Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 1st March 2023

As I sit to write this short message for Wednesday, St David’s Day, I have completed my work for Tuesday and done all my packing for Peru. I have managed to find everything the brethren have asked me to take out to them for sale in their shop and the brushes Fr Alex needs in his work as an iconographer. I must confess it’s been a busy day and I’m exhausted and ready for a shower and bed, before getting up at 2am for the journey up to Birmingham airport. While we celebrate the Patron Saint of Wales and ask for his intercession and blessing on Welsh people everywhere, especially in Patagonia, Argentina, I hope to be taking a long snooze on that long flight from Paris to Lima. Tomorrow there won’t be a message as the journey to the monastery at Lurin takes just over 24 hours door to door. There are no direct flights from the UK to Peru.

 

​The short Gospel passage chosen for the feast comes from Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, (Mt 5: 13-16), the famous words of Jesus where he compares his disciples with the salt of the earth and the light of the world. This is what he says:

 

“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men.

  “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.”

 

​We can use these words to describe St David as he spent his life proclaiming the Gospel to his people, bringing them wisdom from on high imbued with the light of Christ with which to give meaning and rejoicing to their lives. He instilled into the Welsh of his day the joy of being followers of Christ, admonishing them to rejoice always and keep the faith. Let us pray today that our lives might be ones of rejoicing, for we know that God loves us, and that our faith may in turn make us, as Christ says, the salt of the earth and the light of the world.