search of the truth. My children, be my apostles who have not lived in vain. Do not forget that you will come before the Heavenly Father and tell Him about yourself. Be ready! Again I am warning you, pray for those whom my Son called, whose hands He blessed and whom He gave as a gift to you. Pray, pray, pray for your shepherds. Thank you."
March 25, 2013 Our Lady of Medjugorje Message to the World:
“Dear children! In this time of grace I call you to take the cross of my beloved Son Jesus in your hands and to meditate on His passion and death. May your suffering be united in His suffering and love will win, because He who is love gave Himself out of love to save each of you. Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
March 18, 2013 Message to the World via Annual Apparition to Mirjana:
"Dear children! I call you to, with complete trust and joy, bless the name of the Lord and, day by day, to give Him thanks from the heart for His great love. My Son, through that love which He showed by the Cross, gave you the possibility to be forgiven for everything; so that you do not have to be ashamed or to hide, and out of fear not to open the door of your heart to my Son. To the contrary, my children, reconcile with the Heavenly Father so that you may be able to come to love yourselves as my Son loves you. When you come to love yourselves, you will also love others; in them you will see my Son and recognize the greatness of His love. Live in faith! Through me, my Son is preparing you for the works which He desires to do through you – works through which He desires to be glorified. Give Him thanks. Especially thank Him for the shepherds - for your intercessors in the reconciliation with the Heavenly Father. I am thanking you, my children. Thank you."
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Today's Word: Revelation rev·e·la·tion [rev-uh-ley-shuh
n]
Origin: 1275–1325; Middle English revelacion (< Old French ) < Late Latin revēlātiōn- (stem of revēlātiō ), equivalent to Latin revēlāt ( us ) (past participle of revēlāre to reveal) + -iōn- -ion
noun
1. the act of revealing or disclosing; disclosure.
2. something revealed or disclosed, especially a striking disclosure, as of something not before realized.
3. Theology .
a. God's disclosure of Himself and His will to His creatures.
b. an instance of such communication or disclosure.
c. something thus communicated or disclosed.
d. something that contains such disclosure, as the Bible.
4. ( initial capital letter ) . Also called Revelations, The Revelation of St. John the Divine. the last book in the new testament; the Apocalypse. Abbreviation: Rev.
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Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 66:1-7
1 [For the choirmaster Song Psalm] Acclaim God, all the earth,
2 sing psalms to the glory of his name, glorify him with your praises,
3 say to God, 'How awesome you are! 'Your achievements are the measure of your power, your enemies woo your favour,
4 all the earth bows down before you, sings psalms to you, sings psalms to your name.'Pause
5 Come and see the marvels of God, his awesome deeds for the children of Adam:
6 he changed the sea into dry land, they crossed the river on foot. So let us rejoice in him,
7 who rules for ever by his power; his eyes keep watch on the nations to forestall rebellion against him.
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Today's Epistle - Acts 8:1-8
1 Saul approved of the killing. That day a bitter persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles scattered to the country districts of Judaea and Samaria.
2 There were some devout people, however, who buried Stephen and made great mourning for him.
3 Saul then began doing great harm to
the church; he went from house to house arresting both men and women and
sending them to prison.
4 Once they had scattered, they went from place to place preaching the good news.
5 And Philip went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them.
6 The people unanimously welcomed the
message Philip preached, because they had heard of the miracles he
worked and because they saw them for themselves.
7 For unclean spirits came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured.
8 As a result there was great rejoicing in that town.
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Today's Gospel Reading - John 6:35-40
Jesus answered them: I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst. But, as I have told you, you can see me and still you do not believe. Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me; I will certainly not reject anyone who comes to me, because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me. Now the will of him who sent me is that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to me, but that I should raise it up on the last day. It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and that I should raise that person up on the last day.
Reflection
• John 6, 35-36: I am the bread of
life. The people enthusiastic with the perspective of having bread from
heaven of which Jesus speaks and which gives life forever (Jn 6, 33),
ask: “Lord, give us always that bread!” (Jn 6, 34). They thought that
Jesus was speaking about some particular kind of bread. This is why, the
people, interested in getting this bread, ask: “Give us always of this
bread!” This petition of the people reminds us of the conversation of
Jesus with the Samaritan woman. Jesus had said that she could have had
within her a spring of living water, welling up to eternal life, and she
in an interested way asks: “Lord, give me of that water!” (Jn 4, 15).
The Samaritan woman is not aware that Jesus is not speaking about
material water. Just as the people were not aware that Jesus was not
speaking of material bread. Because of this, Jesus responds very
clearly: “I am the bread of life! No one who comes to me will ever
hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst”. To eat the bread of
heaven is the same as believing in Jesus. And to believe that he has
come from heaven as a revelation of the Father. It is to accept the way
which he has taught. But the people, in spite, of having seen Jesus, do
not believe in him. Jesus is aware of the lack of faith and says: “You
have seen me and you do not believe”.
• John 6, 37-40: To do the will of him who sent me. After the conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus had said to his disciples: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me!” (Jn 4, 34). Here, in the conversation with the people on the bread from heaven, Jesus touches on the same theme: “I have come from heaven not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to me; but that I should raise it up on the last day”. This is the food which people should look for: to do the will of the Heavenly Father. And this is the bread which nourishes the person in life and gives him/her life. Eternal life begins here, a life which is stronger than death! If we were really ready to do the will of the Father, we would have no difficulty to recognize the Father present in Jesus.
• John 6, 41-43: The Jews complained. Tomorrow’s Gospel begins with verse 44 (John 6, 44-51) and skips verses 41 to 43. In verse 41, begins the conversation with the Jews, who criticize Jesus. Here we will give a brief explanation of the meaning of the word Jews in the Gospel of John in order to avoid that a superficial reading of it, may nourish in us Christians, the sentiment of anti-Semitism. First of all, it is well to remember that Jesus was a Jew and continues to be a Jew (Jn 4, 9). His disciples were Jews. The first Christian communities were all Jewish who accepted Jesus as the Messiah. It was only later, little by little, that in the communities of the Beloved Disciple, Greeks and Christians began to be accepted on the same level of the Jews. They were more open communities. But this openness was not accepted by all. Some Christians who came from the group of the Pharisees wanted to keep the “separation” between Jews and Pagans (Acts 15, 5).
The situation was critical after the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. The Pharisees became the dominating religious current in Judaism and began to define the religious directives or norms for the whole People of God: to suppress worship in the Greek language; to adopt solely the Biblical text in Hebrew; to define or determine the list of sacred books, and eliminate the books which existed only in the Greek translation of the Bible: Tobias, Judith, Esther, Baruch, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus and the two Books of the Maccabees: to segregate or separate the foreigners; not eat any food, suspected to be impure or which had been offered to the idols. All these norms assumed by the Pharisees had some repercussion on the communities of the Jews which accepted Jesus as Messiah. These communities had already journeyed very much. The openness for the Pagans was now irreversible. The Greek Bible had already been used for a long time. Thus, slowly, a reciprocal separation grew between Christianity and Judaism. In the years 85-90 the Jewish authorities began to discriminate those who continued to accept Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah (Mt 5, 11-12; 24, 9-13). Those who continued to remain in the faith in Jesus were expelled from the Synagogue (Jn 9, 34). Many Christian communities feared this expulsion (Jn 9, 22) because it meant to lose the support of a strong and traditional institution such as the Synagogue. Those who were expelled lost the legal privileges that the Jews had conquered and gained throughout the centuries in the Empire. The expelled persons lost even the possibility of being buried decently. It was an enormous risk. This situation of conflict at the end of the first century had repercussion in the description of the conflict of Jesus with the Pharisees. When the Gospel of John speaks of the Jews he is not speaking of the Jewish people as such, but he is thinking much more of those few Pharisee authorities which were expelling the Christians from the Synagogues in the years 85-90, the time when the Gospel was written. We cannot allow this affirmation about the Jews to make anti-Semitism grow among Christians.
Personal questions
• Anti-Semitism: look well within yourself and try to uproot any remain of anti-Semitism.
• To eat the bread of heaven means to believe in Jesus. How does all this help me to live the Eucharist better?
• To eat the bread of heaven means to believe in Jesus. How does all this help me to live the Eucharist better?
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Saint Donan of Eigg
Feast Day: April 17
Patron Saint: Eigg Scotland
Attributes: n/a
Saint Donan of Eigg a remarkable fact about the widespread work of
the Celtic missionary saints from the fifth century onwards is that
scarcely any cases of violent opposition or martyrdom are recorded until
the Viking and Danish raids began at the end of the ninth century. The pagan Celts accepted the missionaries even when they did not accept their religion and pagan and Christian symbols are found side by side on the great pictish stones.
Donan
(or Donnan) deserves a note in these pages not only because of the
extent of his journeyings but because he and his fellow monks on the
island of Eigg provide the most dreadful case of martyrdom in the
history of the Celtic Church. He and fifty-two of his followers were
butchered within the refectory of the monastery. The only other
martyrdoms recorded seem to be those of Constantine of Kintyre and of
Kessog, and the latter is doubtful.
Unfortunately the mediaeval Life
of Donan is lost, and what little we know of him is limited to the
brief comments in such ancient martyrologies as Tallaght, Donegal and
Oengus. The date of his birth is not known but he was contemporary with,
or a little younger, than Columba. We presume that he was Irish and
early in adult life
crossed to Galloway. Thereafter we only know him through a chain of
Kildonans up the west coast of Scotland, beginning with a Kildonan at
Kirkmaiden and a Chapel Donan at Kirkcolm, and terminating at Kildonan on the island of Little Bernera in the Outer Hebrides.
The story of Donan's martyrdom was by no means unknown in mediaeval Scotland
and some commemorations might be due to later interest and veneration.
But the plotting of the place-names suggests a logical route of
missionary progression northwards. The only St Don- nan's east of the
Great Glen is at Auchterless in Aberdeenshire, and it has been suggested
that Donan had a special connection with this parish-there are several
place-names and we know his 'bachail' or staff was kept there till the
Reformation. Perhaps for this very reason
the saint's personal connection with Auchterless is more open to doubt,
as the possession of the bachail in mediaeval days might well lead to
the name instead of vice versa.
Only
one incident is recorded as happening during these missionary years. He
crossed to lona to meet Columba, and according to the story, asked that
saint to act as his 'anamchara' or 'soul- friend', which took the place
of the Roman Church's 'confessor'. Strangely enough, Columba refused to
act as anamchara, saying, 'I shall not be a soul-friend to a company of
red-martyrdom.' Obviously some explanation must be sought for this
abrupt refusal. Dr A. B. Scott, who disliked Columba, saw in it the
Goidheal's refusal to have any friendly intercourse with a Pict, but
there could be quite different reasons, such as Columba's unwilling-ness
to accept the additional responsibility which the duty entailed.
Donan
eventually formed his community on the small island of Eigg, with the
monastic buildings on the side facing Arisaig. It had become a large
community by the date of the massacre-fifty-two is the number of monks
given in the record, although for some unknown reason
only fifty names are listed. It has been suggested that the monks are
fictional but Dr Scott was sure he had traced local place-names deriving
from them. Did Donan cross from lreland with the nucleus of such a
group ready formed? Did he start with one or two and build to over
fifty? Any answer to such questions would be as vague as the reason
for the sudden unprecedented attack. On this subject scholars have made
much of an obscure statement in the martyrologies that the monks'
keeping sheep on the island hadangered a local woman
of importance. Scott draws the unwarranted conclusion that when the
local folk refused to take action she deliberately bribed a group of
pirates to make the attack. It cannot, of course, be proved that she did
not do so, so the reason for the brutality must remain conjectural. Pirates were by no means unknown but it is doubtful that they would take time
to raid an obscure, penniless and inoffensive group of monks. It is
more likely to have been a very early group of 'Black Gentiles' from
Jutland or Denmark.
Details of the raid differ.
Donan, it is said, was celebrating the Sacrament when the intruders
broke in. When he begged for respite till mass was completed, they agreed and he led the monks across to the refectory 'that the place where God had been worshipped in spiritual joy might not be polluted with their blood'. The Martyrology
of Donegal then states that 'he was beheaded and 52 of the monks with
him' while that of Oengus suggests that the building was set on fire and
they all perished in the flames. The traditional year of the massacre
was 618.
Saint Donan's Feast day is 17 April.
References
- Towill, Edwin Sprott, SAINTS OF SCOTLAND. St. Andrew's Press.
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Today's Snippet I: Eigg Scotland
Eigg is one of the Small Isles, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies to the south of the Skye and to the north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Eigg is 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) long from north to south, and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east to west. With an area of 12 square miles (31 km2), it is the second largest of the Small Isles after Rùm.
Geography
The main settlement on Eigg is Cleadale, a fertile coastal plain in the north west. It is known for its quartz beach, called the "singing sands" (Tràigh a' Bhìgeil) on account of the squeaking noise it makes if walked on when dry.The centre of the island is a moorland plateau, rising to 1,289 feet (393 metres) at An Sgurr, a dramatic stump of pitchstone, sheer on three sides. Walkers who complete the easy scramble to the top in good weather are rewarded with spectacular views all round, of Mull, Coll, Muck, the Outer Hebrides, Rùm, Skye, and the mountains of Lochaber on the mainland.
History
Bronze Age and Iron Age inhabitants have left their mark on Eigg. The monastery at Kildonan was founded by a missionary possibly from either Dal Riata or an Irish Kingdom, St. Donnan. He and his monks were massacred in 617 by the local Pictish queen. In medieval times the island was held by Clan Donald.Writing in 1549, Donald Munro, High Dean of the Isles wrote of "Egge" that it was: "gude mayne land with ane paroch kirk in it, with mony solenne geis; very gude for store, namelie for scheip, with ane heavin for heiland Galayis".
Massacre Cave
Massacre Cave (grid reference NM434874) sits in the back of a fault-like crevice under a steep rock face. It is no more than 0.65 metres (2.1 ft) height and one needs to crawl to gain access and then keep crawling for a further 7 metres (23 ft) before it opens out. The length is approximately 79 metres (259 ft), the width 8 metres (26 ft) and height 6 metres (20 ft).
18th and 19th centuries
Near to Massacre Cave there is another tidal cave with a large and visible entrance; it is high-roofed and is said to have been used for Roman Catholic services after the 1745 rebellion.
The Scottish geologist and writer Hugh Miller visited the island in the 1840s and wrote a long and detailed account of his explorations in his book The Cruise of the Betsey published in 1858. Miller was a self-taught geologist; so the book contains detailed observations of the geology of the island, including the Scuir and the singing sands. He describes the islanders of Eigg as "an active, middle-sized race, with well-developed heads, acute intellects, and singularly warm feelings". He describes seeing the bones of adults and children in family groups with the charred remains of their straw mattresses and small household objects still in Massacre Cave. Walter Scott was so appalled and moved on hearing that the skulls and bones of the dead were still stacked there, that he started a fund for a Christian burial which resulted in their removal.
By the 19th century, the island had a population of 500, producing potatoes, oats, cattle and kelp. When sheep farming became more profitable than any alternative, land was cleared by compulsory emigration - in 1853 the whole of the village of Gruilin, fourteen families, was forced to leave.
Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust
The story of this community buy-out is told in Alastair McIntosh's book Soil and Soul: People Versus Corporate Power published in 2001. At the time, the population was around 60. In 2012, Eigg has 90 residents, many of them young people who have returned to the island or who have moved there to make it their home and set up in business.
The ceremony to mark the handover to community ownership took place a few weeks after the 1997 General Election and was attended by the Scottish Office Minister, Brian Wilson, a long-standing advocate of land reform. He used the occasion to announce the formation of a Community Land Unit within Highlands and Islands Enterprise which would in future support further land buy-outs in the region.
Economy and transport
There is a sheltered anchorage for boats at Galmisdale in the south of the island. In 2004 the old jetty there was extended to allow a roll-on roll-off ferry to dock. The Caledonian MacBrayne ferry Lochnevis sails a circular route from Mallaig around the four "Small Isles" - Eigg, Canna, Rùm and Muck from the fishing port of Mallaig. Arisaig Marine also run a passenger ferry called the MV Sheerwater from April until late September from Arisaig on the mainland.
Electrification project
The new system incorporates a 9.9 kWp PV system, three hydro generation systems (totalling 112 kW) and a 24 kW wind farm supported by stand-by diesel generation and batteries to guarantee continuous availability of power. A load management system has been installed to provide optimal use of the renewables. This combination of solar, wind and hydro power should provide a network that is self-sufficient and powered 98% from renewable sources. The system was switched on, on 1 February 2008. Eigg Electric generates a finite amount of energy and so Eigg residents agreed from the outset to cap electricity use at 5 kW at any one time for households, and 10 kW for businesses. If renewable resources are low, for example when there is less rain or wind, a “traffic light” system asks residents to keep their usage to a minimum. The traffic light reduces demand by up to 20% and ensures there’s always enough energy for everyone.
The Heritage Trust has formed a company, Eigg Electric Ltd, to operate the new £1.6 million network, which has been part funded by the National Lottery and the Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company.
Other sustainability projects
In September 2008, Eigg began a year long series of projects as part of their success as one of ten finalists in NESTA's Big Green Challenge. While the challenge finished in September 2009, the work to make the island "green" is continuing with solar water panels, alternative fuels, mass domestic insulation, transport and local food all being tackled. In May 2009 the island hosted the "Giant’s Footstep Family Festival", which included talks, workshops, music, theatre and advice about what individuals and communities can do to tackle climate change.In January 2010, Eigg was announced as one of three joint winners in NESTA's Big Green Challenge, winning a prize of £300,000. Eigg also won the prestigious UK Gold Award in July 2010.
References
- Banks, Noel, (1977) Six Inner Hebrides. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7368-4
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery,
Section Two: The Seven Sacraments of the Church
Article 3 Sacrament of the Eucharist
SECTION TWO
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
Article 3
THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
III. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation
The signs
of bread and wine
1333
At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the
words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ's Body and
Blood. Faithful to the Lord's command the Church continues to do, in his memory
and until his glorious return, what he did on the eve of his Passion: "He
took bread...." "He took the cup filled with wine...." the signs
of bread and wine become, in a way surpassing understanding, the Body and Blood
of Christ; they continue also to signify the goodness of creation. Thus in the
Offertory we give thanks to the Creator for bread and wine,Ps 104:13-15 fruit of
the "work of human hands," but above all as "fruit of the
earth" and "of the vine" - gifts of the Creator. the Church sees
in the gesture of the king-priest Melchizedek, who "brought out bread and
wine," a prefiguring of her own offering.Gen 14:18; cf. Roman Missal
1334
In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first
fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator. But
they also received a new significance in the context of the Exodus: the
unleavened bread that Israel eats every year at Passover commemorates the haste
of the departure that liberated them from Egypt; the remembrance of the manna
in the desert will always recall to Israel that it lives by the bread of the
Word of God;Deut 8:3 their daily bread is the fruit of the promised land,
the pledge of God's faithfulness to his promises.
The "cup of blessing"1 Cor 10:16 at the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to the festive joy of wine an eschatological dimension: the messianic expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup.
The "cup of blessing"1 Cor 10:16 at the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to the festive joy of wine an eschatological dimension: the messianic expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup.
1335
The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the
blessing, breaks and distributes the loaves through his disciples to feed the
multitude, prefigure the superabundance of this unique bread of his
Eucharist.Mt 14:13-21 The sign of water turned into wine at Cana already
announces the Hour of Jesus' glorification. It makes manifest the fulfillment
of the wedding feast in the Father's kingdom, where the faithful will drink the
new wine that has become the Blood of Christ.Jn 2:11
1336
The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples, just as the
announcement of the Passion scandalized them: "This is a hard saying; who
can listen to it?"Jn 6:60 The Eucharist and the Cross are stumbling
blocks. It is the same mystery and it never ceases to be an occasion of
division. "Will you also go away?":Jn 6:67 The Lord's question
echoes through the ages, as a loving invitation to discover that only he has
"the words of eternal life"In
6:68 and that to receive in faith
the gift of his Eucharist is to receive the Lord himself.
The
institution of the Eucharist
1337
The Lord, having loved those who were his own, loved them to the end. Knowing
that the hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father, in the
course of a meal he washed their feet and gave them the commandment of
love.Jn 13:1-17 In order to leave them a pledge of this love, in order never
to depart from his own and to make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted
the Eucharist as the memorial of his death and Resurrection, and commanded his
apostles to celebrate it until his return; "thereby he constituted them
priests of the New Testament."Council
of Trent (1562): DS 1740
1338
The three synoptic Gospels and St. Paul have handed on to us the account of the
institution of the Eucharist; St. John, for his part, reports the words of
Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum that prepare for the institution of the
Eucharist: Christ calls himself the bread of life, come down from
heaven.Jn 6
1339
Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum:
giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:
Then came the day of
Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus
sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the passover meal for us,
that we may eat it...." They went ... and prepared the passover. and when
the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. and he said to them,
"I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer;
for I tell you I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of
God.".... and he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and
gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this
in remembrance of me." and likewise the cup after supper, saying,
"This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my
blood."Lk 22:7-20
1340
By celebrating the Last Supper with his apostles in the course of the Passover
meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus' passing over
to his father by his death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated
in the Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish
Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the
kingdom.
"Do
this in memory of me"
1341
The command of Jesus to repeat his actions and words "until he comes"
does not only ask us to remember Jesus and what he did. It is directed at the
liturgical celebration, by the apostles and their successors, of the memorial
of Christ, of his life, of his death, of his Resurrection, and of his
intercession in the presence of the Father.2 Cor 11:26
1342
From the beginning the Church has been faithful to the Lord's command. of the
Church of Jerusalem it is written:
They devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers....
Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes,
they partook of food with glad and generous hearts.Acts 2:42,
⇒ 46
1343
It was above all on "the first day of the week," Sunday, the day of
Jesus' resurrection, that the Christians met "to break
bread." Acts 20:7 From that time on down to our own day the celebration
of the Eucharist has been continued so that today we encounter it everywhere in
the Church with the same fundamental structure. It remains the center of the
Church's life.
1344
Thus from celebration to celebration, as they proclaim the Paschal mystery of
Jesus "until he comes," the pilgrim People of God advances,
"following the narrow way of the cross,"1 Cor
11:26 toward the
heavenly banquet, when all the elect will be seated at the table of the
kingdom.
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