16.08/2022

The King of Tyre is exactly what mankind has grown to be since those days. Although we have had the the meaning of our beings made clear to us by the Incarnation we still devote our lives to Mammon; with the pursuit and acquisition of wealth the sole good. Of course the wealthy and powerful of this world will say that such as I are only motivated by jealousy. For they enjoy their money; they admire themselves; they really do tell themselves that they are great ones but no matter how desperately they try to prolong their lives there comes a day when they are unable to dump the burden of wealth from their camel back.

I  really do question myself too; am I jealous and search for God because I have never had the the wisdom and intelligence needed to acquire wealth in this world? Am I fooling myself with "pie in the sky"? At death will I become nothing and thus not know the answer to my search for meaning during my time of being?

I can be sure "as eggs is eggs" though that no wealth will be with me when I breath my last breath. I do not expect an instant happiness and all answers at that moment. My hope is that I will be able to atone for the sins of my being, committed in human time and know that I have responded well to the will of our Creator and no trejected the Love that is the being of Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord let not the knowledge of the  sins of others  be in any way satisfying to me. Jesus has come to the world to abolish sin even the King of Tyre's and I too must pray for my enemies and yours for it is through love that you show that "nothing is impossibel to God" May Mary help me to acheive repentance that Jesus/Son will protect me and all mankind from the lure of human experiences and wealth that will not last and so doing make us ready to be taken into eternal love.

15/08/2022

Ezekiel is a sign for all the exiles in Babylon. He has lost the joy out of his life. He faces up to the loss and does as he was commanded by God. The people too loose their joy; they have to face up to the destruction of the Temple and deaths of family who have been left behind. The things dedicated to God  are not God. Loving our churches and their contents can become a form of idolatry with which we busy ourselves because "zeal for your house" is not the same as living with love and a heart open to welcome our Father Son and Holy Spirit.

In some ways I am living the life of the exiles in Babylon. My trust in the Church has been eroded. The Temple was lost by the freedom given to us all. Our God knows about the state of our  "temple" that has grown out of his life death and resurrection. He knows what it is that has so weakened his clergy and why our human religion is crumbling so quickly. We are tempted to say "Come on God do something about it".

We have been created capable  of knowing God but we have rejected his love and become immersed in the wealth of the world. The young man left dejected because he knew that he could not leave his wealth for the "perfect life" offered by Jesus. Our daily task is to know that we are in the sight of God, to approach him with our love and to serve him by living without sin. Nothing is impossible for God!

Dear Lord you know that my purpose is confused but that the failure of words cannot harm a pure intention. Keep my soul directed to you and let not failure of clarity become more important than right intention. Let my prayer focus on you and not on my self-image. May Mary your Mother include me and mine in her prayers to you as indeed she must,as she is in the timeless eternity of your Glory.

 14/08/2022

Today celebrates the Assumption of Mary Mother of God, the God Carrier,Theotokos. No matter how many titles I pile on the Ever Virgin I can never come closer to undestanding the unassessabe significance of her still-continuing  life. Faith tells me that her place in creation is second to none for it is from the Incarnation that took place by natural process in her womb that salvation was brought back into the world  where it had been expelled from, by the sin of our first parents.

The ecstatic vision of the Book of the Apocalypse is the Glory of God as revealed to the writer, a Jew in the tradition of of all the prophets who must know as he writes of his experience that the words he uses do not come close to the  mystical touch of the eternity of our God, Father Son and Holy Spirit. Mary's own experience of the immensity of the closeness of God is the Magnificat. Nothing known  by man approaches the beauty of this recognition of the Glory of our Creator Eternal Being felt by this human being who is touched . Mary has been chosen from all eternity to be the Mother and the humility of our God is already growing within her. 

Yes indeed is she blessed among women and blessed are we by the fruit of her womb.

Dear Lord may my deeds approach the meaning of words both read and written. Let me be cleansed of sin and ready for whatever your will has prepared for me. Mary whose glorious being is present in her glorified body with Jesus Son and all saints continue in prayer for us who are still trapped in time but longing to do the will of God and so come to be in the presence of our creator in the eternal now.

 13/08/2022

 Over the years I have tried to pay attention to readings at Mass. I remember Ezekiel for the measuring of the Temple and the bones that will be revivied.I cannot recall having noticed today's passage before. Here is God's promise to treat everyone as an individual. My personal feeling has been that I am also personally responsible for my own children and I have felt guilt that none of them can respect the church founded by Jesus. It is true that I am not a good example of Christian virtues but I am not totally responsible. I pray for  the mercy that I have received to be shared also by them and all ill-taught children. "They **** us up our parents do".

This record of prayer has the title "Alone but Known" reflecting my estrangement from the "institution " that was founded by the Lord as the Church which was to be his body on earth. In this morning's reading I can see that God makes it clear that I am responsible for myself and my children likewise. God knows that I would like for my family to know the greatness of God and accept the living Word born of the Father before the world was made. This is my prayer.

The Gospel must provoke unhappy reflections in all of us especially in those who knew of deviant clergy but did not report to the civil authorities when it became obvious that Church Elders only tried to do the impossible and protect reputation, the public image not the Soul, of the Church. Jesus was speaking of real children who could have grown up to be the infant church. There is also the image all of us who indivdually have to acquire the simple faith of a child in the God the Evergreater even to the extent of calling him "Dad".

Dear Lord it is hard to continue in your love where it is totally refused. Let me be open to your superabundant grace and turning the other cheek accept your chatisement of my weak self and self control. May the Saints in heaven lead by Our Lady pray for me that I might treat all in the way I would like to be treated.

 12/08/2022

Again the word of God is recorded by his prophet in fantastic imagery. Ezekiel captures the minds of listeners by elaborate images that he embellishes and interweaves but never loses sight of his initial purpose. The people of Israel were as an abandonned baby and, as was usual at that time,  a female when chosen by God as a spouse. She had nothing and faced certain death but was brought up to be beatiful without compare and was even more favoured by the contract, the promise God made to her even binding himself.

Jesus always opens our eyes to the reality of our lives and our relatonshhips first to God and then among our neighbours. How can we face and understand the gender/sex of  our beings. Man and woman. There is no mention of any other variety of human except for the eunuch. Jesus came to fulfill the Law of Moses not to break it and here tells us that in God the breaking of vows and "marrying" another is fornication. 

The eunuch is a man who is either without sex organs  by birth or by mutilation. Celibacy can be a deliberate choice in order to devote oneself to prayerful devotion to God. Father Son and Holy Spirit have never recognised the state chosen by many to indulge in sexual activity with their own kind. This is the corrupter of the innocents, the bain of mankind and the ruination of many priests.

Dear Lord let your  Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your people, especially your clergy, that we may become able to resist the power of the devil's media and confirm in our very beings your truth, confirming that we were created man and woman and let any other teaching be refuted in public by the Church. Mary whose virginity even though the Mother of God remains as the perfect woman just as Jesus the man is the perfection of man, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our deaths. 

 11/08/2022

Ezekiel must have lead a life that was so devoted to doing the will of God that he is almost an extension of God. Of course, that is an impossibel exageration but he was chosen by God to prepare the rebellious chosen people for a return to their birthright and a renewal of the Temple where God received the sincere worship and recognition of his being that is the only way to true life.

Jesus is not an extension but truly God and a human body. The mystery that is the Trinity is there as the body that is truly man. God cannot lie and thus we too must strive for the perfection that it is possible for us to have. The chosen people rebelled and rebelled again and still do. What are they thinking of in again occupying their promised land and acting as conquerors denying lawful possession to other owners?

The Father Son and Holy Spirit show us in the teaching of Jesus that it is completely false to think and act as if might were right We must treat our brothers in a way that would be still the best for us to receive. The king in the parable not only forgave the servant but reversed the punishment into reward. The sincere grief that was witnessed by the king was enough to open his heart and reveal the mercy that was concealed. 

I always wish to immediately condemn the evil of the steward but Jesus teaches us that the standards we apply to others are those that we will have applied to us. God is merciful to me a sinner, how can I condemn or throw the first stone.?

Dear Lord let me live through this day knowing and believing what I have read and have accepted sincerely. Clare believing in holy poverty gave up her riches. In heaven with her mother united by the  Celestial Vision, Father, Son and Holy Spirit she  can join her prayers with Mary to intercede for sick suffering and sinful people united by Son here on earth.

 10/08/2022

Today the readings from the New Testament remind us that open handed giving is  required and approved by God.  In another reading we are taught that  the value of  giving does not depend on the amount but on its relationship to the wealth of the giver. Great charitable foundatons have recently been created out of the wealth of young gifted and hardworking computer scientists but the nature of their skill means that they still continue to accrue billions. The rich young man of the gospels was told to give all his wealth to the poor and went away sadly for he was a man of great wealth. It was much harder for him to acquire his wealth than it is for anyone today.

The seed sown by the Apostles has grown into the Church we know. The true wealth of the Church is only in the preaching of the Gospels. The good news has to be spread thoughout the whole world. All the wealth of the world will not last. How much wealth is tied up in the land and property owned by our Church? Its a commonplace to complain of this but what can be done? I know that Jesus' body on earth does not require the magnificence of Rome. The Temple has been destroyed and the return of the remnant is characterised by the arrogant Atheism of its replacement nation. 

There is nothing we can do about the growth of wealth in this world; it is as inevitable as the passing of time. What we have to do is avoid a preoccupation with money and seriouly consider whether or not our Church should divest herself of all wealth and become as her founder so that we can follow relying only on the providence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord I try to concentrate on the meaning of your words but my inner self keeps drawing me to look at my own. As I pray I need only to await your gift to me and then my words are not my own. Holy Mary Mother of God intercede for me that my angel may overcome the powers that assail me and my service become not of the lips but of the heart.