26/01/2024

St Mark assures us that Jesus explained the meaning of his parables to his closest followers which must have included women disciples who are not mentioned in the Gospels except on Calvary. They are the ones who did not hide their heads in shame but supported Jesus and his mother to the bitter end.

When Jesus cured Peter's mother she got off her sick bed and began to minister to them. Martha was angered by her sister when Mary sat listening to the words of the Lord rather than joining the other women in the kitchen. The miracle at Cana was performed at the request of his mother to solve a domestic crisis.

The attitudes of the Apostles towards women are those of their times but modified by the commandments which have to apply equally to all our neighbours, regardless of gender. St Paul has a pretty bad reputation in "feminist" circles but he addresses more women by name than any of the Evangelists.

St Timothy's grandmother is known by name to all who read or listen to the New Testament. Lois who lived 2000 years ago would have been totally speechless if anyone had told her that her name would be known to millions, when she was alive.

Dear Lord we are equally known to you. Men and women. You know us body and soul. You have by your incarnation shown to us that there is nothing inherently wicked in our bodies. Our  Original Sin is in our disobedient will which is a power of our souls. Our will creates the evil which you have given us the power to combat by opening our hearts to the grace of Father Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus on earth is not only our example he is also the Mystical Body in which can begin to live in this world as we will live in heaven. May Mary lead all the Saints, Titus, Timothy and Eunice and her mother, Lois in the prayer that bring forgiveness to sinners on earth and those suffering just punishment in Purgatory.

 25/01/2024

St Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus is among  the most important events in world history. In Jerusalem, he had not only guarded the clothes of those who had stoned St Stephen but had also taken an active part in harrying those who having seen the Risen Lord, had started to follow his way and preach his teaching.

St Paul was a fervent student of the Law. He had studied under Gamliel and his fellow students were the Rabbis who would be the foundation of the Judaism that paralleled the growth of Christianity after the destruction of the Temple.

Our God guides our minds and hearts if we open our selves to him. St Paul was more than a mind closed to the Resurrection he was an active denier who knew that IAMIAM was the only God and that Peter and the other Galileans were a blasphemous, ignorant riffraff. 

In 20 or so years after his conversion he was able to make his own these Father, Son and Holy Spirit inspired words of unknown authorship about Jesus.

       Who, though he was in the form of God,

     Did not regard being equal with God

     Something to be grasped after.

But he emptied himself

Taking on the form of a slave,

And coming in the likeness of humans.

And being found in appearance as a human

He humbled himself

Becoming obedient unto death— even death on a cross.

Therefore God highly exalted him

And bestowed on him the name

That is above every name,

That at the name of Jesus

Every knee should bow

Of those in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth.

And every tongue should confess

That Jesus Christ is Lord

To the glory of God the Father.

Dear Lord, help me to live each day as aware of you as was St Paul. Let me contain in my heart the true feelings of the first Christians. Your Chosen People have suffered much throughout history and continue to do much harm. The only  nation/community on earth that can contain your truth, mercy and glory by doing your will is the Mystical Body that has you as its head and heart and is composed of Mary and all the Saints. We can all choose only as an individual person to become part of that Body which is the Kingdom not of this world, the place which you have prepared for each one of us who is ready to pick up his cross and follow you.

 24/01/2023

Those who are prolonging the slaughter today in Gaza are the descendants of the people to whom God makes the promises recorded in the Book of Samuel from which is taken our first reading for today's mass. I can only remain speechless.

People are being killed because another human takes aim at their bodies and pulls the trigger of a firearm with the only intention of doing them harm.

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all your might and all your strength and your neighbour as yourself."

We cannot take anything in Scripture except as part of the totality which is the complete Biblical Revelation. Today Mark reveals a saying of Jesus made in private to the Apostles.

"The secret of the kingdom of God is given to you, but to them who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may see and see again, but not perceive; may hear and hear again, but not understand; otherwise they might be converted and forgiven."

The immediate implications of this saying are unthinkable and have their immediate contradiction in "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

Dear Lord, you know that I am not challenging your Word in anyway. Are you permitting the slaughter in Gaza. Have your Chosen People gone entirely over to Satan? Does "otherwise they might be converted and forgiven" really mean that some of us are excluded from Your Mercy. Our lives only have meaning and value in that we can love, know and serve. Please open my senses that I might see, hear and believe. May the prayers of Mary and all the saints bring to all your people on earth a true sight of the magnitude of your Mercy for all of us who humbly seek forgiveness and your Loving Kindness for you are Our Father and our souls the little children whom we must let come unto thee.

 23/01/2024

We can only know God in this world in the human time that is given to us. Human time is the Providence of God who breathes the spiritual life of eternity into us at the moment of our conception. Our bodies are controlled by the rules, the instincts of nature but we are not confined to a predetermined path through life. Our souls have been given the freedom to choose for ourselves how to live our bodily lives in this world.

In today's Gospel Jesus' family on earth have come to see what they have heard about, "the blind see, the lame walk, the poor have the Gospel preached to them" and Jesus chooses this moment to proclaim what is his Mystical Body on earth. He was probably in Capernaum but  certainly in Galilee where there lived many Gentiles. 

He is told that those with whom he had shared the first years of his human life are trying to join the crowds that surround him.The Son of God announces that his true family does not come from the ties of nature but from the free choices made by our souls to do the revealed will of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This is not a refusal to see his Mother and her relatives but a clarification for all time that each one of us has to know and conform to the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that is the Revelation of the Glory and Righteousness of "Our Father who art in Heaven". Then we can join him in the Mystical Body that is His Church, struggling on Earth, penitent in Purgatory and expectantly rejoicing in the timeless Glory that precedes the Second Coming.

Dear Lord, the prayers of my being are known to you. You know that I am truly devoted to your name and hope for only that which is your righteousness in my being. You have taught me by your life, death and resurrection that I am not worthless and that it is possible to become part of your Mystical Body as is Mary and all the saints. Let my prayers be joined to theirs as we ceaselessly proclaim your Glory and thank you for your Grace. Amen

 22/01/2024

Sometimes the mass readings of the day shout out to me. At other times they seem to be repetitiously the same. This is has got to be a fault in me for no-none can have too much of the Lord. I know that even saints who had been overcome by the Lord sometimes had faced "dryness" in their prayer-life on earth.

I know that there is a lot that I can do by remembering that all that has ever been good in my life has happened when I have truly opened my heart and soul to the Loving Mercy that never ceases to flow from Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

In today's Gospel Jesus warns that although he is forgiveness for all people the sin against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. This is a fearful warning as he does not detail what this sin can be. 

Our Loving Saviour is not trying to catch us out and it is easy for us to provide examples of what could be unforgivable in the history of the World even before the Crucifixion. We all know that " sins", especially "mine", can be forgiven but we are not so sure about the sins of others.

In our lifetimes as we try to avoid sin by never saying "no" to God we can never attain the perfection that was Jesus' life on earth. I have many times been knocked down by choosing sin rather than God but I have never been convinced by Satan that pleasures of the flesh and earthly reward should have been my goal in life.

Dear Lord , I thank you for your grace which although confused by my self, my ego, my being, I can hang onto and know that I can be saved by your Mercy. I have to know that I am not alone and that even Judas was another brother for whose sins you accepted the torments of Calvary. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints who know you as you are without beginning and end, glorious and mighty, bring your mercy to us, sinners on Earth and those atoning in Purgatory and may the unforgivable sin never be committed. Amen

 21/01/2024

If we try to atone for sinful behaviour God is always ready to help us. The Ninevites listened and accepted the warning given through Jonah. Our God sustains all that we are and know. Not only does he know us as the "Evergreater" creator but also he has accepted and shared our lives as a human son. Jesus lives and dies on Earth just as we do but sinlessly although subject to the same temptations as we are.

St Paul lives to preach and teach by word and example. Today he warns that life is short. For all of us rich and poor, ignorant or learned the most insistent of bodily urges comes from sex. We have to curb the pleasure principal of our bodies. We should try to be detached from the sorrows and equally the joys of everyday life. The urge to own things should be curbed. St Paul teaches that "retail therapy"is not a harmless pastime. Those of us who have good jobs or inherited leadership roles in our world should not become so engrossed in the things that belong to this world that they become oblivious to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We have all been chosen by God to live holy lives. Some have had a special calling to be guardians of the truth preached and shown by Jesus to be the "way". We are the Body of Christ on Earth, the Church. The Church as an Institution in the World has always had to avoid becoming engrossed in the World. We have not always succeeded but God is merciful and listens equally to the pleadings of sinners and the just alike, Nineveh and Jonah.

Dear Lord, I pray that you let me heed the warnings of Jonah, and St Paul and remember that the Spirit of Truth is the private possession of no man or institution. May the Holy Spirit open up the hearts and minds of all sinners so that the "sheep" can have confidence in their "pastors" and their "pastors" complete their holy missions without losing any of the souls that you have entrusted to them. May the prayers of Mary and all the saints continue to bring your Mercy to us sinners on earth and to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

 20/01/2024

The readings designated for today's mass do not have the continuity that they seem to have on some days. The news of Saul's defeat does not bring any joy to David who is a reluctant rebel to begin with.

He is deeply affected by the death of Saul but that of Jonathan shakes him in the very core of his being. He loved Saul but Jonathan was more to him than life itself. This love of David for Jonathan has been manipulated by many to justify their own homosexuality as has the love Jesus had for John, the beloved disciple and for Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead.

We all can with very little effort deny the sinfulness of our own behaviour but in my lifetime I have seen rise up organised "communities" whose sole aim is to deny God and to deny him by pride in sinning and denial of his rights "my body my choice". Jesus welcomed sinners but had them confront their own sin. Jesus is black and white and outside the wedding feast there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The one line gospel sheds no light on who were Jesus' relatives. James "the brother of the Lord" is any male relative brought up in the same household and he had already become a disciple. In that extended family where Jesus spent his childhood both Mary and Joseph were aware that in Jesus God was acting in the world so they would not have been part of the group of "relatives".

In another Gospel Jesus tells us that his family is those who listen to him and believe. He thus  confirms that we  all  have the potential to become his adopted brothers and sisters but we have to choose for ourselves.

Dear Lord, you are the Father of all mankind . Only you can totally know each one of us. In the Incarnation you took a place within the brotherhood of man and became "Our Father" and share with us "Love" that is the Holy Spirit. We are all  in truth relatives of Jesus and share in the Knowledge of Mary and Joseph that you are the perfection of God incarnated into Jesus our brother in this life, the Glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the eternal moment that we have been created to share. Let us all become aware that sin is any decision to ignore God's call to holiness and that he has enabled us all to avoid sin. Forgiveness and Mercy flow unceasingly but will not overwhelm us if we don't ask and cooperate as did Mary and all the Saints.