Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday 21st September 2023

Yesterday morning I returned from Paris to Belmont, an easy journey apart from the heavy rain between Birmingham Airport and Hereford. Of course, I got soaked to the skin walking from the terminal to the car park, so a change of clothing was called for before the drive back. The weather in Paris was perfect, dry and sunny, in fact, heavenly. I loved walking in the streets around the monastery, just for a moment’s exercise before or after meeting sessions.

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Today is the feast of the apostle and evangelist, St Matthew, author of the Gospel from which our passage is taken (Mt 9: 9-13). His is a particularly well-ordered narrative that likes to link the life of Jesus with the prophecies of the Old Testament. Today we read of how Matthew came to be called by Jesus. “As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.” Matthew, it appears, was a tax collector, regarded as unclean by the strictest of the Pharisee sect. However, his name means “gift of God,” so Jesus sees even a sinner given him by God to be capable of discipleship. Just like the first four disciples to be called, the four fishermen, Jesus calls Matthew while he is at work by the customs house. All he has to say is, “Follow me,” and Matthew gets up and follows him. Matthew is an example to us all. How obedient are we when Jesus calls us? Have you ever thought what you might do were Jesus to turn up today and say, “Follow me”?

 

​“While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’” The way Jesus behaves angers the Pharisees. Why does he befriend sinners, even having supper with them and being entertained in their houses? But Jesus overhears their criticism and says, “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And, indeed, I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.” How wonderfully consoling are these words of Jesus for all of us. “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick.” He recalls the words of the prophet Hosea, that God looks for mercy above all else; he is a God who forgives sinners and longs for their repentance and conversion. It’s a real smack in the eye for the Pharisees when he concludes by saying, “Indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.” However, for us, these are words of hope, consolation and rejoicing. So many people are convinced that God hates them or won’t forgive them their sins, but no sin is too great for God to forgive and no sinner is truly incapable of repentance and new life. Lord, forgive us our sins, heal our souls and fill us with your love, Amen.