Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 24th December 2022

Not only is it Christmas Eve, but it’s already two, or is it three, days since the Winter Solstice and the days are already lengthening, as we look towards Spring and Summer. It’s difficult to know anymore where we are with the climate. Last week I was walking Toby a little before 6am and it was -8C; yet yesterday it was +8C. That’s a big jump for the end of December. It’s looking as though we’ll have a wet Christmas, but definitely not a white one. No matter what the weather, our prayers remain the same: we pray earnestly for peace in Ukraine, for an end to the war there, the senseless destruction, intense suffering and the displacement of millions of innocent people. We cannot allow this aggression to continue. Sadly, there are times when prayer, hope and dialogue are not enough: this is one of those times.

 

​At our morning Mass today, we conclude reading the account of the birth of John the Baptist from Luke’s Infancy Narrative, (Lk 1: 67-79). Today we hear Zechariah’s song of thanksgiving, commonly known as the Benedictus, from the first word of the song in Latin, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.” Luke tells us that Zechariah was filled with Holy Spirit and that his song was a prophecy. In the birth of John, God has fulfilled his promise to Israel that a precursor, a forerunner, would be sent to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, for the coming of God himself in Christ. God remembers his holy covenant made with Abraham,

“the oath he swore

to our father Abraham

that he would grant us, free from fear,

to be delivered from the hands of our enemies,

to serve him in holiness and virtue

in his presence, all our days.”

 

In God’s plan of salvation, John has a very important role to play,

“And you, little child,

you shall be called Prophet of the Most High,

for you will go before the Lord

to prepare the way for him,

to give his people knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins;

this by the tender mercy of our God

who from on high will bring the rising Sun to visit us,

to give light to those who live

in darkness and the shadow of death

and to guide our feet

into the way of peace.”

John’s specific ministry will be to forgive sins, as people prepare to meet and accept the Messiah and in him find not only forgiveness but salvation. John will prepare the way for the Saviour’s coming among us as Emmanuel, God-is-with-us.