Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 9th December 2022

Yesterday was a long day, beginning just after midnight with the death of one of the nuns, Dame Mary, in her 100th year. What a beautiful feast day on which to leave this world for the next. As a result the timetable changed and so it was a different day from usual. Her funeral will take place during the retreat. However, I did get the opportunity to visit the magnificent shop the nuns have here and see the full range of their extensive production. Kylemore is, of course, a famous tourist destination and rightly so. I noticed a large number of Spanish visitors, for example.

Our Gospel reading today comes from Matthew, (Mt 11: 16-19), in which Jesus, talking about the age in which he lives, compares himself with John the Baptist and the reaction of the people to them both. He comes to the conclusion that they are like “children shouting to each other in the market place.” They criticised John as a man possessed and Jesus as a drunkard and a glutton for mixing with tax collectors and sinners. Yet both are doing God’s work in bringing salvation to all men and women. We pray that we might receive Christ and accept him as our Lord and Saviour and follow the example of John the Baptist in preparing the way of the Lord.