30/04/2024

Stoned at Lystra, St Paul is the victim of his own people. The Resurrection appears to the Jews of both Jerusalem and the diaspora as a confidence trick perpetrated by a group of blasphemous, irreligious apostates who have to be killed.

This had also been the attitude of Paul when first we met him as Saul who looked after the garments of the more active stoners of St Stephen. It also became the attitude of the church hierarchy to those who preached a different version of Christianity from what had become the doctrine that they had had revealed to them.

The early Churches of the Fathers had been able to communicate with each other even though they were separated  by hundreds of miles. They were able to organise and attend the great councils where they met face-to-face. A native of Central Anatolia could become a bishop in Lyons. This ease of communication was a result of military road building and dubbed "Pax Romana" but it is not "Pax Christi".

The Peace of Christ is God's gift to each one of us. It does not depend on roads or electronic networks but on our own will to conform to the will of God. It is, however, violently resisted by the Prince of this World. 

Who is the Prince of this World? He is anyone of us who forgets that Jesus reveals the True Life of the Spirit. He is anyone of us who denies God by promoting his own flesh into being the idol that he worships. He is anyone of us who does not recognise his own sin and thank God for his redemption. He is anyone who misleads himself and others into believing that we can build a heaven for all men on this Earth.

Dear Lord, help me to continue to walk in your light as if following you not only as you walked from village to village in Palestine but also as you stumbled bloodstained and derided carrying your cross to Calvary. Help me to let my loved ones also learn that your words are Truth and the Way to the Eternal Life that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Help us all to know that the wonders of this physical universe are all created by you to show us that even though they pass away your Love never changes but is always the ever-greater being that having opened ourselves to Your Grace, we have no option but to worship. Save us all Lord, Jesus.

 29/04/2024

The message from God delivered in those long ago first days of Salvation and announced to the world by those who had seen the risen Lord, has never changed. We have all been created out of  nothing by the Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit and we have to consciously bathe ourselves in that Love so that we can avoid sin.

We can live without fear in this world only if we avoid sin. Only if we follow the completed revelation of the Father, made by the Son and accept our inner voice that is the Holy Spirit can we live this today in union with all of humanity, living and dead. I can become part  of the spiritual body that in the flesh of this world deserted by most of his followers, despised and humiliated, knew and forgave in that moment of death, the sin of us all .

The only words that can justify that moment of intolerable isolation were spoken by Jesus at his Last Supper and are repeated daily in the masses celebrated at altars throughout the world. That is why our priests always have to be righteous and the institution that they serve has to proclaim the Resurrection by word and deed. 

The New Holy Family of Mary and John was also founded on Calvary. This is the Silent Church that is truly not of this World. It is the unseen loving heart of Jesus' foundation. It is the Communion of Saints and will be our sanctuary and salvation until the end of time.

Dear Lord, you  never cease to pour out your loving mercy but I have often ignored the promptings of my conscience and continued in the sin that tore at your flesh on Calvary. May these my morning prayers guided by the Church of Peter truly unite me with the mutual loving kindness that cared for Mary and John even as the intolerable agony of sin strove to break your acceptance of  your unique mission. I pray that I can become pure of heart and that even this sinner can be welcomed into the New Creation at the end of time. Amen. Maranatha, come Lord, Jesus Come.

 28/04/2024

I have been aware of the importance of religion in my life for getting on for 80 years. I am always being surprised by how much more there is to know than I know now. I did know that St Paul had had problems with the Apostles in Jerusalem but did not know that there had been moves to have him killed. I did not know that the Greek speaking Jews were Jews by descent whose families had returned to Jerusalem generations beforehand. These are the Hellenists who sought to kill Paul in the first reading.

St John finally settled with Mary near Ephesus. It is probable that his surviving writings were distributed from there. There is a constant theme in today's letter and throughout the body of work attributed to him that God is Love and that his purpose in Creation is to reveal the Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to share it with the whole world.

The image of the vine has always caught the imagination of Christians and those among us who are artistically gifted have reproduced this image on paper and in stone and wood many times throughout history.We are to accept that the richness of the vine that is our community of Faith in Love is maintained by the fecundity of its branches that have to be pruned to remain fruitful. We are not told, however, what is to become of the grapes that are the end product of the fruitful vine.

God cannot be deceived and has told us that we are not to sin. St John tells us that we have nothing to fear if our consciences are clear in the light of God's revelation. I am not to make excuses for my sin. I must not manipulate my conscience in the light of "nowadays" for the sin of Adam is still the sin that ignores Father Son and Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of Calvary but in life focuses on Mammon until that moment when the sinner knows that he is naked in the Light of Truth where there is no place to hide.

Dear Lord, help me to remain in your Love and let me be at peace with you and sinless in this life. You have a place ready for all of us but we have to cooperate with your purpose. You know the difficulties that I can always find in life but help me to not be deceived by what I consider to be my primary purpose. Words pop out from my fingers but only you know how true they are. May My prayers become one with those of Mary and all the saints and the sins of all the living world and those of Purgatory be all forgiven that we can become one with the new creation at the end of time.

 27/04/2024

The preaching of Paul and Barnabas was not accepted by the Jews of Antioch (Isparta) and so they moved on to Iconium ( Konya). Jesus had warned that his message would not be received as good news by everybody, but only by the elect.

I am always worried by "predestination" which could have the meaning that no matter how I strive sincerely to follow the Gospel the result, my eternal reward or punishment, has already been decided by God and I can do nothing about it.

Whenever this topic comes into my mind I have to comfort myself with the truth that Father, Son and Holy Spirit have not given spiritual life to anyone with the intention of inflicting damnation on them. The sin that Jesus saves us from has always been freely chosen by the sinner.

The great community sins that are  dominating our world today. Gaza, Yemen, Haiti, Burma, abortion, homosexuality, gender choice, coverup by bishops are all committed in the first instance by one human person choosing to defy God.

As I write this, the chain of sin that is resulting in another death in Gaza, can only be broken by  individual combatants refusing to obey orders. Jesus sought pardon for his executioners. He had previously told his disciples on their first mission to shake from their feet, the dust of towns that did not listen to the good news; he did not order any other punishment.

Nothing is impossible for God so we all have to implore him to fill the hearts of us all with the wonder that John's Gospel reveals to the whole world. The "Love" that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit has taken on the flesh of Mary to become "God with us", "The Way, the Truth and the Life" and that "Whatever you ask for in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it."

Dear Lord, Help me know your will for me and do it. Help me to avoid the sin that surrounds me and save me from the snares that I always encounter even as I focus all my being on you. May my prayers be joined to those of Mary and all the saints and let me live out my lifetime with my heart open to your loving mercy, Dear Jesus save me from myself and let your Mercy overpower all the evil that we choose to thus pollute the creation which you Love. Maranatha Lord, Jesus come soon!

 26/04/2024

The majority of those addressed by Paul in the Antioch that is in Central Anatolia are Jews and he makes no allowance for the "Godfearers", the gentiles who had attached themselves to the Synagogue. In fact being known as "Godfearers" implies not only adherence to the Jewish way of life but also knowledge of the scriptures for the two are inseparable.

Paul speaks to them as one people who have been saved by the perfect Sacrifice of the Son which is prefigured by the uncompleted sacrifice offered by their Father Abraham and he refers them to words of the Second Psalm.

This same second psalm is allotted to be the Responsorial Psalm for use in the Roman Liturgy for today. Jesus told us to listen to the Pharisees but "not do as they do". The much corrupted Church that was founded on Peter still has the message of eternal life and a liturgy prepared over centuries by men who were striving to live a life of holiness as did Our Lord.

St Thomas who has completely accepted Jesus as God, "My Lord and my God", still needs empirically rational certitude and points out to God that if he doesn't tell them the destination how can they know the way and so Jesus reveals for all time that "The Way, The Truth and The Life" is its own destination; it is the righteousness that is the never changing Eternity where we can all be part of the New Life that is the Resurrection.

Dear Lord, at this moment I am hoping that I can sincerely atone for my sins and cover myself with your Mercy asking to be forgiven and to resist any form of temptation. Let me live this day in your peace and not become the cause of sin in others. May Mary and the Saints in heaven include me in the prayer that it is to be in your presence and completed in the Love that is the Glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Help me by your Grace.

 25/04/2024

My personality has always caved in to those of us who are strong. I have very rarely been able to convince  others of my point of view. In my heart of hearts, however, I know that I was right to refuse last year's invoice from British Gas. I was right but ultimately accepted the power of that great concern. To accept a lie is a mark of my weakness. 

St Peter, who has experienced for himself the difference between weakness and humility, today preaches the humility that is at the heart of the second commandment. His replies, when challenged at the time of Jesus trial, were sinful weakness of which we must all beware in our lives on this earth.

We are all called to bear witness to Father, Son and Holy Spirit by the way we live our lives. We have to remember the self-fulfilled  pride that was the prayer of the Pharisee."Thank God that I am not as other men". He has become in his own eyes the epitome of righteousness and he scorns the publican, the sinner who asks for mercy.

Humility is not weakness. I am weak when I don't maintain the earnest devotion with which I start each day. I remember hearing at an AA meeting 40 years ago that if you think you've got humility, then you can be sure that you don't. 

There is something in my being that cannot be convinced by the overwhelming evidence of my weakness and tells me that I am as good as anybody else in this world. This could be the Lord who tells us that we are all known and loved because that is his nature. The only justifiable pride is to be humble in the Love of the Lord and pray that we all accept his gifts as unconditional displays of his bounty and not as tributes to the being that I am.

Dear Lord, you know how we are able to be blinded by success in this world and addicted to the acquisition of wealth. Help us all to try to come to an understanding of the immensity of the humility you showed in the Incarnation even before the death you underwent on the shame of the cross and then be sincerely thankful for this ultimate example of  human life lived for others. There is nothing that we can do in life that is better than the humble prayer on our knees when we ask for forgiveness and praise You for your Glory

 24/04/2024

As an old man myself, I can appreciate how St John can remember the experience of his youth. I mean by that the Evangelist is still able to recall the fluency of Jesus' discourse. My own memory, of course, does not retain the years that I spent with the Son of God. In fact most of my  memories are of my personal failures to remain true to the revealed Way, the Truth and the Life.

Sinful moments from my past keep on popping up into my consciousness and I have to make an effort of will to disperse them. I cannot recall any of the sermons I have heard. I can remember, however, that I listened more intently to some than to others. St John, of course, is inspired by both  Jesus and his care for Mary.

So, we have to listen to St John as if we were with him and the other Apostles in the warmth of Jesus' love and we have to hang on to the words for they are the Way, the Truth and the Life. They are the reason for me being aware that I have to conform my life to the Law of Moses and to strive after the Poverty, Chastity and Obedience that was displayed by the Church in the first years after the Resurrection, before the destruction of the Temple.

In the reading from the Acts that is appointed to be read by all Christians in the Course for Living that is the Universal Calendar of the Catholic Church we hear how the first Church of Jews and Gentiles is shifting its centre from Jerusalem to Antioch. We shall soon be calling ourselves Christians. 

So much has taken place since those first shoots that sprang up in the Glorious Light that is Christ, Our Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our faith has to grow in the hope that we shall all know the same perfection of love that was known personally  to Mary, Joseph, "his brothers", disciples, the lame, the blind, the possessed, Jews, gentiles, Romans, Pharisees, Scribes Chief priests and all those blessed to be living in Palestine during the human lifetime of our God on earth.

Dear Lord help me to keep focused on you as I go about my life today. May all of us alive today be awakened by the light of your Love. May all sinners come to realise the horror that is sin but also know that you welcome us in our repentance. May we all join our prayers to those of Mary and the saints and pray for the forgiveness your 33 years on earth has bequeathed to all mankind. May my soul find the peace you have prepared for me. I make this prayer in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Marantha dear Lord, come soon. Amen.

 23/04/2024

Many Saints have been canonized by the Church but it is not the Church that has brought them to salvation. I do not know how St George came to be declared a Saint. I do know that the legends of his battle with the dragon are indeed products of the equivalent of today's Netflix.

There are many of the early saints whose origins were in the mythology that was retained in  folk memories even after baptism. The earliest form of the peaceful travel industry grew out of pilgrimage to visit the relics of saints claimed to be in various places throughout Europe and the Middle-East. 

The Crusades, one of the most shameful episodes in the History of the Church founded on St Peter by Jesus "My Kingdom is not of this world", is what cemented the cult of St George into the cultures of many countries including England. 

Father, Son and Holy Spirit who knows us all and how we respond in life to his self-revelations has welcomed many of us into his Eternity since his creation of heaven and earth. He has prepared a place for each of us. His life, death and resurrection show us how to live. Jesus has told us that there are many places in his "sheepfold", that "my Father's house has many mansions".

We have been entrusted with our souls which are free from imprinted control and we are entirely free to choose whether or not to prepare ourselves to be welcomed into the place of peace where we will join our fellow saints, those whose names we know, and the majority who as we are, known only to God and to the Spiritual Community founded from the cross "Woman behold your son, son behold your mother."

Dear Lord I know that there are many souls here on earth who have been alienated by the faults exhibited by your foundation on Peter. I know my own sins but hope to be forgiven by my genuine regret and most of all by your Infinite Mercy. Help me to remain prayerful throughout this day and let me join with Mary and John in that New Holy Family that you revealed out of your agony on Calvary. Let me be with you until the end of time. Amen

 22/04/2024

I understand from the first reading that those who listened to the Apostles in the Portico of Solomon  had not been "converted" .They were still Jews who, like the Apostles, were trying to understand the teachings of Jesus whom they had seen dead on Calvary but had been seen alive in the flesh after his death by those who preached the Resurrection. 

Their "Jewishness" was still more dominant than the events that they had been living through recently and they knew nothing of the 30 year incarnate presence of God in their world that had been the reality for Mary and Joseph.

Peter had been close to Jesus for three years and knew that he had refuted all the accusations of "law-breaking" levelled at him by Pharisees. Jesus completed the spirit of the Law of Moses. He taught against the concept of ritual impurity. "What comes out of a man makes him unclean". Jesus had cured and driven out devils from non-Jews.

I am trying to get rid of my idea that the vision of the "table-cloth" seems to be very convenient for the purpose of fulfilling the mission to go out and teach all nations. Peter and the other Apostles could totally emphasise with the Jews to whom they proclaimed the Good News and the first schism among the believers came out of these breaks with their Jewish traditions.

I cannot deny anything that is in the books of the New Testament. I have always wondered from where the baskets used to collect the scraps remaining from the "Feeding of the five thousand" came. 

Peter had undoubtedly learnt from Jesus all that he proclaimed and he had seen the Risen Lord so he knew that Father, Son and Holy Spirit had by the Incarnation of the Son finalised the Law and mapped out the Way, the Truth and Life that is our road to the full life of our Salvation.Of all the signs that he had witnessed it is the Resurrection that had sealed the teachings of Jesus for him and dietary rules and circumcision had no prominence in Jesus' teaching. I wonder whether, however, he could have knowingly ever eaten pork. I couldn't bring myself to taste horsemeat even after I had gone to the trouble of cooking it.

Dear Lord I am still not completely secure in my believe. You know that I do not automatically choose to refuse sin. You know how many hours of the day I waste in stupor before the screens that have come to dominate the life of mankind. May I learn to turn to you in prayer at least as much as I watch TV. Let me not be selfish in my prayers and help me not to forget the departed who are known and unknown to me in Purgatory. Keep me from delighting in the public failures of priests and prelates and may the prayers of Mary and all the saints bring mercy to all sinners.

 21/04/2024

The contrast between Peter the weakling disciple who denied all knowledge of Jesus at his trial before Pilate, "Are you not one of his disciples?" "I am not"and the formidable and brave spokesman  of believers, who can stand before the rulers and leaders of Israel and proclaim the Resurrection, the total power of "Jesus" has to be an assurance for all times and sinners such as me that the only thing we need in our lives is trust in Jesus.

That God trusts all of us is revealed by our inner being, our souls that are not "code" but completely free spirit which is the image and likeness of our unseen creator. Our souls are confined to our bodies which will die as they are the same material as the rest of the Earth but it is to benefit our souls that St John records the themes of Jesus' discourse that he recalls in Gospel and Letters.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit is "Love". The Father Creator is Love. The Son Redeemer is Love. The Holy Spirit is Love. I realise that throughout my life I have been saved numerous times from my foolish sinfulness by Love that does not want to lose any one of us. The Good Shepherd does not herd us by brutality or any form of physical control but leads the way that passes through the pains of living up to the gate that is death and then reveals the Eternal Glory that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord, you know that I am still faced with the weakness of will that has sinned so often. At death my life is all present and cannot be changed. I pray now that I can find your merciful Love together with your loving Justice when I come to that moment. St John became with Mary a new Holy Family and it is to this Spiritual Church of Saints that I hope I have joined my prayers today. We have Jesus' word that he is not exclusively present in the remains of his foundation on St Peter and that there are many different folds wherein he guards his sheep who keep his commandments and live by his counsels. We have to seek out Your Love for ourselves. Your will be done but please save us from ourselves. Amen. Maranatha Lord! Jesus come!

 20/04/2024

Today's readings connect the Jesus, Incarnate God in Created time and the Jesus, Eternal Mystical Body, the Church, as she began to be in the years before the destruction of the Temple. The Apostles are  filled with the Holy Spirit and continuing, as instructed, to preach the Good News.

During the three years of his public life Jesus did many miracles. Since then we have all wondered about the historical reality of those "signs". I have often made an act of will to believe what is written about them in the New Testament.

Jesus complained to his Apostles about their similar to mine, incomplete faith. Today Peter does "move mountains" and Tabitha does begin to live again as Peter's prayer becomes a reality and  "sign" for the onlookers. 

Peter is the same man who denied that he knew Jesus not once but thrice at the time of Jesus' trial. The Resurrection and the Holy Spirit have completed the mystery of  IAMIAM's revelation of Himself to all of us. It is this "Tri-Unity" who reveals himself in the Gospels and in the lives of the Saints. 

In the first reading, St Peter's complete Faith in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit returns to him as the miracle of the revivification of St Dorcas in this world. In the Gospel Jesus corrects the opinions of his disciples who faced with how to understand "I tell you most solemnly that if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you" find it an unbearable concept to hear and believe.

Dear Lord, today you emphasise that "the flesh has nothing to offer" that the perfection in life that we live is the unseen spiritual life known to God. The Sacraments are "flesh" in that they are material substances but the reality of their being is the unseen body of our Incarnate God. With this belief in the core of my being I am not afraid for "you are with me always" even though I turn away in my sinfulness . Strengthen our faith so that it can trust You to end the horrors that many in this world are perpetrating and suffering even as I pray this morning. Marantha and save us once again dear Lord. 

 19/04/2024

The crowd that was listening to Jesus preach at the Synagogue in Capernaum were all Jews and had been brought up within the Laws of ritual purity. They all, thus, had an inbuilt abhorrence of anything that was "unclean". I, personally, have tried but have failed to overcome my disgust at the mere thought of eating  horsemeat.

Jesus, a Jew, tells the congregation of Jews that he will give them his own flesh to eat as meat, which also means drinking his blood. Of course, they are immediately shocked and start arguing, discussing what on earth he could mean. The concept "transubstantiation" did not enter into their minds.

As we get closer to Father, Son and Holy Spirit we come to realise that he is always ever greater than our understanding. Today's congregation are in the living presence of the only Begotten Son. He has told them that he and the Father are one. Jesus has cured the blind and lame, he has provided food for huge gatherings, water became wine at his command. 

However, even the Apostles present with their Rabbi in that Synagogue must have become bewildered and clung on to Jesus by the skin of their teeth. They managed to do this and were rewarded for their faith by greeting and being greeted by the Resurrection.

Each day of my life has to be lived in the presence of my Saviour. I have to read the words of Scripture and as did Mary, ponder them in my heart. The only sinless ones of our humanity are the created Immaculate Mary and her Son of the Father, God from God, Begotten not made of one substance with the Father, through him all things were made, Jesus of Nazareth, man as I am but sinless and totally God.

Dear Lord, let me be encouraged by the faith of your Apostles who, although they scattered in  fear at your Crucifixion, came to together again to commit themselves to you, the Resurrection. I have often sinned but never been able to live peacefully in that sin. You know that each day I pray for forgiveness and try to bolster my faith by thinking about you and your life on Earth. I believe in the Spiritual living body of Christ which is the New Holy Family instituted by you on your cross and which can be found wherever individual souls reach out in communion with your saints in heaven and penitents in Purgatory to you Our Saviour to plead for the conversion of the whole of our World.

 18/04/2024

The source I use for the daily mass readings has repeated part of yesterday's reading from St John. It is part of Jesus' discourse on the "Bread of Life". The "only begotten" of IAMIAM tells us that IAMIAM is identical with  "IAM the Bread of Life". 

The Son of God tells us today that he and the Father are One and that he is "The Living Bread" come down from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that is the Saving Spiritual Grace of the Eucharist.

The reading is the wonderful promise of Our God to care for us in this world so that we can all enter into the New Creation that will replace this world at the end of time. Material wealth and well-being is as impermanent as the house built on sand. Our lives are secure only in the house built on the secure foundation that is the Word of God.

Jesus renamed Simon, the Galilean fisherman, Peter and founded the Institution that we still know today, on him. Over the centuries that institution has lost its focus on the Wounds of Christ, on the Being of Father, Son and Holy  Spirit and its only other reason for being here,   sincere care for the souls of sinners and lead them to being with God and all his Saints.

Dear Lord, Help me by your Grace to come closer to you in my daily life. May your grace drive out sin from your Church and let all Catholic Clergy also drive out all worldly ambition from their being and begin to live as you did, "pro nobis". I am afraid that the Institution has followed your chosen people into a desert of hypocritical "half-belief" and has failed to bring about the revival that was made possible only by the Infinite Sacrifice you made on Calvary. My hope is still in the spiritual family of John and Mary and in this your one mystical body that unites Heaven and Earth I try to find my security of belief that preserves me from sin in the Grace you poured out in "Blood from Heaven" on Calvary.

 17/04/2024

It is no wonder that St Paul was treated with suspicion by the other Apostles when he returned to Jerusalem two or three years after the events recorded in this morning's first reading. He had led a "bitter" persecution of the first Church. He too had "gnashed his teeth" at the preaching and proclamation of the Resurrection and had assisted in the stoning of Stephen.

St John's memoir of Jesus' life had not been written when Paul returned to Jerusalem. The Liturgy had, however, begun to take shape as witnessed by Paul himself in his first letter to the Corinthians. St John's resume of Jesus' discourse on the "Bread of Life" had not been written but its theme must have formed part of the teaching of the Apostles in the Portico of Solomon which had so enraged the Sanhedrin and its supporters.

Jesus himself during his historical, public ministry had never set out to challenge either the Temple or the Scriptures. He taught us the True Way of Life that comes from God. His only "agenda" was to complete on earth the will of the Father. Everything he did in this world is to be an example of how each individual of us can live out our lives with the gracious support of Our Father.

We in our modern world can be sure that we are living as God intends us to live only if we always choose to act as did Jesus 2000 years ago. God still speaks to us through the Scriptures, the Church and directly into the open hearts of Believers. 

Each one of us has an awareness that life is not of our choice, and we soon learn that we are living in an ever-changing world.  My memories tell me that I am still the same person who remembers  good and bad moments from 80 years ago. Scriptures remind me that God has taught us how to deal with the transitory nature of his Creation and that by following in the footsteps of His Incarnate Son is the only way to bring our lives to the conclusion that is our New Beginning in the adventure that is to be the peaceful glory of Eternity.

Dear Lord, help me to truly atone for my sins and help me to become unwavering in Faith. May I truly become part of the family of John & Mary. Let me not "kid myself" but let my will support my belief in Scripture and in the Church that forms your body on earth. Give grace to the many pastors who struggle to maintain their commitment to you and help us all to live as the institution teaches but has failed to honour in its deeds. I sincerely need forgiveness  for myself please let me share it with the Holy Souls who are awaiting pardon to join join Mary and All the Saints. You know that I am John, still a sinner. Maranatha! Lord Jesus come!

 16/04/2024

St Stephen is always remembered as the first Christian Martyr. He was killed 2000 years ago but he still lives in the presence of God. His time on earth was completed by the violence of the Temple. The same authorities who had handed over Jesus to Pilate acted, this time, directly in their fury and the stoning was also approved by many others, most infamously by Saul.

Stephen's death must have caused great sorrow amongst those who had also been there at the time of the Crucifixion. The followers of "The Way" were still Jews in their hearts. They were still trying to live righteously by following the Law of Moses but knew that Jesus' mission had been to complete the Law not to abolish it.

We do not know what went through the minds of his friends on the day of Stephens' death. With hindsight we can attribute to that first Church the support of the Holy Spirit and the strength that actually seeing the resurrected body of Jesus had given to them. 

I cannot imagine how Peter and James, Matthew and Mark, Mary and John felt as they lost the first of their friends to an unjust death. In agony, on his cross, Jesus had still preached the way of love. "Father forgive them, they know not what they do". He had accepted the humiliation heaped on him by both Jew and Gentile.

As they watched the brutality that was the pounding to death of Stephen they heard the echo of Jesus' words from the cross and still wondered what it was that they were supposed to do in the face of this totally unique experience they had been living through ever since they had chosen to live with and learn from Jesus Son of God, the Incarnation and the Resurrection.

Dear Lord, I have to make an act of will to listen to the history recorded in the Scriptures. There were people present when you cured the sick, preached and taught us how to pray. It is their words about that we are "blessed to believe". May the prayers of the Apostles, your mother, Mary, Martha and Lazarus continue to protect us their spiritual descendants and may the fortitude of Stephen and all the Martyrs inspire us all to not flinch in the face of Godlessness. Help us to never forget that you can forgive any sin if  there is a genuine conversion in the heart of the sinner. We cannot forget that Saul becomes Paul. We all must not forget that we are not alone but known not only to you but also to your saints who are with you also waiting for that act which will be the end of time. Maranatha!

 15/04/2024

We are the first generation of humans who have all been able to be aware of the actual events that become the "History" of the future. All of us prior to this "Computer Age" relied on eye-witness accounts to know what was happening outside of our immediate location in the present and what had happened centuries ago.

Jesus assured us that we who believe in him without actually seeing/hearing him are blessed and will always be supported in this world by the Holy Spirit, the Advocate he will send to defend us in times of trial.

The story of St Stephen who was able to defend himself during this first trial before the Sanhedrin is the proof of Jesus' promise to inspire those who are persecuted for believing and preaching in his Name with the words to defend themselves.

Over the centuries since the events recalled in today's Mass Readings the tables have been turned for the Church founded on St Peter and that institution has often become the prosecutor and persecutor of those who challenged the validity of the beliefs and conduct of its Clergy.

 There have been very many injustices perpetrated by what should have become the Mystical Body of Christ in defence of it worldliness. Many holy people have been slaughtered by the defenders of a Faith that is  focused on the things of this world. In my lifetime I have become aware that many innocents have become the victims of the sexual deviancy of shepherds who are supposed to care for our souls.

Our bishops who appeared before the UK inquiry into the sexual abuse of children by Catholic Priests know much better than I do how far away from the Holy Spirit they were in the guilt that was totally visible in their sheepish looks and inarticulation. The Sanhedrin saw Stephen as an angel we saw our Bishops as the guilty men that they still are.

Dear Lord, save me from the anger which I still feel about ordained clergy who do not in themselves reveal their belief in "the one who sent Jesus" to create for all times the Sacraments by which we can access the way, the truth and the life and which only they have the authority to confect in this world. May Mary continue to pray for all sinners that we become your adopted children and that we avoid sin. Turn all belligerents away from violence and may we all soon be witnesses to the Final Act that will bring New Life to the whole of Creation.

 14/04/2024

Our mass readings for today are centred on events that happened in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. The TV News Headlines are also focused on Jerusalem but  in 2024.

St John, writing at the end of his life which had witnessed the events that began the sinful chain which is coming to fruition in Jerusalem as I write today, tells the truth which we all forget "We can be sure that we know God only by keeping his commandments".

St Peter tells the assembly in the Temple that they were the people who had crucified Jesus, the Prince of Life, and  verbatim "Now, I know brothers that neither you nor your leaders had any idea what you were really doing. This was the way God carried out what he had foretold, when he said through all his Prophets that the Christ must suffer. Now you must repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out".

Human life in the Universe that we know has to be lived in response to the revelation and commandments of God. Each one of us has the freedom of Adam to resist the creation of sin that is our personal act of not choosing God. Over the last 2000 years a vast Gordian knot  of evil as been created by each of us refusing to resist our own sins and today is yet another showdown in the land where IAMIAM revealed the Trinity and assured us of "the Way , the Truth and the Life".

All of the parties killing each other anywhere in the world today are spitting into the face of God. We all have the opportunity to resist Evil by opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit and pleading for our Saviour to return before mankind destroys what he has saved. We can all say "Yes" to God.

Dear Lord, You know I repent for all my sins; help me to sin no more. May Mary and all saints join us in praying for an end to the chain of evil that is the history of Jerusalem. May the souls of those dying today be mercifully accepted by you. Help us Lord Jesus overcome the evil folly of pride and to answer IAMIAM with a sincere YOUARE that is known by your tiny created iams. Help me to do your will. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus; Come!

 13/04/2024

The appointment of Stephen and the other Deacons was the beginning of the Hierarchy that continues to prevail in the human institution that Jesus' foundation on Peter began. We cannot deny that that Early Church in Jerusalem was complying with the Mission that had been completed by the Resurrection. They were choosing to become God's agents on Earth but had soon started to squabble and became divided into natural linguistic and cultural parties.

I don't suppose that even the Apostles did not consider that they were anything other than Jews and they still followed the "Law" but but both Aramaic and Greek speakers  also knew that the "Resurrection" was "something greater than Moses". 

They did not, at first, develop a public liturgy but attended the daily prayers in the Temple and studied the Torah trying to find in Scripture a way to understand their experience of living with and being taught by Jesus. Many priests, who were steeped in the Old Testament, had recognised Jesus as the "Suffering Servant" of Isaiah and joined the Apostles and in some cases became an alternative focus to the Apostles.

The first Community who had in their enthusiasm been able to share all their worldly goods in their anticipation of the imminent return of Jesus was unable to maintain its commitment to material equality and this distributive of goods, social aspect of the Way, the Truth and the Life became formalised by putting it  into the hands of Stephen and his colleagues.

Jesus has in his reply to Martha told us for all time that our first duty is to kneel at his feet in prayer. The Good Samaritan tells us not to ignore our duty to care for others as we, ourselves, would wish to be cared for. If we choose to live with the first and second commandments as our foundation for living we will definitely, by God's grace, avoid sin and reveal his Glory to others.

Dear Lord you know that I cannot maintain these daily beginnings focused on Your Word. My daily tasks soon interfere with prayer and it is long since that I put myself out to care for another person. I do have too many earthly goods and I am not rich. Help me to behave as you did on Earth both in prayer and deed, May my prayers join with Mary's and all the Saints to praise you and really follow your will in my earthly freedom. May all sinners here on earth and in Purgatory receive the gift of your Mercy which is a never-ending good and help me to be sinless this day.

 12/04/2024

The words attributed to Gamliel at the meeting of the Sanhedrin were certainly not only sensible but also prophetic. The human organisation which claimed to be the "Chosen People" who had been unable accept that the miracles, the "signs for the Jews", wrought by Jesus were indeed "signs" from God. They had already concocted the story of the gardener to deny the Resurrection which was being proclaimed on a daily basis in the Temple by the Apostles.

Jesus' founded an  organisation, a Church, that was built up in the first 3 centuries after his Resurrection to become as powerful in this world as was the Sanhedrin for the Jews of his day. God showed us by the Incarnation that the deeds of his people on Earth had to be refocused on each individual's response to his Love for us.

The recorded history of the Church shows it to have very quickly become, in the west, a contender for political power. It was one of the many tribes and factions vying for the wealth and broken power of the Empire. In the East it became one with the Empire that lasted another 1500 years..

The trial of Jesus had taken place very shortly before the meeting of the Sanhedrin reported by St Luke. The Resurrection has shown that Jesus is "something greater than the Law and the prophets" but his response,  "My Kingdom is not of this world" was already forgotten then and is still forgotten by the diverse organisations who claim to be the leaders of the then newly "Chosen" People of God; Christians.

Dear Lord, you know how I am living these latter years of my life. I am still learning how to know, love and serve. I am aware that many of your "Chosen People" have become the agents of Evil in their devotion to this world and their self Glorification. Our own "Sanhedrin" have not behaved as you did and have never turned the "other cheek" so that they too have weakened to become close to moral bankruptcy. John and Mary became a family at your command and I too am trying to become part of that same "Church of Love" you also created by your death and Resurrection. Forgive me my sins and let your Love be received by all of your people on Earth.

 11/04/2024

Jesus is the unique and final revelation of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All that we need to live holy lives is now known to us who are living today and this has been so for the past 2000 years.

In the Acts this morning, the members of the Sanhedrin were beyond themselves in fury. The only recourse available for them to stop the announcement of the Way, the Truth and the Life, which was disturbing their worship in the Temple, was to threaten the Apostles with death.

Death had lost all its power for those who had seen Jesus a corpse on the cross and then witnessed the Risen Lord in his wounded body. They couldn't be silenced in their proclamation of this concluding manifestation of the reality given to us all by the ever-greater power of God.

God has always entrusted to us the freedom of will to make right choices during our lifetimes. The Old Testament is the record of IAMIAM's relationship with the "Chosen People". In the New Testament, Jesus shows us once and for all how we are to live consciously aware that it is each one of us who becomes a "chosen person" once we choose "Jesus" in the spiritual reality that is the centre of our "being", even of those who don't believe.

John, the temporal "cousin" and spiritual forerunner, in preparing the way for the Beloved Son of God warns us that Jesus is totally God and that we who believe have opened our selves to the Holy Spirit and are on the Way. We have to do this consciously and live lives that respond to the revelations of the Gospel whether or not we are a part of a Christian denomination. God loves all his creation.

Dear Lord, help me to make right choices that will mark me in this world as a believer. Let me be sincere in my words and truthful in my thoughts. Let me stay far away from sin and become unafraid of death. Let my prayers become part of the prayer of Mary and all the saints and may all of us sinners on Earth and in Purgatory receive the Mercy that you poured out on Calvary. Let me plead for your return to be soon, come Lord Jesus, come!

 

 10/04/2024

The readings for today's Mass are part of the New Testament that did not become the accepted record of Jesus' life, teaching and its effect on those who had known him during the three years of his public life, until three hundred years after the Resurrection.

There are many scholars and saints who have studied these texts. They are still being perused today and have become part of the communal worship of Christians all over the Earth. 

St Luke did not meet Jesus. He was, as we are, blessed because he "did not see and yet believed". He did, as did St Paul, learn of Jesus' life and teaching directly from the 11 surviving original Apostles. St John on the other hand has been known throughout the centuries as "the beloved disciple" and was instructed by Jesus speaking from the cross to take care of Mary, his mother, and receive care from her.

Very much more must have happened within the first Christian Community than is recorded in the Acts and St John concludes his Gospel with an open acknowledgement that all the books of the World could not contain what he himself has witnessed.

Jesus' discourses recorded in John are not verbatim reports. They are the recollections of "the beloved disciple" enhanced by "the ponderings in her heart" of Mary Theotokos. The Gospel of St John is very much a memoir which contains the development of John's Theology as much as it contains a biography of the three years of Jesus' public life.

Dear Lord, help me to know, love and serve you . Let each day of my life continue without sin. Let me face up to any hardships that I might encounter and let the prayer of my heart be always guided by the prayers of Our Lady and all your saints. Let me continue to be open and also searching for the light of your revelation so that my sins can be forgiven even though they are black blight on my soul which you created to live in the light that is the being of you Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 09/04/2024

At his trial before Pilate, Jesus made it absolutely clear that his Mission was not to establish a "Kingdom", a political system, within this world. His death was not to be for any political reason  from which there are still so many to choose a "Cause".

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the only God, wills that by the Resurrection all mankind is given the chance to exercise human freedom in this world to choose to be one with the Trinity in the holiness of the love that is God.

Jesus' Mission is to show us how to eradicate sin from our lives. His life, death and resurrection are the template of the "image and likeness" in which our souls all have their being in this world. He himself is the "Grace" that can keep us all from sin and avoid succumbing to the material wonders and delights that are ever before our eyes in our times.

The "Communism" of the Church of the Apostles has never become a universally accepted practise in this World. St Benedict, St Dominic, St Francis and others established communities which tried to live the Ideal Christian Life described by St Luke in this morning's reading from the Acts, and for a time these flourished but they were never able to overcome the tension which is still the result of them and the Institutional Church both becoming enmeshed in the politics of Caesar/Mammon.

Mary and John were given the mission to care for each other at the foot of the cross on which Jesus was shown to the World and it is in this New Family of Love that "everyone who believes may have eternal life" by choosing to be in the Mystical Body which is God in this world.

Dear Lord, let me get through this day supported by your grace and inspired to holiness by the Holy Spirit. May I be part of the Church known in heaven by Mary and other saints and may the prayer they never desist from become part of my being as it is theirs. You are my God and it is only from you that everything that is good comes into our lives in the world. Let me be forgiven for all my sins and let your grace be recognised in my being by all my family when I come death.

 08/04/2024

March 25 is the date the Church remembers the moment when God's purpose was announced to Mary. She was probably a teenager and certainly a physically fully mature woman at that moment. It was then that she conceived the human Son of God and since then he has always been with us and will so remain until the end of time.

The time in which we live is a product of the Universe created by our God. Part of the humility which is the emptying of himself by the Word is the acceptance to live in human time and so at that moment, when Mary conceived, the Word became Man. Thus began in time the story of salvation which is always known to God.

More than two thousand years have passed since that moment. Do we humans show that the trust that Jesus placed in his disciples by teaching, accepting death and rising to New Life was justified?

Our Father has given us all the freedom to choose by our own decision how to live in this world during the time our bodies can survive. There is only one way, truth and life and that was revealed to us in Palestine by the Son of the Father, the Second Person of the Trinity and confirmed to the open hearts of the whole world, by the Holy Spirit.

In human time this year, 2024, the Feast of the Annunciation fell during Holy Week so we are celebrating on 8 April the timeless gift of God's Mercy to us, the sinners of this World. 

Dear Lord, may I continue to be aware of your loving mercy that saves us all from our own sins. May we all on Earth thank you for sharing in our humanity so that the perfect sacrifice could be made in the atonement needed to open the gates of heaven. You prepared Mary in your Eternal Being to become the Mother of your only begotten Son. May she lead all the saints in the prayer that can bring me and mine, all of us sinners, living and dead, into the Eternity where you are "All in All", Three persons, only one IAM IAM.

 07/04/2024

Today's readings are all about that first Church which grew out of the Resurrection. Those disciples and Apostles had seen, listened to and even, as in the case of Thomas, touched the Risen Lord. Their experience was empirical and had taken place in this world.

In Jerusalem this "World" was dominated by the Temple. Although the Roman Empire had the ultimate power, the Jewish leaders and people still served IAMIAM, and looked to the Law and the Prophets as the road that should be followed in this World to reach the righteousness demanded by the Law of Moses.

Some of the disciples and all of the Apostles had spent three years listening to Jesus. They had misinterpreted much of what he had taught and had expected a Messiah who would rule them in this World.

I cannot imagine how the Crucifixion on Calvary had affected them. This had been followed by the totally incredible New Life that was the Resurrection of the corpse that had been their Rabbi. They were bursting out of themselves by the wonder and questioning that irrupted in their souls and gave thanks for this to God in the Temple.

Jesus tells us today that he knows and blesses us and that we can overcome our World and the Disappointment of our "Temple" by faith in his Resurrection and in the eternal New Life he will bring at the end of time.

Dear Lord you know how wonderful are many of the works of man in this world. I pray that your Holy Spirit can ensure that we are not captivated by the marvels that mankind creates and thus loose sight of you. I pray that we who are not in churches today but who are praying with sincere hearts can be part of the the Church of Love that is your spiritual body supported on earth and in Purgatory from Heaven by the prayers of Mary and all the saints. May I be true to you this day and may all of "mine" listen to the Holy Spirit who never ceases to call mankind to righteousness of spirit not wealth of body. Amen

 06/04/2024

I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and showed himself to those from whom we have received the records which are being read in churches and in private throughout the world today.

On every day of my life I have to acknowledge that Father, Son and Holy Spirit has  revealed that the Universe is God's creation and that it is created out of nothing to be the reality in which each of us is to live in a God-like perfection.

Everyday I have to remind myself that my target in life has to be holiness and that I do have to curb my body away from the material delights with which we have filled our world.

The works of man that surround us are truly marvellous. The ingenuity which has rebuilt the Tower of Babel many, many times over, discovered the code which programmes our bodies and repaired its defects, and enabled man to live in space is something that challenges my faith everyday.

Is the wonder that is the world today the only reality and what seems to be my independent self an electronic fragment of it which will become nothing when I die?

Dear Lord, you know that my soul is reaching out to find holiness. You have made it possible for all sinners to be forgiven and  I am never forgotten by you "Our Father". The surface of our planet has changed incredibly since the time you walked in Palestine but we its people are still as "sheep without a shepherd". May Mary whose "soul glorified the Lord" on receiving the Incarnation and whose heart was pierced by seven sorrows continue to treat us all as her children particularly where her own nation is behaving without fear of God or man so that her prayers can do what human wilfulness is rejecting. We can only become holy by truly accepting your Holy Spirit. Maranatha, Come Lord, Jesus come.

 05/04/2024

All our awareness of the existence of anything takes place inside of us. It is the same for the disciples of Jesus at the times they recognise their Resurrected Lord. 

Today by the lake the disciples are totally overawed by the sure knowledge that it is Jesus who invites them to eat. They can see and hear the Resurrection in their own being and the immensity of the new reality brought into creation overwhelms them.

Peter speaks with confidence before the Sanhedrin. As promised by Our Lord he is strengthened in his humanity by the The Holy Spirit who inspires him with the words that say only the truth.

The miracle has been performed by the faithful invocation of Jesus' name. This is not a magic formula as thought by Simon Magus who tried to buy magical power from the Apostles. Jesus told us that "Faith can move mountains" and this is what Peter has been able to do. 

In the Resurrection the man Jesus, son of Mary, is "true God and true man", "begotten not made" his "name" is "one in being with the Father, through whom all things were made". He is the Saviour of the world and it is he alone who can show us the way to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As we try to imagine that scene by the lake in Galilee we are surrounded in our churches, or in our "private rooms" by the worldly reality that is outside of ourselves. We too become dumb as we realise that the "he" who is offering sustenance from the shore  is Jesus, who died on Calvary, the Saviour of the World. Our Saviour liveth!

Dear Lord, help me to hold these prayerful moments within my being throughout the rest of today. Help me to remain free from sin and to condemn no-one in my mind. You know how throughout history men have become more enslaved by sin and refused the Mercy poured out of your heart on Calvary. Let the prayers of Mary and all the saints shake us up into the realisation that we really are created to become part of your Eternity and that is when You will be All in All and I too will never sin again. Amen

 04/04/2024

The break with the religion of their ancestors was never the intention of God's Incarnation for his first disciples.  On Calvary, God shows us that he alone can defeat the power of sin to which we, his people on Earth, continue to surrender. The disciples who had been blessed by the Resurrection continued to follow the Law and met in the Temple with their fellow Jews at the appointed time for daily prayer.

Our God is still he who revealed himself and his intention for mankind by his "act of being", "IAMIAM". The holiness of God's freedom, truth power and love has its ultimate revelation in the Resurrection and is confirmed by the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The Jews in the Portico of Solomon had to wrestle with their own prejudices and disbelieve that these Galileans had seen their crucified Rabbi alive, not as a vision or wraith but as a fully human being able to eat drink and be touched and subsequently there became a division between the believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

We are all still arguing in the Portico of Solomon. Jews are still slaughtering on the site of Samson's self-destructive victory . The tripled crowned Pope read on Good Friday Jesus' testimony before Pilate, "My Kingdom is not of this world". Most of us have faced the choice between God and Mammon and wrongheadedly chosen the corruptible over the eternal adventure of life with the Living Lord. 

Dear Lord, may my faith in your love never fade and may my heart always be open to do what is right. Help me through the weakness of my latter days and let the Love of the Holy Spirit deter all of us sinners from the misuse of our freedom. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints bring forgiveness to all sinners both on Earth and in Purgatory and may the promise of your return soon relieve us from the discord in which we find ourselves submerged and unable to grasp the wounded hands which you stretch out to us for our salvation. May your second coming not be delayed and let us see your Glory in the land of the living. Amen

 01/04/2024

In the Acts of the Apostles, the story that is told of the days in Jerusalem after the Crucifixion  is one of a group of people who are confused and unable to make sense of their experience which has no analogy in the history of the world and is thus unique.

2000 years later, for each of us there is the same choice to be made even in our own times. We have to chose to believe or not to believe in the same unique event, that Christ rose from the dead.

We have to do this in our world where " salt has lost its savour". Holiness, dedication to God do not immediately come to mind when we see a church or  minister of Christianity. It is nothing but historical truth to point out the inconsistencies of the followers of Mohammed. The first "people of God" are busy proving to themselves their basic superiority, "thank God I am no like other men", and slaughtering "any other men" by the thousands. These are the "signs of the  times" which happen within the empire of Mammon which is the Universal Empire that has replaced the "Roman" one of first century Palestine. 

Today, we are all in our personal Jerusalems of 2024 where the Love of our God asks his creation, our souls, to use the freedom, he has created for us to have in this world as he created for Adam in the garden, to embrace the Resurrection, as did Mary hold onto the lifeless, wounded corpse, into the centre of our very being as the foundation for the New Life he has created for us to follow him into his Father's mansions.

Dear Lord, you know that I am lost in the awe and emotions of these days. I know that in my life I have been far from you in my sins and attached by the weakest of human faith. I turn back to knowing that you only have goodwill towards me but knowledge of the complexity of my sinful being raises doubts that should have been answered by first looking on the Cross and then recognising you in the "breaking of bread". May the heavenly prayers of  Mary and all the Saints breakthrough the thick shield of Sin with which we keep our souls from the grace that is the source and proof of you Crucifixion/ Resurrection, and show to us the only path that leads to Eternal Life, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God.