Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday 5th May
Abbot Paul • May 4, 2022
Message from Fr Paul for Thursday, 5th May 2022
Today I set off on my travels again. I must confess that after the restful bliss of lockdown and some serious stability in the monastery for the past two and a quarter years, I have no appetite for travel and would much rather stay at home, even if I know the break will be good for me. It occurs to me that I might not have access to WiFi at the Abbey of Las Huelgas, in which case it won’t be possible to send you my daily messages. Should it not appear where you usually read it, then that’s the reason and I apologise in advance. God willing, I should be back at Belmont on Tuesday night and present at the May Procession on Wednesday evening.
Because we have celebrated two feast days, we have missed out on part of the discourse on the Bread of Life from John’s Gospel. Today, therefore, we move on to Jn 6: 44-51, where Jesus tells the crowds at Capernaum that he is the bread of life, the living bread come down from heaven, the bread that is his flesh. He begins by saying:
“No one can come to me
unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me,
and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They will all be taught by God,
and to hear the teaching of the Father,
and learn from it,
is to come to me.
Not that anybody has seen the Father,
except the one who comes from God:
he has seen the Father.”
Here Jesus talks of his relationship with the Father and how it is the Father who draws us to the Son, who will raise us up on the last day. So we have the promise of eternal life, the Father’s gift to us, given us through the Son. In fact, Jesus goes on to say that, “Everybody who believes has eternal life.” Eternal life will be given to us on account of our faith in Jesus, the one who knows the Father and was sent by him.
However, there is more to this gift than simple belief, for Jesus goes on to show the connection between “living for ever” and eating the bread of life here and now. He will contrast the bread that was given in the past, manna in the desert during the Exodus, and the bread which is himself and he gives us now.
“I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the desert
and they are dead;
but this is the bread that comes down from heaven,
so that a man may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,
for the life of the world.”
The fact that Jesus says I AM does not escape us, and the bread of life, not simply bread, but the bread that is life and gives life. Bread does not exist for its own good, but to feed and give life to those who eat it. He contrasts this bread which is himself with the manna eaten in the wilderness during the Exodus. It fed and gave life for a while, but then people died, for it was not the source of eternal life, although it was sent from heaven. Jesus is not only the bread of life but the living bread, the bread that gives those who eat it eternal life. He then takes an unexpected leap to another level when he says that “the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.” This is no longer figurative language. Flesh is flesh and the flesh of Jesus is sacrificed on the cross, by which sacrifice he saves the world, redeems us and forgives us our sins. His hearers could not have been expecting this. It will cause them to think twice about following him. What do we think? I have never doubted the words of Jesus, although some Christians do or understand them in a different way. This discourse of Jesus gives us so much to think about and pray over.
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We are sad to announce that Fr Stephen died on Monday 21st October 2055. He was 94. He died peacefully in hospital, having recently fractured his shoulder. He was a beloved member of the monastic community, who had settled back at Belmont after many years on Belmont parishes, including in Abergavenny, Swansea, Hereford and Weobley. He will be much missed. His Requiem Mass will be at Belmont on Wednesday, 5th November at 11.30am followed by burial in the monastic cemetery. The Reception of his Body into the Abbey Church will take place on Tuesday, 4th November, at 5.45pm.
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