19/11/2023

I cannot say that I felt glad when I saw the parable that is today's Gospel Reading. Parables such as the Good Samaritan, the Sowing of the Seed, The Foolish Virgins present and reinforce all that I have learnt about Jesus from his Life, Death and Resurrection.

I have always thought that God creates our souls equally able to live in the Providence that is our time on Earth. Kings are Kings and beggars are beggars but God Incarnate died and rose from death to bring God's grace equally to all human beings who humbly accept that they are sinners without pride in their own person. In another parable,"Thank God that I am not as other men" is the condemned "gratitude" of hypocrisy.

I cannot see the Hard Master as Our Father who throughout our lives stays close and brings himself to us in Sacraments and the unseen grace of the Holy Spirit. This is harder than any of the other hard sayings of Jesus who brings us to the Kingdom by his own acceptance,"pro nobis", of torment and death.

The "hardness" in this parable is not the punishment for failure but that there was no guidance from the "Master". Our God has revealed himself over centuries and so we know what we are to do with selves/souls in this world. We have to worship God and treat our neighbours as ourselves even as did the Son of the Father. We have to carry our own crosses in the footsteps of Our Lord and can ultimately be sure of a welcome by the Master, Father, Son and Holy Spirit who is the source of Joyful Love for all his "children" to share equally.

Dear Lord, You never have gone away and left us to our own devices. We have been shepherded by your prophets and your Son has guaranteed salvation for all who seek it with sincerity. There are only two Human beings who have received a soul greater than the rest of us, Jesus and Mary. The Church you founded was built around Jesus and Mary and they are still the heart of the spiritual community of believers that is still also there, but hidden, within the Institution.

 18/11/2023

The writer of Wisdom becomes lyrical as he recalls with joyful praise the deeds that God has done for the people of Israel who are pictured as lambs skipping with the delight that being alive brings to all creatures. He treats Exodus as a "new creation" but that won't happen until the End of Time when Jesus returns in Glory to Earth not as an infant but as the "powerful warrior" he is in the Resurrection; Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Kingdom, Power and Glory.

Jesus short parable of persistence winning against cruel adversity is told to emphasise how we can display great courage and perseverance when dealing with the problems of our earthly lives. 

Job is the Biblical example. The History of Man on Earth is made-up stories of real men and women, our ancestors, trekking hundreds of miles through hostile terrain to take possession of what they considered to be no man's property. The indigenous were not powerful enough to be considered as having property rights.

The Incarnate Word introduces this parable on an optimistic note; "Pray continually and do not lose Heart". Today the building of "St Peter's" is commemorated in the prayer of the Institutional Church. We cannot be seen by "The Son of Man" if we have no greater signs of "Faith on Earth" than the "built environment" which will in time crumble away. Our Faith has to be in the centre of our beings as we welcome God and pray "Our Father".

Dear Lord, let me not ignore your warnings and neglect to share my belief in your Love with my family and friends. Let my personal behaviour throughout this day be "Faith on Earth" The first Church on Earth was you and your Mother hidden away in Bethlehem and in Gaza. there were no buildings to "house" your Love. May Mary's prayers be united with all the saints and sinners created by you to look into our souls with the sharp sword of grace and use it cut away all the dross so that we can look back at you without shame. Let me become a "good and faithful servant".

 17/11/2023

I only have to drive about a mile from my house and I can see the towers of Lincoln Cathedral. The Norman conquerors of England soon left their mark on the new realm that they had taken by force of arms. Force of arms that had been approved by the Pope. The successors to St Peter had soon forgotten that Jesus had  emphasised that the material of this world and its political systems was not to be trusted for it would all pass away.

Part of Jesus' revelation to the first disciples had been "My Kingdom is not of this world". Many prelates over the centuries have challenged the immorality of earthly rulers but I have heard of none who challenged themselves to divest themselves of their place in the Kingdoms of this world that the Institution based in Rome had created for them out of the first community of witnesses to the Resurrection.

Ezekiel is appointed to ensure that Israel stays true to the Word of God. He will fail in his duty if he allows sin to prevail within his community. By all accounts, St Hugh who built my nearby Cathedral was a man of prayer but he was born into the "Feudal System". Today's owners of the magnificent building that is a landmark for miles around have even allowed it to be used as a filmset for blasphemy. 

All of us exist in this world at different times in God's Providence. God speaks to us as individual beings and has made it clear that we are not to be overcome by the wonders that we experience. 

St Hugh and his congregations were men/women of the Feudal Age. Their world was different than ours. Ezekiel lived and worshipped in the Post-Exilic Age of Israel. His world was very different than ours. Jesus lived in the first years of the Roman Empire.

The Kingdom he reveals to us all is the everlasting real world of our never changing Father, Son and Holy Spirit that was the same for Ezekiel, Hugh and now for me. God be praised.

Dear Lord, help me to atone for my sinful life. Look not to my words but to my heart and help me to purge the sins that I have welcomed in the past. May Mary, St Hugh and all the Saints by their prayers support all of us who are trying to do your Will by avoiding the sins of World, Flesh and Devil. Amen.

 16/11/2023

The personification of Wisdom continues in the first reading today. The writer cannot find enough adjectives to express his feelings about "her". I don't think that Jesus ever revealed our God to be anymore that Father Son and Holy Spirit as God is always greater than any possible thought. 

He does speak of Angels as created beings but of "emanations of God" he says nothing. Wisdom does not exist other than as a characteristic of our created souls using our freedom to seek out God's will for us and displaying our choice by our deeds.

The parables of Jesus are all taken from the daily lives of his listeners. We can all listen to the familiar stories and recognise the message that still challenges us. We all respond with our own hearts and minds for God knows us as the unique "being" that we all are. When I read the Bible it is as the "I" of my "being" responding to the ever-greater "I" that is letting me become aware of His will for mankind. 

The very first Heresies with which the Church Fathers found themselves very quickly confronted  have their foundations in the philosophy and religions that were flourishing all over the Middle-East at the time of Christ. It was to protect themselves from accusations of secretly removing the dead body of Our Lord from the tomb that the massive stone was placed in front to prevent that possibility. Many people in our world today believe that this is what happened on the Sabbath after Good Friday.

"The "Kingdom of God" is among you". Jesus was himself present when he spoke those words. "When two or three are gathered in my name there I am" is his promise to us. "This is my body" is the continuation of his Bodily presence for all time.

The reason that I pray is to be open to the Grace of the Kingdom that pours out over all creation from the five wounds opened in Love for us on Calvary.

Dear Lord, let me never separate myself from thee again. My whole being reaches out for your Grace let my prayers be united with those of Mary, All the saints and the Holy Souls in Purgatory  as we pray together for all sinners to listen to your call for us to know that forgiveness is at the heart of your Kingdom and can only be had by sincere asking for it.

 15/11/2023

Today the writer of Wisdom directs his words at the rich and powerful, those who have power in the kingdoms of this world. Today there are many more of them than he knew of in Alexandria in the last century before Jesus walked the Earth.

For him the rich and powerful were the Kings and Generals( Pompey, Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony were contempories) who controlled armies and had the power to take what they wanted from the weak and the poor. He tells them that they too have to live lives that are guided by the the revelations that God has made to the Chosen People. 

He warns them that their wealth, power and pride are as nothing in the eyes of God the Lord of All and God will judge them exactly as he will judge the weak and the poor. We are all responsible for our own actions, our deeds. Perceived subordinacy is the unacceptable excuse of Auschwitz.

In our times there is a much greater variety of "Rulers of this World". We who live in political units that claim to be "Democracies" have to pray that we will not be held responsible for the wickedness imposed on us by the agendas, guided by the Will of Satan, of our Political Classes.

 The functionaries of Mammon manipulate our need for "daily bread" and preach hedonism as the correct way to live out our lives until our "passing". I know in my heart that I have failed to stand up to the Devil, the World and the Flesh the triune enemies of the Holiness of our Triune Creator, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and of us his created image and likeness, but still have Hope, for our God is Merciful and Compassionate.

Dear Lord, you know that your Creation is now as far from your Will as it has ever been. You know that in these moments I try to be whom you created me to be. I am totally in your hands and can only pray for your mercy. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints bring Holy Wisdom into the minds of all sinners on Earth that we might change our ways, and Mercy to the Holy Souls who now know the stupidity of misusing their chance to be God's Children in the Glory of creation and are silenced by the greatness of God's loving Mercy.

 14/11/2023

No one can know the nature of God. Many have tried over the centuries. The Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament is not only the product of man's intellect as is Greek Philosophy, but has also the inspiration of God to guide it. 

In the first books of the Old Testament God is an immediate presence to the Chosen People. He is with them in the "Tent of meeting" and journey's with them to the Promised Land. His Glory is visible in the victories over the "nations" and especially in the Temple of Solomon. God's favour is revealed by the success of his chosen ones and dismal failure is the lot of the apostates.

The return to Jerusalem from Babylonian Exile is that of a changed Israel confined not to twelve but only two tribes. The Temple Sacrifices are the focus of their faith but Synagogues are centres of learning and the Rabbis, although not gifted with "prophecy", begin to develop out of their sacred scriptures ideas about the nature of God and man's relationship with him.

The first reading confirms Genesis and tells us that mankind is the image of God. We have an eternal being that is not God's but similar to God in that we have freedom to think, create and Love and we can become eternal. The Jews of Jesus' day were divided in their opinions about Souls and also about life after death.

The Baptist is the immediate precursor to Jesus but some of his listeners and disciples would have been aware of this Wisdom text composed only 50 years before the birth of Jesus and thus more ready than others for the teaching of Jesus. Martha, for example, already believed in the General Resurrection.

Forests have been devastated to produce the paper that has been used to write about Jesus. Intellectual satisfaction can soon become the object of what starts out as my sincere effort to understand "God and me" which is the most important relationship of our time on Earth. Today Jesus assures us we free beings have to recognise that we are all slaves of God and by faithfully sub-serving our own will to Father, Son and Holy Spirit we can become the virtuous beloved and loving throughout Eternity.

Dear Lord, may I be ever aware that you keep me in your Love. May I not be envious or jealous. May I accept your Will for me and let me place all my trust in you. May Mary and all the saints continue praying in support of all living in their bodies and of the  Holy Souls in Purgatory. Let me never become satisfied in myself and remain truly aware that the only virtue that I have is the gift of the Crucified Jesus.

 13/11/2023

This week's Collect prays for peace of mind and body so that we can open our hearts and minds to the things that are God's.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit is beyond our comprehension. IAMIAM revealed himself unlimitedly vast each day recorded in the Old Testament. The Incarnation reveals him as Jesus our friend and teacher to be known just as we know each other. He is the one who forgives his brothers and sisters more than seven times a day. With his Love in his heart we are to keep ourselves from sin and to reprove others.

I know that even as I type this prayer I am being assailed by thoughts and probings that thanks to the Grace of God and the support of Our Lady and all the saints I can avoid. God protect me from all obstacles, stumbling blocks that I can continue to find and manufacture in my daily life.

Jesus accuses no one. The "roaring lion that prowls about seeking to devour" can easily find its prey in me when my being loses the simplicity of heart that is the tiny of tiniest beings seeking to live in the light of God. We all are not a vast forest of Faith but we are the little "mustard seeds" that can be nurtured by the unending love of our Father. All we have to do is ask.

Dear Lord, you know the weakness that is the reality of my being. You do everything to help me to strengthen my hourly resolve. I know that you have saved us all and for me you have have broken the drunkenness that marred all my best intentions. I have indeed everything to be thankful for and pray that with the help of Mary and the Saints I can continue this day to be a simple one in the simplicity that is only truly known in your immeasurable Love.