+(Intro) Today we have the memorial of St Bruno, the founder of the Carthusian Order. Amid his activity, he was totally committed to prayer and the contemplative way of life. Let us then take a moment to be sorry for failures in our own prayer, in our commitment to living in God’s presence.
(After the Gospel) I could not have picked a better gospel for today’s memorial of St Bruno. Martha’s sister Mary sitting beside the Lord at his feet, listening to him speak is what St Bruno gave himself to do with the whole of his life. Born in Cologne, Germany around the year 1035, he sought to become a scholar and succeeded. He taught in one of the best schools in Rheims for 20 years.
He gained a lot of public esteem and ecclesiastical preferment and after a quarrel with his bishop, he resigned from his various offices, gave up his wealth, and retired with a few companions to Molesmes to put himself under the direction of St Robert, the founder of the Cistercians. Wanting a more severe solitude, he and his companions with the help of a former pupil become bishop, were given a remote valley called La Chartreuse and in 1085 built an oratory and some small cells, that became the origin of the Carthusian Order.
Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to his words, provides a great incentive for us all. By following her loving example as did St Bruno, we all are given the nourishment that I the most substantial for our lives.
Gal 1:13-24; Luke 10:38-42