Message of Abbot Paul - Friday - 15th March 2024
Abbot Paul • March 14, 2024
​You’ll be pleased to hear that I’m getting my cold under control, taming the beast, so to speak. People had been telling me of colds lasting weeks and of sore throats that had become a permanent nuisance and I had visions of this happening to me, but God is good and prayer is powerful. I am beginning to feel very much better and not so much under the weather as floating on air. Yesterday I drove to Bromyard for a weekday Mass and had the distinct sensation that I was being borne on angels’ wings. What an amazing experience that is!
​Our Gospel today is a shortened version of the first half of chapter 7 of John, (Jn 7: 1-2; 10; 25-30), in which Jesus leaves Galilee and goes alone to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles, so as not to draw attention to himself. Meanwhile, the people debate as to whether he will be coming or not and as to his identity. Is he or is he not the Messiah?
​Even so, Jesus begins teaching in the Temple and this leads to further animosity on the part of the religious authorities. We read, “As Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out: ‘Yes, you know me and you know where I came from. Yet I have not come of myself: no, there is one who sent me and I really come from him, and you do not know him, but I know him because I have come from him and it was he who sent me.’ They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him.” Once more we meet this phrase: “his time had not yet come.” In John, it is a phrase that occurs frequently, referring to his death and resurrection as his time. We first meet it at the wedding feast of Cana, when Mary his mother asks him to perform a miracle on behalf of the bride and groom, who have run out of wine. In John the miracles are prophetic signs of the coming ‘time’ of Christ, the coming of God’s kingdom, the dawning of salvation. That is why we pray, “Thy kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven.”
Pope Francis RIP Pope 2013-2025 Born 1936, Died 2025 We are deeply saddened at the passing of Pope Francis. As the successor of St Peter he has been a spiritual father and shepherd to the church in our day, challenging us, and calling as to reach out to those on the peripheries. He was the first Jesuit Pope, but took the name Francis after the Poor Man of Assisi who modelled for him a closeness to the poor, a concern for those on the margins of society and a care for all of creation In his preaching Pope Francis always spoke of the joy of the Gospel and encouraged us to reflect the joy of our faith in our lives. He showed the compassion of Jesus to everyone. He worked tirelessly for the unity of the church and travelled even to non-Christian countries promoting a message of peace. He has left a great legacy. With the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio with the community over Easter we were able to express our closeness to the Holy Father in his final suffering. There will be a special Mass at Belmont this Thursday 24th April at 11am to pray for Pope Francis as he makes his final journey to the house of the Father. On the day of his funeral, the Office of the Dead will be sung, and Mass that day will be a Requiem. May the angels lead him into paradise; may the martyrs receive him at his arrival and lead him to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive him and with Lazarus, the poor man grant him eternal rest." (The In Paradisum, words from the Funeral Liturgy)
We were were honoured and delighted to be joined by the Apostolic Nuncio to celebrate Easter. His Excellency Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía is the representative of the Holy See in Great Britain, and therefore of the Holy Father. His presence on Easter Sunday morning brought us more consciously in communion with Pope Francis, the successor of St Peter, as we heard the Gospel story of Peter running to the tomb. His patron saint is St Michael, so afterwards, at a festive lunch we were able to present him with some Belmont cufflinks with the monastery coat of arms - very similar to his as Archbishop. We were able to pray for him and his work in this country.
