Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 17th February 2023

Sometimes people ask me why I am still a Christian or, worse still perhaps in the UK, why I am still a Catholic. My answer is usually simple and straightforward, quite uncomplicated, and it’s simply this. I believe that Jesus has called me to be his disciple and his friend. I know this to be a fact as he says so clearly in the Gospel. I also believe that he has called me personally and by name. It’s not a general call and he calls each one of us personally. To become a Christian is a call to discipleship and an invitation to a deep spiritual and loving friendship. Throughout my life I have found this personal relationship with Jesus to be fulfilling and sustaining even if, at times, it’s not been easy. Through Jesus we come to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and in the Spirit come to know the Father, who sent his Son into the world to be our Saviour. As a disciple and a friend of Jesus, I am also called to be a member of the Body of Christ, which is the Church, not a building, not an institution, but a company of friends and disciples of the Lord, a company of believers who are motivated by their faith to live according to the example of Jesus and to share his love with others, especially those who in a very practical way need that love the most. In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about what it means to be a disciple. We find his words in Mark, (Mk 8: 34- 9: 1).

 

“If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. What gain, then, is it for a man to win the whole world and ruin his life? And indeed, what can a man offer in exchange for his life? For if anyone in this adulterous and sinful generation is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. I tell you solemnly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” Obviously, being a disciple involves a certain renunciation of self, by which Jesus means our self-will, and an acceptance of the cross, which is ourselves, our difficult character and idiosyncrasies and whatever may come our way in life. This Jesus calls ‘losing our life’, but in fact, it is the way we gain our true selves, the self or person that God created and wants us to be, created and saved in his image and likeness. Let us pray today that we may be faithful in our discipleship and loving in our friendship with Jesus and his followers.