We learn so much about God's being in the world not only by St Paul's teaching but also by the way Saul was called to his mission. Going from house to house to seek out believers and doing so because he totally believed that what he was doing was indeed the will of God. God was with the "us" who were then living; the Holy Spirit was guiding the infant church to continue in the light of the resurrection but Saul was able to maintain the persecution. We are created by God to freely chose to do his will but we must first accept the grace that God provides to enable us to do this and not cling to our corrupted consciences as our only guide in life.

I have just lost the prayer that I produced out of this reflection, Maybe  I was too pleased with it. Let me  Lord in true humility pray to do your will.

The fullness of God's revelation comes in this discourse. Jesus is the Son of God and it is his mission to show how much the Father cares for creation by making the Holy Spirit freely available to all mankind through the grace, so painfully won, of the resurrection. Christ is the bread of life; of this we can be sure. The miracle of eternal life is available to all who believe and show their belief by their behaviour. The Blessed Sacrament is God. We can all be ready for our personal last day if this what we truly believe.

Dear Lord I know that there is nothing in myself and in this world that is not known to you. Help me to pray in sincerity of mind and heart; let me learn to know you in the the totality of the way it is possible for me to know you. Let me do your will today and all remaining todays of my life.

 Today is another glorious day of bright sunlight. Stephen prays that the sin of killing him be forgiven because the perpetrators are doing it in ignorance and following the long-time example of their ancestors. St Paul comes to the fore for the fist time. "He thoroughly approved of the killing". His sin is forgiven in a miraculous fashion as the appearance of Christ on the road to Damascus. God forgives the worst of sinners. God forgives me but I sin again. The holy Spirit did not desert Paul and  from persecutor he was turned into the Apostle of the Gentiles. There is much to understand in this. Christ is brighter than today's  brilliant sunlight with a brightness that does not fade the only problem is me.

Dear Lord let me know your grace and let me in sincerity seek it out and thank you for the beauty of this world and your presence in it.

The presence of God in the Blessed Sacrament is promised by Jesus. Jesus the Father and the Holy Sprit is working through the "actions of the priest" to ensure that the bread and wine become his body and blood. Wow! How can I  keep myself away from the Church if I truly believe this? How can sinful priests continue in their office? Do I sin by not condemning the sinful situation where public sinners are approaching the altar to receive what I know to be God's Body and Blood? God knows that I by repeating the words of consecration cannot confect the Sacrament. It is not a magic formula but needs the structure of the Church to guarantee its truth and efficacy. What if the institutional salt stinks.?

Dear Lord send your Holy Spirit anew and renew the heart of your Church. Let our bishops and priests condemn the Devil the World and the Flesh and truly accept Jesus' threefold mission to Peter. Let us see in the Church's servants true representatives of your love and not a source of doubt and stumbling.

 St Luke makes a point of naming the origins of Stephen's accusers. Is this because the native Palestinians were more receptive to the words of the Apostles? Could it be that more of Christ's accusers were beginning to have second thoughts? The Sanhedrin have soon dropped the wise advice of Gamaliel . The Holy Spirit supports Stephen and this strengthens his words. We too need to accept the Holy Spirit and not to be afraid to speak up for the teaching of Christ. We cannot let The World teach us how to behave; our teacher is God.

Dear Lord let your Son and the Holy Spirit be our example and strength as we face the nonsense that is considered by the world to be right behaviour. Protect us and your priests from sin.

Jesus makes it crystal clear that he is our Saviour. We must believe and act as he does. This is crystal clear but....I don't like the "buts " that come into my mind when faced with the hard sayings of Jesus. We must show our faith by acting in the way he does. I must believe and know that God's plan has won for me the saving grace of Jesus and the support of the Holy Spirit. The only thing working against me is my will and weakness of faith.

Dear Lord I pray that today I may keep your words to the front of my mind. I must try to act as you do.Help me God.

 There is the ring of truth about the reports in the Acts of the Apostles. Peter is here stating the facts that he and a lot of the people he is preaching to, witnessed. There is no attempt at intellectualisation of the events .The events are what he knows, as is the teachings of Jesus that he is able to recall. Much that Jesus said is likely to have been missed or forgotten. The surviving uncanonical scraps are proof of this . The Truth is Jesus, the Way is Jesus and LiFe in the Love of God is Jesus. Jesus has saved us. What more do we need to know?

Jesus you know that I try to be true to you and do the will of the Father. Let me open the core of my being to the Holy Spirit and learn to hate sin and to avoid it.

The disciples in the midst of hearing a report from their friends, whose horror at the Crucifixion emptiness had caused them to run from Jerusalem, became aware that Jesus was with them. This was not a spiritual awareness as in "Didn't our hearts burn within us ?"It was their human eyes that first witnessed him and then their hands as  Jesus slowly confirmed for them the destiny that God had in store for them and for all of us. The Resurrection  is the Good News that Jesus entrusted to his fledgling Church. He ordered it to be preached. I can't think that this did not  also mean practise.

Dear Lord may your will be done on earth. May I avoid sin and become holy as you are holy.

 It didn't take long for squabbles to break out . The community was not able to support the perfect life where all things were held in common. The perfect community on earth following the Sermon on the Mount didn't work. In later history the monastic orders made a better job of it for some centuries but in these modern times they too are dwindling into a nothing  divided by vice and mammon. "My kingdom is not of this world " said the Lord. Today we can see the unanticipated meaning of these words. Our church is heading to annihilation . "A large group  of priests made their submission to  the Faith"

Lord do not leave us to the complete decay that seems to be at the end of the road your Church is taking. Let the Church of Love not be destroyed by the failing institution. Let us faithfully know your love by following your commandments, 

They feared to be wrecked. The Lord came to them in their hour of need.

Lord do not let us be submerged under the World and the Flesh. Your Resurrection defeated the Devil. Let it defeat my sins and show me the fruits of your Mercy.

 The words of Gamaliel, his wisdom in fact, predate those words about the rationality of religion known as Pascal's wager. It seems to me. however that to believe in God just because he might exist and might ask me to account for all the deeds of my life is lacking in the true faith that the Life Death and the  Resurrection demand. God's love for us, his people, is manifest yet doubts do. exist. We need to believe not because our brain can follow an argument but because our hearts are bursting to reciprocate God's love for us. If we can't do, this "think on".

Dear Lord I need to know that your Grace can fill me and protect me from sin. Let me to return to your Sacraments let not bad example deter me from your Church. 

" Doubts do exist" but some are more critical than others. I have to accept God's "Good News- Christ is risen". I have no alternative to this and I know that The Bible is the record of God's deeds and decrees. The question that I ask about the baskets in today's Gospel. "Where did the baskets come from ?" is not just flippancy but it is an example of "doubt" without damage to Faith that is possible. Some of the deeds and words of the Lord have been subject to human redaction.

Jesus you were tortured on the Cross by my sins. Let not my pride at the  quick quip be before the fullness of your grace that is transmitted through the scriptures. 

Death is threatened to the Apostles as punishment for preaching Jesus. The Religious authorities feel threatened  by  the power of the Resurrection working through these inspired uneducated laymen. 

They are so filled by their Law inspired righteousness that they have neither place nor time to reflect on the Holy-Spirit -inspired understanding of their own scriptures preached by the Apostles. 

I too have a doubt about our Religious Authorities today. They are not threatened with death but crumble away from the teaching of the Holy Spirit as soon as they are faced by the task of defending an unpopular/unfashionable  absolute. The Way the Truth and the Life is not negotiable. It is what will bring us to our Eternity.

Dear Lord let not the unrighteous behaviour of priests  turn us away from you. Urge them to return to a pure uncontaminated faith in you and your gospel. 

The Baptist truly did prepare the way for the Lord. He knew even in the heart of the Temple and the Old Covenant  that Jesus was the Son of God and never ceased to preach the Word. I don't know how much is known about him other than baptism for the forgiveness of sin but he was known to Herod who "liked to listen to him although he was perplexed". Much in the gospel of the Lord is also perplexing so many have offered their interpretations but we must beware of false doctrines remembering Jesus' words "Many will teach in my name"

Dear Lord may my understanding avoid the sin of pride which does not thank you for enlightenment but rather praises itself on its intellect.