Message from Abbot Paul - St Peter and St Paul

Abbot Paul Stonham • June 27, 2020

Message from Fr Paul for Sunday, 28th June 2020


           Today we’re celebrating the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, which has been transferred from Monday to Sunday. It never seems quite right to me, but there we are! They were the two great apostles on whom much of the mission of the early Church was centred, St Peter one of the original Twelve appointed by Jesus, St Paul converted from persecutor of Christians to apostle. He became the Church’s greatest missionary and theologian, called by the risen Christ. They both received the crown of martyrdom in Rome, possibly in the same year, and they have always shared this great feast day.


           The Gospel passage traditionally read today comes from St Matthew (Mt 16:13-17). It describes a pivotal moment in the life of Jesus and his relationship with his disciples. They have come to the region of Caesarea Philippi on their journey down from Galilee to Jerusalem, when Jesus asks them a question. “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Jesus here is referring to himself as the Son of Man. They reply, giving him the opinion of others. “Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” It’s strange to hear them speaking of Jesus in the third person. So Jesus asks more directly, “But you, who do you say I am?” To this Simon Peter replies, (he’s always the one to jump in first) “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In other words, “You are the Messiah, the incarnate Son of God: you are the One and none other.” On hearing this, Jesus says, “Simon son of Jonah, blessed are you, because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.” These words of Jesus must have bowled him over; whatever could they mean?


           Today, of course, Catholics read into the words of Jesus the primacy of Peter, the primacy of the Pope over other bishops and the primacy of the See of Rome. But there’s much more to it than that. To begin with, Peter is always mouthpiece for the Twelve. You will remember how, after the discourse on the Bread of Life (John 6), most of the disciples walked away, saying it was impossible to believe what he was saying. Jesus said to the Twelve, “And what about you? Are you going to leave me too?” It was Peter who replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have words of eternal life.” Peter speaks for the Twelve, because they are united in their faith, so those words of Jesus in our Gospel are also addressed to the others and through them to all who believe in him as the Christ, the Son of the living God. We too should be that rock on which Christ builds his Church, in fact, each Christian is called to be a rock on which the Church of Christ is built. Are you that rock?


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Bishop Mark Jabalé OSB RIP Given at his funeral by Dom Alexander Kenyon Baby Jean Pierre (Mark) Jabale was born on October 16th, 1933, in Alexandria, Egypt. As he said, himself, his background could be considered “cosmopolitan”: his father was Lebanese / French and his Mother, British / Greek / French. He also reminded people that he wasn’t Egyptian. Through his mother, Arlette, he was related to St. Jean Vianney, so it was, perhaps, no surprise that he followed in his priestly footsteps. His father, Jean, was MD of Fiat and Simca cars Europe and, maybe surprisingly or not, he did love a car – not, however, Italian cars, but German; he loved his Audis. Perhaps we should begin today by remembering his mother and father, his brothers Christian and Paul and his nieces, here today, Aline and Nathalie and Isabelle and their families – they were so dear to him and he to them and I know they miss him enormously. Young Jean wanted to join the Navy and came to England, to Belmont Abbey school but the Lord had other ideas – he ended up joining the rather land locked monastery, our dear, late Fr. Raymund opining that he wouldn’t last a month. After a rather uninspiring course of priestly studies (his words, not mine) he studied for a Licentiate in French literature in Fribourg, then a Dip Ed at Strawberry Hill and played Rugby there – the Papist Witch Doctor as he was affectionately known. Teaching followed, at Belmont, Housemaster, acting Headmaster, then to Alderwasley, our prep school in Derbyshire as Headmaster, and then back to Belmont soon after as Headmaster. In 1983 he went to Peru to build our first monastery there only to realise there was little money. So, he returned to the UK to put in a stint of fundraising with his usual zeal and determination. With his mission accomplished he was asked by Abbot Alan to return to Belmont as his prior in 1986 – Peru remained close to his heart. In 1993 he was elected Abbot. In his time as Abbot, he had to preside over the closure of the school, necessary but no less painful for him. In 2000 he was appointed coadjutor Bishop of Menevia and succeeded Bishop Mullins in 2001. He retired as Ordinary in 2008 and “retired” to Chipping Norton as parish priest, then Hendon, saying Mass for the nuns and helping with confirmations. After a spell at Archbishop’s House, Westminster, living with his great friend Cardinal Nichols, he came home to Belmont – it was as though he had never been away and he loved being back in the monastery, particularly praying the Office with the community. That’s the list, of sorts, but it doesn’t really say “who” he was. I haven’t mentioned his outstanding contribution to rowing – the 1979 coxless, lightweight four gold medal at the world championships in Bled, which almost didn’t happen as, at the last minute, he was told there was no money to send the crew. He begged, cajoled and got them there – the video footage of the final is compelling. He transformed Henley Royal Regatta, writing a computer programme for the race results – he was well ahead of his time. He coached the Oxford Boat, ran the Heads of the River Schools Regatta, and more. What an achievement from someone who had never sat in a boat but learned on the job, as he said, “from books, mainly”. It was his determination, his commitment, his love of people and his drive to share what he had that is, perhaps, one of the key things to celebrate about him. And it was underpinned by his rock-solid faith – nothing overly pious, nothing showy, but a faith and a love of the Lord built on granite. Even his occasional lack of patience (sorry Mark) extended to that faith; ‘why won’t God call me?”. At the risk of being irreverent my response was always “would you want you?”. But God did want him, and he knew it. God had a purpose for his Apostle during his life and he now rests with Him in eternity. His purpose was, simply, to bring the joy of the Lord into the lives of others, in many and varied ways. A few weeks before Mark died, Pope Francis died. When the late Pope was seriously ill the son of friends of mine who entertained Mark and I to lunch regularly, was distraught at overhearing mum and dad say the Pope may die. He couldn’t stop crying. “But darling”, they said, “you don’t know the Pope, why so very sad?”. “We do know him” came the reply, “it’s Mark”. “No, Mark isn’t the Pope”. “Oh, so when the Pope does die will Mark be Pope then?”. Mark loved that one. When Mark himself did die said son would only be pacified by picking flowers from the garden and bringing them to church for him. He wanted to show how much Mark meant to him and wanted to give a little something back. That is the real biography – a man loved, respected, a man who shared what he had, above all his faith, a man who touched so many lives and made them better.  Rest in peace our dear friend.
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