Barnabas and Paul were chosen by the Holy Spirit. The Faith the early Church had in the promptings of the Holy Spirit is certainly lacking  throughout the rest of History as known by me. I can see in a few Saints the absolute belief that the first Christians grasped so eagerly. The ordination of Barnabas and Saul is prepared for by fasting and prayer and then they are sent off. The Apostles were told to follow the Lord but their disciples are "sent off", emitted on their mission to spread Christ's good news to all the world.

Dear Lord the acceptance of your Holy Spirit needs a mission to fulfil it. What about me? help me in my weakness.

Jesus' plain and public speaking about his nature and his relationship to the Father is quite explicit. He is identical with the Father and his presence and words are from and the same as the Father's. This Light that is brought into the world is the same as blinded St Paul. We too are blinded not directly by the Light but by the problems caused by our own egos which want to create  versions of  the Truth to bolster our own  selves. Christ's words need to be interpreted to be understood but in no way changed. In this we must trust the Holy Spirit and beseech him to support those with a vocation to the priesthood, God send us holy priests.

Dear Lord you call us but we do not answer. Let the Church of Peter be purged of the nonsense that is obscuring our way to you. Let your mother's "Let it Be" be our guiding light. Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen!!!

  As their numbers increased so did the their understanding of Christ's message and mission to them. They were overwhelmed by the resurrection but still knew themselves to be Jews, the descendants of Abraham As the pagans began to listen and accept the preaching of the disciples, the question of how the non-Jews could be brought into the fold came to the fore. This was a huge development for  the early church as the idea of belief not linked to race was beyond them. Both Jew and Pagan were united by complete belief in Christ and so they became united as "Christians" through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord let me have faith in the oneness of your Church which has the Love you share with the Father and the Holy Spirit as its example. 

The teaching of the source of all theology continues the discourse which is truly the word of God. We must recognise that we have freedom; but the only choice we need to make is to be on the side of Christ; not to proclaim "Lord Lord" but to follow his instruction as they can be found in Holy Scriptures. We can think and meditate and try to understand the depth of the actions of our incarnate God but only guided by our faith in the Way the Truth and the Life .

Lord help me to understand and not be confused by words; let me be guided by the Mother of the Church and regardless of bewilderment  let me too say "yes" to whatever my life has instore for me.

 Our way of life on earth is what brings us to God. Food is much more than a part of our way of life. Britain has not experienced famine in the way it was experienced in the Middle East and so the importance of food  is less noticed. There is no religious significance in the food we eat; we have no taboos. Western Europe has developed under the influence of Christianity for centuries and it is St Peter's vision and the words of Christ "it is not what enters that defiles" that enable us to live free from dietary restrictions. If only we could accept the other teaching of Christ and his apostles as well as we have this one.

Dear Lord, let my life be consistent with your teaching and example let me be directed by the Holy Spirit into doing the will of the Father. Let me avoid all cynicism and truly believe what I pray. 

John's teaching about God continues with the parable of the sheepfold which is God's community. Jesus is surely warning us about false messengers and telling us directly that he is the true path to salvation. Many will come to deceive but his words will stand. The sheep know the shepherd by his unique call. We the sheep know the call of our pastors but are devastated by their response to the same call that inspires us their sheep

Dear Lord save me from the slough of despondency that opens up on all sides . May I share in the hope of your mother as she joyfully awaited your birth, Holy Mother of God pray for me.

 As promised by Jesus the Holy Spirit fills the heart of Peter and he is able to face the authorities  and eloquently praise the Lord;, attributing  the miracle they had  witnessed to the Nazarene whom they had not long before tried, tortured, mocked and killed. John is speaking directly, he knows that we are able with God's Grace to be now the adopted children of God and and we have the great hope of  seeing God in all his Glory and thus becoming like him in image and likeness unclouded by sin.

Dear Lord let the Holy Spirit who inspired your disciples of long ago come into my heart and let my actions this day reflect your grace which is my support.

The perfect freedom of thee Good Shepherd is shown in his commitment to mission which he brought into the world via his Incarnation in the womb of Mary. Mary's "yes" is the perfect acceptance of God's will which Jesus teaches. The perfect knowledge within the Trinity, the Freedom to choose to act to do the will of The Father is ours. If the shepherds we know are less than good then we must have some responsibility for we are all sinners.

Dear Lord help me to try to understand and practise the mission you left to your Church, The sacraments are the Good Shepherd in action in this world; let me have confidence in your ministers.

 The new believers of the first century had so much to confirm their belief. The crucifixion and resurrection had been witnessed by many of those who preached the Word of God and the Holy Spirit was so strong in the hearts of men that their faith was able to perform miracles. I, reading and reflecting on the the Scriptures in  2021, am faced with a different issue. Most people in the Church and in the world do not give any thought to the events of 2000 years ago. For us Life has many issues but is for the most part comfortable; we know that Life must end some day and then who knows what will happen? This distance from the Lord in time is not easy to take. Where are the miracles of  Faith in these days? The only thing that we can rely on is Jesus, the word of the Father working in our world through the Holy Spirit. "I am with you always even to the end of time.

Let not the questions that come into my mind when reading the scriptures hinder my opening of my heart to Love and the support of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus did not weaken the Truth to make it palatable to his listeners. What they heard hurt them. "This is intolerable language". Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life and  I, a sinner have nowhere to go but to him. Our true being is Spiritual. Our flesh does rot and decay. But Jesus saves our Spirit to be reunited with our resurrected flesh on the Last Day. This is why I am living today trying to prepare my soul for Eternal Life; opening my heart to God the Creator and Loving Father of us all.

Dear Lord let your Church be strong in the Truth and not weaken Her preaching to accommodate thus who in their sinful arrogance, work to change  your teaching about the only nuptial relationship, man with woman .

 The vision of the victory of Christ is hard for me to adapt to. The Jewish people were somewhat accustomed to this style of writing of about God. In Ezekiel and Daniel the detailed descriptions of God's Power and Glory is much too detailed for our modern taste which has seen the Power of the Atom bomb and other weapons destroy cities and take millions of lives. God is all powerful but it is in his Love that Jesus brings us his Grace working through the Holy Spirit. We must think of St George as the Unknown Soldier; a warrior ready to fight but not for the glory of native land but for the Glory of God's peace.

Dear Lord, strengthen me in this daily battle against my weaknesses; let me be true to what I have read and written. Let me come to the end of this today without falling into mortal sin.

There are many alternatives to choose from for today's second reading. St Paul is exhorting his infant foundations to persevere. He pleads with them not lose sight of the hope that has been won by Jesus' Death and Resurrection; the hope of forgiveness of sins and rising to true life for each and every one of us. I know that I wouldn't be able to withstand the persecution that Paul suffered as I find it hard to live in the conscious presence of the Lord without any negative pressure other than the pleasant temptations from the Devil World and the Flesh. Let me truly know the horror of my sins.

Dear Lord let our pastors be newly inspired to support us and lead us in the struggle to remain true to our faith.

 The Ethiopian was reading the scriptures. Philip heard him so he must have been reciting the passage from Isaiah. The chariot must have been roomy as Philip joined him in it. It must not have been like the war chariots we see in contemporary  reliefs and illustrations. and the Queen's treasurer must have belonged to the Judaic tribe tracing its origins back to the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. With so much history, no wonder that there is so much commentary on scripture without the spiritual interpretation. The Ethiopian asked for Baptism and Philip responded. Is that one sacrament enough to be a Christian? Jesus always added "sin no more" to complete his miracles.

Dear Lord let me not think that my salvation lies in one sacramental moment but let me accept the grace that  avoids sin every moment of my life.

The bread of everlasting life that comes from heaven is the flesh of Jesus. The resurrected Jesus can distribute his flesh eucharistically to all the world until the end of time. The flesh and blood of Jesus are sacrilege to the Jews and utter folly to the pagans. To us living now in the  present they are a real test.. Do we really believe or do we just accept the teaching of the scriptures conduited through the church? My behaviour must be a product of this belief. 

Dear Lord help thou my belief and help those who are supposed to show me the way and care for my soul. Help your priests learn to become holy. The Blessed Sacrament is you.