Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday 19th August

Message from Fr Paul for Thursday, 19th August 2021

           I apologise for the brevity of today’s message, but yesterday was one of those days, enjoyable in so many ways, but with no time to spare, so it was gone 9.30pm when I got round to writing these few lines. Nevertheless, it comes, as always with my prayers for all of you, who read this daily message. As I had to visit Three Cocks, near Hay on Wye, I look advantage of being nearby to visit St Mary’s church at Cusop, a small church in a vast cemetery, graced by a number of spectacular yew trees. Toby and I were delighted to find the little church open and beautifully kept. It’s a lovely church to pray in, humble and peaceful, so it was well worth a visit and I highly recommend it.

           Today’s Gospel passage from Matthew, (Mt 22: 1-14), is one of the Parables of the Kingdom, that of a king who gives a feast for his son’s wedding. However, a close reading of the text shows it to be a combination of two parables, that of the wedding feast, to which the invited guests are unwilling to come and so the servants are sent out to the crossroads of the town to bring in any who are willing to accept the invitation, good and bad alike, then a second parable about a guest who arrives and tries to enter without a wedding garment. Clearly, these are two distinct parables. What we mustn’t forget it that, on this occasion, Jesus is addressing the chief priests and the elders of the people, and not his disciples, so the parables are really directed at them and those who are like them in the Church or in the world today. He concludes by saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

           What is Jesus telling us? If we have no time for God, then he will have no time for us. We choose our own destiny. We don’t have to be good to enter the kingdom of heaven, but receptive to his call and willing to accept his invitation. What about the poor man without his wedding garment? Obviously, the Lord isn’t interested in the physical clothes we wear, but rather in our spiritual clothes, Think back to the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Those who simply acknowledge their need for God will be rewarded with the eternal vision and presence of God in the kingdom of heaven.