Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 9th July

Message from Fr Paul for Saturday, 9th July 2022

 I was so grateful to be able to visit my mother yesterday, albeit for a few hours. She was in good form and delighted to see me in the flesh rather than on a small screen. We enjoyed a nourishing lunch together and talked about many things. I was also able to help her do a few small jobs. One of the highlights of the day was taking a wrong turning on the Heads of the Valleys road, at a roundabout that is in the course of being rebuilt, and so taking a rather longer alternative country road, but without traffic and an abundance of almost ripe blackberries and what appeared to be wild raspberries, which I collected for my mother and tucked into straight from the bush as well. It was such a happy day that I was cured of the spirit of dejection that overwhelmed me yesterday.

 Our Gospel passage today is the continuation of Jesus’ instructions to the twelve Apostles, as found in Matthew, (Mt 10: 24-33). Jesus warns them that they will be treated just as he has been treated and be called names, such as ‘sons of the devil.’ I can confess to having been called many things during my 47 years as a priest, but I’ve yet to be called that. Jesus says, “The disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor the slave to his master. It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, what will they not say of his household?” But what an honour and a privilege to be called and to be a disciple of Jesus and to learn from him and work along with him!

 Twice he tells his apostles not to be afraid, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” He reminds them of how much they mean to his heavenly Father, who looks on them as his children and loves them. If God loves all he has created, even small, insignificant sparrows, will he not love each one of us who are so precious to him? Jesus assures his apostles that he will always be with them, to protect and strengthen them. We, too, can rejoice, for our heavenly Father is with us always, so we need never be afraid.