09/05/2023

Jesus was alive with us for about thirty three years. He died in his youth. Of that youth most was spent in obscurity. He taught his disciples for only three years and during that time, as far as we know,  he was close only to his Apostles and to his family in Nazareth and to Lazarus and his sisters in Bethany. It was not a long time in which to build the community that was to become for the whole world the example to follow on Way Truth and Life.

The success of Paul and Barnabas in Lycaonia was soon disrupted by what was becoming an organised resistance to the Good News. Paul was stoned as result of agitation against him but was not killed and was able to move on before returning to "Mission Control" which had moved from Jerusalem to the Antioch that has become Antakya and flattened in the tragedy of the 2023 Earthquake.

I do not know if I have seen the workings of the Holy Spirit in anything other than in my personal existence but the Acts is all about God's Providence. What was it that Paul left behind in these "Churches" when he left them?There was no written New Testament to leave behind. It is truly awe-inspiring how the Word grew in these first communities of Asia Minor. Some 20/30 years later St John could address his Apocalypse to them.

In St John's Gospel today we are reassured that Father Son and Holy Spirit are still with us. I know this in my heart. I have at  times been weak and acted as if there was no love in me but the Holy Spirit has returned me to the Way which helps me know Truth and thus come to Life. This means that I am not blinkered and have to face the reality of the whimpering away of the Church that once filled the world with Faith Hope and Charity. But did it?  Who is the "Prince of this World" and what is his place in God's Providence?

Dear Lord, you know that it is my intention to praise your Glory. I am weak but really do seek pardon and seek to make amends which is impossible without your grace. May Mary and all the Saints continue to pray for the Light of the Truth of your "ever greater" being to flood our world as it did when preached in those first years after the resurrection. The Holy Ghost then came from the brightness of heaven and took possession of our souls. Let it be so again. Maranatha