Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 3rd December 2022
Abbot Paul • December 3, 2022
We’re already well into the month of December with the feast of St Francis Xavier, the great 16th century Jesuit missionary to India and the Orient. Let us not forget that, for 300 years during penal times, Herefordshire was also a Jesuit mission, which is why the parish church of Hereford is dedicated to St Francis Xavier. This is also a propitious day for the Belmont parish to hold is study morning on the Synod, which is very much to do with the Church’s mission in today’s world and looking to the future. I wish there were more enthusiasm for the Synod among Catholics in the U.K. Sometimes it looks as if we had forgotten our Lord’s command that his disciples go out everywhere preaching the Gospel and bringing those living in darkness into the light of Christ. We have also come to the end of the first week in Advent. How has it been for you? Will this be a memorable Advent for you?
In today’s Gospel from Matthew, (Mt 9: 35 – 10: 1, 5-9), “Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.” All was going well, but Jesus was aware of the large crowds and that he alone could not preach the Good News and cure the sick everywhere. As a result, he said to his disciples, “The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.” He was only too aware that the crowds looked, “harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” The only solution was to call his disciples to himself and share his authority with them, so that they too could do what he was doing. Here we see the beginnings of ministry in the early Church, not in the way it ultimately developed in a clerical way, both in East and in West. Nevertheless, here is all begins. He says to his disciples, “As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.” If Jesus had said those words to you, what would you have done? If he asks you today, what will you do?
On the Commemoration of All Souls, Abbot Brendan reflects on the experience of death within a monastic community, the meaning of Purgatory, and St Benedict’s invitation never to lose hope in the mercy of God.
The Belmont community visit Dowlais, and remember the Benedictine Mission to South Wales as the country remembers the Aberfan disaster.
We welcomed the Knights and Dames from the Midlands and South Wales and thanked God for their mission and service.
A double celebration on the feast of St Michael and All Angels
A School of Love by the Wye: Abbot Brendan on the Cistercians on the Feast of the Holy Cross.
The Blessing of new Icons for the Churches in Stratford-upon-Avon, with inspiring talks by the Abbot Primate and Dr Rowan Williams.
“O Lord, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory abides.”
