Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 15th October 2023
Abbot Paul • October 14, 2023
Early yesterday morning, when I went out for our first walk with Toby, it was cold and wet and the rain soaked my trousers and got into my shoes and socks, I found it really unpleasant, and was led to believe by the forecast that the weather would remain like that all day. In fact, there were warnings of stormy weather with thunder and lightning. As things turned out, by 8.45am, our second walk, this time on the playing fields, things had begun to look up and it soon blossomed into a lovely, sunny autumn’s day. We spent the morning at Leominster and returned via Canon Pyon, the quick way back to Hereford that avoids most of the heavy traffic. It was so pleasant around 4.00pm that I took a few photographs of the abbey, showing the scaffolding being used for repair and maintenance work being done on the chimneys. I also recorded the bells briefly, which you might like to hear. I wonder what today will hold in store for us, as we continue to pray for peace in Palestine and Israel, as well as in Ukraine and Sudan.
Our Gospel reading comes from Matthew (Mt 22: 1-14), from that section of his Gospel where Jesus talks of the end of the world, judgement and the coming of the kingdom, envisaged as a banquet, the marriage feast of the Lamb. We appear to have two parables that have been conflated or inadvertently juxtaposed. Jesus is addressing the chief priests and elders of the people. He begins, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a feast for his son’s wedding.” Following the Old Testament tradition, heaven is seen as a banquet, a feast, but Jesus says it is God who invites us to his Son’s marriage banquet, for he is in fact the kingdom. The invitation goes out many times, through God’s servants, the prophets of old, and now through the disciples and apostles of Jesus, but to no avail. Those invited, the chief priests and elders, do not want to come, although they are the chosen people and the first to be called. The king says to his servants, “The wedding is ready; but as those who were invited proved to be unworthy, go to the crossroads in the town and invite everyone you can find to the wedding.” Those who reject Jesus have proved unworthy of the kingdom, so now the invitation is opened up to all who are prepared to listen to and accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. “So, these servants went out on to the roads and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike; and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” So far, so good!
Then we come to a twist in the story and what looks like another parable. The king arrives at the feast, looks round at the guests and sees one without a wedding garment. He says to him, “How did you get in here, my friend, without a wedding garment?” The man gives no reply. He, too, is rejected. “Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.” This seems so unfair, as indeed it would be if it were a continuation of our original parable. But here the lesson is that we must prepare for the kingdom and not expect to turn up as we are, hoping for the best. The words of Jesus are clear, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Even those who are called do not have their place guaranteed in the kingdom. Life on earth is a long process of putting that wedding garment together, piece by piece, stitch by stitch. The kingdom of heaven is God’s gift, but we also have to work for it.
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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.