Message of Abbot Paul - Friday - 8th March 2024
Abbot Paul • March 8, 2024
I wonder how your Lenten penances are going. This coming Sunday, Laetare Sunday, better known in the UK as Mothering Sunday, marks the halfway point between Ash Wednesday and the Wednesday in Holy Week, so it’s a good time to take stock of how Lent is going this year. I believe that today’s Gospel can be a great help in this discernment process. Jesus reminds us of what is central to our faith, central, in fact, to our lives, that to love God and to love our neighbour is far more important “than any burnt offering or sacrifice.” In other words, the religious rites of our faith and the penances we practice are only of value if they are an aid to our loving God and neighbour, and they certainly cannot replace the love that should motivate our whole being and existence.
Our Gospel passage today comes from Mark, (Mk 12: 28-34). A scribe, a teacher of the Law, comes up to Jesus and puts this question to him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus’ reply goes beyond the first commandment to a second one, for they go hand in hand, you can’t have one without the other. Interestingly, in Mark, the scribe is not shown as an adversary as in Matthew and Luke, but in a positive way. He and Jesus appear to have a friendly rapport. Jesus replies, “This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” The scribe is asking, not which commandment is first of many, but rather which commandment defines the core of the Torah and summarizes it. Is there one law that is the key to all the laws? The Jewish Law contained no less than 613 commandments of varying importance. Jesus begins by quoting the Shema, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord.” This is the basis of the Law and why we should love God. We are to love God in every possible way and with our whole being, and this love must manifest itself in the way I love others, those whom God has put on my path. These two commandments neatly summarise the two tablets of the Decalogue. However, the second comes from Leviticus 19: 18.
The scribe agrees with Jesus and says, “Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true: that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.” You can’t help but wonder whether this scribe became a disciple of Jesus, I rather think so. There is a wonderful exposition on the relationship between love of God and love of neighbour in the First Letter or Epistle of John, chapter 4. Mark tells us that, “Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him anymore.” For us, of course, the question is what effect do the words of Jesus have on our lives. Do we balance the love of God with that of our neighbour? We would do well today to take a new look at 1John 4 and compare the teaching there with the way we live. May we hear Jesus say to each one of us, as he said to the scribe, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
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.
