Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday - 7th February 2024
Abbot Paul • February 6, 2024
Some of my daily messages have been somewhat lengthy of late, so here is a short one. Yesterday was an unusually busy day, during which I spent a substantial part of the day recording the Stations of the Cross and giving a short talk on prayer for our local Archdiocesan website as part of their Lent programme. Actually, I found it quite exhausting. I had a bit of a surprise in store for me in the early morning when my eyesight disappeared during morning office. There was a blinding light and all I could see were flashing stars. I couldn’t see the page I was singing from. Then I was suddenly aware of a close friend holding me tight and touching my eyes. Gradually my vision was restored. It was one of those road to Damascus moments I shall never forget, a mystical experience.
Just a few words now about today’s Gospel reading from Mark, (Mk 7: 14-23). It is the continuation of yesterday’s passage, that discussion on the observance of the Law that Jesus has with a group of scribes and Pharisees. “Jesus called the people to him and said, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’” This is probably the shortest parable there is and Jesus will explain it himself once he is with his disciples in the house, away from the crowd. “He said to them, ‘Do you not understand either? Can you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean, because it does not go into his heart but through his stomach and passes out into the sewer?’ (Thus, he pronounced all foods clean.) And he went on, ‘It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’” He has taken his argument with his opponents to another level, from the material to the spiritual. The scribes and Pharisees worry and enforce laws about the foods we eat, but Jesus is far more concerned about the evil that is in our hearts and minds. He has come to heal us of the evil within. That is what the forgiveness of Jesus brings about, strengthened and consolidated by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As he says in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Lord, this is what we long for, purity of heart, that we might see you and only you in our neighbour and in ourselves. Amen.
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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.