Message of Abbot Paul - Monday - 8th April 2024
Abbot Paul • April 7, 2024
​Today, although it’s not 25th March, the Church in the West keeps the solemnity of the Annunciation, transferred from the Monday of Holy Week. It marks the day when the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that it was God’s desire that his Son should become incarnate in her womb through the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is the day on which she humbly accepted the Father’s will and became the Mother of God, Theotokos in Greek, the one who bore God in her womb and gave birth to him as man. It is the day on which we remember and give thanks for the Incarnation, the day on which God became man, that through his birth, life, death, resurrection and outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we might become God, in the words of St Athanasius, the great Doctor of the Church. That might sound outlandish, but it’s not, it is the central dogma of our faith, the deification of Man through the incarnation of God. I use the traditional term Man to denote all human beings. Today’s Gospel passage is the well-known account of the Annunciation from Luke, (Lk 1: 26-38). It begins the Christmas story we love so much.
​“The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’” Luke has the gift of writing beautiful Greek, which translates well into English, and of packing a lot of information into a sentence. Just look at the first one here. In Greek the feast is known as ΕυαγγελισμÏŒς της ΘεοτÏŒκου. You can see the link to evangelisation, the proclamation of the Good News, since it is the angel Gabriel who first announces the Gospel, the Good News, to Mary. ‘Hail, Mary, full of grace’ is the more traditional translation. This term ‘full of grace’ reveals to us Mary’s state of grace, that she is immaculate, and has been designated and prepared from all eternity to be the Virgin Mother of God. Hence, ‘the Lord is with Thee,’ even before he is physically incarnate in her womb.
“She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’“ Gabriel explains God’s plan to her. She is already disturbed by his greeting: we can imagine how confused she becomes by the time he has given his message. But this young girl remains calm and in control. She hasn’t quite understood his message and he hasn’t explained it fully. She brings up an important detail. “Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’” Mary doesn’t object, but asks for further clarification, a wise woman. She reminds us that we can ask questions of God! Then all is revealed, not only the Holy Spirit’s part in the Incarnation, but also extra proof of God’s love and his ability to do what we humans deem impossible. Mary, a young virgin, is to conceive and remain for ever virgin, while her cousin. Elizabeth, whom everyone knows to be barren, has conceived by God’s grace, when even hope had faded.
The account ends with Mary’s famous words. How many times have we heard them? How many times have we repeated them? “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to thy word.” In modern translation we read, “‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.” What can the angel do once Mary has spoken, but leave in respectful silence? We, too, before the mystery of the Incarnation, remain silent in awe and gratitude. It would be good today to spend some time in silence to wonder at the mystery of the Incarnation.
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.
