Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 25th June 2023
Abbot Paul • June 24, 2023
I apologise if at times this message fails to appear on one or other of our websites. This is due to a glitch in the system that advises us that the message has been uploaded, when in fact it hasn’t. I’m not quite sure how this can be sorted out. Facebook, on the other hand, has no similar problem.
In our Gospel passage this Sunday which comes from Matthew, (Mt 10: 26-33), Jesus assures his disciples that God knows us through and through: there is nothing he does not know. It’s hard for us to know another person through and through and, let’s be honest, we don’t really know ourselves. We remain a great mystery, unfathomable and impenetrable. Jesus says, “Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted.” There is nothing that God does not know. He, the Creator, knows us intimately. Because of this, we have nothing to fear. As Jesus says, “There is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.”
A phrase that appears three times in this short passage is “Do not be afraid,” or in traditional English, “Fear not.” In this basic form, it appears 103 times in the Bible, although if you expand your search for similar sayings then as many as 500 times. Whenever God appears, or the Angel of the Lord, or Jesus, then he greets the person he is visiting and has a message for with this greeting. It is an invitation to trust in God and to place our hope and confidence in him. Since we are held in God’s embrace, there is no need for fear, only love and trust, the comfort of being held safely in God’s arms.
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.
