Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday 21st July
Abbot Paul • July 21, 2022
Today is the final day of General Chapter and I hope to return to Belmont in time for Vespers. It’s been a good, positive time for all those taking part and it was a joy to welcome three communities of nuns into our Congregation. It was good to meet with such a fine body of monks and nuns and I was rather amused to find myself the oldest participant but one! Today I’ll attach a few photographs of Exeter Cathedral, which I also visited on Sunday. What a marvellous day out that was!
Our Gospel reading comes from Matthew, (Mt 13: 10-17), which involves a short discussion between Jesus and his disciples on the use of parables. They ask Jesus, “Why do to talk to them in parables?” referring to the crowds. Jesus replies, “Because the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to you, but not to them….. The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding.” He then quotes the prophet Isaiah. It seems to me that these words of Jesus speak to us as much of the times in which we live as to when Jesus walked this earth. People, in general, have such little knowledge of the Christian faith, that we have to speak with them in parables. We talk glibly about evangelisation, but how do you even begin to speak of Jesus, the Gospel and the faith, unless it is by taking a leaf out of Jesus’ own book?
Nevertheless, he says to his disciples, “Blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! Many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.” We should count ourselves as truly blessed by God for what we see, hear and understand. Truly blessed and truly grateful.
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.
