31/07/2021

I have been listening to readings in church for more years than the "Jubilee" and I cannot say that  this reading has stayed in my mind. Usually there is something that draws my attention even if it is wrongheaded of me. Maybe it is that the drama played out in Herod's court has overshadowed the maths of Jubilee. I will have to resort to Wikipedia after this reflection to understand. 

Moses had received the instruction from God and it seems that the Jubilee was the Sabbath Day calculated in years. It appears that no work should be done in that year and the whole nation of Israel should just trust in the Lord to provide. I wonder how many times this was carried out in 100% obedience. 

The Psalm calls us to give thanks and praise to God for his gifts. Political Justice is ours for we rule according to God's revealed Law. 

Those days of  "revealed law" were long gone when we join Herod who is paying the price for a sinful union with Herodias. There is no sign of Justice at his court and no sign of righteousness in his behaviour. The Jesuits have a name for bringing God into the world of politics. They also have a name for casuistry. Their target " For the greater Glory of God" has often been missed by the successors of St Ignatius. The wealth of their order should be an embarrassment to their vow of "Poverty". If the wealth of the order is divided by the number of their priests the "collective wealth per priest" is staggering.

Now I see that it is the dangers of acquiring material wealth and being tied to a patrimony that  are guarded against in the reading from Leviticus. 

Dear Lord, you know what help I need. To know, love and serve you becomes more difficult the farther  we get away from the events of scripture. Open the eyes of your Church to the guidance that you provide by your revelations and let us have more "holy" priests than "clever" ones.

 30/07/2021

St Paul is nothing if not forthright. He is strong in his humility. Uriah Heep has given self-conscious humility a bad name but St Paul sees himself as "least of all Apostles". He  knows that the good works he has done are entirely down to the Grace of God. He knows God to be eternal without beginning to his Being / Existence for that is what His Love is, an Existence he shares with us and all his creation. But what about the Sovereignties and Powers? Can it be said that these are the pagan, the Canaanite Gods? St Paul seems to view these as co-existent with God. No man can understand the Ever Greater, but we all can know what it is that God chooses to reveal to each individual soul that he creates to strive after him. We can be sure that the "Sovereignties and Powers" are greater than us and that they are known to God for he has revealed himself to them.

Jesus Son of the Father, conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary asks us to consider how poor quality fruit comes from the poor quality tree. Rottenness in a man's words and deeds is a  product of evil in his heart. 

The Church founded by Jesus has, over centuries  tried to come to terms with "by their fruit thou shallst know them". 

How can it be that the Sacramental Perfect Holiness of the Incarnation,  the Crucifixion  and Resurrection is in the hands of the " Unholy" merely because those same hands have been "consecrated" by an oftentimes equally Sacrilegious superior?

Dear Lord, Let me sincerely devote my remaining life to you. Let those who know me be aware that I am trying to live a life based on your revelations within Hope that the Love and Forgiveness of the Last Day will include all of them too.

Holy Sacrifice Unholy Ministers

The sinfulness of many clergy in England seems to be concentrated in lack of Chastity but the problem that I see is in Parish Priests and Bishops who distribute the Sacraments to people who are openly living disordered / sinful  lives. 

I know that there may be a "forest" in my eye but saying a Mass and giving Communion to those whose Pride is in their sin is an indefensible sacrilege and failure to show the "Way the Truth and the Life" to those who need guidance to avoid their  prideful "primrose path" . Jesus saves us from our sins he doesn't tell us to pretend that we don't have any.

I like the possibly unconscious contrast between Clergy and Laity.  # 1128 It follows that "the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God. There is a caveat in the final sentence Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

    Have they got it right.?     Are the recipients more important than the minister?

                

           Does "ex opere operato" here really mean "going through the motions"?

THE SACRAMENTS OF SALVATION

1127 Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify.⁴⁸ They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies. The Father always hears the prayer of his Son's Church which, in the epiclesis of each sacrament, expresses her faith in the power of the Spirit. As fire transforms into itself everything it touches, so the Holy Spirit transforms into the divine life whatever is subjected to his power.

1128 This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation⁴⁹ that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: "by the very fact of the action's being performed"), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that "the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God."⁵⁰ From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

1129 The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation.⁵¹ "Sacramental grace" is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature⁵² by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Saviour. 

 29/07/2021

Today the Church remembers Jesu's special friends; the sisters Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus. The readings are both from St John. The first used to be very popular at weddings. The reason being obvious but at the same time somewhat wrong-headed as the Love that John is praising is much more than the human affection that is the reason for the wedding. God's Love is his very being. It is his Truth and his Life. The Son laid down his life acting out the being of God in atonement for the sins of our world. God's Love can be the target we aim at in our human life always remembering that  the perfect Love of the Trinity results in the Crucifixion of the Son which on the third day becomes the Resurrection.

Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. In her grief Martha complains that Jesus has let them down as if he had been quicker he would have been able to prevent Lazarus' death but so strong is Jesus' charisma that she believes there is still hope that God will listen to his prayer for the death to be reversed. Jesus' enigmatical " Your brother will rise again" produces the still dissatisfied " I know that he will rise again on the last day." Is Jesus exasperated when he answers?  There is nothing enigmatical about the statement that follows and Martha's response is an unambiguous statement of faith in the Lord.

Lazarus is one of several "risings from the dead" performed by Jesus during his time on earth but they all were eventually followed by death. Jesus himself rises to a new form of Life, an everlasting life that he promises  to us if we truly cooperate with him in the way that we live this our only time that  is gifted to us by the Father, atoned for by the Son and supported by the Holy Spirit, the Love that is all three.

Dear Lord you know what a mess I am making of my life which has received so much from you. Let me be true to your teachings and faithfully avoid all sin and occasions thereof.

 Moses face is something that we have not witnessed the like since his death. It has to mean something. It has been given a name by Rabbis writing in the Christian era. It is the manifest Glory of God visible om earth. It is the burning bush in the face of Moses for Moses was the Chosen One of God. Jesus revealed the same on Mount Tabor . It made such an impression that the chosen witnesses wanted to stay on the Mountain." Chosen" is the key word. We cannot achieve a sight of the true majesty of our Triune God. God choses. He allows us to choose to follow the teachings of his revelations butt he is always himself  beyond our freedom to grasp.

Jesus' wounds are  the visible sign of the Glory that have happened here in this world. St Thomas could only utter "My Lord and my God!". Jesus encourages us "Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe". There is nothing in this world stuffed with an abundance of good things that can approach the everlasting Glory of God. If we are chosen it is the sight of his Glory that becomes our out-of-time  heavenly Eternity, that can never fade

Dear Lord may I work and pray this day without distraction. Let me know your Will and be true to it..

 27/07/2021

Moses speaks to God as a friend. He implores God for the safety of his people., the motley crew that came with him from Egypt. Some of the rabble were undoubtedly Sons of Israel but there were others who had tagged along. This rabble spent some time in the desert moving their flocks from pasture to pasture. Moses used this time to become closer to God and to teaching this revelation to his companions who seem to be completely in awe of him. When God knew that Moses had done a good job the motley crew had indeed become the chosen people.

Jesus explains how he has created good souls to live in our world but that there are some born to be evil for the "enemy" is still active in the world scattering evil amongst the Good.  It is not an easy image for me to get hold of. It does sound as if some are born of the Devil. The sin of Adam is still with us all at birth it is our need for Baptism but who are the darnel? Are not all we humans children of God or are we the motley crew collected by Moses to mould into God's chosen people?

Dear Lord I am sure that I am a sinner but that I do strive to do your will. May the prayer of our Mother and the Saints fill me with gifts of the Holy Spirit so that my striving is pleasing for you and productive for me.

 26/07/2021

Again the people of the Lord challenge the teachings that they have received from a chosen one of God. They have witnessed the plagues in Egypt; they have experienced the Passover; they have seen "walls of water to the left of them and walls of water to the right " but Moses has turned his back to pray on Horeb so like little children they campaign for a return to worship of idols that surrounded them in Egypt. Poor old Aaron was unable to resist them. Moses made of sterner stuff and fortified by the Lord in his anger breaks the tablets that have already been broken by the actions of the people. The story of the Sons of Israel continues in the same way until the coming of Jesus. 

The Jewish heritage of the "True Man" of Jesus is celebrated today the feast of the parents of  Mary the Mother of God. Jesus stays on the Earth for 33 years and for all that time he was true to the religious code of his ancestors. He was to complete the Law and through his Crucifixion and Resurrection perfect the relationship between God and the whole human race.

We are told that Jesus is referring here to the Black Mustard which can grow to more than two metres high; but it is still not a great tree to shelter all the birds of the air. There is probably something greater than a shrub here. The little seed of faith has covered the whole earth.  The Jews who listened and later recorded in the Gospels these stories of Jesus were familiar with the style that spoke in parables but didn't really understand them until after the Resurrection. It was then they truly began to worship Jesus as Son.

Dear Lord today let the events of your revelation be in my mind to keep me from sin. may i learn to make a true and lasting atonement for all my sins.

 25/07/2021

St John's memories of his time with Jesus are one of  the main sources of our faith. Some of the details are quite odd. The men needed grass so they could sit down. The scraps filled  12 baskets. Had the people brought empty baskets with them? Jesus had to get out of the way quickly because he knew the crowd wanted to proclaim him king; the Messiah. The prefiguring  text from Kings would have been familiar to scribes and Pharisees amongst the crowd thus adding to their sense of awe at the doings of the carpenter's son.

The passage from St Paul is another straightforward statement of his experience of the Risen Lord.. We have been called to recognise God and to live lives that are worthy; that give praise to God.. We must let go of ourselves and become prisoners along with Paul, held fast by the chains of hope. We are united by one Lord who transcends everything so that we are able to have a faith that is perfect and must not be be broken for it is the One that is the Lord.

Dear Lord, forgive me my sins and let my remaining time be spent in holiness undisturbed by envy and greed.