31/12/2021

Today we have St John telling us that these are the end times. He points to the coming of the Anti-Christ as proof of this. There is no doubt that the first converts  expected to see Jesus return to earth within their lifetimes or at any rate within St John's. From that day we have all had to become those who have not seen and yet believe. We have Jesus' word for this.

In the beginning was the Word, the communicaton of God's Glory. The revelation of God's Being to mankind. The Word incarnate is Jesus and John had pondered the incarnation from the time he was called, throughout his wanderings and particularly during his last days in Ephesus where he cared for Mary as he had promised. John's letters and Gospel are a carefully spiritual interpretation of his own awestruck experiences.

I am not struck by his begging the question in declaring that because "anti-christs" had left the early congregation they cannot have really belonged to it. In our Church today many of us are bemused by the sinfulness that seems to prevail among our clergy. The ordained minister is himself sinful. The Bishop tries to hide the criminality of our pastors. Many of those who know about misdeeds keep quiet for fear of disrupting the status quo without thinking of the results for their charges who also know but as unordained are dependant on the Clerical Institution for the Sacraments that are efficaious in providing grace. How can it be that unholy clergy can support the lay people who search for holiness in the Church? The Church teaches that this is so but does our Lord and Master agree with them?

We cannot say that our Church is inspired by the Holy Spirit and then support an institution that has displayed  and is still displaying all the vices of a worldly institution but is unable to provide our world with moral leadership towards the holiness that is required if we are to know, love and serve God in this world and be happy with him in the next.

Dear Lord please open the hearts of us all to the abundance of your Grace that we ignore and let us all become sincere followers of your teaching placing all our confidence in Father, Son and Hply Spirit .

 30/12/2021

It is very easy for me to lose the rhythm I am trying to develop. A rhythm that continuously turns my being to God. To find God in all things and to keep the avoidance of sin as my main task.

St John continues to warn us of this trap. The trap is that the world of itself is not sinful for the world is created by God just as we are. But the world is a fascinating place for us to be in and as John shows it offers many distractions sinful and non-sinful to lead us away from God at any stage of our lives.

We must not, however, devote ourselve even to the good of this world for only God is perfect in his being and in his deeds worthy of devotion. We are passing through this life for it will end. The end is always drawing in and my being will then be faced with my deeds during this life and there will be no attempt at justification for God is all knowing. I and all of us can only at that moment see God in our sinfulness and beg for the mercy that has been made available through the Life Death and Resurrection generated in the Trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord let me continue to pray guided by the rhythm of the liturgical calendar and let me be cleansed of all my sinfulness through the interecession of your mother Mary  and all the Saints.

 27/12/2021

Yesterday I missed my prayer log but did not forget to pray. This log of prayer is a way to discipline my mind to prayer. Jesus did tell us that Mary had chosen the better way by sitting at his feet anf listening to his words but sometimes in our human life the work of Martha has to be taken care of; Jesus himself took on the work of humanity when  he kicked the merchants out of the temple.

St John's letter makes it is as clear as crystal that he had seen God. That he had walked with God; lived with God ; been taught with God and rested with him too. Jesus is God and his Church is what we are in our lifetimes; we are the Word that is proclaimed by the Baptist and recorded today by John. He ran but Peter was faster; together they saw the empty tomb and at that John believed all that he had thought and been taught during his time with Jesus.

John's joy is complete when he shares what he knows with us all. There can be no earthly joy greater than to know God; to know Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to share that Faith with Mary, all the Apostles and their followers who, as did Mary, recall and ponder the Gospels in our hearts.

Dear Lord the Apostles really did know you; you know what temptations we thy people have to face on this earth. May I this day be pleasing to you and even in the family games never forget that your Life, Death and Resurrection is what enables us to find joy in this life and eternity in the next.

 25/12/2021

The readings at this day's mass tell us everything we need to know why today is the day for rejoicing by all mankind. Glory is God's. He has visited his people and with a divine humility has taken on our flesh to become the perfect sacrifice to bear witness to Wonder, the Glory of being.

God is always past, present and future. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Using only his own being and perfect freedom we were created but our father Adam lost the sinlessness that was ours at the Creation.The Goodness of God is so complete that the only atonement that could be effective had to come from God and so the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit became Man.

The writer of Hebrews knew that what he had witnessed in his homeland, in his lifetime, was an incredible manifestation of God's free gift of Love to mankind. John had also witnessed Jesus' mission and had accepted his own mission to care for God's Mother for the rest of her time on earth.  John knew that "what is God" had to be pondered, meditated upon. and so he wrote what is always the "Last Gospel" for me and previous generations.

                                                "In the beginning was the Word."

Dear Lord may I this Christmas day remain true to you and let my thoughts and awarenes of your Grace stay with me not only today but all the days of my life. May Mary add my prayers to hers to support my family and all my good intentions for them. Let Joseph too who is an exemplar of human fatherhood, saving the Baby by escaping as a refugee to Egypt add his prayers in support of the millions who are on the move around our world.

 24/12/2021

The House of David's sovereignty has proved to be not a social or political rule. The Rule of God over all the peoples of the world is the limits provided by God's power and freedom to our human freedom. God has created us as free in our being but with a freedom that is has limits that must be obeyed by Man. Adam broke the rule of Eden and we his descendants are continually pridefully growing in power forgetful of the rules provided by our creator.

The "Benedictus " proclaimed by Zachariah is another of the great hymns of praise inspired by the Trinity. John is to prepare the way for the Son. It is praise of the Father, a total inspiraton of the Holy Spirit and is repeated daily by our clergy.

The Glory and Praise; the Wisdom that it contains needs tobe taken on by our pastors to honestly face us thy people and bolster our faith with their Holiness.

Dear Lord may this season bring joy to hearts and true remembrance of all your gifts to your unworthy people that we may worship you and avoid sin and be aware of the ocassion of sin.

 23/12/2021

The tone of the nativity and the events leading up to it as told by Luke has the quality of a long remembered folk tale. Zachariah's return to speech following the naming of his son is "talked about by all the villagers of the hill country of Judaea". All the people remembered the birth of John as something accompanied by a wonderful manifestation of the power of God.

There is no reflection by Luke as to what the Incarnation and Nativity really are. That reflection is to be found in John the Evangelist. Luke, as do the shepherds, reports what was experienced and seen by the witnesses in Bethlehem.

I try everyday to reflect on the Word and try to understand how the work of God is manifest in our world today. I look for it in the Church. She seems no more than any other powerful human institution. People are arguing about language and rite. Where is the Love in traditionalists' love of the language of the Roman  Empire. Jesus had the last word there and it for sure wasn't in Latin. 

Holiness is as remote from the Orders dedicated to poverty and prayer as it is from the street of any major town or city. I remember meals at a Benedictine house. The food was of a quality and amount to feed all the homeless of the nearby city. Lap-tops bring the world into the monastic cell and in some horrific cases they bring unbelievable wickedness with them.

Dear Lord help me to keep my heart and mind tuned into your grace and let Our Lady and all the saints protect by their prayers my family and all humanity especially the grandmother who saved her grand children from the tornado. Your touch is with her this day.

 22/12/2021

All mothers will relate to the emotions of both Hannah and Mary the one desperate to conceive and the other filled with the joy that is expressed in the Magnificat.

The lives that God has given to us have to be lived in the pleading of Hannah and the Joy of Mary. 

Today Hannah would be able to seek medical help and because of the advancement of human knowledge and skills, thus achieve the conception for which  she longed . The young unmarried Mary would be beset by the unthinkable choice. 

This Christmas festival is marred by medical problems but our modern man of science who can willingly kill the unborn seems to be unable to control the tiniest of virus.

Our treatment of conception has departed from the natural as given by God to a controlled by human vanity and greed process that does not consider God as part of it. Man and woman he created both; he did not say take your pick.Our births are part of God's love for his creation and the natural process should not be interfered with by our desires for we have to be true to God the Creator, the Saviour and the Support of us all.

At Christmas which celebrates God's birth in the flesh, begotten not made, let us plead with Hannah that her Lord and mine inspire his human creation to turn from prideful exclusive concentration on this world and our own bodies to the unimaginable humility of God mirrored in the total acceptance by Mary to be Theotokos. Let our sins be forgiven and souls become free to proclaim the Magnificat with Mary and all the saints in heaven

 21/12/2021

This morning the Gospel passage is a repeat of St Luke's story of the the Visitation. Both women have been blessed with the conception of a child. Elizabeth's is received as a great gift from God for she had been considered to be barren. Mary knows that the Father of her child is God.

We have to ask ourselves what this really means as we come up to the celebration of the Nativity. We don't need a lot of words to do this. There have been countless millions of words expounded already. What we do need is to be able to see that the Mary's child is truly God in all his complete Glory. And all we can do is worship the Baby Jesus in awe and wonder.

Dear Lord you know how difficult it is for mere men to live in the knowledge of you without weakening in hope. Strengthen my resolve and let me follow Mary with a "be done unto me according to thy word" of my own.

 20/12/2021

We have to know that it is scripture that is God's Word. We have to know that the Word of God is not some product of man's imagination no matter how cleverly thought out and intelligently displayed.God's ways are not man's so the repeated story of the incarnation of God in the womb of Mary is just what it says it is.

God is with us from that moment long ago in Nazareth. With us in the Eucharist the gift given us by the Passion Death and Resurrection and in the Church he left us through Peter and the other Apostles. 

We are human and of course we have to use all our talents to worship and serve God but we also have never to forget that power of our thoughts is nothing compared to God. Theologians have taken themselves into all sorts of weird and wonderful places that exist only in their intellects and although greatly interesting their ideas cannot be against Scripture.

Our daily readings are God's word and cannnot be bettered.

Dear Lord protect thy Church from the schism that arises first in ideas and then in prideful hierarchs and sinful clergy. Protect us by your Incarnation, Nativity, Passion. Death and Resurrection and let my prayers join with the prayers of all mankind in heaven and on earth.

 19/12/2021

We are getting closer to the Nativity and the readings emphasize this. The Micah knows that the presence of God will not be alive to the Israelites until the woman gives birth to the Son who will be Peace for the whole world and not just to the least of all of the sons Jacob.

The Letter to the Hebrews is an explanation of the meaning of the previous few years. The years of Jesus'active ministry, walking the highways and byways of Palestine, which culminated in the Passion Cross and Resurrection. This one willing sacrifice of the Son to the Father completes God's wishes for mankind. No more bulls, fat rams, goats or even pigeons. Jesus' death has ended all of that tradition and his resurrection has brought a new-life to share with all humanity not just with "Hebrews" to whom this letter is addressed.

The unborn Jesus is blessed and praised by Elizabeth who is sure that her son too has his part in God's redemption of humanity. We are getting closer to Christmas and the Church's preparations help us to concentrate. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are visible in Immaculate Mary who is truly Theotokos. 

Dear Lord may your peace fill all the hearts of your people on earth with that peace that comes from knowing and worshiping you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The peace of heaven is what you have destined for all human beings may we all live lives that do not resist this your will for us.

 18/12/2021

The Lord is with us. What is there for us to lack. The story of Jesus birth has never been glossed over except by sinful mockers. In Nazareth Jesus was always known as the woodworker's son. Both Mary and Joseph knew the truth for both had said "Yes" to God. 

God takes on the humanity of the "The House of David", a royal line, and the humility of a manual worker for God makes no distinction as regards to class; we are all his well beloved and we all have equally been saved by his Incarnation leading to his Passion and Resurrection.

Today we are living through the darkness of  a Northern winter but waiting joyfully to celebrate our Saviour's birth. How can it be that his own people who have been returned after centuries to their homeland not only reject the Son but most of them deny the Father from whom they have been given so much of the proof their ancestors demanded from Jesus the man in Palestine so long ago.

Dear Lord let this day and all my remaining days proceed in a way pleasing to you. Please accept my worship of Father Son and Holy Spirit and accept the prayers of Mary, Joseph and all the saints in heaven and on earth.

 17/12/2021

Jesus humanity is proven by the geneology given here by Matthew. Joseph is the husband of Mary, not the father of Jesus. The 52 generations that can be quoted are mostly of the "known only to God" variety as are most of us in the world now. After another generation today's famous, the celebrities beloved of the Social Media, will also become the " known only by name"of most of the names listed by Matthew.

There is a famous anecdote whereby the purchaser of a jewelery item is asked whether or not he wants one with the little man on it.

The sadnss of that story is that it is becoming more and more the reality of the world that I live in. In an attempt to not offend potentential non-Christian customers, marketing is increasingly trying to avoid the word Christmas and wishes us "Happy Holidays" completely missing the origin of "holiday"in "holy". It is a sad truth that our faith has been crumbling for at least two generations and it is the previous and my generation that have largely contributed to this loss of faith.

I feel guilt to have been part of the decline and can only rely on God's mercy when I will be asked what I did other than to  moan about it.

Dear Lord the human freedom of my being only exists to make right choices. Let the prayers of humanity be heard and this day be without sin for me and the whole world.

 16/12/2021

The rich imagery of Isaiah leaves us in no doubt that the Israelites had been a wandering tribe living in tents. The favoured ones are to grow rich in the cities abandoned by their enemies. Truly the ways of God are not man's ways. God chose the Jews and there is no answer to the "why". In the Middle East there were many other tribes and nations. All were human and growing in skills and knowledge but without the open guidance of God. 

There is no answer to "Why the Jews?" And the question grows even more answerless when we look further to the East where India was beginning to team with human growth andso to China, Japan, South East Asia and across the Pacific to Peru and Mexico. Africa too was peopled with human descenants of Adam. God's human creation

God chose the Jews to be his people because God is. With hindsight we can see that from outside of human time Father, Son and Holy Spirit knew that the Son would be incarnated in Jewish flesh, born of an immacultely conceived woman and cared for by that woman and her husband throughout his infancy.

What about the millions of souls who are living or have finished their worldly lives without hearing the truth that comes from God? What about those who should know better have heard and not listened?

Dear Lord you know that we all are your creation and completely in your hands to do with as you wish; let my thoughts become prayer to you beseeching your Mercy for all humanity and especially for my friends and family.

 15/12/2021

The readings today continue the Advent themes. Isaiah calls the Jews of his day to recognise that God is the Evergreater and that there is nothing that exists that does not have its ultimate source in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For the Old Testament God is  "I am What Is" and so God is also the source of tribulations. 

For Christians, however God is always the source of good and "Calamities" are created by the Sin that Adam introduced into the world. This teaching has tested the Faith  of millions of us throughout history and the doubts and confusion created cannot be swept underneath the carpet. We have to face up to the fact that natural disasters, curtailed lives famine, plagues, wars are more than calamities and could have been prevented by our God.

Today Jesus tells us that he is to be recognised by his deeds. He cures the sick and proclaims the Good News. Blessed are the poor in spirit. We who know that we are sinners and totally in need of God's mercy have received the Good News. Jesus' miracles are signs to draw us to him who is the Good News in person and thus his Resurrection completes his revelation with the greatest miracle of all.

Dear Lord let me respond to your guidance throughout this day. May your blessed Mother and all the saints aid me in avoiding sin and let me find in your Church the holiness you created her to have.

 14/12/2021

I have missed two mornings' reflections and am having trouble to get back to the habit of prayer. St Bernard's rule was to bring his monks to righteousness and to avoid distractions. Jesus chides us to be like the sinners who listened to John. To be like the first son who protested but did do the will of the Father.

Holiness has many enemies in the world today. The streets are packed with people who are dashing about. The roads are jam packed with vehicles. Television screens never lack their ability to mesmerize the millions who are glued to them. I am distracted from my prayers by family matters.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit know what it is for us to be human. We are God's creation to be his witnesses in this world. We are to live our lives but not become engrossed by their success or otherwise. We are to prepare ourselves for the glory that has been prepared for us. All the billions of us breathing today will one day be seen as we truly are and have to face God in our nakedness of soul . Can I do that? Only with Mercy for the naked Truth about myself does not bear thinking about.

Dear Lord let me be safe in your care today. Let my being be focussed on your grace and let those I know and love come to know that you are the begining and goal of all creation.

 12/12/20

Today I have to miss, mt prayers aree stillturning to God. Amen

 11/12/2021

All of Jesus teaching  to his disciples during his time on earth has for its base the history of God's relationship, his dealings with the people he blessed with his revelation of himself. Today Elijah is recalled in the first reading and in the second Jesus confirms that Elijah was to pave the way and that John the Baptist has completed that task.

The task was to prepare the mind of Israel for the unbelievable force of God walking as a man and teaching only the truth and telling us, not discussing our opinions, what it means to be human and a joy in God's eye as had been Israel, the apple of His eye.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are total evergreater love and show this love to all mankind in the Father's foregiveness revealed in the Resurrection and Breath of the Spirit. Most of us have felt the force of this Love at some time but forgotten it in the pleasures of a material world. Now as we are preparing to celebrate the Nativity we have to know that God is all in all and wants to share that being in Love with all mankind.

Dear Lord let all my endeavours today be made in consciousness of you and be pleasing in avoiding sin. Thy will be done. May Mary who knew you as only a mother can know her child, persevere in turning the human Church back to the Church of Love founded by her Son.

 10/12/2021

In  today's Gospel Jesus expresses a human exhasperation with those of his listeners who pick fault with anything thay might read or hear. I have that same tendancy myself but mostly I want to be able to understand the teaching of the Lord. I feel that the psalm presents us with an image of perfection that I can certainly aim for but lack the consistency to achieve.

Isaiah's inspired poetry speaks for the Lord. The Jews whom he addresses had been given every opportunity to prosper as a nation in the arms of God but had lost everything yet again due to backsliding.

Today we know that God is ignored by political leaders and the majority of people in what were once the countries of Christendom. I can cope with that. What is exhasperating for me is that the same can be said for the leaders of Jesus' Church. The phrase "functionally athiest" has been applied to the Vatican and local Bishop's conferences for whom guarding secret sins and manipulating finances are first on their agendas.

How can they forget the Kingdom of God and their duty to guide the sheep through the narrow gate rather than clog it with scandal upon scandal.?

Dear Lord our winter days continue to  darken. Let me be sure that my hope in you is never lost and let your love be recognised by those near to me so that faith in you can become the mainstay of their lives.

 09/12/2021

Isaiah brings words of comfort now and to come. Jesus leads us to question what can it possibly mean to   say that up to now the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm. Jesus always assures us that his kingdom is not of this world but the only interpretation of this mysterious saying that comes to my mind is that he is talking about his own people on earth who before John the Baptist had no way of avoiding the backsliding and apostasy that is recorded throughout the Old Testament.

This interpretation is quite satisfying to me as it fits in with my conception of Jesus and his mission to save us. There are many occasions that Jesus' sayings are outside the framework in which I tackle the meaning of  my being and life in this world. Faith in the goodness of God as expressed in Isaiah is my hope for all God's people. There is ,howeve, no reason that everything I read in the Bible should keep me in comfort. Jesus told us that he came to bring strife. Sometimes this strife is internal and can in fact become prayer.

Dear Lord always  let scripture call me to truth and let Father Son and Holy Spirit be my Faith Hope and Charity.

 08/12/2021

The Lord our God is without beginning or end. He is all powerful which means he creates billions and billions without limit of possibilities for the world and the universe. He is all knowing so he is aware of all the possibilities  for each individual life human and non human. He is all loving for aware of the sinfulness bequeathed to us by His first man he knows that he himself can make atonement for Sin only by making it his. 

In an existence that is completely out of time God knows that he can become truly human to save us from our sins and so a woman as perfect as Eve before the fall is created sinless and ready to become the Mother of the Incarnation, Man and God.

St Paul seemingly effortlessly praises God and tells us that we are always known by Father Son and Holy Spirit. God, the Evergreater, chose to humble himself out of his total love and total awareness of each of us to become the man who would renew sinful manknd but did not do so by curtaiing  his gift to us of human freedom. Mary made the right choice. Thanks be to God and all praise to Mary our Mother.

Dear Lord may all of us who hear today's passages from scripture know that they are your truth revealed  to us. May the intercessions of the wonder of Mary and all the saints protect me and mine from the evil of sin.

 07/12/2021

The collect of of today's mass asks the Lord to continue to give us saints like St Ambrose to govern wisely as he did. The present state of our Church is not something that is new. St Ambrose' Church was troubled by Arianism as was much of the East. The clergy were often too human and there was little peace as the tribes of Asia were continually on the move creating havoc as they went. The collect asks for us to be "governed" but Jesus gave the command to care for us. 

As we the sheep have become more aware of ourselves as believers "being governed" is no longer an option. We need to be led with loving care by pastors who can show us the way to holiness not the way to "berettas and lace". Pastors who truly know that the sacaments are the grace of Father, Son and Holy Spirit brought to us by the Passion of Jeus the man, Son of God truly of the same substance as the Father Son and Holy Spirit.

The OT readings today are beautiful as literature and beyond compare as statements of how God loves and cares for us. Can my whole hearted response to the message and to Jesus' search for the lost sheep bring me to the joy of heaven? 

Dear Lord the institutional nature of Your Church seems have to corrupted it into a human thing when it should be You on Earth. Sends us your guidance to how to return to the wellspring, your Resurrection so that when you return you might find faith on earth.

 06/12/2021

Isaiah continues today with the theme of joyfulness at the coming of the Lord. Jesus works a miracle in very strange circumstances and before many witnesses. The doubters immediately find fault but Jesus who is the reality of God immediately answers them and offers proof of Jesus' the man's divine origin and power.

Here we have a contradiction of Jesus' later words when he offers no proof but the sign of Jonah. The people came from all around to hear him. The Scribes and Pharisees came to witness and cast scorn.

I listen to obey the teachings that I have tried to follow all my life and to bolster my faith. I follow the Church's liturgical calendar but only the readings. The signs of weakness in the state of Christ's body on Earth grow ever greater for me. I don't understand why God can tolerate the blasphemies that are perforemed each day by anointed hypocrites who serve not God but their own egos and perversions.

We need a sign from God to show us the way through the mess that is our miserable lot today.We have the sign of Jonah what more greater proof could we need that the Resurrection but so many of us are trapped in the worship or our own personalites that there is no room for God.

Dear Lord let me not grow bitter in my aloneness from the human fellowship and the wholenes of your presence in the Sacraments. I always am susceptible to my inner Scribes and Pharisees but you Lord know the unhappy truth that has been made of your comission by us the descendants of your Apostles. Help us, Lord help us.

 05/12/2021

The Old Testament today is a magnificent hymn of praise and thanksgiving. 

I should be able to feel that same sense of joy each day of my life for from Jesus I and all mankind have received freedom from the chains of sin. We have been saved from the power that Adam surrendered us to and after coming through the growth and pain of fighting for life and the nearness of God; slaves in Egypt; captives in Babylon; always individually prone to the sins of the world and the flesh; we have now the free gift, a multiple of Graces, Salvation acquired for us on the cross in great pain and suffering by the Son who has been subjected in total freedom to far more than we can ever realise.

John prepares the way of the Lord. Baptism has prepared my soul to be defended against the wickedness and snares of the devil . As I have grown, I have increasingly drifted away from our common purpose to know, love and serve God and on the brink of destruction brought back by the Loving Mercy of Father Son and Holy Spirit. The deserts of Godlessness are attractive but totally worthless and this what we should focus on during our lives.

Dear Lord let me not be side tracked by the sins of others but always put first my purpose to follow you wherever you wish to lead. You are my Lord and my God.

 04/12/2021

The teaching and the care of the "lost sheep" is to be performed without charge. The 12 were clearly told this. The Church has always also taught that the labourer is worthy of his hire. St Paul supported himself by tent making. The first Christians even collected money to support others who lived far away. We are not to make our lives a quest for wealth as we cannot serve "both God and Mammon". For centuries "tithing was a norm".

Our lives are all lived in the environment in which we were born and as time has passed material wealth has grown. Our Church too lives in the world and it seems right for her to care for the things created and made by our predecessors. All material things, however, will all fade away. No matter how careful and devoted to buildings we are they will all crumble. Preserving and repairing a Cathedral is a task that can easily absorb our time and fill our waking hours. Restoring a damaged manuscript or painting  also requires great concentration. But none of these tasks are required to bring us to holiness.

Church buildings are now a drain on the resources of a dwindling Church and worrying about them has grown to dominate our teachers and their overseers. We cannot let the the cares of this world even the legitimate ones, interfere with our striving after our true home. Consider the lilies of the field.

Dear God turn our thoughts always to the things of heaven and let us not get so absorbed in the things of this world that we neglect what is good for our own souls.

 03/12/2021

St Paul always speaks directly to us as he is all things for all men. It is a totaly amazing thing that happened in the first years after the Resurrection. Those men and women really did go out to the whole world. They could do so because of the roads that had been created over centuries and were now controlled by Rome. Rome was of great importance to Paul for he was a Roman citizen and so could make his famous appeal to Caesar. 

Jesus too was  influenced by Rome. He was born in Bethlehem because of the order from the Emperor to conduct a census. He was handed over to Rome in the person of Pontius Pilate so that his purpose could be fulfilled on the cross. He also orders us to be aware of civil authority but not to forget the greater authority of God.

Throughout the centuries after the proclamation of his order to the 11 apostles Apostles, confusion as to how authority was to be recognised within the Earthly institution, the Church, has been in conflict with the teaching of the Apostles first in person and then via the records kept by them and others. There must be some way to ensure that what our conscience tells us,  is true to God's Word. Jesus did give the "keys" to St Peter but in Rome today  there is still a hotch-potch of human politics and corruption which is certainly not what our Lord intended his Churh to become.

Dear Lord,  purge me from my sins and purge your Church of corruption so that the faithful are not scandalised and can be sure that your priests are truuly feeding your sheep with your body and blood as you directed them to do.

 02/12/2021

I am always worried by these words of the Lord for I often proclaim his word and turn to him but I am not sure that I truly act out  the faith that I proclaim. If I were to say that I am aware of millions who do proclaim and act out in sincerity I would be lying for I usually see the reverse, as God already knows. I seek the grace to be in the peace of the Lord and to become free from sin but  I am still tied to sins of the flesh and to the disappointment that the Church has become for me.

Jesus calls to all sinners to repent and come closer to God and he gave us the sacraments his body on earth to support us as we live our lives. I now undestand how the reformers felt 500 years ago. They were forced by the hypocrisy of the clergy and hierarchy to try to clear out the dross from God's Church. Of course they went too far and became misled by their pride in their own sincerity.. Lord Lord let our leaders  proclaim your power and glory but first let them heed your word and act as every Christian should.

Dear Lord you know what I read yesterday and how that story of lust and and hypocrisy was supported by your Vicars on earth. Let not that story of pride and greed become an excuse for my sins and let Rome come to know how displeasing it is to you and all believers. Forgive us all. even them.

 01/12/2021

The riches that will be bestowed by the Lord, in the Isaiah reading, are to be given by the Lord to all peoples. To be given. Everything that we have and know is from God. Jesus, similarly, cures all and feeds all regardless of origin.

Life itself is a gift from God and I am the recipient. I am not the centre of everything. I am conscious of the World around me and that I have no power over the vastness that I see. Man is proud and can do many things with the matter of our universe. But even though we live together, when we come to death we are again as individual as the baby we were when first born.

Our God has experienced in his humility human birth and infantile helplessness  has enjoyed the love of a mother, the growing pains of youth, the support and fellowship of a community and  having come through the temptations of life even experienced the great lonelines which is the isolation of each of us in death.

Dear Lord let me never forget that it is your grace that provides life to my being and that all I need to do is keep my heart open to receive the care and love which is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.