14/07/2021

The most unlikely vision of God's reality; a fire in a  bush. Moses was sure that he did see God. The burning bush was the Being of God. Eternity touches our world. God's revelations of himself to the Jews is the source of our belief in God; the cause of our striving to grasp hold of the source and meaning of life. Jesus the complete God  who is Man shares the genes of Moses. At the time of Moses, Egypt was the great power and had an intellectual elite. God didn't choose one from the elite to receive his revelation but Moses a poor soul in the vastness of the desert. Jesus praises God for not revealing the Son to the "learned and the clever" but to the "little ones" who are chosen by Jesus.

In these days, have we all become learned and clever and so are ignored by God? How are we to become the "little ones" the poor when we in live in a world which has grown so much since  Jesus' day. The "learned and clever" provide answers to both these questions We can  live with "material wealth" without becoming attached to it . The patrimony of Peter must be protected. The virtue of poverty is extolled but nobody chooses to be poor except our vow-takers who lack for nothing and used to crowd out our airports together with the  Pope's "Airport Bishops". I have to love know God love him and obey him. I do not have to be comfortable in my Faith, but I must be certain that I am chosen by Jesus in my baptism and that I can can face death with confidence in the Lord's mercy.

Dear Lord help me to to follow you in everything that I do; may I never lose sight of your being knowing  that everything that is is because of You.

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The Church presents us with readings that begin with the story of Moses.; not the Moses the leader of the Exodus but the young man confused in his self-perception; a messed-up Moses who in fear of pharaoh' s punishment flees to the desert of Midian to keep a low-profile for a while . Jesus is again at his sternest ; he doesn't curse the towns but presents to them and to us the fate that awaits us if we hear and reject the Word of God. 

The hope and promise brought to the Hebrews by Moses and to the whole world by Jesus is for us all who although stuck in the mud of our present world reality can see ourselves in dependence on God and respond 

                "in your great love answer me, o God with your great Love that never fades."

Dear Lord.  your Love brings us mercy let me return to you from the desert of sin that blights my life and messes up my soul.

                    

 The place of the Israelites in the realm of the Egyptians had radically changed and the once welcome guests had now  become  a potential for danger. The Pharaoh attempted the first "Final  Solution" and it failed as have  the many subsequent pogroms and persecutions. Pascal puts forward the survival of Jews as evidence of the existence of God.  We certainly have to be sure that Israel owns a special place in God's providence as revealed by the history of the  world. 

Jesus' formation of his first  commissioned ministers shocks us . What can it mean that "He has not come to bring peace to the Earth" The Gospel continues to emphasise this point. he will bring a sword. This text has even confused Moslem preaching; it must be wrong as God message is Islaam i.e. Peace. "My Kingdom is not of this world".

We must confront this statement and try to understand how our gentle Jesus could express in no uncertain terms such a starkly confrontational expression of his mission . We have to understand how this is not an expression of intent but a realistic facing of the truth of the events of his life on earth. Jesus never pretends in order to sweeten the pill of his reality.; God's will.  He knows hat he will be tortured to death. Can this brutality ever be considered Peace.? We too will have to face this earthly death which leads to the peace of reconciliation in Heaven.

Dear Lord let me this day be careful to acknowledge that the Father wills nothing that is not good for his creation. May Our lady and your saints in heaven support me as I try to avoid sin.

 Sunday 11 July 2021

In today's readings we hear God's Word. The Word that is with God before now, now and fore evermore. We see God choosing Amos and other prophets before and after him to keep Israel on the right path. St Paul's paean of praise takes us with him into a knowledge of God's purpose that is almost like a direct revelation from God.. We are known and chosen by the Father in his eternal being to serve and receive the Love that creates the entire universe and at the same time knows each one of us Person to person

The culmination of revelation is the Son who speaks to all the disciples face to face and presents the twelve with a mission which requires a total commitment without worldly cares. A mission that seemed to succeed over the centuries although it was continually threatened to be taken over by the World. 

Today we have a new "Remnant". We continue to believe the revelation of the Father; we try to follow the Son and we pray through the strength of the Holy Spirit but the ordained and commissioned  have in many ways lost our trust. What can we do in the face of so much worldly and personal corruption displayed by your Church. You are still with us Lord "Shake us all up".

Dear Lord I am in need of ministers who convince me  that they truly believe what you taught .It is rotten to be in doubt because of the wickedness of a few who have broken their vows and re-crucified your Son. Let me see before I die a renewal that is not self but totally Christ - centred . Have them forget about cover-ups and billions in property and look to the commission in today's Gospel. I am a sinner and know that I should first look in my own eye. Father forgive me.

 "Seek the Lord, you who are poor and you hearts will revive" is the response to today's psalm. Everything that is to thought or remembered about God is beyond our understanding. Trying to put yesterday's events back into my mind requires great effort but the readings today require me to be conscious of events from thousands of years ago .They tell of the Lord's relationship with his people and of his steadfast Love. Jesus continues to demolish the argument that he is from Satan. 

We have to know that although God loves us all equally; Jesus has won for us all redemption from sin; the Holy Spirit is with us all; there are people who hate and despise us who acknowledge that we are here by the infinite Will and Love of the Father. We are to be poor in spirit without the overweening pride of humanity first seen at Babel. The world is so full that we cannot take it in; but for God even the sparrows are known  so  "Seek the Lord, you who are poor and you hearts will revive".

Dear Lord this sinner prays for forgiveness and continues to seek your Mercy.

 Israel is reunited with Joseph and the whole tribe settle in Egyptian controlled territory and are thus saved from famine. This joy of course, as do all things human, fades away in time and the Israelites grow into a problem in the Egypt of Moses' time. God's providential care of his people continues in human time and in our world . In Jesus' day all these history's of God's dealings with his people were well known and supported the Temple. The Prophets who were gifted by God to preach to Israel were known from Synagogue preaching.

 Jesus presents his disciples with a mission to preach to the towns of Israel and warns them that people are dangerous so they have to be on their guard. This is no the time for "turning the other cheek" they have to abandon the lost causes and get on with their task . Their words will come from the Holy Spirit so there  is no need to worry about their presentation skills. 

The closing sentence of this morning's Gospel, however, presents us with the problematic  "I tell you solemnly you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of  Man comes".

Dear Lord let me be active in my faith and let the littleness of insect bites be not my main focus today. You are my God and I  accept that even little problems are known to you. Everything  is in your loving care. praise be to you Father Son and Holy Spirit.

 Judah's meeting with the unrecognised Joseph is tortuous  in its "servants" and "fathers". The result of it however is pretty straight forward. The whole family (tribe) of Israel comes under the protection of one  of the great powers of the day. The crime of the brothers has this unanticipated positive result. God's Providence is something we cannot grasp easily. 

The whole of our world is subject to this Providence. God is ever-greater. We look at the stars as did Isaac and see the for ever expanse of  the universe and we know that God is greater than what we see. We use the seemingly limitlessness of the Web and "should" know that God is ever-greater . 3,000 years ago Israel was known by God in that huge region from the Tigris Euphrates to the Nile.. Everything was known to God and subject to his Providence and we too who inhabit a far vaster world are subject to the same limitations to our freedom 

This is what Jesus told us when he proclaimed the Kingdom of God is at hand. God is with us. His Providence is supporting my life in this world today and I have to acknowledge this loving support in my attempts to reciprocate his love by following his commandments. 

Dear Lord you know that it is easy for me to say "Lord, Lord" but being what those words imply is a whole different story. Let me find the support that is  your gift of yourself in your Church.