31/08/2021

The imminent return, the parousia of the Lord is still to the forefront of St. Pauls mind as he writes to the Thessalonians. No-one knows when to expect the Lord's return and for this reason we need to avoid a spiritual sleep and stay wide awake. This teaching is even more important for us 2,000 years later.

Jesus is recognised by the the devil which obeys his command and thus impresses the synagogue. Public recognition of Jesus begins and crowds start to look out for him. His reputation grows and his followers increase; the authority he displays is recognised but the crucial break through into the mainstream of religion does not happen.

Our all powerful Lord does not use force; we are made in his image and likeness and thus have freedom to choose. Our choice is guided, however, by God's revelation of himself; by the Law of the covenant and by the recorded scriptures. Our Church too as founded by the Lord has the duty  and reality of being Christ at this present moment; the Sacramental Presence is the Real Presence and each day Christ through his Priests offers his Body and Blood as our spiritual food .

I really believe this and yet I am estranged from the Church which is more concerned with the things of this world rather than with being prepared for either the return of the Lord or our being called.

Dear Lord, help me to know your will for me and show me how to cooperate with it. Let me be known in the prayers of your Mother and all the Saints.

 30/08/2021

The early Church had many adherents who had known Jesus and who had witnessed the Crucifixion and been mystified by the Resurrection. They well knew that He had promised to return and eagerly looked forward to it "Maranatha " was never far from their lips or thoughts. But what about those who died before the "Parousia"? St Paul's words to day are to those for whom the delay in the Second Coming was unbearable . Their 1st Century world continued to function in  its usual way and up until the destruction of the Temple there were no signs or portents. Their fellow believers got older or sick and died.

It is a great sign for us  that  those Jews and pagans who formed the first congregations and received the first Sacraments were able to tolerate the result of their decisions to believe this new preaching, the  main point of which was the Resurrection and the awaited return. of Jesus.

They must have had  hearts completely open to the Lord and teachers whose words rang out with sincerity and joy. The immensity of the hope enkindled by the real presence of the Holy Spirit is still freely available for all peoples. The Scriptures are still a source of wonder and joy and we are still the same human beings created by the Lord to live righteously knowing that we have been saved to share in the fruits of  Ever Greater Love the source of which is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord let me never become satisfied by my efforts to know, love and serve you. Help me to be true in all the little ways that lead to you.

 29/08/2021

There is no ambiguity in Jesus. He always he talks straight to us . Sometimes he may be difficult to decipher; sometimes he is beyond my comprehension; but always his message is straight and clear.. Yesterday I  had  difficulty but today there is no missing of his direct teaching. 

It is always easy to spot hypocrisy in others but applying our judgement to ourselves is always more difficult. Jesus definitely rejects the trappings attached to the Law as reveled to Moses; but the Law itself is from God and revealed on Mount Horeb. He gives us a complete condemnation of  all sin and it is my state of mind that leads to the injustices that begin his list. Adultery and fornication are such a big part of life in this modern world and are justified by all practitioners of vice who so doing reject the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Our Church furnishes many examples of all the nastiness that fills all mankind once they give up their   inner consciousness of God and his revealed teaching.The only thing wrong with our Church is its failure to be our Church as founded by Jesus.

Dear Lord let not my frustration and anger with our modern pharisees occlude my vision of my own soul and let the sincerity of my will be matched by reality of deeds. 

 28/08/2021

Well I  am back now after being away from Monday to Friday. It is the feast today of St Augustine. The choice from St Paul could remind us of The City of God but Jesus was insistent that his sphere was not a human kingdom.. Love one another after first being sure to put God first in our consciousness is Jesus' foundational message. 

The master in the parable is pretty tough. The one who buried the talents probably didn't feel secure even when he knew that he couldn't lose his buried treasure. Saving my soul seems to be my object in life and that poor servant tried to do just that. What is it that he didn't do? I hope that Jesus is not teaching that the fruits by which we will be known are the spiritual equivalent of Dollars which in Capitalism are the only measure of value. If that is so I have no idea of the meaning of this story of failure in life.

St Paul's message seems to be much more Christian telling us to live quietly and earn our own living and to continue loving our neighbours.. Jesus' teaching is always direct even if enclosed within parables and so I will keep on pondering and praying to find the right answer to this one.

Dear Lord I thank you for the weather and the warmth of our welcome of this past week. May we all grow in the kindness and love of thee.  

 22/08/2021

The people listened to Joshua and agreed to join him in recognising the Lord as the only true God. They would abandon worship of any other deity local or foreign. This solemn assertion by the whole people in the sight of God proved to be too much for them as time passed.

The nuptial image of Christ's Church is not just obedience (though many object because of this) but sacrifice. Husbands must be ready to sacrifice anything for the love of a wife. Christ is to be obeyed by the Church created by his Cross. He is worthy of obedience and a husband too should strive to be worthy of loving obedience. The nuptial bond is as much a mystery as our very being; it is the same as the bond between Christ and his Church and thus is created the one body; Christ's mystical body, our Church. This is the solemn teaching of our Church. Is it proving to be too much for us?

The people stayed with him a long time; they had been overawed by the miracle of the feeding of the5000. Some had seen him walking on the water; all had been enthralled by his charismatic presence and some had listened to his words. As Jesus had anticipated, some of the some who had listened were not at all impressed. . He knew that what he was going to say would not be welcomed as good news. He knew this but did not water down his message to avoid giving offence. 

Many of Jesus teachings are hard to accept even to the extent that the human weakness of some of our pastors doesn't allow them to be true to God's words. His words in all their complexity and stark reality are indeed "the message of eternal life".  Peter's powerful acclamation of the Lord proves to be too much for him  to continuously live up to; nevertheless, we get a glimpse of the vastness of God's loving Mercy in the subsequent events of his  life and especially in its ending.

Dear Lord may the words of my Baptismal renunciations be with me for the rest of my days. Let me live up to the cleansing of that moment and never fail to be open to the promptings of The Holy Spirit. 

21/08/2021

The words of Jesus about the Pharisees must be filling the minds of the clergy who are reading them today.What must it be like for our pastors who know that they have lost contact with the Good Shepherd? I cannot understand why so many of our priests are ignoring the teaching of Christ. All of their secrets are known to God. The Love that is the Trinity has brought salvation to humanity through the Incarnation who has then humbled himself even more .......... The words of St Paul are well known and they are still true.

What must it be like for our good shepherds who know more than we do about the filth and duplicity which fills God's Church on earth and are trapped between their calling to devote their whole lives to growing and caring for the people of their parishes and the falseness of the structure that has grown out of the Petrine foundation. All human organisations have as their first task the maintenance of their own structures and so lose sight of their original purpose and begin to crumble. I have to accept that is happening now at this moment and have to ask if this could be the Will of God. 

It can't be true that God would want his Church to be corrupted in such a pathetic manner. We could make an analogy, however,  between now and the the times of the Old Testament . Jesus came to complete the Law not abolish it and I am sure that the mankind saved by by the Crucifixion is very little different than the motley crew led out of Egypt by Moses. We are capable of polluting anything; even the whole world.

Dear Lord let me learn how to follow only you and to avoid sinful thoughts. You have saved us for all times let us know that there is always a solution for men of goodwill

 20/08/2021

Loving God is the most important work of our existence. My brain and fingers are halted at those words. How can I love what is greater than anything I can imagine? Neither the brain nor the senses can take in  such an immensity. Even Martha sat at the foot of the living Jesus. We have to find Jesus in the records of his words and deeds. He tells us that the second commandment is to love our neighbour as our self  I can do that by keeping God's commandments 

"Love" is itself a problem. We all experience it as the first of our emotions that we recognise. We have all been children and most of us have experience of a mother's love. As we grow in mind and body we can become aware of the beauty of the world and begin to ask ourselves what's  it all about. The answers come to us faster and faster and pretty soon the original questioning awe disappears swamped by the choices we have to make of the great goods living offers to us.

God knows us better than we know ourselves and has revealed to us that "life" is not just the living and dying that he has created for all animals. That is why I start each day with an attempt at prayer. It is my soul that longs for the Lord and each day is a little life that is rounded by the little death, sleep. Each day I have to commit anew to knowing, loving and serving and to do this in complete sincerity avoiding all sin.

I find it very hard. God help me!

Dear Lord let not the wonders of your creation fill my mind to the extent of excluding you.

 19/08/2021

The Old Testament, particularly in its character as the history of the Sons of Israel, is difficult for me to grasp as it is truly of its place and times, without the Grace brought to the World by the Incarnation. I have heard it preached that  Abraham' s acceptance of the Lord's command to sacrifice Isaac should be read as an allegory forbidding human sacrifices. "Do not teach your children that God ordered a human sacrifice". Today's story from Judges records an event many centuries later that brings that interpretation into doubt as the Lord does accept the killing of Jepthah's daughter, at least the if killing went ahead as promised.

The moral superiority of the Jews in the Old Testament is largely in their recognition of  One God  and following the Law as revealed to Moses.. Most of their time is spent in living the same life as their neighbours and enemies but periodically this equanimity is interrupted by the revelations of the prophets directly inspired by God.

Jesus too reveals a similar continuity with the culture of the Middle East. In this parable the King has no compunction in wiping out those who have offended him. The unwilling guests did not make excuses they slaughtered the messengers, this is the reality of the history of Israel.

 My fear is that the one who sneaked into Wedding Feast could be me.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Incarnation, Crucifixion and Resurrection know me and are my salvation.

Dear Lord you know my sincerity as it is undermined by temptation. Let my prayers be answered in all my deeds.

 20/08/2021

Today the readings present me with difficulties. The Parable  of the Trees reads like an Aesop Fable and is I suppose typical of time and place. As a story it has a nice flow to it and the first chosen all provide the same answer that they do not want to lose what they have for the doubtful pleasure of ruling others who are all taller than they are . The Israelites are a stiff necked  necked nation and the thorn who knows this is so, warns them that if they chose him they will have no protection for a fire that starts so easily in a thorn swiftly grows to an inferno consuming them all. 

Jesus is again in his "this is how it is "mode. We cannot understand the injustice perpetrated on those who had toiled throughout the heat of the day; but the gifts of the Lord are his to give. We have to accept them not as injustices but as the the reality of God's Mercy.. 

I think that from a human standpoint this parable does describe an injustice. In fact, as Jesus says no harm has been done to the first comers, they have still received their just compensation as it was offered to them in the morning.

This how it is. God's Mercy and rewards are his to give. None of us can achieve the perfection God offers to us without his aid. That is what the Incarnation is all about.

Dear Lord you know how easily I succumb to well known temptations please let me sincerely abandon this attachment to the pleasures of the flesh and let me empty my soul of all falseness thinking that you will always forgive me. Let me become your servant in all that I do. 

 17/08/2021

Gideon is the least of all in his family, in his clan, in his tribe and in his nation. he is the one called by God to do great things for Israel. Jesus is from Galilee of the nations where even pigs were farmed. Has any good ever come out of Nazareth? The depth of God's humility in his Loving Choice of the Incarnation as the way to redeem his favoured but unworthy creation cannot be approached in our minds. It is as far away from us as the Eternity that is Father Son and Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus speaks to us in parables . 

"The eye of the needle"  could be the name of the narrowest gate into Jerusalem but for the purpose of this analogy it might as well be a reference to a real needle. A totally impossible task for man 

Gideon quite naturally knows that what he is asked to do is completely beyond him  and seeks a sign to confirm what he has heard. Peter and the others are also confounded,. Look how much they have already done  in abandoning families to walk with the Lord.  Peter is not seeking a "status" he really wants to see the Kingdom and is sure that is where Our Lord is leading him. He knows nothing of the horror he must experience.

Jesus as usual understands their disappointed confusion and reassures them  At the end of time the twelve will be judges for their own nation. In our living faith we have to accept that it is always God's Grace. his Sacramental gift  that will show us the way. We have to completely cooperate in the way of  the  "handmaid of the Lord" knowing that nothing  is impossible to God, "be it done unto me according to thy Word,

Dear Lord my only prayer is to be at peace in my soul knowing that the immensity of the Father Son and Holy Spirit is always here to support us all. 

 16/08/2021

The story of the Sons of Israel is also my story; for a time listening to the Lord and obeying his commands and then reverting back to the standards of the world. Always there is the wish to live a guilt free life; always aware of my faults but unable to resists the pleasures of the flesh. There is a realism about the rich young man; he was sad because he knew that he couldn't give up his riches. 

Material wealth is a futility to follow for all things decay including we the possessors. How many millions of us are there alive today who do not count as rich in this age but who have all the advantages, and more, in life that riches gave in his times to the young man.

We sincerely follow the Lord and keep his commandments but at home we enjoy riches beyond the dreams of avarice; we don't carry water, we don't hunt for our food; we don't fear for lives from marauding outlaws; the soldiers of the occupying power do not molest us; most illness can be cured and empty time can be filled by the miracle of mass media.

We have to be poor in spirit but this knowledge is not only an attitude it has to be a reality. It is farcical that members of religious orders take vows of poverty and have cars "for the use of". They are sincere in attitude but ignore the discrepancy between the words of their vows and the amount of wealth under their control. This discrepancy is open for all to view on the UK Charity Commissioners website. The Pope's own order in Britain is in control of millions as are  the various Benedictine Orders.

                                                                All is known to God.

Dear Lord let not the discrepancies so apparent in your Church on Earth blind me to the fact that it is Christ's Mystical Body in heaven and on earth that I aspire to. May Mary support the prayers of all dedicated Religious and encourage them  to be true to their vows.

 15/08/2021

The Feast of the Assumption celebrates the continuing bodily presence of Our Lady in heaven. Without experiencing death, she is now permanently with God and from there is able to act as our mother imploring graces for us who are still struggling here in our earthly lives.

John's cosmic vision does not add much to what I understand and believe, as stated above. Paul's writing is also mystical as the powers sovereignties and authorities are certainly not human political systems. Jesus has quite clearly told us that his Kingdom is not of this world.

Elizabeth's greeting to Mary is very much of our world. The baby in her womb leaps for joy at the nearness of  God who is now a human being ,Mary is truly the "God Bearer". Her hymn of praise reveals the extent to which the ancient prayers of her fathers were for her a living faith,. Child she nay have been but her soul was directed to The Father, The Holy Spirit and the Son who has humbled himself to be what we all were when utterly dependant on our mothers.

Dear Lord let me be totally receptive to thy will for me and let  the words of your Mother "be it done unto me according to thy word."become mine.

 14/08/2021

Yesterday's reflection has disappeared both from my memory and from the the blog site. This is one of the reasons that I started trying to keep a record of the prayers that I start each day with. I know that they are always with God. 

The daily readings and my response are the only contact that I have with the Church now. I miss going to mass but our pastor is one of the many who are devoted to a quiet life rather than to the teaching of the Church. I am always aware of the "plank" in  my own eye but I would be a lot more of a hypocrite if I were to return to his fold; a fold that is supported by other clergy who at the time of the reformation would have became the Church of England immediately on the whim of the then monarch.

Today Joshua provides us with more reasons to doubt the familial homogeneity of the Sons of Israel . There were obviously a variety of peoples with a variety of gods. In this book the people agree that the Lord is to be served and only He. It is an acceptance of  all that had been revealed to them under the leadership of Moses and it is the foundation of my believe today. 

Mary, God's chosen one to bear the Incarnation, is from this Mosaic hegemony and she, as did St Paul, really believed that she was of the chosen people because it was the Lord who had shown himself to them throughout the ages

The hatred aimed against the descendants of these people has created many totally unchristian behaviours throughout our History. The Nazi attempt at racial eradication  cannot be forgotten and it is sad that more saints from among the Millions who died in the camps are not remembered.  God knows more about it than we do and I am sure than he still welcomes millions those of whom we are ignorant. into his Glory.

 A touching thing about the St Maximillian Kolbe story  is that the man whose place he took in the Gas Chamber was present, together with his family, in St Peter's at the canonisation..

Dear Lord let me empty myself of ego when I approach  you each day and let me find a way back into your church on earth.

 13/08/2021

The passage from Joshua emphasises  the role God plays in our life on earth. The Israelites are told that there is nothing in the land given to them by God that is not the work of people other than themselves. It is the same for all of us.We enter life with absolutely nothing. God's Providence places some of us in dire poverty and closeness to death whereas others never experience material want. We are not instantly aware of this but as our consciousness grows so does our awareness of ourselves and others. Envy is part of my being. It has grown along with me throughout my life and even though I am more than content with my life every now and then I experience a twinge of envy when I hear of good that happens to others.

Jesus is talking about the sexual relationships that is God's chosen way of continuing the human race. We are animals created with all that that entails. We need food and water and clothing and shelter. We are beyond animals in that we have souls that know their need to understand what it means to have existence. God has revealed himself to our souls and part of the revelation is about sexual relations. Male Female that's your lot. Anything else is just "impure" wishful thinking.

There are also people born without sexual drive. Jesus characterizes these as eunuchs from birth, eunuchs by castration, eunuchs by choice. There is nothing about same sex relations. We cannot take it upon ourselves to create a new order of being where all that has been condemned by God is legitimized, even if by the Mother of Parliaments.

Dear Lord let me sincerely follow your teaching in all things hold not my complaints about the confusion caused by sexuality against me  and let the lust of my body be always subject to the urgings of my soul.

 12/08/2021

The law of total love demands that we do not continue to blame those who have  acted  against us. We must forgive any one his offences. Forgiveness is not the same as ignoring. Priests have broken the trust and responsibility that they have willingly accepted; they have broken their promises to God. We must forgive them in our hearts and no matter how hard it is to concur we must know that forgiveness from God is complete. Forgiveness does not blot out the guilt of our sins. It is for all sin that Jesus suffered at the crucifixion. The sin of the world is still with us and Jesus' forgiveness is with each of us too. Forgiveness is as hard to understand as love. I know that I do not want to harm anyone but without willful intention I have harmed many who no doubt remember me with resentment..

Bishops in England have failed their congregations by moving forgiven abusers to  different parishes. They have thus contributed to the whimpering collapse of our Church. No matter how bad an offender "there but for the Grace of God go I" is always in my mind to help me not condemn but even though it is not for me to judge I can try to forgive but ignoring is way beyond me . Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek; to forgive our enemies; he does not tel us to pretend that we don't have any.

Dear Lord you know how I find your teaching much harder, much heavier than your description of your yoke. Let the Holy Spirit which is You and the Father come into my soul inspiring it with the Love you bear for all sinful souls. I want to be completely forgiven let me do likewise. 

 11/08/2021

Moses had finished his long and productive life but he was treated with Justice and not with forgiveness and Mercy. Maybe he had used up all his merit with God in the problems he had extricated his brethren from during their escape and sojourn in the desert or maybe it was Justice that allowed him to see the Promised Land for God's Justice is merciful. Many are the ways of God that if we think we can understand them it is then that we don't..

The" Jesus name"  passage needs to be understood as it is seems quite evident  that that promise has not been realised on earth.  How much trouble has been prayed against by Christians in Jesus' name since His time on earth and has still come to pass?

 It is quite usual to extract from this teaching rules for dealing with problems of discipline in the Church. Jesus does say "where two or three are gathered in my name " he does also say "to ask for anything at all". God knows if I am just  being childishly "clever" and speaking only my own words because they have come into my head but the comprehensive nature of both the above quotes is hard to accept at face value.

I will keep on trying to feel comfortable with this passage. I do know that " my name" is not the word "Jesus" used as some magical formula. and that to call on Jesus one must have some understanding of the Father Son and Holy Spirit; one must acknowledge the facts of his life; that his Incarnation was a direct intervention into our world by God who thus revealed the Trinity; and that salvation from our sins was won by the Passion Death and Resurrection of this Jesus. This one word contains for us  a lifetime of thought prayer and action.

Dear Lord, Let me truthfully be with you in mind and deed this day. Let me call on the abundance of your  mercy and let me avoid the simple sins that all contribute to the sufferings of Son our Lord Jesus.

 10/08/2021

I over-sow brassicas deliberately to ensure there is initial germination and then I thin them out to enable the  remainder to grow large. Paul is talking about sowing cereals here in a climate much different than ours. In those days and now too we have to sow handfuls of the seed of God's Love to be able to harvest the world as he wants it to be. The fruits of the sowing by this and the previous generation must have been too thin or else the tares of a similar parable have been too strong. 

I have lost all four of  my children to the World. God knows that they are always in my mind. I know this as guilt and I need to seek God's mercy for this and other sins but in the Confessional I hear only the excuses that I am not making for myself. Grand children regular attending mass are as rare as hen's teeth. People who should know better refer to Confirmation Classes as the departure lounge.

I wonder how the honest priests of this generation feel about the collapse in religious belief. St Laurence had not proceeded to the order of Presbyter . He was still  a deacon when he became a victim of one of the most severe Roman persecutions. He was responsible for managing the "purse" of the Church and distributed alms to the poor. Our modern "treasurers"need to use  St Laurence as their guide and not follow in the footsteps of that other treasurer, traitor and thief. 

Dear Lord, let me not forget the lives being lived in Your Heaven by Saints known and unknown who rejected the good things of this world and lived lives directed only by your words and example.

 09/08/2021

I have read that there is a "nuptial" relationship between Christ and his Church. I find this very hard to understand. It is based, as is all Church teaching, on Scripture and it is in these readings that are chosen to commemorate  St Benedicta of the Cross. She is a Saint of our times and a permanent reminder to politicians to avoid believing their own rhetoric. How many others were slaughtered by  the descendants of Goethe and Beethoven who abandoned their faith in Christ and in Humanity to follow straight forward evil without any mitigating circumstances. How could so many be so stupid as to give up their souls to the Devil personified in Hitler and his Cohorts.?

Edith Stein was an intellect far beyond my understanding. I have started but never finished several of her works. She was a Christian convert recreating in her life and death the Jewishness of the first Church and first martyrs. It is 74 years since her death and in that relatively short time. Europe has given up on Christianity. The German Church is in virtual schism. The Faith in Britain is still tottering undermined by  the effects of the Bishops conniving at  the sins of clergy. 

In heaven our Saint is completely happy in God's Glory for she has completed her course in holiness;or does she know that her happiness can only be complete when we on earth abandon sin and place all our trust in the Father Son and Holy Spirit.?

We must all never forget that we do not know when we will be called. There are no words worse than 

                                    "I tell you solemnly that I do not know you".

Dear Lord, you know all my sins and the number of them that I can commit even in a day. Let me be free of envy and anger this day and be inspired by the tragic life of our Sister Benedicta of the Cross.

 08/08/2021

Those who have protested against the teaching of the Church have to realise that that teaching is all based on Scripture . Elijah is chosen by God to stir up the faith of the chosen people "to rekindle the fire of Love" he is fed by bread from heaven, St Paul's message of "Love" is direct and untinged by sentimentality. Always be loving without any unkindness. Jesus is both the bread from heaven and the Loving Kindness in human form. We are to come to God by his way. We are to eat his flesh. 

There is nothing ambiguous about "I am the the Living Bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever and the bread I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world". There is no ambiguity but the Church guided by the Holy Spirit has tried to  interpret this fathomless mystery. Millions of words have been written in commentary and the arguments have provoked much of the reaction St Paul warns us against.

Jesus also says "This is my body which shall  be given up for your" What was the reaction of the Apostles to this.at the Last Supper? We do know that it was soon part of the worship that replaced the Temple.  This worship was begun by those who had seen the Lord both before and after the Resurrection. This was the early worshipping community taught by the Apostles. It is still now the Church. So much has happened in the world since those times but the Truth in St John's Gospel is still the same. 

Jesus is the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. It is his flesh that is accepted by all  communicants today and everyday. 

Dear Lord, let me hear your word with an open and loving heart; cleanse my soul of the effects of sin and let me recognise and do your will.

 07/08/2021

This first commandment from Moses  is the daily first thought of all his devout followers. The sign of the cross marks all devout Christians. The operative word in these two sentences, of course, is "devout". "Piety" is not an important part of the life of our times; yet knowing, loving and serving are the only reason for our existence.

It seems to many that God shouldn't be the way that he is and immediately try to interpret what we all experience in the vastness of our "being". We can be sure that we have a freedom to know or not to know God; a freedom to love or not love God; a freedom to serve or not to serve. We don't have a freedom "to be or not to be". Nobody knows what will be  the "bodkin" way's result  but Hamlet's stark choice between the experienced life and the unknown death is what we all have to face. Life is what we all have in the Now of today.

God's revelations of the immeasurable extent of his own freedom saved the Sons of Israel from the oppression of Egyptian man-made gods. His love for his creation touches human history in the Incarnation. The horror of the Crucifixion teaches that Sin can be overcome; the Resurrection is the perfection of Human Being within the totality of God; the Ascension is the way to heaven. 

Many say that this is not the "way" of a "Supreme Being" and use human thoughts to justify themselves. Even devout Christians are inclined to brush off inconveniences. "How can a birth be asexual? Can Mary become a mother and remain a Virgin? The scriptures and the Church are with us to support our Piety they show us the road to holiness and holiness is Eternal Life.

Dear Lord, this is another day for me to "listen". You are one God a Trinity of Persons and I a minuscule of sin and impiety ask your forgiveness for all my sins.

 06/08/2021

Daniel's vision of God is not easy to recreate in my mind. I am not seeing anything directly but words that cannot possibly do justice to Divine Glory. If the seer had seen the Lord's Heaven directly he would not have been able to take in so much detail. I am seeing the world now but the reality is that I cannot see anything that is not before me; my desktop, my keyboard my printer. Films show us magnificent panoramas but they only fit into our minds. Can I hope that when I die  I will see the whole of heaven? Is the reality of God small enough to be  present in my mind? 

On Mount Tabor Peter, James and John were able to see the glorious beauty that is God. They also saw two men whom they knew to be Elijah and Moses. What they saw was not a vision in the their minds but a true revelation of Jesus the Son of God. The other two figures identified as Elijah and Moses are part of God's mystery still present in his revelation. The only humans we can be sure that are present in their human form in heaven are Jesus and his mother with Elijah. Moses tomb is present with us and thus the knowledge that his flesh has turned to dust. Abraham welcomed three figures under the oak at Mamre. 

The Trinity that is God was not known to the first apostles. How were they sure that the figures were Moses and Elijah.? There were three of them.

Dear Lord, you are the Truth, the Beauty and the Good which are made known to us through the scriptural record of your revelation, may I this day seek to follow your teachings and aim for Holiness of Faith Hope and Charity that can bring me closer to you.

 05/08/2021

Today the Church commemorates the great basilica dedicated to Our Lady. It is a magnificent work of human hands; awe-inspiring in its grandeur. It is as nothing compared to the new Jerusalem seen iin St John's vision. These great churches in Rome are a direct contact with the Roman Empire where Jesus walked and St Paul claimed its privileges. They were not standing at that time but the Buildings of the Roman Empire have been used as quarries by all subsequent generations.

The building is still to be seen but the Feast of the Church is about the Mother of God. She was chosen before the beginning of time to be the Carrier of God in the incarnation of the Son. It is through her that we are shown the mystery of the Trinity which is not some "human thinking", it is what God wants us to know about himself and to contemplate. 

The veneration of Mary is misunderstood by many theologians. How can we forget the "womb that bore the embryo which is the unimaginable humility of our God" and the body which was the source of nourishment for our spiritual food,  his flesh and blood? Peter is the foundation stone of the Church but Mary is the Chosen Source not only of the humanity of the Son but also of our Church. "Be it done to me according thy Word" can equally be seen as the acceptance, at the foot of the cross, via St John  of the Motherhood of humanity bestowed on her through the power of the Holy Spirit by her Son who was face to face with death.

Dear Lord I know that your mother Mary is able to plead for me with you in heaven; please accept my prayers and hers as I  start this day.

 04/08/2021

I can never remember thinking about the "land flowing with milk and honey" without being upset by the fate of the occupiers who had to be evicted to make way for the Chosen People. The modern reoccupation of the land  by their "descendants" doesn't make sense to me either. Any History records what happened and if it did really happen it must be accounted as evidence of God's providence. The atheistic State of Israel seems to be a refutation of God's will and lives a life no different from the rest of the world. 

The Will of God throughout historical time is not to be found in the kingdoms of the world or in the stored wealth to be used by future generations. God's will is in the "sparrow" who is not noticed by the world  but looks for the Kingdom of God. The poor man who does not seek "success" but who is a "Human Soul" seeking not scraps but the full nourishment that comes from doing the will of the Father and accepting the true "Bread of Heaven".

God's "History" is his loving  knowledge of the least of us and of our deeds, all of which are ever present in the timeless reality that is God.

Dear Lord, again I start the day with considering your  words of  scripture; let my thoughts prove to be sincere and let me always recognise the danger of hypocrisy.

 Moses is different. Others receive the messages of God and are granted visions. They receive "riddles" but Moses sees the "form of God". Do we have any real idea of what this can mean? As usual when thinking about the mass readings I come face to face with a total unknowing and this is today's. I can understand Aaron and Miriam's jealousy. Their "Why him and why not me?" is a pretty familiar feeling for me especially about graces. But God's gifts are exactly what they are said to be. I am lacking in my knowledge of the Old Testament so I hope that we are to hear God's response to Moses' plea for mercy for his sister. All this happened such a long time ago and so many people have lived and died in this world but God still is and everything is a "now "for him.

Jesus is still living in Palestine and is walking on the Lake. So many wonders are to be performed before his arrest and trial that it is hard to believe that anybody could shout for his Crucifixion but we did. And we continue in our sinful ways. I am alone and so speak for myself in my banality. God knows me and he knows that I am a sinner who as a created free ego to Eternal Being ; face to face implore that a share in the grace of the Holy Spirit eternally present with the Father and the Son be truly accepted by me and all others to whom it is so freely offered.  

Dear Lord let me do better this day than I did yesterday and let my penitence be as acceptable as the pleadings of Moses.                  

 02/08/2021

At first I  thought that Moses was addressing the Lord as a father is addressed by a supplicant child, But no- he is a favoured servant; one who knows that the boss is willing to be, just a bit, bullied into doing what he was certain to do all along. This relationship between God and the Sons of Israel is that of the eternal God touching his creation and showing that he has not just wound up his clockwork universe and let it go on its own. We are the product of Love; we are free to move as we wish but God is always aware of us ( that is why we continue to be) and continues to reveal his purpose to us. But we have to respond. 

Jesus, who is God's eternal presence now with us but is also truly man, had a human reaction to the news of his cousin's death and preferred to be alone. But the peoples' joy at being with such a striking figure ( possibly a new prophet) was not to be denied and they followed along the shoreline and cornered him. He had pity on them and repeated the Father's care for his chosen people. He fed them not with quail and manna but with an everlasting 5 loaves and 2 fish and in so doing gave a hint of his whole purpose of being there with them as he is with us now in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Dear Lord forgive me my sins and let me not put off going to confession and so return to your sacraments which you create with so much suffering.

Today's passage from Exodus was used only a few weeks ago. God fed the Sons of Israel in the desert and this is interpreted as a test of their resolve to follow the laws given to Moses; to support the Covenant. 

St Paul speaks directly to the point. He knows that the newly converted are not going to change overnight. They have followed the way of life of their fathers; the culture of Hellenism is part of their being although the Jews among them had followed the Law given to Moses. What a mixture of peoples there  must have been in Ephesus; not only of peoples but also of religions and philosophy.

 The beginnings of the Church there was indeed a "mustard seed". A mustard seed deeply resented by the religious professionals to be found there. Today St Paul would recognise the same Pagan Way of Life as the dominant aimless culture of most of the peoples of all our world and not just of the megacities which have replaced those of the Roman world that he knew and travelled on his missionary journeys.

St John, our Theologian, has Jesus, probably the only true realist the world has seen, first he tells  the crowd the direct truth about themselves; then he tells the truth about  himself . He is the very being of God. Nothing more  is necessary in our lives than to recognise Jesus for what he is and to share in this "isness". Thus we will be able to live lives ordered to the "the Way the Truth and the Life" and eventually see and be overcome by the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.