Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday - 14th April 2024
Abbot Paul • April 13, 2024
It was a great joy for me yesterday to have breakfast with a dear friend near Leominster and, later in the day, lunch with close friends at Bromyard and to enjoy a walk around their spectacular garden. The recent loss of my dear dog Toby has made me appreciate all the more and thank God for the support of friends as well as many parishioners and readers of this daily message. How can I thank you all for your prayers, kind words and expressions of love and understanding? May the risen Christ shine on your hearts and fill them with his grace and tender lovingkindness.
Today’s Gospel Passage from Luke, (Lk 24: 35-48), recounts the meeting between Jesus and his disciples following on from his encounter with Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus. “The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of bread. They were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.” This resurrection appearance reminds us in part of John 20, where Jesus appears to his disciples in the upper room where they are gathered on the night of that first day of the week, the occasion on which Thomas is absent. There Jesus breathes on his disciples and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit with the power to forgive or retain sins. That appearance results in the declaration of Thomas that he refuses to believe unless he can see Jesus and touch his wounds. In Luke all the disciples seem to doubt, probably because they’re so excited about seeing him. In fact, they think he is a ghost and he has to eat something before their eyes to make it quite clear that he is indeed flesh and bone.
Jesus then goes on to “open their minds to understand the scriptures”, just as he had done with the two on the road to Emmaus. “’This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.’” He emphasises that what they are seeing is the fulfilment of all three sections of the Hebrew scriptures, the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, or Wisdom literature. The Old Testament, as we call it, in its entirety points to him, the Son of God incarnate, the Messiah, the Christ they can see before their eyes and is risen from the dead. They, in fact, are his witnesses, whom he is now sending throughout the world to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sin. They are to do this in his name. They are given their mission by the risen Christ and told what they must do. Luke is now preparing the reader for his second book, the Acts of the Apostles.
We talk blithely about our faith being based on the resurrection of Jesus, but what do we really believe? The disciples were there and saw it all; they were witnesses to every moment and every detail and yet, to start with, they doubted. But for each one of them, there came a moment of light and of understanding and from that moment, they believed and were prepared to die for their faith in Jesus. Our faith rests on their testimony, but there must also be a personal element, a personal encounter with Jesus our risen Lord on our road to Emmaus. It’s good to look over our lives and to remember when we first met Jesus and believed. You could think of St Paul on the road to Damascus.
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.
Br Meinrad and Br Gildas attend a special service with the Benedictine community of St Paul's Outside the Walls with King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Honesty and Love Before God: Pharisee and Tax Collector; Pope and King - a homily by Abbot Brendan for the 30th Sunday of the Year.
We are sad to announce that Fr Stephen died on Monday 21st October 2055. He was 94. He died peacefully in hospital, having recently fractured his shoulder. He was a beloved member of the monastic community, who had settled back at Belmont after many years on Belmont parishes, including in Abergavenny, Swansea, Hereford and Weobley. He will be much missed. His Requiem Mass will be at Belmont on Wednesday, 5th November at 11.30am followed by burial in the monastic cemetery. The Reception of his Body into the Abbey Church will take place on Tuesday, 4th November, at 5.45pm.
With honoured guests we were delighted to open our doors again of our new guesthouse and conference centre: The Chapterhouse.
"A hymn to the human body." Abbot Brendan's Homily at the annual Mass celebrated at Rotherwas Chapel in Hereford that dates from the 1580s on the feast of the Assumption.
From Francis to Leo: A special event with Christopher Lamb of CNN in conversation with Austin Ivereigh who commentated for the BBC on the transition from Pope Francis to Pope Leo.
On 12th June an Ecumenical Service was held at Hereford Cathedral to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea.
