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.
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.
