07/01/2023

John's letter warns us yet again of the Anti-Christ who is so quickly present in his first century world. There are already false prophets who contradict the Good News and the world is full of spirits which inspire but cannot be trusted until they have been discerned as either good or evil.

Are these spirits literally present or are they the thoughts that come into our minds from somewhere seemingly at random. Is our world filled with Angels and Devils who are continually at war for the souls of men? The spirits that John writes of are very real to him but not to be feared because the devils can be contained by an Act of Faith. Jesus is God Incarnate, born of Mary, lived in Palestine was crucified, died and was buried to rise again on the third day.

If we are to become the person God has created us to be we must make this confession for it is the grace of Jesus on Calvary that feeds our souls. The first centuries of the Church founded on Peter were spent in continually battles against those who wanted to be prophets of their own versions of the Good News. 

The battle has still not subsided but our now seemingly weakened Church which civilised the tribes of invaders that overcame the Western Empire has now to face the greatest spirit of the Anti-Christ opposing God. It is we ourselves, mankind who are still Adam and Eve deliberately choosing to live praising and worshipping the achievements of mankind and forgetting the babe, our God Incarnate who is still revealed to wise men.

Dear Lord you know how mankind can access so much information and how so much that appears on our screens does not build up the Body of Christ that is your Church to the end of time. May Mary and all the saints continue to plead for our hearts to be opened to accept your grace which is your gift to us but does require the assent of our loving will.

 06/01/2023

The showing to the "nations" symbolised by the "wise men" is the first revelation of himself made by God to the whole world. God's ways are always good but they are beyond understanding. Many people lived and died without the knowledge of God's purpose that has been revealed to us by the poverty of the birth of the baby in  Bethlehem. 

That is a fact that prevents any more speculation. God chose what we know from History to happen in his creation and we can look back in wonder at the works of pagans which fill the various parts of the world. Godless humanity achieved wonders of human thought and only God can know why these souls were allowed to strive without awareness the Word through whom all creation came to be.

The Incarnation is God's complete revelation of himself. The mystery of Being is revealed as a Love that is created by Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We too can only leave our "Gifts" before the "babe of Bethlehem" and then spend the rest of our lives, through the grace of God to become the reality of being what Love has created us to be.

Dear Lord may the return of myself to doing your will on earth be  acceptable as thanks for the wonder of my being. May Mary whose knowledge and love of you is greater than any of the wise men then and now continue to plead for your merciful response that the emptied vessels at the wedding feast become filled with a Faith even greater than at first.

 05/01/2023

John's story of  Jesus' gathering the 12 Apostles differs in his Gospel from that in the Synoptics . The truth of each Gospel, however, is not in the place of each word but in the Holy Spirit who fills them with God's being here on earth. There are in the Gospels touches of plain humanity. We see this in the squabbles about potential places in the Kingdom that break out intermittently and today Philip displays the Judean capital's scorn for the the uncouth, provincial town of Nazareth.

John's letter emphasises the fact that we can feel at ease in our own beings. The happiness promised to us by Father, Son and Holy Spirit need not only be ours after death. It can be experienced here on earth.  Those of us who can live without sin and can examine their own consciences in the the total light that is the Love of God can be without fear as they continue their lives on Earth.

We bury Benedict today. His has been a long and fruitful life. Hitler Youth to Pope is a journey that will never again be made. So he is a unique human. In heaven there is no marriage or giving in marriage, it is the spiritual fulfilment of our souls and I suppose that there is no higher or lower as God is all in all. I pray for his soul in hope that he has been welcomed by Father Son and Holy Spirit and that his  earthly teaching and preaching have not been in vain.

Dear Lord, I pray that I may be able to scour my conscience in my remaining years not because of fear, but  because you have given me the opportunity to be the spotless Adam of your creation. Let me become a part of your Church on earth that is succoured by the prayers of your Mother, Mary and all the saints who are with you as sinless Souls no matter what has been their place on earth.

 04/01/2023

Sinfulness need not be a spectacular affair. Holiness too can be unheroic. John the Baptist was not a reed trembling in the wind he was a powerful magnet drawing many to make a renewal of their faith by the sign of baptism to wash away sin. He even drew the attention of  Herod who listened to his preaching. He lost his life for not ignoring the sinful relationship between Herod and his brother's wife. His holiness was heroic but no greater than that of the widow who contributed her all to the House of God.

The sinfulness that most of us are aware of in our lives is usually an offence against chastity. In the case of Kings and other celebrities it is a spectacular event. In our Church the almost daily reports of sinful clergy have been compounded by attempted cover-ups and the ignoring of victims. But there are many more of us who attempt to fail in secret to honour the Seventh Commandment and so are challenged not to cast the first stone. God knows even the most lowly sinner and welcomes his repentance.

In today's world the sinners seem to be always before us. We are told by many that we should not be "judgemental" but what else can we be in the face of the direct challenges hurled in the face of God by those who wish to promote sex as a recreational activity with the control of procreation and count conception as a mistake that can be corrected by killing the unborn child. 

All sin is offensive to the holiness our God gives us the freedom to choose and no matter our station in life it brings its own reward which is the abyss outside of the love of Father Son and Holy Spirit. A consciousness that is the pain of the eternal awareness of  loneliness that knows that it has rejected the Love that is always ready to receive the repentant sinner, spectacular or lowly.

Dear Lord let my prayers be heard and my sins forgiven It is only in holiness that we can remain free from sin. Let us all remember that it is to worship you that we have our beings and that your mother Mary and all the Saints in heaven are always there to help us in the daily battle for righteousness and avoidance of sin. 

 03/01/2022

The reading from John's gospel presents us with a unique moment in the history of our world. The last of the old testament prophets greets the Son, who is to complete the Covenant with the Jews, by recognising Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. "There is the "Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world" ". The baptizer continues to say that he did not know this himself but it had been revealed to him by God , the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and so we have the Trinity present in time touching the created world so that we to must see that it is good.

We have been born into this world to follow the Baptist in recognising the holiness of God and to be true to our baptisms in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit for it is Jesus who has carried away the guilt of our sins and enables us to approach the righteousness of God. There is nothing in Man's magnificent use of the created world that approaches the grandeur of the creation itself and there is nothing in it that will last.

We have to know that we are at odds with the worldly values that surround us. We have to be on guard that the commonplace of sin does not seduce us into complacency. Bodily comfort can become our be-all and end-all and without any obvious sin we join the throng on the primrose pathway. Our being has to be always directed to the Love of God and in this we are always guided by the Holy Name of Jesus.

Dear Lord let me become the devoted child that you have created me to be. Let not my body and mind be causes of sin to stain my soul and to ignore the pains borne by Jesus on Calvary . May Mary who cannot understand sin and hates its evil continue to bathe us in your compassion as she prays in love for the sinners on earth and Holy Souls in purgatory.

 02/02/2023

St John's letter continues to warn us of the dangers that are brought to us by false prophets. Jesus is the Anointed One of God and if this is denied we have become liars. I know that I have never denied anything that is revealed of God by the Church and Scripture and I have taken pains to understand this revelation

The reality of denial, however, is not only in thinking and speaking but is to be found in the depths of the conscience that warns and refuses to condone sinful actions. When I act in denial of  my own conscience, I sin and thus deny everything in my life that has been revealed of Father Son and Holy Spirit.

My conscience is not my own. It is another of God's creations that make up the unity of my being. It is the non-animal part of my humanity. It is the image and likeness of God's freedom given to all humans, it is the freedom to control not only the body but also the soul which can thus lead us into the presence of God.

There is no place for evil in a man fully ordered to good by an obedient conscience and although I fail to fulfill my own words each new beginning is filled with the hope that this time I will do well. 

Pope Benedict has now to face the Father. He was a man who worked diligently to encourage and bolster up millions by sharing his faith through his gift for writing and teaching. Now he will know the answer to a question that  has come frequently come into my mind when reading his and his Friend Balthasar's writings. "How is it that a Church blessed with such powerful and believing intellects should contain within it so many priests and prelates who are unable to devout themselves sincerely to  caring for the souls in their charge?"

Every human has to complete one task for himself. We have to ensure that our own souls are ready for the invitation to the wedding feast and we can only do this by our obedient acceptance of the Love poured out for us on Calvary.

Dear Lord may this day be a fulfilment of hope, a reward of faith and an epiphany of Love. Guard me and mine in the shadow of your wings. May Mary's prayers be felt in the hearts of  thy children here on earth  and for the Holy Souls may there be continued hope that their penance will do what our faith has taught us it will.

 01/01/2023

My purpose is to start each day by reading the Mass Readings for the day and accepting the reflections that they inspire. This is my "purpose" but on turning on the computer my mind gets captured by the trivia of the headlines and in spite of myself I start to reflect not on Mary's place in God's plan for mankind but on the salaries of footballers.

Jesus is the living blessing of our God on his creation, man. This is not easy for us to acknowledge and fully believe in the intensity of this truth.  It was not  well argued polemic that turned the hearts of deeply committed Jews to a belief that the oneness of God was a Trinity of coequal persons. St Paul although steeped in the teaching of the Old Testament had come to believe that "God sent his son, born of a woman and subject to the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law and to enable us to be adopted as sons.".

Jesus' life, death and Resurrection is the most important event in the History of the World and for many of the witnesses it was witnessed as the greatest of Blessings ever received by mankind. Moses had led them out of Egypt into a land of milk and honey but the Blessing of the Resurrection is righteous living in this world and a place in the presence of  Father, Son and Holy Spirit for a new mode of living without end which we call Heaven.

Today is a Church Solemnity for God's plan comes about through the only woman ever conceived without sin, full of grace, the body from which grew the body of God and so we give thankful praise Glory to God for  Immaculate Mary, Mother of God, "Theotokos".

Dear Lord let me this day the first of 2023, live without sin and in a positive prayerful being turned towards you. May Mary not be embarrassed by the exuberance of our praise of her for she knows that it is only the Lord our God who is to be worshipped, and help us  achieve the pure heart that is the perfect worship of You Our Father contained in her total submission to your will