Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 11th November 2022

Last night it was great fun to be taken out for supper by a dear friend of mine to a local Italian restaurant. The food was excellent, the ambient convivial and the company the very best there is. It was the holiday I didn’t have this year. Today, I’m having to change cars, as my old black jalopy has started playing up and is too expensive to repair. I shall miss it and so will Toby. It was like an extension to our arms and legs.

 

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St Martin of Tours, the 4th century soldier, monk and bishop, one of the most popular of all Christian saints, a man noted for his charity towards the poor and his love for Christ. The Gospel for the feast is taken from Matthew, (Mt 25: 31-40). in which Jesus speaks with his disciples on how the practice of charity will determine our place in the kingdom of heaven. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate men one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.” We know, then, that at the end of time the final judgement will take place in which Christ glorified will be assisted by his angels. We will be separated as a shepherd separates his sheep from his goats. The image is well-known and needs no explanation. Then comes the judgement, which likewise is straightforward enough.

 

“Then the King will say to those on his right hand, ‘Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me.’ Then the virtuous will say to him in reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?’ And the King will answer, ‘I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.’” The kingdom of heaven has been set apart from the beginning of time for those whom God has chosen. Jesus gives a list of the corporate acts of mercy, saying at each one that those chosen for the kingdom were present to assist him in the poor and needy. These are puzzled, not being aware of having served Christ directly or even in others, so Jesus tells them that whatever they did for the poor and needy, they did for him. “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” This is, in fact, the story of St Martin, who cut his cloak in half in order to dress and keep warm a poor man. We pray today for the grace to follow his admirable example.