Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 28th March 2023
Abbot Paul • March 27, 2023
A dear friend of mine in Ukraine, who is accustomed to hearing the sound of bombs and missiles falling, tells me that the song of birds has disappeared altogether. He misses the dawn chorus. I was telling him about this wonderful concert that takes place each morning at Belmont, when Toby and I are on our early morning walk. He asked me to record it and send it to him, so that he can be reminded of what life was like before the enemy invasion and the destruction of much of his country. I had never thought of recording our feathered friends before, so yesterday morning I did, not on the way out as they were too noisy, especially on seeing Toby, but on the way back into the monastery. I hope that our websites and Facebook page can convey to the beauty of this early morning concert and, perhaps, remind you of Belmont.
Our Gospel today comes from John, (Jn 8:21-30), where we find Jesus continuing to argue with the Pharisees over his identity and ability to forgive sin. They constantly fail to understand him. Whereas he says to his disciples that he goes to prepare them a place and will show them to way to heaven, for he is “the Way and the Truth and the Life,” he tells the Pharisees that, “you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” The reason he gives is that, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.” And he repeats several times, “You will die in your sins.” As a result, they continue to ask him, “Who are you?”
Jesus replies:
“What I have told you from the outset.
About you I have much to say
and much to condemn;
but the one who sent me is truthful,
and what I have learnt from him
I declare to the world.”
However, the Pharisees still fail to understand that he’s taking about his heavenly Father, the one who sent him. He feels obliged to explain
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man,
then you will know that I am He
and that I do nothing of myself:
what the Father has taught me is what I preach;
and has not left me to myself,
for I always do what pleases him.”
As a result of what he says here, we are told that “many came to believe in him. May many more come to believe in Jesus, Son of God, through the power of the Gospel, which is no less powerful today than it was when Jesus first walked the dirt tracts of Galilee, Samaria and Judaea and proclaimed the God News of salvation.
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