Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 19th May 2023
Abbot Paul • May 18, 2023
It’s really difficult putting things together again once they’ve been torn apart, and that’s true of the Church’s Calendar too. I can’t remember how many years’ ago our bishops made us transfer important solemnities of Our Lord, other than Christmas Day, from the appropriate weekday to a Sunday, thus knocking out a fair number of the Sundays of the year into the bargain. A year or two ago, some but not all of these were restored to their rightful date, provided they don’t fall on a Monday or a Saturday, when they’re still transferred to a Sunday. Confused? I am. Hence people don’t know if they’re coming or going. This was clear yesterday, when only about 20% of the usual congregation came to Mass for the Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord, sad and upsetting, especially if you happen to be the priest celebrating those Masses. I’m not sure what the solution is. What do you think?
Our short Gospel passage for today, the feast of the great English Benedictine bishops, Saints Dunstan, Ethelwold and Oswald, follows on from our pre-Ascension readings from John, (Jn 16: 20-23). Jesus is speaking with his disciples.
“I tell you most solemnly,
you will be weeping and wailing
while the world will rejoice;
you will be sorrowful,
but your sorrow will turn to joy.
A woman in childbirth suffers,
because her time has come;
but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering
in her joy that a man has been born into the world.
So it is with you: you are sad now,
but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy,
and that joy no one shall take from you.
When that day comes,
you will not ask me any questions.”
This is a particularly graphic passage, in which Jesus compares the change from sorrow to joy among his disciples, either at his Resurrection or at the coming of the Holy Spirit, with the joy of a woman, who after the pain and trauma of childbirth, holds a new-born babe in her arms. Only a woman can know what Jesus is talking about. The rest of us can barely imagine. When will Jesus see them again? At his Resurrection? But that is only temporary, so it must be with the coming of the Holy Spirit, when Christ will remain with his Church and with his friends for ever. The gift of eternal life cannot be taken from us, but we begin to live it and enjoy it from the moment we open our eyes and see Christ alongside us and become aware of his presence within us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Br Meinrad and Br Gildas attend a special service with the Benedictine community of St Paul's Outside the Walls with King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Honesty and Love Before God: Pharisee and Tax Collector; Pope and King - a homily by Abbot Brendan for the 30th Sunday of the Year.
We are sad to announce that Fr Stephen died on Monday 21st October 2055. He was 94. He died peacefully in hospital, having recently fractured his shoulder. He was a beloved member of the monastic community, who had settled back at Belmont after many years on Belmont parishes, including in Abergavenny, Swansea, Hereford and Weobley. He will be much missed. His Requiem Mass will be at Belmont on Wednesday, 5th November at 11.30am followed by burial in the monastic cemetery. The Reception of his Body into the Abbey Church will take place on Tuesday, 4th November, at 5.45pm.
With honoured guests we were delighted to open our doors again of our new guesthouse and conference centre: The Chapterhouse.
"A hymn to the human body." Abbot Brendan's Homily at the annual Mass celebrated at Rotherwas Chapel in Hereford that dates from the 1580s on the feast of the Assumption.
From Francis to Leo: A special event with Christopher Lamb of CNN in conversation with Austin Ivereigh who commentated for the BBC on the transition from Pope Francis to Pope Leo.
On 12th June an Ecumenical Service was held at Hereford Cathedral to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea.
