Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 21st May

Abbot Paul • May 20, 2022

Message from Fr Paul for Saturday, 21st May 2022

Yesterday was the sort of day, and Friday usually is with Saturday a close second, when you have an endless list of “things that must get done” and, as you come to the end of the working day, and mine often goes on beyond 10pm, you realise that you have got sadly behind in what you had planned and hoped to do. I thank God for the good weather and the sight of sunshine through my window. I long for a day out, or even just an afternoon, in the countryside with Toby, perhaps visiting an ancient church we have yet to see. I live in hope. I know that Toby would love a short trip out. I’ve yet to take him further than about 15 miles. Perhaps next week it might be possible.

We continue reading the Farewell Discourse from John, (Jn 15: 18-21), and come to that section where Jesus warns his disciples that they will receive from the ‘world’ the same harsh treatment that he will receive, for “a servant is not greater than his master.” Let’s listen to what Jesus has to say.

“If the world hates you,

remember that it hated me before you.

If you belonged to the world,

the world would love you as its own;

but because you do not belong to the world,

because my choice withdrew you from the world,

therefore, the world hates you.

Remember the words I said to you:

A servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too;

if they kept my word, they will keep yours as well.

But it will be on my account that they will do all this,

because they do not know the one who sent me.”

Jesus is referring to the future, it would appear, but when the Gospel was written and finally redacted in its present form, the words of Jesus were referring to the past and the present. It was the daily experience of the early Church. Most of the apostles and the early followers of Jesus had suffered and been put to death as Jesus himself had been arrested, tortured and put to death. But Christians continued to accept this as the norm and were prepared to suffer in order to follow Christ. Do we still have that spirit of martyrdom today or are we now lukewarm Christians who comply with fashion and the ways of the world? When Jesus talks about the world in John’s Gospel, it is not the physical or natural world that he is referring to, but that world and those living in it who reject faith, hope and love, who reject God and the Christ he sent to be our Redeemer. It is the godless world of materialism, sin and evil.

We might think that this message is not for us, but it most certainly is. The world hates Christians and the Church to which we belong, that community of believers who live in Christ through the grace of the Holy Spirit, always seeking to do the Father’s will. We need to remember that Jesus knew no earthly privilege, but lived in the joy of the Spirit because he knew he had been sent by the Father and was doing his Father’s will. We, as friends and servants of Jesus, should find our joy in suffering with him for the conversion and salvation of the world. We pray for the world and love those who are enslaved to it, for our deepest desire is that those who do not know Jesus should come to know him and know him through ourselves, who know that he loves us and has called us to his kingdom. May what we do to share in Christ’s work of redemption, bring hope and new life to those who most need it. May we rejoice to share in Christ’s suffering, so as to share in his glory. Amen.

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