Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 26th July
Abbot Paul • July 26, 2022
Message from Fr Paul for Tuesday, 26th July 2022
On both websites you can read a full report on the official reopening of the Abbey Bookshop, admirably organised by Fr James, that took place yesterday afternoon. The children’s author, Madeleine Carroll, was the guest of honour and she was accompanied by her husband Connor and delightful six children. We congratulate Fr James and our shop volunteers for the admirable work they are doing to help those searching for books, cards and a vast selection of objects of piety, that will help them and others grow in faith. You can also purchase some of these items online.
Today is the feast of the grandparents of Jesus and parents of Our Lady, St Joachim and St Anne. It’s also my mother’s name’s day as she is called Anna Maria, still a very popular name in Italy even today. They won’t be found in the Gospels, but rather in the Apocryphal Gospel of James. Devotion to both these saints is early in the East as in the West, bur grew in the Middle Ages, especially when interest in the historic Jesus and Mary increased with Franciscan spirituality. Children in all cultures adore their grandparents; how could Jesus not love his own, and Mary her parents? The Gospel passage for the feast is brief indeed, just one of the sayings of Jesus, as found in Matthew, (Mt 13: 16-17), which Jesus addresses to his disciples.
“Blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.” We address these words to Joachim and Anne, who were blessed indeed to see and hear what the prophets had longed to see and hear. By extension, we are blessed like them, for though faith we believe that we see Jesus in the Eucharist and in all the sacraments, and in the love that Christians have for one another. We believe that we hear his voice in the scriptures and in the teaching of the Church, as well as in prayer, where Jesus speaks to us in the silence of our hearts.
Today we pray for our grandparents living and dead and thank the Lord for the witness of faith they gave us.
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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.
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