Message of Abbot Paul - Monday 8th May 2023
Abbot Paul • May 8, 2023
Today is a bank holiday in honour of the Coronation. I’m planning to take a rest after the exhausting activities of the past two or three days. There’s the physical exhaustion and the emotional exhaustion. Yesterday our parish celebrated the Coronation with a traditional street party, held on the road between the monastery building and the garden. Over a hundred people were present and enjoyed a lovely afternoon together. The food, the company, the weather, the setting, the royal quiz and children’s games, everything was truly wonderful. We are so grateful to the good ladies, who worked so hard to make it all happen, and the gentlemen who helped them. It was a truly fitting way to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla and reminded many of us of similar celebrations for Queen Elizabeth seventy years’ ago.
Today’s Gospel passage comes from John, (Jn 14: 21-26), and this time it is Jude who asks a question of Jesus, who is talking of keeping the commandments and being loved by God. “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.” The proof that we love Jesus is that we keep his commandments, and if we keep them, then the Father will love us. Obedience is the sign and proof of love, and obedience means listening closely to the heartbeat of God and synchronising with it. Jude interjects, “Lord, what is all this about? Do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
In reply to Jude’s question, Jesus says:
“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.”
Nothing could be clearer or easier to understand, and yet it’s not easy to believe that the Father and the Son will make their home in us, or abide in us. St Paul will say in 1 Corinthians 6: 19 that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, which means that the Father and the Son abide in us. In fact, Jesus now goes on to speak of the Holy Spirit.
“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.”
The Father will send the Spirit in the name of Christ Jesus risen from the dead and glorified. The Spirit will bring to life in us the word of Jesus, so that we obey the commandments of Jesus and are filled with the love of God. Our lives are bound up with the Holy Trinity and reflect the life of the Trinity, who will bring us to eternal life.
Br Meinrad and Br Gildas attend a special service with the Benedictine community of St Paul's Outside the Walls with King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Honesty and Love Before God: Pharisee and Tax Collector; Pope and King - a homily by Abbot Brendan for the 30th Sunday of the Year.
We are sad to announce that Fr Stephen died on Monday 21st October 2055. He was 94. He died peacefully in hospital, having recently fractured his shoulder. He was a beloved member of the monastic community, who had settled back at Belmont after many years on Belmont parishes, including in Abergavenny, Swansea, Hereford and Weobley. He will be much missed. His Requiem Mass will be at Belmont on Wednesday, 5th November at 11.30am followed by burial in the monastic cemetery. The Reception of his Body into the Abbey Church will take place on Tuesday, 4th November, at 5.45pm.
With honoured guests we were delighted to open our doors again of our new guesthouse and conference centre: The Chapterhouse.
"A hymn to the human body." Abbot Brendan's Homily at the annual Mass celebrated at Rotherwas Chapel in Hereford that dates from the 1580s on the feast of the Assumption.
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.
