Message of Abbot Paul - Monday 25th September 2023

How quickly the days are passing by. In less than a week it will be October and three months’ today it will be Christmas. Yes, this year Christmas Day is on a Monday, so Christmas Eve is on a Sunday, my least favourite Advent-Christmas combination and very hard work, if you’re a priest with pastoral commitments.

 

Today’s short Gospel passage from Luke, (Lk 8: 16-18), sees Jesus talking to the crowds again. “No one lights a lamp to cover it with a bowl or to put it under a bed. No, he puts it on a lamp-stand so that people may see the light when they come in. For nothing is hidden but it will be made clear, nothing secret but it will be known and brought to light. So, take care how you hear; for anyone who has will be given more; from anyone who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away.” It’s a mini-parable, if you can say that, and it follows on from the parable of the sower and the seed. Light, in fact, is like seed. It can be allowed to shine forth and give light to yourself and others, or it can be hidden and locked away. Sadly, there are people who hide their light, their knowledge, their gifts, for all sorts of reasons. Jesus wants his disciples to be the light of the world and to bear witness to their faith, the light who is Christ. Their living faith will bring others to Christ.

 

Jesus warns those listening to “take care” how they hear. If we have truly heard Jesus’ words, received the seed, lit a lamp, have his word within us, then it will be evidenced by the obedience of love, that is, bearing fruit, giving off light, becoming manifest. If there is no obedience/fruit/light manifest outside in the practical sphere of our daily lives, then there is no reason to believe that there is faith, received seed, lamp lit or the fire of love inside us. Jesus concludes with a frightening thought. “So, take care how you hear; for anyone who has will be given more; from anyone who has not, even what he thinks he has will be taken away.” What, then, are we to do, if we are deceiving ourselves and trying, perhaps inadvertently, to deceive others? We can throw ourselves on the mercy of God, ask for hearts open to his word, and feast on the Gospel of the crucified and risen Son, because it is only by abiding in him, and he in us, that any fruit will be borne in our lives, which, after all, is the will of God for us. God is merciful and just and he will not let us down, but we need to pray more.