Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday - 23rd April 2024
Abbot Paul • April 23, 2024
Today we keep the feast of St George, the warrior saint, who shed his blood for Christ, patron saint of England and of many other countries, towns, villages and churches throughout the Christian world, including in Peru. Today we will celebrate the First Profession of Br Miguel Rimarachin Pinedo, so a day of rejoicing for the monastic community in Lurin. Yesterday, among many other things, I visited our bishop, Mgr. Carlos Garcia Camader. We spent a couple of hours together talking about many aspects of Church life in Peru and England, sharing experiences and looking with hope to the future. Mgr. Carlos has been a great supporter of the monastery and holds the monks in high esteem. This is a very lively diocese, with an amazing pastoral and social outreach on a grand scale. It also has a thriving seminary with many good vocations. Mgr. Carlos asks for your prayers and ours.
I’m running late today (Monday) and am feeling very tired, with a big day to get through, rejoicing I hasten to add, tomorrow (Tuesday). I’ll be very brief in looking at the Gospel reading from John, (Jn 10: 22-30). Jesus is in Jerusalem for the festival of Dedication and he’s walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon in the Temple. People are wondering aloud whether he is the Messiah or not. “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly,” they say. He replies that he has told them and has also given them many signs. What is lacking? They might not know him, but his sheep do and he gives them eternal life. This is the Father’s will. He ends by saying, “The Father and I are one.” What more can he say? If he and the Father are one, then who is he?
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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.