Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 7th March 2023
Abbot Paul • March 7, 2023
Yesterday was a good day and just what I needed. The community here have a monthly retreat day on the first Monday of each month. It’s a day of complete silence apart from morning and evening prayer and Mass. Meals and mealtimes are optional and the short daytime offices said privately. There’s a short conference at 9am and a priest comes in from outside, so the monks can go to confession. It’s a peaceful and relaxed day when people can just rest in the Lord. I wish we had something similar at Belmont. I often long for more silence and the opportunity for extended periods of prayer.
Our Gospel passage today comes from Matthew, (Mt 23: 1-12), but not from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus, addressing the people as well as his disciples, criticises the scribes and Pharisees for being unfaithful to their own strict teaching with which they burden ordinary folk. Jesus says, “Do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do, since they do not practise what they preach.” He criticises their hypocrisy and unwillingness to reduce the unnecessary burden of the Law on ordinary, faithful Jews. He also comments on their pride and love of recognition and adulation. He tells his disciples not to affect titles and honours, but rather to act humbly and with integrity. We need to take these words to heart today, recognising God to be our only Father and Christ our only teacher and master.
Abbot Brendan Reflects on Pope Leo's words to the Benedictines worldwide
July and August 2026: 3 workshops let by Fr Alex Echeandia, Prior of the Monastery of Lurin
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28th November at 6.45pm You are welcome to join an informal service for healing prayer on the last Friday of November. No need to book.
Sat 13th December, 10.00am-12.30am We are delighted that the acclaimed Cistercian writer, Fr Michael Casey will be with us in December.
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.
Br Meinrad and Br Gildas attend a special service with the Benedictine community of St Paul's Outside the Walls with King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Honesty and Love Before God: Pharisee and Tax Collector; Pope and King - a homily by Abbot Brendan for the 30th Sunday of the Year.