Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 16th June
Message from Fr Paul for Wednesday, 16th June 2021
There are days when it’s almost impossible to get this message written. That happens when there’s so much work to do that there’s almost no time left to get it in before bedtime, which in my case tends to be very late. Yesterday, from 9.30 until 5 o’clock, with a break for lunch between 12noon and 1pm, I was at a zoom meeting of the AIM International Team, to which I have belonged for the past 19 years, my remit being Latin America (except for Brazil) and the Caribbean. AIM, as you probably know, stands for Alliance for International Monasticism and is a monastic NGO that brings together the Benedictine Confederation and the two Cistercian Orders. We work to support monastic communities and new foundations in developing countries. Today, Wednesday, it’s a repeat performance, only I have to interrupt my participation for an important national Safeguarding meeting for religious from 10 to 12noon. An old Belmont monk used to repeat, “It’s all go!” That was his description of the monastic life and he was right.
Today’s Gospel reading sees us still in the Sermon on the Mount, but we move on to Chapter 6, (Mt 6: 1-6, 16-18). Jesus is speaking with his disciples. This is the Gospel we read on the First Sunday of Lent, as it contains our Lenten programme.
‘Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
‘And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
‘When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.’
How well we know these words of Jesus and how wonderful they are! Jesus encourages his disciples to practise the three traditional ways of charity and personal discipline: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. It’s what all Jews did to deepen their love for God and neighbour, but Jesus doesn’t want his disciples to follow the example of the scribes and Pharisees and their followers, who do it all for outward show. Only God should know what we are doing. Not even we ourselves should take note of what we do. All that matters is that we fast and pray and give alms with generous and loving hearts and that God alone should be aware of what we are doing. Humility and sincerity, not hypocrisy, is the way of Jesus and we are to follow him who is the Way and the Truth and the Life. Although we tend to think that this is just a Lenten programme, for Jesus, his disciples should fast, pray and give alms all the year round and to do so with willing hearts and for love of God and neighbour.
