Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 22nd August 2023

As last night I had to attend a Parish Advisory Council meeting, my last as Parish Priest of Belmont, after which I went out with Toby for our last walk of the day, a long and enjoyable walk in the dark, it was ten o’clock before I was able to begin writing this message, so it might be shorter than I had planned. Both of us love walking in the dark, although there are street lights for part of the way. Toby is particularly fond of the cemetery at this time of day, so it can be quite an interesting walk, as you can imagine.

 

​Today the Catholic Church keeps the feast of Queenship of Our Lady, as it’s the ancient Octave of the Assumption. However, in Herefordshire we keep the feast of our local martyr, St John Kemble, who was put to death on Widemarsh Common, Hereford, on this day in the year 1679 at the age of 80. His only crime was that of being a Catholic priest, who celebrated Mass and the other Sacraments. The sad story of his martyrdom is well known. Today would be a good day to visit his grave in Welsh Newton church graveyard and make a private pilgrimage.

 

​In today’s Gospel from Matthew, (Mt 19: 23-30), following on from yesterday’s encounter between Jesus and the rich young man, we witness the conversation between Jesus and his disciples on the question of personal wealth. “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ When the disciples heard this, they were astonished. ‘Who can be saved, then?’ they said. Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he told them ‘This is impossible; for God everything is possible.’”

Jesus asks us the impossible in many areas of our lives, but nothing is impossible for God and, with God’s help, everything is possible, even for us. Held by Jesus, Peter managed to walk back to the boat. So what Jesus asks of us is only impossible if we rely on our own strength, which is a form of pride. If in all humility we ask God’s help, then what Jesus asks of us comes more easily.

 

​Peter then asks a question that we would probably not think of asking, but the answer is more important than the question. I can’t imagine St John Kemble asking this question of Jesus. “Then Peter spoke. ‘What about us?’ he said to him ‘We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life. Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.’” Sacrifice does bring rewards, though not what we might expect with our human logic. God has far greater things prepared for us than we can hope for or imagine. Jesus talks about the disciples sitting beside him judging the tribes of Israel. He talks about being repaid in this life, but what is that in comparison with the gift of eternal life. What more can we want, but God himself. In the life of St John Kemble, we see clearly how the last come first.