Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 14th October 2023
Abbot Paul • October 13, 2023
It was good to drive to Bromyard yesterday morning for Mass and to take Toby with me. This wasn’t new to him, of course, as in the past he had been there many times and always accompanied me when I went church crawling nearby. As you know, I love visiting ancient churches and love praying in them and singing the chant. I always get the feeling that the stones remember and rejoice. When I eventually move to Leominster and Bromyard next year on my retirement as abbot, one of the many things I’m looking forward to doing is visiting every ancient church in the north of Herefordshire, not that I can say that I’ve visited every medieval church in the south of the county, but I’m getting pretty close. Toby always accompanies me, as he loves sniffing around old churches and churchyards as much as I do.
Today’s brief Gospel reading from Luke, (Lk 11: 27-28), is a most suitable passage to be heard on Saturday, which is usually dedicated to Our Lady. Here it is: “As Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, ‘Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ But he replied, ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” It’s somewhat similar to the short account we read recently of a visit made by Mary and his brothers to Jesus, when he was preaching to the crowds and healing them. “Who are my mother and my sisters and brothers?” he asked, replying that those who hear the word and kept it are his mother and sisters and brothers. This time it is a woman in the crowd, who shouts out, “Blessed are the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked.” It’s not that Jesus disagrees with what she says, but he takes her thought a stage further. “Even more blest those who hear the word of God and keep it.” Who is more blessed than Mary his mother, who heard the word of God and kept it? We ask Mary’s prayers today that we, like her, may hear the word of God and keep it.
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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.