Message of Abbot Paul - Laetare Sunday - 10th March 2024
Abbot Paul • March 9, 2024
​In his letter to the Ephesians (Eph 5: 25-27), St Paul talks of the Church being the Bride of Christ. That being so, the Church is our Mother and we her children. She gave birth to us spiritually when we were baptised with water and the Holy Spirit. That divine motherhood of the Church is remembered today as we celebrate Mothering Sunday, for, throughout the world, thousands of candidates, known as catechumens, are preparing to receive the Sacraments of Christian Initiation this coming Easter. I’m not sure how, in the UK, this became Mother’s Day, which everywhere else in the world is celebrated on the Second Sunday of May. When I was a boy, we kids didn’t have money to buy chocolates or flowers for our mothers. We’d go into the woods or up the mountain to pick wild flowers. It was Spring, so there were many to choose from. Unfortunately, the simplicity of the day has been lost to commercialism. We pray today for our own dear mothers, living and dead, and for our grandmothers, aunts, older sisters and neighbours, who brought or helped bring us up and shared their faith with us in the warm embrace with love.
​Today’s Gospel passage comes from John, (Jn 3: 14-21), and is part of the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus one night. He explains why he has come into the world and what his heavenly Father expects of him. As you know, much of John’s Gospel is written in poetic form.
“The Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.
Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
So that everyone who believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.”
You will remember that, in the Book of Exodus, we read how God ordered Moses to make a bronze serpent. When the people of Israel were bitten by a poisonous snake, then Moses would raise the serpent of bronze high above them and they would be healed. He compares this to his own “lifting up” on the cross, when through his passion and death, he will heal sinners and cleanse them of their sins. His death will be the source of our life. His sacrifice, which brings with it eternal life for those who believe, is the gift of God’s love, for God wills his people to be saved and live.
Then Jesus speaks about those who refuse to believe, those who prefer the darkness to the light, and what their ultimate fate will be.
“No one who believes in him will be condemned;
but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already,
because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.
On these grounds is sentence pronounced:
that though the light has come into the world
men have shown they prefer darkness to the light
because their deeds were evil.
And indeed, everybody who does wrong
hates the light and avoids it,
for fear his actions should be exposed;
but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light,
so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.”
God asks no more of us than that we accept the gift of his love and mercy and that we believe that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, he who is the light of the world and comes to bring light to our darkness. He asks us to live by the truth and so live by the light of Christ. It’s fascinating to note that Nicodemus comes to Jesus in a night that is both physical and spiritual, but leaves with the gift of light, the gift of faith, so that from now on what he does, he does in God. May Jesus speak to our hearts today, as he spoke with Nicodemus on that night long ago. May we, like Nicodemus, rediscover the gift to faith and the light of Christ. Amen.
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.
Archbishop Mark O'Toole, of Cardiff-Menevia presided at the Requiem Mass for Bishop Mark, while Abbot Brendan conducted his burial. Cardinal Vincent Nichols preached a homily full of warmth and affection for Bishop Mark which is reproduced below.
Bishop Mark Jabalé OSB RIP Given at his funeral by Dom Alexander Kenyon Baby Jean Pierre (Mark) Jabale was born on October 16th, 1933, in Alexandria, Egypt. As he said, himself, his background could be considered “cosmopolitan”: his father was Lebanese / French and his Mother, British / Greek / French. He also reminded people that he wasn’t Egyptian. Through his mother, Arlette, he was related to St. Jean Vianney, so it was, perhaps, no surprise that he followed in his priestly footsteps. His father, Jean, was MD of Fiat and Simca cars Europe and, maybe surprisingly or not, he did love a car – not, however, Italian cars, but German; he loved his Audis. Perhaps we should begin today by remembering his mother and father, his brothers Christian and Paul and his nieces, here today, Aline and Nathalie and Isabelle and their families – they were so dear to him and he to them and I know they miss him enormously. Young Jean wanted to join the Navy and came to England, to Belmont Abbey school but the Lord had other ideas – he ended up joining the rather land locked monastery, our dear, late Fr. Raymund opining that he wouldn’t last a month. After a rather uninspiring course of priestly studies (his words, not mine) he studied for a Licentiate in French literature in Fribourg, then a Dip Ed at Strawberry Hill and played Rugby there – the Papist Witch Doctor as he was affectionately known. Teaching followed, at Belmont, Housemaster, acting Headmaster, then to Alderwasley, our prep school in Derbyshire as Headmaster, and then back to Belmont soon after as Headmaster. In 1983 he went to Peru to build our first monastery there only to realise there was little money. So, he returned to the UK to put in a stint of fundraising with his usual zeal and determination. With his mission accomplished he was asked by Abbot Alan to return to Belmont as his prior in 1986 – Peru remained close to his heart. In 1993 he was elected Abbot. In his time as Abbot, he had to preside over the closure of the school, necessary but no less painful for him. In 2000 he was appointed coadjutor Bishop of Menevia and succeeded Bishop Mullins in 2001. He retired as Ordinary in 2008 and “retired” to Chipping Norton as parish priest, then Hendon, saying Mass for the nuns and helping with confirmations. After a spell at Archbishop’s House, Westminster, living with his great friend Cardinal Nichols, he came home to Belmont – it was as though he had never been away and he loved being back in the monastery, particularly praying the Office with the community. That’s the list, of sorts, but it doesn’t really say “who” he was. I haven’t mentioned his outstanding contribution to rowing – the 1979 coxless, lightweight four gold medal at the world championships in Bled, which almost didn’t happen as, at the last minute, he was told there was no money to send the crew. He begged, cajoled and got them there – the video footage of the final is compelling. He transformed Henley Royal Regatta, writing a computer programme for the race results – he was well ahead of his time. He coached the Oxford Boat, ran the Heads of the River Schools Regatta, and more. What an achievement from someone who had never sat in a boat but learned on the job, as he said, “from books, mainly”. It was his determination, his commitment, his love of people and his drive to share what he had that is, perhaps, one of the key things to celebrate about him. And it was underpinned by his rock-solid faith – nothing overly pious, nothing showy, but a faith and a love of the Lord built on granite. Even his occasional lack of patience (sorry Mark) extended to that faith; ‘why won’t God call me?”. At the risk of being irreverent my response was always “would you want you?”. But God did want him, and he knew it. God had a purpose for his Apostle during his life and he now rests with Him in eternity. His purpose was, simply, to bring the joy of the Lord into the lives of others, in many and varied ways. A few weeks before Mark died, Pope Francis died. When the late Pope was seriously ill the son of friends of mine who entertained Mark and I to lunch regularly, was distraught at overhearing mum and dad say the Pope may die. He couldn’t stop crying. “But darling”, they said, “you don’t know the Pope, why so very sad?”. “We do know him” came the reply, “it’s Mark”. “No, Mark isn’t the Pope”. “Oh, so when the Pope does die will Mark be Pope then?”. Mark loved that one. When Mark himself did die said son would only be pacified by picking flowers from the garden and bringing them to church for him. He wanted to show how much Mark meant to him and wanted to give a little something back. That is the real biography – a man loved, respected, a man who shared what he had, above all his faith, a man who touched so many lives and made them better.  Rest in peace our dear friend.
Our brethren in Peru were delighted with the election of Pope Leo.
