05/05/2024

I have never seen the objective signs of the Holy Spirit. I have never experienced  subjectively the love that comes from God. As a child I know that I loved my mother and father and later my siblings. As a teenager I know that I loved many girls. Even today my heart can skip when I see a pretty face.

Of all these "loves" there is one that has never changed and that is love for a dog. I really do experience an unconditional love for a dog. I tell myself that this love of a creature just because he is what he is, is God's way of showing to me how he loves me, of letting me glimpse the Evergreater Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are loved not because we exist but exist because we are loved.

St Peter brings our attention to the Holy Spirit. He and the others present witnessed something that was as real to them as their selves. The gentiles present were unbaptised, but the signs of the Holy Spirit became manifest. They spoke in "tongues".

St John, as always, writes of Love. He and Mary had been told by Jesus that in the complete revelation that would be his Resurrection they were to care for each other with maternal and reciprocal filial love. We, the disciples of the crucified Lord, are told to manifest our love for him by our love for each other. "Friend" is Jesus' name for us who show that we live not as a "favourite" but by obeying the unchangeable directions to Eternity; the way, the truth and the life, his commandments.

Dear Lord, let me learn to love you not just because "you are" but because "I am"  only because loved by you. You even accepted a shameful death in total weakness on the cross so that I might have my sins forgiven and my soul rescued from the mire of human sinfulness. Jesus is with us to the end of time. He is the Sacrament who has been shamefully mocked by the many such as I who have received the host in a state of Sin. May Mary and all the saints help me to share in your mystical body and help me to love you in a love that ignores my self but reflects back to you as much of your Love for me as I am able. Let my prayer be heard and let me live this "today" without sin. Look with mercy on all sinners both living and in Purgatory and let us be scraped clean of sin and again become as pure as the Love with which you created Adam & Eve. 

 04/05/2024

Within the lifetimes of the English Martyrs whose faithfulness to Rome led them to heroic deaths many others had been killed in England at the behest of the Church for refusing to accept the authority of the Pope.

The Jews had had to clear out the "nations" from the "Promised Land" before they could occupy it to be able to claim it as their birthright. Jesus' Foundation on Peter has never offered the path of non-resistance as part of the "Way" even though he taught us to turn the other cheek to the violence of the aggressor.

Jesus, our Saviour, always emphasized the dichotomy between preaching and practise that characterized the degenerate Temple Worship that was typified by the Pharisees of his day.

It was to save us from this human failure that God corrected the errors in his chosen ones by showing his power over matter in the miracles of Jesus and the Apostles. In his parables and discourse Jesus taught us rationally as an authoritative rabbi so that we could "ponder" and grow in wisdom from his words.

The Church has had two thousand years to become the Body of Christ on Earth. There has never been any evidence that the Institution has  ever been even close to this. I know that Jesus is with us to the end of time. The Resurrection is the heart of the mystical body that became the New Holy Family at the foot of the cross and thus we can be part of the Kingdom that is not of this world. 

Jesus taught us to beware of the hypocrisy of pharisees whose practise does not match the teaching that their Institution has preserved, but often mocked in practise and to seek the grace of God to avoid falling into this ,very human fault ourselves. We must always remember that Jesus did not found an institution to be powerful in this world but one  to be our spiritual home and guide living to Eternity.

Dear Lord your Mother is the Immaculate source of your human being and she is with Joseph and you the Holy Family which guided your youth on earth. On Calvary You presented Her and John to each other to form a New Holy Family which is your Mystical Body on earth. Help your institution to realise that your words really are the Truth and that the words "My Kingdom is not of this world " mean exactly what they say. 

 03/05/2024

All that we know about our place in God's Creation has been revealed to us by God. This revelation has taken place here on Earth in historical time.  It is The Way, The Truth and the Life. It is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was first given to individuals who then passed it on to their communities.

St Paul, although an active persecutor of the first Church, was chosen by Jesus in no uncertain manner and, after his blindness physical and spiritual was removed, listened to the teaching of the Apostles and knew that their words were the Truth that would bring all mankind to its place in the Eternity that is the final end of all creation.

In this morning's first reading Paul reminds us  that his teaching is the Word that is divine. It is the Alpha and Omega, it is the Resurrection and can never be changed. We have to believe exactly what he taught his first congregations and the Apostles from whom he learned.

It is true that mankind's understanding of the material of which we and the whole Universe is made has grown to what is the wonder of scientific knowledge today. This does not have any affect at all on the reality that is Jesus in the Father, in the Holy Spirit. "Thrice Blessed Three in One".

In the second reading, John has recalled in his old age another example of how the Apostles questioned the Lord when he was still with them. They were not hard disks imprinted by God but truly free human intelligences who talked with God on earth and we are still with them in the same New Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, John and all the Saints together with us sinners on Earth and awaiting mercy in Purgatory, members of Christ's Mystical Body..

Dear Lord, let my moments of prayer lead me to you who are calling  the whole world to join the salvation you have intended for us. May I never refuse the Holy Spirit who guides us all. Saying "no" to the promptings which my conscience declares to be from you can only bring more sin into Creation. You have never lost contact with me even in my most sinfulness you have found me with your grace. May I begin to live always aware of your Being and may this awareness become a prayer of thanksgiving and praise to you my God, Our Father who art in heaven. Amen

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 02/05/2024

I have only a general understanding of the relationships between the Apostles who organised the disciples in Jerusalem. The Acts do not record the details of all their discussions which led to the teaching inherited by the second generation of Christians. 

It was at discussions, the earliest Church Councils,  such as reported in this morning's first reading that they came to understand the meaning of what they had witnessed and been ordered to announce to the whole world.

Peter is full of confidence as he reminds them that it is he to whom it was revealed that the "pagans" were to have the Good News revealed to them exactly as it had been revealed to the Jews of Jerusalem and that they too had received the "Holy Spirit".

My mind is taken back to the "peace" that Jesus had ordered to be given by the disciples who had been sent  on the first missionary journeys in Palestine.They were to take it back if they were not welcomed by the household to whom it had been given. 

St. Luke does not record any opposition  to St Peter's statement that these "pagans" have been given the Holy Spirit just as they have but there is no record of how they could all be so sure. Then St James too speaks as leader and it is he who rules that the outward signs of Jewishness need not be forced onto pagan converts. 

His reference to "Peter" by his given Jewish name rather than the "Peter", stone of the foundation of Jesus' Church, could indicate how difficult it was for the Jews to accept anything that deprived them of their position as the  "Chosen Ones" or it could be just a sign of the  minor human disgruntlement that arises even amongst  saints while they are on earth.

Dear Lord, You have given me Faith. Help me to be true to it. I can never know you fully for you are the Evergreater. Only you can see my soul but I know that it is the being which knows you and through which I am known. No-one has seen the Father except the Son. The Holy Spirit is God's Gift to all of us who seek him out. "If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love."

 01/05/2024

I always try to begin my day by reading the texts that have been chosen to be read at mass. I have to do this as if I don't, my mind is captured by the kaleidoscope of images that appear on the screen. My mind picks up on a headline and can, soon be galloping all over the world.

We in the 21st century are faced with more demands on our human intelligence than in any other era. We have been taught that the Garden of Eden is not a historical record of God's creation of mankind in the Universe of matter. Disbelieve in the first books of revelation then undermines belief in God and it is thus "proven" to us that there is nothing lasting about our consciousness of our world and our place in it. We are only physical atoms that dissolve into "dust" when our bodies can no longer function.

Science understands the Laws of Matter but it does not teach us anything about existence/ being itself. It answers the questions asked about what our bodies are made of,  but ignores the who and why I know that "I am". These questions are only answerable by someone who has lived, died and returned from Eternity

The Feast of St Joseph the worker was instituted in response to inroads into the Institutional Catholicism of the 19th Century made by atheistic socialism.

The great feasts of the Roman Calendar had all been celebrated to proclaim the Resurrection and those who had based their lives on living devoted only to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The souls whose earthly lives had borne witness to the truth of the Gospel. 

Although done with the best of intentions the establishment of this "political" Feast of the "Worker" detracts from the place St Joseph has in God's Revelation as the Guardian of the Holy Family. He is a saint not because he was a manual worker but because he answered the call by God to accept that Mary's child was indeed the only begotten Son of God. His "yes" to God was truly a "Giant step for mankind".

Dear Lord, you must still know St Joseph with great human affection. Today I am trying to respond in my heart to the truth that is recorded in the Scriptures. May Mary who knows the sincere care with which her husband did not refuse his secondary role in your Holy Family lead him and all the saints in the heavenly chorus that gives praise to you and brings your mercy to all sinners on earth and in Purgatory.

 30/04/2024

Stoned at Lystra, St Paul is the victim of his own people. The Resurrection appears to the Jews of both Jerusalem and the diaspora as a confidence trick perpetrated by a group of blasphemous, irreligious apostates who have to be killed.

This had also been the attitude of Paul when first we met him as Saul who looked after the garments of the more active stoners of St Stephen. It also became the attitude of the church hierarchy to those who preached a different version of Christianity from what had become the doctrine that they had had revealed to them.

The early Churches of the Fathers had been able to communicate with each other even though they were separated  by hundreds of miles. They were able to organise and attend the great councils where they met face-to-face. A native of Central Anatolia could become a bishop in Lyons. This ease of communication was a result of military road building and dubbed "Pax Romana" but it is not "Pax Christi".

The Peace of Christ is God's gift to each one of us. It does not depend on roads or electronic networks but on our own will to conform to the will of God. It is, however, violently resisted by the Prince of this World. 

Who is the Prince of this World? He is anyone of us who forgets that Jesus reveals the True Life of the Spirit. He is anyone of us who denies God by promoting his own flesh into being the idol that he worships. He is anyone of us who does not recognise his own sin and thank God for his redemption. He is anyone who misleads himself and others into believing that we can build a heaven for all men on this Earth.

Dear Lord, help me to continue to walk in your light as if following you not only as you walked from village to village in Palestine but also as you stumbled bloodstained and derided carrying your cross to Calvary. Help me to let my loved ones also learn that your words are Truth and the Way to the Eternal Life that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Help us all to know that the wonders of this physical universe are all created by you to show us that even though they pass away your Love never changes but is always the ever-greater being that having opened ourselves to Your Grace, we have no option but to worship. Save us all Lord, Jesus.

 29/04/2024

The message from God delivered in those long ago first days of Salvation and announced to the world by those who had seen the risen Lord, has never changed. We have all been created out of  nothing by the Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit and we have to consciously bathe ourselves in that Love so that we can avoid sin.

We can live without fear in this world only if we avoid sin. Only if we follow the completed revelation of the Father, made by the Son and accept our inner voice that is the Holy Spirit can we live this today in union with all of humanity, living and dead. I can become part  of the spiritual body that in the flesh of this world deserted by most of his followers, despised and humiliated, knew and forgave in that moment of death, the sin of us all .

The only words that can justify that moment of intolerable isolation were spoken by Jesus at his Last Supper and are repeated daily in the masses celebrated at altars throughout the world. That is why our priests always have to be righteous and the institution that they serve has to proclaim the Resurrection by word and deed. 

The New Holy Family of Mary and John was also founded on Calvary. This is the Silent Church that is truly not of this World. It is the unseen loving heart of Jesus' foundation. It is the Communion of Saints and will be our sanctuary and salvation until the end of time.

Dear Lord, you  never cease to pour out your loving mercy but I have often ignored the promptings of my conscience and continued in the sin that tore at your flesh on Calvary. May these my morning prayers guided by the Church of Peter truly unite me with the mutual loving kindness that cared for Mary and John even as the intolerable agony of sin strove to break your acceptance of  your unique mission. I pray that I can become pure of heart and that even this sinner can be welcomed into the New Creation at the end of time. Amen. Maranatha, come Lord, Jesus Come.