Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 17th June
Abbot Paul • June 17, 2022
I would very much like to thank all those who offered up prayers for my mother. Her operation appears to have been a great success. She is deeply grateful to each one of you. Thank you, too, for praying for me. I really appreciate it. It’s prayer that binds us together as the Body of Christ and unites us to God. Both my mother and I are also grateful to the surgeons, doctors, nursing and administrative staff at Sancta Maria Hospital, Swansea, for their friendly and professional care and attention. Today I’ll be taking my mum to a nursing home for a few days’ respite care.
I have mentioned the birds that feed in my mother’s garden. As I was having supper in the kitchen, I could see a woodpecker feeding its young. What a noise they made! I attach a photograph. After leaving the hospital I thought it would be good to visit Margam Abbey, one of the earliest Cistercian abbeys in Wales. Part of the nave is still used as a parish church and there is a fine collection of Celtic crosses. As a teenager, I used to run there and back every week, though cheated at times and came back on a local double decker bus!
Our Gospel passage for today from Matthew, (Mt 6: 19-23), is a well known text. Jesus asks us not to “store up treasures for yourselves on earth,” but “in heaven.” All on earth and all in this life passes away, nothing is permanent let alone eternal. He reminds us: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” This leads us to ask the question, perhaps several questions, on what is truly important to each one of us. What really matters to me, where am I storing up my treasure?
He then gives, as an example, the eye. “If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be all darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkness, what darkness that will be.” We can replace the eye with the ear, tongue, mind, heart and so on. We pray to be sound and pure, and not to be overcome or enslaved by darkness, evil or sin. We ask the Lord to help and protect us and the Holy Spirit to guide us, that we might be all goodness and light. We ask that God and the love of God be our only treasure, that we might love and serve others, family, friends, strangers and enemies with the perfect love of God.
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.
