13/05/2024

There is no teaching of the Church which does not include the Mother of Jesus, Our Lady, Immaculate Mary, but most of all Theotokos, the bearer of the Incarnate, Word, Son of the Father and her son Jesus of Nazareth.

Over the centuries while pondering, as did she, the mystical event of the reproductive awakening of her body being announced by an Angel many have been inspired to use "nuptial" imagery to celebrate the "integrity and praise" that we can all honour but never explain in the terms of biological science.

We have to live our lives in this material world, but we must never forget that this  will pass and each one of us will be judged on how well we have believed and been true to God's revelation of the Way, Truth and Life.

Since the founding of the Church on St Peter, God has not sent us prophets as he did to the Jews. The Institutional Church of this World based in Rome has for centuries claimed a monopoly on Truth and Revelation so the "Prophetical Office" has been vested in Popes, bearers of the "Keys".

Jesus spent 30 years with his mother. We know very little of their life together with St Joseph but we do know that it was at his mother's behest he performed his first miracle. At first he appears to "answer back" a sort of "Oh,mum! Do I have to?" but he does help out his mother's friends to save them from the embarrassment of not having enough wine to serve to their guests at the wedding feast.

In this humble mother/son domestic conversation the Evergreater reveals his incarnate presence on Earth! His mother is also one of the few who remained until his death on Calvary where she is appointed  mother of St John and our Mother in the New Holy Family that is the Spiritual Church of Love.

Dear Lord, you know that there have been many false claims of spiritual experiences. Our world is full of deceivers who try to exploit believers. Pilgrimage to Lourdes seems to be the modern version of the Canterbury Tales and so of doubtful spiritual worth. My own mental pilgrimage to your presence could also be full of self-deceit. Help me to the self-trust that comes from a genuinely clear conscience. You know that I can never be over-scrupulous for I have always been too close to sin. May Mary who encouraged the children at Fatima continue to spread the love that comes from God over us all as we try to live true to the example of her Son, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.