31/07/2022

The words of scripture in today's mass continue to emphasise that we must put God foremost in our lives. All our successes in life, major or minor, will come to nothing if they are centred on created matter. St Paul makes it quite plain that we have to be centered on and targeted at heaven for it is in this infinite Christ that we will find happiness. God has not created us for hell. We are real beings with the opportunity to know total happiness.

Our bodies can find temporary happiness in fornication.Vanity! Our place in the world can bring us human respect.Vanity! Our diligence at work can fill our days with self-satisfaction.Vanity! Wealth can please us now but at the moment of death a hefty bank balance is revealed as nothing but empty vanity.

Our souls can find contentment in prayer. The liturgy of the Church can fill our time with holy joy. We can devote our lives to a cycle of prayer but if we tell ourselves and others lies, this religion too is vanity. The vanity of self-satisfying worship is the most dangerous of vanities for it mouths praises of the Lord but puts self before Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord help me to face you in truth. Purify my being with truth. Let me unravel the confusion of my thoughts to find and hold on to the thread that is your Love, the way, the truth, and the light. May your mother's prayers continue to bring help to the suffering and sick of this world and let the penance of those in purgatory soon become acceptable for you to welcome them into your presence.