Advent Second Sun Matt 3:7 Brood of Vipers

Harmony of the Gospels - The Preaching of John the Baptist.
Matt 3:1-12, Mark 1:1-8, Luke 3:1020, John 1:19-28. 

Jesus' most colourful expression, "Brood of Vipers", is only in Matthew of the Four Harmony of #the Preaching of John the Baptist.'

The vocabulary is varied in the different versions.

The language can speak loudly in a pictorial varsion, as in the pictures in the Blog below, Blue Eyed Ennis. 

Ye offspring of vipers (gennēmata echidnōn). Jesus (Mat_12:34; Mat_23:33) will use the same language to the Pharisees. Broods of snakes were often seen by John in the rocks and when a fire broke out they would scurry (phugein) to their holes for safety. “The coming wrath” was not just for Gentiles as the Jews supposed, but for all who were not prepared for the kingdom of heaven (1Th_1:10). No doubt the Pharisees and Sadducees winced under the sting of this powerful indictment. (RWP) 

(Mat 3:7)  ιδων¹⁴⁹²  δε¹¹⁶¹  πολλους⁴¹⁸³  των³⁵⁸⁸  φαρισαιων⁵³³⁰  και²⁵³²  σαδδουκαιων⁴⁵²³  ερχομενους²⁰⁶⁴  επι¹⁹⁰⁹  το³⁵⁸⁸  βαπτισμα⁹⁰⁸  αυτου⁸⁴⁶  ειπεν²⁰³⁶  αυτοις⁸⁴⁶  γεννηματα¹⁰⁸¹  εχιδνων²¹⁹¹  τις⁵¹⁰¹  υπεδειξεν⁵²⁶³  υμιν⁵²¹³  φυγειν⁵³⁴³  απο⁵⁷⁵  της³⁵⁸⁸  μελλουσης³¹⁹⁵  οργης³⁷⁰⁹    (GNT-TR)

(KJV+)  But¹¹⁶¹ when he saw¹⁴⁹² many⁴¹⁸³ of the³⁵⁸⁸ Pharisees⁵³³⁰ and²⁵³² Sadducees⁴⁵²³ come²⁰⁶⁴ to¹⁹⁰⁹ his⁸⁴⁶ baptism,⁹⁰⁸ he said²⁰³⁶ unto them,⁸⁴⁶ O generation¹⁰⁸¹ of vipers,²¹⁹¹ who⁵¹⁰¹ hath warned⁵²⁶³ you⁵²¹³ to flee⁵³⁴³ from⁵⁷⁵ the³⁵⁸⁸ wrath³⁷⁰⁹ to come?³¹⁹⁵

(RSV)  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sad'ducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

(Vulgate)  videns autem multos Pharisaeorum et Sadducaeorum venientes ad baptismum suum dixit eis progenies viperarum quis demonstravit vobis fugere a futura ira

O generation of vipers - Γεννηματα εχιδνων. A terribly expressive speech. A serpentine brood, from a serpentine stock. As their fathers were, so were they, children of the wicked one. This is God’s estimate of a Sinner, whether he wade in wealth, or soar in fame. The Jews were the seed of the serpent, who should bruise the heel of the woman’s seed, and whose head should be bruised by him. (Clarke).

+ + +  

Thank you, to Blue Eyed Ennis.
It is an amazing Blogspot of a pictorial of the Gospel of Matthew 3:1-12.
It is an excellent introduction to your Blog and we look forward to it.

http://blueeyedennis-siempre.blogspot.com/2010/12/second-sunday-of-advent-2010-mass-and.html

S
eBcond Sunday of Advent 2010 Mass and Reflections

Mass readings for The Second Sunday of Advent  and various commentaries and reflections can be found here

and also a great reflection on John the Baptist's words and their meaning from here

plus 

My Music playlist with Friday five pieces of music with the theme of change from here 

Gospel Matthew 3:1-12

John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said:

A voice of one crying out in the desert,

 
Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.

 
 



John wore clothing made of camel’s hair (

and had a leather belt around his waist. ( Not Gucci)

His food was locusts and wild honey 
( and maybe some sushi with wasabi on a Friday night)

 

At that time Jerusalem, all Judea,

and the whole region around the Jordan

were going out to him

and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River

as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism, he said to them, 


“You brood of vipers!

Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

(didn't hold back did he?)
 

Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.
And do not presume to say to yourselves,
‘We have Abraham as our father.







For I tell you,
God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 

 I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, 

but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I.

 










I am not worthy to carry his sandals.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing fan is in his hand.







 


He will clear his threshing floor
and gather his wheat into his barn,
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Atlas 7 Monks film

Memorial Grove of the Seven Monks of Our Lady of Atlas
The seven trees are bare of winter leaves.
 The rock and plaque of the monks buried in snow.

  

thetimes.co.uk

Watch the “Of God and Men”

           

Their faith under fire.

How Of Gods and Men director Xavier Beauvois has brought France to tears

Kate Muir

·                     The Times

·                     Published: 03 December 2010

Of Gods and Men

Xavier Beauvois, 15 020min)

•••••

This is an intensely passionate film, and that the passion is religious makes it no less moving. Xavier Beauvois fictionalises the true story of seven French monks kidnapped by fundamentalists In the Atlas Mountains of Algeria. The

. monks show extraordinary understanding and the

, camera focuses on each man's decision to stay, facing almost certain martyrdom.

The Cistercian brothers provide a doctor's surgery for the Muslim villagers and have strong bonds of friendship within the community. The story begins in the glorious dappled light of the ancient olive and cedar trees of the mountains and ends with helicopter gunships roaring in during civil war.

This film is France's Oscar contender and the winner

of the Cannes Grand Prix. Kate Muir

(Picturehouse; Edinburgh Filmhouse; Glasgow

Film Theatre; Sheffield Showroom)

STV News

STV camera man struggles in deep snow

Visit of TV reporter and camera man after eight days of snow uninterrupted.

Fr. Mark photographed the TV men interviewing Br. Barry at the Weather Station.

Br Barry takes snow 'sounding'

The picture speak volumes.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Robert .....
To: Donald ....
Sent: Sat, 4 December, 2010 9:05:57
Subject: stv news

I can't get away from Nunraw. 

There I was sitting in a bar in Glasgow when I saw the TV weather report with Brother Barry and Abbot Mark. 

Unfortunately the sound was turned down. I was raging not to hear their  conversations. 

Think the people in the bar thought I was a bit of a nutter when I shouted turn it up. 

Its nunraw then from another corner of the bar I heard,  TURN IT UP we'r wait'n for the fitba! AH GLAGOW, HOW I LOVE YOUR STLYE God bless.  

Robert.

STV

Heavy snow could last until Christmas | Scotland | STV News

Dec 3, 2010 ... Brother Barry Dougan, a monk at Nunraw Abbey in East Lothian, told STV News that 53 cms - nearly two feet - had fallen since Saturday ...

news.stv.tv/scotland/214027-heavy-snow-could-last-until-christmas/  

Brother Barry Dougan, a monk at Nunraw Abbey in East Lothian, told STV News that 53 cms - nearly two feet - had fallen since Saturday afternoon.

He said: "We've never had as bad snow as this year's since 1963."

Interview of the Weather Monk under camera of STV

Second to Nun for Snow

Google Scan on
“Second to Nun for Snow”,
headline of East Lothian Courier  

About 1,830,000 results (0.16 seconds)

Nunraw Abbey snowed in

Focus on the freeze - Courier   

 

Pictures Nunraw

East Lothian witnessed the highest snowfall, at Nunraw Abbey, near Haddington, where Met Office experts said 43cm (17in) had collected since Friday. Official snowfalls of 9cm, 8cm and 18cm were recorded at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen respectively, although reports suggested far more had fallen in parts of the cities. 

Weather Monk at Nunraw Abbey
Met Office Link  

On the eighth day - the snow mantles the roofs

Second to Nun for snow - News - Roundup - Articles - East Lothian ...

2 Dec 2010 ... Second to Nun for snow , Byline: East Lothian Courier.
www.eastlothiancourier.com/.../407827-second-to-nun-for-snow-/ 

Published: Thursday, 2nd December, 2010 9:29am

Second to Nun for snow

 Comments (0) |  Print |  Email

IT was business as usual, well, almost, at Nunraw Abbey this week – despite its new-found status as Britain’s snow capital.

The 12-strong community of monks based more than 400ft above sea level in the Lammermuir foothills near Garvald is used to heavy snowfalls, but this latest deluge was something else. With 43 centimetres of the white stuff falling on the abbey last weekend, it eclipsed sites in the Cairngorms, Grampians and Northumberland National Park as the worst-hit place in the UK.

Abbey looks north to Firth & Fife

The snow left Nunraw virtually cut off from the outside world, with access only possible by four-wheeled drive vehicles.

Nunraw (43cm snow) looks to Lammermuirs and skyline

For Abbot Mark Caira, the whiteout revived memories of the bitter winter of 1962/63, when as a young monk he experienced some of the most severe conditions ever recorded on mainland Britain.

“In the winter of 1962/63 the snow was so bad that it eventually piled up to the level of the first-floor windows,” he said. “While I hope that won’t be the case on this occasion, we’ve still had an incredible amount of snow in a very short period of time. We’ve never seen anything like this in November before.

“Our cook, who lives in Haddington, could not make it up here in her own car, so we had to send a Land Rover down to fetch her.

“At Sunday’s 11am mass we only had three members of the congregation turn up, whereas we normally can expect around 40. The three who did make it have to be commended, as they walked several miles through the snow to get here.”

A group of Glasgow schoolchildren who had been staying at the abbey’s guesthouse when the blizzards arrived had to be transported down to Haddington by tractor in order to commence their homeward journey.

The abbey’s large diesel storage tank has sufficient capacity to heat the building for several weeks, while there is a back-up generator in place in case of power failures.

The snow, however, has forced the closure of the guesthouse and the monks’ Castle Moffat Farm, which lies a further 100ft up the hillside.

  

  

Sr. Kevin OCSO Glencairn

Glencairn

Monday, 29 November 2010 17:00

November 28, 2010 : Sister Kevin O'Farrell. Born in 1921 in Shanballymore (Ireland), she entered Glencairn in 1939 and made her solemn profession in 1944. She held the office of Prioress for some years. Sister was 89 years old and had been in monastic vows for 69 years when the Lord called her.

Death of Sister Kevin O’Farrell OCSO

29 November 2010  

Sr. Kevin OCSO Glencairn Abbey

Our dear Sister Kevin died very peacefully last night at 11pm, 28 November, 2010.  Sister Kevin had been professed as a Cistercian Nun for 69 years, having entered the community in 1939 at the age of 18, just 7 years after Glencairn’s foundation in 1932.
  
Mary Teresa Patricia O’Farrell was born on 16 March, 1921, in Shanballymore, Co. Cork, where her family had farming and retail interests.  Her father, having been twice widowed, had married three times, and she was born into a large, close-knit, caring and devoted family with whom she always remained in close contact.  One of her brothers joined the Cistercians in Roscrea, taking the name of Kevin; he eventually became Abbot in a daughter house of Roscrea, Tarrawarra Abbey in Australia.  On leaving school, Sister Kevin entered Glencairn on 29 October, 1939, taking the name Sister Mary Kevin.  She made Temporary Profession on 5 November, 1941, and Final Profession on 5 November, 1944.
  
During her long life in Glencairn, this much loved Sister worked generously and faithfully in the many duties assigned to her, including working in the garden and the wardrope, milking the cows, working on the poultry farm, taking a great interest in all her work.  She also held the office of Junior Directress, and was Prioress for many years.  Her gentleness, accessibility, kindness and compassion endeared her to all in the community and during the last few years of her life, when she was confined largely to her room, she warmly welcomed all who came to her to confide their difficulties, request prayers or have a chat.  She lived through the inevitable ups and downs of community life with great patience and without complaint.
She was a woman of deep prayer with a great trust in the goodness of God, devoted to the Divine Office and also very careful always about her daily Lectio Divina.
 
She will be greatly missed by her community, family and friends and we continue to rely on her prayers for us now that she is with the Lord, as we relied on them during her lifetime here in Glencairn. 
May she rest in God’s eternal embrace.

Cistercian Monks - Tibhirine ATLAS

~ Martyrs of Algeria ~

(†1994-96)

Film: Of Gods and Men

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=17250 By: Jo Siedlecka

Posted: Friday, December 3, 2010 12:27 am

The monks of Tibhirine  Xavier Beauvois' Of Gods and Men opens in the UK today. If you only go to one more film this year - see this one. It is Catholic cinema at its best - beautifully filmed, with a haunting soundtrack, sensitive performances and a gripping human story that deals with faith, community, ecumenism, and the meaning of vocation. Set in a monastery in the Atlas Mountains in Algeria, it is based on the true story of a group of Cistercian monks who got caught up in the Muslim fundamentalist uprising in the mid 1990s.  They are a contemplative order, gathering for Mass and singing the Office throughout the day, studying and working quietly in the kitchen and gardens. But they also have strong bonds of friendship in the Muslim community in which they live. One monk, Brother Luc, (Michael Lonsdale), runs a medical clinic for the villagers - he also has a useful stock of children's shoes; they sell their honey at the market and are invited to attend village celebrations. The Superior, Brother Christian, played by Lambert Wilson, studies the Koran and is friends with the local Mullah. When a group of Croatian workers are murdered, the authorities urge the monastery to accept a military guard, but they refuse,  because the villagers don't have any protection. As more foreigners are killed the monks are urged to leave, and they deliberate slowly and carefully over this. One tells the villagers they are “birds on a branch, not sure whether to fly”, but the villagers tell them they are the branch itself, providing protection from the chaos beyond. Finally the monks unanimously decide to stay in solidarity with their Muslim friends. The group of middle aged and elderly men are very endearing and totally believable. There is a very touching scene when one elderly monk falls asleep in bed with his glasses on, book in hand, and his brother monk gently removes them and covers him with a blanket.  Lambert Wilson gives a masterful performance as leader of the community; his inner struggles play in silence on his features. The tension builds when a group of Muslim fighters break into the monastery just before Christmas Midnight Mass and Fr Christian calmly tells them that he can't help them because it is a sacred day. He quotes from the Koran and the fighters leave them to continue their celebration. In another gut wrenching episode the monks continue to sing while a helicopter gunship swoops round and round over the rooftop.  One says that "staying here is as mad as becoming a monk in the first place." Near the end, Brother Luc decides  to serve wine and play a record of Swan Lake during their evening meal. The camera gently moves around the table playing on the smiles and tears of the men's faces in a scene which is the moral and emotional heart of a remarkable film. For Fr Peter Malone's more detailed review which we published in May, see also:  http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=16222  One of the finest religious films, and one of the best Catholic films, in years. No controversy here.  The film won the Ecumenical Prize at Cannes 2010.  It also won the Grand Prix du Jury from the festival itself. The subject is the Trappist community of Mt Atlas, Algeria, in the 1990s.  Living their monastic life amongst the local people and ministering to them, especially with medical services, they were viewed more and more with suspicion in the country, especially because they were French expatriates, by government troops who were becoming more active against the increasing terrorist attacks, and by the terrorists themselves.  Seven of the monks were killed in the latter part of May, 1996.

Snow show COMMENT

Weather Monk Nunraw Abbey

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Anne Marie ....
To: Donald ......
Sent: Tue, 30 November, 2010 23:06:10
Subject: Photos
I loved your photos- when I saw the snow immediately thought that there would be mad monk
climbing about a roof snapping the winter wonderland, and I was right.
HAPPY ST ANDREWS DAY.

Anne Marie

Advent 1 Wed 1 Dec 2011

Advent 1 Dec 2010

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Nivard ...
Sent: Wed, 1 December, 2010 16:41:41
Subject: Advent 1st Wed

Mass Introduction    

                  "The crowds were amazed ... "

                                                         Mt. 15:29-37.                                   

   The people placed the sick, the lame and the dumb at the feet of Jesus and he cured them. The crowds were amazed and glorified God.
   There are few atheists on a battlefield. People, who say they don’t believe in God, when in a desperate situation, say afterwards, ‘I’m not religious, but I have never prayed so hard in all my life’. 

   God knows we need him. He wants us to come to him. The message of Christmas joy finds real root in us when we bring all our needs, our wants, our desires and hurts to the Lord. God is near, not far away. God is not remote, distant or uncaring. God is good. God knows us. God loves us. God is with us in the baby in the manger.

Let us pray.

   Lord our God, grant that we may be ready to receive Christ when he comes in glory and to share in the banquet of heaven, where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

  

Bidding Prayer:                      

   Father, we are not ashamed to confess that we need you more than anything. For in admitting our need we then know your joy and strength.  We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let us pray.

Prayer after Communion,

    God of mercy, may this eucharist bring us your divine help, free us from our sins, and prepare us for the birthday of our Saviour who is Lord for ever and ever.