31/03/2024

Today is Easter Sunday. It is a day in the history of the world that is without compare. It is the completion of the intention of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

In the Gospel John tells how he and Peter ran to the tomb on hearing from Mary Magdalen what she had seen. He entered after Peter and believed. He has seen only an empty tomb but at that instant he knew that when Jesus' mysteriously had spoken of "rising from the dead" he had been talking about a "new reality".

Our bodies are corruptible and we live in a corruptible world. The Resurrection is Jesus whom the disciples had known and loved, living  a bodily New Life which is beyond the physical confines of this Universe.

Each one of us lives out our lives in this present reality. Each one of us can only choose for himself how to live. We can make the (very wonderful) corruptible things of this world our goal in life or accept the revelation of the Resurrection as the way to participate in the Love that is without end.

Our God has given us all that is needed to join him. We have to make the choice and to help us do that we have to remember that God's Justice will be delivered by "Jesus king of the Jews" who has fully known the pains of the "justice" delivered by us his fellow men.

Dear Lord, you know how my soul is troubled by most things in life and that I regret not joining any liturgical celebration as at the same time I doubt the integrity of any institution that calls itself "Christian". I hope that your foundation on Peter was not as exclusive as it seems and that there is room for those who sincerely aim to live in a Church of Spiritual Love that you also founded by recommending that John and Mary care for each other as mother and son. May Mary and all the saints implore your help for me and for all sinners here on earth and in Purgatory and may the Joy of Easter become a reality in the hearts of all the world.

 29/03/2024

Today is Good Friday. Jesus' time has come and today is the planting of the seed for the harvest of the New Creation of which his Resurrection is the first fruits. The Son of God shares completely the created being of each one of us and dies just as do all humans before him and since then.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit cannot be false so the Mercy their Love wishes to bestow on Creation has to be a reality, not an idea or words but as real as the Love which is the substance of God and today Jesus is as dead as are all those who preceded him into Sheol.

I cannot hold the idea of "Death", dead emptiness in my brain. I try to scramble out of the pit but I know that if I do not put all my faith into Jesus I can be lost for ever rather than for the paltry half-seconds that my imagination can conjure up. 

Actually, trying to imagine the horror of total death is pretty stupid for someone who has read the Gospels. There is not one of us who could have created forgiveness for himself let alone for all mankind. God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, loves us and today reminds us everything in the way to salvation revealed to us is necessary even this scourging, crowning, spitting, taunting, hammering and piercing has to be so that we can begin to know how hateful are our sins committed wilfully by humans in their pride.

Dear Lord, I do not know how to understand the historical time that is the death of Christ. Peter and the rest did not react any better than I do today. I don't need to understand. Let my being turn to you in faith-filled thanks and today know that "My God loves me" and that all his children can accept that our Eternal Life is the sole aim of your creation of us. May Mary whose personal grief has inspired so many holy men and women continue to inspire the Church that forms your Mystical Body on Earth, in the sincerity of heart that must be the mark of all faithful disciples.

 28/03/2024

This is the first of the three days which together make up the "hour" of Jesus, "for this I came into the world". God has completely emptied himself of the vastness of his being and having been born as we are become the only sacrificial offering for the forgiveness of sin  that is completely acceptable to himself. The price has to paid and God pays it himself. There is nothing cheap about the Justice of God's Gift of Grace. 

The sin created by Adam's disobedience and perpetuated by us his children is so great that it can only be defeated with the support of the sinless blood of Christ offered as a free sacrifice to His Father "pro nobis". Jesus' "hour" has created for us all the "favourable time" and we can all live our lives out in the holiness that is our goal. 

I can write the above only because that is what the Scriptures have revealed to us. This is what was revealed to St Paul and which he and the Apostles passed on to the whole world. When Jesus was living as a complete man he prepared his followers to be ready for the huge disappointment that they were to feel when their Rabbi was executed in the shameful torture that was Crucifixion.

On this evening he, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, created a new mode of being. He created a Sacramental Reality that was to remain with us even to the end of time and he simultaneously created a new priesthood, which was not hereditary, to preserve that reality in a structure that was to guide his people in our way through life. Yes, this is the Church founded on St. Peter.

Many of us have been shocked out of this our Institutional Church. Salvation can still be found there as there it is that Sacraments are preserved but for centuries it has been only within the Mystical Body which is our life in Christ and his Life within us, the Spiritual Church of Love founded by the dying Lord as he passed Mary and John into each other's care that we can learn to love and serve in this world focussed on the Kingdom of God, which as Jesus affirmed before Pilate, is certainly not of this world. 

Dear Lord, help me to continue to live this life turned always towards your will for me. You know that I am looking for nothing more than a clear conscience with a true purpose of amendment for all my sins. May the Church you entrusted to St Peter rid itself of the trappings of Mammon which have clouded its purpose for centuries and may the words read all over the world today enter into the hearts of clergy and believers so that there can be one people with You as our God as it was this night 2000 years ago.

 27/03/2024

Isaiah asks "The Lord is coming to my help, who will dare to condemn me?" This sentence seems to express perfect faith that is untroubled and constant. Some of the sentences that I have left behind imply the same unswerving constancy of devotion to Father, Son and Holy Spirit and belief in the mystical support of Mary and all the Saints.

I am sure that Isaiah did not always hit the target set by the inspiration he received. Only one man has ever lived out a full life without sin. Jesus has become man so that his being is able to take on the burden of Sin. 

How can we know the perfection that is God? We can only catch the glimpses he reveals of himself. God has the ever greater potential of his total freedom and could use this power to make sure that none of us would sin no more but thus live a restricted life of "On and Off" as does our "artificial intelligence", an encoded automaton.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit in their perfect relationship create nothing but Love and freedom and have expressed this in this creation, there may be others too of which we know not, and have entrusted us to go forth and multiply the image and likeness of One God, not by force but by human will aligned to the Ever-greater.

All that can be known about Our God is restricted in each one of us by our reaching out to him. We cannot be encoded to Love God but we do have the perfect human freedom to choose to live as did the Son whose being on earth was the humanity he received from Mary.

I know that in my lifetime I have failed many times to follow the Lord, "do this in imitation of me", but still have the time to become truly repentant as there is no end to the goodness and mercy that was betrayed then, not only by Judas and Peter, and can still be betrayed by my sins and the sins of all the world.

Dear Lord, Let me be totally open to your grace this day and aim to follow you in the life you lived only for others. We are the others and your infinite Love and Mercy are there for us to take into our hearts. May my soul find the grace in the fellowship of all believers living and dead and may this Communion of Saints be defended by the prayers of Mary and the heavenly host so that we and the Holy Souls might all benefit from your Mercy. Amen.

 26/03/2024

This is the week when Jesus' "hour" arrives. All that was known from the beginning is culminating now and yet it seems that it is not set in stone and even at the Last Supper there could have been another outcome. In this world Father, Son and Holy Spirit have trusted us as their "image and likeness" with perfect human freedom so that we can use our lives by our own choice to love, serve and obey.

"I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation will reach the ends of the earth" was uttered by Isaiah more than 800 years before the Incarnation and will be read and pondered upon today by millions of Christians throughout the world as will the Psalm sung in thanks and praise.

The Apostles have noticed that Jesus is not his usual self and this has disturbed them. He responds to their unvoiced question, "I tell you solemnly that one of you will betray me". Now it is the Apostles who are well and truly disturbed. John asks the question that all of them are thinking, "Who is it Lord"? The reply, which must have been unheard by some of them, as no-one would have wished to take any more food if doing so would reveal him to be a traitor. 

Judas in reaching out for food reveals the treachery of his heart. Judas had for some time been doing "a deal " with the Sanhedrin and had agreed to deliver up "The Son of Man" to them this evening but "Satan had entered him" to complete his evil only at the instant he reached out for food. Judas could have refrained from cooperating up to that moment he let in Satan by committing the last act that sealed sin in his heart. He soon regretted his deed but compounded the sin by refusing to believe that God's mercy extends even to him.

Dear Lord, help me to live always aware that it is I who am responsible for all my deeds. I have a will that is completely free to choose to follow or deny you. I also know that you want me to reflect the Love which you have lavished on all creation. The evil that mankind is creating on a daily basis has none of the reality or the power of the Love that you offer as your free gift to us all .We only have to ask and we can become fruit of the wood from which you poured out your blood and last breath. Let these words become a reality of my being and may these my prayers, be accepted as sincere,  as are  those of Mary and all the saints, offerings of my entire being to You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

 25/03/2024

I am very aware and disappointed that during my lifetime our European civilization has basically forgotten about God. In fact, we have more than forgotten but have actively stood in the face of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and deliberately set our will against his.

This is not the first time that this has happened in the history of mankind, but it is the first time when it seems that the Law completed by the Incarnate Son has no public figures to support it by taking up the fight against the humanist/atheists who have taken control of the World.

I think that it is stupid of anyone to refuse God when they know that the material life has no outcome except dust. The Intelligent God deniers who do it from a position of intellectual pride, argue and demonstrate that there is nothing else in life other than material being. As their bodies breath their last breath they will know otherwise.

They no longer even bother to scoff at me and those like me who know that the World is the creation of eternal Love. The Institutional Church has failed in its mission to go out and teach this divine origin of all being and in its lack of sincerity has lost moral authority.

History teaches us that basically as pagan persecution weakened  so did the Spiritual Heart of the Church and the inheritors of Jesus' "Do this in memory of me" became tripled tiaraed Earthly rulers who had missed the point of "My Kingdom is not of this world". 

I, a sinner looking to access the Grace brought into the world by the passion, death and resurrection that is the source of this week's holiness know that Jesus is the only one who shows me the way to eternal life and that on the cross he is the infinitude of Mercy that is available for us all to access. Our Saviour liveth and he calls to each one of us to sincerely open our own hearts to the Mercy that flows forth from his.

Dear Lord, only you can know how close I am to you in prayer. Only you can know how our world will end. Are we as close to the failure of your chosen people as they were when you walked amongst them? You are our God and in the immaculate heart of Mary with St John you began the Church of Love that will never fail even though worldly power and wealth have corrupted the Church founded on St Peter. Help your priests avoid vices and let them all learn how to faithfully "do this in memory of me" and thus ensure that some faith will be found on earth when you return. Amen

 24/03/2024

Today I have woken up feeling much better than I have been for the last week. it is Palm Sunday when the Church commemorates the welcome given to Jesus by the people of Jerusalem. He came in from Bethany where he had given life back to Lazarus and his welcomers had this in mind when they proclaimed "Hosanna".

This is the beginning of the week when we are to devote ourselves to penance and awe for the greatness of our God. It is now the "favourable time" for we the "remnant" to show to the World that the Material Universe is the Loving Creation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to remind ourselves that the Promise of the Resurrection had to be preceded by the suffering and death of Jesus of Nazareth. 

We have repeated endless times " who was born of the Father before time began, God from God, light form light, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, through whom all things were made. Who FOR US men came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary and was made man".

I, to some extent remember these words every day, but this week  I will try to accompany Jesus from the garden to the grave and face up to the Horror that is the sense of abandonment by God shouted out from the dying completely human Jewish Son nailed through hands and feet onto the cross.

Dear Father in Heaven, I am much happier now that my health is improving. Help me never to separate myself from thee and help me know with the straightforward eyes and ears of your first followers who seem to have wanted worldly positions from you but were shocked into true belief by your Resurrection, and supported in this world by your Holy Spirit who continues to bring the Grace of the ONE TRINITY to all who open their hearts to receive your Love. May Mary who during this week came to fully understand the prophecy of Simeon lead all the Saints of Heaven in remembrance of your Son's Life, Death and Resurrection that is the greatest tribute that can be made to your Glory here or in heaven and let the Holy Souls find true penitence that leads to your forgiveness and let me and mine live without sin this Palm Sunday and remaining days of our lives. Amen

 21/03/2024

I am not a trained theologian. I do not know  Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek, along with Shakespeare my Latin is "small". I have thus read about God only in English and rely on a long line of learned translators to be able to ponder the Scriptures and the thoughts of wise, learned, very intelligent  God-fearing men and women.

Adam has empirical knowledge of the Being which has created his own self and for a short time does not loose touch with IAMIAM which the coming of Jesus has revealed to be a Trinity of one substance. By the  disobedience of Adam we have been separated  from that empirical knowledge of the Father that was briefly enjoyed in the Garden.

The Love that is the substance of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit reveals itself in our Universe, vast beyond our comprehension but as nothing beside the Evergreater being of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In his Love the Father, Son and Holy Spirit knows each atom of his creation. He knows me. He knows all of us but most of all he knows Jesus, begotten not made, of one being with the Father, through whom all things were created and have their being. 

Today's Temple Discourse reveals that Jesus is "one" with the Father. I think that this unity is that of human soul to the creator. Adam was created out of Love and knew God. Sin has separated us from Our Father. The Eternal Word has emptied himself of his divinity and having been born of a sinless mother lived in time as do we all. I believe that all his miracles are performed through the power of the perfect prayer of the perfect man to his perfect father and creator. The memory of the coming Three Days assure us that "nothing is impossible to God". The Resurrection is God's guarantee that his Love is for all time but that we have to seek it in conformity to his revealed will.

Dear Lord, I am humbly trying to see the way your love works in your creation and thus come to a deeper commitment to love serve and obey. Let my reading about man's interpretations of you not overtake the Scriptures which are authentic records of your dealings with "your people" from the earliest days of human life. May my prayers join the prayers of all my brothers and sisters and together with Mary and all the saints of heaven seek pardon for all sinners on Earth and for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. I make this prayer through the grace that comes from your crucified Son, Jesus of Nazareth.

 20/03/2024

We are informed by scholars that the book of Daniel was composed hundreds of years after the events it records so realistically. I don't have any idea about how the Apostles and Disciples who spread the Good News of the Resurrection or their predecessors thought about  this addition to the Pentateuch, their Torah revealed to Moses,  but Jesus is at pains to confirm his own words and deeds as "the truth".

The "truth" comes from God. Our universe is not a deception; it is a "truth" that comes from God; All the material elements that make our world and all that is in it is a reality; it is a truth that comes from God. The life of Nebuchadnezzar in this world really happened; it is a truth that comes from God.

We are reading the Gospel of St John this week leading up to Palm Sunday because he of all the contemporaries of Jesus, is a man, who remembers and interprets the sublime teaching of his Rabbi as the "Truth" that "is God". 

Today Jesus is in  dialogue with the "Jews who believed in him" and yet he chides them with "as it is you want to kill me". It is obvious that "those who believe in him" were not consistent in their belief and thus the dialogue becomes a message which we can easily apply to ourselves 2000 years later.

By choosing to accept God as Our Father we  put ourselves into the place were we can learn to  become the "little children" those beloved of Jesus whose arms outstretched on the cross encircle all who reach up to him as he carries each one of us to our eternal home.

Dear Lord, you know that I so easily become like the Pharisees. Help me this day to become consistent in my behaviour and let me add my worship to the eternal Holy Week that is witnessed by Mary and all the Saints. The whole purpose of our lives is to gratefully accept the grace that is gained by the events remembered in the Sacred Liturgy. It is the Historical event, not the  wonderful  services that we have to remember and we can do this united in Spirit to the righteous on Earth, the saints in heaven and the penitents in Purgatory. May I, body and soul, always be open to your grace.

 19/03/2024

St Paul today helps us to pray by differentiating between law and faith. He seems to be following Jesus by saying that the following of the Law, as St Paul himself had been trained so to do, without Faith is as nothing. It was the faith of Abraham that became his righteousness. It is the faith of St. Paul and the Apostles that enables them to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and we are to respond with personal faith to each revelation that comes from God.

Jesus' beloved guardian, St Joseph, was a man who provided for his family as a skilled artisan and although a Jew aware of IAM IAM and a follower of the Law it is faith that brings him to  righteousness. 

Joseph instantly accepts the message of the dream and instead of doing what any of his contemporaries would have done he accepts the angelic message and immediately becomes the Head of the Holy Family and willingly accepts the role he has to play in the historical reality that is the Salvation of all mankind.

We can only know the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit from what is revealed to us. God's trust in his chosen people had failed and an immense supernatural intervention was needed to bring about the changes  for creation to again become "Good".

The Chosen People had failed to live up to the promises of the Law of Moses. Mankind could not save itself so the Love that is the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and the only Begotten Son was conceived to live under the guardianship of Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth in Galilee of the Nations.

We do not need "faith" to accept historical truths. Jesus was born, died and was resurrected. We do need "faith" to apply ourselves to his teaching. He said during his trial, "My Kingdom is not of this World". 

Our Church has never acted as if it had faith in those words and we seem to be in the same situation as were the "Scribes and Pharisees" of his days on earth. I will not continue with that line of thought as my faith has to be based on "Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe." and "in every word that comes from the mouth of God".

Dear Lord, help my faith to become the law of my being so that I can honestly turn my self always to You and thus avoid the sins that have hurt and offended your  infinite goodness. Help me to understand the promptings of Holy Spirit and to welcome them with thankful joy. We, You, Our Lady, St Joseph and all the saints are all part of your Mystical Body and can thus circulate your loving mercy throughout all creation and even within the less than Holy Institution that your foundation has become. You know that I am a weak being who would love to be able to have faith in the Church but the shell of Mammon is far too thick for me to be able to penetrate. May the honest clergy become brave enough to condemn the corruptions that they have become part of and thus there will be a renewal as there was when you walked the Earth. Amen. Come Lord Jesus Come!

 18/03/2024

I didn't write anything yesterday. I have been affected by a flare up of my lung condition which started out as "Emphysema" but has had its name changed to "COPD". I have to be thankful that I am usually able to complete these daily meditations which I undertake for my own benefit as I feel that I can no longer benefit from the Institution which Jesus founded on Peter to be the guardian of his presence on Earth in the Sacraments. God knows that I am not being arrogant but I am a very disappointed child of the Church so I am trying to become a "spiritual person" as defined by St Paul and thus become able to avoid the things of this world and conform to the will of God.

Yesterday Jesus' resuscitation of the corrupted corpse of Lazarus was done in full public view of a crowd of his followers and opponents and is such an overwhelming event that all are stunned into silence. Lazarus continued to live his life to a full span and his tomb is purported to be in Larnaca in Cyprus.

Jesus' resurrection was only witnessed by Father Son and Holy Spirit it was a private moment in the inner life of the Trinity. It is a timeless spiritual event in created time. We cannot come to understand this by our own efforts but with God's aid we can know it as we can know the Incarnation itself. All the Gospels tell us that those to whom the Resurrection revealed himself did not at first recognise Jesus who vanished from their sight as they did so. His body is not the same material as it always was but his wounds, the source of all grace are still visible.

Today's story of Daniel is the world's first detective story and contains all the elements that can still enthrall us. Rank and power are no guarantors of honesty and virtue. Joanna is protected by God working through the honest righteousness of his prophet Daniel.

Jesus goes one step further. Daniel's message is that we should not "bear false witness" but Jesus says to us that we should never condemn the sins of others if we do not confess our own. The message from Father, Son and Holy Spirit is that the Love that is God does not want to condemn any one of us but we have to freely live out our lives obedient to the will of God and by sinning no more we will receive the Infinite Gift won for us by the "Five wounds of Christ".

Dear Lord, you know I am happy to have been able to make this meditation today. May my resolve to sin no more be strengthened by your grace that directs my path on the way towards you. May my soul be encouraged by the Prayers of Mary and all the Saints that the spiritual Body of Christ still to be found even in the worldly institution your Church became very soon after she should have become solely dependant on your Holy Spirit may be increased by all on Earth becoming aware of you and avoiding the sin that overwhelms so many of us,  brothers and sisters on earth . May our prayers too never forget the needs of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Amen

 16/03/2024

Today the Pharisees, who confronted Our Lord as soon as it became apparent from the miracles he had performed; the public discussions that always showed him to be as learned as they were; fearlessness with which he "blasphemed" ( "Your sins are forgiven" "My father") and now the clamouring of the people, who were becoming sure that Jesus was something more than a wandering Rabbi, in the Temple, have to do something as they know now that the "holiness of the Law" was being seriously challenged.

We know that Jesus did not challenge the Law revealed to Moses. He only opened our eyes to the weakness of  his contemporaries' and their forefathers' interpretation of it. They knew the scriptures and had been happy to devote their time on Earth to the meticulous pursuit of "Righteousness"  and to instruct and control the "rabble" who are murmuring against them and are who are, in any case, "damned".

Nicodemus had learned from his personal meeting that Jesus was someone greater than he had ever encountered and had begun to look on him with the eyes of Faith. He cautions against rash action, but the other priests and scribes in their impotent frustration are beginning to attack the person of the man for they cannot counter his growing influence in any other way.

Most of us are prejudiced in some way. First of all we love our own families and want to do good for them. In the world this natural favouring is called "nepotism" and often condemned but never eradicated. We have all come to demand laws to protect us so that the wealth which we cannot take with us is retained according to our wishes. Today if they want to shut out a fair comment about politics our opponents sooner or later try to silence us with cries of "Anti- Feminism", "Anti-Semitism", "Racism".

For the Pharisees the one sure way of winning approval for their opinion was to shout "Blasphemy" and prove it out of the mouth of the one they had accused. The beginning of this process directed against Jesus is remembered by John in this morning's Gospel.

Dear Lord, You know that I see most of the Orders of Clergy active today as lacking in some way. You too advised your followers to listen to the words of the Pharisees but avoid following their deeds. You know that the start of this day has been based on the scriptures chosen by the Institutional Church and that I have been moved by them to seek a sincere understanding of what you faced there in Palestine 2000 years ago. You were a Galilean and of the House of David but your message and your grace is for all mankind and for the creation that we are  the apex. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are only Love without the slightest wish for harm to anyone. We form a body with Mary, Theotokos,  with you as our head and we can pray that for ourselves and each other that all our members living and dead remain within your Love. Amen.

 15/03/2024

When Jesus was alive on Earth he was in his physical being exactly as we all are. He was responsible for his own deeds and his body was governed by the same laws of science as is ours. He knew, as do we all, that it is "what comes out of us that defiles" not what we eat. He was a mammal and born of woman.

Jesus also is one being with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit but had emptied himself to become a man, the only perfect sacrifice that could atone for all the sins of mankind. Jesus warns us that our worldly conduct will be judged and that we have to be always conscious that each moment could be our last. He is human but he knew "the hour" that he would accomplish his mission.

God has trusted all of us to live in his creation. He has trusted each one of us to grasp the Love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that is manifest in creation and unconfinedly choose to live sinless, holy lives. God calls us all to be sinless and says to each of us "be not afraid for I AM with you always even to the end of time".

When Jesus was alive on Earth he was different in one way only, for he knew "when", "where", "why" and "how" he was to end his human life on this Earth. Our Father in heaven has chosen for us the "when" and "where" we are to live out our lives but trusts us to accept his revelation of the "why" and thus choose to confine the "how" to that revelation. We do not know "the hour" we will be called so need to be as vigilant as the "wise bridesmaids" and always ready to be judged, ready to stand before the Lord, Our God.

Dear Lord, help me to understand that the "wisdom" that is not aware of you and not aimed at doing your will is as foolish as the bridesmaids who slept while waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. Help me to stay awake and not become unworthy of the trust you have in mankind. You trust us to be able to use the Grace that you poured out on Calvary so that at the end, my personal hour, I will be ready for your Mercy. May my prayers be joined with those of Mary and all the saints in beseeching pardon for all sinners still living on Earth and awaiting Mercy in Purgatory. Amen

 14/03/2024

In my own life I have known what it is to act in opposition to what I have recognised and accepted about God. I have, however, never been able to accept that there is anything that can take the place of God. I thank God that I have never been fully captured by any "Golden Calf". 

This could be because I am not gifted enough to become something great in this world and am in human terms a nonentity who turns to God because of  my weakness. I also cannot accept that picture of myself for I know that Our Saviour accepted Crucifixion to save me from my sins. That thought alone makes us all pretty wonderful and there is nothing golden or of any material that can be greater than the wood of the cross.

Moses is warned by God that the people he has led out of Egypt have denied IAMIAM and created a metal "god" to worship. This could have happened because they "had never seen his shape and never heard his voice". They were living in the material world which they could see and believe. IAMIAM always speaks out of his being which we never see but is something like the interior "I" that we all are which is a living spirit that is "seen" only by God who knows and speaks directly to every individual he has ever created.

St John remembers Jesus facing up to the religious leaders of his day. Over the centuries the priests and scribes have turned the revelation of God to Moses into a commodity which they control by heaping ritual observance upon ritual observance. Jesus' preaching has to be counteracted for the people are becoming excited about this new prophet who is continuing that which John had started.

Jesus speaks directly to the believing Jews. You are wrong he tells them and you are kidding yourselves that your external showcase religion is of God. You have to know that you have no belief except in the "Golden Calf" that has now become "The Law". I the Son of God am telling you this for your own good. You have to stop your never ending cycle of Jews approving of each other. You have to break out of the cul-de-sac in which you have lost yourselves and accept the warnings that the Son is bringing from the Father.

That warning is still brought to the whole world and salvation is for everyone who opens his heart to the words of God. The Jews failed to know, love and serve and became overcome by their own beings. Jesus' foundation on St Peter very soon became a worldly institution wielding power and creating wealth and focussed as it was as a worldly institution soon became as corruptible as all the other works of man.

Today, I can bow my head, praying that what fills my being as I use this keyboard is the Love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that I am open to the Mercy that shows me the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen

 13/03/2024

God has always loved his creation for it has its being out of the Love and Joy that is the very substance of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our Father knows that we are capable of living in Paradise but the pressure felt by Adam to obey God counteracted by Eve was too much for him and much to his own regret he chose to disobey God.

As I read the first reading, I became all tingly and moved by the power of the words of Isaiah. Perhaps the bodily reaction was the return of caffeine but the loveliness promised to the Sons of Abraham should have kept them devoted to IAMIAM for ever. What more did they want then and still now?

John's recollection of this discourse by Jesus is that of a Jew who has been converted not by signs but by the Resurrection and who has cared for the Mother of Jesus until she was taken into Heaven. Jesus tells all his listeners then and all who hear this Gospel now that IAMIAM is not a fierce Monad alone in his being but that the Son is always with him. 

Jesus really did change the world and that change was impossible for the Jews to accept for even though their history proves them to be liars they claim to know by the revelation of IAMIAM that they are chosen and they only and only they can do the will of God on Earth.

This Jewish attitude to being the only beloved of Our Father was unfortunately taken into the early Church and before the world could begin living by "every word that comes from the mouth of God" there was another set of Scribes and Pharisees who failed the loving trust God has in his people and the Church founded Peter became a kingdom more of this world than of the next. 

Dear Lord, You know that I can never truly understand your being but that I do believe that you want us all not only just to obey but do that with loving hearts informed by your revelation. Our response has to be that of Mary. She was informed of what was to happen so that her personal will was aligned with You. Let me avoid totally the self-satisfied pride that can keep my soul away from You. That same overweening pride is again much in evidence throughout the world where violence still reigns supreme and your beloved children continue to fight over the worldly goods that are here today and gone tomorrow. Jesus spoke in the  long-gone Temple but his words are still the life that is always available to those who ask. May my sins and those of the Holy Souls be forgiven and help me with your grace to avoid sins and to look for your will throughout today.Amen

 12/03/2024

Ezekiel writes of a new beginning for the People of God. There is to be a new temple which will be the dwelling place for the Most High. The holiness of the temple is to be spread throughout the whole world by the river that will carry the fruitfulness of the Creator into the oceans which will diffuse that holiness so that there will be no place on Earth that is not renewed.

The Sheep Pool in the five porticoed Bethzatha  was a place of healing in Jerusalem. It seems that it was fed by an underground source that moved the surface of the water at regular intervals. The cures were obtained by getting into the pool during these movements of the water.

The Incarnation is God's renewal of trust that the epitome of his creation, mankind, is still capable of making the right choices and living in human freedom as his image and likeness. Jesus of Nazareth shows us the way as he accepts the will of the Father and as the perfect man leads a life of prayer and obedience.

God still trusts us to aim for holiness. He gave many chances to our predecessors as his people on Earth. Jesus, however, is the completion of the creative act of Love which is this world and we the souls that people it for he is the Son whom the tenants of the vineyard stoned to death.

Jesus although truly a man was perfectly aligned with the will of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and his prayer made with perfect human faith was answered in "real-time". A  long suffering ( extremely long suffering) man was cured but denounced by the priests. 

We are now preparing for the greatest proof of God's love for sinful man. It however is not a sign, it is not an image nor is it a vision for the Resurrection is Eternal Truth. It is complete reality. In the beginning is the Word and the Word is with God and the Word is God and "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe in him will not perish and have eternal life."

Dear Lord, forgive me my sins and help me to avoid my childish wilfulness which harms all my relationships starting with You. Help me to give way and to avoid hateful thoughts and words. May Mary and all the Saints continue in their joyful praise and help us on Earth and in Purgatory to find true repentance and contrition for sins which do nothing but harm to your only begotten and blacken my soul. May I make a safer journey throughout today avoiding all sin and may all my previous sins and those of the Holy Souls be forgiven by your never-ending merciful Love. Amen

 11/03/2024

I have always had the vague idea that John's Gospel differs from the others in that it is more like a memoir and commentary written long after the events than a journalistic narrative as are the other three. I must have picked up this idea from sermons that I have listened to and books that I have read but it is vague as I have never studied the Bible in a systematic way.

In this morning's Gospel Jesus is remembered on his return from a visit to Jerusalem as coming  back into Galilee. John comments that although Jesus had previously remarked that the Nazarenes had showed no respect for him, he still returned to Galilee and this time was well received as his words and deeds in Jerusalem had also been witnessed by Galileans who had  been present for the feast.

At Cana the "court official" asks for Jesus to cure his son who was sick in Capernaum. Jesus gently reminds him that it is not right to put our God to the test. Jesus shows in his life on Earth that it is possible for us to live a life of righteousness. Our Father knows all of his creation and the official's son who is certainly more than a sparrow,  is cured. 

It is not by the signs and portents that are sought by the Jews, or intellectual discourse dear to the hearts of the Greeks that we will come to the never ending life of heaven but by keeping our minds and hearts uncluttered by the things of this world and by being open to receive every word from the mouth of God for he has created us to receive the Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord, let me be guided this day only by your Love. Let those events of long ago which were the result of your incarnate presence on earth be remembered with the gratitude that can never be enough to respond to you, the Ever-greater. May Mary join her prayers with those of all the saints that we can come to the purity of atonement that will be the result of Purgatory for all sinners who begin their repentance in their Earthly lives.

 10/03/2024

During our lives on Earth we all have to give "Glory and praise", we have to worship our God who is beyond our comprehension. There is nothing that can limit God who has revealed himself to be a "One" that is a "Trinity" of persons. Jesus prays to the Father and His Prayer is the Holy Spirit who is his begetter in the womb of Mary,Theotokos. That is the Glory that we worship with love in our hearts.

St Paul is a conscientious pastor and his letters are written to his fledgling churches not to be debated but to instruct the pagans on how to receive the free gift of grace, which before was limited to righteous Jews, that will confirm them in the faith that will lead to everlasting life. 

We too should just accept that God has revealed himself completely by the words and deeds of the Jesus who was nailed to a cross and died in agony so that the world could be purged of the damage caused by sin. The death had to precede the  Resurrection to reveal the Justice that is God's. 

That Resurrection provides us with the grace to live our lives in safety. We can know, love and serve our God not because we can serve and be served by a human institution but we can become part of the Spiritual life that is unseen by eyes but is the Body of Christ built up by the God-given mission of St Paul. It is the Spiritual Union of all Saints and repentant sinners alive in their bodies on Earth, God's own in Heaven and those learning how to repent in the Justice of Purgatory .

It is this Church that Jesus promises will never fail. We have only ourselves to blame for the chronic failures that are witnessed to by the accumulated wealth and worldliness of an institution claiming for itself to be the  Body of Christ on Earth and which very soon after its foundation forgot "my Kingdom is not of this World."

Dear Lord, I pray that I am not completely wrong-headed in my reaction to the failings in deeds that the Church cannot hide any longer. Their poor performance at the inquiry into "coverups" should have informed them that the promised inspiration of the Holy Spirit ("when men take you before tribunals the Holy Spirit will speak for you") was nor there for them. Even a resignation would have done more for their credibility . May the hierarchy of England and Wales review first of all their own faith and then guide their sheep in the truth that results in the way to life. May Mary than whom there is no other human closer to Our Father who is her son and the Holy Spirit beseech you to help all sinners to open their hearts to the infinite grace that You Father, Son and Holy Spirit bestow on all of creation.

 09/03/2024

We are all part of this world created by God. There has never been an era in times past when the world was as full of the works of man as it is today. Mankind is the greatest of God's creatures. We are the image and likeness of Our Father and this is revealed in the works of man which have come into existence out of the freedom God has given to us.

Jesus tells us that the Pharisee in the Temple stands before God and thanks him for his self-satisfied moral superiority. 

In the world of today we lose ourselves in creating new wealth out of the material of the Universe, in the delights of uncreative sexual pleasure and calm any disquietude we might feel by altering the function of our brains with chemicals which we ourselves manufacture. For the most part mankind does not give a thought to anything beyond the material of this Universe even though we all know that our bodies are not everlasting and will wear out. Mankind has become its own god until that moment of departure, the end of this life, death.

Jesus also tells us that the Publican in  the Temple is despised by the Pharisee but is favoured by God. 

As a publican he is not short of material wealth but the simplicity of his prayer tells us that he has the Hebrew awareness of God who has revealed himself to his people. He knows that in his life it is only his personal conduct that has any importance for he has to be the guardian of his soul which is the image and likeness of God. He knows that he has transgressed in his way of life. He feels guilt and knows that it is only God who can clean his spiritual slate of all his debts. He knows that there is an evergreater power and is in the Temple to confess his sins and seek the mercy of God.

Dear Lord, please forgive me for all my sins and let trust in you not become the self satisfied religiosity that you have warned us about so many times. As always it is in deeds that we follow you so let this, my morning prayer set the tone for today's living and help me to avoid sin today. May the prayers of Mary the Mother of your Son together with all the saints continue their pleas for us the sinners on Earth to open our hearts to your mercy and for those in Purgatory to welcome the Justice that is your will for them.

 8/03/2024

Hosea's images taken from the wonders of Nature celebrate God's creative fruitfulness. There is a very gentle warning, more of a reminder, that when we "stumble" we loose touch with the source of all that is fulfilling in our life on Earth.

The Psalmist hears a voice that he does not recognise in the depths of his being. He is inspired in his soul and realises that it is God who is addressing him in his spirit; Supreme Spirit speaks to his created image; to all the hearts that open to hear and recognise him as the one Source.

In the Gospel the one Source, incarnate on Earth, gives a straight answer to the question that is probably asked with ill intention. Jesus' charisma when speaking as Father, Son and Holy Spirit to his creatures is irresistible and the scribe who witnesses these words of Moses received from the Father now spoken by the Son is converted by the Spirit from guile to awesome agreement.

Our Lord blesses him accordingly. 

Dear Lord may the blessing received by the scribe in today's gospel have fruit in the hearts of all who this day hear it. May those who have lost their way to you in the tangles created by themselves and all mankind who should have learned by now that Salvation only comes from you and it is always there for us when we ask. May Mary, who has never been alienated from you, continue to guide from heaven the spiritual body of whose Head she is the Mother which we can all join in the spirit to cooperate in your praise in Heaven, Mercy on earth and Forgiveness in Purgatory.

 07/03/2024

Trick questions are usually asked of Jesus by those who felt threatened by his words and deeds. Those present at today's curing of the dumb man know that they had witnessed a miracle. As they try to make sense of what their eyes had seen and their ears had heard an opinion arose that it is through the power of Beelzebub that Jesus is able to command "devils" to obey him.

None of us can deny the logic of Jesus' rejoinder to the murmuring . For us, 2000 years later, it is a very small step for us to take from this to look at the state of the Institutional Church as she has been over the centuries since Jesus told us that "the kingdom of God has overtaken you". 

 In the very first days in Jerusalem arguments arose among the brothers. The apostles had quarrelled about personal power even when they walked behind Jesus on the final ascent to Jerusalem. Six hundred years before the Incarnation, Jeremiah had delivered God's message to the "nation that will not listen to the voice of its Lord their God nor take correction. Sincerity is no more, it has vanished from their mouths." We all still need to listen to that message today.

Jesus broke the power of the "strong man" but we have found him again in the depths of our being and have given him back his power by continuing to say "yes" to the Devil, the World and the Flesh by saying "no" to God. Each one of us has to be and can be perfect in our human freedom "even as your Father who art in heaven is perfect" and it is only by each one of us turning back to Father, Son and Holy Spirit that the face of the Earth will be renewed and we will reach the never ending holiness of God who art in Heaven.

Dear Lord, let me overcome all the sinfulness of which I am capable. Let me come near to you and let the Body of Christ on Earth be in the sincere spiritual community that can be found also within the corruption that has always disfigured your own Earthly foundation. May Our Lady who as carrier of your growing embryo can be considered the Church's prefoundation in your humanity continue to lead the heavenly body of which you are the head in praise and pleading for the second coming which will complete your will for material creation. Maranatha. Lord Jesus come. Amen

 06/03/2024

We the peoples who have heard the words of the Law from Moses and those who have tried to access the Grace manifest by the Incarnation have fallen far short of the of what Our Father wants for all his human creatures. We do not show in either our institutions or personal lives the behaviours that would inspire "No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation!"

The Jews have certainly followed Moses "Do not forget the what your eyes have seen nor let them slip from your heart, all the days of your life rather tell them to your children and to your children's children". The descendants of Moses have certainly done this. The occupation of Palestine is a deliberate attempt to steal land and possessions by force of arms and accumulated wealth from the rightful owners. The continued slaughter in Gaza is as great a sin as the Gas Chambers of Auschwitz  and ensures that strife will continue and evil flourish in this our material world.

The Institution that Jesus founded on Peter has over the course of two thousand years acquired vast wealth and possessions and claimed to be the one source on Earth for the grace that enables its followers to follow the Law as completed by Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Can, however, the institution that, during its growth in this world, has perpetrated evil and crimes in the Pharisaical Hypocrisy condemned by the Son of God be said to be the completion of the Law for righteous living revealed through Moses?

Jews, as are all other humans, have always been "of this world" and inconsistent in their history as the "chosen people". It was their humanity, however,  in the person of Mary that God chose to carry his only begotten son. It was a Jew's arms that were spread out and nailed to the cross for them to be able to enclose all humanity in his love. At his trial he told us all, disciples, scribes, priests and Caesar "My kingdom is not of this world". 

The Kingdom of God is not located in any institution or building but in "every word that comes from God" which finds its place in human hearts and is revealed in this world by their deeds.

 We all have been given the freedom of will to choose and to build "the Kingdom" in  the depths of our being. This is the purpose of my every breath.

Dear Lord, you know my shame and failure to live up to the standards that you have revealed to us all. Help me to know your grace and use it to serve you and learn how to love you in service to others. May Mary who knew Gaza in her worldly life and who as she witnessed your torture and crucifixion can never forget how we have always inflicted pain upon each other, pray that each human being who is about to inflict pain and death on a fellow human has a vision of his own death and resist the evil that he is able to avoid. May we all on earth and  in purgatory receive Mercy and completely forgive all others who are harming or have ever harmed us.

 05/03/2024

Today's first reading is not historically accurate. In fact it was written many centuries after the event it depicts. The Gospel reading similarly took on the form it has for us today more than 300 years after the events which completed God's revelation to his people on Earth.

Why then am I reading and pondering on myself alive in the world today in the light of these deeds recorded as words, that can be disputed by scholars, from long ago? I do believe in God. I do believe that he knows me. I do believe that everything in this world passes away into nothingness except for the reciprocal Love between God and his people.

Daniel tells us that God has always had a special love for the descendants of Noah. He does not tell us that he cares nothing about other humans who are often portrayed in the Old Testament as sinners whose idolatry should be driven from the face of the Earth. The chosen people similarly fall into the quick fix for their longing for God by sacrifice to a Golden Calf rather than the long but sure way to righteousness that God reveals to them through his prophets.

St Peter asks Jesus about how we can live righteously in a world filled as it is with other human beings whom we cannot know with the intimacy that we know ourselves and try to know Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The first link of the golden chain that binds us all in the mystical Body of Christ is forgiveness. Our God knows everything and forgives everything. God does not want to punish anyone. My childish sins are forgiven as is the Godless inhumanity of today in Gaza and the graver sins of my adulthood.

My God calls out to me from his Old Testament and from his Incarnate words and life in the New. Sometimes the weight of the guilt of our personal sins seems to overwhelm us but Jesus tells us by his words, death and resurrection that  "forgiveness" is real and begins with us who are forgiven in ourselves in as much as we forgive others. God has created us as free beings who are responsible for the way we live out our time on Earth. Thanks be to God.

Dear Lord, help me to retain the sense of being known to you throughout this today and let my anger be controlled so that I can forgive but not forget that we can all implore your mercy not only for ourselves but for all, friend and foe alike. May Mary who only knows sin as the pains of the  passion that Jesus accepted to generate forgiveness for all mankind continue to lead the Angels and Saints in their praise of you and in pleas of Mercy for sinners on Earth and in Purgatory. God forgive us our trespasses and let our forgiveness of others become as complete as your own. Amen

 04/03/2024

I can think of no other examples of  "a prophet is never accepted in his own country" except from the Bible. In our world national support for politicians is often the greatest in what is their hometown power base. 

Prophets however are sent by God and much of what is their message is unpalatable to us the receivers. Father, Son and Holy Spirit only want for us to follow the right path on Earth and avoid the pitfalls and traps of the material world that can soon captivate us to the extent of forgetting that eternal life depends on us using our God-given freedom to follow him.

In the Arab world Christians are often known as "Nazrani" which is ironical as it was the people of Nazareth who, in today's Gospel, first threatened the human violence which Jesus was to accept as the end of his life on Earth.

Some moments I feel an immeasurable distance from God. I suppose that this is the reality for all mankind. We are so miniscule in relation to the Evergreaterness of God that we accept any of the vast gifts of creation which we can understand, and use them to fill our beings with known goods even though we do know that they are fleeting. We thus block ourselves off from the Eternal Grace which really matters. God is perpetual creative love and has created us to understand this as much as we are able so that our response is the reciprocated love of joyful hearts.

I have to thank God that even in depths of my sinfulness he has never lost touch with me and has never withheld his grace. He is indeed "My Lord and my God", the light of my life, the supreme source of all that is Good and the Saviour of all mankind.

Dear Lord, I thank you that I am able to accept your grace. I thank you that I can be open to receive your Love. May your Love be irresistible to all of us here on Earth that each one of us can resist the personal sins that create the evil that sullies your beloved creation. May Mary, the only one who has never been separated from your Love, lead all of your spiritual creation unseen by us in the prayers that are the only way to save your people from the way of destruction on Earth and the Eternal unhappiness that is created by disobedience in life.

 03/03/2024

As I wait for the words I need to begin this day, to form in my head I know that God has direct access to my being and that he wishes only good for me. It is so for all the human beings alive. God knows us all and he has for each of us only good will. He helps us in our response to his will by the guidance he has been revealing consistently since the beginning of time.

All of mankind however has always tried to "improve" on what is shown to us in his creation. Adam and Eve knew better than God and they discovered that they were naked so tried to cover themselves with fig-leaves. The purity of God's creation was blemished and to this day all of us have to combat the tendency to sin, to deny God, that is the origin of all evil in this world.

The ten commandments given to Moses are the basis for righteous living. Jesus adds a lot more to this life plan. He tells us that all sins can be forgiven if we turn the attention of our being to  Himself, the Father and Holy Spirit and creates the Sacraments to help us.

God knows that it is impossible for creatures to understand their maker. Man-made and coded machines can never understand or become the freedom of "God's image and likeness". 

Throughout the world up to the first century God had done wonders for the Jews who, as St Paul tells us still asked for miracles even after the Resurrection preached by him and all the Apostles. The Sophisticated Minds of the Greeks pursued ideas with which to frame the awareness that they had of existence. "Resurrection" was to them just a word as it had been similarly without meaning to the Apostles when Jesus first used it.

It seems to me that we have only got part of God's revelation and that the "Second Coming"  which was the longed for hope of the first Christians has got lots more to teach us about Our Father and the New Heaven and New Earth that Jesus will bring at the end of Time. Marantha Lord Jesus, Please come soon!!

Dear Lord let the way, truth and life brought to the world in Palestine be open for all peoples of the world so that we all can strive to do your will. I know that even though I am a sinner you care for me as much as did Mary care for you when you were a baby and infant. May her prayers and the prayers of all the saints flood the world with grace so that each one of us can live without sin to praise your Name and do your Will. Please come soon.

 02/03/2024

Dear Lord, you know the turmoil that is filling me this morning. The turmoil that drives out the peace with which I am usually able to turn my heart and mind to you. My brain is messed up still by the medicines I take. Too many always leave my brain and  body not as you created me to be, but that will soon pass.

Most of all, however, is the fundamental problem that makes me despise myself by my lack of self-control. The Prodigal returned from his lifetime debauchery to the open arms of his father who welcomed him with the love that had never wavered, but confrontation in my world between human beings often takes on dimensions of hate that cannot be overcome.

The elder son was made bitter with jealousy. He viewed his Father with "eyes of Justice" . "It is not right that my father does not recognise my worth to him but makes such a show of joyful support for him who has wasted his share of our family wealth but been welcomed home by a huge  party."

I can understand and empathise with the elder son whereas the younger son leaves me cold. It is not that I haven't received mercy. My "eyes of justice" tell me that I have never deserved the forgiveness of Our Father, but there is always something that comes out of the centre of my being that is really fond of myself and has nothing to do with love or justice. 

Dear Lord me help to overcome this secret presence in my heart that is an open book to you. Help me to overcome this "devil" that is now sniggering at the success it has had in putting my soul in danger of again failing you. You are not the father of the prodigal son. That father did not treat his children equally and thus broke your law of mercy ( love your neighbour as yourself) which, as does the rain, falls equally on sinners and on just. May Mary and the Saints pray that you seek out all sinners such as me and help us to overcome the self love that still creates evil even when I know your loving presence and recognise the torments I continue to create for Jesus to endure on my behalf. 

 01/03/2024

St Paul certainly did not hide his light under a bushel. His letters all tell us that he never rested on his laurels. He continued in his mission right until the end even getting his dream of an untimely death in this world at the hands of this world as did his beloved master.

In his letters he never mentions his need of money. He never appeals for a "building fund". In fact the only "church" that he mentions is the "Body of Christ" although he does contribute to the poor in Jerusalem. His only concern in life is to build up what began for him on the road to Damascus. He saw the Glory that is the Resurrection and heard the voice of the Holy Spirit and from that moment onwards obeyed the Father and shared throughout the Empire, the joy that is a life lived in the Light of Father, Son and Holy Spirit .

Jesus tells us all that we have to shine out in this world. He tells me that it is only by my deeds that the effects of the salt of eternity can be seen. My reflections on the meaning of the Gospel readings are all very well and help me to see my sins but they are personal and my living days are not much better than they have ever been.

Salt preserves meat. It keeps it from decay. Our Lord warns us that even salt can lose its power but the light of his grace never fades.  At the worldly time the Incarnation was made manifest, the salt that is the "Law" as practised by the descendants of Abraham had lost its savour and the body of Israel had become corrupt.

The Light of the World walked and talked with us for three years. He taught us by word and deed and his Apostles walked in his footsteps. Can I truthfully say that I have ever reflected the Grace that supports every second of my life.? When has the institution that is the Church ever shone with the Glory that is the Light of God, the pure source of all being and the only way to Eternal Holiness.

Dear Lord, these thoughts with which I begin each day are important to me and I am grateful that my life did not end in the Red Sea, tangled up in that abandoned net, without the free gift of these years for atonement. Help me to hold onto the control, grace, that comes from you into my being so that I can continue to seek out your Mercy for me and for all sinners on Earth and for the Holy Souls who now know how they went wrong during their lives and deeply regret it.  May the triumphant Church of Mary and all the Saints share the grace of Heaven bringing sinners on Earth to repentance and let me stay part of the Christ preached and defended by St Paul throughout the Empire and in Wales by his successor, Dawi Sant.