22/09/2022

The world-weariness that is evident in the first reading of this morning's mass is only valid of a world without Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The world is truly meaningless, without pupose, if God had not revealed himself to Abraham for the descendants of Moses had lost sight of the creator of the Universe and of Adam and Eve the first of us made in the image and likeness of our Creator God.

God has no need of us. It is his Love that is so abundantly overflowing that we are created out of his joy at his being; that the Creation, natural and supernatural is alive with a real being; we, image and likeness  are the apex of our world reality and we have within our spiritual being the freedom to chose or not, to know, love and serve.

Choosing to believe needs to be followed through by the behaviour that is revealed by the Holy Spirit through the Word. Jesus has eternally been the the way, the truth and the life and it is his history, in the real time in which we all live that is God's final revelation and our ultimate security that we are all loved and have available, the grace that will enable us to see God in  Eternity, the House with Many Mansions that the Father has prpared for us.

Herod is always seeking; first, the Child, then, the Baptist, then the Saviour, but he is also always destroying. That is also the effect of sin in my life.

Dear Lord the greatest Wsdom of our lives on Earth is to hear your Word and follow it . May I come to share this Wisdom with all your peoples so that our sins may be forgiven in the sincerity of our answer to your call. May Mary whose obedience was a true reflection of you Divine Love continue with all the Saints to praise and seek salvation for all our world.

 23/09/2022

The first reading contemplates man's role in the world. Everything we do is done within time and at the correct moment therin. We can think about events in our human time and understand them but Father Son and Holy Spirit are in Eternity which is beyond our ability to understand. 

Each day we are aware that God is beyond our comprehension but we can understand much about his creation. Even the Cosmos can have its secrets unveiled by human intelligence. Man made machines can absorb and process in seconds what is far beyond a single lifetime of  human brain power. God is still far beyond the limits of human and  machines knowledge and thinking.

Our daily tasks are an intrinsic part of our  use of time and we do them in the order that time creates for us. But in the totality of our time which we know from birth to death our main task is to have  answered  Jesus' question which he puts to us all in this morning's Gospel, for he is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In our lives on Earth there is nothing that takes precedence over this. In our human weakness we have to always be on guard for the delights of our mind and flesh can so easily consume our alotted time. 

Can we have a positive answer to give when faced with " Who do you say that I am?" at the end of our human time?

Dear Lord you know how I live my life. Let me always be receptive to your grace and truly know that your life on Earth forecast and recorded in Scripture is the way truth and life that all souls need to follow in this world, for it is only now that we can answer you man to God. May your mother and all the saints fight against the promoter of all temptation and sin that we may be sure of the loving presence of you Our, Lord and our God.

 21/09/2022

Jesus preaching is primarily to his own nation. His main context is the Old Testament and his listeners too are familiar with this. Today he quotes "What he wants is mercy and not sacrifice". Some of the Pharisees would have been shaken by this for although they have such a bad reputation there were some among them who realised that Jesus, his person, his miracles and his teaching was raising questions that called for answers from the heart and not legal sophisms.

The concept of ritual purity had come to dominate the Judaism of the day. Washing before meals and prayer, avoiding contact with the "unclean",not eating with Gentiles and also tithe-giving were the public face of their religion. Jesus pointed out that in this outward show they resembled tombs of the dead a facade that concealed putrification within.

Jesus' call to Matthew reminds us of the call to Peter and the other fishermen of Galilee. A stranger comes up to him and says "Follow me". He does! Matthew is a hard-headed businessman who has won (somehow) the contract to collect taxes. Way before the religious sophisticates  begin to understand Jesus' call to turn to back to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the merciful grace of the Father through the  Spirit stirs up in the hearts of the simple, Faith to believe in this carpenter from Nazareth.

Dear Lord I pray today that I may continue to grow in sincerity of belief in your Evergreater Holiness so that I can atone for my many sins and come to worship you with a pure heart. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints help to purify the Church that, as you told us, is full of sinners and all of us who need the fruits of your Sacrifice, Mercy without bounds.

 20/09/2022

The Proverbs continue to praise virtue over vice and Jesus' adds to them "My Mother and my brothers are those that hear the word of God and put it into practice".We too, to be able to to do the will of God, need to accept all others as "family" for he preaches to the whole world not just to us in our church or chapel. He preaches to us all, accepts death is the Resurection and when we meditate asking "What does it all mean?"he guides us through the Holy Spirit.

The words "Mother and brothers" have caused many to deny the virginity of Mary, Mother of God. Their case has long since been answered but by placing their own prideful intellects before the Word they have persisted to this day. Mary was placed in the care of John and it is into  this maternal love, the first known by Jesus at his birth that the  institutional Church of Peter, "Feed my sheep" was founded.

Mother of God, Theotokos, Immaculate Mother of the Church are not just empty words They  are heavy with meaning and with the Grace that is our Father Son and Holy Spirit. In the messes, created by the institutional corruption that have damaged our Faith over the centuries, Mary has remained the incorruptible loving obedience to the Father which will never fade. "Heaven and Earth may pass away but my love will stand". Mary and Jesus are the human guarantors of this promise.

Dear Lord each day brings its own grief but also the opportunity to worship and pray. From my being I pray that my body and soul may find the peace that comes from honesty and above all from a clear conscience that I have kept myself within the boundaries that you have revealed are the way to  become human in front of your Glory. May Mary's prayers be the cause of a love of righteousness returning to all your priests and Bishops. May they use their vocations to become holy before feeding their egos by the seeking out of office.

 10/09/2022

Today we  have the funeral of our Queen whose 70 years of reign has, by the will of God, been a blessing on our Nation. She has been dead for some days now and her soul has already been through the judgement that will face us all one day. We can pray that she is still known to Father Son and Holy Spirit and that as part of the Communion of Souls we can pray that she can/has been loosed from her sins.

The proverbs that are the first readings at mass this morning were surely referenced by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount . We remember that Jesus, even as a twelve-year-old, impressed the scribes and Pharisees in the Temple by his knowledge of Scripture and as Son he is in totality with the Father and the Spirit. The psalm too emphasises how we are to live our lives in this world. We must not be absorbed in our good to the detriment of others. Mankind is made up of brothers and sisters in the Love out of which we were created. We are equally able to live lives that  return Love to God and care for our neighbour.

Our souls are none greater than the other and and we all have the will to follow the way  walked by Jesus the self-humbled Evergreater.

Dear Lord inspire those who today are stirred in their being by the funeral of your servant Elizabeth that we may not lose the inspiration of the love for her, let that love bear fruits in the way that we continue our lives that we may hear words of welcome at our deaths. May Mary the Queen given to all peoples, living and dead, continue with her prayers to support us all in our struggles of this life that we might by God's will, come to the Eternal Perfect Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

 18/08/2022

The readings today are about how we can live our lives in the world where we have to live within the Love of God in a world that has come to believe only in money. Jesus praises the astuteness of skilled financiers but warns against our following their example for we cannot split ourselves into devotion for God and devotion to money. Being successful with money may result in power and influence but it will not take us into Eternity. Or will it?

Jesus tells us to use that tainted thing, money to win friends who will welcome us into the tents of Eternity. Jesus continues to praises honesty which can be proved in this world by our dealings with other men in business. We cannot buy our way into heaven. So the way that we use money can only have significance in this world where we have to know love and serve Father Son and Holy Spirit . So what does Jesus mean when he tells us to use money to buy friends? I am perplexed by this and will try to find an answer throughout the rest of this day.

Dear Lord help me to understand the truth of your teaching. I am geting old and my understanding is going downhill too.May Mary and all the saints pray for me that I avoid false humility and help me in my prayers truly devoted to increase my belief by giving Glory to God and not to the "I" which is my being in this world.

 17/08/2022

St Paul makes a disinction between"soul and spirit". I can't say that I ever been aware of this before today. I was bemused and wondered why I could not recall it ever having been explained in any sermon that I have listened to throughout my life. Our bodies are transformed at the end of time and so must our souls  be be too. 

Jesus' parable, however warns us that we must always grow ourselves in his revelation of Father Son and Holy Spirit We all receive the seed as grace but  it is how we accept it that is within our control. We can be like the rocks or the thorns  We have to know that the Devil is always ready to steal the seed from our hearts. We all should be welcoming of the seed and nourish it in faith and deeds. 

Our faith is in the resurrecton of the body which is raised into the unperishable being that Jesus showed on the "third day". Our material being will no longer be the dust of this Creation and subject to earthly time but we will have become the "image and likeness" that the Father created us to be. Jesus' life has shown us theWay, the Holy Spirit is always with us to be known and called upon and the Loving Mercy that is Father Son and Holy Spirit is our guarantee of future happiness.

Dear Lord let me not be distracted from your loving purpose in this life that you have given to me. Let my eyes see, my ears hear and my voice repeat your Word that is revealed in the scriptures and the writings of Saints and other holy men. May Mary the only one of us who truly knows you and is without sin plead with all the Saints that the sinful nonsense being proposed by the leaders of your Church in Germany corrupt none of us on Earth.