Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday - 21st April 2024
Abbot Paul • April 21, 2024
Yesterday was a busy day, beginning at 3am, when I got up to get my personal prayer and reading done before Vigils at 4.30, just as at Belmont I usually get up about two hours before Morning Office at 6.30. At Belmont I include a quick walk, sadly now without Toby whom I miss terribly, it hurts each time l think of him or see a photograph. After Vigils, there’s further time for lectio before Lauds and then the Conventual Mass with time for thanksgiving before breakfast at 8am. I find the five hours between getting up and having my first cup of coffee and a bite to eat a bit difficult, but that’s how it is here. Staying overnight was one of my old altar servers from Tambogrande, now approaching sixty, who runs a website on the history of the town and district. He came to see and collect the hundreds of photographs and negatives I had accumulated over twenty years, many of them of great interest. Mid morning I went by car to visit Fr Luis at Santa Anita, one of the poorest sectors of Lima. Fr Luis, our first vocation, is now a diocesan priest, though he remains a monk at heart. He has the most wicked sense of humour and it very entertaining as well as highly intelligent. It’s always a joy to visit him and his family of cats and now a beautiful dog he has adopted, a stray who is now loved and cherished. After this, I had lunch in town, at a Chifa, a Chinese restaurant, with Br Wilmer, which was great fun, as we watched the world go by. I forgot to mention that after Terce at 8.45, the Community met in the Chapter Room for the Second Perseverance of Br Saul, the junior member of the monastic family. Peruvians are a very loving people, and throughout the day, whatever I was doing, wherever I was and with whoever I was with, the love, respect and joy were tangible. Lest I forget, I also chatted with my mother on FaceTime, corresponded with beloved friends in England, France and Spain and finished reading my latest novel. Some people think I’m out here having a rest and, to tell the truth, I am and enjoying every minute of it!
Today is known as Good Shepherd Sunday, because we read a Gospel passage taken from Chapter 10 of John, in which Jesus tells his disciples, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd is the one who lays down his life for his sheep.” This is in contrast to the hired man, who runs away and abandons the sheep when he sees the wolf coming to attack and scatter the sheep. Jesus cares for his sheep, loves his disciples and all those who follow him faithfully. He comments, “I know my own and my own know me, just as I know the Father and the Father knows me, and I lay down my life for my sheep.” This, of course, is the very opposite to how the Pharisees look after their sheep. Jesus also talks of other sheep that are not of this fold, that he also has to take care of and lead to salvation. No one is excluded from the loving care of Jesus the good shepherd. All God’s children are deserving of his love and sacrifice. Ultimately, there will be but one flock and one shepherd. Our sad divisions and our inability to love and respect others do not reach to heaven: they will die right here on earth. How consoling these words of Jesus are to us today. Jesus alone is the Good Shepherd and he loves and cares for us dearly.
We are delighted that the acclaimed Cistercian writer, Fr Michael Casey will be with us in December.
We are pleased to announce 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.
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.