Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 28th February 2023

Yesterday was an extremely busy day, so it was very late when I finally found a few minutes to write a brief message for today just before going far too late to bed. This morning Toby will be going into Cosy Toes, his usual kennels just a few miles down the road from Belmont, for his Lenten retreat while I’m away in Peru. So among the routine religious duties of the day, there will be washing, cleaning and packing in preparation for the 2.30am departure from Belmont on Wednesday. In the past I always drove myself to Birmingham or Heathrow in time to arrive by 4am for a 6am flight, but I’m beginning to find I’m too exhausted to face that sort of an ordeal. I might still go back to the practice one day, but for the time being I have accepted to extremely kind offer of a parishioner to take me to Birmingham airport. I hope to send a daily message from Peru, though it might be impossible on the days when I am travelling. I hope you will forgive me.

 

​Our Gospel passage for today comes from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, (Mt 6: 7-15), the section in which Jesus teaches his own prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, to his disciples. He begins by telling them, “In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So, you should pray like this:” The kind of prayer the father wants is not the multiplication of words, babbling as Jesus calls it, but a few, simple and straightforward words that go directly to the point. This is the prayer that Jesus teaches them:

 

“Our Father in heaven,

may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.

And do not put us to the test,

but save us from the evil one.”

We know the prayer so well, we sometimes say it without thinking of what we’re saying to God. Perhaps this Lent, we could just slow down and make a prayer of each phrase. Jesus, in his teaching emphasises forgiveness as the hallmark of the Christian. “Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.” Is this what forgiveness means to me? Is this how I practise forgiveness? Lent is a good time to renew our desire and promise to forgive all those who offend and sin against us. That’s what Jesus came to do on earth. We should make that our mission and way of life too.