Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 2nd July
Abbot Paul • July 1, 2022
Message from Fr Paul for Saturday, 2nd July 2022
What a busy week this has been and an exhausting one too! I wish I could say that I was looking forward to a quiet and restful weekend, but that’s rarely the case and certainly not this weekend. I thank you for your prayers for our Conventual Chapter, which was a wonderful occasion for bringing the monastic community together and for strengthening the bond of unity and fraternal charity in Christ which is the goal of the monastic life. Your support and your prayers make this possible and, above all, your example.
Our Gospel passage from Matthew, (Mt 9: 14-17), begins with a discussion on fasting, a sign of sorrow for sin and repentance. It’s the disciples of John the Baptist who ask Jesus the question: “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?” Jesus’ reply is unexpected, but referring to himself as the bridegroom and to his disciples as his attendants, he says: “Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Now there are various ways in which we can think about the bridegroom’s absence. For example, we ourselves can remove Jesus from our lives by turning away from him, when only the fast of repentance will bring him back, if we once more open our hearts to him and allow him to become part of our lives again. Only we and no one else can lock him out from our lives by our own personal rejection of him. Persecution and persecutors can have no power over us, if we welcome Christ to remain with us in the secret of our hearts. When Christ is with us, we rejoice, but when we are conscious of having turned our backs on him, we are sad and dejected and begin to fall to pieces.
Lord, be with us always, as you have promised, and never allow us to turn away from you for whatever reason, for we know that you came to call sinners and that you died for our salvation.
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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.