Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 15th July 2023
Abbot Paul • July 15, 2023
This has been a great week, what with the tennis from Wimbledon to watch and enjoy in my spare moments, reminding me of my schoolboy days and the many hours spent happily playing tennis with friends late into the night until we could see the ball no longer. Then, it’s been wonderful to watch on YouTube celebrations for St Benedict from many monasteries around the world and last night the celebrations in honour of St Rosalia from Palermo in Sicily, where she is the patron saint. I’m an assiduous follower of Milan Cathedral, where I enjoy taking part in the Ambrosian Rite and listening to the excellent homilies. I wonder what you enjoy watching as a rest from work. I always have a novel on the go as well, often falling asleep with it in my hands. Even if I sleep the whole night through, I still wake up with the book in my hand in the reading position and finish off the chapter before getting up.
In today’s Gospel from Matthew, (Mt 10: 24-33), we continue reading Jesus’ instructions to his apostles as they were about to set out on their mission. I’ve often wondered if Jesus did give these many instructions all at the same time, or whether they were compiled from his many instructions and then set forth in a systematic way by Matthew or another scribe. We could say the same of the Sermon on the Mount. It’s well worth investing in a good commentary on the Gospels or on the entire New Testament. That would be a great help to you when reading the Bible, and the same goes for the Old Testament.
Jesus is a wise teacher and much of what he taught his disciples has become proverbial in many languages. As the Gospel passage is rather long, let’s just take a few examples. “The disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor the slave to his master. It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, what will they not say of his household?” As disciples of Jesus, we are called upon by God our Father to grow to be more and more like his only-begotten Son, our divine Master.
“Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.” Jesus emphasises the love with which the Father loves us, a love that is unconditional, the love that casts out all fear, the love that makes us whole, the love that is eternal.
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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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