Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 28th August
Abbot Paul • August 27, 2022
Message from Fr Paul for Sunday, 28th August 2022
I am looking forward to taking part in the Pilgrimage for St David Lewis at Usk today. I last went in the late 1970s, not long before I went out to Peru. I wonder what it will be like, starting up again after the Pandemic. St David Lewis was put to death on 27th August 1679, just five days after his close relative St John Kemble, both victims of the priest hunt that took place as a result of the Titus Oates plot. They were sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered only for the crime of being Catholic priests who celebrated Mass for their congregations. It’s interesting to note that Herefordshire and Monmouthshire, together with the town of Brecon, had a sizeable Catholic population throughout penal times, a fact that is often forgotten or ignored. May our martyrs pray for us today, that we might bear witness to our faith in Christ and in the Church that brought the faith to these Isles and has nourished that faith to the present day.
Our Gospel reading today, being Sunday, comes from Luke, (Lk 14: 1, 7-14), an interesting passage, as we see Jesus invited to a meal at the house of one of the leading Pharisees. However, there would appear to be an ulterior motive for the invitation: “they watched him carefully.” Yet, it was Jesus who did the careful watching, “because he had noticed how they picked the places of honour,” as a result of which, “he then told the guests a parable.” Jesus elevates the gathering into a wedding feast and warns people not to go straight for the best places in case someone more important should arrive resulting in their being asked to go down the table to the lowest places. All this to emphasise the importance of humility, “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the man who humbles himself will be exalted.” But why the importance of humility? Because God himself is humble, for he took upon himself the very human nature he created, that as a man, Jesus Christ, he could save his people from sin and death and reconcile them to himself in Christ. As St Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:19, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.” I still enjoy reading John MacQuarrie’s excellent little book, The Humility of God, published in 1978. You should try it.
Jesus goes on to say more, no longer in the form of a parable, this time to his host, as he had seen the quality of the guests invited. “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not ask your friends, brothers, relations or rich neighbours, for fear they repay your courtesy by inviting you in return. No; when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay you back means that you are fortunate, because repayment will be made to you when the virtuous rise again.” This is sound advice and needs no commentary. As dear Abbot Jerome always used to say, “If only Christians would put into effect what Jesus taught, what a different world it would be.” Amen to that!
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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.