Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 23rd September 2022

Apologies for the brevity of this message. Yesterday was an extremely busy day, which included joining the brethren in their common work, this time chopping up coconut flesh ready for making a new recipe for panettone, visiting a clinic for a scan (they take aches and pains very seriously here - oh why did I complain?) and then driving to the airport to collect Abbot Benito of Las Condes Abbey, Santiago, Chile. The traffic was a nightmare and it was after 10pm when we got back to the monastery.

Today’s Gospel passage comes from Luke, (Lk 9: 18-22), with Jesus alone at prayer with his disciples. He asks them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They tell him more or less what Herod had to say on Tuesday, that he is John the Baptist, Elijah or another of the prophets of old come back to life. But then he asks them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answers in the name of all of them when he says, “The Christ of God.” This is a much shorter and less detailed version of the account we read in Matthew, of what took place at Caesarea Philippi. They are warned by Jesus to say nothing about this conversation. He also explains what is to come, his Passion , Death and Resurrection. Were Jesus to ask us today who we think he is, I wonder if our answers would be as clear and concise as Simon Peter’s.