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.
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.
