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