30/09/2024

What we refer to as "Scripture" is largely the work of St Jerome whose memory is today celebrated by the "new remnant" that we Christians of the West have become in 2024. We did not know Jerome but we have to thank God for his life's work. This is why we can "celebrate" his memory.

In today's world, human beings have become so manipulated by Mammon that even personal grief at the death of those we love has been marketed successfully as "celebration of life". A moment's thought can see the nonsense of this phrase which delivers that much beloved of the counselling business "closure" to survivors but is empty of any true meaning other than "Let's party, he's gone."

Our Institutional Church has been so infiltrated by Mammon that those who have devoted their lives to preaching God's word, as codified by St Jerome, have gone along with the merchandisers and there are now very few "funerals" as such.

The Book of Job treats our lives as our acceptance of a world created by God. A world in which we can only make sense of our span by patiently accepting our fate which is beyond our control. For Job, and Hamlet,  "the Lord" is "the divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we will" and is to be known only by the events we encounter throughout our lives.

The revelation of God's plan for his creation makes it clear that rather than stoically accepting our fates Jesus has revealed that we must, each one of us seek God's will for himself and choose for ourselves the right path. We are each able to find the way, the truth and Eternal Life because we are each known and guided by God. We are not alone in an eternal desert but are loved for ourselves not because we are worth it, but because FatherSonHolySpirit is Love.

The total Scriptures translated by Jerome take us into the minds of men who consciously interacted with IAMIAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT over thousands of years. The Bible records the true history of faith and is our infallible guide to life. The history of the Church records the acceptance of God's completion of his revelation by, at first, the named twelve and their disciples, and finally two thousand years later we who have to do battle with the same false friends as did Job.

God has revealed himself to real people over the whole of time. In the realism of today's Gospel, the real friends of Jesus are still arguing about themselves even in the presence of the Living Lord. Dear Lord help us all to change.

Dear Lord, You know that I am always full of thanks that my sins can be forgiven. There are no words to express the yearning that I have to become a forgiven one of the billions of souls standing in the light of your revealed Glory knowing that nothing can separate me from the Joy it is to be one of your creatures. You know that I am also praying for the soulless scrap of non-humanity that you have given us to enkindle within all who have ever seen him an instant smile of unconditional love. Guarding your creation is one of the worldly tasks that we can perform without forgetting our souls. May I join with Mary and all the saints, who will remain with you without change until the instant that we will all know our Eternal place with you, in the prayer, that is now their being, for Mercy that we all need together with the Holy Souls, whom you never forget, in Purgatory.

 29/092024

It seems that the "Spirit" recognised by the Israelites on Moses and also on Eldad and Medad was a tangible something. I cannot do any more than wonder what it could have been, but Moses was sure that it came from IAMIAM and was a testimony to his presence although invisible to the human eye.

James, who probably grew up with Jesus remained in Jerusalem to become the first "Overseer, boss" of the Church there and had huge authority among the Jews who had become believers in the Resurrection, warns us that the riches that we accumulate are worthless as the material they all are will certainly decay. He would undoubtedly agree with later secular philosophers that "all property is theft" and that there is no wealth that has been acquired without part of the chain that links it to its origin being unjust in some way.

IAMIAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT put some of the "Spirit" that was on Moses onto the Elders.

The "millstone around the neck" is such a powerful warning that it always amazes me that corrupt clergy and supporting Bishops of our and any era could have the "brass-neck" to even think of continuing in office after committing their crimes.

Jesus' "name" is available for all the people of the world to use in  good .faith.

I wonder what it was that John witnessed that so offended him to the extent that he reported it to Jesus. Jesus' response is instant and unequivocal. 

John is bothered that what he was learning from Jesus is also being acted upon successfully, "devils were cast out," outside of the "magic circle" of the twelve. Jesus' reply that the real problem is not acting as a Christian without affiliation to His organisation but rather that any corruption of hand, foot or eye within the organisation "The Mystical Body of Christ"  should be recognised at once and cut off. 

For our Institutional Church this is as unthinkable a task as mutilating our own personal bodies would be for us.

Dear Lord, Help me to avoid the jealousy that caused John to condemn a good deed made in the "name of Jesus". Your infinity of being is not contained or limited in any way by the things of this world. You know each one of us and help us to make the right response to your grace which searches us out as the "Good Shepherd" searches for his lost sheep. You, who have engraced the body for ever by the Incarnation, know that to be righteous we have to keep body mind and soul free from sin and open to your grace which when you were on Earth not only saved us from our sins but also fed and cured our bodies. May my prayers continue to be linked with those of Theotokos, it was your truly human body that she bore, and all angels and saints that my sins and the sins of all the world be forgiven and that the Holy Souls will receive your merciful forgiveness. 

 28/09/2024

Today the preacher of Ecclesiastes reminds us of how futile life can sometimes seem to be and he advises those who are still young that their heydays will not remain for ever. Even as we grow old, however, the cycle of life that is God's creation still continues even as our sight of it diminishes.

"There is nothing new under the sun" is another of his themes. Would he still say that if he were to be returned to his homeland today?

The secular states that dominate the world we live in now are given over to the  creation and preservation of wealth. There is sometimes in the West a veneer that remains of Christianity and governments try to present themselves as guardians of a "new morality", that they are protectors of human freedom even as they fire rockets at the other humans who oppose them.

They create laws which are in effect much more petty than the Law as taught by the Priests and Pharisees which Jesus condemned. Material wealth is only disguised "dust" that has accrued because mankind is dominated by our own greed. Sorting out the waste created by our way of life is presented as the height of morality but protest against the killing of unborn children, who are treated  as the waste product of immorality, is anti-social behaviour that must be suppressed.

There is no doubt that Jesus knew what his mission was to be. Even though he discarded his Divinity,  as a sinless perfection of humanity he was never out of touch with His and our Father. We have all been diminished from that perfection to which we must aspire and sometimes have to battle our way through the morass of our own sins to be able to open our hearts and minds to the Love that is the being of FATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT.

I am still not able to know the true enormity of sin except by trying to understand how it can be that the Creator had to become true man to  be able to create a new Grace in our world of time. A human being really is something special but can easily become a monster to fall into the hands of, especially when he thinks that he is doing the work of God.

Dear Lord, help me to become sinless throughout the rest of this day. Help all of us to choose to follow in your Son's footsteps and accept what we have to do to access the Grace that has been available in our world since those years you lived on our Earth. May that grace flow into the hearts of all ministers of religion that the words they preach control their own beings. Nothing is impossible for you but for us the reverse is often true. May Mary and all the saints continue in their praise and pleas for mercy for us. But your words to Dives seem to have come true for your Resurrection seems to have been forgotten. There are still some righteous souls on earth for the sake of those and for sinners like me please return in a recognisable form to convert the whole world. We are failing again as did your beloved Jews. Help us Lord, help us.

 27/09/2024

There is indeed a "time" for everything that we have to do in this world. The writer of Ecclesiastes knew that we all live in time and react to it in the way that seemed to be a "good idea" at the moment when we or others did what we are remembering.

It is easy for me to fill my mind with personal and historical examples of the unanticipated results of decisions made in good faith at the time they were made.

The Gospel reading for this morning, however, presents us with the only decision that takes us out of time by confirming how we should live within it . It is again Jesus stopping  our lives with  "But?" There are numerous answers to Jesus question at that moment in the "peacefulish" Palestine of the first century. Jesus' "But", however, stops time for the moment then and now.

He asked the Apostles for their own reaction to his presence in their midst. He asks the whole world since then and also today is asking the same question.

It is not a "trick" question (we get more than enough of those from the Pharisees). It is the most important question that we all have to answer not with words but with our whole life that is to be our offering to the FATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT at the moment we share with Jesus who cried out from the cross; "Lama Lama Sabachthani". How does my life answer to "But, who do you say I am".

Dear Lord, You know that I am always wary of myself when I feel that I have responded to your Word in a way for me that is approved by You. Help me to feel secure in my heart and act out the rest of today aware that I can do your will for you have delivered me from evil. Jesus you are still with us as the spiritual body that welcomes all who reach out to you and so I can join Mary, Angels, SVP, and all the other Saints in praising your Glory and seeking pardon for all sinners still on earth or happily accepting punishment in Purgatory.

 26/09/2024

This morning's mass readings begin with the writer asking us to face the question asked by all human philosophers. In his age there were and had been many who asked this basic "WHY?" question and we all seek to answer it as we turn ourselves to God in our morning worship or self-assessment of our place in the world.

I have answered the question of what it means to be alive by trying to turn myself over to God. This means that "Vanity, vanity. All is vanity" reinforces the framework for living that I have constructed for myself out of Biblical revelation.

I can now sit comfortably in front of this screen and continue my train of thought by selecting letters on the keyboard. There are billions of other humans who cannot do this. 

"Vanity, vanity. All is vanity" is itself a meaningless "vanity" for those hiding from violent men. It does not feed the starving. It does not raise sinners addicted to their own way of  escape from the futility that we all recognise at the bottom of our beings unless supported by God. It does not help the abused nor the abuser. I feel secure in "the way, the truth and the life" but for the child dying from hunger, milk means much more than any words.

Jesus has not bequeathed to us words but the Truth for living never for ourselves but always for others as he did, "pro nobis" on  Calvary. It is God's will that we live our lives dedicated to his revealed will for us not in the "Vanity of vanities" that is displayed by the shallow "anxiousness" to see Jesus of the man who had ordered the decapitation of John on a whim, but in our deeds that show to the world, and to ourselves, that we truly are "desperate" to know, love and serve.

Dear Lord, you know that I am really aware that my love of life comes about from the comfort with which I am able to live my life. Words are easy and can hide the reality of thought. I am secure that you really do know the core of my being and can awaken my love for you by your Love for me. I implore your aid for all those who are dying by the violence that comes about from not following your Will on Earth and becoming blinded by the delights of our material being dwelling in a material world. Mankind is a pathetic creature if not truly dedicated to you and all of us need to know that the only "real-life" is to live according to your will on earth and so find the place reserved for us in the Eternity that is Heaven. May my prayers and those of Mary, Angels and All the Saints bring the Mercy that can forgive and guide away from sin all sinners on Earth and pardon for the Holy Souls. Amen

 25/09/2024

Today we read of the very first assignment given to the twelve chosen disciples. It is the first mission given by God not to a single individual but to a group of people. Each of the twelve is  to "shout out" that God is always near and to cure diseases. If there is no favourable reaction Jesus tells them to forget that town and blot it from their memory. They are to shake off even the dust collected in that place from their feet.

The people who inhabit the towns to be visited are all following a way of life taught to them by Moses. They have grown over centuries to become a people who have always had God close to them, who have followed the "Law" and worshipped together in Temple and Synagogue. They all know that they are special in the eyes of IAMIAM, the divine fire that filled the mind and soul of Moses and the other prophets.

Two thousand years later we are witnesses to what has developed from those simple instructions given by Jesus to his "twelve".

First we have to wonder what it was that FatherSonHolySpirit found unsatisfactory about the human beings in the created universe at that time rather than previous other times, particularly as these were the  ones that had been chosen to know God and worship him in this world.

It seems to me that human wisdom had become lost in the grandeur of its own abilities and "religion" was largely lip-service without the purity of heart that could reflect the holiness of God. However, only FatherSonHolySpirit can understand the Infinite Loving kindness that is Calvary.

The Twelve, an elven to one mixture of mostly good and mostly bad human beings has grown to become the same mixture of humanity but on a vastly greater scale.

We have been given complete freedom to choose where we want to be in the eyes of God, if not Adam's sin would have wiped us out before we got going. There is something about us that our Father knows and loves. We can choose to accept that he wants from us the righteousness that he has revealed as the way, truth and life.

Jesus and the eleven continue  to proclaim "Emmanuel" and we still have grace and opportunity to respond with love to Love. Even I can aim at the Apostolic ratio of eleven to one in my own being and never forgetting  that nothing is impossible ( Judas can be saved ) for the Mercy of God passeth all understanding. My redeemer liveth.

Dear Lord, I hope that I am getting to the point where I can confidently say that I have got closer to your will for me than I did yesterday. Jesus condemned hypocrisy and it is my greatest fear that I fall into the self-satisfaction that disguises itself as love of God. It is in my behaviour that I reveal the secrets of my heart not in the thoughts and words that come to me each day. Let me on earth at this moment join my prayers to those of Mary and all the Angels and Saints as we all proclaim the Glory and Goodness of you, Our Father in Heaven. May my sins and the sins of the whole world be smothered by the eternal sacrifice you made in our worldly time on Calvary and may we all come to know how to subdue our human ego to save our immortal souls. May our souls and the souls of all the departed rest in your peace. Amen

 24/09/2024

"Nothing is impossible to God". "Be it done unto me according to thy Word" with these words the Annunciation is completed and now the whole of humanity in the person of this Palestinian teenager begins to be aware of a new phase in God's revelation of His being; 

IAMIAMISFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT.

The all powerful "oneness" of God is in fact a Trinity of persons. Nothing is impossible to God.

Mary is in the reality of the physical universe carrying in her womb the timeless God, who is still visiting his people, now as the same prisoner of finite time as are all his creatures. Nothing is impossible to God.

Elizabeth has conceived in her old age, past her menopause, a child. Zachariah is still speechless, but Elizabeth knows that Mary is pregnant with the Son of God. Nothing is impossible to God.

Mary tells Joseph what has happened to her. He also is inspired by God to accept the "preposterous" story of the Incarnation. Nothing is impossible to God.

"The blind see, the lame walk and the lowest of the low have the Gospel, (God's purpose) preached to them". Nothing is impossible to God.

"Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my church". "Woman behold thy son. Son behold thy mother." Nothing is impossible to God.

Jesus is God in the resurrection of the  crucified body that still bears the wounds received for us on Calvary. Nothing is impossible to God.

According to the ability of human beings all of the above events are "foolishness". They are all supernatural in the eyes of men but they are natural for our all powerful FatherSonHolySpirit. Nothing is impossible for God.

Dear Lord help me to know, love and serve. Help me by your grace to defy sin that still pursues me. Help me truly know that your creative "Let there be Light" and Mary's assent "let it be done to me according to thy word" contain all that we can ever know about living in this world. Holy Righteousness is not a preposterous goal, pie in the sky, but is prepared for us by the wisdom of Father, the example of Son and supported by the grace brought into our hearts by Holy Spirit. There is absolutely no reason for me to blabber on. You know what is my petition for today. We learnt about love in our care for the little soulless animal that is now in need of comfort. There are many other millions of poor and needy human souls that stand before us in the priority of life in your creation. You know that I am not testing You but asking for help. I think that your being is a limitless intimacy of person to person so, Father, I can ask for all the big things, forgiveness for my sins and ever-more mercy for the Holy Souls and you will not ignore the totally innocent, preprogrammed animals that you created before us.