Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday - 13th January 2024
Abbot Paul • January 12, 2024
Old school friends often ask me why I am still a Christian or still a Catholic, when they gave up on faith many years ago. They were mostly Welsh Non-Conformists. My answer never changes: the power of the Gospel and the friendship and love of Jesus. That is precisely why I am still a believer and a practising one at that. My faith, which is nourished by reading the Gospel and praying each day, has kept me faithful and contented throughout life, and I have no doubt that it will continue to do so in the years ahead. I very much love and respect my friends, but wonder what it must be like to live without faith. I think it’s something I couldn’t do.
Today we continue our reading of Mark, (Mk 2: 13-17), with the call of Levi or Matthew. “Jesus went out to the shore of the lake; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. As he was walking on, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus, sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.” It would appear that one of Jesus’ favourite spots for preaching was on the seashore. At times, he would step into a boat and use that as a pulpit. Today, after speaking to the crowd, as he moves on, he sees Levi, sitting at his workplace, and calls him. The call of Jesus is always brief and to the point, “Follow me.” What else can Levi do but get up and follow him?
Later in the day we find Jesus having dinner at Levi’s house, but they’re not alone, for there’s a large number at table. “Tax collectors and sinners were also sitting at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them among his followers.” Levi wasn’t the only tax collector to follow Jesus and among those at table were others as well, who were considered to be sinners by the scribes, whom we meet now for a second time. “When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’“ Mark makes it clear that the scribes were of the Pharisee party, We could ask why were they at Levi’s house and, if they were eating too, then why were they eating, like Jesus, at the same table as sinners and tax collectors? This is the first time we hear the scribes speak out about Jesus’ behaviour. He overhears them speaking to his disciples and replies, “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.” Jesus insists that he has come to call sinners to repentance and new life, not to condone the sin, but to love the sinner. He is like a physician who has come to heal the sick. In fact, he is God made man, who has come to forgive sinners and reconcile them with their heavenly Father and with each other. May we allow the Lord to forgive us our sins and reconcile us with the Father, for that is what salvation means, and like Levi may we follow Jesus and become his disciples.
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Good Shepherd, Good Priest “I will seek the lost and bring back the strayed; I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.” Those words, spoken by the Lord God through the prophet Ezekiel, describe the heart of God, the Good Shepherd — but they also describe the life and ministry of a good monk and priest. They could well be written of Fr Stephen’s years of service as a pastor in Abergavenny, Swansea, Hereford, and Weobley. In each of those places, he shared in the Shepherd’s work: seeking out the lost, binding up the wounded, strengthening the weary, and leading God’s people with quiet faithfulness. And like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who came close to his people, Fr Stephen did not serve from a distance. He knew his people; he was among them. He shared their sorrows and their joys, their hopes and their disappointments. He bore their burdens with prayer and patience he brought the joy of the Gospel and the grace of the Sacraments. His mission amongst us is complete. He has served God’s good purpose. So today we ask Christ the Good Shepherd to take Stephen on his sacred shoulders and carry him home to the house of the Father. Bind up his wounds, give him eternal rest and lead him at last to the green pastures and still waters of eternal life.
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