Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 29th November 2023

I had a most enjoyable speed awareness course yesterday at Coleford. It was fun for a change to be surrounded by Gloucester accents. The scenery there and back was stunning. All in all, a perfect day, and I learnt a lot of information that was new to me.​

 

Today we continue our reading of Luke (Lk 21: 12-19) with a grim warning from Jesus as to what his disciples are to expect if they remain faithful to him. In fact, by the time the Gospel came to be written, Christians had already been experiencing persecution for more than 30 years. “Men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness.” However, Jesus sees this as an opportunity to bear witness to him and to the truth of the Gospel. Not only that, but he will be with them and will inspire as well as give them fortitude and perseverance. “Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.”

 

​Jesus reiterates his warning, speaking of betrayal and death. He doesn’t beat around the bush, but tells them straight. “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name.” This was to be the lot of the martyrs, beginning with John the Baptist and with Jesus himself, and there have been Christians martyrs in every generation and in every country ever since. But that’s not where to story ends. They are not to fear for God will be with them and they will win the crown of eternal life. “Not a hair of your head will be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.” We live in the knowledge that we too could become martyrs for the faith, but we also know that it is not only in death that we bear witness to Christ but in life and by the way we live our lives. We must become transparent, so that others can see Christ in us. If all the Bibles in the world were to be destroyed, would others see Christ in you and in me? Could the Gospel be rewritten based on the testimony of our lives? That’s a question worth thinking about.