03/09/2022

I wouldn't like to be in the shoes of the Pope this morning as the Gospel shouts out to him the message of the Lord. Can Francis read this without cringing in his very being? He should do, for not only our Pope but the entire human hierarchical  structure that should be the Body of Christ on Earth has got to ask what has gone wrong. Priests too have to face up to these words of foundation. Are they showing by their lives that they are one with the words of Peter. We the people are not without fault too for it is we who have not demanded that the teaching of the Church be followed both in Liturgy and homily and in the daily lives of our pastors.

Jesus is the model that we have to follow and it is St Paul whose fearless proclaiming of the Good News was in direct response to the words of Christ, the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the Glory of the Father, did so much to build up the communities of faithful believers that have now grown into the Institution that does not live up the Grace poured out in the blood of Jesus on the Cross. 

St Paul's total commitment to the immensity that shook his whole being, closed his eyes  and opened up his soul shines out with a clarity that belies the "glass darkly". His living without the guile of deception, looking for praise or money but only and always in the sight of God is what we are all called to do and we need our aproach to Sacramental Grace  be unimpeded by the scandals of the Ordained.

"Who am I to Judge"? I too ask this many times a day and know that it is God who entrusted the Good News to Paul and the Apostles and promised that he would be with us to the end of time. The standards for human life have been revealed to us. Francis, how can anyone know that he is  living righteously if he does not judge himself first?

Dear Lord, your love fills the whole world and I pray to be able to share in it. I pray that the words of both Paul and the Gospel shake up your ordained ministers especially those who are confused between Magisterium and Body of Christ and that the Church becomes the sheepfold where the sheep can be safe and unharned in the care of the Good Shepherd. May Mary too implore the Holy Spirit to enter into the hearts of us all so that we may remain true to the way the truth and the life. Lord Jesus save us!