Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 23rd July
St Bridget of Sweden
Message from Fr Paul for Friday, 23rd July 2021
Yesterday we kept the feast of St Mary Magdalene and today, that of another great woman, St Bridget of Sweden, one of the patrons of Europe, who died on this day in1373 at the age of 70. As was the custom then, she married at an early age and had eight children, six of whom lived into adulthood. Her second daughter was St Catherine of Sweden. In 1344 her husband died and she became a Franciscan Tertiary, dedicating her life to looking after the poor and the sick. She began to think of founding a religious order for men and women, who would live lives of poverty and dedicate themselves to the care of the poor. In 1350, she and a group of companions set out across plague-ridden Europe for Rome where the Pope’s approval was sought for this double Order, the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, more commonly known as the Bridgettines. She also felt called to the mission of improving moral standards among the clergy, the nobility and the poor. She was one of those remarkable medieval women who had a marked influence on her age. She was also a mystic, who enjoyed the intimacy of God’s presence. May she pray for us and for Europe today, that we may rediscover our Christian faith and be blessed with the gift of authentic prayer. She was one of our beloved Br Bernard’s favourite saints. He also knew a great deal about the Order she founded.
Our Gospel reading from Matthew, (Mt 13: 18-23), gives us Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower. This is what he says to his disciples, “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.” It is a very simple interpretation and one that his hearers would easily have understood. I suppose that the experience most of us have is that we, like the soil in the parable, vary a great deal. There are moments in our lives, even in each day, when we are more receptive to God’s word than at other times. We often want his word to bring about radical change in our lives, but for a number of reasons, this doesn’t happen. Even the great saints lived though these difficulties. Perhaps the important thing is to be truly grateful each day for what God gives us through the power of his word touching our hearts. Very often this simple, humble gratitude can have a transforming effect on our lives. Lord, may your saints teach us by their example and support us by their prayers. Amen.
