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.”
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.
