Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 6th November 2022
Abbot Paul • November 6, 2022
It’s said that where there’s a will there’s a way, but as COP27 opens in Cairo, in the land of the Pharaohs, we are forced to ask whether there is really a will among the nations of the world and their leaders to bring global warming under control and so avert the catastrophic end of the planet which is our common home. It’s tragic to think that some couldn’t care less and are willing to put the lives of our children and grandchildren in jeopardy in order still to make a fast buck today. Climate change and the environment are topics far too important just to sweep under the carpet and ignore, as we did for so long. Sadly and shamefully, we continue to destroy the world which is God’s gift not only to us humans but to all those who have no other home but this.
​Our Gospel passage from Luke, (Lk 20: 27-38) sees Jesus talking not with Pharisees, as he usually does, but with Sadducees. As Luke reminds us, Sadducees are “those who say that there is no resurrection.” Yet, like the Pharisees, they try to catch Jesus out by asking him an interesting but rather pointless question. “Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers. The first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally, the woman herself died. Now, at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been married to all seven?” Now, you would think from the question that’s it’s about the custom they describe of a widow marrying her dead husband’s brother in order to bear children with the same family name, but no, it’s really a catch question on the resurrection and what relationship resurrected people have with each other as compared with this life. Jesus, however, can see where this discussion is going and so cuts it short by stating that marriage and family life are for this world only as in heaven everyone is focussed on God and that we all find fulfilment in God alone.
Jesus replies, “The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and, being children of the resurrection, they are sons of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.” Even now in this life we are the children of the God who lives, sons and daughters of God, and we come to know God through one another. But in the life to come, when God shall be all in all, we will come to know one another and love one another in God. We will all live in God’s love. Faith and hope will no longer be needed and will fade from our lives, but love is eternal and will grow and mature and become more beautiful and fully satisfying. We will no longer long for God for we shall see him face to face and come to love him as he loves us.
A homily by Abbot Brendan at a special Easter Mass for Pope Francis, attended by Catholics from across the Deanery.
Pope Francis RIP Pope 2013-2025 Born 1936, Died 2025 We are deeply saddened at the passing of Pope Francis. As the successor of St Peter he has been a spiritual father and shepherd to the church in our day, challenging us, and calling as to reach out to those on the peripheries. He was the first Jesuit Pope, but took the name Francis after the Poor Man of Assisi who modelled for him a closeness to the poor, a concern for those on the margins of society and a care for all of creation In his preaching Pope Francis always spoke of the joy of the Gospel and encouraged us to reflect the joy of our faith in our lives. He showed the compassion of Jesus to everyone. He worked tirelessly for the unity of the church and travelled even to non-Christian countries promoting a message of peace. He has left a great legacy. With the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio with the community over Easter we were able to express our closeness to the Holy Father in his final suffering. There will be a special Mass at Belmont this Thursday 24th April at 11am to pray for Pope Francis as he makes his final journey to the house of the Father. On the day of his funeral, the Office of the Dead will be sung, and Mass that day will be a Requiem. May the angels lead him into paradise; may the martyrs receive him at his arrival and lead him to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive him and with Lazarus, the poor man grant him eternal rest." (The In Paradisum, words from the Funeral Liturgy)
We were were honoured and delighted to be joined by the Apostolic Nuncio to celebrate Easter. His Excellency Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía is the representative of the Holy See in Great Britain, and therefore of the Holy Father. His presence on Easter Sunday morning brought us more consciously in communion with Pope Francis, the successor of St Peter, as we heard the Gospel story of Peter running to the tomb. His patron saint is St Michael, so afterwards, at a festive lunch we were able to present him with some Belmont cufflinks with the monastery coat of arms - very similar to his as Archbishop. We were able to pray for him and his work in this country.
