Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 16th July
Abbot Paul • July 16, 2022
Today the Church keeps the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a feast that goes back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and the founding of the Carmelite Order. It is a feast and devotion that reminds us constantly of our shared contemplative vocation to union with Jesus in whom we encounter God and learn to love him. We pray for our brother and sister Carmelites throughout the world and for the souls in Purgatory. It was on this day in 1981, while studying Spanish in Cochabamba, Bolivia, that Frs Luke, David and I visited the Carmelite nuns in their ancient monastery there and celebrated Mass with them. I feel they would welcome our prayers today, as would our dear sisters at Dolgellau in Wales. Our General Chapter continues to work hard and today is no exception. Thank God tomorrow we have a rest day.
Our short Gospel reading comes from Matthew, (Mt 12: 14-21), and is mostly a quotation from the Prophet Isaiah. Our evangelist sets out by warning us that the Pharisees have set out to plot against Jesus and are discussing how to destroy him. Why do they hate him so and are so afraid of his popularity? I suspect they fear that the Roman authorities will come down heavily on any national religious figure who looks likely to rock the the boat of civil order and submission to the state, yet it would take a couple of centuries for Christians to pose a threat and become a powerful political and religious presence in the Roman Empire. In fact, Jesus, realising what the Pharisees have in mind, withdraws from the district. Not only that, but he warns those who follow him and are cured by him not to make him known. He is not a political Messiah, as even his disciples seemed to think at times. Consider the two on the road to Emmaus.
It is in this context that Jesus quotes from Isaiah 42: 1-4. Here are just a few lines: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved. I will endow him with my Spirit and he will proclaim true faith to the nations. In his name the nations will put their hope.” Today, Jesus proclaims hope and true faith to the nations through each one of us, his disciples and his people. This is the shared vocation of all Christians, the vocation that you and I share. May we fulfill it with joyful hope in the coming of God’s kingdom.
A homily by Abbot Brendan at a special Easter Mass for Pope Francis, attended by Catholics from across the Deanery.
Pope Francis RIP Pope 2013-2025 Born 1936, Died 2025 We are deeply saddened at the passing of Pope Francis. As the successor of St Peter he has been a spiritual father and shepherd to the church in our day, challenging us, and calling as to reach out to those on the peripheries. He was the first Jesuit Pope, but took the name Francis after the Poor Man of Assisi who modelled for him a closeness to the poor, a concern for those on the margins of society and a care for all of creation In his preaching Pope Francis always spoke of the joy of the Gospel and encouraged us to reflect the joy of our faith in our lives. He showed the compassion of Jesus to everyone. He worked tirelessly for the unity of the church and travelled even to non-Christian countries promoting a message of peace. He has left a great legacy. With the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio with the community over Easter we were able to express our closeness to the Holy Father in his final suffering. There will be a special Mass at Belmont this Thursday 24th April at 11am to pray for Pope Francis as he makes his final journey to the house of the Father. On the day of his funeral, the Office of the Dead will be sung, and Mass that day will be a Requiem. May the angels lead him into paradise; may the martyrs receive him at his arrival and lead him to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive him and with Lazarus, the poor man grant him eternal rest." (The In Paradisum, words from the Funeral Liturgy)
We were were honoured and delighted to be joined by the Apostolic Nuncio to celebrate Easter. His Excellency Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía is the representative of the Holy See in Great Britain, and therefore of the Holy Father. His presence on Easter Sunday morning brought us more consciously in communion with Pope Francis, the successor of St Peter, as we heard the Gospel story of Peter running to the tomb. His patron saint is St Michael, so afterwards, at a festive lunch we were able to present him with some Belmont cufflinks with the monastery coat of arms - very similar to his as Archbishop. We were able to pray for him and his work in this country.
