15/12/2021

The readings today continue the Advent themes. Isaiah calls the Jews of his day to recognise that God is the Evergreater and that there is nothing that exists that does not have its ultimate source in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For the Old Testament God is  "I am What Is" and so God is also the source of tribulations. 

For Christians, however God is always the source of good and "Calamities" are created by the Sin that Adam introduced into the world. This teaching has tested the Faith  of millions of us throughout history and the doubts and confusion created cannot be swept underneath the carpet. We have to face up to the fact that natural disasters, curtailed lives famine, plagues, wars are more than calamities and could have been prevented by our God.

Today Jesus tells us that he is to be recognised by his deeds. He cures the sick and proclaims the Good News. Blessed are the poor in spirit. We who know that we are sinners and totally in need of God's mercy have received the Good News. Jesus' miracles are signs to draw us to him who is the Good News in person and thus his Resurrection completes his revelation with the greatest miracle of all.

Dear Lord let me respond to your guidance throughout this day. May your blessed Mother and all the saints aid me in avoiding sin and let me find in your Church the holiness you created her to have.

 14/12/2021

I have missed two mornings' reflections and am having trouble to get back to the habit of prayer. St Bernard's rule was to bring his monks to righteousness and to avoid distractions. Jesus chides us to be like the sinners who listened to John. To be like the first son who protested but did do the will of the Father.

Holiness has many enemies in the world today. The streets are packed with people who are dashing about. The roads are jam packed with vehicles. Television screens never lack their ability to mesmerize the millions who are glued to them. I am distracted from my prayers by family matters.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit know what it is for us to be human. We are God's creation to be his witnesses in this world. We are to live our lives but not become engrossed by their success or otherwise. We are to prepare ourselves for the glory that has been prepared for us. All the billions of us breathing today will one day be seen as we truly are and have to face God in our nakedness of soul . Can I do that? Only with Mercy for the naked Truth about myself does not bear thinking about.

Dear Lord let me be safe in your care today. Let my being be focussed on your grace and let those I know and love come to know that you are the begining and goal of all creation.

 12/12/20

Today I have to miss, mt prayers aree stillturning to God. Amen

 11/12/2021

All of Jesus teaching  to his disciples during his time on earth has for its base the history of God's relationship, his dealings with the people he blessed with his revelation of himself. Today Elijah is recalled in the first reading and in the second Jesus confirms that Elijah was to pave the way and that John the Baptist has completed that task.

The task was to prepare the mind of Israel for the unbelievable force of God walking as a man and teaching only the truth and telling us, not discussing our opinions, what it means to be human and a joy in God's eye as had been Israel, the apple of His eye.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are total evergreater love and show this love to all mankind in the Father's foregiveness revealed in the Resurrection and Breath of the Spirit. Most of us have felt the force of this Love at some time but forgotten it in the pleasures of a material world. Now as we are preparing to celebrate the Nativity we have to know that God is all in all and wants to share that being in Love with all mankind.

Dear Lord let all my endeavours today be made in consciousness of you and be pleasing in avoiding sin. Thy will be done. May Mary who knew you as only a mother can know her child, persevere in turning the human Church back to the Church of Love founded by her Son.

 10/12/2021

In  today's Gospel Jesus expresses a human exhasperation with those of his listeners who pick fault with anything thay might read or hear. I have that same tendancy myself but mostly I want to be able to understand the teaching of the Lord. I feel that the psalm presents us with an image of perfection that I can certainly aim for but lack the consistency to achieve.

Isaiah's inspired poetry speaks for the Lord. The Jews whom he addresses had been given every opportunity to prosper as a nation in the arms of God but had lost everything yet again due to backsliding.

Today we know that God is ignored by political leaders and the majority of people in what were once the countries of Christendom. I can cope with that. What is exhasperating for me is that the same can be said for the leaders of Jesus' Church. The phrase "functionally athiest" has been applied to the Vatican and local Bishop's conferences for whom guarding secret sins and manipulating finances are first on their agendas.

How can they forget the Kingdom of God and their duty to guide the sheep through the narrow gate rather than clog it with scandal upon scandal.?

Dear Lord our winter days continue to  darken. Let me be sure that my hope in you is never lost and let your love be recognised by those near to me so that faith in you can become the mainstay of their lives.

 09/12/2021

Isaiah brings words of comfort now and to come. Jesus leads us to question what can it possibly mean to   say that up to now the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm. Jesus always assures us that his kingdom is not of this world but the only interpretation of this mysterious saying that comes to my mind is that he is talking about his own people on earth who before John the Baptist had no way of avoiding the backsliding and apostasy that is recorded throughout the Old Testament.

This interpretation is quite satisfying to me as it fits in with my conception of Jesus and his mission to save us. There are many occasions that Jesus' sayings are outside the framework in which I tackle the meaning of  my being and life in this world. Faith in the goodness of God as expressed in Isaiah is my hope for all God's people. There is ,howeve, no reason that everything I read in the Bible should keep me in comfort. Jesus told us that he came to bring strife. Sometimes this strife is internal and can in fact become prayer.

Dear Lord always  let scripture call me to truth and let Father Son and Holy Spirit be my Faith Hope and Charity.

 08/12/2021

The Lord our God is without beginning or end. He is all powerful which means he creates billions and billions without limit of possibilities for the world and the universe. He is all knowing so he is aware of all the possibilities  for each individual life human and non human. He is all loving for aware of the sinfulness bequeathed to us by His first man he knows that he himself can make atonement for Sin only by making it his. 

In an existence that is completely out of time God knows that he can become truly human to save us from our sins and so a woman as perfect as Eve before the fall is created sinless and ready to become the Mother of the Incarnation, Man and God.

St Paul seemingly effortlessly praises God and tells us that we are always known by Father Son and Holy Spirit. God, the Evergreater, chose to humble himself out of his total love and total awareness of each of us to become the man who would renew sinful manknd but did not do so by curtaiing  his gift to us of human freedom. Mary made the right choice. Thanks be to God and all praise to Mary our Mother.

Dear Lord may all of us who hear today's passages from scripture know that they are your truth revealed  to us. May the intercessions of the wonder of Mary and all the saints protect me and mine from the evil of sin.