Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 24th May 2023

As you know our abbey church was at one time the cathedral church for the Diocese of Newport and Menevia and then for the Diocese of Newport until it became the Archdiocese of Cardiff in 1915. From 1916 until 1920 it was the co-cathedral of the new archdiocese. Today in the Archdiocese we celebrate the anniversary of the Dedication the Cathedral Church of St David in Cardiff. Sadly, the original cathedral, which had been the parish church of Cardiff (1884/87), was bombed during World War II and badly damaged. After the war it was rebuilt in its present form and from the late 60s onwards has seen a number of internal changes, not all of them for the best. Still, we pray for our cathedral, for our Archbishop, the priest in charge and all who worship there, remembering that it is the mother church of the Archdiocese. Of course, the pre-Reformation Catholic cathedral was at Llandaff, and nearer at home at Hereford itself. Like Westminster Abbey, built by the Benedictines, we should not forget that all these were once Catholic churches.

 

​Although there are special readings where the feast of the Dedication is kept, I’ll just say a few words about the Gospel of the day, the continuation of the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus from John, (Jn 17: 12-19). Jesus addresses his Father in heaven as ‘Holy Father’ and prays, “keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one like us.” Jesus wants his disciples to be united as one body through their faithfulness to the Father’s name. Throughout his life on earth, he kept them safe, apart from the traitor, who did not want this protection. Jesus has only taught his disciples what the Father has wanted him to teach them. He has always been obedient to the Father’s will. Jesus now asks that they be consecrated, that they might continue his work on earth.

“Consecrate them in the truth;

your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world,

I have sent them into the world,

and for their sake I consecrate myself

so that they too may be consecrated in truth.”

Jesus asks that each one of us, his followers, disciples and friends, be consecrated in the truth through the power of God’s word. Consecrated to serve, he sends us into the world or sin and death to bring the light of truth to situations immersed in the darkness of human error. In his death and resurrection Christ is consecrated that through faith and baptism we might be consecrated in the truth that is God himself.