Message of Abbot Paul - Monday 16th October 2023

When I was a boy, Autumn was the season of Michaelmas daisies. You could see them in every garden and in flower arrangements in all churches, cemeteries and homes. There was something comforting about them as the nights drew in, the days got colder and we looked forward to Christmas and the end of the long, long Michaelmas Term at school. It struck me yesterday that this is no longer the case. It was seeing two small and rather sad looking clumps of these lovely flowers yesterday morning in a Leominster garden that brought this home to me. So it is that I pray for the revival of the fortunes of the Michaelmas daisy in Britain.

 

​We return to Luke’s Gospel today, (Lk 11: 29-32), with the crowds gathering around Jesus that are getting bigger by the day. The more they listen to him, the more fascinated they become. They probably weren’t expecting what he had to say next. “This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. On Judgement Day the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here. On Judgement Day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached, they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here.” It’s a call to repentance. He calls his hearers a “wicked Generation, always asking for a sign.” Why should they listen to him? What proof does he possess to show that his teaching has any authority at all? He points to the prophet Jonah and to the Queen of Sheba as two valid signs. Jonah called to people of Nineveh to repentance and they repented. The Queen of Sheba came to witness for herself the riches and wisdom of Solomon, and she found all she was looking for. Jesus says that he is greater than both Jonah and the Queen of the South, but the people he has come to save neither repent nor learn from his wisdom. The signs are there, his call to repentance is powerful and valid; his wisdom comes from God and has the power to save, but they reject him. They are curious, fascinated even, but pay no attention. Today his words and his teaching are directed at us. Will we repent? Will we profit from his wisdom and the riches of his grace? Only we know the answer.

 

​I ask you to remember in prayer today one of Belmont’s most illustrious monks, Bishop Mark Jabalé, who celebrates his 90th birthday. For many years head master of our school, and international rowing coach, he spent a number of years in Peru and built our very first monastery there. On the retirement of Abbot Alan Rees, he was elected abbot and then towards the end of 2000 appointed a bishop by Pope St John Paul II. After serving as Bishop of Menevia for seven years, he worked as Parish Priest of Chipping Norton and then as a retired bishop in London. For the past few years, he has accompanied us at Belmont, invigorating the community with his knowledge, prayerfulness and good humour. No photographs today, but tomorrow. Please remember, too, Dom Michael Evans, Prior of Belmont and formerly Parish Priest of St Francis Xavier, who celebrates his 77th. Ad multos annos.