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.
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Good Shepherd, Good Priest “I will seek the lost and bring back the strayed; I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.” Those words, spoken by the Lord God through the prophet Ezekiel, describe the heart of God, the Good Shepherd — but they also describe the life and ministry of a good monk and priest. They could well be written of Fr Stephen’s years of service as a pastor in Abergavenny, Swansea, Hereford, and Weobley. In each of those places, he shared in the Shepherd’s work: seeking out the lost, binding up the wounded, strengthening the weary, and leading God’s people with quiet faithfulness. And like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who came close to his people, Fr Stephen did not serve from a distance. He knew his people; he was among them. He shared their sorrows and their joys, their hopes and their disappointments. He bore their burdens with prayer and patience he brought the joy of the Gospel and the grace of the Sacraments. His mission amongst us is complete. He has served God’s good purpose. So today we ask Christ the Good Shepherd to take Stephen on his sacred shoulders and carry him home to the house of the Father. Bind up his wounds, give him eternal rest and lead him at last to the green pastures and still waters of eternal life.