19/03/2024

St Paul today helps us to pray by differentiating between law and faith. He seems to be following Jesus by saying that the following of the Law, as St Paul himself had been trained so to do, without Faith is as nothing. It was the faith of Abraham that became his righteousness. It is the faith of St. Paul and the Apostles that enables them to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and we are to respond with personal faith to each revelation that comes from God.

Jesus' beloved guardian, St Joseph, was a man who provided for his family as a skilled artisan and although a Jew aware of IAM IAM and a follower of the Law it is faith that brings him to  righteousness. 

Joseph instantly accepts the message of the dream and instead of doing what any of his contemporaries would have done he accepts the angelic message and immediately becomes the Head of the Holy Family and willingly accepts the role he has to play in the historical reality that is the Salvation of all mankind.

We can only know the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit from what is revealed to us. God's trust in his chosen people had failed and an immense supernatural intervention was needed to bring about the changes  for creation to again become "Good".

The Chosen People had failed to live up to the promises of the Law of Moses. Mankind could not save itself so the Love that is the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and the only Begotten Son was conceived to live under the guardianship of Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth in Galilee of the Nations.

We do not need "faith" to accept historical truths. Jesus was born, died and was resurrected. We do need "faith" to apply ourselves to his teaching. He said during his trial, "My Kingdom is not of this World". 

Our Church has never acted as if it had faith in those words and we seem to be in the same situation as were the "Scribes and Pharisees" of his days on earth. I will not continue with that line of thought as my faith has to be based on "Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe." and "in every word that comes from the mouth of God".

Dear Lord, help my faith to become the law of my being so that I can honestly turn my self always to You and thus avoid the sins that have hurt and offended your  infinite goodness. Help me to understand the promptings of Holy Spirit and to welcome them with thankful joy. We, You, Our Lady, St Joseph and all the saints are all part of your Mystical Body and can thus circulate your loving mercy throughout all creation and even within the less than Holy Institution that your foundation has become. You know that I am a weak being who would love to be able to have faith in the Church but the shell of Mammon is far too thick for me to be able to penetrate. May the honest clergy become brave enough to condemn the corruptions that they have become part of and thus there will be a renewal as there was when you walked the Earth. Amen. Come Lord Jesus Come!

 18/03/2024

I didn't write anything yesterday. I have been affected by a flare up of my lung condition which started out as "Emphysema" but has had its name changed to "COPD". I have to be thankful that I am usually able to complete these daily meditations which I undertake for my own benefit as I feel that I can no longer benefit from the Institution which Jesus founded on Peter to be the guardian of his presence on Earth in the Sacraments. God knows that I am not being arrogant but I am a very disappointed child of the Church so I am trying to become a "spiritual person" as defined by St Paul and thus become able to avoid the things of this world and conform to the will of God.

Yesterday Jesus' resuscitation of the corrupted corpse of Lazarus was done in full public view of a crowd of his followers and opponents and is such an overwhelming event that all are stunned into silence. Lazarus continued to live his life to a full span and his tomb is purported to be in Larnaca in Cyprus.

Jesus' resurrection was only witnessed by Father Son and Holy Spirit it was a private moment in the inner life of the Trinity. It is a timeless spiritual event in created time. We cannot come to understand this by our own efforts but with God's aid we can know it as we can know the Incarnation itself. All the Gospels tell us that those to whom the Resurrection revealed himself did not at first recognise Jesus who vanished from their sight as they did so. His body is not the same material as it always was but his wounds, the source of all grace are still visible.

Today's story of Daniel is the world's first detective story and contains all the elements that can still enthrall us. Rank and power are no guarantors of honesty and virtue. Joanna is protected by God working through the honest righteousness of his prophet Daniel.

Jesus goes one step further. Daniel's message is that we should not "bear false witness" but Jesus says to us that we should never condemn the sins of others if we do not confess our own. The message from Father, Son and Holy Spirit is that the Love that is God does not want to condemn any one of us but we have to freely live out our lives obedient to the will of God and by sinning no more we will receive the Infinite Gift won for us by the "Five wounds of Christ".

Dear Lord, you know I am happy to have been able to make this meditation today. May my resolve to sin no more be strengthened by your grace that directs my path on the way towards you. May my soul be encouraged by the Prayers of Mary and all the Saints that the spiritual Body of Christ still to be found even in the worldly institution your Church became very soon after she should have become solely dependant on your Holy Spirit may be increased by all on Earth becoming aware of you and avoiding the sin that overwhelms so many of us,  brothers and sisters on earth . May our prayers too never forget the needs of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Amen

 16/03/2024

Today the Pharisees, who confronted Our Lord as soon as it became apparent from the miracles he had performed; the public discussions that always showed him to be as learned as they were; fearlessness with which he "blasphemed" ( "Your sins are forgiven" "My father") and now the clamouring of the people, who were becoming sure that Jesus was something more than a wandering Rabbi, in the Temple, have to do something as they know now that the "holiness of the Law" was being seriously challenged.

We know that Jesus did not challenge the Law revealed to Moses. He only opened our eyes to the weakness of  his contemporaries' and their forefathers' interpretation of it. They knew the scriptures and had been happy to devote their time on Earth to the meticulous pursuit of "Righteousness"  and to instruct and control the "rabble" who are murmuring against them and are who are, in any case, "damned".

Nicodemus had learned from his personal meeting that Jesus was someone greater than he had ever encountered and had begun to look on him with the eyes of Faith. He cautions against rash action, but the other priests and scribes in their impotent frustration are beginning to attack the person of the man for they cannot counter his growing influence in any other way.

Most of us are prejudiced in some way. First of all we love our own families and want to do good for them. In the world this natural favouring is called "nepotism" and often condemned but never eradicated. We have all come to demand laws to protect us so that the wealth which we cannot take with us is retained according to our wishes. Today if they want to shut out a fair comment about politics our opponents sooner or later try to silence us with cries of "Anti- Feminism", "Anti-Semitism", "Racism".

For the Pharisees the one sure way of winning approval for their opinion was to shout "Blasphemy" and prove it out of the mouth of the one they had accused. The beginning of this process directed against Jesus is remembered by John in this morning's Gospel.

Dear Lord, You know that I see most of the Orders of Clergy active today as lacking in some way. You too advised your followers to listen to the words of the Pharisees but avoid following their deeds. You know that the start of this day has been based on the scriptures chosen by the Institutional Church and that I have been moved by them to seek a sincere understanding of what you faced there in Palestine 2000 years ago. You were a Galilean and of the House of David but your message and your grace is for all mankind and for the creation that we are  the apex. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are only Love without the slightest wish for harm to anyone. We form a body with Mary, Theotokos,  with you as our head and we can pray that for ourselves and each other that all our members living and dead remain within your Love. Amen.

 15/03/2024

When Jesus was alive on Earth he was in his physical being exactly as we all are. He was responsible for his own deeds and his body was governed by the same laws of science as is ours. He knew, as do we all, that it is "what comes out of us that defiles" not what we eat. He was a mammal and born of woman.

Jesus also is one being with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit but had emptied himself to become a man, the only perfect sacrifice that could atone for all the sins of mankind. Jesus warns us that our worldly conduct will be judged and that we have to be always conscious that each moment could be our last. He is human but he knew "the hour" that he would accomplish his mission.

God has trusted all of us to live in his creation. He has trusted each one of us to grasp the Love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that is manifest in creation and unconfinedly choose to live sinless, holy lives. God calls us all to be sinless and says to each of us "be not afraid for I AM with you always even to the end of time".

When Jesus was alive on Earth he was different in one way only, for he knew "when", "where", "why" and "how" he was to end his human life on this Earth. Our Father in heaven has chosen for us the "when" and "where" we are to live out our lives but trusts us to accept his revelation of the "why" and thus choose to confine the "how" to that revelation. We do not know "the hour" we will be called so need to be as vigilant as the "wise bridesmaids" and always ready to be judged, ready to stand before the Lord, Our God.

Dear Lord, help me to understand that the "wisdom" that is not aware of you and not aimed at doing your will is as foolish as the bridesmaids who slept while waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. Help me to stay awake and not become unworthy of the trust you have in mankind. You trust us to be able to use the Grace that you poured out on Calvary so that at the end, my personal hour, I will be ready for your Mercy. May my prayers be joined with those of Mary and all the saints in beseeching pardon for all sinners still living on Earth and awaiting Mercy in Purgatory. Amen

 14/03/2024

In my own life I have known what it is to act in opposition to what I have recognised and accepted about God. I have, however, never been able to accept that there is anything that can take the place of God. I thank God that I have never been fully captured by any "Golden Calf". 

This could be because I am not gifted enough to become something great in this world and am in human terms a nonentity who turns to God because of  my weakness. I also cannot accept that picture of myself for I know that Our Saviour accepted Crucifixion to save me from my sins. That thought alone makes us all pretty wonderful and there is nothing golden or of any material that can be greater than the wood of the cross.

Moses is warned by God that the people he has led out of Egypt have denied IAMIAM and created a metal "god" to worship. This could have happened because they "had never seen his shape and never heard his voice". They were living in the material world which they could see and believe. IAMIAM always speaks out of his being which we never see but is something like the interior "I" that we all are which is a living spirit that is "seen" only by God who knows and speaks directly to every individual he has ever created.

St John remembers Jesus facing up to the religious leaders of his day. Over the centuries the priests and scribes have turned the revelation of God to Moses into a commodity which they control by heaping ritual observance upon ritual observance. Jesus' preaching has to be counteracted for the people are becoming excited about this new prophet who is continuing that which John had started.

Jesus speaks directly to the believing Jews. You are wrong he tells them and you are kidding yourselves that your external showcase religion is of God. You have to know that you have no belief except in the "Golden Calf" that has now become "The Law". I the Son of God am telling you this for your own good. You have to stop your never ending cycle of Jews approving of each other. You have to break out of the cul-de-sac in which you have lost yourselves and accept the warnings that the Son is bringing from the Father.

That warning is still brought to the whole world and salvation is for everyone who opens his heart to the words of God. The Jews failed to know, love and serve and became overcome by their own beings. Jesus' foundation on St Peter very soon became a worldly institution wielding power and creating wealth and focussed as it was as a worldly institution soon became as corruptible as all the other works of man.

Today, I can bow my head, praying that what fills my being as I use this keyboard is the Love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and that I am open to the Mercy that shows me the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen

 13/03/2024

God has always loved his creation for it has its being out of the Love and Joy that is the very substance of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our Father knows that we are capable of living in Paradise but the pressure felt by Adam to obey God counteracted by Eve was too much for him and much to his own regret he chose to disobey God.

As I read the first reading, I became all tingly and moved by the power of the words of Isaiah. Perhaps the bodily reaction was the return of caffeine but the loveliness promised to the Sons of Abraham should have kept them devoted to IAMIAM for ever. What more did they want then and still now?

John's recollection of this discourse by Jesus is that of a Jew who has been converted not by signs but by the Resurrection and who has cared for the Mother of Jesus until she was taken into Heaven. Jesus tells all his listeners then and all who hear this Gospel now that IAMIAM is not a fierce Monad alone in his being but that the Son is always with him. 

Jesus really did change the world and that change was impossible for the Jews to accept for even though their history proves them to be liars they claim to know by the revelation of IAMIAM that they are chosen and they only and only they can do the will of God on Earth.

This Jewish attitude to being the only beloved of Our Father was unfortunately taken into the early Church and before the world could begin living by "every word that comes from the mouth of God" there was another set of Scribes and Pharisees who failed the loving trust God has in his people and the Church founded Peter became a kingdom more of this world than of the next. 

Dear Lord, You know that I can never truly understand your being but that I do believe that you want us all not only just to obey but do that with loving hearts informed by your revelation. Our response has to be that of Mary. She was informed of what was to happen so that her personal will was aligned with You. Let me avoid totally the self-satisfied pride that can keep my soul away from You. That same overweening pride is again much in evidence throughout the world where violence still reigns supreme and your beloved children continue to fight over the worldly goods that are here today and gone tomorrow. Jesus spoke in the  long-gone Temple but his words are still the life that is always available to those who ask. May my sins and those of the Holy Souls be forgiven and help me with your grace to avoid sins and to look for your will throughout today.Amen

 12/03/2024

Ezekiel writes of a new beginning for the People of God. There is to be a new temple which will be the dwelling place for the Most High. The holiness of the temple is to be spread throughout the whole world by the river that will carry the fruitfulness of the Creator into the oceans which will diffuse that holiness so that there will be no place on Earth that is not renewed.

The Sheep Pool in the five porticoed Bethzatha  was a place of healing in Jerusalem. It seems that it was fed by an underground source that moved the surface of the water at regular intervals. The cures were obtained by getting into the pool during these movements of the water.

The Incarnation is God's renewal of trust that the epitome of his creation, mankind, is still capable of making the right choices and living in human freedom as his image and likeness. Jesus of Nazareth shows us the way as he accepts the will of the Father and as the perfect man leads a life of prayer and obedience.

God still trusts us to aim for holiness. He gave many chances to our predecessors as his people on Earth. Jesus, however, is the completion of the creative act of Love which is this world and we the souls that people it for he is the Son whom the tenants of the vineyard stoned to death.

Jesus although truly a man was perfectly aligned with the will of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and his prayer made with perfect human faith was answered in "real-time". A  long suffering ( extremely long suffering) man was cured but denounced by the priests. 

We are now preparing for the greatest proof of God's love for sinful man. It however is not a sign, it is not an image nor is it a vision for the Resurrection is Eternal Truth. It is complete reality. In the beginning is the Word and the Word is with God and the Word is God and "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe in him will not perish and have eternal life."

Dear Lord, forgive me my sins and help me to avoid my childish wilfulness which harms all my relationships starting with You. Help me to give way and to avoid hateful thoughts and words. May Mary and all the Saints continue in their joyful praise and help us on Earth and in Purgatory to find true repentance and contrition for sins which do nothing but harm to your only begotten and blacken my soul. May I make a safer journey throughout today avoiding all sin and may all my previous sins and those of the Holy Souls be forgiven by your never-ending merciful Love. Amen