Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 3rd September 2023
Abbot Paul • September 3, 2023
I so enjoyed my 24-hour sabbatical on Friday that I am wondering how I might be able to do it again. I am already accustomed to going out in the dark with Toby for his evening stroll, fortunately assisted by a miner’s lamp, but yesterday it became necessary to wear it first thing in the morning as well for our first walk of the day. The days are rapidly becoming shorter and darkness has encroached on two of our longer walks. Toby, of course, takes it all in his stride and is quite oblivious to daylight and darkness. He is happy no matter what the weather is like, as long as he is out walking in it. We did get to see the blue moon the other night. Is that the one Ella Fitzgerald used to sing about?
I have been following the Holy Father’s visit to Mongolia with great interest and enjoying every moment of it. I have always admired the Mongolian people and been fascinated by their history and culture. I have been impressed by the courteous way in which they have received Pope Francis and by the freedom the tiny Catholic population enjoys there. The Holy Father made an appeal for peace, conscious that Mongolia shares a border with Russia, currently engaged in a violent war in Ukraine. He urged the Mongolian government to seek an end to war. “May the dark clouds of war be dispelled, swept away by the firm desire for a universal fraternity wherein tensions are resolved through encounter and dialogue, and the fundamental rights of all people are guaranteed!” He also blessed a statue of Our Lady that has become something of a legend in Mongolia, after it was improbably found in a landfill by a local woman almost two decades ago. The statue, now known as “The Mother of the Sky,” was given a place of honour in the cathedral. The Holy Father said, “Brothers and sisters, do not be concerned about small numbers, limited success, or apparent irrelevance. That is not how God works. Let us keep our gaze fixed on Mary, who in her littleness is greater than the heavens, for within her she bore the One whom the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain.”
Today’s Gospel comes from Matthew, (Mt 16: 21-27), and contains these famous words expressed by Jesus to Peter. “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.” Why would Jesus say such a thing to Peter? Because Jesus was speaking about his forthcoming passion, death and resurrection. “Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day.” Peter obviously found such talk unacceptable and, being somewhat precipitous at this stage in his career, didn’t hear the final word, resurrection, before reacting adversely. “Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. ‘Heaven preserve you, Lord;’ he said ‘this must not happen to you.’” It was at this point that Jesus intervened and called him Satan, or Tempter, rather strong words. But Jesus is right, for Peter is thinking from a human perspective and not from God’s way of thinking.
Jesus then goes on to tell his disciples, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour.” Not only is Jesus foretelling his own passion, death and resurrection, but he is also asking us, his followers and disciples, to walk in his footsteps. We, too, are to take up our cross and follow him. There is no easy way out for a Christian. It’s either the Way of the Cross or no way at all, but it is the way that leads through suffering and death to life and to the glory of the Resurrection. Let’s make a firm decision in our hearts to take that way today.
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