Message of Abbot Paul - Monday 16th May
Abbot Paul • May 15, 2022
Message from Fr Paul for Monday, 16th May 2022
Today we continue reading from the Farewell Discourse of Jesus in John, (Jn 14: 21-26). Jesus is speaking with his disciples, when Judas, the disciple we usually speak of as St Jude, asks a question.
“Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Anybody who receives my commandments and keeps them
will be one who loves me;
and anybody who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I shall love him and show myself to him.’
Judas – this was not Judas Iscariot – said to him, ‘Lord, what is all this about? Do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?’” It’s not enough simply to know the commandments, we have to keep them, if we want to show that we really love Jesus. These words of Jesus always remind me of my mother. How many times did she say to me when I was a boy, ‘Don’t say you love me, when you never do what I ask you!’ Obedience is the proof of love, but obedience in the true sense of the word means listening to the heart and mind of the other, of Jesus, of God. Our greatest weakness and sin must surely be not listening to others, to God or even to our own conscience. But Jesus assures us that if we love him, then his heavenly Father will love us too, thus increasing Jesus’ love for the Father. The disciples are confused and this time it is Jude who asks what Jesus means. Is he only going to show himself to the small band of followers and not to others?
Jesus tries to make his meaning clearer for his disciples.
“If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him and make our home with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words.
And my word is not my own:
it is the word of the one who sent me.
I have said these things to you while still with you;
but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.”
This is much clearer and things now begin to make sense. If we love Jesus, we will keep his word. The Father will love us and in the power of the Spirit, Father and Son will make their home in our hearts and souls. We will become the dwelling place, the tabernacle of God. That’s an amazing thought. As the word Jesus preaches is not his own but the Father’s, to obey Jesus is to obey the Father. However, Jesus now promises us the presence of the Holy Spirit to help us remember and understand his teaching. The Father sends the Spirit in the name of the Son. He comes to teach us all things, the truth of God and our own truth, and in reminding us of the words of Jesus, he will also interpret them, so that we understand them fully. The very thought of what Jesus is saying blows our minds away.
On the Commemoration of All Souls, Abbot Brendan reflects on the experience of death within a monastic community, the meaning of Purgatory, and St Benedict’s invitation never to lose hope in the mercy of God.
The Belmont community visit Dowlais, and remember the Benedictine Mission to South Wales as the country remembers the Aberfan disaster.
We welcomed the Knights and Dames from the Midlands and South Wales and thanked God for their mission and service.
A double celebration on the feast of St Michael and All Angels
A School of Love by the Wye: Abbot Brendan on the Cistercians on the Feast of the Holy Cross.
The Blessing of new Icons for the Churches in Stratford-upon-Avon, with inspiring talks by the Abbot Primate and Dr Rowan Williams.
“O Lord, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory abides.”
