Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday - 12th March 2024
Abbot Paul • March 11, 2024
​Yesterday, we heard of the healing of the court official’s son, a young lad. John described this as the second sign that Jesus gave. Today we continue our reading of John, (Jn 5: 1-16), with the third sign, the healing of an adult, a man whose illness had lasted 38 years. Again, we’re not told what the man was suffering from, but he was among the blind, the lame and the paralysed, waiting near the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem for the waters to move. It would appear that people had been cured there, but this poor man had no one to help him get into the water. This is what happened. “There was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem there is a building, called Bethzatha (Bethesda) in Hebrew, consisting of five porticos; and under these were crowds of sick people – blind, lame, paralysed – waiting for the water to move. One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years, and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in this condition for a long time, he said, ‘Do you want to be well again?’ ‘Sir,’ replied the sick man ‘I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets there before me.’ Jesus said, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.’ The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked away.” Jesus has gone up from Galilee to Jerusalem, so this is the first act of healing which Jesus performs in the heart of Judaism. Jesus approaches the man, for he can see that there is no one to help him and simply asks him the obvious, does he want to be healed? The man explains why it’s impossible for him to get into the waters. Jesus doesn’t need the miraculous waters to heal the man. His word is sufficient: all he has to say is, “Get up, pick up your mat and walk.” This is a new creation. God speaks again in Jesus and renews what has gone wrong in creation. The man gets up, picks up his mat and walks: he has put his trust in Jesus’ word. Strange that we hear no word of thanks, he just obeys Jesus’ orders and walks away healed. But there is more to come, for the healing takes place on the Sabbath and the man is seen carrying his sleeping mat, something strictly forbidden on the Sabbath.
​“Now that day happened to be the sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; you are not allowed to carry your sleeping-mat.’ He replied, ‘But the man who cured me told me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”’ They asked, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’ The man had no idea who it was, since Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that filled the place. After a while Jesus met him in the Temple and said, ‘Now you are well again, be sure not to sin again, or something worse may happen to you.’ The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. It was because he did things like this on the sabbath that the Jews began to persecute Jesus.” For his enemies, the strict adherence to the letter of the Law, as interpreted by the scribes and Pharisees, was more important than the Law of charity and kindness, to perform an act of kindness, which Jesus himself observed. Later on, in his letters, John the evangelist will develop this theme and state categorically that God is love. He will state that if we cannot love the brother we see, then how can we love God we do not see? However, Jesus is not only generous and kind, he is also just, and so he warns the man he has healed to sin no more. This is what Jesus tells all those he heals and forgives, that they must sin no more. Let us pray today for healing, for ourselves and for all who need the loving mercy of Jesus. May we all be healed of whatever afflicts us and be given the grace to sin no more.
Pope Francis RIP Pope 2013-2025 Born 1936, Died 2025 We are deeply saddened at the passing of Pope Francis. As the successor of St Peter he has been a spiritual father and shepherd to the church in our day, challenging us, and calling as to reach out to those on the peripheries. He was the first Jesuit Pope, but took the name Francis after the Poor Man of Assisi who modelled for him a closeness to the poor, a concern for those on the margins of society and a care for all of creation In his preaching Pope Francis always spoke of the joy of the Gospel and encouraged us to reflect the joy of our faith in our lives. He showed the compassion of Jesus to everyone. He worked tirelessly for the unity of the church and travelled even to non-Christian countries promoting a message of peace. He has left a great legacy. With the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio with the community over Easter we were able to express our closeness to the Holy Father in his final suffering. There will be a special Mass at Belmont this Thursday 24th April at 11am to pray for Pope Francis as he makes his final journey to the house of the Father. On the day of his funeral, the Office of the Dead will be sung, and Mass that day will be a Requiem. May the angels lead him into paradise; may the martyrs receive him at his arrival and lead him to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive him and with Lazarus, the poor man grant him eternal rest." (The In Paradisum, words from the Funeral Liturgy)
We were were honoured and delighted to be joined by the Apostolic Nuncio to celebrate Easter. His Excellency Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía is the representative of the Holy See in Great Britain, and therefore of the Holy Father. His presence on Easter Sunday morning brought us more consciously in communion with Pope Francis, the successor of St Peter, as we heard the Gospel story of Peter running to the tomb. His patron saint is St Michael, so afterwards, at a festive lunch we were able to present him with some Belmont cufflinks with the monastery coat of arms - very similar to his as Archbishop. We were able to pray for him and his work in this country.
