31/01/2024

I am still more aware of this world than I am able to understand the ways of God. I have no idea what it is that is so wrong about "census taking" that it requires the depth of punishment that the prophet Gad offers to David as the "Word of the Lord".

Mark who had seen and spoken to the living Jesus is still a man of his time as was David. The census only counted "fighting men" and ignored women and children and Mark gives the names only of brothers, the men of the same generation as Jesus, living in the extended family. 

I have always found it difficult to face the guilt of my sins that I have committed in the full knowledge that I am choosing to break the commandments that were revealed to Moses. Just as did David I have chosen to set up a scenario that will absolve me from guilt in my own mind but always come to realise that it is, I who sin.

Why did you let me break my word to you O Lord? Please change your Law to fit in with my sinfulness. "Let my sin be justifiable" has often been my plea. I have been more than attached to the sins of the flesh. David knows this sort of consciousness of a guilty conscience and pleads with God, just as I do, for in the centre of his being there sings the voice of his soul created to become sinless and live a life of holiness. 

"Happy the man whose offence is forgiven, whose sin is remitted"

Dear Lord, am I right in thinking that it is my choice that creates evil? Are there so many of us choosing to say "no" to you that there is so much "unholiness" everywhere we look? How can little children who have been born into this corruption that we have made of your providence, come to you? Peter's Church has lost out to this world. Let your unseen Mystical Body flourish even within the disgrace of the Institutional Church so that our souls can be united with Mary and all the saints to bring the grace of your Mercy to us all struggling on Earth and in the Justice of Purgatory. As always I make my prayer in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

 30/01/2024

We are free to live our lives in peace with our families, friends and nations but everywhere and at all times we seem to be incapable of aligning ourselves with the will of God. In the Old Testament IAMIAM was always able to forgive his people Israel and rescue them when that nation failed to do its duty.

God certainly believes in me/us. I can only speak from my own experience. I know that I have been rescued many times when I have been trapped by my own sins. David lost his son and was devastated. Jairus' daughter died before Jesus could come to her. Jesus reversed the course of nature and restored her to life.

Two thousand years ago Jesus completed  by his life, death and resurrection not only the revelation of  the wonder that is our Creator but also "the way, the truth and the life" that we are to lead if we to are to cooperate with the will of God.

I can pray today knowing that I am cared for by the unimaginable Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I am shocked by the functionaries that claim to guide us along the way to truth and life. I am beginning to think that the Church founded on St Peter  never managed to become the Mystical Body of Christ on Earth and that the collapse of Christianity in Europe is a direct result of the Popes and Patriarchs of the first centuries building for themselves "Kingdoms in this World" in direct opposition to the words of Christ. How many of our Popes have not been Caesars in this world? Was it Emperor or Patriarch who was the leader of the Orthodox?

Dear Lord, help me to understand how I can do your will and stay a part of your Church which is the spiritual community of saints. Mary accepted us as her children and John accepted her as our Mother. This is the heart of your Church which is the only way for us to do your will on earth and be taken into the Kingdom of Heaven.  Lead me not into temptation and forgive me for all evil created by my sins. Let all your people praise your name and strive for the holiness that you have created us for. May the Holy Souls remember as they await Mercy that they did and we still do pray for all sins to be forgiven. May the peace of God and fellowship of the Holy Spirit prove to be stronger than all the weapons of mankind.

 29/01/2024

King David is another character in the Old Testament in whom we can recognise  the same humanity that we are each now experiencing. He loves God and sings psalms of praise and dances before the Ark not because he is a hypocrite but because he is taken out of himself by the joy that our Love of God can bring into our hearts. He is also a sinner.

Everything that we do in this world will pass away. That is the nature of our "being". We know ourselves as a fact. The inner questions that can trouble us are to be partially answered at death but the full answer will only come when Jesus returns to complete the perfect creation that has been marred by humanity.

Other people are also facts. There are many of us who are born with bodily defects. The body that we know as a fact is shaped by our DNA. The  revolt against God that began in Eden has taken many forms over the centuries. Every soul ever created by Father, Son and Holy Spirit  has been faced with difficulties that have arisen from, created by the response of each individual's "Yes" or "No" to his/her place in the Providence of God.

We first become aware of "life" and of other people as our embryonic form develops to become the baby who can still obtain nourishment from its mother's body via her breast. This is true for most of us, but what about the demoniac who is host to "Legion"? What about those whose bodies do not function as they should? "The man born blind"?

Those whose genitals are indeterminate really can ask for their bodily defects to be righted but have to accept that their confusion about gender cannot become their excuse for sin. Our Father in Heaven does not punish the blameless. His Cross brings his Mercy to multitudes but we must not deny him. We have to say "Yes" to whatever God provides in this life to be able to access the Love that pours from the side opened by the lance.

Dear Lord, you know that my sorrow for those who are tortured by their beings and place in your Providence is an honest question not a stupid attempt to catch you out.You know that my faith is the faith of childhood Sunday School. I still strive to be sinless but can remember that the "innocent child" that wanted to be holy contained a devious sinful soul. I have changed but you know more than I how I still fall short. May Mary who, although sinless herself and with the perfect, for a human, sight of God, has felt the pangs of all the mothers of Syria, Palestine Israel Gaza and Yemen and still knows the pain of clasping the corpse of the Incarnate Son to the bosom that had fed Him, plead that the Grace won on Calvary force its way past all the barriers which we erect to protect our pride so that we can see the Wonder of your being as did your Prophets, Kings, Apostles and mere children.

 

 28/01/2023

The misuse of the freedom which is part of our being and is "an image and likeness" of the infinite freedom that is part of the being of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the origin of sin. Today Moses reminds the people that they themselves couldn't bear the awesome inescapability that living each moment aware that "they are naked" brought to Adam and Eve.

He reminds them that IAMIAM had approved their "fear of God" and promised them prophets to show them the way through life. This promise was the renewal of the Covenant made to Noah and the Old Testament is the record of the Prophets' reiteration of the promise to the Chosen People living in the world, in the providence of God, modified by their own freedom.

All the guidance of the prophets has been completed in the Resurrection. All of us are able to access Love and Mercy for that is the purpose of the Incarnation and the teaching of the Apostles.

I who am alive today am aware of God and my responsibilities to my Creator through the teaching of  Scriptures and of the Church. St Paul and the Apostles are the guardians and interpreters of the  teaching of the Son of God. Jesus is the completion of God's Covenant with Humanity. 

He loves us and approves of our efforts towards knowing, loving and serving. He knows our humanity from the inside and thus knows that giving Him our undivided attention can only be achieved when "heaven and earth will pass away; my Word will stand and God will be All in All."

Dear Lord, may I avoid sin today. May my mind  and will search for you. May your Mercy suffocate sins before they catch fire. May  the unjust sufferings of the people of Gaza and Yemen come to an end. May the descendants of Solomon realise that without you Israel is just a race of humans that is different from other people. May Mary who is the only human to have ever known what "favoured by God" truly means lead the Saints in praise of your Glory and ask forgiveness for all the living and dead sinners that we are on earth and in Purgatory.

 27/01/2024

Today I am very conscious of my sinfulness and appalled by how easy it is for me to be filled with rage. However, I have not lost the part of me that looks to God for forgiveness and knows that I am guilty. My life on earth is so much better when I can truly love "my neighbour as myself" and put others before my own self.

All my sins come about because my miniscule "I am" becomes for me greater than the "IAMIAM" who chose David. David too knows that his fault begins when he allows himself to ignore God and plots to take Uriah's wife for himself. He also knows that his spirit can become steadfast again and his heart  re-purified if he returns to God.

God is just and so David has to be punished for he is directly responsible for the deaths of Uriah and the child.

I have been guilty of many sins and the remorse that I feel today has often passed away with time. The Eternity known by Father, Son and Holy Spirit is timeless and so my sins are ever present but forgiven in the Eternal Sacrifice. There is nothing that I can do to become deserving of this forgiveness except open my heart and mind directly to Heaven and sincerely say "Forgive me Father for I have sinned".

Dear Lord, let my heart become pure again and my soul steadfast to accept the just punishment that my sinfulness deserves. I think that these are not mere words but are myself prostrate before your Justice and Mercy. May Mary and all the saints continue to pray for me and all other sinners still living and for the Holy Souls paying the price of sin in the punishment of separation from thee in the pains of Purgatory.

 26/01/2024

St Mark assures us that Jesus explained the meaning of his parables to his closest followers which must have included women disciples who are not mentioned in the Gospels except on Calvary. They are the ones who did not hide their heads in shame but supported Jesus and his mother to the bitter end.

When Jesus cured Peter's mother she got off her sick bed and began to minister to them. Martha was angered by her sister when Mary sat listening to the words of the Lord rather than joining the other women in the kitchen. The miracle at Cana was performed at the request of his mother to solve a domestic crisis.

The attitudes of the Apostles towards women are those of their times but modified by the commandments which have to apply equally to all our neighbours, regardless of gender. St Paul has a pretty bad reputation in "feminist" circles but he addresses more women by name than any of the Evangelists.

St Timothy's grandmother is known by name to all who read or listen to the New Testament. Lois who lived 2000 years ago would have been totally speechless if anyone had told her that her name would be known to millions, when she was alive.

Dear Lord we are equally known to you. Men and women. You know us body and soul. You have by your incarnation shown to us that there is nothing inherently wicked in our bodies. Our  Original Sin is in our disobedient will which is a power of our souls. Our will creates the evil which you have given us the power to combat by opening our hearts to the grace of Father Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus on earth is not only our example he is also the Mystical Body in which can begin to live in this world as we will live in heaven. May Mary lead all the Saints, Titus, Timothy and Eunice and her mother, Lois in the prayer that bring forgiveness to sinners on earth and those suffering just punishment in Purgatory.

 25/01/2024

St Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus is among  the most important events in world history. In Jerusalem, he had not only guarded the clothes of those who had stoned St Stephen but had also taken an active part in harrying those who having seen the Risen Lord, had started to follow his way and preach his teaching.

St Paul was a fervent student of the Law. He had studied under Gamliel and his fellow students were the Rabbis who would be the foundation of the Judaism that paralleled the growth of Christianity after the destruction of the Temple.

Our God guides our minds and hearts if we open our selves to him. St Paul was more than a mind closed to the Resurrection he was an active denier who knew that IAMIAM was the only God and that Peter and the other Galileans were a blasphemous, ignorant riffraff. 

In 20 or so years after his conversion he was able to make his own these Father, Son and Holy Spirit inspired words of unknown authorship about Jesus.

       Who, though he was in the form of God,

     Did not regard being equal with God

     Something to be grasped after.

But he emptied himself

Taking on the form of a slave,

And coming in the likeness of humans.

And being found in appearance as a human

He humbled himself

Becoming obedient unto death— even death on a cross.

Therefore God highly exalted him

And bestowed on him the name

That is above every name,

That at the name of Jesus

Every knee should bow

Of those in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth.

And every tongue should confess

That Jesus Christ is Lord

To the glory of God the Father.

Dear Lord, help me to live each day as aware of you as was St Paul. Let me contain in my heart the true feelings of the first Christians. Your Chosen People have suffered much throughout history and continue to do much harm. The only  nation/community on earth that can contain your truth, mercy and glory by doing your will is the Mystical Body that has you as its head and heart and is composed of Mary and all the Saints. We can all choose only as an individual person to become part of that Body which is the Kingdom not of this world, the place which you have prepared for each one of us who is ready to pick up his cross and follow you.

 24/01/2023

Those who are prolonging the slaughter today in Gaza are the descendants of the people to whom God makes the promises recorded in the Book of Samuel from which is taken our first reading for today's mass. I can only remain speechless.

People are being killed because another human takes aim at their bodies and pulls the trigger of a firearm with the only intention of doing them harm.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your might and all your strength and your neighbour as yourself."

We cannot take anything in Scripture except as part of the totality which is the complete Biblical Revelation. Today Mark reveals a saying of Jesus made in private to the Apostles.

"The secret of the kingdom of God is given to you, but to them who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may see and see again, but not perceive; may hear and hear again, but not understand; otherwise they might be converted and forgiven."

The immediate implications of this saying are unthinkable and have their immediate contradiction in "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

Dear Lord, you know that I am not challenging your Word in anyway. Are you permitting the slaughter in Gaza. Have your Chosen People gone entirely over to Satan? Does "otherwise they might be converted and forgiven" really mean that some of us are excluded from Your Mercy. Our lives only have meaning and value in that we can love, know and serve. Please open my senses that I might see, hear and believe. May the prayers of Mary and all the saints bring to all your people on earth a true sight of the magnitude of your Mercy for all of us who humbly seek forgiveness and your Loving Kindness for you are Our Father and our souls the little children whom we must let come unto thee.

 23/01/2024

We can only know God in this world in the human time that is given to us. Human time is the Providence of God who breathes the spiritual life of eternity into us at the moment of our conception. Our bodies are controlled by the rules, the instincts of nature but we are not confined to a predetermined path through life. Our souls have been given the freedom to choose for ourselves how to live our bodily lives in this world.

In today's Gospel Jesus' family on earth have come to see what they have heard about, "the blind see, the lame walk, the poor have the Gospel preached to them" and Jesus chooses this moment to proclaim what is his Mystical Body on earth. He was probably in Capernaum but  certainly in Galilee where there lived many Gentiles. 

He is told that those with whom he had shared the first years of his human life are trying to join the crowds that surround him.The Son of God announces that his true family does not come from the ties of nature but from the free choices made by our souls to do the revealed will of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This is not a refusal to see his Mother and her relatives but a clarification for all time that each one of us has to know and conform to the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that is the Revelation of the Glory and Righteousness of "Our Father who art in Heaven". Then we can join him in the Mystical Body that is His Church, struggling on Earth, penitent in Purgatory and expectantly rejoicing in the timeless Glory that precedes the Second Coming.

Dear Lord, the prayers of my being are known to you. You know that I am truly devoted to your name and hope for only that which is your righteousness in my being. You have taught me by your life, death and resurrection that I am not worthless and that it is possible to become part of your Mystical Body as is Mary and all the saints. Let my prayers be joined to theirs as we ceaselessly proclaim your Glory and thank you for your Grace. Amen

 22/01/2024

Sometimes the mass readings of the day shout out to me. At other times they seem to be repetitiously the same. This is has got to be a fault in me for no-none can have too much of the Lord. I know that even saints who had been overcome by the Lord sometimes had faced "dryness" in their prayer-life on earth.

I know that there is a lot that I can do by remembering that all that has ever been good in my life has happened when I have truly opened my heart and soul to the Loving Mercy that never ceases to flow from Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

In today's Gospel Jesus warns that although he is forgiveness for all people the sin against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. This is a fearful warning as he does not detail what this sin can be. 

Our Loving Saviour is not trying to catch us out and it is easy for us to provide examples of what could be unforgivable in the history of the World even before the Crucifixion. We all know that " sins", especially "mine", can be forgiven but we are not so sure about the sins of others.

In our lifetimes as we try to avoid sin by never saying "no" to God we can never attain the perfection that was Jesus' life on earth. I have many times been knocked down by choosing sin rather than God but I have never been convinced by Satan that pleasures of the flesh and earthly reward should have been my goal in life.

Dear Lord , I thank you for your grace which although confused by my self, my ego, my being, I can hang onto and know that I can be saved by your Mercy. I have to know that I am not alone and that even Judas was another brother for whose sins you accepted the torments of Calvary. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints who know you as you are without beginning and end, glorious and mighty, bring your mercy to us, sinners on Earth and those atoning in Purgatory and may the unforgivable sin never be committed. Amen

 21/01/2024

If we try to atone for sinful behaviour God is always ready to help us. The Ninevites listened and accepted the warning given through Jonah. Our God sustains all that we are and know. Not only does he know us as the "Evergreater" creator but also he has accepted and shared our lives as a human son. Jesus lives and dies on Earth just as we do but sinlessly although subject to the same temptations as we are.

St Paul lives to preach and teach by word and example. Today he warns that life is short. For all of us rich and poor, ignorant or learned the most insistent of bodily urges comes from sex. We have to curb the pleasure principal of our bodies. We should try to be detached from the sorrows and equally the joys of everyday life. The urge to own things should be curbed. St Paul teaches that "retail therapy"is not a harmless pastime. Those of us who have good jobs or inherited leadership roles in our world should not become so engrossed in the things that belong to this world that they become oblivious to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We have all been chosen by God to live holy lives. Some have had a special calling to be guardians of the truth preached and shown by Jesus to be the "way". We are the Body of Christ on Earth, the Church. The Church as an Institution in the World has always had to avoid becoming engrossed in the World. We have not always succeeded but God is merciful and listens equally to the pleadings of sinners and the just alike, Nineveh and Jonah.

Dear Lord, I pray that you let me heed the warnings of Jonah, and St Paul and remember that the Spirit of Truth is the private possession of no man or institution. May the Holy Spirit open up the hearts and minds of all sinners so that the "sheep" can have confidence in their "pastors" and their "pastors" complete their holy missions without losing any of the souls that you have entrusted to them. May the prayers of Mary and all the saints continue to bring your Mercy to us sinners on earth and to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

 20/01/2024

The readings designated for today's mass do not have the continuity that they seem to have on some days. The news of Saul's defeat does not bring any joy to David who is a reluctant rebel to begin with.

He is deeply affected by the death of Saul but that of Jonathan shakes him in the very core of his being. He loved Saul but Jonathan was more to him than life itself. This love of David for Jonathan has been manipulated by many to justify their own homosexuality as has the love Jesus had for John, the beloved disciple and for Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead.

We all can with very little effort deny the sinfulness of our own behaviour but in my lifetime I have seen rise up organised "communities" whose sole aim is to deny God and to deny him by pride in sinning and denial of his rights "my body my choice". Jesus welcomed sinners but had them confront their own sin. Jesus is black and white and outside the wedding feast there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The one line gospel sheds no light on who were Jesus' relatives. James "the brother of the Lord" is any male relative brought up in the same household and he had already become a disciple. In that extended family where Jesus spent his childhood both Mary and Joseph were aware that in Jesus God was acting in the world so they would not have been part of the group of "relatives".

In another Gospel Jesus tells us that his family is those who listen to him and believe. He thus  confirms that we  all  have the potential to become his adopted brothers and sisters but we have to choose for ourselves.

Dear Lord, you are the Father of all mankind . Only you can totally know each one of us. In the Incarnation you took a place within the brotherhood of man and became "Our Father" and share with us "Love" that is the Holy Spirit. We are all  in truth relatives of Jesus and share in the Knowledge of Mary and Joseph that you are the perfection of God incarnated into Jesus our brother in this life, the Glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the eternal moment that we have been created to share. Let us all become aware that sin is any decision to ignore God's call to holiness and that he has enabled us all to avoid sin. Forgiveness and Mercy flow unceasingly but will not overwhelm us if we don't ask and cooperate as did Mary and all the Saints.

 19/01/2024

There is always a doubt in my mind whether or not I am really conforming to God's will for me as I go about the business of living consciously in this life. How can I know that I am using my freedom of choice to walk in the way of salvation?

David and Saul were also afflicted with such doubts but sometimes they were sure that they were with God and that God was with them. David did not kill Saul as he slept and Saul accepted the proof of his righteousness that David showed him.

God knows and cares for billions of us who are living today. I know very few of them. Father Son and Holy Spirit  knows each of us as intimately as he knows each of the kings and prophets of the Old Testament. The Apostles are named as the immediate friends of Jesus but there were thousands of unnamed but known disciples.

We all live because we are known to "Our Father". We live in the hard but transitory reality of this world. Everything that is real to me including myself will pass away. I and all humans have the ability to choose between "Yes and No" for God. The Apostles are chosen by name to continue Jesus' mission of Love. Judas is chosen to be an Apostle but is not destined to be the sole betrayer of  Our Lord for it is my sins and the sins of all the world that nail Jesus to his cross.

Dear Lord, let me become secure in my faith, let me never lose hope and let me be as concerned for the lives of others as I am for my own life. May Mary who knows how you lived for the salvation of each of us especially when she held your lifeless corpse after the crucifixion ask you her son to fill all our hearts with the grace that we can truly become part of your body that is the Communion of saints in heaven, sinners on Earth and penitent in Purgatory. 

 18/01/2024

I have now been entrusted with my own life for 83 years. My earliest memories are of searchlights and bombs and of being comforted by my mother inside what I now know to have been an indoor air-raid shelter.

I have been known to God from the first moment of my conception even though I knew nothing at that moment but now I can repeat the words of David composed centuries before my birth and ponder them. "In God I trust; I shall not fear; what can mortal man do against me?"

David put himself into the hands of Saul who had been seething in jealous anger as result of the victory inaugurated by David's defeat of Goliath. David could take this risk because he knew that God was on his side.

I am not prominent in the world as were David and Saul but am one of the billions known only to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (None of us are anonymous to God).There are no enemies seeking my death but still I have to fear "the mortal man" that I am for it is only in this body that I can keep my soul free from sin and thus know, as did David "that I may walk in the presence of God and enjoy the light of the living."

Dear Lord, you know that I have not always loved and respected my parents as I should have done. My hope is that even if  not cleansed of their sins they are awaiting your Mercy in Purgatory and that we all, on Earth and in Purgatory can receive from the grace that is the Bliss of Mary and all the Saints. Amen.

 17/01/2024

 David killed Goliath.

Jesus totally condemned the use of violence even to defend ourselves, but the wars and slaughter of the Old Testament were continued by the Church founded by the same Jesus.

The Church of the first centuries began in the Pax Romana when the ambitions and egos of local rulers throughout the Middle-East and Western-Europe had been made subservient to the Roman Legions and their master, the Emperor. The egos of successive Emperors were so swollen that they decided that they must be Gods and they founded temples to promote this idea.

The Commandments of the only God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, forbid killing and all the behaviour that results in the blind anger that can only be assuaged by inflicting violence on the perceived source. All violence is self-destruction for our love of God is to be shown by the way we treat the other people for whom Jesus gave up his life. I am other people.

Many who realised the depth of Jesus' teaching paradoxically removed themselves from other people by opting for a solitary life alone in the desert. There have been many of us who since those times have remained in the World and been corrupted by its delights. There have also been many saints known only to God who have remained in the world and with God's Grace have beaten its temptations.

The institution that Jesus founded on St Peter has become evermore tangled in the things of this world and has evermore displayed the  main characteristic of any human institution, self preservation. The burning of heretics, Holy Wars and now the coverup of the crimes of sinful clergy mock not only the teaching of Jesus but also his body broken on the cross.

Jesus told the Apostles to go out and teach all nations, he told us to respect the world of other people. He  told us "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's" he did not found an alternative empire but a way through life leading to his Kingdom not of this world.

This is what St Antony sought in the desert and to which we can all open our hearts and souls. 

Dear Lord, You do not need me to tell you my thoughts and longings but doing so means that I can remember these few moments when I have the desire to pray by raising my heart and soul to you the Evergreater and the Ever-present. May all the world and purgatory benefit from the prayers of Mary and all the Saints. May my deceased parents know on this eve of the anniversary of my birth that I am still striving towards you and that their first child is not a total disaster.

 16/01/2024

The readings for today begin with the story of how David was chosen to be King of Judah. The Old and the New Testaments are still the source on which we base our belief in God. 

Samuel chooses a new King who sings the psalms in praise of of the wonder of his life and IAMIAM but is as sinful and repentant as we are. Jesus is preparing his disciples for his New Covenant which will complete the Law of Moses and enable the hearts of all people to receive his free gift of support for holiness and salvation in this life and future bliss in the Eternal Glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Today we are living in a material world that is a tribute to the intelligence and ingenuity of mankind. Science and Technology have enabled the basic principles of life to be manipulated and I have no doubt that secret laboratories are already attempting to or even cloning human bodies. 

How different are we from our Ancestors? In Gaza the human descendants of King David are still slaughtering the Amalekites. The Church which is the visible descendant of the Apostles is confusing more believers than it is shepherding. For myself, I still have remembrances, which come unbidden into my consciousness, of past sins which embarrass but do not horrify me as they should.

It is not easy to be aware of Our Father knowing that for his will to be done on earth each one of us has to cooperate and strive to bear the "yoke that is easy" and "the burden that is light". 

Dear Lord, your words are truth for the burden of sinful man has been carried to Calvary and there been sacrificed so that we need fear sin no more and can come face to face with all the sins of the world in confidence that you will guide us into your Love. My sins and the sins of all the world can be forgiven; we only have to choose. May the prayers of Mary and all the saints be heard and let the guns and weapons of all killers stilled so that we can truly do Your Will on Earth.

 15/01/2024

I usually have to wait after reading the texts that are to be used at mass. Today's slaughter in Gaza is too close to  King Saul 's slaughter of the Amalekites, who were another race claiming descent from Abraham, for me not to be silenced into incomprehension by the disgrace of the denial of God by those who have been the first recipients of his Self Revelation. 

I can view no violence against my brothers and sisters as "justified". The wars of the world since Christ have never been just. The theologians, Popes, Bishops and priests who have said other wise have failed their Lord and lead many of us into temptation. 

But the Old Testament is full of what is purported to be the Word of God commending violence and today's first reading goes so far as to have God punishing the first "King of the Jews" for not being violent enough. He has won a war against his enemies but has not completed the genocide as instructed having been distracted by loot. The prophet Samuel upbraids Saul for not completing the total destruction approved by IAMIAM.

Saul's place in the history of Israel is a result of how he reacted to the providence of God. We all are the same in that none of us choose to be born. We are all the same in that no matter the circumstances of our birth, we can all choose to live guided by the will of God revealed to us in the scriptures and in the history of the world.

Samuel is inspired by the Holy Spirit to declare in the face of Saul but for all humanity to hear 

    " Submissiveness is better than the fat of rams".

but he goes on to actually complete Saul's task by personally dispatching King Agag.

"Submissiveness" for an Old Testament prophet is not the same as for we who have knowledge of the one whose "Kingdom is not of this Word". 

The true "King of the Jews" and of all humanity is our exemplar of true submissiveness and the righteousness that we should all aim for if we are to walk upright conforming to the will of the Lord.

Is any of the slaughter taking place all over our world as I type, is any of this slaughter doing the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit?The covenanted people Israel soon became more in love with themselves than with God. The Church founded on Peter soon did the opposite of what Our King declared before Pilate and created a Kingdom/Institution definitely of this world.

I am a sinful man living in a sinful world but within me there is a spark of longing for all this to be different. A world where all mankind accepts the Love which has created us and God is All in All.

Dear Lord, let me become by my own choice the man whose image and likeness is known only by you. Let me avoid sin and throughout this day know that there is a Spiritual Church, the Mystical Body of Christ and let me share in this with Mary and all the Saints praying for forgiveness for the sins of all the world and the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Amen

 14/01/2024

I have never experienced the call of God as a voice that is definitely outside of myself. 

In today's first reading Samuel responds to the voice of the Lord by going to the person nearest to him, Eli. Eli has to assure him a second time before realising that it is the Voice of God that is calling. IAMIAM is not a result of speculation or of imagination; he is not an abstract concept of the All Perfect, the All Knowing, the All Good, the All Free; he is a person,  Our Father whom Jesus called "Dad". 

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit reveal that God is a Trinity. This fact about God is revealed first of all to Mary at the Annunciation. She, born without sin, is to bear the "Begotten not Made". The conception of the Son is the Eternal, before time began or ends, will of the Father Son and Holy Spirit.

A human being is the  height of God's creation. He has given us the ability to say "yes" or "no" to his call. Samuel and Mary answered "Yes" but most of us do not hear the Lord calling in the night, nor receive a messenger from God. Most of us do not have the Baptist to point out to us the "Lamb of God". 

We are those blessed believers who have never seen and yet listen for and search out the authentic voice of the Lord. St Paul saw the Risen Lord not as a vision but the Risen Body, begotten not made, one in being with the Father and knew that he belonged body and Soul to "Our Father in Heaven".

From that moment he knew that, although he was a freeman he was a "slave" to God and shared with us that message which to ignore is to bring death. "You are not your own property, you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the Glory of God".

Dear Lord, help us to avoid the meaningless fleeting pleasures that are the sins of the flesh. Human science has controlled the consequences of bodily delight and thus billions of us have ignored the seventh commandment. Help me to be truly penitent for all my sins and acknowledge that all my sinful behaviour was done knowing that I was deliberately disobeying my inner voice that is you calling to my soul. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints bring to us the grace to resist the power of our bodies and the forgiveness that saves our souls from the ravages of sin.

 13/01/2024

Everything is not all about me but I do have to begin my meditations with myself for I am a real man, living in a real world and trying to respond with thankful Grace to IamIam, Father, Son and Holy Spirit who spoke through the Jewish Prophets and speaks to me through the Jesus of the  Scriptures, doctrines of the Church, the Mystical Body of Son one in being with all the struggling on Earth, the Penitent in Purgatory and the Triumphant in Heaven.

Saul is described as being tall, good looking and charismatic. He sounds like a film-star. He is still living today in a being known only to God. Last night I was captivated by dramas on T.V. I knew that I was wasting my time but one was trying to portray the plight known only to the Jewish people after their refusal to accept Jesus and the fall of the Temple. The other was an incredibly bloody story of  life in today's Korea. 

Forget the unreal but look to the reality that is the Gospel reading for today!

I can recreate in my mind's eye the peaceful lake, the house and Jesus surrounded by admirers, the baffled and the hungry. All classes of humanity are present but when the Pharisees who are true to the code for life prescribed by the Law complain about the presence of the ritually unclean, it is not that they are "snobbish" but rather that they totally believe the scriptures as they have interpreted them.

We can all err even when we pursue what we see as the path of righteousness. Jesus calls to all of us to be Holy as is God. He is completely open with us. We have to refuse the beauty of this world and the millions of distractions produced by the ingenuity of man. He is the completed Law of Moses but still stands as the "golden rule" of both Testaments.  We have to know, love and serve the Lord our God and share our all, as did the widow, with the brothers and sisters for whom Jesus lives, dies and is resurrected. 

Dear Lord, may this day that has now begun for me not be wasted by trivialities that capture my mind. Let my prayers remain in my heart and mind and let me not be mistaken in my belief that Jesus knows all us sinners person to person, and directs the Grace of Father, Son and holy Spirit to my soul. Let my response be based on that of Mary, an eternal "yes" to your Love. Amen.

 12/01/2024

In the Old Testament IAMIAM spoke to His People, to Israel, through his prophets. Their seemingly random utterances were usually made when the Chosen People were in great need of help or chastisement. 

Moses lead them out of slavery into the freedom of the Promised Land and today Samuel has to seek God's help for the People are not at ease in the freedom and responsibility that they have to live their own lives governed directly by God's Law and adherence to the Temple. God makes it perfectly clear to the People that what they are requesting will not bring the benefits that they are anticipating.

"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar". There is also nothing ambiguous  about Jesus' separation of Church and State. Jesus makes it quite clear that his Father does not have favoured races or nations and our human freedom has the sole purpose of allowing us  to choose Holiness as our aim in life. Politics is not intrinsically evil but God's warning through Samuel has even more facets today when political man seeks to deny both the moral and physical laws of God.

"You cannot serve God and Mammon". Thus he teaches us to turn our backs on the material temporal things of our lives. Towards the conclusion of his Mission in his tortured bloodstained human body he emphasises very publicly before Caesar's representative that he is a King but not of this world and becomes the mocked and spat upon perfect Sacrifice of Calvary.

Similarly at the beginning of his mission in Capernaum he horrifies some of the witnesses by "My child your sins are forgiven you" . Ironically the silent protests of the scribes who  witnessed this miracle are the absolute truth about Jesus for he is indeed Father, Son and Holy Spirit, "God who can forgive sins" and to prove it he, three years later, poured out his life's blood to create the Mercy that is always available for us to choose and be cleansed by.

Dear Lord send us holy priests who can show by their lives on earth that it is possible for mankind to live in a state of holiness. I feel that I am in need of a penance as a punishment for all my sins but also know that forgiveness can only come by your gift, "Your only Son" crucified for my sins. Let my soul become fed by your grace and let me share in your Spiritual Body which is the only one true Church. May Mary's and all the Saints' prayers help to save all of us who are held firmly in the sinful grip of this World that we might resist the Flesh and secure in the care of Jesus, face the archenemy without fear.

 11/01/2023

I wonder why it is that Jesus is apparently seeking anonymity when he tells the leper to keep quiet about his cure. It also involves the priests of the Temple for Jesus is adhering to the Law when he instructs the cured man to show himself to the priests. In one of the parables Jesus instructs us not to hide our "light under a bushel". 

Christianity is not like the mystery religions of the first centuries and our modern Masons. There is no inner secret that is revealed only to initiates. Many, however, have tried to make it so. In the first centuries non-baptised catechumen were not allowed to be present during the consecration. In many of the Orthodox rites of today, a curtain is drawn to separate clergy and  sanctuary from the congregation during the most holy parts of the Liturgy.

The conclusion of the final revelation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit began with a very public execution on a hill outside the city walls of Jerusalem. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit experience the suffering of the Incarnate Son, proclaim the Glory in the Resurrection and breathe the Holy Spirit  into those present in the Upper Room. 

All through the Gospels Jesus gives hints of "his time", the events that  reveal God's love for the world. Jesus' "time" is Eternity revealed in human time to human witnesses, Mary, Joseph the Apostles and all the peoples of the Holy Land saw him in those days and continue to worship seeking grace to be shared with God's children, all of us, for we are never anonymous to God.

Dear Lord I know that I need only to avoid sin to be doing your will on Earth. I am beginning to realise the dangers from which I have been rescued, the greatest of them being the eternal pains of Hell. Teach me how to  reflect the light of your grace and become one with all those who know that YouAre the head of your Church whose body is still nurtured  by Mary and the prayers of all the Saints to bring holiness into this World. 

 10/01/2023

As I waited for this computer to come to life I had to ask myself what my motives are in setting about this meditation on the Word of God each morning. Am I really answering the call each individual receives from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit or am I still stuck in my own ego and "showing off" to myself, "secretly" hoping that somebody will come upon this blog by chance and appreciate me as much as I do myself?

I really do believe that the only important thing that anybody can do with their life is to know, love and serve the Lord. I have rarely shown to the world that I try to govern all of my actions by this belief. I remember that as a child when I first heard today's first reading that I experienced real fear that I would hear the "that voice calling me in the dark".

I always have to smile when I hear how Peter's mother got off her sick bed and began "to wait on them". I am sure that the acceptance of a woman's role in the Palestine of his day by Jesus meets with derision by Feminism. 

"Feminism" is another of the "isms" of this world that fills the time that could be spent following Jesus to a lonely place in prayer. Jesus did not preach any social roles for men or for women. Our souls are all equal no matter the coding of our bodies. Being different does not teach inequality nor do the standards of this world matter at all for Jesus leads "the joyous throng" into the life of the Resurrection where there will be "no giving in marriage" for God will be "all in all". That state of being is the "Kingdom not of this world".

Dear Lord, help me to live out this day without bringing more evil into this world. Let me truly become like Jesus without sin and united to you in prayer. There is nothing more awe inspiring than to know that this miniscule of being, typing these words, is known to the ever greater immensity of our God always filling his creation with his Love. May Mary the created human source of the Begotten Incarnation continue to lead the Saints in Heaven in never ceasing prayers for Mercy to be poured onto the sinners on Earth and the atoning Holy Souls in Purgatory.

 09/01/2024

More than two and a half thousand years have passed since Hannah's prayers were answered. Millions of us have lived and died since then. It could be possible that today there are more of us still living than have already lived and died. Whatever the truth of those numbers, we can be sure that God knows everything about each one of us. He knows and His Holy Spirit unifies us as his beloved children and He still teaches us His ways.

Many of us try to respond to the Glory of God. We try to see his face. I am sometimes captivated by the books of Theologians who have been gifted with intellects capable of holding their prayerful thoughts  about God and expressing them clearly in words that can be understood by anybody. At other times I contrast the words that they are writing about God with the actions of the Church of their life-times.

There is certainly a mismatch between the prayers and teaching of the Church Fathers of  Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria and the structures and deeds that developed to become the Orthodox Church led from Constantinople. At the time St Thomas Aquinas was praying, teaching and writing, the Catholic Church was instigating the mass slaughter of "heretics" in France and in Italy.

There is a huge contrast between the sincerity of modern theologians and the Church of our times. It is impossible to read Ratzinger or Balthasar without being touched by their love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the Church. My own life has overlapped theirs. 

I grew up in a religious family for whom nothing was more important than going to mass. I retained that love for the faith throughout even the most sinful periods of my life. By the grace of God I was called back to the Church but soon found that the institution was crumbling away. 

Since the time that the Authority, heard in the voice and presence of Jesus of Nazareth in the Synagogue at Capernaum, was institutionalised into a Kingdom of this World, the faith of believers has been undermined by those who have been called to be "Good Shepherds".

 Herod's slaughter of the Innocents has been continued throughout the ages by Christians who have been misled into the World that is, with the Devil and the Flesh the sworn enemy of humanity and thus turned its back on Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our Father is not at all responsible for the misuse of freedom that is the sinful human pride that has brought this about. It is only mankind that brings sin into our lives. Jesus has won the battle for us, but we have to say "Yes"  to his Victory by Loving, Honouring and Obeying the Word that Is Life and Love.

Dear Lord, Let me be one with  Hannah and the slaughtered "poor ones" who suffered unjustly during their lives on Earth. The sinless authority of Jesus has been clouded by the many failures of the men who were tasked by you with building up your body on earth. Let the Holy Spirit overcome the egotistical bullying that characterizes many clergy. Let me become part of the unseen body that is your presence on earth and is in communion with and supported by Mary and the Saints in Heaven where can be found only holy joy, unclouded by regrets.

 08/01/2024

Our world is now a unimaginable tangle of words. When I first open my computer there are numerous threads demanding my attention. It takes a real act of will to keep my mind focussed on my intention to begin this day with prayer in which God takes first place for only he is real and all the other words are mere distractions.

There is nothing greater than our Father, Son and Holy Spirit and there is only one "my soul" with which I can can know, love and serve the Eternal Wisdom, Glory and Love that is the Lord.

Within the words of this world, communication threads, that are so tangled that they appear to be as solid as lead, the truth that is the Word of God is to be found in the gift of Grace that is the Holy Spirit, the unseen promptings to Holiness that we refuse at our peril. This faith in God is  confirmed by Scripture which is the infallible record of God's revelations to the Creation which he knows to be Good.

Faith in God has to set its face against anything that is not of God. Isaiah sings "People of Zion sing and shout for joy, for great in your midst is the Holy one of Israel". His linear descendants in denial of God continue to slaughter all who will not accept their selfish pride. 

"The truth I have now come to realise is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him." are the words of St Peter to the household of Cornelius. His linear descendants soon lost the thread that leads to the "Kingdom not of this world" and became overcome by Mammon which still feeds their selfish pride.

"Who can overcome the world? Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God".

Dear Lord you are the only one whose judgement of my being has any importance. you know that I am always aware of being in this world and looking at myself as others would see me. Vanity is the great destroyer of integrity and of your Truth. Help me to know that nothing is more important for any life on Earth than to live in obedience to your will and to always accept your Golden Rule. May Mary  pray that your Institutional Church put aside the worldly wealth that she has accrued over the centuries and return to being the the Guardian of the Sacraments of the Resurrected Lord. May your Mercy be sought out by all sinners on Earth and accepted in humility by those in Purgatory.Amen

 07/01/2024

We have all heard of God and how that to help us recover or retain the Faith in his Divine Being that is the purpose of our lives, he emptied himself and became the same material being of his creation as the pinnacle of Evolution that is mankind. Today we celebrate the anniversary of that day when God was revealed to the Nations.

The people who first saw the babe in the stable and in the temple did not know of the resurrection and could have died before the events of Jesus' life unfolded. Luke records that  they were aware that they had seen something even greater than the wonder at new life that is our reaction to any infant creature human or otherwise.

We read St Paul's letters knowing that they are written to teach the new Church how to live and pray to their unseen God. In the communities that sprang up along the major roads of the Roman Empire there were many other travellers who brought news with them. St Paul's "You have probably heard" points to the existence of these others who spread the Good News anonymously.

The Church of Peter, Popes and Pontiffs is not, in its institutionalism, the exclusive place of Christ on earth. There have always been anonymous believers of Christ who fed by the Holy Spirit become "parts of the same Mystical Body" whose head is the Risen Lord and which still has the holiness of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the Immaculate Mary, Theotokos, as its goal in life.

It would better if we could remain within the fold of Peter but in the long history of the Institutional Church both East and West, Mammon has always prevailed over the Kingdom of Heaven. There has never been a moment in History when we can truly say that Church, Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant has not been part of the Kingdom of this World that was disowned by Jesus before Pilate at the trial which preceded the Crucifixion that lead to the Glory of the Resurrection and a place for all of us in the Father's house. Thanks be to God.

Dear Lord, I do not want to escape as did Jonah. I am not afraid to offer my being as an unworthy  sacrifice. Your Mercy is far greater than my sins but within the limits of what I am they are as deadly as the lance that pierced your heart. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints bring down to all on Earth and in Purgatory thy grace to help us all recognise and atone for our sins. I make this prayer in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for us the living to avoid sin and that the souls of the faithful departed become able to rest in peace. Amen

 06/01/2024

What does it mean when John asks "Who can overcome the world?"? I am alive this morning and thanks to the wonder that is man-made technology I can reach out to all the other human beings that inhabit our planet. I can access news from Greenland to Antarctica. I can "chat" about anything on social media and see the person I am "chatting to" even if he is in Australia and I am in the UK.

This is the world that has to be "overcome" in 2024. Every waking moment of our lives can be filled with the works of Man and the material world has become the only reality for many, if not most, of us.

All of this that is the material reality of today has come about by the choice of mankind to ignore the Word of God and to revel in the self-glory of its own Ego. The created "I" of the "world" ignores the IAMIAM of Eternity and, today, as never before, our times deny God to his face, even to claiming for itself egotistical choice in being a "he"or a"she".

The ways of our world, Mammon, are not God's ways. No matter how far Medical Science progresses there comes the moment for all of us when we face the reality of Eternity. We all die and our world is revealed as the temporary reality that it is. We lose everything of this world that we have ever loved and clung to.

God is not a liar and the life that is in us is the Father's, Son's and Holy Spirit's and we have to care for it in the reality of this World not only as our own souls but for all who are united with us by Christ's saving Grace so that as we die all souls can become an offering acceptable to God. We can only do this by having Christ in us; "anyone who has the Son has life, anyone who does not have the Son does not have life." Thank God for his Truth and for his Mercy!

Dear Lord, let the awe that believing your revelations brings to me stay with me throughout this day and let me share your Mercy with all the souls captivated by the joys of the World. May Mary whose life was never damaged by sin but who shared the agony that sin brought to her Son whose death on the Cross she witnessed as a sword piercing her heart, lead the Saints in Heaven in their Chorus of Praise and continue to implore thy Mercy to erase the guilt of Sin from the living and the faithful dead who are now suffering in Hope.

 05/01/2024

I always try to avoid distractions when, each day, I begin to raise my heart and mind to God. As I read the first reading for this morning's mass I realised that I have never until now really read this letter of St John. 

I have not been able throughout my life to avoid the distractions of world, flesh and devil. I have never prayed as I am now able and have often sinned in that I am, as was Cain, always ready to ally myself with the Evil one in matters both large and small and deny the whole point of human life. 

My talk and thoughts and often my prayers have been empty words "Lord, Lord" and not the  "knowing loving and serving" the Love that gave up his life for us. I have cushioned my conscience from the Holy Spirit and often been able to justify attachment to the things of this world. 

In this I am like millions of other human beings who have been able to justify to themselves their own pride and greed by forming for themselves a human conscience which agrees with their own egos.

St John preaches the direct message of the Incarnation. We can clear our  God-given ( not personally created) consciences and stand without fear in the full presence of our Maker, Saviour and Love only when "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" becomes much more than a formula for prayer," not just talk and empty words", but is realised in our daily lives and taken with us at the end as our own personal offering to be accepted or rejected by Our Father. God have Mercy on me.

Dear Lord, I too have to thank you for the "wonder of my being" and join the whole world in crying out with joy for you make it possible for me to be able to rely on you. Your Love surrounds the world and we can join it by turning our whole beings to you our creator. May Mary who must have shared on Earth her prayers with those of St John, and now leads all the saints in praise of your Glory, never cease to plead that we sinners on Earth, and in Purgatory can atone for our sins and finally come into your presence. Amen

04/01/2024

Today the first reading helps us to hold in our minds that Jesus is begotten by God. The Babe of Bethlehem is not created out of nothing but is the Eternal Word of God emptying himself of his Divine Being to become the human Son of Mary begotten in the Overshadowing of the Holy Spirit in human time. 

Thus IAMIAM reveals that he is a Trinity that remains a oneness. This revelation of the Mystery of God's being captivated the minds of many of the first converts and many unknown, or forgotten humans for whom the Resurrection, Descent of the Holy Spirit and Ascension began a hope of Eternity based on their prayer to know more about God.

Adam and Eve, Jesus and Mary are the only humans who have been born free of sin. Jesus and Mary are the only ones to have remained sinless throughout their lifetimes. Jesus can only be born as a true human because within the Mystery of the Trinity God knows that for creation to become the mirror of Holiness that has been loved into being the true freedom of mankind must choose to return that Love. We can do that only by free choice. It is sin that prevents me from always choosing God. It is sin that keeps body mind and soul in slavery.

Our Father is greater than anything that can be thought so we can never come near him in equality of knowing. Jesus teaches us that we can fulfill his will for us and come to holiness in this Life because that is Jesus' Mission from the Father. We are not saved by our understanding of God but only by abandoning sinful pride and putting all our trust in the revelations that are finalized by the life, death and Resurrection of the true God on Earth, Begotten not Made, of one Being with the Father; the revelations that should be steadfastly guarded by the Church of Peter, the Rock, and revealed by her actions in this world.

Dear Lord, let me live this day always knowing that you are Eternal Glory, Holiness, Thought, Power, Knowledge and Humility. Out of your greatness you Love each one of us as a human father loves his children. Help me to not sleep and keep my soul ready for the coming end of my life on Earth, which may prove painful but is the only way to see you as you really are. May Mary your Mother and ours plead for all her sinful children on Earth that we make the choices that will lead us to become witnesses of Eternal Glory and may the souls of the faithful departed rest in the peace that becomes ours when, by the Mercy of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are cleansed of our sins.

 03/01/2023

Dear Lord, I know that you already know how I feel today. My body is weak and I know that my sins are great but your Mercy is far greater than my transgressions of your Law. Forgive not only my own sins but also those I caused in others. May Mary and all the saints pray for me to receive the grace that is the forgiveness of Father, Son and Holy Spirit brought into the world through Jesus' life, death and resurrection.

 02/01/2024

The third and fourth centuries after the Birth of Christ were filled with the Holy Spirit who manifested Father, Son and Holy Spirit through the Holy Lives and the writings of many Saints.

 God was no more present to inhabitants of the Roman Empire than he is to us today. For no man is created to choose damnation for himself. We are all created as equal souls but in bodies that are determined by God's Providence.

When there were still people alive who had witnessed the Living Resurrected Lord the wonder of the God from Palestine was communicated to the Pagans by the devotion and sincerity of the first Christians who were filled with the Holy Spirit.

But even then there were those who wished to put themselves first and taught different versions of the events that became our standard Gospels. St John knew that even among the twelve there were those for whom it was difficult to believe that the Jesus whom they had left to die on the cross had resurrected not as a wraith or phantom but in the same living body that they had known and walked with in Palestine. "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe".

Jesus words are still alive in the heart of the Mystical Body of Christ recognised by St Paul. There has never been a moment in History when the meaning of God's words and deeds have not been contemplated and encouraged by the Holy Spirit. St John warns us of those who mislead, but does not dwell on them.

We are  believers or otherwise not because of "Theoloogy" but because of the witnesses of the real-time events in Palestine 2000 years ago and the recorded teaching of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Son is begotten of the Father working through the Spirit of them both "thrice blessed three in one ".

Dear Lord let me always remain open to the Holy Spirit. Save me from the horror of selfishness and unbelief. I can be no more than I am so let my poor self be taken into the care of Mary along with all the human beings that you adopted with John in your final agony. Let holiness become the characteristic of all Christians who accept Jesus for what he is and may our souls live lives of quiet hopefulness as we prepare for the call to Glory that is closer than I think. Amen

 01/01/2024

This morning's readings repeat for us the facts on which we are to build holy lives. 

We have to accept that we are alive and that we are one of millions of other human lives that have begun in exactly the same way as ours and are still living. We know that there are other people born before us, but now dead, whom we can remember and that there are millions more whom we can know about from the remains of their work and history of their lives.

Human  lives are limited. Death comes to all of us. Our bodies really are dust. No matter how full we fill our barns somebody other than us will reap the material reward of our labours. This is the first fact that we have to accept.

In the History of human life that is the Bible another Life that is not confined by the limits of  the time and space within which we live out our three score and ten, is revealed to us. IAMIAM is the never ending  pure being, the creator and lover who made all and loves all. He it is who creates us as  image and likeness of his own being by adding our souls to our physical bodies. We cannot retain the Evergreater within our minds but we need to know that He has perfect eternal knowledge of all of his creatures. In our case he knows both our physical bodies and our souls. 

In the Old Testament God spoke through his Prophets but 2000 years ago Our God the Eternal had emptied himself of his Divinity/Godness  to reduce and confine himself to the development cycle of all human animals and nine months after his Incarnation ( begotten not made) was delivered of his chosen Mother into the poverty of the stable at Bethlehem. Mary is "The Mother of God" and all of humanity has been adopted by "Our Father who art in Heaven". 

This is the second fact that we need to build the foundations of the righteousness that will bring peace to our souls in this world and to the eternal, Love, Glory and Happiness that is the instant when we shall see Father, Son and Holy Spirit as he really is. That moment can never change for we see God as he really is ALL IN ALL and this Perfection can never be bettered nor lost.

Dear Lord, help me to avoid all temptations that take away my awareness of your love for all mankind. Help me to not confine my prayers to my own benefit but let me share all your gifts with my family and other men, women and children, the starving, the dying and all victims of war and  shameful clergy. May your Mother's prayers be shared and bring sinners back to the awareness of your eternal being and thus not refuse the gift that is the wonder of our lives. Amen.