24/04/2022

The acts of the apostles begin in the Temple. They meet everyday and many listen but are afraid to join them. The sick  are brought in the hope that being in the presence of the Apostles will bring them to health. 

John has witnessed most of the events of Jesus public life. He, faithfully following the commands of the dying Jesus, has cared for Mary as if she were his own mother and he has been tortured and exiled for his Faith. 

His vision begins with the command to record it all. What we read is the result of this command. It is very diffficult for us to know the meaning of all the otherworldly sights and symbols John does see; just as it is difficult to understand other Old Testament similarly prophetic experiences.

John's eye-witness account of Jesus appearances in their midst in the upper room is also beyond my understanding. This is not a vision, which could take place in the consciousness of the visionary and be unobserved by others. Jesus is a body; he is the same body that had been laid in the tomb transformed to another level of being. St Thomas touches and feels the wounds that had been received so painfully to bring the grace of salvation to us all. We do not need to see but we do need to believe. Jesus blesses us for Faith; he knows the limits of our understanding.

The resurrected Jesus, his life and death,  the Acts of the Apostles, the mystical visions of John, the Good News, all are from Father, Son and Holy Spirit with the loving purpose of enabling us to use our freedom to live lives pleasing to the Lord of All and to found his Church to administer his sacramental grace here on earth. 

Dear Lord let my soul be filled with love for you with all the sins driven out. Fill your priests with the holiness you breathed on your Apostles and let us the sheep feel confident in our pastors. May Mary and all the saints please help those in my family and in all the world who need curing and comfort..

 23/04/2023

John and Paul are able to respond verbally to the accusations of the Temple authorities. They were not overawed by either the rank of their interrogators or the location in the Temple. On the contrary the rulers, elders and scribes were nonplussed by the authority displayed by the uneducated fishermen. Their main problem however is that they too were filled with awe at the miracle that cured the man, who was well-known to them. Their professional minds, however, could not adjust to this new happening, the Good News, and so they conferred/conspired with each other how they could keep control of the situation.

Their "damage-limitation" strategy could come up with nothing better than a warning to stop proclaiming this "Good News" which was, in fact, the result of their crucifying the "Name" that was the object of their ban. The elders, scribes and teachers were probably a mixture of the sincere and cynical and when faced with a problem that forced them to truly open themselves to the Word, Father Son and Holy Ghost they chose to protect the Temple, the institutional Church in which they served.

In our times 2022 the same attitude is more than evident in the Priests, Scribes and Eders who claim to serve the institution that waas given to us by our God to strengthen our resolve to live according to his will as revealed through the prophets and especially though himself as Son and humanity from Mary.

Dear Lord you founded our Church to be your physical presence on earth and the source of Sacramental Life. Please do not abandon us to the whims of the Godless who blasphemously "go through the motions of Priesthood, but in their morality provide us only with lies and scandals. Let my heart be true to your revelations and personal teaching during your time on earth. May Mary and all the sinless souls, the saints, of Heaven share with us the superabundance of Holiness which is the Glory of Eternity and let us too share like the Sidonian woman in the scraps that fall from your heavenly banquet.

 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.