22/04/2022

I have always wondered what "in the name of Jesus" means. Two or three are gathered "in my name".Today it is "by the name of Jesus" that the cripple walked. I know that "Jesus" is not a magic word. There is something greater than "magic" here. I can explain it to myself by thinking that "the name of Jesus" must mean the "being of Jesus", true man and true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father. One Substance, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One God. Nevertheless each time I see "in the name of Jesus" I have to question myself anew.

Peter speaking before the High Priests is the same man who previously three times denied knowing our Lord . He proclaims the Resurrection and tells all then present and us todaythat  Jesus is the only "name" by which we can be saved. Again I wonder what  "name"is.

St John's account of the third self revelation of Jesus is a return for the fishermen of Galilee. They have their livings to earn and no Jesus to guide them. They can't even catch anything but on the shore there is a fire and somebody cooking fish. They see the Lord but do not recognise him. Then John has his eyes opened and reveals the Lord to Peter, the foundation stone chosen by Jesus to be the Church, his "name" on earth. 

Dear Lord it is my hope to be able to see clearly your will for me and for all mankind. Your love for your creation and for me cannot be doubted in the light of your thirty three years on earth followed by your Resurrection. I, an undeserving sinner, lacking in uderstanding, hope to learn the faith in "your name" that is the only way to Faith and Love. May the saints and Mary intercede for all the suffering souls on eath and in Purgatory

 21/04/2022

The miracle in the entryway to the Temple was witnessed and later attested to by Jesus' own people. Peter makes it quite clear the "cripple in the portico" was a well known figure in Jerusalem. The miracle occurred through the power of Jesus and was being witnessed by the same Jews who had bayed for his death.

This time Peter is true to the Lord and, as the leader of the infant Church, is righteous in his behaviour. We can be sure that the ones converted were sincere in their regrets at their sin of, as a mob, demanding the death of the already tortured Jesus. The very public death of the Lord had been witnessed by many in the crowd witnessing Peter's proclamation of the Resurrection and showing the power of God by the curing of the cripple. Some of them would be part of the five hundred to whom Jesus showed himself .

Jesus is again bodily present with the disciples and confirms that he has substantial being to be recognised by our senses. He is not a spiritual entity, a ghost, but has a fully human body although it is not contained by the rules of the physics of this world. His body and soul exist in the Eternity that we call heaven, There he is truly head of the Church and adored by his mother, who now shares the body that she carried on earth, and the souls of the saints who have lived their lives on earth in accordance to the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord let me be true to the message preserved by your Apostles and Evangelists. Let me be faithful in thoughts word and deed and let me end my life in secure Faith Hope and Charity. May Mary and all the saints continue in their support of the suffering innocent ones on this earth and look with kindness on my sick relatives and all the peoples of this world.

 20/04/2022

Everybody knew what had happened in Jerusalem. Jesus the Nazarene had been betrayed by the relgion which had always been favoured by God. The disciples then listened to their "companion's" detailing of the prefiguring in scriptures that showed that the Messiah would have to suffer to complete the will of God. Their hearts burned but then there was no companion. Recognition/ Departure is the theme of the first New Testament accounts of the Risen Lord. 

The first miracle in the Temple can be seen as the work of God through his infant Church. Peter is the chosen leader of the "institution to be"characterised mainly by its failings when the chips were down.John  together with the Marys returned the Love of God with as much ardour as is possible for a human being.

Peter (authority) has grown the Church to the extent that "Church" means the institution that is more human than divine and works to protect itself more than to lead us in the Worship that continues the Temple, the place of God in this world. John and Mary, the Church that is in the hearts of men still burns there. When asked about this the risen Lord, Father Son and Holy Spirit warned Peter "What is it to you?"

Dear Lord my soul is not calm with the Faith that you have revealed. I will myself to search out for the Hope. The Love is weak; not the force that filled the Early Church. Let my awareness of sinful clergy and prelates not block out the glimpses of goodness I know are in the Institution. May Mary the sinless continue to lead all the Saints and I pray that all the suffering ones known and alone will be bathed in the Mercy that flows out of your side.

 19/04/2022

I have been away from home during the Easter period and now want to make up for that absence. I wasn't absent in thought though and each day tried to recall what the events celebrated at Easter mean to me.

The resurrected Jesus is not recognised at first sight. He reveals himself to the ones he chooses. Thomas who wasn't chosen refuses to believe the testimony of his fellow disciples. Jesus is able to say "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet still believe". There are far more of us in this category than there are eye-witnesses but we can be sure that they have recorded  the truth that was revealed to them.

All the disciples except John and the three Mary's got out of the way when it seemed that all was lost. Jesus forgave them by his choosing of them to be witnesses of his Resurrection and to spread the Good News. 

The Holy Spirit was evident among the new converts of the Temple. I have been baptised but have never been aware of Holy Spirit working in me. These thoughts and prayers come from somewhere and if I have been chosen they are the work of the Holy Spirit for not one of us can achieve salvation and the sight of the Risen One by his own efforts.

Dear Lord you know my sinfulness let me gain the forgiveness that comes from Father, Son and Holy Spirit through the Passion and Resurrection. May Mary and all the saints support all the suffering ones of this world and in purgutory where deserved punishment wipes away all guilt.

 14/04/2022

Our Lord tells us that we have to serve each other as he served the world. From St. Paul's letter we can understand how integral to the religion given to us by Jesus is the Mass. It is the sacrament created for us by Father, Son and Holy Spirit even before the death and resurrection that it is. This last meal of Jesus before the Passion is not any ordinary meal as he enjoyed with sinners in Galilee but the first Mass of ordination whereby the twelve were ordained into the new priesthood to replace the Temple that would soon be reduced to rubble.

Dear Lord, we need the Holy Spirit more than ever before as your created new priesthood crumbles into the dust, Let all priests who say this Mass both in cathedrals and churches be renewed by their presence with you at this memorial and let their service be a true reflection of the life you lived for the salvation of all men. Dear Lord save thy people who are truly the lost sheep looking for a shepherd. Maranatha.

 13/04/2022

Jesus knows that he must be betrayed. He knows that the will he shares with the Father and Holy Spirit can only be fulfilled by his acceptance of his having to  face up to the power of Satan and becoming a willing sacrifice. Jesus is a complete man and has to control his human emotions and fears. I don't think that God (himself) limited Jesus' human will, other than begetting him without sin, in any way. The man Jesus is as Adam should have been walking with God in the garden.

I cannot know the ways of God. Who can understand the complexity of human life in this moment that I am living? The wonders of creation are real and I also know that my being is real. The event of the  Incarnation really happened, the Nativity, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection are  historical events in the same reality that Augustus and Tiberius were emperors;  the Child was immediately attacked by Satan working through Herod; Jesus grew and began his mission; he was immediately attacked by Satan in the desert and now at the end of his life he is sujected to an assault by Satan on his mind and body in the garden and on the hill.

God Father, Son and Holy Spirit are real and not the product of some human thinking. The revelations of Scripture are true and for our guidance. Our prayers are pleasing to God. Our moral code is a command of God. God is totally aware of everything, human, animal and insentient and allows humans to make use of the physical matter of all his creation. The work of Satan in our beings,sin,is abhorrent to him. Jesus has won salvation which he bestows on us as Grace, a free gift but our human freedom has to accept it for what it is; God's love for each one of us, even of Judas.

Dear Lord you know what is truly necessary for me; let me cooperate with your will and by accepting true guidance come to know you in the Glory that is your Eternity. May the prayers of Mary and all the saints bring about peace to all the wordly conflicts that destroy so many innocent victims along with the guilty and may my family members face up to the illnesses with which they are afflicteed and come to a realisation that there is nothing greater than you.

 12/04/2022

As is Isaiah, I too am despondent and worried by the state of God's Church. So many of us no longer believe in Father, Son or Holy Spirit. I cannot avoid keeping in mind the derelictions of holiness displayed by the  Church instituted so long ago. Israel has returned to the Promised Land and immediattely perpertrated injustices against the people living there. Few of the people of Israel are belivers in the God of their ancestors.

Faith is what God wills for us and I hope that we too will open our hearts to find that "all along my cause was with the Lord"so that "salvation will reach to the ends of the earth".

John's account of the last days of Jesus continues with the the last meal that Jesus shared before the Crucifixion. Jesus knows what is to happen on this night and morning; he knows what horrors await him and is troubled by this. He knows but is human and so is fearful at the thought. " At that moment Satan entered into him" sounds as if this was "spur of the moment" temptation but we know that Judas had already approached the temple authorities, offering a betrayal of his Rabi. 

Jesus tells the remaining Apostles that the will of the Father will be manifest shortly; that the Glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit will blaze forth and that  Jesus  will be there alone. Peter as usual gets it wrong and promises a commitment that is beyond him. The words and life of Jesus have to be pondered if we are to come close to the understanding of them. Only Mary on this earth has achieved that for she too was the sinless chosen one of  God.

Dear Lord let my understanding support my faith as the prayers of Mary and all the Saints support your people as we struggle through the bleakness that surrounds us all here on Earth.We do expect to see your Glory. Could it be sooner rather than later; but thy will be done here as it is in Eternity.