30/03/2022

The Lord is God our Father and full of compassion. He is the Son, Jesus, who is now, then and in all eternity one with the Father. He is the Holy Spirit who is always with the Father and with the Son and with both.

John's reporting of Jesus' words makes it clear that Jesus is identical to the Father; they share the same wills and everything that the man Jesus says is from the Father;is in fact the Father's for the Son is the Father.

The mystery of God's being is not penetrable by any man's intelligence. It is right for me to try to worship worthily the glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. "Worthily" means to use all that I am and have in an attempt to "know" God. I am given strict guidance on how to "serve and love" but "knowing" is an open heart ready to be filled by the Holy Spirit. My freedom allows me to be ready but my capacity has been limited by my being, known only to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord you know everything about the billions of souls you have created; you are the Father of all mankind. You even know the dreams present in my brain during sleep. Let me try to be with you each moment of wakefulness. Let me serve and love you in the freedom that you give to me and every individual who has ever lived. Let Mary and all the saints plead for us for the forgiveness won by Jesus in the garden and on the cross.

 29/03/2022

Water is so important to life that it becomes an image of God. The first reading is Ezekiel's vision of the stream of living water flowing out of the Holy of Holies and filling the whole world with the goodness of creation. It is God's love for his people. It is the living water that Jesus offered to the Samaritan woman.

Many are waiting for the movement of the waters in the Sheep pool but the sick need help to get to it to find healing. The man sick for 38 years had in fact outlived his helpers and couldn't make it to the pool. Jesus cures him even though it is the Sabbath and Jesus knows that this will cause him some trouble with "the keepers of the Jewish conscience" particularly with the Pharisees. How far is the Sheep Pool from the Temple? It must be less than a Sabbath Journey as Jesus meets the same man in the Temple on the same day and tells him the reality which is God's message to us all. Sin no more.

St John tells us that it is this and similar  "profanations" of the Sabbath that is the cause of the "Jews"increasing enmity towards Jesus.

Dear Lord today let me live in your Love knowing that all that is good is brought to us by You the Holy Spirit working through Father and Son. May Mary and the Saints continue to plead for us faced with the difficulties and sins of this world to make us ready to be welcomed into the world to come.

 28/03/2022

The promises revealed by Isaiah are made real by the Incarnation and the presence of the Son in  Palestine 2000 years ago. Jesus was doubtful of the faith to be found in Galilee but returned to continue the proclamation of the Kingdom of God as prophesised by Isaiah.

The miracles performed by Jesus are certainly witnesses to his personal power. They are not signs of his divinity as God could work similarly through anybody. The sign of his divinity was to come later for the Jews. It was the sign of Jonah.

The Historical event, the Resurrection, was witnessed by no man but was proclaimed by the chosen ones; the ones who had deserted Jesus when most needed. God's plans are unfathomable. The Word, Son, Jesus is crucified and resurrected in God's freedom, Eternity. Our God is one in three, a mystery we can worship but not understand. For this we are created by the Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit; we are created to use our human freedom to know, love serve. Jesus is the supreme example of this way of being human.

Dear Lord, the second miracle at Cana brought healing to one family and they believed. Your resurrection brings healing to the whole world but we do not believe. Let me this day offer true sincerity from my heart; true worship of your greatness and complete trust in your providence. Thy will be done.

 27/03/2022

I have always felt closer to the son who stayed at home and worked than to the prodigal who couldn't accept the results of his own sinful folly. My sense of justice is offended in the same way by the payment to the labourers who worked only 1 hour being the same as to those who had slogged it out through the heat of the day.

Both parables teach us that Our Father in Heaven is ready to forgive all of us no matter when in our lives we turn to him. In fact I see that God treats me in the way that he chooses and I  have to disregard the way he treats others for we have to know God as only we ( billions of individuals) can know him.

The Church is Christ's body on earth and in heaven. It is "the new creation"  that is the "News" proclaimed by St Paul. We all have the possibility of complete reconciliation with Father, Son and Holy Spirit as the Son has taken on our sins, he is completely faultless, and during the "The Three Days" of passion and death he makes physical and spiritual atonement for the whole world; the power of God is directed on the world, in human time, totally in the mercy of Love.

In knowing this I become human and in serving I do my little bit to attain the loving that can be returned to our Dad in heaven.

Dear Lord help all of us to know holiness for it is you who are holy. Nothing can be except through you so there is nothing to my credit. My prayers are the start of this day but will they be with me at the end?. Help those who are known to me and stop the lunacy of man which is the work of Satan whom you defeated on your cross of loving agony.

 26/03/2022

Jesus makes it clear to us that we need to be completely honest with ourselves. How many of us who read and hear the Gospel of today, will picture himself as the Pharisee. When I compare myself, the self that is to be found in the "hidden room"to the Son,  Jesus, and to Jesus' words I know that I can beat the most cynical of Pharisees. I know that I have been full of sins condemned by the Word and yet hypocritically acknowledged the Sacrament and  received the Body and Blood of Christ sacrilegiously. I can condemn the pride that I see in others but am in my hidden room snarling with jealousy.

I read the mass readings everyday and write about them but can spend more time thinking about the style and checking the spelling than absorbing the teachings. Men are slaughtering their own humanity in numerous conflicts. I can condemn, but the hateful thoughts in my mind  and words on my lips, even in the "hidden room" are also a cause of pain and suffering to Jesus Our Saviour on the cross.

The only reqirement to avoid sin is to be honest with love and avoid  taking on the appearance of humility with the pride in self that self destructs. It is not the "beating of the breast" in public that Jesus praises but the  condition of that Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit within our hearts; in our hidden rooms.

Dear Lord today let thy will be done in the world that you have created; let your Love come into the individual souls of all of us that we may cooperate in your will for all the peoples of the world. Show your mercy to those whose suffering is known to me and to all the world.

 25/03/2023

Exactly 9 months before Christmas the Church celebrates the Annunciation of the conception of Jesus who from this day is in the world experiencing the same bodily development that has been undergone by all of us but not remembered as our embryonic brains were not fuly grown during those first months of life. This experience is also known by all mammals. Jesus is truly a human being with the important exception, sinlessness; his developing body is part of Mary's who has also not known sin. 

This mystery of the Incarnation is a humility on the part of God, whom we are shown to be Father Son and Holy Spirit, that is totally out of love for his creation and particularly for his own image and likeness which we all are. I cannot fully grasp the significance of what I write for I am but a sinful man, less than dust of God's Universe.

Scripture records some of God's dealings with humanity. All of these dealings are guidance and then forgiveness. Guidance to show us the way to live and then forgiveness for our failings. Gabriel greets Mary and also reveals that Elizabeth is also pregnant and the two together enable us to say:

Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Dear Lord let my words not be a presumption but a sincere belief that will rule my being and behaviour. Guide my prayers and thought let me have a modicum of your infinite humility saying : Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen

 24/03/2022

"Here is a generation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God nor take correction. Sincerity is no more it has vanished from their mouths".

The words of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah are as applicable today as when they were spoken to the Jews of old.I am living in a generation that is so secure in its self-esteem that it cannot entertain the view that there is anything wrong about it. Every day I see many users of the internet who despise the Church and all that she preaches.

The Church has faults but it is still Christ's foundation on St Peter. The attacks on the Church are in fact directed aginst God. We have to build up a wall of prayer that will protect us from the "Stronger man". Jesus is not saying that might is right but that we have to be vigilent to remain in the Kingdom. 

I cannot undestand how it has come to pass that most of my family do not serve God. I too have lived through the great social changes that have happened as technology has created the "Global Village".

My awarenes of life tells me that my consciousness is one of billions in the world and that we will all die. Only God  can tell me what happens then and God has revealed himself first through Jews and then through Jesus, the Son and man. I feel that we have at least  as great a need of God physically present with us as in the first Century. Come Lord Jesus come and save us from the devil's work that is proliferating throughout your creation.

Dear Father, Son and Holy Spirit receive my prayers and let humanity know that human freedom must not be misused. Mary and the Saints support my prayers and let every one of us know that if we choose Jesus then the evils of the world will pass away for our sins will be forgiven. 

 23/03/2022

The wild bunch that Moses had lead out of Egypt needed to be contained and given direction in their lives. Even when Moses in the presence of God was having the basic law for all humanity explained to him they were messing about making a "god " for themselves. No branch of humanity has been created that has not sought to work out how or what can be the source of the consciousness of being every individual experiences. I know myself and then I know my mother before growing in awareness of the world and the others in it.

Jesus the Son of God was begotten not made. He was begotten of the flesh of the humanity that Moses had with great difficulty saved and schooled in the ways of God. Jesus is a man as we are. He is a Jew from Palestine and has a body soul and mind. He knows the weaknesses of the flesh and of the mind as we know them but his soul he keeps free from sin even though he accepted the Baptism from his cousin.

The readings of today's mass show us how we are to behave in the security of the Law of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are to be no changes to the Law. Jesus is our Saviour and model of what we have to be to serve, to love and to obey.

Dear Lord there is no God but you. Forgive us who  even though the Son is incarnated to suffer and save us still thrust your love back into your face. Forgive me for my sins and let the suffering in my family and in the whole world know the peace of your love.

 22/03/22022

Jesus' parable of the Kingdom of God is a story that would have been familiar to the ears of his listeners, those people of lang ago who saw and heard God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, speaking to them directly. He told them straightforwardly that he wanted us to live without any disputes as forgiveness for others must be first in our hearts. Although our world, society, politics have changed so much since those days human nature has not and we still would put ourselves first in everything. The tragic events in Ukraine, in the Congo, in Mali are not the inevitable result of People against each other but of leaders throttling those weaker than themselves to fulfill their own wishes.

Azariah's prayer is the cry of the poor to Our Father. Jesus had not yet walked the earth but God reveals that his teaching was always the wish of God for all his peoples. Perhaps this story is no more than that , a story, as it was first recorded long after the Babylon captivity but Jesus too revealed his truth through parables. The inn of the Good Samaritan never existed but the story centred there tells us exactly what love of my neighbour is.

Dear Lord let me this day live in your Love and avoid the self-love that puts me before everything. Let your Holy Spirit come in to the hearts of war-lords whose self-love is beyond comprehension. May Mary and all the saints support the victims of war and of illness who are known individually to you.

 21/03/2022

Today we see Jesus faced with the disbelieve of his nearest neighbours. They had known him from childhood and here he was, in their Synagogue, presenting an alternative interpretation of the Scriptures they had known all their lives. God had brought rain and healing to foreigners rather than taking care of his favourites. The story of Naaman also has the very human element that we trust the more complicated solution rather than the simple. Sin is simple, it is opposing God. 

In today's world life has been turned into a complex  product of human thinking and technology. I do not want to be a man; change me to be a woman. In my country to treat children as boys or girls is close to being against the "diversity laws" and criminalising the teaching of the Bible.

Our Church has been weakened by the sinfulness of clergy and hierarchy and has not done enough to oppose modern societal norms. Bishops are proud of being associated with homosexual groups who flaunt their sinfulness, but cannot admit the corruption that is rife in their own Seminaries and Curia. Seminaries are ordaining and Curia are accepting as priests men who are flawed in their persons and who hide their sin under a mask of piety.

Jesus never evaded any issue. "Yes" to the Good and "No" to the Bad is his way. Bishops prevaricate and so loose credibility. Jesus never has anything to hide for he teaches the truth that is to feed humanity throughout our lives. Father, Son and Holy Spirit walked the earth in Jesus and on the Cross poured Love over the whole world. That love is still with us but hidden deep within the institution that "thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my church" has become.

Dear Lord let me continue to grow closer to you and your Holy Mother and saints. Let not the the scandals of your Church hinder my sincerity as I look to you as my final good. Save those who are dear to me and bring healing to all the sick of the world, even to those who are lashing out in their madness with terrible weapons of destruction.

 20/03/2022

Today Moses confronts the question which every human is faced with throughout the whole of his life. He sees a presence other than wood and leaves in a bush. God tells him that he is the "presence" "the fire" that fills not only the bush but the totality of the Universe for as long as it has been and is to come.God is "being"and everything that is now has been and is to come exists through the being that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

We can't take that in and yet we all know that we are in "being" and find it easier to take up some other train of thought and occupation. All human knowledge is in reality a pastime no matter how intelligent and persevering the originators for they die just as I will. The revelation of the "Being" of God continues to be just the same now as it was to Moses and his forefathers.

The question asked of Jesus about the victims of Herod and of the falling tower has to be asked today about the many victims of war and terror throughout our world. The answer he gave before the parable of the barren fig tree is strange and appears to tell us that we have to look to ourselves so that unexpected death does not catch us in sin.

Pascal said that the existence of the Jews after so many thousand years is a proof of the existence of God. If the fig tree is the Jewish nation planted by God we see that it is still with us. If the tree is a man's soul he must continue to produce the fruits for which he has been created. 

Jesus is complete Love and by nature cannot wish for evil. The warning that he gives is that we take seriously our requirement for holiness for it is indeed the condition for our freedom to produce good and so avoid eternal destruction.

Dear Lord you know anyone of us can complicate your simple message of love for all men. Help us to overcome the doubts caused by the existence of evil in this world and to know that you teach us holiness and truth as you only want good for the beings you have created

 19/03/2022

Not much is told of Joseph in the Scriptures but what is told is of immeasureable  importance. Mary's "Yes" to the incarnation was first humanly accepted by Joseph who had to accept that a child was to be born of his betrothed, of which he was not the Father. He was not the father. He had to accept that for the rest of his life as he cared for Jesus the Son of God and Son of Mary. Joseph must have been inspired by the Holy Spirit for even shortly after the Nativity he had to escape with  Mary and the Child out of Jerusalem having heard the prophecy of Simeon

He returned with his family to Nazareth and just as we have no information about Jesus the Child until he was about 12, nothing else other than having Jesus known as his son is known about him.

Our Faith's founding story can esily be debunked and scoffed at. There is no need of a higher education to be able to mock. God knows that millions have. The simplicity of the Gospels needs a "yes" or a "no". Once we have accepted the "Incarnation"we, as did Joseph, have to be in awe that God, Father Son and Holy Spirit are present at the table of a carpenter in Galilee. The anonymity of Joseph continues thoughout his life until death when he could recall Simeon's;

                    Now, Master, you let your servant go in peace. You have fulfilled your promise.
                 My own eyes have seen your salvation,
                 which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples.
                 A light to bring the Gentiles from darkness; the glory of your people Israel.

Dear Lord you know all your people in the same way you were known by Joseph. You are our Father, hear our humble petitions and let your grace build up your  bequest to us, the Church  which is crumbling for want of sincere human guidance in this world. May Mary Joseph and Jesus support those, known to you, who are facing death that they may in sincere repentance become aware of Father Son and Holy Spirit.

 18/03/2022

When we hear the parable of the vinyard, its significance is obvious to us. It was not so for the people who heard it from the very lips of Jesus. It would have been a tale well told and recognisable in its setting but only the priests could approach an understanding.

 They knew it was telling of an uncertain future for their status quo. It also frightened them because they knew that Jesus was accepted by the public as a prophet and a leader. Following the example of Joseph's brothers they wanted to have his dreams, the Good News the teaching to the poor silenced as they recognised the authority with which he spoke.

Did they think that Jesus' words came from God? Did they think that they came from the devil? Why were they afraid?

The person of Jesus with his power to cure the sick, with his authority to drive out devils with his charism to attract multitudes to listen to his words was simply an offence to the priestly class. They suffered from that very human defect, jealousy and they plotted to silence him for ever but their "for ever" lasted only three days.

God's ways are not man's. The all powerful Father, Son and Holy Spirit has created us to inhabit creation in freedom not as animal with preprogramming to control our every move. Our consciousness of being is completely free and to this wonder has been added love for us to share following the example of the Son who emptied himself to become as we are and accepted the pain of being completely dead and in that horror of Godlessnes we call Hell.

Dear Lord may I be this day open to all the promptings of my conscience which has been formed by a willing attention to you. Let me find a way to confess my sins and receive the sacrament of forgiveness created by your pasion and death. May Mary and all the saints support all who are facing difficulties of life in this world especially those who are known to me.

 17/02/2022

Today begins with St Peter telling us to recognise the tasks that Father, Son and Holy Spirit has  assigned to us. St Peter knew that this call was not as easy to follow as the "light yoke" would lead us to believe. Jesus fell under the weight of the cross; Peter denied the Lord the same three times. How many times have I failed ! 

In his letter Peter confirms that the first Christians did expect that we would not have a long wait for the return of the Resurrection. "Everything will come to and end soon"seems to be an answer to us who are becoming despondent as the End Times are still awaited with longing and disappointment that  the World and sin are still the reality that we know with our living minds and bodies.

The wonders of the Lord have been proclaimed among the people from Adam through Moses and the prophets and by God himself. Jesus was pressed about by people on the shingle shore and climbed into Peter's boat to preach and teach to the background noise of lapping waves and creaking ship's timbers.

 What were his very words at that moment? Very few of the recorded sayings of the Lord can be the exact words that were spoken. The final words from the cross were from the psalms and we can suppose that from the boat the teaching was also scriptural. Jesus was truly man speaking to us personally and he proclaimed and is himself  the wonder of God among the Peoples.

Dear Lord you know the falseness that is today covered by green and St Patrick's breastplate. Let us all return to the state where we worship the Glory that you are and not be fooled by hypocritcal assertions of piety and commitment to self-satisfied untrue narratives that refuse to accept you and your teaching. 

 16/03/2022

That mothers always want the best for their children is true of all ages.The "pushy" mother is a figure known to all mothers from the kindergarten onwards. In Palestine 2022 years ago when Jesus was going up to Jerusalem amongst the disciples there was an immediate grabbing of the main chance and the counter reaction. Anyone who has worked under a boss knows the instant reaction when a promotion is in the offing. Me me me! Choose me.

Although Jesus is quite clear about what will happen in Jerusalem amongst his friends and disciples there was still the misunderstanding about the Kingdom. Jesus offers us a paradox and the "greatest shall be the least". Jeremiahs' adversaries are sure that the world would suffer no loss if he were got rid of.

Jesus in his time on earth has heard "the slander of the mob"and knows how his companions have not yet understod his true mission. Can we say that today we do really know the significance of the events in Jerusalem long, long ago. One thing I know and of this I am sure, the evidence for " anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant and anyone who wants to be first must be your slave" is not to be found in the "Bishops' Conference of England and Wales"nor in the Vatican itself.

Dear Lord teach us how to be the "disciples" that you created us to be; teach us to understand your way of being honest to Father, Son and Holy Spirit and help us to overcome the problems that we create or come to us out of the nature of life. May my prayers be added to those of Mary and all your saints to seek comfort for the suffering and the strength to bear the pains of illness, knowing that on Calvary human pain is completely real to you in a way that we cannot imagine.

 15/03/2022

Jesus is again instructing us  and we are with him in Palestine. We all know of the sorry state our Church is in today. Clergy who preach well we have in plenty but their words are lacking in their practice. Jesus of 1st century  Palestine is still with us and he has not changed since the time he walked our earth with those who were to become his priests. He has not changed and his words still stand.

The dangers of judging others is still, as always, in my mind but what I have seen and heard during the last 20 years is the reality of the instruction to call "no man "Father" in this world". Our priests are chosen and ordained and so Father, Son and Holy Spirit are with them as much as they were with Peter and the 12 chosen ones.

The Apostles all sinned and were forgiven. They were inspired to the extent that they were killed for their faith. As they and the disciples died off so did the human closeness of God. The Body and Blood of God were/are still with us in the Liturgy and Jesus of the Sacraments will be with his Church even to the end of time. 

"But how can you recite my commandments and take my covenant to your lips, you who despise the law and throw my words to the wind?"

Dear Lord save me from the evil that I have let take your place in my life. You know each one of us. Let the killers give up on death. Let the dissolute give up their perversions. Let the arrogant seek to do your will and let me always be ready to accept and show the grace that you have prepared and have ready for each of your creation. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

 14/03/2022

I am always bothered by Jesus' definite command not to judge. It seems to me that if I am to be responsible for my own life, my own soul, then my life has to be spent in avoiding sin and I can only avoid sin by using the freedom given to me at my creation by Almighty God. That seems to me to be a judgement. 

I also contrast this categorical "Do not judge" with the equally categorical "When you take your gifts to altar" which tells us we have to be reconciled with our brother before we begin to pray and "If your brother sins" tell him face to face that he is in error. It seems to me that both these teachings require "judgement" on my part.

As I write this I am realising that the "Do not be judgemental" of the liberal Catholics that I know, is not what Jesus commands when telling us not "to judge". We have to avoid the condemnation of the person but also know that the person has a soul for which he is responsible and I too have a responsiblity to keep my brother from sin. I am not Cain.

Sin is completely condemned by Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Sin is completely deliminated by the Ten Commandments. If I choose to break a commandment, I sin and so does my brother if he does likewise. I know that this is sin equally for me and my brother not by judgement but by obedience of will.

Dear Lord you know what it is that I and mine need this day from your graces let me approach you with faith , hope and love and avoid falling into sin. May Mary in Heaven and all the saints continue to praise your glory and seek your help for us  the lone ones who are perplexed by this World saved by Calvary and yet still dominated by sin and evil.

 13/03/2022

The readings today ask us to completely review our existence and our relationship with God. Abram is told that he will become a great nation and God has given him ownership of a tract of land which is still in dispute today. God reveals himself in human terms in the time before the Incarnation and consecrates his people by revealing the sacrifice they are to make. They are to return his created animals by the sacrifice of the Temple.

St Paul has spread the message of the Resurrection and has found joy in so doing. He is confident enough in his mission to be able to offer himself as an example of how to live our lives  directed at God. Our bodies and our riches do not make us human. The enemies of God delight in the pleasures of the flesh. The way of life he condemns is set before us in these days as the perfection of being. Even the clergy of our Church proclaim that God is wrong when he teaches us to respect our bodies as the continuation of his creation and not as a source of pleasure.

Peter and John and James are taken by Jesus to the place where he reveals to them the Glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The gift of prayer can be a vision of God when God is truly present to us. Visions of God in this world are not the Glory of eternity for that would take the beloved out of this world in the way that Mary was taken into heaven. It is hard to believe that after  this experience Peter's human weakness could cause him to deny Christ in the way that he did in Jerusalem. God knows our weakness and is always ready to forgive even the greatest of sins.

Dear Lord forgive us our trepasses and let my penitence be genuine and not a posture of a few minutes. Let me know your Love every second of the day and let me not be overcome by the struggles of this life. I am here to know love and serve. May Mary and all the other human souls in heaven add their prayers to mine that worries and joys of this world not blind me to my place in your creation. Let your aid come to those who are in great need.

 12/03/2022

Moses is quite clear that the love we have from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit has to be reciprocated. We receive God's care in as much as we acknowledge his graces and obey his rules. The Law of the Lord is steadfast. Moses brought the tablets of the Law from Mount Sion and what was written is written for all times.

Anybody who thinks that the growth and achievements of humanity require new rules is challenging God. Such a one facing God says that you were wrong when you expected us to follow your Law. He says "I know more than you about what it is to be human". The Incarnate Son says, "Thy will be done".

Jesus tells us also that when we are faced by our enemies we must not hate but pray for them. We must pray for the grace to be able to love them as we love our own families. Returning good for good is normal for a human. Sincerely loving the pilot scattering death from the skies is much harder, but that is the level of holiness that must be our goal.

Dear Lord you know what it is I really need. Send your grace to those in need who are known to you that by reflecting on their present situation they may be able to realise that you are all in all and that today's evil and today's worldly good will pass away but Love that is Father Son and Holy Spirit is without beginning or end.

 11/03/2022

Before reading this morning, past sins had come into my mind and with them a total annoyance at my own behaviour. I was completly horrified and seized up with embarrassment. The readings tell me that I can be forgiven and come back to life in Christ. The problem is that I am more ashamed of my sins for my own sake. I cannot truly say that I am as strongly aware of them as offences against God.

The De Profundis takes me back to past funerals. I cannot understand  the modern "Celebration of Life" that happens now. The funeral is for the present living; the dead are dead to this world and have already met their reward.

Jesus tells us  that it is we the living who need to strive for the perfection he has brought to this world and our lives in it. It is not just the commandments that we must follow but all their implicatons. Swearing and anger at one another is sinful and must be recognised as such before going to the altar. "Going to the altar"  is for us the receiving of the "Body and Blood of Christ"; the Father Son and Holy Spirit;  the only acceptable gift we can bring is a soul free from sin with a mind and heart totally aware of the presence of God our Saviour.

Dear Lord you know the totality of my sinful life and that I really try to see sin as an offence against you but am overpowered by my human fraility that is more ashamed for itself .The saints in heaven have all been through this humanity and can add their pleas to mine as I cry to you "out of the depths".

 10/03/2022

I have no memory of ever before reading from the Book of Esther. Her circumstances are obviously one of great peril. She faces a great danger and in that danger she appeals for the help that God has promised will always be there for the descendants of Israel. The psalm is a cry of of thanks and praise. Jesus tells us what we have to do to follow the way that he teaches.

The reading of all three pasages has taken me less than 5 minutes, including a visit to Wikipaedia to learn the basics of Esther. "Was she facing a real lion" as did Daniel? The complications of her story means that I will have to go back to it.

There has been so much written and pondered about man and Father, Son and Holy Spirit that what we each bring to the Lord is a repetition of old thoughts. Our Father in Heaven knows each of us and cares for us as an only child. Millions have gone and maybe millions will come but each soul is the creation of the Father of All and is known personally to him.

The way of God is to treat each of us as his only child and the way for us is to wish for others the goods that we want for ourselves. We have to reciprocate God's love and know that the pains and horrors of this life have already been suffered exactly as we suffer them by the man Jesus who is Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord you can stop the suffering of humanity; only you can do it; yes you have already been to Calvary and still see the sins that your incarnation saved us from.We are weak and still immature; rescue us from this world of sin and bring us to a life that will ensure we will come to know the joy of Eternity known by your Mother and all the saints.

 09/03/2022

God is timeless. With his creation of the world out of nothing time began and will run until it is completed. Only God knows when this will be. God is unaffected by time and it is with longing to experience this eternity that we live lives turned to God who has revealed himself to us as recorded in scripture.

God is unaffected by time but in his omniscience he is totally aware of everything that has been is now and will ever be. The Old Testament and the New are united today by Jesus or rather the totality of humanity are united by the Son in his teaching about the last day.

All of us who have ever lived will be there and because we are before God we will be known as individual persons and each of us as free persons will know God and we will be judged. I will have to answer for my life and be completely dependant on the perfect  Justice and Mercy that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord today and every day I am dependant on you my Father in heaven. You know the mess that has been my life. Your life on earth was  your chosen self sacrifice to open to our world your overfowing grace of Love and Mercy. Let these prayers of mine be not the babbling of a pagan but the sincere outpourings of a soul that is contrite and ready for anything that might be your wish for me.

 08/03/2022

God is close to us when we are empty of self; when we are not bursting with happiness and self-satisfaction.Thus the psalm tells us that God is aware of lowliness, of poverty. Poverty of spirit is the humility that precedes righteousness.

The just man doe not show off his piety but approaches the Father, Son and Holy Spirit by addressing God with the spirit of childhood; even with the language of a child. Jesus tells us to speak to God as "Dad" and to believe that he knows all of our needs. This does not mean that our prayers are unnecessary; we must return the "Word" that comes from the Father.

The "Word" was with God in the beginning, was revealed by God through Moses and the prophets and walked the earth in complete fullness of God and man; was crucifed and rose above all suffering to show us the way to live our lives.

The Body of Christ on earth working to lead souls to eternity does not need the outward piety of the Pharisees and Priests but the humility of the once proud sinner who can know that he is indeed as nothing before God but amazingly enough is loved and able to receive the forgiveness of the grace won for us with so much suffering.

Dear Lord you know everything; I try to worship in  a way that is pleasing not because you need it but because my freedom belongs entirely to you and it is good to sometimes glimpse the true path you have won for us all. May Mary and all the saints understand the feebleness of my humanity and add their prayers for me and mine as I continue throughout this day.

 07/03/2022

Moses' message from God to the whole world and humanity of all times is completely straightforward and the way for us all to live, even in this life, in peace. Those who do not live by these rules bring suffering to themselves and others. We know so many examples of the reverse of this where people who want to live lives putting themselves before anything bring misery and bitterness into the lives of others. Every person who goes out his home into the home of another without invitation and with evil intent is guilty of breaking these elementary rules. Everyone of them; not just the face of their leader but everyone crossing from their own land with weapons of war are breaking all of these Commandments first revealed to Moses. "Following orders" the refrain of Nuremburg, is still the capitulation to Satan now as it was then.

Knowing the Law and following it is the only way to live without the nagging doubts about life and God which bring us to unhappiness in this world. The men firing rockets into the homes of other human beings need not follow evil orders; they could refuse and God would reward this righteousness even in this life but certainly in His Eternity.

Jesus also teaches us that avoiding  sin is  not enough to find righteousness. We must know that helping our fellow humans is as if performing a service directly for him who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Conversly doing the work of Satan by breaking the Law is hammering in the nails of sin and lifting the Cross.

Dear Lord let me in complete honesty and humility live out this day as a Christian who is also a sinner. Care for all the world of suffering and guide me and my family into lives that are decent and thankful to you.

 06/03/2022

Moses shows how the people of the Law are to worship the Lord our God. We still do the same today when the gifts are taken to the Altar. Paul tells us we can become part of Christ in this world if we truly believe and openly confess our beliefs. Jesus fights against Satan.

This is the difficult part; "lead us not into temptatioin but deliver us from evil" is said by billions of us around our world every day that we live. If we are in the sincerity preached by St Paul it is hard to  stand back and reflect on our sinfulness. I confess and have once again Baptismal purity but Satan very soon enters into the cleaned out state of my soul and again I sin.

Jesus faces off Satan. But Evil still has its revenge on the human body of Christ and on God for on Good Friday Jesus willingly accepts the experience of true death and descends into that Godless void which we call Hell.

Now the difficult part becomes full of Hope for  Jesus is not detroyed by Godless chaos but returns resurrected in a New Life that he brings to all who believe from the heart and confess from the lips. 

Dear Lord help me to continue to pray and avoid the temptation that is self love and not true worship. Father Son and Holy Spirit surround me the with Love that is your Being and protect me my family and all the world from the Satanic devilries that are so obvious during these times of sorrows. Turn the hearts of those who do evil away from Satan and towards you our only Lord and Hope. Only You can save us.

 05/03/2022

The inspired words of Isaiah still call to us who want to hear them.God commands us to keep one day of the week for him only. The Religious Orders that I know are dedicated by their Rule to turning everyday into a perpetual sabbath by the complete control of lives dedicated only to God. I try to give an hour to thoughts of worship and prayer. Isaiah tels us that we can always tutn back from sin and again place God where he always should be at the centre of our being.

Jesus as usual straight answers the carping criticism  of the Pharisees. "Poor Pharisees" they must have been shocked to the core of their beings by the uneducated son of a carpenter from Nazareth. Nazareth! what good as ever come from there? Every time they seek to find fault Jesus is able to rebuke them even with the words of scripture His disciples too must have had qualms about his teaching and have been in awe of the learned priests and doctors of the Law who tried to find to find fault with that teaching, but in the end they could only beat the man by the ultimate "ad hominem"  argument . They killed him.

Dear Lord please be God and show to our sinful world your power to bring about your love of peace in all the warring zones.Your ways are beyond human understanding but 2000 years ago by the Resurrection you called us all into the way that leads to you Father Son and Holy Spirit. Mary and all the saints are with you in that state of eternitity which we call Heaven; accept their pleas on our behalf and keep me, my family and all the peoples of the world safe from the imbecilic, Satanic unholiness that pollutes and destroys.

 04/03/2022

Isaiah reveals what a true fast really is. Our preparation for Easter is not any outward show at all; ashes on the head, dismal faces and toned down clothing are for other men to see. They are nothing in God's eyes for, he who is Truth, sees the souls of men; their very being, which he has created in his own likeness, their souls which can be corrupted by the whole man's falseness of behaviour.

God wants us to be with him always but especially during these days that the Church offers us as a time of deeper prayer and penetential self-control for the whole purpose of creation is to be reenacted during the three days that are Easter.

Jesus answers the Pharisees with an unelaborated "Surely the bridegrooms attendants would never think of mourning when the bridegroom is still with them?" He tells them the time to mourn will come. We know the significance of this answer but to have heard it directly from this person from Nazareth who had been causing trouble in the Synagogues thoughout their land, must have been mystifying to those who had questioned him.

Jesus replies to honest or devious questions are always the same direct, without ambiguity.  It is we who cannot feel comfortable with the naked truth who cloud the issues. "This is my body". "This is my blood".

Dear Lord let my prayers be directed to  you Father, Son and Holy Spirit and let my prayers also be directed by you so that the sins which have clouded my life be purged by your Grace and forgiveness.

 03/03/2022

Moses lays down the foundations which have come from God; they are recorded and they are still the basis for all human life. We must not chase after new Gods and justify sins by changing what God has created. The land we live in no matter where it is, is the place God has given to us for this is where we were born. Man or woman we have to play our part in the living world which is God's promised land to us.

With  the Incarnation God expands his promise. All the world and time belongs to him and to us who all are  his people. We all can delight in the Lord and by knowing his ways, his law for us, we are supported in doing what is right, By praying we can avoid sin. 

Jesus makes it clear that a price must be paid for past apostasies and present sin. He is going to pay it and  he makes clear to us that living in the world is not for its own sake; we need to avoid passing  pleasures and devote our hearts and minds to doing the will of Father Son and Holy Spirit whose eternal Glory is our sole reason for being.

Dear Lord help me this day to pray with full concentration; let the Rosary of the Blessed Mary the source of your humanity strengthen my resolve and let me truly follow your path to Calvary. I am afraid to suffer but with your Grace may thy will be done.

 02/03/2022

The beginng of our fast to prepare for Easter is today. We are given the passage from Joel which beautifully calls all of us to repentance; David' s confession and plea for mercy; Paul's interpretation of the "favourable time" and Jesus' encouragement with the warning to avoid showing off .

Yesterday Jesus warned us not to hide the light of salvation under a bushel. Today he tells us to keep the knowledge of our fasts and repentance between ourselves and our Father in heaven. This is my secret place where I can for the moments taken up with reading the scriptures and assessing my place in God's eye,s pray in so far that my heart and mind are raised to God.

When I return to my daily life I try to keep that prayer remembered. Today I will try to add to this prayer something more which will open me to the overflowing love and mercy which is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord this Lent help me not to lose sight of my sins and know that only you can forgive.. I will try to reach out for the Sacrament of Penance in the knowledge of the great suffering that was undergone to establish the sacramental source of grace for me and all the world,

 01/03/2022

Jesus tells us that we must be seen to be living a Christian life. It is no good my every morning reading the Word of God and trying to live by it if no one knows. This is another hard saying for me to obey as I have been thinking that God knows me and that that is enough. St Paul's whole life is an open book of his preaching and living the Word. I have given up on public worship. I am not going to try to justify that.

I am trying to remove the plank from my own eyes and find Father Son and Holy Spirit in the Truth preached by Jesus. I avoid sin as best I can . This Lent I will try to turn myself to Our Blessed Lady and through a daily rosary prayed meditatively discipline my life before God.

Jesus I have to be able to trust the clergy into whose hands you have entrusted our souls and your body here on earth. Please shake up your Church and let me see the Christian life in her so that I can again approach your altar to recieve in confidence your  sacraments.