Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday - 16th May 2024
Abbot Paul • May 15, 2024
​The weather yesterday in Herefordshire was quite spectacular, nothing like the forecast had predicted, but hot and sunny, ideal weather for the May Procession in honour of Our Lady. It’s always a great occasion, uplifting and devotional, where hundreds of faithful disciples of Jesus openly show their love for his Holy Mother and ask her intercession for their loved ones and all those who need her protection and her prayers. It invariably ends when thousands of rose petals float down from heaven, or at least the church tower, and envelope Our Lady with glorious light and colour. Our simple faith is always strengthened by this and similar wonderful occasions.
​We continue our reading of the High Priestly Prayer, which Jesus said in the presence of his disciples at the end of the Last Supper, (Jn 17: 20-26). In this section of the prayer, Jesus commends to his Father’s loving care those who, in due course, would become his disciples, as a result of the witness of the Twelve.
“Holy Father,
I pray not only for these,
but for those also
who through their words will believe in me.
May they all be one.
Father, may they be one in us,
as you are in me and I am in you,
so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.”
Jesus prays for you and me and for all those who will follow us through our witness, for this handing on of the faith carries on from one generation to the next. Jesus prays that we may be one in the Father and the Son, in the same way as the Father and the Son are one in each other. Our unity is to reflect that of God himself, three persons in one God. The tragedy of Christianity is its divisions, which give an anti-testimony to the truth of the Gospel and redeeming work of Jesus. One of the Church’s most important duties is to pray and work for unity. This is not some vague, pious hope, but the will of God. Jesus focuses more than once on this need for unity. We are to be, ”so completely one that the world will realise that it was you who sent me.”
​​“I have given them the glory you gave to me,
that they may be one as we are one.
With me in them and you in me,
may they be so completely one
that the world will realise that it was you who sent me
and that I have loved them as much as you loved me.”
Our unity will also be a sign of God’s love for us, not one sign among many, but the fundamental, essential sign that God loves us.
​Not only does Jesus want his disciples to be united, but to be with him where he is, that we might see his glory.
“Father, I want those you have given me
to be with me where I am,
so that they may always see the glory you have given me
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
The Father has loved the Son from before time began. The Son is eternal as the Father is eternal, the Spirit being that love which unites them to one another and to us. Even before we were created, God loved us in Christ. We were created to be loved by God.
“Father, Righteous One,
the world has not known you,
but I have known you,
and these have known that you have sent me.
I have made your name known to them
and will continue to make it known,
so that the love with which you loved me may be in them,
and so that I may be in them.”
The Son has revealed the Father to us and the depth of the Father’s love and he will continue to make that love known in the way we love one another, a love which will bear witness to the love of God. The love which is in us is that self-same love with which the Father loves the Son and is the gift of the Holy Spirit. This all sounds too good to be true and it’s hard to believe that we are worthy of God’s love. But “God is love” and there can be no doubt that he loves us. This doesn’t make life easier or our sufferings less, but we do begin to make sense of it all, as well as of the ultimate purpose of life. Why was I born? To be loved by God and to love in return.
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.
