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.
Abbot Brendan Reflects on Pope Leo's words to the Benedictines worldwide
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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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Honesty and Love Before God: Pharisee and Tax Collector; Pope and King - a homily by Abbot Brendan for the 30th Sunday of the Year.