Life goes on. "Companions' Day" falls, as ever, on the feast of the Apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes, this Thursday, 11th February.
We are grateful to our Chaplain, Father Edmund Montgomery, for this insightful reflection. It is hoped that all Companions will stop from their good works to listen to, or read, this meditation, which goes to the heart of why we do what we do.
Pray, especially during this difficult time of Covid, for all our fellow Companions who keep the work going. Pray also for Our Lords the Poor, whom God has given us for our sanctification.
It is a great privilege to be able to speak to you today on Companions’ Day and to be invited by Fra’ Max to say a few words by way of reflection for all of us, on the particular theme of ‘giving’, giving within the context of the role and responsibility of being a Companion of the Order, and within the charism, of course, of the Order of Malta.
For those I haven’t been able to meet in the time I’ve been working in and for the Order, my name is Edmund, I am a diocesan priest of the diocese of Shrewsbury, I’m based here at the Cathedral in Shrewsbury, where I have three churches, I am also the Vocations Director of Shrewsbury diocese, and in the house here we have a programme of discernment for men considering a vocation to the priesthood, so in a way I am surrounded by giving, in that sense, men who have given their lives to discern for a year about the vocation to the priesthood, to accompany our nine seminarians who wish to offer their lives in service to Christ and His Church, and, of course, the People of God who I serve here who give day after day, both to their family and in the parish in generous service in response to the Lord’s call.
So today is 11th February, Companions’ Day, but it is also the memorial of our Lady of Lourdes and that is not by coincidence. Lourdes tells us a story, recounts to us, that our Lady appeared to St Bernadette. Our pilgrimage to Lourdes each year is, of course, a massive undertaking and yet it is in Lourdes, and in the feast day of today, being our Lady of Lourdes, that we see something of an insight into what giving might represent for us. A little bit more about that later on.
We have all been blessed abundantly with many gifts, and perhaps we don’t see that for ourselves. Others may tell us that we’re gifted, ‘Oh, you have a particular talent in that area,’ or ‘You’re very good at that,’, our friends and family may mirror to us what we cannot see for ourselves. But certainly, as a Companion of the Order, one of the principal responsibilities is to give, is to see in the Other, whomever the Other may be, someone who is, because of their dignity and worth in the sight of Heaven, is someone deserving of our generosity, is someone deserving of our service, of our laying down our lives for them. And in that act of generosity: what is the source of our ability, how do we lay down lives for others, how do we give to others, from what are we giving, what are our resources?
One of the things I often say to the people here, and I certainly say to the men preparing for the priesthood, is we have to begin with an acknowledgement of our own poverty, of our own lack, before we start to give to others. That is, in my work as a priest: in the confessional, in the hospital, with the homeless, whatever it might be I can only have so much energy as ‘Edmund’ and actually, most people don’t want ‘Edmund’, they want something bigger than that, they want the priest, they want the Lord, they want His Church. So, too in your particular role as a Companion within the Order of Malta: what are you drawing upon? I have, thanks be to God the Grace of Holy Orders and the Sacraments to sustain me, my prayer, and all my supports around me. The point I wish to share with you, or for us to reflect on, is: we can give because we have first received. And that is the beauty of what being a Companion in the Order invites us to realise in our prayer and also in what we do. If it was simply a matter of ‘doing things’ or ‘giving things’ we would soon ‘run out’ of energy, we would soon run out of ‘fuel’, we would be ‘running on empty’, and we would struggle. And that is why we, in order to give, first have to be recipients of a gift. That is, that we go to the Lord, in prayer, and we ask Him to give us what we need. We thank Him for what He has already given to us, and then from the fact that we have received, we too can give. As the Lord said to His disciples in the Gospel, ‘Freely you have been given. Now, freely give.’ There’s a very insightful Latin phrase: nemo dat quod non habet You cannot give what you haven’t got. I offer a word of encouragement in that: when you see your capacity to give, in the context of the Order as a Companion of the Order, isn’t it incredible how much we can give to others? And if we know ourselves deeply, we know this is not simply ourselves giving, but it is God using us as willing instruments in His hands to give to others. So we become a ‘channel’. Which brings us back to Lourdes.
When Bernadette Soubirous went to the Grotto and saw this beautiful Lady in the niche there, little did she know that her gift, the gift of our Lady appearing to her would become, in turn, a gift to millions who would go to Lourdes and seek the comfort of the Lady who appeared to her in the 19th century. The great way Our Lord works is He gives us gifts, which are not simply for us, but which are for others. Let’s ask the Grace on this Companions’ Day, to follow the example of our Lady and St Bernadette, but also the great traditions of the Order: that we receive, yes, from the Lord, many gifts, many charisms, many opportunities to give to others, but because we have first received a gift ourselves. Let’s give thanks to God for what He has given to us and, in turn, be generous in our giving to others knowing that we need not draw upon ourselves alone but upon God, Who is the Giver of all gifts. God bless you on this Companions’ Day and let’s pray for each other, and ask the intercession of our Lady of Lourdes, St Bernadette, and all the saints and blesseds of the Order as well. God bless you and have a happy Companions’ Day!
Posts
