Fr. Beatus was invited by Abbot Richard to preach on Holy Thursday, April 13, 2017.  Abbot Richard preached on Good Friday and at the Easter VIgil.  Their homilies are included here.:
 

Holy Thursday
 “In a flash, at a trumpet crash, I am all at once what Christ is, because he was what I am”.
Our Pascal Triduum demands intentional activation of our Catholic Sacramental imagination.  The Easter mysteries demand our full attention and even fuller response.  A good way to begin is always to listen with the ear of our heart to the readings.  Each reading tonight provided us with the key to this process.  The means, the method and the result…which is summarized in the poet’s words {Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J.]: “In a flash , at a trumpet crash, I am all at once what Christ is, because he was what I am.”
The Exodus text introduced us to the Pascal Lamb and commanded God’s people to smear their door posts with the blood of the lamb.  “Seeing the blood I will pass over you and this day will be a memorial feast for you.“  Jesus Christ is our Pascal Lamb and it is by the blood of the Lamb of God that we are saved.  “In a flash at a trumpet crash, I am all at once what Christ is, because he was what I am”.

Again, a command is given us as Jesus provides us with the sacrament of his body and blood.  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.  “Do this in remembrance of me,” he has commanded us.  For by this sacred meal we are nourished and formed as Church, transformed into the very body of Christ.  “In a flash, at a trumpet crash, I am all at once what Christ is, because he was what I am”.

Our Gospel finally began by noting for us, that Jesus knew his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, and gave his disciples a new commandment.  This is the third commandment given us in our readings this evening and it is the one which seals the new covenant and will guarantee our transformation.  By shedding his blood for us, Christ, the Lamb of God, accomplishes our salvation.  And by His passing over into and through his death on the cross, He rises to new life and, by the power of his resurrection, brings us with him, created anew by dying with him in baptism and rising with Him to share the very life of the Blessed Trinity.  “In a flash, at a trumpet crash, I am all at once what Christ is because he was what I am.”  May this celebration of the Pascal Triduum begun this evening, bring us to the fullness of Easter joy.

Good Friday: “So you are a king.”

 
Today’s reading from Isaiah is a meditation on the innocent servant of God.  It challenges the view that misfortune is a punishment for sin.  God praised the servant for willingly enduring affliction at the hands of and for the sake of others.  “He bore our infirmities and was crushed for our sins;” “he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.”  We revere people who put themselves at risk for those whom they love or who cannot protect themselves, but to do so for one’s oppressors is unfathomable to the world.

The Passion according to John exalts Jesus as a king and the Son of God.  Throughout his arrest, trial, crucifixion, and even his death Jesus was serenely in control.  He had previously said, “I lay down my life in order to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” (John 10:17-18)  During his arrest, he proclaimed his divine identity when he said three times, “I am he,” and he did not allow the soldiers to apprehend him until after he demonstrated his wonderful power by healing the high priest’s slave.  The soldiers pressed on his brow a crown of thorns and mocked him precisely because he had proclaimed his kingship.  At his trial, he repeated it and asserted that his authority was from God when he said, “My kingdom is not from this world.”  Pilate did not miss Jesus’ claim to kingship and replied, “So you are a king.” Jesus answered, “You are right in saying that I am a king.  For this reason I was born, to testify to the truth.”  Pilate gave in to the chief priests who declared, “We have no king but Caesar,” but he insisted on posting on the cross the inscription, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”  The crowds mocked Jesus saying, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (Matthew 27:42)  Finally, when he had accomplished his mission, Jesus said, “It is finished.”  “Then be bowed his head and gave up his spirit,” and death lay vanquished at the foot of the cross. 

Lifted up on the cross, he was raised up in triumph.  His crucifixion was his enthronement.  Christ our king reigns from the cross.
 
Easter Vigil: “He has been raised from the dead.”
 
During this Easter Vigil we complete our reflections on the Passover.  In the readings of Holy Thursday, God is the one who passes over.  On Good Friday, Jesus is our Passover.  This evening we ponder our own passing over.  We are crossing to the eternal land of promise, and our passage is through water.

In tonight’s readings, we pass from darkness to light and from the chaotic waters of creation to the saving waters of baptism.  We begin at the dawn of creation when God called light out of darkness, formed the world, and made it pulsate with life.  We ponder the great trust required of us in the testing of Abraham.  In this evening’s gospel reading, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb while it was still dark to anoint Jesus’ body.  She had listened to his words and followed him to the end, but he had died, and she was heartbroken and overwhelmed with the darkness of loss.  Then dawn broke through the darkness, there was a great earthquake, which signified that the Easter event shook the very foundation of the earth, and an angel of the Lord rolled back the stone (Matthew 28:2) and announced, “He has been raised form the dead.”

The Vigil readings hold the promise of regeneration.  We read in Ezekiel, “I will give you a new heart and a new spirit.  I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh and will put my Spirit in you and make you to live by my commandments.” (37:26-27)  God had delivered his people from slavery through the water of the Red Sea.  By the water of baptism, God gives us new life and a share in Christ’s resurrection.  Our God loves us so much that he wants us to live with him forever.