Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 14th March 2023
Abbot Paul • March 14, 2023
The days are rushing by quickly and the nights seem shorter than ever. I usually wake around 3am and spend time in personal prayer and sorting out emails before going down the church for Vigils. Today is my last full day in Peru, as, God willing, I will be leaving Lima on Wednesday evening. Yesterday our bishop was coming to see me, but at the last minute he was summoned to the Bishops’ Conference for an emergency meeting on the current political problems in Peru and the flood disaster in the north of the country. I was asked to visit a friend of the monastery and her son to pray with them. It was a delightful visit and, as you know by now, Peruvians take prayer very seriously, so it was also hard work. The lady has a wonderful collection of orchids, a particular passion of mine, so I hope to include a few photographs. I was so exhausted by the form of prayer, that also includes exorcism, that I slept all the way back to the monastery, a 90 minute journey.
Our Gospel today comes from Matthew, (Mt 18: 21-32), and is about forgiveness, which is not only one of the great themes of Lent, but one of the main tenets of the Christian faith. When Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive a brother who wrongs him, suggesting that seven times might be the right number, Jesus tells him, “Not seven, but seventy seven times.” This number can also be translated as “seventy times seven.” In other words, a disciple, a Christian, should be disposed always to forgive, even before he has been wronged. There is only one way for a Christian and that is to forgive “from the heart.”
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Monday 1st to Thursday 4th December 2025. Our first Advent retreat in our newly opened guesthouse
Good Shepherd, Good Priest “I will seek the lost and bring back the strayed; I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.” Those words, spoken by the Lord God through the prophet Ezekiel, describe the heart of God, the Good Shepherd — but they also describe the life and ministry of a good monk and priest. They could well be written of Fr Stephen’s years of service as a pastor in Abergavenny, Swansea, Hereford, and Weobley. In each of those places, he shared in the Shepherd’s work: seeking out the lost, binding up the wounded, strengthening the weary, and leading God’s people with quiet faithfulness. And like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who came close to his people, Fr Stephen did not serve from a distance. He knew his people; he was among them. He shared their sorrows and their joys, their hopes and their disappointments. He bore their burdens with prayer and patience he brought the joy of the Gospel and the grace of the Sacraments. His mission amongst us is complete. He has served God’s good purpose. So today we ask Christ the Good Shepherd to take Stephen on his sacred shoulders and carry him home to the house of the Father. Bind up his wounds, give him eternal rest and lead him at last to the green pastures and still waters of eternal life.
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