Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday 10th August 2023
Abbot Paul • August 9, 2023
Message from Fr Paul for Thursday, 10th August 2023
August 10th is the feast of St Lawrence, martyred in Rome on this day in the year 258 when he was just 32 years’ old. Ordained a deacon by Pope St Sixtus II, he was made first among the seven deacons serving the Church of Rome. Sixtus was Greek, while Lawrence was from Valencia. The Pope and his other six deacons were put to death by the Emperor Valerian on 7th August, as they had been discovered celebrating Mass in the catacombs of St Calixtus the previous day. Lawrence’s task as a deacon was to collect and distribute alms for the poor. When the Emperor ordered him to hand over the wealth of the Church, Lawrence pointed to the poor and said, “Behold, in these you will find the riches of the Church.” Like the Pope and his fellow deacons, he was probably beheaded, but a possible misreading of the Acts of his death led to the popular tradition of his being grilled slowly to death on a gridiron. All frescos and paintings show us rather graphic versions of his death. One thing is certain, that among the early martyrs of the Church, he became a great favourite, with many churches dedicated to his honour. Together with Saints Peter and Paul, he is the patron saint of Rome. Can you count the number of medieval churches dedicated to St Lawrence in your area? There are at least six in Herefordshire and, in Ludlow, the magnificent parish church. The nearest to Belmont is the parish church of Preston on Wye. Yesterday, the vigil of his feast, I visited the church of St Lawrence at Canon Pyon, an interesting, if cold church, in a beautiful setting.
Our short Gospel passage for the feast comes from John (Jn 12: 24-26). Jesus is speaking with his disciples, where he says, “I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.” He is, of course, speaking about himself and preparing them for his passion and death. He compares himself to a wheat grain, which, buried in the earth, has to die to what it was in order to live a new life as what it will become. So it is with Jesus; so it is with each one of us. The rich harvest is the Church and within the Church, which is the Body of Christ, the martyrs have a special place as they have followed Christ even to the shedding of their blood. How far would I be prepared to go? A difficult question that, but one that at times we have to answer.
Jesus continues, “Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life. If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.” This is a recurring theme in the teaching of Jesus: dying to self in order to live for him in God. This doesn’t necessarily mean a physical or a painful martyr’s death, but dying daily to ourselves and our self-centredness so as to live for others, thereby following the example of Jesus. John’s language always has several layers of meaning, so you have to dig beneath the surface of what he writes. Learning to do that with John helps us to understand the other Gospels better. We can only serve the Lord by following him and being with him wherever he wants us to be. This means going through the gateway of death into the garden of everlasting life, where the Father will honour us as we have honoured him in Christ with the Spirit’s help in this life. Let us pray today for the grace to bear witness to Christ by the quality and integrity of our lives, as we seek to follow him every day.
"A hymn to the human body." Abbot Brendan's Homily at the annual Mass celebrated at Rotherwas Chapel in Hereford that dates from the 1580s on the feast of the Assumption.
From Francis to Leo: A special event with Christopher Lamb of CNN in conversation with Austin Ivereigh who commentated for the BBC on the transition from Pope Francis to Pope Leo.
On 12th June an Ecumenical Service was held at Hereford Cathedral to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea.
Archbishop Mark O'Toole, of Cardiff-Menevia presided at the Requiem Mass for Bishop Mark, while Abbot Brendan conducted his burial. Cardinal Vincent Nichols preached a homily full of warmth and affection for Bishop Mark which is reproduced below.
Bishop Mark Jabalé OSB RIP Given at his funeral by Dom Alexander Kenyon Baby Jean Pierre (Mark) Jabale was born on October 16th, 1933, in Alexandria, Egypt. As he said, himself, his background could be considered “cosmopolitan”: his father was Lebanese / French and his Mother, British / Greek / French. He also reminded people that he wasn’t Egyptian. Through his mother, Arlette, he was related to St. Jean Vianney, so it was, perhaps, no surprise that he followed in his priestly footsteps. His father, Jean, was MD of Fiat and Simca cars Europe and, maybe surprisingly or not, he did love a car – not, however, Italian cars, but German; he loved his Audis. Perhaps we should begin today by remembering his mother and father, his brothers Christian and Paul and his nieces, here today, Aline and Nathalie and Isabelle and their families – they were so dear to him and he to them and I know they miss him enormously. Young Jean wanted to join the Navy and came to England, to Belmont Abbey school but the Lord had other ideas – he ended up joining the rather land locked monastery, our dear, late Fr. Raymund opining that he wouldn’t last a month. After a rather uninspiring course of priestly studies (his words, not mine) he studied for a Licentiate in French literature in Fribourg, then a Dip Ed at Strawberry Hill and played Rugby there – the Papist Witch Doctor as he was affectionately known. Teaching followed, at Belmont, Housemaster, acting Headmaster, then to Alderwasley, our prep school in Derbyshire as Headmaster, and then back to Belmont soon after as Headmaster. In 1983 he went to Peru to build our first monastery there only to realise there was little money. So, he returned to the UK to put in a stint of fundraising with his usual zeal and determination. With his mission accomplished he was asked by Abbot Alan to return to Belmont as his prior in 1986 – Peru remained close to his heart. In 1993 he was elected Abbot. In his time as Abbot, he had to preside over the closure of the school, necessary but no less painful for him. In 2000 he was appointed coadjutor Bishop of Menevia and succeeded Bishop Mullins in 2001. He retired as Ordinary in 2008 and “retired” to Chipping Norton as parish priest, then Hendon, saying Mass for the nuns and helping with confirmations. After a spell at Archbishop’s House, Westminster, living with his great friend Cardinal Nichols, he came home to Belmont – it was as though he had never been away and he loved being back in the monastery, particularly praying the Office with the community. That’s the list, of sorts, but it doesn’t really say “who” he was. I haven’t mentioned his outstanding contribution to rowing – the 1979 coxless, lightweight four gold medal at the world championships in Bled, which almost didn’t happen as, at the last minute, he was told there was no money to send the crew. He begged, cajoled and got them there – the video footage of the final is compelling. He transformed Henley Royal Regatta, writing a computer programme for the race results – he was well ahead of his time. He coached the Oxford Boat, ran the Heads of the River Schools Regatta, and more. What an achievement from someone who had never sat in a boat but learned on the job, as he said, “from books, mainly”. It was his determination, his commitment, his love of people and his drive to share what he had that is, perhaps, one of the key things to celebrate about him. And it was underpinned by his rock-solid faith – nothing overly pious, nothing showy, but a faith and a love of the Lord built on granite. Even his occasional lack of patience (sorry Mark) extended to that faith; ‘why won’t God call me?”. At the risk of being irreverent my response was always “would you want you?”. But God did want him, and he knew it. God had a purpose for his Apostle during his life and he now rests with Him in eternity. His purpose was, simply, to bring the joy of the Lord into the lives of others, in many and varied ways. A few weeks before Mark died, Pope Francis died. When the late Pope was seriously ill the son of friends of mine who entertained Mark and I to lunch regularly, was distraught at overhearing mum and dad say the Pope may die. He couldn’t stop crying. “But darling”, they said, “you don’t know the Pope, why so very sad?”. “We do know him” came the reply, “it’s Mark”. “No, Mark isn’t the Pope”. “Oh, so when the Pope does die will Mark be Pope then?”. Mark loved that one. When Mark himself did die said son would only be pacified by picking flowers from the garden and bringing them to church for him. He wanted to show how much Mark meant to him and wanted to give a little something back. That is the real biography – a man loved, respected, a man who shared what he had, above all his faith, a man who touched so many lives and made them better.  Rest in peace our dear friend.
Our brethren in Peru were delighted with the election of Pope Leo.
