29/02/2024

The parable of Dives and Lazarus is pretty foundational for all who try to follow Jesus along the way, the truth and the life. Death is the moment that tells us all that there is nothing more that we can do for what we will face then is the judgement that determines our existence. 

The poor man at the gates and the rich man in the palace; fine linen or dog-licked sores.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit certainly condemn the wealth of Richman, Dives. They do not condemn the poverty of Lazarus but Dives in his torment can pity the fate that awaits his brothers if they do not change their ways. We are not told the reaction of Lazarus to the reversal of their earthly lives.

We have to ask ourselves on this the miserable "extra day"of the year's morning, whether or not Jesus condemns wealth for itself alone. The rich young man went sorrowfully away because he was a man of great wealth. Passing through the eye of a needle is easier for  a fully-laden camel than it is for a rich man to enter Heaven.

In this 2024 many of us are living in environments which retain in form of buildings and goods wealth that was being created at the time Jesus walked on earth. Many of us are richer than former kings and emperors but throughout Europe and USA  there are millions fleeing from societies where there is no peace in which to set about the acquisition of wealth or think about one's place in creation.

There are millions of Dives and millions of Lazaruses but only one of me. Rich and poor alike are one with me in that we have to know that wealth and poverty are both of no value in our quest to align ourselves with God's will.  

Each one of has to do the will of Our Father regardless of the  world's economy and our place in it for "Heaven and earth will pass away but my word will stand." God does not have favourites and even the poor have the  freedom of will to say "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven " or ignore Our Father and his revelation of Mercy. This is within the freedom of all of us. Without the will to serve God, poverty alone will not bring about redemption.

Dear Lord help me to truly know that it is your will that I am seeking out and truthfully atoning for my sins. It is only by my deeds and sincerity of heart that I can approach your altar in Heaven and confess the wilful corruption with which I have marred my life. May the prayers of your Mother and your Heavenly friends never fail in bringing your Mercy to me, my family and to all sinners especially to the Holy Souls.

 28/02/2024

The mother of James and John is one of the few voices that come out of the "multitude" that surrounds Jesus and the Apostles. The typical voice is asking for a cure either for themselves or a relative. The mother of the "Sons of Thunder", however, is asking for power to be given to the "fruits of her womb". There is nothing spiritual about her request. She wants her sons to be "top dog" in the only sort of kingdom that she can envisage, an Empire in the here and now.

The prophets of the Old Testament were all of them expected to reveal the greatness of IAMIAM in this world and they made no proclamations about life of the world to come. The "milk and honey" had to be now and thus it was so. Even today Theologians can still make a living by discussing whether the Chosen People had a concept of "soul", spiritual life, or not.

The Resurrection overcomes all the mysteries of the Old Testament and the First Fathers built up their understanding of Jesus' message by searching the scriptures which had shaped the Apostles devotion to IAMIAM in such a way that Jesus' "Follow me" did not promote an argument but rather instant obedience.

Of course, we do not know whether the events in this mornings' Gospel reading really do follow the timeline recorded by Matthew. If they do, we have to ask ourselves how anyone could ask to be part of the "Kingdom" foretold by Jesus. We are told elsewhere that the Apostles could not understand what Jesus could mean by "rising from the dead".  

Today, Jesus' has informed his followers that they will be going to Jerusalem where he " will be handed over to the Chief Priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the pagans to be mocked, scourged and crucified and on the third day he will rise again". 

The only human who could seek out to follow this road is the Son of God, Jesus, the only Son, begotten not made, born of the Father before time began, God from God, Light from Light and he chooses to suffer in this world so that we can follow him not to worldly "thrones" in Cathedrals/ Palaces but to the Eternal Life that Father, Son and Holy Spirit offers to all of us if we choose to accept it.

Dear Lord, help me to become prayerful this day. I am helpless as a rag-doll and can only live when the Holy Spirit keeps the sparks of your Love smouldering within this carcass over which I have never had control and thus sinned in the grotesque ways that still trouble my conscience. You have taken away the sins of this world but the tiny speck that I am still knows that  what I have done wrong in my life has been by my choice. May the prayers of Mary and all the saints help me to grow strong in your love and may the Holy Spirit confirm that we should all, fathers and mothers, pray only for the gift of righteousness be given to all our children. 

 27/02/2024

It is always easy for me to agree with Jesus' words but today he asks me  whether I have  ever lived my belief in my actions. I can read the Gospels and thus search for truth. I can wallow in Theology understanding probably less than ten per cent of the leading lights of my generation. I can read the lives of Saints but know that I am far behind in my dedication to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus' condemns hypocrisy. IAMIAM looks for dedication of the heart not for gifts made from his own creation. We all have to  look for the warning signs of both these faults in our selves before we proceed with the very easy task of recognising them in others.

Jesus is straightforward in his command to the twelve. He tells them that they should never feed their egos out of the results he brings about through them. Each of our bodies has one human father but in the Church, Christ's Body on Earth, there is only  "Our Father" and he is not of this world.

Even though there is nobody else who reads these words of mine I am a teacher trying to teach myself how to live my life. I try to keep my being open to receive that Grace without which there is no salvation. Many of us created in the Image & likeness have been so overcome by the wonder that is our being that the Father has been forgotten. Even nonentities such as myself can have an inner core of overweening pride.

The bleeding and broken corpse hanging on the cross is our only teacher. Jesus our teacher's foundation lesson is that all virtue can be possible for each one of us if we have the true humility to admit that "I" am totally dependant on God. I am nothing without him.

Dear Lord help me to be sincere in all my thoughts, words and deeds. Help to remember always that all humanity can be saved as your mercy is for all who choose to accept it. Even the perpetrators of the inhuman violence that still disfigures your creation are my brothers created to do your will and accept your mercy. May my prayer be united with the those of Mary and all the Saints that the peace of heaven be brought to life on Earth. Let these moments spent searching for you remain with me throughout this day and may I learn how to forget myself in the humility that teaches us all the way, the truth and the life.

 26/02/2024

I need to be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit if I am not to lose myself in the vast sea of knowledge and experience that is available without even moving out of this chair. Our computers are truly amazing and we are now able to turn over to them tasks that used to need our personal attention.

In the first centuries of Christian worship some became so intolerant of the demands made on on their personal attention by the Good News which included the care for their neighbour as they would for themselves, that they left their congregations and sought the lonely places that enabled them to raise their minds and hearts to God in peace and solitude.

Jesus too, often went into lonely places to be with his Father but he never remained separated from his companions for very long. His whole mission is to give the people of the world the grace to be able to live within the will of Our Father. For this reason " Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my Church." 

Jesus did, at his trial where he was judged by both the State and the Temple, affirm  to both these institutions and for all time that his Kingdom was not of this world. The difficulty for us now and for the apostles then is that we are living bodily lives in this world and although at death we cannot take anything with us our goods do remain. 

The unintentional created wealth of the Church has promoted avarice and ambition throughout the ages and wealth has brought with it all the vices of any Human Institution that we can find in abundance within the Church which seems to be decaying today.

The body of Our Lord never decayed. Father, Son and Holy Spirit has compassion for humanity and revealed the Resurrection as the first fruits of the new creation that will begin with the end of time. We are all created to share in that new beginning but we have to follow God's teaching to become blessed of Our Father and to remember that our receiving of compassion is reciprocal; "the amount you will receive is the amount you have given out".

Dear Lord, help me to feel compassion for all victims of clerical vice and also to know what the world cannot acknowledge that the perpetrators can feel remorse and feel truly sorry for their sins. Each one of us, however, must be aware first of all of our own sinfulness and seek the Mercy that is the very being of You whom we know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let me beseech you that the prayers of Mary and all the saints are heard in the souls of all who turn to thee and that that glimpse of Love can be turned into the good works that we all need to do to fill our own cup of compassion. Amen.

 25/02/2024

The three readings for this morning's mass are all chosen for us to reflect not only on them in themselves but also for us to consider how we are to understand scripture as the record of God's dealings with the world.

Is IAMIAM asking Abraham to kill his son and burn him on an altar because total obedience is the only way to "know " the Glory of God? If true and this is our God what hope do we have in finding meaning in our lives?

St Paul who is a Jew faithful to the Law and the total message of the Old Testament has been immersed in the "Glory of the Lord" on the road to Damascus and now knows that the Jesus whose followers he has been persecuting is in fact the Son of IamIam and that the perfect everlasting sacrifice has been made for the benefit of all.

Peter, James and John have the Glory that is the being of Father, Son and Holy Spirit revealed to them. They want to be held in that wonder for ever, they don't want to move from that place but they have to ask themselves what meaning could be hidden in the words "rising from the dead".

We have to believe in the Bible for everything we "know" about God starts in that record of revelation. In the Old Testament God seems to approve of trickery. Jacob got the blessing and kept it by deception. God tests us to the limit as he did  Abraham for in this world we have freedom; he has not strait-jacketed us into virtue, we must choose for ourselves.

The story of Abraham is harsh and cruel but God chose to reveal to his chosen people that the  sometime human sacrifices made by the civilisations surrounding them could never be lawful. The Transfiguration of Jesus is a glimpse of the reality of Heaven. St Paul a true son of Abraham answers for all time the question of Peter, James and John. The meaning of "rising from the dead" is that "He not only died for us, he rose from the dead and there at God's right hand he stands and pleads for us".  

Dear Lord, help me not to be overcome by the vastness and beauty of the world that mankind has built from your creation. Help me to see the one path in the tangle of possibilities afforded by each second of life that keeps me following your will. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints continue to bring the hope of your mercy that can sustain us all in life even though the possibilities for sin are immense. May my sins and the sins of the whole world find forgiveness if not in this world then in purgatory. Save us all from eternal damnation. Amen.

 24/02/2024

That the rain falls on the wicked and on the just tells us that God does not reveal himself in the natural events of his creation. We may interpret natural disasters as signs of God's displeasure but the physical creation follows the rules of nature/science with which they are embedded at their beginning out of nothing.

The Jews of the Old Testament, however, were advantaged over all others by the revelation to them of the moral code by which God's Image and likeness is to live in this physical world. They didn't succeed although many tried and are still trying.

We have to realise that God could just turn his back on us. For us not to exist would do no harm to God. There is something about us that Father, Son and Holy Spirit love with  Infinite Love beyond our understanding and the overwhelmingly wonderful solution to our lack of integrity is for God to become a natural man born as we all are from conception, begotten not made, and take onto himself the guilt of sin in the perfect humanity of Jesus.

Father Son and Holy Spirit have nothing but Love for all of us. Even at the most wicked moment of my life, God was there to pull me out of my own Hell created by my sins. All the wicked failures of mankind by Nation or Religion can be forgiven for God is the EverGreater and the mercy created by his suffering on Calvary is ours for the asking.

We are never "asking for Mercy" when we engage in mutual slaughter, exterminating our fellow men in gas chambers or when anyone of us despises or envies any other one of us. Sin begins in Adam and Eve and grows as does the population of the world. 

We all have to concentrate on our own lives for it is only in that body, mind and soul, my "I" that I can be assured of doing the will of God. If all the individuals of the world were to do that nobody would be dying as they are at this moment from the violence of others.

Dear Lord, You have upheld my being for more than 80 years even though you know how easily I can sin, send the same mercy I receive into the minds and souls of all who are fighting in the place where Joseph sought refuge with you and Mary from the hateful power of Herod and let hatred be purged and no more weapons fired. Bring peace to my soul and to all the World. Amen

 23/02/2024

Many of us try to see the "Will of God" or indeed "Acts of God" in present or past events in our lives or in history. Some Christians believe that God's dealings with mankind throughout the Old and New Testaments show that all events in our lives are beyond our control and thus all of us are predetermined to be saved or damned.

In this passage from the Old Testament God makes sure that Ezekiel teaches that we all should know that we have the freedom to change the course of our lives by either opting for or against the Love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God is not in Time. In His Eternity He is more aware of everything Past Present and Future and of all the unrealised possibilities as I am now aware of this keyboard. (I think that I should never refer to God in a past-tense as everything "is" in his timeless presence.) He knows but does not predetermine that the Chosen People showed ( in human time) themselves unworthy of the trust he places in them.

The Love that Father, Son and Holy Spirit have for this Creation ensures that we are all capable of "Being Holy, for I am Holy" and God empties himself of his infinite power/being and is born as we are to be the only offering able to offset the sinfulness that began with Adam and Eve.

It is my sins and the sins accumulated by mankind that need to be recognised by their perpetrators before they can be forgiven. Jesus warns his disciples to beware of the scribes and Pharisees and we too can only look back with disbelieving horror at the behaviour of our priests and prelates who have rarely been examples of Apostolic virtue. 

I cannot bear to think how that culpability is continued in the Church entrusted by the Saviour to lead us and to join with him in Heaven as together the Sacraments, Gods presence in time, are prepared to strengthen our souls who face a daily and deathly struggle against, the devil, the world and the flesh for possession of our souls.

Dear Lord help me to grow in prayerfulness and let me withstand all temptations. Let Mary and the saints share with all the world the grace within which they are in heaven. Help me to understand your Word for I know you do not wish to deceive anyone but have created us all to use our freedom to recognise and return your love. Help me and my family to learn how to know, love and serve and let me feel no anger towards anyone

 20/02/2024

"Who do you say I am?" 

The men who witnessed this conversation between Peter and Jesus were not part of the educated elite of first century Palestine. They were men who were able to provide the necessities of life for themselves and their families only by their own labour. They were fishermen and labourers, workmen known only to God.

By the time this letter was circulated throughout the Roman Provinces we now know as Turkey Peter had witnessed the living Mission of Jesus. He had come to understand the comprehensive reality of his own reply. He had seen Christ in his Glory on Mount Tabor. He had been present at the many rebuttals of Temple Intelligentsia, witnessed numerous miracles and deserted "The Son of the Living God" at the time of pain and sorrow. He had also become a leader of the followers of the way first trodden by Jesus.

Many generations have passed since Peter atoned in bitter grief for his desertion of Jesus. The groups of believers lead by witnesses to the teaching of the Living Word have grown into many massive organisations in this world. People in their millions have been born and live on as unembodied souls. The World is full of the accumulated wealth of ages in Temples dedicated to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And the poor still starve on earth.

The Institution which was founded on St Peter still claims the Power of the Keys but has never learned the lesson dramatized by Jesus' critical treatment of the "Priests and Scribes" and his words to Pilate. God's Realm is Spiritual and the only thing that remains for all of us as we die is God's knowledge of how we have responded to his unimaginable trust, belief in us by letting us have complete freedom in how we use his gift of life. 

"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that we might have life." At the end of this life, we will all ask of our Father "Who do you say I am?" It is our earthly deeds which will be the basis for his reply. 

Dear Lord, you know how  easy it is for me to get entangled in my own thoughts. Help me to come to terms with all the strands of knowledge that trap me into the self-centeredness that I must avoid in my desire to know, love and serve only You. I would dearly love to be happy in the timeless next life  as I am certainly  sure that I and this world are passing away. May Mary who was also present with the Apostles to receive the Holy Ghost as she had been at the foot of the cross to receive her maternal for all mankind mission, continue by her prayers to bring earthly sinners into your fold and may all the Holy Souls soon receive your bountiful Mercy. Amen

 21/02/2024

Jesus did not begin his public mission until he reached the age of 30. He was no longer in the first flush of youth but was of an age that his presence could command respect. He was no longer the infant prodigy that had captivated the attention of the priests and scribes when he stayed behind at the Temple. As a mature man he addressed his contemporaries; his generation.

 Of course, all generations, infants, children, adults and aged are alive at the same time but as individuals we know that there are many of us about the same age with whom we share the same life experiences and worldly knowledge. This is our generation.

St Peter Damien was born into a generation which was the culmination of the first thousand years of Christianity. There had been for centuries a Church in both east and west that was for the most part in direct disobedience to "My Kingdom is not of this world". The Papacy had become the preserve of powerful families and the Church of Byzantium was another arm of the political power of that Empire.

The worldliness of the institution had become a detriment to the Body of Christ and many of the hierarchs acted as worldly princes and indulged in the corruptions that came with the Mammon they relentlessly pursued. 

Peter Damian, as a member of the religious order, founded by St Benedict to be a nodal point for prayer on our planet, he began his mission to revive the Church by at first avoiding  the community and as a hermit devoted his whole being to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He never left the Institution but worked from within to combat the cancer of corruption that has continued to grow destroying the Holiness that is God's appointed target for us all.

Many, since his day, have attempted the same task but some, "the naive?" of my generation have learnt to our horror that since that day of "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church" there has never been an Institutional Church without the internal decay disguised by the whited sepulchre which Our Lord warned us about.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit is only Truth and Love so we know that there is a true Church founded on Peter. I am a member of that Body of Christ that is all of us who are  open to the will of God supported by the prayers of Mary and all the saints in Heaven. We are the same "corrupt generation" as the first disciples, always addressed by Jesus and which although never succeeding  still hopes with the help of God's grace to be the "Faith found on earth" at the Second Coming.. Mankind is always changing the  World but  the Word of God stands unchanging and  incorruptible to the end of Time.

Dear Lord, hear the prayer that begins in my soul, passes through my mind and comes out of my fingertips onto the screen and  so articulates the longing for the Love and Mercy you have announced to the world. I will not "babble" but ask forgiveness for the self-satisfaction which always mars my being. May Mary and all the saints turn the minds of all the clergy to focus only on you and the souls for whom they have the responsibility of care. Let this generation become like the Ninevites and repent for all the wickedness it has knowingly brought into you Creation and may the Holy Souls find the forgiveness they long for and the peace of Heaven. Amen

 20/02/2024

The Lord never loses touch with us his people on Earth. 

Today Isaiah passes down to us the "Word" that tells us that God is constantly revealing himself. He reveals himself through the wonder of his creation. 

On Earth there is an on-going exchange of water between land, oceans and atmosphere that supports all living creatures. Rain is a grace without which we cannot sustain ourselves. If we interrupt that cycle by avaricious exploitation of the material of this world there are negative consequences that are set in motion, not by the Word or Will of God but by our greed.

We cannot have true life until we realise that God always "IS", "IAMIAM". He is aware of all us beings and we have to reciprocate if we are to enter the never ending Kingdom that is not of this World. While we are here, we have to know, love and serve.

The "Word of God" is the Holy Spirit which when we are cooperating fills our hearts with joy and guards us against sin. Jesus is the incarnate "Word", the Son of the Father. He shows us how to use our freedom to conform to the will of Father Son and Holy Spirit, three persons, One God. What he is and does in this world is what we should also do and thus become like him.

Jesus tells us that "babbling prayer" is ineffective noise offered by pagans to idols. Prayer begins by a sincere recognition that "God" is, the unseen but supreme being that exists and loves us as does a "Father" .We can call his unique mode of being "Heaven". 

The main characteristic of Heaven is that it is nothing but God's Will and it is possible, with his help, for us to become the same living Will of God  here on Earth. Jesus shows us how to do this.

We are to ask God to feed our bodies. We are to confess and repent for our sins with the knowledge that God will forgive and accept us by the measure that we forgive and accept our "neighbour". We are weak and implore protection from making the choice that results in an increase in the evil of the world.

This "Lords Prayer" is not  babbled words but has to be our template for living the holy daily life that is the only reason for us to be alive.

Dear Lord, you know that I can become exhausted in mind and body. My soul is not free from these constraints of mortality which you too experienced. Help me to resist sin and the temptation to "babble on". Help me to do only your will and help me to join with Mary and all the saints in the Mystical Body that is you on earth and in heaven. Help me Lord, Jesus, help me. Amen.

 19/02/2024

Each one of us who reads or hears the readings for today has to know that although recorded long ago the words still teach us the rules by which the whole of humanity has to live on Earth to complete God's will.

God also revealed to Moses that the purpose of our living is to achieve, with the help of Father, Son and Holy Spirit the holiness that is the integrity of our created being; created to be his image and likeness; a whole human being of body, mind and soul; each one of us a unique child of the Father, created with Love to love and be loved.

There are souls known only to God who have achieved that perfection of Holiness but there are only 2 that we can know for certain are bodily present with Father, Son and Holy Spirit ready for the New Creation that will bring about the end of time. 

The only begotten Son and Mary created to be the source of the sinless "flesh" that is our Incarnate God, Jesus, are ready with God, his Angels and his saints to welcome our souls "Come you blessed of my Father" into the Heaven that is not the complete New Creation that  the Second Coming will be.

Every moment of our lives is the "favourable time" but Lent helps us to concentrate on the "Last Things"  and with God's help prepare by renewing our Baptismal Promises to be ready to  join in the proclamation of the Resurrection that is the Glory of God here on Earth.

Dear Lord, "Thank you" is a poor "word" to speak the joy that being in the love that is a family brings to us on Earth. Children are pure delight. My own childhood, however, was marred by sinfulness and knowledge of this brought misery to my parents. I have to rely on your infinite knowledge to know that my words are as nothing and it is my depths of soul that reveal the extent of my cry to thee. Help me Lord to close my life with a true regret for all my sins and with the help of your Grace turn my loved ones away from the "primrose path" that captivates so many on this Earth. May Mary who witnessed as did no other the ultimate agony of her child the "Lamb of God" lead all of your "Mystical Body" in prayer for all sinners and their supplications. May your Mercy be received by all hearts that are open to you "Our Father". and may this Mercy overflow from Purgatory onto our Earth where our sins are so much in evidence and can only be forgiven by your infinite Love.

 18/02/2024

We are not the equals of God. We must not take guidance in how to live our lives from those who are so engrossed with their own beings that they have lost sight of God whom they treat as if he were as far away from us as is Noah.

Noah's Rainbow has been stolen to become the symbol of those who say that they know better than the Creator. They believe that their own obsession with the sins of the flesh is the normality by which all of us should live.

God's Rainbow assures us that the creation fashioned by God is good. Their Rainbow insists that God got it wrong. The pleasures of procreation are the fizz-bang of a modern firework and no matter the number of times we lose ourselves in that pleasure, it never lasts and without fruitfulness it adds nothing to creation for which we can be proud.

God didn't get it wrong. Our bodies are controlled by DNA but we are all more than the ape who was the last link between "Let their be light" and "Go forth and multiply". We all have a central spiritual life that is touched by Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As our bodies age our eternal souls never change. 

Octogenarians know that they are still the same being, the baby who was loved by its mother is still the "I"who creakingly gets out of bed and hopes to live another day in the righteousness that being open to Jesus' proclamation "The time has come and the Kingdom of God is close at hand; repent and believe the Good News." will bring us to the never ending "peace that is beyond understanding".

Dear Lord, you know everything about me. I can tell you nothing except that I can't match with my thankful submission the greatness of the Love that I have often disregarded throughout my life. May my prayers join with those of Mary and all the Saints to become part of that moment when we all know you for what you really are and become truly repentant for all our sins.

 17/02/2024

The Prophets of the Old Testament were gifted by God to lead His people Israel in the way of  truth. Each and every one of his created people was to have God's Law preached to him as an open book and that Nation was to become an example of righteousness to the rest of the World.

The prayerful parts of the Old Testament give glory to the Greatness of God but the history therein reveals the weakness of mankind which is soon lured away from the guidance revealed through the Prophets. 

The Pharisees at the time of Jesus have become for us a byword of hypocrisy and their "Sabbath" anything but a delight that is dedicated only to worship and contemplation. God sees his people and although he has continually warned that mankind living on this Earth, although free to fashion creation as it will, has always to respond positively to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God incarnate, Jesus is born into the world and knows the potential greatness of us all. He knows at first-hand the damage that we do to ourselves and to creation by sin. The "Scribes and Pharisees" have received great gifts but in pondering themselves "Thank you Lord that I am not as other men" they have lost themselves.

Jesus did not leave us alone after the Resurrection. His life, death and resurrection were to remain living in our memory and guarded by the Apostles and their Spiritual descendants. "This my Body" of the Last Supper is still real in the Liturgy of "true believers."

At the time of the Pharisees, there were some of them who listened to the Living Word and followed Jesus. Not all the clergy of our Church are corrupt today. Our Institutional Church has however never been true to Jesus' words at his trial as she has never left this world and soon became entangled in the politics of Rome as the secular power began to move eastwards. 

The weakness of our Institution today has long roots that go at least as far back as the success of St Leo the Great in protecting  Rome against Atilla. Leo himself was one of the Roman aristocrats who grasped control of the Papacy and thus polluted the memory of Peter and Paul who had seen the other world of the Resurrection. That worldly Church has become ever richer and richer and consequently poorer poorer at guarding and distributing the Grace won on Calvary.

We are not left orphaned and alone, however, for the Holy Spirit has never left the Mystical Body of Christ which calls us all to the repentance that leads us to the Kingdom of Heaven from where we on Earth can receive the support of Our Lady and all the Saints. It is still possible for us to chooseto become "holy, even as I am Holy."

Dear Lord, we have made as much a mess of your foundation as when you confronted the  hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees. We have chosen to lose ourselves in the wonders of our human success in controlling matter. I have spent years giving in to temptation but I am now worried that my family is too much a part of this world to be able to extricate themselves. I hear your voice telling me that nothing is impossible to you for you are our Loving Father. I would love for you to wake us all up to the reality that life is not to be "celebrated" for itself but that we should all live in preparation for the Kingdom that is the Eternal Joy of Heaven beyond the decaying matter of the Universe.

 remain

 16/02/2024

Father, Son and Holy Spirit speaking through Isaiah and the Psalmist warns us today that "Fasting" i.e. any religious observance has to be sincere and total. If we are genuinely coming face to face with the Father it is useless to have any reservations for God knows everything.

Even though we put on "sackcloth and ashes"  it is our deeds that are the reality of our beings known to God. We may wear the trappings of ritual but God is not influenced by anything except the truth of our response to his Love of the World. It is the sincerity of our deeds that reveal our belief in the life, death and Resurrection of his only begotten son and not public observances.

The question that Jesus answers today is not another example of the casuistry of the Pharisees. The disciples of John have been trying to find holiness in this life. They have had Jesus pointed out to them as "the Lamb of God", the person whose sandal their Rabbi was not fit to fasten and with sincerity of heart they pose a question that could have been asked by the double dealers who usually tried to outsmart Jesus.

Jesus' answer is seemingly straightforward for us who have been born 2000 years after the events of his life but that is the benefit of hindsight. I wonder what the disciples made of it.

Dear Lord help me to know that hypocrisy is not only a sin but also total stupidity. You are vast beyond my imagining but loving enough to look at each one of us. Let my being be open and my soul purged of pride and self. May I repeat the "yes" with which Mary accepted your will for her and may she continue to lead the heavenly chorus in their cry for your Mercy to overcome all resistance to your Love.

 15/02/2024

In St Luke's Gospel this morning, Jesus warns his disciples how the life of their incarnate Lord is going to end. I have never in my lifetime completely forgotten the teaching of my penny catechism. "Why did God make me"?. "To know love and serve him in this world and be happy with him in the next".

At the first hearing of this teaching I was aware that I had to live for God for it was through his providence that I was born and lived with my family. It was never straightforward for me and even as a child I was aware that I was often doing wrong and putting myself before Our Father.

I have become increasingly aware throughout my life that I am responsible for everything that I do. I am not constrained in my being by any code or algorithm. My body obeys the laws of nature but my soul has to choose for herself to follow Jesus even when the road to Heaven is full of pitfalls, stumbling blocks and the cul-de-sacs of worldly delights and satisfactions.

I don't think that it is possible that the Apostles and disciples would have understood that the "cross" was  a literal reference to the coming passion and death of Jesus. Jesus as God is totally free he is even free to change the laws of nature revealed by the intelligence of men. 

As true man he shared our freedom to do the will of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and it is as the perfect man that he completes the role of Isaac when taken to see God. He is our Lamb of God provided to take away the sins of the world and in him Father, Son and Holy Spirit is well pleased.

Dear Lord, let me continue throughout this day to be constantly aware that this life is a gift for me to use to do only your will as I continue to breath in your creation, our Universe. My life really has been easy and all the disappointments have passed away due to your care for me. May Mary who from the time of your presentation in the Temple knew that a sword was to pierce her own heart and even in the complete wonder of heaven is aware of our needs on earth continue to lead the Saints in prayers for their mislead brothers and sisters on earth and for the souls awaiting mercy in Purgatory.

 14/02/2024

Joel, blessed by God, is calling the people of God to remember that they have been chosen by IAMIAM as his way of revealing himself to all the World. It is only by their repentance for sin that God's favour can be shown to be in them.

Be they alive or dead, all souls who have not chosen obliteration/eternal pain are known as individuals in the Eternal Love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is through God's Providence that Joel and the Chosen People were alive more than 2000 years ago. It is the same providence that supports my life today. There was a cruel war in progress when I was born and the descendants of the people called by Joel to repent were being systematically slaughtered in Gas Chambers.

None of has ever been responsible for the time and place of our birth but we are all responsible for how we use our lives, a pure gift of the awareness of self, others and most importantly of God our Creator, in the living environment that  God provides.

St Paul, blessed by God used his life to spread the Good News that is the Resurrection. Death is not the end of life. God's love for each of us is eternal. Our days pass away in time so Paul reminds that we must seize each moment making it the "favourable time" to seek Salvation.

Jesus, the source of all blessings and salvation, tells us that there is nothing about us that he does not know. Prayer never has to be a show  in front of other people. Our worship has to be sincere and in the heart that is known only to us and by God. 

With the help of God, I can avoid hypocrisy during this season of preparation for Holy Week.

Dear Lord, help me to continue this day with your words and St Paul's constantly in my mind. May Mary and all the Saints share their holiness with me and all sinners. Let us all come to the holiness that can make us part of the Spiritual Church the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the only gate that leads from Earth to Heaven.

 13/02/2024

I am always making mistakes.Yesterday I was completely wrong about when and where James wrote his letter. It was not after the destruction of the Temple but before and was written in Jerusalem. 

I know that I am always tempted to feel pride at my outputs on this computer but also know that I am trying to avoid exactly that and pray that my heart and mind is open to God and can receive the loving guidance that I have ignored for most of my life.

The Pharisees are infamous for their pride. Herod is infamous for the arrogance with which he ignored God and the cruelty which slaughtered the innocents and executed John The Baptist.

Jesus is more than famous for the example he is of the total meaning of being human in this World. He is gentle and lowly of heart and is the one source of the peace that is the true happiness we can find in this world only by knowing that Our Father and His is the one source of all that is good .

Jesus is also completely human even to the extent of being short with his mother and immediate family when they seek to interrupt his preaching, and today he is bothered by the way his closest disciples don't seem to have "got it". He chides them with  Isaiah "Have you eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear?" for their lack of understanding of the words they have heard and the miracles they have seen.

Jesus worldly mission was completed many years ago but the loving truth of his acceptance of the sacrifice he was to make is still with us. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and is always ready to accept the souls who return his love and avoid the self-congratulatory piety of Pharisees and the self-centred arrogance of power of Herod.

Dear Lord, let me live today with peace in my being. Let me be always ready for your call. May Mary and all the Saints be, with the angels the prayer, that knows you and wordlessly becomes the part of you that is the love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit but does this as one person to another. Let us all do your will now.

 12/02/2024

James' letter was probably written shortly after the destruction of the Temple and is to encourage the Jewish Christians who then felt doubly afflicted and confused not only by the failure of their "Messiah" to act as they had anticipated but also by the destruction of the only place in the world where sacrifice could be made to IAMIAM. 

The main community of Jewish Christians had been warned about the coming horror of blood and hate and had re-established themselves in comparative safety in Perea across the Jordan. The whole of Palestine was in turmoil and the faith of all believers, traditional Jews and followers of the "Way" must have been "tested to destruction".

If I make a few clicks of my mouse I will be able to see the modern version of this ancient slaughter being wrecked out on Gaza. A few more clicks will bring up Auschwitz. We wring our hands at the horror of it all and return to our task in hand.

In my case the task in hand is to raise my mind and heart to Father, Son and Holy Spirit in prayer. Some in Gaza are still praying and doing God's will in saving and caring for the sick and the wounded but others are priding themselves on the success of their force of arms (the deaths for which they are responsible).The belligerents of both sides show equally their contempt for God.

When confronted with the arrogant disbelief of the Pharisees, Jesus sighed a sigh of deep disappointment. Many of us, too, are deeply disappointed that The Institutional Church founded by Jesus on St Peter has throughout History been no better than the now largely atheistic Chosen People and the forces of Islam fighting it out today. 

Our Church has from the very beginning been so involved in the things of this world that it has failed to teach each one of us that we have been created to live by invoking the loving care of Our Father and sharing in that Love with all people. 

The wickedness in this world is not the Will of God but is created by each soul that refuses to do that Will. We have to govern our lives in the knowledge that we are each of equal importance to the Father who so loved the world that he gave up his only begotten son that we might be saved. There is nothing that is as great as God and nothing better for us to do than conforming ourselves to his will.

Dear Lord, let my heart remain open to receive your Love throughout this day. I know that Mary who sat at your feet chose the better part but I know that I should be doing more to bring my family to salvation. Help all, over whom you have continuously sighed, to understand that words can only mean anything when produced by a sincere heart. May Mary your mother plead for your intervention in Gaza although you want us to make choices for you in freedom as you did for us. I am praying for a "sign" as do all Pharisees. May we begin to do your will on Earth as do the Saints of Heaven and protect me from my own hypocrisy and that of others. Amen

 11/02/2024

In the Old Testament all the books are written within the context of the "Law" which governed the communal life of the human community we know as "The Chosen People", the Jews. The "Law" had become much more than the "Ten Commandments".

Mankind has always been the same in that self-centredness rules our very beings; try as we may to be "objective" we can only see the world from our own standpoint; we are not multiple beings. There is only one of us and we are amazed and enthralled by the wonder of the "I" we all know ourselves to be. We see the achievements of our ancestors and glorify their intelligence and mastery of the material of this world and forget God. It is only God who knows us all and He "so loved the world that he sent his only Son that we all might be saved".

The Chosen People also continually lost sight of "IAMIAM" and became one with all the nations in that they forgot the First Commandment and sought only the things of this world. They turned their worship away from its focus on God into another of those things. The Pharisees' piety became a "good" the possession of which filled them with pride that overtook  "Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all Soul and with all your mind" as the mainstay of their lives.

Similarly, The Institutional Church founded on Peter soon became so wrapped up in the things of this world, power, prestige, wealth, wars  that for centuries she seems to have been in the same state as were the Chosen People at the time Jesus' announced the "Kingdom of God"; not really confident that they believed in their own God

At the most public moment of his entire life on Earth, his trial before Pilate, Jesus assured all mankind  then and for all time "My Kingdom is not of this World". We have to know that the Kingdom of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is far greater than our Universe and that God is always ready to welcome repentant sinners at our bodily deaths and to fill our open hearts with the  Love that never dies. Maranatha, Lord Jesus. Return to us soon to fill the world with righteous joy.

Dear Lord let us all know that there is nothing in life better than knowing your Word and seeking out to do good. Inspire all Church leaders to become sincere in their preaching and to believe in the Sacraments that preserve your Incarnate Grace on Earth. May Mary and all the saints of heaven welcome those who have finished with time and been freed from their bodies to the  boundless love that is the Glory of the Lord. Amen

 10/02/2023

Our Lord God let's us live in a strange world that is  our own adaptation of his creation. He himself walked around Palestine with the intention of making us all aware that we are all known to God and that we can live holy lives."The KIngdom of God is at hand". He did take away the sins of the world and to ensure that we did listen and live according to his preaching showed us many signs that he had divine authority. 

We, the Father's finest creation have from the first become so entwined within ourselves that we have never ceased to create for ourselves finite powerless alternatives to Eternity. Adam and Eve chose "No"and ever since we have disregarded our call to be with God. 

Jeroboam got it right. If the Devil, the World and the Flesh are to succeed, all three enemies of our God and the souls he has created for us to share his  wonder of Being with him, have got to make themselves so desirable that mankind can completely forget Eternity and the way, the truth and the life. Golden calves have got to be our "all in all".

The Jews have continually messed up their special place in this world but the inexhaustible Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit shows us again and again that it is we ourselves in our God-like freedom who have to call out for the Grace that is created by the Final Eternal Sacrifice on Calvary and is to be shared with all the world. God's freedom is mirrored in our own, "Yes or No?"

First the Jews and now the Church fail in their calling to let us all know that "My Kingdom is not of this World" and that the pride in humanity, wealth of Mammon, Joyful delights of our bodies are totally valueless when we take our last breath on Earth but continue to be the   souls for which we have been created to care.

Dear Lord, You have told us many times that there is a correct way for all of us to live in your creation. Your Wisdom honours us by freeing our souls from the laws of matter the scientific understanding of which has fueled our pride. We can choose to live in righteousness and thus be part of your Mystical Body that supported by the Holy Spirit and Mary and all the Saints is part of the Eternal Kingdom that is not of this world. Dear Lord save us from the nonsense of Popes and Prelates and let my days be guided only by your love.  Amen

 09/02/2024

Throughout the time that we have inhabited the Earth there are only a few of us who have tried to orientate our lives towards God. "Few" that is, in comparison to the millions who are alive today. I am always trying to face God as a free soul created by Him to do his will during my life.

To the extent that I am able, I bow before Father, Son and Holy Spirit as the Evergreater Creator and accept the revelations made to the prophets and completed by the Resurrection. I have known for years that my sins are forgiven and that God is Love,Truth and Mercy but I have to face the fact that for myself sin/evil is still as easy as is breathing.

It is obvious that I cannot contain the mind of God in my brain but this is what I have understood about my "being", aware of self and of others and of the Eternal Other that is revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are all created as individual free souls who are born by Providence into bodies that are the highest form of Life on this planet. We are all born for the purpose of knowing, loving and serving Our Father. God has not created any of us to be Evil. Each one of us creates our own sin by ignoring God.

I am a weak and sentimental man. God is my Evergreater Creator. It is impossible for me to challenge him, but I have to ask for the grace to be able to understand why so many of us throughout History have been born according to His Providence into cultures that achieve high moral and ethical ways of life but do not know Him. Does Jesus also welcome those who do not formally acknowledge You?

Dear Lord, you know that I am only ever ready to accept your grace. You have saved me from the bodily sins that could have resulted in my death years ago. Let me not waste the time that I have left to pray and worship you. My prayer for there to be a way for my misguided yet sinless brothers and sisters to come to you is that of a weak and sentimental man but it is sincere.  May Mary and all the Saints pray that all sinners can become reconciled and join the total eternal worship that is the Mystical Body of Christ.

 08/02/2024

One thing that is sure about today's readings is that Jesus did not insult the Lebanese woman by calling her a dog. The woman of Tyre is one of the few whose words in reply to Jesus are recorded in the Gospels. She is shown to be her own person and not overawed by this stranger whose reputation as a healer has gone before him.

Jesus is aware of the depths of her misery at the condition of her daughter and of her sincerity of belief that he could cure her. She does not seem to have had any faith in IamIam but is a pagan. Jesus praises her for speaking the truth even from her weak status as a gentile petitioner for a favour and thus blesses the unbeliever.

Jesus responds to this woman because she is desperate for her daughter to recover. There were thousands of other souls living in sick and deformed bodies in those times. The ones cured by Jesus either presented themselves or had a petition made on their behalf directly to him. Why were others left then and now to live miserable lives while Solomon (e.g.) who lived in comfort and splendour proved to unworthy of the blessings that he had been given?

There is no way for us to fathom the ways of Providence. Most people in the world think that we are all born into a predetermined fate. The talents of others so captivate themselves that they know that the world is "their oyster" and accept all the benefits  that come their way as their just desserts.

God's message first to the Jews and then to all peoples is that we should know that each one of us is a loving gift of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each individual is a completely free spirit who can choose to live reflecting the love of God. We can correct the mistakes of our fathers but we can achieve nothing unless we bow our heads and pray  "Our Father" as taught by Son whose cross we have to choose to share and whose Spirit we have to welcome into our beings to guide our lives to the "many mansions" of Eternity.

Dear Lord I know that I am responsible for all my thoughts and actions. My emotions always seem to be beyond my control. It is emotions that insult hate and kill. Help me to control these aspects of my being that are an affront to you. May Mary pray with all the Saints of Heaven that we on earth can have the patience to accept your love and truly love our neighbours as ourselves in the loving mercy that we all need to access to become your people.

 07/02/2024

I am sure that we the people of the World have not been created to kill each other. The slaughter in what was the Kingdom so admired by the Queen of Sheba that is taking place today is not by the will of God. The people who have been loved by God to the extent that the Incarnation was from the human body of Mary whose DNA shared that of Solomon have still not yet made a positive response to the Lord.

They have been slaughtered by sinful men over the centuries and they are still prolonging that  ultimate pride that is the killing of our  brothers as did Kane. God has given us all life and it is not for us to decide how long anybody, even myself, should live.

The Incarnation/Resurrection is truly the great divide in our history. After Jesus the daily lives of all of us can be lived filled  with wisdom to know God, the example to be followed each day, and enveloped in the love demonstrated on Calvary. The universal forgiveness created for each one of us requires us to acknowledge its greatness, cling onto it throughout our lives and thus reach the threshold of Eternity. 

Jesus tells us all univocally that the degeneracies created by our sinfulness make us unclean. I have known most of the sinful practices listed by St Mark and simultaneously known them all to be shameful but still succumbed. None of us is created to live a sinful life. My, and everybody else's too, sins are a product of our self-will. We are free beings.  I am repentant but think that my sins although forgiven need reparation on my part. 

Dear Lord, help me to find the way to cancel my sins.Your gifts are so great that no one can repay you. Help me to accept your Forgiveness and being filled with the Holy Spirit become part of the Body of Christ which fills creation with your loving glory. May my prayers be linked with those of your Sinless Mother and the Saints to create an unbreachable wall of  Grace to guard us against the Devil, World and Flesh whose sins are so much in evidence in my life and in our world today.

 06/02/2024

I always seem to be concerned with myself when I begin these writings inspired by the Mass Readings for the day. 

I am not writing anything other than my own thoughts in an attempt to understand how God was/is always with the Jews and how the Son of God has corrected the foolish sinfulness of all mankind. Sometimes I am sure that what I have written is a fair reaction to the Word of God but I am never dogmatic and always know that Father, Son and Holy Spirit is Evergreater and beyond all human comprehension.

The Revelation of himself that God made to Moses put the Jews into a unique position in our ancient World. Alone among the nations their Temple contained no graven image of the Almighty Power worshipped therein. God was the giver of the Ten Commandments and had empowered Moses to reveal to his People how to live in holiness. The pagans had an entirely different view of their Gods whom they had created or taken from other people.

Solomon stood before the Altar and proclaimed that God is greater than anything. He then began the process that resulted in the hypocrisy condemned by Jesus. The leaders of the people were able to use the "Law" to protect themselves from the aspects of the Law that were inconvenient to themselves.

The Pope, leader of the Church that knows that it is descended from Jesus' foundation on Peter claims that "God's Blessing" passed on by him and all his clergy to a homosexual couple is a "blessing on the persons" and not on their sinful union.

Today's Gospel tells him and all of us that that statement is nonsense. I pray that as he reads "How ingeniously you get around the commandment of God in order to preserve your own traditions" he is open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and and confesses this sin of false leadership to all the World as the Pharisaical casuistry unfortunately preserved in the legacy of his own Order.

Dear Lord, while you were on Earth you confronted hypocrisy whenever you faced it. You our God could promise just punishment for all recalcitrant sinners. On Earth you enable all sinners to recognise their own sins before "casting the first stone. Your Mercy is without limits. You sought forgiveness for your own torturers. Can we repeat your prayer for the men who, 2000 years ago, hammered nails through your flesh, for our shepherds who have lost their way? "Father forgive them for they know not what they do". May the prayers of Mary and all the saints of Heaven bring forgiveness to all sinners both on Earth and in Purgatory.

 05/01/2024

The Lord knows me but I am always confused when I try to turn to him. My soul tells me quite clearly what I should do but there is always resistance from I know not where. Yesterday I was able to read what I wrote without shame. But for me to feel satisfied  is not the point of my morning meditation. 

I have removed myself from the Institutional Church but I know that we all have to pray in order that Christ's Mystical Body is known not only in Heaven and Purgatory but also here by the body and soul who is typing in front of this screen. 

I try to be guided by the Scriptures chosen by the Institutional Church for the daily mass as I still am tied into the things of this world and know that I need to be guided by the Prophets and by Jesus and the Apostles but I have lost all faith in the builders and preservers of buildings supposedly dedicated to the Lord.

How can a sinner such as I have a negative attitude towards the Ordained Clergy? God knows that I do not want to become part of  the hypocrisy of centuries. We have unworthy priests and bishops today because we have always had them.They who preached the Word not only deceived us but also burned and tortured to death those who spoke out against a Church embodied in the "Kingdom's" of the world in direct disobedience to the words of Our Lord, "My Kingdom is not of this World".

Dear Lord, help me to do your will as I live out this day. Let me truly seek you out in my prayers and never be satisfied that I am unable to do more to know you than I already have. Cleanse all your people of their sins and let the dangerous hidden sinfulness of clergy become known to all of us together with the knowledge that we can all seek out your ways as single souls and join your Mystical Body which flourishes as the Kingdom not of this World. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints be joined to ours on Earth and in Purgatory and may the sins of the world be forgiven in the flood of Mercy that flows from your side.

 04/02/2024

The words of this morning's readings cover nearly 3000 years of human history. Job bemoans the futility of  living our lives that are finite and subject to the whims of fate. What is the use of a god if evil is as free as he is?

St Paul speaks as a man who knows the Scriptures. He knows the depression and stoicism of The Book of Job and the joys of David's psalms. He has been chosen by the eternal Resurrection to desist in opposition to the Way, Truth and Light and to spread the Good News of the Glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit throughout the world.

In his days on earth Jesus was as human as we are. It would be impossible for God to be limited by the laws of science as we are in our bodies. God has always known that he has to be True Man to live as the Incarnation. If he curtailed our human freedom and directed our wills to do his we would not be part of the creation he knew to be good. The Word was made Flesh and dwelt amongst us. The Begotten not Made is the Fruit of Mary's womb. True man and true God.

Job speaks to me as another person who has known life as I do. St Paul is a faithful teacher of his flocks. Jesus is always the Son doing the will of the Father and inspiriting us through the Holy Ghost and he it is whom the Church has to serve in the same Spirit as St Paul.

I know that the vast Basilicas, the Cathedrals,  Monasteries, Churches and Chapels are empty today because we are the products of an institution which has never truly believed "My Kingdom is not of this world" and consequently we the flock also ignore our Baptismal Promises.  

The Devil, the World and the Flesh are the enemies that I must fight in every moment of my consciousness for to combat Evil requires that each one of us subject our wills to that of the Father, i.e. we must not sin. Jesus shows us the way to our lonely place, our private room the centre of our beings  our  spiritual centre where we can find Father, Son and Holy Spirit and open ourselves to his Love.

Dear Lord, I know as I meditate that I am watching and congratulating myself for turning to You. Thinking that I am doing your will. Help me to empty myself of this unwanted prideful presence. Teach me to live only as the sinner who has often been overcome with panic at the harm I must have done to others during my unholy life. May Mary lead the prayers of Heaven to bring forgiveness to the sinful in this world and to the Holy Souls who have to accept God's Justice before Mercy can forgive them.

 03/02/2023

Each morning as I wait for this computer to wake up, I ask myself the same questions about the life I have led.  There is very much that I regret about my own behaviour and very much about the world and the people who thrive in it which appalls me.

Solomon was born to become King. He accepted this as a duty revealed to him by God's Providence and prayed for Wisdom to govern him before he governed his nation.

Jesus knew that the Apostles needed time to pray and recover after their first mission and tried to take them to a deserted place but the crowds outguessed them and got there before they did. 

As man, the Incarnate Son was subject to the Providence of God which is not a Fate predetermined for each soul but is the result of the interactions of all the free human wills which are operating as I write and becomes History as time passes.

God does not will that the Church founded on Peter be so pathetic that it cannot even choose a Bishop.This is now happening in the Diocese of Plymouth. The Church has always been full of sinful men who are prideful, lecherous and avaricious and who have never striven to be part of the Mystical Body which by prayerfully connecting the souls of the living and the dead can keep us in the Love of Father,Son and Holy Spirit. It is we men that have weakened and continue to do so, the structure founded in the Resurrection to guard the souls of all of us and help us to Heaven.

For two millennia prideful priests and prelates have dominated their flocks by claiming that there is no salvation outside of the Church. They are right but wrong about what the Church, Christ's Body on Earth, really is. 

It is not a worldly Institution of whatever denomination but is the hearts and minds, the souls of all who humbly ask to be forgiven their trespasses and delivered from evil so that they can do God's will on Earth to prepare for the glory of heaven. We can all find this Church for it is within us founded by the Holy Spirit out of the Sacrifice of Son and Love of Father.

Dear Lord you know what I am really trying to say. I know that you have not created any of us to be damned. We can do your will on Earth because Jesus first trod the path and showed us the way to carry our crosses. May Mary who stayed with you during your tormented agony and accepted her role as mother to all humanity through St John continue to lead us all, Saints,Earth, Purgatory, in prayer that sins may find forgiveness and all Churches become divested of the things of this world.

 02/022024

 Anna was old in years and did odd jobs about the Temple because that is where she felt closest to the Lord. As another old person I can appreciate that she shared with Simeon a sense of disappointment that the longed for descendant of David had not yet appeared. 

Simeon had been promised that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah so they could still  hope in the Lord, for the  Lord was still guarding his people. His Temple was still being constructed.

Joseph approached the priests of the day with the appropriate offering and Father, Son, Holy Spirit, the true IAMIAM filled Simeon with the holy inspiration to proclaim what is still the Night Prayer of those who have devoted themselves to God in the centuries since that moment in the Temple.

My disappointment is that I am the only one in my family who has not been captured by Mammon. I pray and preach to myself, hoping, that my prayers for all my loved ones will be answered. Anna and Simeon hoped in the Lord and I too must follow their example.

Dear Lord, nothing is impossible for you. Please let the hearts and minds of those I love become aware that there is nothing that is secure in this world. You who are greater than the whole universe know each one of us. Let your Holy Spirit bring the Love and Joy that comes from you into the hearts and minds of all peoples. Let my prayers be heard as are those of Anna, Simeon and Joseph and let Mary's pleas as your Mother and ours bring to our world and to Purgatory the Mercy that has its never-ending source in you. Amen

 01/02/2023

Jesus chose 12 of his disciples to preach to others what they had learnt from him. 

The Mission given by Jesus to the 12 is to follow up on his teaching to the villages by putting themselves into the hands of providence and, without making any worldly preparations, become preachers of repentance to the villages of Galilee.

The villagers to whom the 12 preached were mainly Jews who were familiar with the Old Testament and who for centuries had known themselves to be chosen by God . The soil which they tilled was holy and the produce was for themselves and their families only. They knew that God willed it that they should govern themselves and not be under the yoke of idolaters no matter how powerful.

"We have found the Messiah" are Andrew's words to Peter after spending some time with John the Baptist who had pointed out Jesus to him and his companion. We have no record of what words the12 preached. but the totality of the message was no greater than "God is with us" for they, as had Andrew, had found the Messiah, "the Lamb of God".

At first the disciples hoped for a return to the days of David and Solomon for their expected "Messiah" was to rule for a thousand years. The mysterious "Lamb of God" was not to be understood until Jesus had completed his Mission for Father, Son and Holy Spirit, he is our Way, Truth and Life and although our Saviour and King, his Kingdom is not of this world.

Dear Lord, let me heed the words of David and be wise as Solomon to resist the tendency to sin that not only mars my life but crucifies Jesus your only begotten. We are all known by you in the timeless infinity that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, unconfined Love and Mercy. Let my prayers  join those of Mary and all the Saints in unending praise and pleas for the Mercy that will overcome all my sinfulness and bring forgiveness to all sinners who repent and accept the Justice of your punishment in this world and in Purgatory.