Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday - 18th February 2024
Abbot Paul • February 17, 2024
​On the First Sunday in Lent, the Church focuses on the temptations of Jesus. What is fascinating about Mark’s account, that we read this year, is its brevity, the fact that forty days and nights are reduced to a single sentence. Compare this with Matthew and Luke. Mark writes, “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him.” Nevertheless, the essential elements of what happened are there.
First of all, Mark makes it quite clear that it’s the Spirit who drove Jesus out into the wilderness. Jesus was not simply inspired or even led, but driven out into the desert by the Spirit. That’s a powerful image. These past weeks, when the wind has been blustery and strong, have you been driven where you didn’t particularly want to go? Missing in our text, strangely enough, is the first word of the sentence, immediately, one of Mark’s favourite words, which we find used forty-one times in his short Gospel. Immediately, i.e. after his baptism, Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness. Here he remains for forty days and he is tempted by Satan. In Matthew and Luke, the temptations, three in number, take place at the end of his forty days in the desert, but Mark suggests that he was tempted throughout the forty days, although the nature of this tempting isn’t hinted at. The number forty always makes us think back to the Exodus, when the people of Israel wandered through the Sinai Desert on pilgrimage to the Promised Land. They, too, were sorely tempted on many occasions and turned away from God. Jesus was tested as we are tested in life. If he was driven into the desert by the Spirit, then we presume that the Spirit remained with him. Mark tells us that lived among wild beasts and that the angels were with him. Isn’t our life like that? The Spirit is with us, for we are God’s children, and each one of us has a guardian angel, as well as the whole host of angels, to protect us. The wild beasts are all the dangers we encounter on our journey through life, whether they be physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, other humans who would lead us astray, and so on. In the wilderness, Jesus represents us all and he carries our burdens for us. He shows us the path at leads to life and invites us to walk in his footprints.
​Mark then describes the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. “After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. ‘The time has come’ he said ‘and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.’” Where John the Baptist’s ministry ends, Jesus’ work begins and he begins it in Galilee. The Good News, the Gospel he proclaims, comes from God, from his heavenly Father. The message he preaches and the words he uses are similar to John’s, but now he is talking in the present and about himself. The time has come and the kingdom of God is at hand for Jesus is here. Where Jesus is, there is the kingdom of God, for there is God himself. He invites us to turn to him, by turning away from all that does not lead to God and salvation, for he is the Good News. We learn at the very beginning of his ministry that the Gospel is not a book or a biography but a person. Jesus himself is the Good News, he is the Gospel. Jesus, this Lent, help us to repent and be saved. Be our Good News, our Gospel, and fill our hearts with the joy of walking with you and sharing your life. Amen.
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.
Archbishop Mark O'Toole, of Cardiff-Menevia presided at the Requiem Mass for Bishop Mark, while Abbot Brendan conducted his burial. Cardinal Vincent Nichols preached a homily full of warmth and affection for Bishop Mark which is reproduced below.
Bishop Mark Jabalé OSB RIP Given at his funeral by Dom Alexander Kenyon Baby Jean Pierre (Mark) Jabale was born on October 16th, 1933, in Alexandria, Egypt. As he said, himself, his background could be considered “cosmopolitan”: his father was Lebanese / French and his Mother, British / Greek / French. He also reminded people that he wasn’t Egyptian. Through his mother, Arlette, he was related to St. Jean Vianney, so it was, perhaps, no surprise that he followed in his priestly footsteps. His father, Jean, was MD of Fiat and Simca cars Europe and, maybe surprisingly or not, he did love a car – not, however, Italian cars, but German; he loved his Audis. Perhaps we should begin today by remembering his mother and father, his brothers Christian and Paul and his nieces, here today, Aline and Nathalie and Isabelle and their families – they were so dear to him and he to them and I know they miss him enormously. Young Jean wanted to join the Navy and came to England, to Belmont Abbey school but the Lord had other ideas – he ended up joining the rather land locked monastery, our dear, late Fr. Raymund opining that he wouldn’t last a month. After a rather uninspiring course of priestly studies (his words, not mine) he studied for a Licentiate in French literature in Fribourg, then a Dip Ed at Strawberry Hill and played Rugby there – the Papist Witch Doctor as he was affectionately known. Teaching followed, at Belmont, Housemaster, acting Headmaster, then to Alderwasley, our prep school in Derbyshire as Headmaster, and then back to Belmont soon after as Headmaster. In 1983 he went to Peru to build our first monastery there only to realise there was little money. So, he returned to the UK to put in a stint of fundraising with his usual zeal and determination. With his mission accomplished he was asked by Abbot Alan to return to Belmont as his prior in 1986 – Peru remained close to his heart. In 1993 he was elected Abbot. In his time as Abbot, he had to preside over the closure of the school, necessary but no less painful for him. In 2000 he was appointed coadjutor Bishop of Menevia and succeeded Bishop Mullins in 2001. He retired as Ordinary in 2008 and “retired” to Chipping Norton as parish priest, then Hendon, saying Mass for the nuns and helping with confirmations. After a spell at Archbishop’s House, Westminster, living with his great friend Cardinal Nichols, he came home to Belmont – it was as though he had never been away and he loved being back in the monastery, particularly praying the Office with the community. That’s the list, of sorts, but it doesn’t really say “who” he was. I haven’t mentioned his outstanding contribution to rowing – the 1979 coxless, lightweight four gold medal at the world championships in Bled, which almost didn’t happen as, at the last minute, he was told there was no money to send the crew. He begged, cajoled and got them there – the video footage of the final is compelling. He transformed Henley Royal Regatta, writing a computer programme for the race results – he was well ahead of his time. He coached the Oxford Boat, ran the Heads of the River Schools Regatta, and more. What an achievement from someone who had never sat in a boat but learned on the job, as he said, “from books, mainly”. It was his determination, his commitment, his love of people and his drive to share what he had that is, perhaps, one of the key things to celebrate about him. And it was underpinned by his rock-solid faith – nothing overly pious, nothing showy, but a faith and a love of the Lord built on granite. Even his occasional lack of patience (sorry Mark) extended to that faith; ‘why won’t God call me?”. At the risk of being irreverent my response was always “would you want you?”. But God did want him, and he knew it. God had a purpose for his Apostle during his life and he now rests with Him in eternity. His purpose was, simply, to bring the joy of the Lord into the lives of others, in many and varied ways. A few weeks before Mark died, Pope Francis died. When the late Pope was seriously ill the son of friends of mine who entertained Mark and I to lunch regularly, was distraught at overhearing mum and dad say the Pope may die. He couldn’t stop crying. “But darling”, they said, “you don’t know the Pope, why so very sad?”. “We do know him” came the reply, “it’s Mark”. “No, Mark isn’t the Pope”. “Oh, so when the Pope does die will Mark be Pope then?”. Mark loved that one. When Mark himself did die said son would only be pacified by picking flowers from the garden and bringing them to church for him. He wanted to show how much Mark meant to him and wanted to give a little something back. That is the real biography – a man loved, respected, a man who shared what he had, above all his faith, a man who touched so many lives and made them better.  Rest in peace our dear friend.
Our brethren in Peru were delighted with the election of Pope Leo.
