Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 1st January 2023
Abbot Paul • December 31, 2022
We were all saddened to hear the news of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, though it was a sadness tinged with thanksgiving for all that God had accomplished in him and through him. He must surely have been one of the greatest Christian theologians of the 20th and 21st centuries and one of the Church’s deepest thinkers, a great intellectual called to serve the Church he loved in the twofold task of teaching and administration. He was highly cultured, yet his life was simplicity itself. He was a cat-lover and throughout his life enjoyed the company of cats. Above all, he was a man of prayer, a mystic, a man of humility and of fidelity to Christ’s mission to bring all people to the knowledge of the truth. He was an infinitely lovable man, a gentleman and, if I may be permitted to say so, a saint. I hope that, like other recent popes, he will be canonised very soon. May he rest in peace. Amen.
So much will be said about him in the next few days, that I’d rather he spoke for himself. I always found him so open about everything, willing to listen and engage, and always so helpful. He invariably struck a chord. Only recently he said, “Looking back on my long life, I can have great reason for fear and trembling. I am nonetheless of good cheer, for I trust firmly that the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother who himself has already suffered for my shortcomings, and is thus also my advocate, my “Paraclete.” In light of the hour of judgement, the grace of being a Christian becomes all the more clear to me. It grants me knowledge, and indeed friendship, with the judge of my life, and thus allows me to pass confidently through the dark door of death.”
Today, 1st January, the Octave of Christmas, we keep the feast of Mary, the Mother of God, focussing on what Luke wrote about her at the Nativity of her Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. “The shepherds hurried away to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds had to say. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told.”
Mary treasures all she sees and hears about her child and she ponders them in her heart. She invites us to do the same. At the same time, the Gospel passage, (Lk 2:16-21), reminds us that originally this feast was known as the Circumcision of Jesus, the day on which he was given his Most Holy Name. It is the day on which his Passion begins with an initial shedding of blood for our redemption. The Gospel reads, “When the eighth day came and the child was to be circumcised, they gave him the name Jesus, the name the angel had given him before his conception.”
The whole of Christ’s life was sacrificial: he was born to make us holy, born to save us from sin and death, born to reconcile us with our heavenly Father and with each other, born to be our Saviour and our brother.
I have just realised that I have not wished you a Happy New Year. There is so much to pray for, peace especially.
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Monday 1st to Thursday 4th December 2025. Our first Advent retreat in our newly opened guesthouse
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.
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