Message of Abbot Paul - Thursday 8th July
Message from Fr Paul for Thursday, 8th July 2021
It’s coming up to sixteen months now since I first started writing these daily messages and, by God’s grace, I’ve not missed a single day. The initial idea was to keep touch with Belmont Abbey parishioners and friends during the first lockdown, believing, as we all did then, that it would all be over by Easter. Well two Easters have passed and it’s still not over, although we will probably be coming out of lockdown completely on 19th July. I say probably, because anything can happen between now and then, as it has in the past. Before I make any plans, I’ll wait for the official documents to emerge from the government and from the bishops. What I would like is a short break, even ten days self-isolation would do the trick: no bells, no services, no work, no telephone, no internet, only rest and relaxation and Toby, of course, for long walks in the countryside, bliss!
Yesterday we heard the beginning of the instructions Jesus gave the Twelve Apostles as they set out on their mission. Today in our reading from Matthew, (Mt 10: 7-15), we hear further instructions. You can’t say that they weren’t warned or prepared for the task Jesus had set them. “As you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge. Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with a few coppers for your purses, with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the workman deserves his keep. Whatever town or village you go into, ask for someone trustworthy and stay with him until you leave. As you enter his house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, let your peace descend upon it; if it does not, let your peace come back to you. And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet. I tell you solemnly, on the day of Judgement it will not go as hard with the land of Sodom and Gomorrah as with that town.” They are to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand, that they come in the name of Jesus, in whom the kingdom is embodied. They have been given power and authority to do all the things that Jesus does. Unlike the high priests and the Pharisees, they are to offer their services free of charge, out of compassion and the love of God, and not for sordid money. They are to journey with the bare essentials and rely entirely on charity for their board and lodging. Wherever they are given hospitality, they are the bless that household with peace. If they are not accepted in any place, then they are to leave, but to God alone belongs judgement. They can shake the dust from their feet, but never curse. It all sounds very much like the instructions given by St Francis of Assisi to his followers, when they were sent throughout the central Italian countryside preaching the Gospel of Jesus.
We could, of course, compare the instructions of Jesus, which we see carried out almost to the letter in the Acts of the Apostles and the letters of St Paul with the way all Churches are organised and run today. At times it is hard to see the connection between the teaching of Jesus and what goes on in our Churches. I use a capital C purposely, as I refer to all denominations, not just the Catholic Church. You can see in the words of Jesus the dream of a renewed and purified Church that Pope Francis speaks of and longs for. Our Gospel today inspires us to pray for the Church, her ministers, the faithful, the lapsed and our mission to the world. Lord Jesus, have mercy, help us and save us. Amen.
