Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 2nd October 2022

I do apologise for not writing a short message for yesterday, but I was so exhausted when I returned to Belmont from Peru on Friday evening, that the moment I got to my room, I lay down on Toby’s sofa (he was still in kennels), fell fast asleep and didn’t wake up until 7.30 on Saturday morning, by which time it was too late. All I can say is that I enjoyed the rest and needed it. I’ve also come to realise that I’m getting older and don’t have the energy I had before Covid and lockdown. Peru is still very strict about Covid restrictions. I had to laugh one day when Fr Alex and I popped into a downtown supermarket to collect a few things for the community. We were stopped by an armed guard and asked to show proof of vaccination in order to be allowed in. I didn’t quite understand what the man was saying, so I showed him my passport. He said to Alex, “This gentleman is of the “Third Age”, so he must have been vaccinated. Now I know I’m of the “Third Age”!

 In our Gospel passage today, (Lk 17: 5-10), the Apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith. His reply is somewhat unexpected. All Jesus says is, “Were your faith the size of a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” What is he implying? In the first place, that there are no easy answers, no easy solutions to their request, “Lord, increase our faith.” Rather, it is a question of faith and of trust in God. Were our faith the size of a mustard seed, (How small can you get?), then that would be enough, because God would do the rest. Faith is a question of trusting in God and believing that he can do what we can’t.

 Jesus then goes on to talk about duty, doing our duty before God, and gives the example of a servant and his master. He concludes by saying, “When you have done all you have been told to do, say, ‘We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.’” In other words, faith is also a question of obedience and duty. If we have faith, no matter how little, we listen to God and obey his voice, simply doing our duty before him and our fellow human beings, trusting that it gives him joy and that he will reward us appropriately. It all sounds rather simple and straightforward when Jesus speaks with his disciples. God has given us so many gifts and talents. How can we not please him by doing what he asks of us?