10/12/2023

I want to begin each day in the presence of the Lord. I want acknowledge that Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the creator of all that I am aware of and that he has confirmed his Almighty Being, the Evergreater One, throughout his Providence which becomes our History and present moment as a result of the billions of individual free choices made by men and women during their lifetimes.

God's being is first made known through the prophets of the Old Testament. They were touched by God to proclaim his Glory. We expect prophets to forecast future events and expect them to interpret "fate", but we cannot know the "History" of the future for it is what has been already done and is being done now that determines tomorrow. The future is known by God but is not planned.

Isaiah is overwhelmed by God and expresses this in an exuberance of words and images. St Peter, whom we know from the Gospels is not one for deliberating before words and reactions, writes to the Church which Jesus built on him, of patience. 

The earliest Christians expected Jesus to return in their lifetimes. Peter has learned from his mistakes that words that come from God are not about today and tomorrow but are without time, as is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Mark who had learnt from the first disciples writes that Isaiah, inspired by God, is the first to know that the "Good News" is coming to the world. He and the earliest Church, being Jews, know that Jesus is the unimaginable Son of God whom they know as IAMIAM and search for hints of him in all the Scriptural texts that are familiar from Sabbaths spent in the Temple or Synagogues.

If we open our hearts and minds to God by accepting his grace and avoiding sin we can begin to pray knowing that we are being carried by the Good Shepherd like the newborn lambs and resting ewes into the being that is beyond time and space; the loving kindness that is the perfect peace of Heaven.

Dear Lord, let me continue in prayer this day; let me give thanks for all your blessings. Let my will always be aligned with yours and let the human race be lead by the perfection of your mother into the place that you have prepared for all men of good will. Amen

 09/12/2023

The Lord our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit never leaves us to suffer alone in his providence . He is always with us ready to receive our prayers and answer when we are living according to his will. This has always been the message of the prophets, the message that has been completed in the Resurrection.

Today Isaiah has been inspired to proclaim that his people who have been just surviving because God has turned away from them will no longer have to endure the  prison diet of "bread and water" but they and all creation will again become fruitful and multiply.

Isaiah's images are captivating. "Sunlight will be seven times brighter-like seven days in one-on the day the Lord dresses the wounds of his people and heals the bruises his blows have left." The one who is to come, the Teacher will show us the way and our reward will be rich harvests and fattened cattle.

As with most of the Old Testament IAMIAM is seen as the provider and punisher in this world. The everlasting life of the Spirit can be found only in diligent interpretation supported by hindsight. Jesus, however, from the beginning is focused  on our spiritual lives and today gives the first mission to the twelve he has chosen.

Matthew remembers that Jesus told and authorised them to go to the lost sheep of Israel and do for them what IAMIAM had always done for his chosen people "Cure the sick,raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out devils". In other words "Heal the bruises his blows had left".

Jesus however also wants them to proclaim the "Good News that the kingdom of heaven is at hand" a mysterious message which will only be explained by his death and Resurrection. Jesus does not teach only by word of mouth but mainly by his deeds on earth. 

To follow him with integrity,we have to do the same. Not by "pagan babbling",  "Lord, Lord"! as we were told yesterday but, by picking up our personal crosses to follow his way through the streets of Jerusalem to the ignominy of public execution in the company of two thieves.

Dear Lord, how is it possible for me to return the Love which flowed out from you on Calvary. First my heart and then my mind is open to receive your grace but Milk and honey are far easier to understand than soul and righteousness.  Mary and all the saints are the perfect reflections of your Glory. May they seek from you the grace of forgiveness for all sinners on earth and for the Holy Souls who are safe but not yet scoured enough to see you face to face.

 

 08/12/2023

Today the Church contemplates Immaculate Mary, the mother of God. She is a human born of a human woman and  conceived by a human father. That is as far as it goes for her sameness with us because the great difference between us and her is that she is the direct spiritual daughter of Adam and Eve for sin has never touched her being, body or soul.

Mary is the sinless daughter of Adam and Eve and is the one to crush the power of evil that has corrupted us all since "The Fall". She is the perfect body out of which Father, Son and Holy Spirit will, taking on the biological rules, which he created, become embryo, baby, infant, adolescent, adult and on the cross, saviour of the world.

St Paul understands that God has always known everything. He seems to say that everything is predetermined and thus controls us. God, however does does not straitjacket our lives by his programming but has given to each human being the freedom for each of us to choose how to react to our personal experience of his Providence. God is always greater than the limits of our imagination.

Adam and Eve messed up our relationship with God by making the wrong choice, but Mary's acceptance of God's word assures us that we can all align ourselves with the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit  and that she can become Theotokos. Thanks be to God.

Dear Lord, how can the tininess that is me look on the immensity that is you? I do know that you see me and know me better than myself. I do know that I don't want to bring any guilt with me to your judgement seat. My hope is Mary who has accepted her role in your Mercy and never made any wrong decision. May Mary from whose sinless body stems the humanity of you Our Saviour continue to lead the heavenly host in the plea for forgiveness which can be ours if we place all our trust in you.

 07/12/2023

St Ambrose whose feast day is celebrated today lead an extremely complicated public life as an Imperial official in  the complexity of the rapidly disintegrating Roman Empire. His achievements were certainly of this world. He was not himself personally a Christian when acclaimed Bishop of Milan and even had to be baptised before he took up his new role.

Today  when we look at many of the prelates who rule our Church today we are faced with the paradoxically opposite. They have all been, by the Providence of God, born Christians into a world which is also highly complex but now only vaguely aware of Jesus, his life death and resurrection. The Bishops have all professed belief in the teachings of Jesus but they have all inherited and  accepted the trappings and mentality of Roman Governors transformed into modern  business executives.

It seems that after his acceptance of the role of Christian Bishop, Ambrose gave up his wealth and lived an ascetic life, cared for the poor and did much to fight the heresies that were dividing the Church. The previous incumbent of his Milan seat had been an Arian.

My own impression nowadays is that Bishops have always been as they are today entwined within worldly "signs of the times" and are so concerned about not offending the sinners who rule our world built on Mammon and Hedonism that they have lost touch with the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Isaiah's hymn of praise is focussed on the Glory of God. The Psalm lifts our souls to behold the goodness of our creator. Oh that my mind could retain not only the words  "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his love hath no end" but also the tranquility of being that gives rise to them.

Jesus is speaking to all of us past present and to come. He tells us that "Lord, Lord" without the foundations of  sincerity, humility and love is "zilch". There is not one "role" or duty in this life more important than knowing the presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and acting accordingly. Popes, priests and prelates even saintly ones also only have one soul and as with all of us they need to be constantly aware that without firm foundations the house built on sand fell "and what a fall it had!"

Dear Lord let me continue to live in your love protected by grace which you offer freely to all men, great and small. Let me continue this day without sin and let me accept all that happens to me secure in that I am trying to live with my will aligned to yours. May Mary lead all the saints in  prayer, a reflection of your Glory, that we sinners on earth together with the Holy Souls may come to know in the depths of our beings that we can be forgiven for the evils we are letting loose in the world by our sins. Amen

 06/12/2023

Today Jesus has gone into the hills and crowds of people have followed him. He is one with us in his physical being and he himself knows that after three days our bodies are crying out for food. Water is not mentioned. Jesus has already made a huge impression on all those who have seen him and listened to his teaching and so they have not separated from him.

What is it about this preacher from Nazareth that captivates so many people who see and hear him.? As Jews they are familiar with the Scriptures. The Temple again dominates life in Jerusalem and is always crowded with believers particularly at the times of festivals. The Jews know IAMIAM. Nowhere in the world other than Palestine is there a nation devoted to knowing and serving one God who has revealed himself to them his Chosen People.

The Jews of the first century are not at all content in their political situation. They are now dominated by foreigners. Herod and Rome. Their history is one in which they are linked to God. They have a covenant and so those who agitate or are deemed to be agitating against these rulers and in support of the covenant can always find an audience.

Jesus' presence, words and deeds radiate  power and those who are following him can only relate to power that comes from God but is made visible in their great Kings. Even Jesus' closest disciples cannot get their heads round a "Kingdom of Heaven", not of this world.

The wonders that are Jesus' deeds in today's Gospel are all experienced as further proof that the one they surround in the hills of Galilee is indeed the one hinted at in their scriptures, the Messiah who will save their nation and become ruler of all the world.

Jesus is, however, the one who reveals the infinite capacity for love that is his being in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. His life, death and resurrection is not speaking to the "nations" but to  each individual person that he has created us to be in his Love and to use our share in his Love with every other being in his creation.

Killing other people is not a part of God's Providence. Each individual has to follow the way as did the first disciples and achieve for himself the place in the Kingdom that God has prepared for him. Throwing people to the beasts in the circus, beheading and burning at the stake, invading other nations have nothing that is holy about them. They are all doing the work of the devil.

We can only appreciate the horror of sin by keeping in mind that to erase its effect Father, Son and Holy Spirit had to become human and become the final and everlasting Sacrifice. These are not just words but are the Salvation of mankind.

Dear Lord, you know how I have begun this day. Let me not ignore your grace and continue to pray aware of the depths of my own needs. May Mary and all the saints plead for the grace that is needed by every individual in our world and in Purgatory to bring us into the merciful forgiveness of the outstretched arms of the crucified Jesus on Calvary.

 05/12'2023

The first reading for today's mass is a description of the world without sin. Even in the animal kingdom all survive without harming one another. Isaiah is filled with the Holy Spirit  and glorifies what living on God's Holy Mountain would be like for all creatures even the snakes.

Of  course, animals cannot sin and live soulless lives in the perfect innocence that is purely  instinct and genetic. They live in the code that is there at the moment of creation by our all powerful God.

The incarnation of God whose birth we are now awaiting has in complete humility emptied himself of the ever-greater power that is his being to assume the flesh that is the same "printed circuit" as Isaiah's lion and lamb.

Jesus is so much more than man that we cannot come close to imagining his greatness. In his perfection on Earth he is human but human in the way we all can be only when we attain the perfect "communion" with our Father. Jesus and the Father with the Holy Spirit is this "perfect communion"  beyond our grasp and yet he reaches out to us by becoming the human mammal that he creates to populate the world with beings that are in his image and likeness.

Human beings are limited by the flesh that is their body but unlimited in the freedom that is given to our souls. We all are able to understand the revealed will of the Father and follow the Resurrected Son who calls us all by name for the Holy Spirit surrounds us all.Thus we can all  give up the pride in self  that besets us and like Isaiah we can pray. We can all give praise for our world and our being and we can all respond to the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit by becoming the "mere children" to whom God chooses to reveal himself.

Dear Lord, you looked on creation and saw that it was good. May I too grow to be more than just ashamed of the the way I have not responded at all times to your will and fallen by the wayside to sin without care. May this day be lived in holiness and may your Mother with all the "good" of your humanity continue to guard us against the wickedness and snares of the devil, the overwhelming pleasures of the flesh and the stultifying cares of this world. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus, come!

 04/12/2023

We have to think hard about the reading from Isaiah that is chosen for this first Monday in Advent. If we are to find predictions about the Messiah in his prayer we have to bear in mind that today's passage is more wishful thinking than it is an accurate prediction of what the Lord will provide for us, the many generations of Isaiah's future listeners.

Not one of the generations that have followed the life and death of this prophet has been able to say "Come, let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord" in the promised land. The History of Palestine has continued to be dominated by warfare as it is at this moment .

The Old Testament images of peace and holiness are always accompanied by reminders of warfare and the suffering of servants. We the slaves of God have always failed in bringing peace to the World. We all feel that it is an impossible task. 

So impossible that for more than a thousand years the leaders of our Church acted as rulers of kingdoms located here on earth only for us to be left to defend the "widows mite" being used to shore up the crumbling walls of magnificent palaces and  buildings rather than proclaim the truth of the "Resurrection".

Our Saviour did not ask for Legions of Angels to defend him on the day of battle that began in Gethsemane and was seemingly ended by "Eli, Eli Lama Sabachthani". 

In today's gospel, military power acknowledges the superiority of Jesus and explains why this is so. Has there ever been a war leader who has ever done this? St Leo the Great is credited with stopping Atilla from sacking Rome but he did so as the ruler of Rome not as a priest guarding the sacraments.

 It has taken many centuries for our Church to acknowledge the words of Jesus, uttered in public at his trial to that representative of Political/Military power, the one who held his life in his hands, but its primary purpose is still confused by the centuries of worldly power and unchristian living. We who are awaiting the birth of the Son of God are trying to prepare ourselves to celebrate in Holiness the arrival of the baby who is to grow in human time to be king of the eternal kingdom that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This Kingdom has never been found on Earth.

Dear Lord, please help me to find you in prayer. Let me remain in your Love with the integrity to believe what I say and to align myself with your will . Inspire all the fighters engaged in war to deny their commanders and refuse to continue killing. Each individual one of us among our billions can choose to do your will and you continue to give us the grace to do so. May your mother continue to support all the children you passed on to her and may we and the souls of the faithful departed find forgiveness for our sins. Come Lord, Jesus, Come!