Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday 29th December 2022

I was delighted again yesterday at being able to visit my mother for our transferred Christmas celebration. A monk can never spend Christmas or Easter with his parents, even with an elderly parent living alone. Anyway, on Christmas Day I was so tired by the time we got to Christmas dinner, that I fell asleep at table and, later on, struggled to get through Vespers and Benediction. These great solemnities are a real marathon and I am beginning to feel my age. However, yesterday was a different story. I was wide awake and enjoyed every moment of the day, as did Toby who came with me. Yet again, practically no traffic meant that we were home in less than an hour and a half. The weather was grim, strong winds and heavy rain, and my mother’s house shrouded in a thick mist. After an amazing lunch (four courses, how does she do it?) and a short siesta, miraculously the rain had stopped and the mist cleared, so Toby and I headed for the beach. There was plenty of company for Toby and for me, too, as dog owners are always friendly people and speak at length with each other. On our return, Toby had his gourmet canine supper and, a bit later, my mother and I sat down to another spectacular meal. The return journey presented no problems and we were at Belmont in record time.

 

​Today the Church keeps the feast of St Thomas Becket, the martyred Archbishop of Canterbury, who gave his life for Christ and the freedom of the Church from state interference at the age of 50 or 51 on this day in the year 1170.

He was murdered in his cathedral by followers of King Henry II. Before becoming bishop on May 24th 1162, he had served as Lord Chancellor of England for seven years. He was canonised soon after his death by Pope Alexander II. He soon became one of the most popular saints in Europe, as can be testified by the rapid spread of his cult.

 

​The Gospel chosen for the feast comes from Luke, (Lk 22: 24-30), in which the evangelist recounts that, “A dispute arose between the disciples about which should be reckoned the greatest.” Jesus contrasts the behaviour of kings with the way he wants his disciples to behave and carry out their mission. Humility and fidelity to Christ should characterise the disciples of Jesus. Here is what he says in full.

“Among pagans it is the kings who lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are given the title Benefactor. This must not happen with you. No; the greatest among you must behave as if he were the youngest, the leader as if he were the one who serves. For who is the greater: the one at table or the one who serves? The one at table, surely? Yet here am I among you as one who serves!

You are the men who have stood by me faithfully in my trials; and now I confer a kingdom on you, just as my Father conferred one on me: you will eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.”

 

​We pray for that same fidelity to Christ and humility in service that marked the life and work of St Thomas Becket and for the Church in England, that she may fearlessly bear witness to the values of the Gospel of Jesus.