In St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we see him at his happiest. The Christians in Philippi had none of the severe problems that beset other Churches, for example in Galatia or at Corinth. Here was Paul in his prison cell, chained either to a wall or to a soldier, and whenever he thought of the Philippians, he was cheered and consoled.

Isaiah 55:6-9; Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a; Matthew 20:1-6

What is the Kingdom of heaven like? What is God’s way of salvation like? What is the Christian life like?

Once upon a time, a householder set out to hire labourers for his vineyard. Our Lord tells us this story, which may perhaps strike us as somewhat bizarre, then he leaves us without any sort of explanation. So that gives us rather a lot of freedom to interpret or apply it as we can.

The quarterly magazine which generally includes a letter from Fr Abbot, a diary of recent activity at the Abbey, book reviews and articles by monks, oblates or visitors.

Who do you say that I am?

Really none of the disciples at Caesarea Philippi needed advanced qualifications in rocket science to answer this question. For them, and for readers of St. Matthew’s Gospel, the answer must be stark staring obvious. That is, unless you believe with the Pharisees that Jesus is a blaspheming imposter, or else possibly a raving madman: in either case he would have to be acting with the power of all the demons of hell.

A couple of months ago I spoke at Mass here about the Holy Eucharist, based on a book I’d recently read by an American scholar called Brant Petre. That book was called “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist”.