Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday 21st December 2023
Abbot Paul • December 20, 2023
​The O Antiphon for 21st December is O Oriens. Here’s a translation.
“O Dayspring, Brightness of Light everlasting, and Sun of righteousness; Come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.” The Prophet Isaiah wrote that, “The people who walked in darkness has seen a great light and on those who lived in a land of deep darkness a light has shone.” (Is 9:2) St Bede the Venerable wrote, “Christ is the morning star who, when the night of this world is past, brings to his saints the promise of the light of life and opens everlasting day.” John wrote in the Prologue to his Gospel: “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jesus spoke of himself as being “the light of the world.” Christ’s coming among us is all about light shining in the darkness and the darkness being unable, in the end, to overcome and extinguish the light. This is what we celebrate during Advent, Christ who comes as light into our darkened world to bring life and hope. How the world needs Jesus, the light of life, today!
Our Gospel reading from Luke (Lk 1: 39-45) follows on from the passage we read yesterday. Mary is now with child, yet her thoughts are not for her own wellbeing but that of her older relative, Elizabeth, From the beginning of our Gospel narrative, we see that Mary is a young woman who willingly helps and protects others, especially the most vulnerable, the unborn child and those who are older and in need of a helping hand. “Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.” It’s no short distance that Mary walked (Did she even have shoes, I wonder?) in order to visit Elizabeth and she went “as quickly as she could.” You can’t help but love Mary, she’s such a caring and generous young lady. But then the unexpected occurs (But was it so unexpected for the women of faith concerned?) “Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” I wonder what words of greeting Mary used. Would they have been similar to the angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary? Whatever her greeting, the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy and she is filled with the Holy Spirit, for Christ comes to bring the Holy Spirit to those who open their hearts to God. Filled with the Spirit, Elizabeth is inspired and cries out, “Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Whoever is blessed comes from God and belongs to God, so this is a prophetic statement acknowledging the presence of God in both Mary and her child. Again, Elizabeth refers to Mary as “the mother of my Lord.” Here she proclaims the divinity of the child in Mary’s womb, that he is the Son of God, incarnate of the Holy Spirit. Mary is indeed blessed for her faith, “she who believed.” Mary is the woman of faith who believes that God’s promises will be fulfilled. That faith is reflected and shared by Elizabeth. Mary the Virgen of Nazareth, betrothed to Joseph the carpenter, believed the word of God in the message of the angel; Elizabeth in her advanced years also believed what the angel of the Lord had said to her husband Zechariah in the temple and she conceived John the Baptist. Let us pray today for the gift of faith, that we too may believe God’s promises to his people and receive with joy his gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.
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.
