28/04/2024

I have been aware of the importance of religion in my life for getting on for 80 years. I am always being surprised by how much more there is to know than I know now. I did know that St Paul had had problems with the Apostles in Jerusalem but did not know that there had been moves to have him killed. I did not know that the Greek speaking Jews were Jews by descent whose families had returned to Jerusalem generations beforehand. These are the Hellenists who sought to kill Paul in the first reading.

St John finally settled with Mary near Ephesus. It is probable that his surviving writings were distributed from there. There is a constant theme in today's letter and throughout the body of work attributed to him that God is Love and that his purpose in Creation is to reveal the Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to share it with the whole world.

The image of the vine has always caught the imagination of Christians and those among us who are artistically gifted have reproduced this image on paper and in stone and wood many times throughout history.We are to accept that the richness of the vine that is our community of Faith in Love is maintained by the fecundity of its branches that have to be pruned to remain fruitful. We are not told, however, what is to become of the grapes that are the end product of the fruitful vine.

God cannot be deceived and has told us that we are not to sin. St John tells us that we have nothing to fear if our consciences are clear in the light of God's revelation. I am not to make excuses for my sin. I must not manipulate my conscience in the light of "nowadays" for the sin of Adam is still the sin that ignores Father Son and Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of Calvary but in life focuses on Mammon until that moment when the sinner knows that he is naked in the Light of Truth where there is no place to hide.

Dear Lord, help me to remain in your Love and let me be at peace with you and sinless in this life. You have a place ready for all of us but we have to cooperate with your purpose. You know the difficulties that I can always find in life but help me to not be deceived by what I consider to be my primary purpose. Words pop out from my fingers but only you know how true they are. May My prayers become one with those of Mary and all the saints and the sins of all the living world and those of Purgatory be all forgiven that we can become one with the new creation at the end of time.

 27/04/2024

The preaching of Paul and Barnabas was not accepted by the Jews of Antioch (Isparta) and so they moved on to Iconium ( Konya). Jesus had warned that his message would not be received as good news by everybody, but only by the elect.

I am always worried by "predestination" which could have the meaning that no matter how I strive sincerely to follow the Gospel the result, my eternal reward or punishment, has already been decided by God and I can do nothing about it.

Whenever this topic comes into my mind I have to comfort myself with the truth that Father, Son and Holy Spirit have not given spiritual life to anyone with the intention of inflicting damnation on them. The sin that Jesus saves us from has always been freely chosen by the sinner.

The great community sins that are  dominating our world today. Gaza, Yemen, Haiti, Burma, abortion, homosexuality, gender choice, coverup by bishops are all committed in the first instance by one human person choosing to defy God.

As I write this, the chain of sin that is resulting in another death in Gaza, can only be broken by  individual combatants refusing to obey orders. Jesus sought pardon for his executioners. He had previously told his disciples on their first mission to shake from their feet, the dust of towns that did not listen to the good news; he did not order any other punishment.

Nothing is impossible for God so we all have to implore him to fill the hearts of us all with the wonder that John's Gospel reveals to the whole world. The "Love" that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit has taken on the flesh of Mary to become "God with us", "The Way, the Truth and the Life" and that "Whatever you ask for in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it."

Dear Lord, Help me know your will for me and do it. Help me to avoid the sin that surrounds me and save me from the snares that I always encounter even as I focus all my being on you. May my prayers be joined to those of Mary and all the saints and let me live out my lifetime with my heart open to your loving mercy, Dear Jesus save me from myself and let your Mercy overpower all the evil that we choose to thus pollute the creation which you Love. Maranatha Lord, Jesus come soon!

 26/04/2024

The majority of those addressed by Paul in the Antioch that is in Central Anatolia are Jews and he makes no allowance for the "Godfearers", the gentiles who had attached themselves to the Synagogue. In fact being known as "Godfearers" implies not only adherence to the Jewish way of life but also knowledge of the scriptures for the two are inseparable.

Paul speaks to them as one people who have been saved by the perfect Sacrifice of the Son which is prefigured by the uncompleted sacrifice offered by their Father Abraham and he refers them to words of the Second Psalm.

This same second psalm is allotted to be the Responsorial Psalm for use in the Roman Liturgy for today. Jesus told us to listen to the Pharisees but "not do as they do". The much corrupted Church that was founded on Peter still has the message of eternal life and a liturgy prepared over centuries by men who were striving to live a life of holiness as did Our Lord.

St Thomas who has completely accepted Jesus as God, "My Lord and my God", still needs empirically rational certitude and points out to God that if he doesn't tell them the destination how can they know the way and so Jesus reveals for all time that "The Way, The Truth and The Life" is its own destination; it is the righteousness that is the never changing Eternity where we can all be part of the New Life that is the Resurrection.

Dear Lord, at this moment I am hoping that I can sincerely atone for my sins and cover myself with your Mercy asking to be forgiven and to resist any form of temptation. Let me live this day in your peace and not become the cause of sin in others. May Mary and the Saints in heaven include me in the prayer that it is to be in your presence and completed in the Love that is the Glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Help me by your Grace.

 25/04/2024

My personality has always caved in to those of us who are strong. I have very rarely been able to convince  others of my point of view. In my heart of hearts, however, I know that I was right to refuse last year's invoice from British Gas. I was right but ultimately accepted the power of that great concern. To accept a lie is a mark of my weakness. 

St Peter, who has experienced for himself the difference between weakness and humility, today preaches the humility that is at the heart of the second commandment. His replies, when challenged at the time of Jesus trial, were sinful weakness of which we must all beware in our lives on this earth.

We are all called to bear witness to Father, Son and Holy Spirit by the way we live our lives. We have to remember the self-fulfilled  pride that was the prayer of the Pharisee."Thank God that I am not as other men". He has become in his own eyes the epitome of righteousness and he scorns the publican, the sinner who asks for mercy.

Humility is not weakness. I am weak when I don't maintain the earnest devotion with which I start each day. I remember hearing at an AA meeting 40 years ago that if you think you've got humility, then you can be sure that you don't. 

There is something in my being that cannot be convinced by the overwhelming evidence of my weakness and tells me that I am as good as anybody else in this world. This could be the Lord who tells us that we are all known and loved because that is his nature. The only justifiable pride is to be humble in the Love of the Lord and pray that we all accept his gifts as unconditional displays of his bounty and not as tributes to the being that I am.

Dear Lord, you know how we are able to be blinded by success in this world and addicted to the acquisition of wealth. Help us all to try to come to an understanding of the immensity of the humility you showed in the Incarnation even before the death you underwent on the shame of the cross and then be sincerely thankful for this ultimate example of  human life lived for others. There is nothing that we can do in life that is better than the humble prayer on our knees when we ask for forgiveness and praise You for your Glory

 24/04/2024

As an old man myself, I can appreciate how St John can remember the experience of his youth. I mean by that the Evangelist is still able to recall the fluency of Jesus' discourse. My own memory, of course, does not retain the years that I spent with the Son of God. In fact most of my  memories are of my personal failures to remain true to the revealed Way, the Truth and the Life.

Sinful moments from my past keep on popping up into my consciousness and I have to make an effort of will to disperse them. I cannot recall any of the sermons I have heard. I can remember, however, that I listened more intently to some than to others. St John, of course, is inspired by both  Jesus and his care for Mary.

So, we have to listen to St John as if we were with him and the other Apostles in the warmth of Jesus' love and we have to hang on to the words for they are the Way, the Truth and the Life. They are the reason for me being aware that I have to conform my life to the Law of Moses and to strive after the Poverty, Chastity and Obedience that was displayed by the Church in the first years after the Resurrection, before the destruction of the Temple.

In the reading from the Acts that is appointed to be read by all Christians in the Course for Living that is the Universal Calendar of the Catholic Church we hear how the first Church of Jews and Gentiles is shifting its centre from Jerusalem to Antioch. We shall soon be calling ourselves Christians. 

So much has taken place since those first shoots that sprang up in the Glorious Light that is Christ, Our Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our faith has to grow in the hope that we shall all know the same perfection of love that was known personally  to Mary, Joseph, "his brothers", disciples, the lame, the blind, the possessed, Jews, gentiles, Romans, Pharisees, Scribes Chief priests and all those blessed to be living in Palestine during the human lifetime of our God on earth.

Dear Lord help me to keep focused on you as I go about my life today. May all of us alive today be awakened by the light of your Love. May all sinners come to realise the horror that is sin but also know that you welcome us in our repentance. May we all join our prayers to those of Mary and the saints and pray for the forgiveness your 33 years on earth has bequeathed to all mankind. May my soul find the peace you have prepared for me. I make this prayer in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Marantha dear Lord, come soon. Amen.

 23/04/2024

Many Saints have been canonized by the Church but it is not the Church that has brought them to salvation. I do not know how St George came to be declared a Saint. I do know that the legends of his battle with the dragon are indeed products of the equivalent of today's Netflix.

There are many of the early saints whose origins were in the mythology that was retained in  folk memories even after baptism. The earliest form of the peaceful travel industry grew out of pilgrimage to visit the relics of saints claimed to be in various places throughout Europe and the Middle-East. 

The Crusades, one of the most shameful episodes in the History of the Church founded on St Peter by Jesus "My Kingdom is not of this world", is what cemented the cult of St George into the cultures of many countries including England. 

Father, Son and Holy Spirit who knows us all and how we respond in life to his self-revelations has welcomed many of us into his Eternity since his creation of heaven and earth. He has prepared a place for each of us. His life, death and resurrection show us how to live. Jesus has told us that there are many places in his "sheepfold", that "my Father's house has many mansions".

We have been entrusted with our souls which are free from imprinted control and we are entirely free to choose whether or not to prepare ourselves to be welcomed into the place of peace where we will join our fellow saints, those whose names we know, and the majority who as we are, known only to God and to the Spiritual Community founded from the cross "Woman behold your son, son behold your mother."

Dear Lord I know that there are many souls here on earth who have been alienated by the faults exhibited by your foundation on Peter. I know my own sins but hope to be forgiven by my genuine regret and most of all by your Infinite Mercy. Help me to remain prayerful throughout this day and let me join with Mary and John in that New Holy Family that you revealed out of your agony on Calvary. Let me be with you until the end of time. Amen

 22/04/2024

I understand from the first reading that those who listened to the Apostles in the Portico of Solomon  had not been "converted" .They were still Jews who, like the Apostles, were trying to understand the teachings of Jesus whom they had seen dead on Calvary but had been seen alive in the flesh after his death by those who preached the Resurrection. 

Their "Jewishness" was still more dominant than the events that they had been living through recently and they knew nothing of the 30 year incarnate presence of God in their world that had been the reality for Mary and Joseph.

Peter had been close to Jesus for three years and knew that he had refuted all the accusations of "law-breaking" levelled at him by Pharisees. Jesus completed the spirit of the Law of Moses. He taught against the concept of ritual impurity. "What comes out of a man makes him unclean". Jesus had cured and driven out devils from non-Jews.

I am trying to get rid of my idea that the vision of the "table-cloth" seems to be very convenient for the purpose of fulfilling the mission to go out and teach all nations. Peter and the other Apostles could totally emphasise with the Jews to whom they proclaimed the Good News and the first schism among the believers came out of these breaks with their Jewish traditions.

I cannot deny anything that is in the books of the New Testament. I have always wondered from where the baskets used to collect the scraps remaining from the "Feeding of the five thousand" came. 

Peter had undoubtedly learnt from Jesus all that he proclaimed and he had seen the Risen Lord so he knew that Father, Son and Holy Spirit had by the Incarnation of the Son finalised the Law and mapped out the Way, the Truth and Life that is our road to the full life of our Salvation.Of all the signs that he had witnessed it is the Resurrection that had sealed the teachings of Jesus for him and dietary rules and circumcision had no prominence in Jesus' teaching. I wonder whether, however, he could have knowingly ever eaten pork. I couldn't bring myself to taste horsemeat even after I had gone to the trouble of cooking it.

Dear Lord I am still not completely secure in my believe. You know that I do not automatically choose to refuse sin. You know how many hours of the day I waste in stupor before the screens that have come to dominate the life of mankind. May I learn to turn to you in prayer at least as much as I watch TV. Let me not be selfish in my prayers and help me not to forget the departed who are known and unknown to me in Purgatory. Keep me from delighting in the public failures of priests and prelates and may the prayers of Mary and all the saints bring mercy to all sinners.