08/08/2022

Coins do not have a prominent place in the New Testament. Jesus' attack on the money changers in the Temple obviously comes to mind. This miraculous finding of the coin in the fish is repeated as true history. It is not the easiest of miracles in which to put our faith.The contracted tax collecters did not approach Jesus directly but reminded Peter about it. The validity of the Church's quest for financing in this world has been seen as revealed in this episode.;as was "render unto Caesar" in refence to the support paid directly to the Temple.

The visions of Ezekiel are received during the exile and truly "by the waters of Babylon". The question which I ask is as usual, in the case of attempted descriptions of God, were these images a reality outside of the being of the gifted one or were they an attempt to recreate the overpowering knowledge of Father Son and Holy Spirit that by the will of God they had been chosen to receive?

I ask because I and the rest of mankind have become familiar with the products of computer aided special effects passed before our eyes by tvs and cinemas. These alternative realities take place before our eyes but have no value for although we are captivated by them second by second they are still unreal, mere shadows on a screen. Shadows which darken the truth of reality even more than do our own eyes naturally; as St Paul well knew, "we see as through a glass darkly."

We are all known by God in our complete reality. The Evergreater chooses those to whom he reveals himself and is still totally Glorious beyond their ability to describe or our ability to follow.

Dear Lord in the  Life, Death, Resurrection you have given  us all an image that is seeable for the Word is also true Man. Let me be true to this Good News and find it anew each day. May Our Lady continue to support us as she is the only human who knows you as do all mothers know and weep over their children.

 06/09/2022

The writer of today's reading from "Hebrews" is certain that what  has been witnessed in the Person of Jesus and the foundation of the Church is a manifestation of the will of God. The same manifestation had been shown in the history of the Jewish believers for whom he was interpreting this "will" in the light of the Resurrection and the witness to this  of  (himself?) and the disciples.The Church is interpreting this by presenting to us the "Wisdom" that tells us that what we all are, is by the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit; we are chosen to be the ones "to be made glorious" by God.

The poetry of the psalm is inspired by the joy given by God to those of us who can really know Him in the depths of our hearts. This gift of Faith celebrates itself by prayer for "praise is fitting for loyal hearts". Prayer does not bring us to God but God approves of us by recognising our thanks for the Glory of his being shared by us. Our share is infinitesimally small but we are small and yet large  enough to recognise it by knowing, loving and obeying.

Jesus' parable contains all the meaning of the the history of the Jews and his own Incarnation. Every human  is known by God and entrusted with life that should be lived according to his will revealed to the prophets, announced by them and confirmed by Jesus the Son. Today's message from Jesus' lips is without room for any interpretaton on grounds of ambiguity. Those who have received the gift of Faith have to guide the will that is their being, their human will, to complete the Will of God that Faith reveals to us all.

God does not drag us into heaven as we rebel kicking and screaming. We have to choose whether to honour the revelations of Father, Son and Holy Spirit or go "kicking and screaming" into that other place.

Dear Lord I hope that today I can with a truly open heart live on in the knowlege that I am known and loved by you. You know that my heart does not burn within me when I try to face "g""o""d" my will is weak and my understanding weaker. May Mary whose love of you was awakened by the message of an angel support me, as the loving mother she is, and all those in my family for whom I now pray. Forgive us all our sins and let us be ready for an individual "last day" or your "return"to us all. Maranatha!

 06/08/2022

I always find it difficult to recreate in my own mind the Old Testament's and St John's visions of the Glory of God. The scenes that they record are beyond my mind's capacity to store and imagine. John Peter and James witnessed the Jesus Son born of the Father through all eternity. They beheld the Glory of God from God. They saw three figures. The narrative of the Gospel makes it clear that this was not a dream enclosed in their own minds but an event outside of themselves. They were admonished not to tell of this great event they had been chosen to accept.

Later on in the story of Jesus of Palestine we are given a much more public and less awe-inspiring sight of God.We see him powerless beaten and bleeding carrying his own deathbed through the streets of Jerusalem. We see him manhandled by foreign soldiers, pagan servants of Rome. Vilified by his own nation and denied by his own followers he appears to be without hope as he cries out the words of a despairing Psalm and is dead.

Many more than three witnessed Jesus' body in its resurrected form. They were not warned to keep it as esoteric knowledge only for the selected few but on the contrary to go out and announce this Good News to the whole world. Father Son and Holy Spirit knows us and loves us and has prepared a tent for us to be in the Eternity that is his being. Wow!!!!

Dear Lord let my soul be cleansed of the sins of this world, let my mind dwell only on you and let my body obey my will as directed by you. May Mary who on earth knew the Glory of God and his complete humanity in her son Jesus now in heaven with all the Saints continue in her prayers for all her children here on Earth. Each day I pray the same petition although I know that she can do no differently for Mary is a living prayer.

 05/08/2022

The dedication of the  Basilica of Our Lady in Rome is commerated today. The "greatness" of the Basilica thrusts the contrast between the humble girl of Nazareth and this mighty structure built to celebrate her obedience to the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, into our faces. We cnnot ignore it. When the church was built in the 5th century the Church was already the structured institution that would eventually reform the crumbling Empire of Rome and already contained the seeds of her own crumbling that we cannot ignore today. The people who made up this institution were all "believers" but just we are, believers and still sinners. 

Even within the close circle of Jesus' friends there were sinners other than the traitor. It is to us the sinners that God has willed the salvation brought about by his own torments on Calvary. The great buildings dedicated to the worship of God are but by-products of the Incarnation and nothing more. They are also nothing more than the material manifestation of the  voiced "Lord, Lord" that Jesus warned us about.

St Mary's "greatness"is not in her worldly images and displays but in that she was chosen to be, the Mother from whom God begot the Son who together with the Holy Spirit is, without growth or change, the source of all being, the creator of this Universe and of each indivual who has or is or will be living a life of human freedom limited only by the need to worship and obey. Our Lady's "greatness" is in her "Fiat"an instant alignment of her human will to God's. We are all called to do the same; not to shout "Lord, Lord!"but to do the will of the Father.

Dear Lord may all your people keep from sin this day. May the example of Faith that is the known life of your mother inspire us to the true worship you have taught us in your begotten humanity.  Let Holy Spirit guide us and strengthen us in our fight against your enemies who are determind to deny you and teach the world to do the same. May Mary and all the saints bring comfort to the sick and all the suffering peoples especially to the children and innocent peoples of  this world.

 

 04/08/2022

Each day it takes time for me to wake-up properly. I cannot say that my first thoughts are of God or prayerful in  any way. It is an act of will to remove the fanatasies and rememberings from my mind but the waste matter leaves my body by instinct. God is not naturally in my mind. It is an act of human will to turn to the Father Son and Holy Spirit even though God promises to be in our hearts so that he can be Our God and we his People. 

We are not, however,  imprinted chips but completely free agents in our spiritual beings. God chooses us but we must agree with that choice to fulfill are callings on this earth. The prime example is the "Fiat" of Our Lady but today the Church remembers the Cure d'Ars who made an impression on so many sinners and priests during his parish ministry. There are not many other Parish Priests who have been canonised.

Today St Peter is the first to voice recognition of the true being of his wandering Rabii. Our being as humans is made up of created matter and spirit. This is witnessed by ourselves in everyday living and by our reading and meditations of Scripture. St Peter calls out the truth known to his soul. "You are the Christ the Son of the Living God". Jesus immediately calms his fervour by reminding that the Faith displayed by this son of Jonah is a favour from our Creator. Peter is inspired by Grace. 

St Peter's soul is inspired to make that momentous declaration. However, it does not take long for his humanity to race ahead and dispute the need for God's will to be fulfilled even though he is in the presence of the Son/God whom he has just been inspired to acknowledge. God's ways are not man's that is why we can worship him for he is the Evergreater.

Dear Lord may the memory of St John Mary Vianney remind us as mass is celebrated today that it is possible for us to have holy priests and that sins are forgiven in Confession by the promise of Jesus. The necessry suffering of Jesus has won for us the graces necessry to keep us sinless and holy. May Mary and all the Saints continue to let us know that if we maintain our Faith, our suffering ends in the instant bliss of God's Eternity. 

 03/08/2022

God promises in the Old Tesatament  that he has not abandoned his beloved Israel and that he will restore the riches of this world that will be a result of the return of his support. Jesus is rebuked by the Canaanite woman for refusing her request on the grounds of race. His words that are recorded can be heard as unpleasant to say the least. Of course that interpretation is far from his intention. It is true that the incarnation is a follow through of God's covenants' with his "people"and now Father, Son and Holy Spirit are with all the peoples of the World. He is the God and all humanity is his people. Our human time and creation has been touched once by the Eternal Word and God has walked with his people as Son for 34 years 2000 years ago. 

We have been given this witness by Jesus true man and true God and during his human lifetime Jesus made known his authority and his love by miracles. The Canaanite woman had not witnessed any of Jesus' miracles, they had all taken place amongst the Jews of Palestine but she believed what was being said about Jesus and implored his help. She talks back at him out of belief  and Jesus praises her Faith. So many people appear once in the Gospels. I wonder how she progressed in life after this great encounter of such importance to her and her family.

We know much more of Jesus than did that woman. The Resurrection is always with us. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

Dear Lord I pray to stay away from sin today and let my faith grow to be as all-consuming as was the faith of many whom met you on the highways and byways of Galilee, the Decapolis, the parts of Lebanon around Tyre and Sidon, Samaria and Jerusalem. Let me return as a remnant to your presence in the Church that is failing in her duty to know love and obey. May your mother Mary whose Faith was as breathing is to me, continue to seek help for all the sufferings in this world and for those waiting for the Mercy of the Lord.

 02/08/2022

Peter's sinking into the lake is blamed on his lack of faith. The dramatic fall in the believe in God that has been witnessed in my life-time is a lack of faith in the Church first of all and then a crumbling in our understanding of life. There is no one who speaks with the assurance of a prophet against the onslaughts of the atheist hedonists who rule our people through the technological marvels that have substituted themselves for what should be our aim in life. Social -Media "influencers" carry much more weight with our people than do any representatives of the Institutional Church or its breakaway reformed offsprings. Nonsense spouted by pop musicians is taken into the hearts of our youth and squeezes out any vestiges of the presence of Jesus.

The only answer to this modern manifestation of the the "Great Wound" is for us to be reminded daily  of  the "Great Truth" that nothing in this world will last for ever. Each individual human of this world will one day come to the abiding truth of his own death and he will find at that moment that the being he knows as "I" is not the powerful leader, the great thinker, the humble servant, the holy man of God, the down-trodden slave he has worshipped all his life but the creation of our loving Father, Son and Holy Spirit who at the never to be repeated moment welcomes us  into eternal life with loving mercy or rejects out of hand.

Dear Lord strengthen faith, fulfill hope and manifest your love to all the peoples of the world that we can turn our hearts and minds to only you as Jesus did on the mountain as Peter and your disciples battled the storm of life. Our own inheritors of the mantle of St Peter need to recognise that they are sinking and forgetting about the transitory "patrimony" get rid of all the wealth that ties them to this world and the values of Mamon so that you may become for them the all-in-all. May Mary and all the created saints in heaven in the Eternal moment of their being bring succour to those still suffering here on earth.