Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday 23rd February 2023

It was a joy to see so many parishioners come to Mass yesterday and begin Lent by receiving the ashes as a sign of repentance and commitment to Christ. I was surprised at the numbers, just over half of those who regularly come to Sunday Mass. Interestingly, although numbers dropped for obvious reasons on account of Covid, our numbers have now recovered and are somewhat higher than they were before the pandemic began. In addition, we no longer have retreatants to bolster our numbers. The truth is that people are drawn to Jesus, just as they were in his lifetime on earth, as we read in the Gospels. We want to meet him, hear him, get to know him and be healed by his presence in our lives. We know that at Mass, he is present in the scriptures, in the sacrament, in the priest and in the congregation. The Mass is the celebration of the presence of Christ in our midst and in our hearts.

 

​Today’s short Gospel passage to help us on our Lenten journey comes from Luke, (Lk 9: 22-25), two short sayings of Jesus. The first is about himself, the second what he expects of his followers. Only to his disciples he says, “The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.” Rejection, which they are already experiencing with him, suffering and death lie ahead, but the story doesn’t end there, for he will be raised on the third day. Passion, Death and Resurrection go hand in hand in Jesus’ teaching as in his life. Although he will suffer grievously, it is the way that leads to life, true and eternal. What he says of himself prepares us for what he asks of his disciples.

 

​“If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it. What gain, then, is it for a man to have won the whole world and to have lost or ruined his very self?” Jesus only asks his followers to follow his own example and do what he will do. They are to give up their own will, take up their cross each day and walk where he has led. He doesn’t ask us to do what he is not prepared to do himself. It is only by renunciation of our own will that we save our lives and enter with Jesus into glory. For us too, Passion and Death lead to Resurrection and eternal life. That is the journey we begin each year on Ash Wednesday.