Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 5th December 2023
Abbot Paul • December 4, 2023
Yesterday and today the Belmont Community is holding its Annual Conventual Chapter, when together the monks review the year’s work and its daily life, whether at Belmont, in Peru or on our parishes. We also look at important aspects of our life such as safeguarding, pastoral outreach and finances. When you read this short message, we’ll probably be looking at last year’s accounts with our auditors or perhaps studying our investment policy to see whether it follows the Church’s teaching in the recent document to come from Rome, Mensuram Bonam. No doubt there will be a number of monks with headaches in the room after the morning’s session.
Today’s Gospel passage comes from Luke (Lk 10: 21-24). It begins with a prayer of thanksgiving that Jesus addresses to his heavenly Father. Luke tells us that Jesus is, “filled with joy by the Holy Spirit.” In this short phrase, we find two central themes of Luke’s Gospel, joy and the Holy Spirit, who is the source of our joy. “I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.” Jesus always begins his prayers to the Father with blessing and thanksgiving, a model of prayer for us. The mysteries of the kingdom are revealed in Jesus to those who follow him and open their hearts to God’s grace. We are those “mere children” and in Jesus we can see and know the living God.
In private, Jesus says to his disciples, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.” We, like the disciples, see and hear what the prophets and kings of Israel longed to see and hear. We can see this clearly in the Prophet Isaiah, whose writings we read in Advent. Today’s Mass is no exception. If you have a Daily Missal, then do read carefully Isaiah 11: 1-10. You will recognise the text, it’s so beautiful and well-known. It begins, “A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots: on him the spirit of the Lord rests, a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, we thank you for revealing yourself to us in your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. May we come to know and love you more deeply and more surely this Advent. Amen
Abbot Brendan Reflects on Pope Leo's words to the Benedictines worldwide
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Monday 1st to Thursday 4th December 2025. Our first Advent retreat in our newly opened guesthouse
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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