Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 14th July 2023
Abbot Paul • July 14, 2023
Another weekend is upon us and we’re fast approaching the midway point of the month of July. Please can I remind parishioners of Belmont and neighbours in Herefordshire that this coming Monday, 17th July, at 3pm we have a concert in the Abbey given by the Orchestra of Woking High School, thirty young musicians aged between 11 and 16. Please come and support them. They are one of the very best school orchestras in the country.
Today we continue our reading of the 10th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, (Mt 10: 16-23), in which Jesus continues to give instructions to his disciples on how he wants them to carry out the mission on which he is sending them out as apostles.
“Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.” This is one of the most famous of the sayings of Jesus and one we do well to remember. We are not a Church of experts and professionals, but men and women who have been chosen by God to be channels of his grace, forgiveness and many blessings.
He warns his disciples of coming persecutions for the sake of the Gospel and that these might well lead to death and the attempt of emperors and states to annihilate the Church and curtail its freedom to preach the Gospel in the name of Jesus. Disciples will have to withstand hatred and betrayal in the power of the Spirit, for when they speak, Jesus will make sure that it’s the Spirit speaking in and through them. Let’s hear what Jesus actually told them. “Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved. If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. I tell you solemnly, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Let us pray for those suffering persecution on account of their faith in Jesus today. A true Christian is never far from persecution.
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Good Shepherd, Good Priest “I will seek the lost and bring back the strayed; I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.” Those words, spoken by the Lord God through the prophet Ezekiel, describe the heart of God, the Good Shepherd — but they also describe the life and ministry of a good monk and priest. They could well be written of Fr Stephen’s years of service as a pastor in Abergavenny, Swansea, Hereford, and Weobley. In each of those places, he shared in the Shepherd’s work: seeking out the lost, binding up the wounded, strengthening the weary, and leading God’s people with quiet faithfulness. And like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who came close to his people, Fr Stephen did not serve from a distance. He knew his people; he was among them. He shared their sorrows and their joys, their hopes and their disappointments. He bore their burdens with prayer and patience he brought the joy of the Gospel and the grace of the Sacraments. His mission amongst us is complete. He has served God’s good purpose. So today we ask Christ the Good Shepherd to take Stephen on his sacred shoulders and carry him home to the house of the Father. Bind up his wounds, give him eternal rest and lead him at last to the green pastures and still waters of eternal life.
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