Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 20th June 2023
Abbot Paul • June 20, 2023
I was so pleased to go back to the beach yesterday with Toby, as we set apart a free day in order to visit my mother. Being already the second half of June and considering the long heatwave we’ve been suffering, I was wondering how my beloved wild orchids were faring, the orchids I’ve been so attached to since I was a small boy. I would spent hours in the marshland between the extensive sand dunes and the railway lines, where, with my friends, we’d dodge the trains, especially the fast London to Swansea expresses. Those were the days when children were free to explore and were safe to roam and discover the treasures our world had to offer. Among these treasures was the most amazing collection of plants and flowers, of which my favourites were the local wild orchids. This year, for lack of rain, they were rather small, but nevertheless outstanding for their colour and shape. I know there are similar ones in Herefordshire and have seen them at Ullingswick, for example.
Our Gospel today continues following the teaching of Jesus to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, (Mt 5: 43-48), where Our Lord expounds on love of neighbour and enemy alike. “You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Jesus has said repeatedly, “You have heard it said….but I say….” He wants us to be sure that we know what it means to follow God faithfully and fully. At the end of today’s passage, Jesus drops a bombshell of a statement to describe how we much follow God. How come? Taught by the interpreters of the Law, the people had lost sight of what God originally meant by the command to “Love your neighbour as yourself.” The phrase, “hate your enemy,” is not even in the Old Testament Law. You can look in the teachings of Moses and the Prophets, but you won’t find those words. The experts had changed the teaching of the Law until it got to the point that it was no longer what it had originally meant. This should be a warning to us that we do not take a command of God and change it into something that we want it to be rather than what God really meant. We must be very careful not to distort the word of God. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, seeks to bring clarity to what God meant and show the fuller meaning and the heart of the commandment. Jesus wants us to love all people, friend or foe, good or evil, and he also wants us to pray for them. As the war rages in Ukraine, for example, it is important to pray for both sides, for only through prayer and reconciliation, will true justice and peace come about.
Br Meinrad and Br Gildas attend a special service with the Benedictine community of St Paul's Outside the Walls with King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Honesty and Love Before God: Pharisee and Tax Collector; Pope and King - a homily by Abbot Brendan for the 30th Sunday of the Year.
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.
With honoured guests we were delighted to open our doors again of our new guesthouse and conference centre: The Chapterhouse.
"A hymn to the human body." Abbot Brendan's Homily at the annual Mass celebrated at Rotherwas Chapel in Hereford that dates from the 1580s on the feast of the Assumption.
From Francis to Leo: A special event with Christopher Lamb of CNN in conversation with Austin Ivereigh who commentated for the BBC on the transition from Pope Francis to Pope Leo.
On 12th June an Ecumenical Service was held at Hereford Cathedral to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea.
