14/06/2024

 I want to be honest about today's readings and confess again that I am not familiar enough with the Old Testament. 

I have heard this passage from Elijah many times. I am, of course, impressed with the imagery but am pressed to find a connection between it and Israel's relationship with IAMIAM. There was not a lot of "gentleness" amidst the slaughtering in Palestine then as there is still not today.

We only know about ten percent of Jesus' life on earth. He reveals to us that the IAMIAM of the Old Testament is a Trinity of Persons but the  unity of perfect Being. The relationship between the Persons is the Creative Love which enables us to say "Our Father" as we begin to pray. 

Jesus grew up exactly the same way as we do except for sin. His "I"  had humbled himself by renouncing his divinity to become man as we are. Which means that he did experience the human family relationships which we all "enjoy" so much. It was his family that wanted to "put him away" in their shame at his first public display in the Synagogue.

New family relationships begin with the agreement of man and woman to join their lives together. The Holy Family was always in the direct presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. St Joseph accepted Mary as his wife even though he knew Jesus was not his own son. All married people agree to live together "till death us do part".

"Changing my mind" is not an option for a promise made before God. We create sin anew  when we chose to break God's Commandments, our Part of the Covenant, or Sacramental Vows.It is from sin that Jesus accepted the total humiliation of non-being for us to be brought back to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord, let my heart and mind be open to the Holy Spirit. We can respond to you by listening to Scripture and understanding that The Bible is not just a collection of Historical texts and moral maxims but the complete guide book as to how to develop the most important relationship that each one of us has in life. You are the total "Other" to whom each"I" has the chance to respond prayerfully in the only "real time" that we can know in creation. If we choose to find your "code" and follow it we are not limiting ourselves to your preprograming. There is nothing "artificial" about our being or intelligence.  We are free  to chose between life or the horror of being aware of eternal non-being. Jesus wants us all to accept the Love that he pours out on the whole of creation so that ultimately we can see and be seen in the total Glory that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, our father and our mother. Amen

 13/06/2024

I know that I try each day to get closer to God. I know that I am not being prideful and "clever". I know that I can become empty inside and lose all contact with the thoughts and reactions prompted by the readings chosen for the day's liturgy. 

The events in my own life are enough to fill my time. The world in which I live is more than enough for me to process in my mind. But I also  know that it will all pass away and then what will become of me?

I have to make an act of will to turn my thoughts, my being to God. In the Old Testament IAMIAM reveals himself to both to individuals and to their nation. Today, Elijah and his king Ahab, but long before then, God had trusted Moses to reveal to the descendants of Abraham, trapped in slavery to the "Wonderful World"  of those days, how to be rescued and taken to the "promised land" where freedom could flourish.

Those people in Egypt thousands of years ago were all, as we are today, individual beings aware of their bodies and their minds were aware, as is mine, of their souls, the individual being which is present in all creation. They, as do we, did not take long to want more than God gave and Moses revealed to them.

We are all free beings. We are created in the "image and likeness" of Our God who is the all powerful freedom who chose to create the world to witness to the Love which is the Spiritual bond of his triune being.

For creation to be successful God has revealed himself to all men. Not only has he revealed himself but he has also walked the earth to teach us that he trusts us to know his being and to use our freedom to become as he is, holy, but not with an earthly hypocritical holiness of external show, the Pharisees in this morning's Gospel, but with hearts of love that unite each one of us in compassion that does no harm to anyone but is a true reflection of the "substance" of Father Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord you know how I can miss my way and let my ego intrude into awareness even when I am trying to raise my mind to you. You know how I have so often failed to align my will with yours and been dominated by my own selfishness which refused your grace that is always offered to every soul still living here on earth. May Mary and all the Saints support all we sinners in need of forgiveness both in the treachery of life and in the penitential safety of Purgatory. Amen

 12/06/2024

In today's Gospel Jesus emphasises the continuity of his revelation of himself to mankind; not to all mankind, but to the Jews to whom had been given the promised land. The exclusivity of this revelation is for me a stumbling block. I have to ask "Why? Why did God favour only one part of humanity? Many others have been faced by this quite obvious question.

In the earliest records of Christianity the difference between Jew and Gentile were solved but in the solving many Jews were lost by the Apostles. The early Church did not completely solve this problem but saw in the conversion of pagans the growing success of their Mission to go out and teach all nations. 

The world at that time, however, contained not only many more civilised nations than those conquered by Alexander and now ruled from Rome but also there were unknown continents over the horizon. Millions of human beings have lived without ever being made aware of God's revelation. 

In today's Gospel Jesus tells us that those who break the commandments and teach others to do the same will be considered to be the least in the kingdom of heaven but the man who keeps them and teaches others to do the same will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.

Our God is unseen but Evergreater. We can witness his words and deeds but we can never know fully the perfect Love that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God looked on his creation and saw that it was good. He is "well-pleased" with his "Only Begotten Son". The Holy Spirit is the surety of his trust in us. 

God entered into his own creation as the Incarnation. We are created to become able to enter the kingdom of heaven as the souls that will become part of the New Creation. Today, Jesus sees us as "least" and "great" but he excludes no one from the kingdom of heaven.

Dear Lord, help me to understand that your revelation excludes no-one and that you give us all the grace to be the human beings that can resist the self-love that enables us to sin. Let these morning thoughts of mine be sincere searching for your Truth and an opening up to the Holy Spirit. The holiness that you offer to us is not confined to any body, Institution or Church but is a cloud of love from which we can all feed our faith as from the sacraments that are so dishonoured by corrupt clergy. May Mary and all the saints, the great of the kingdom of heaven, continue in their prayers for us the outsiders on Earth or in Purgatory and may all created souls remain in your love even as the least in your Kingdom.

 11/06/2024

The "Church" in the Acts is never an "it", it is always a "they". What is it today, an organisation or the millions of believers who are each one in their real person known only to God? Does God know the structure or the people? It has been argued over centuries that the organisation is the source of the sanctity of its adherents and office holders. It is the "Mystical Body of Christ on Earth". There is no salvation outside the "Church".

The Church founded on St Peter soon became an "it". In fact, "it" became the first non-government organisation ever to exist on earth. It was the very first Corporate Body long before Capitalism was born. It was incorporated not in this world but in the "Kingdom of God". Jesus, the founder, when on trial before the only Earthly Power told us that "My Kingdom is not of this world".

We have to believe Jesus. He is present in his Church for ever. But is it in the worldly structure that we find him? The Incarnation (life, death and resurrection) is a historical event and by it we have been taught how to use the joy of living to arrive at the New Life prepared for us by Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Can anyone still believe that the evil deeds done in the name of God by the burning of heretics, the Crusades against Cathars, Muslims, Waldensians, or Hussites, or the European wars of the 16th and 17th centuries were indeed sanctioned by God working through the Institutional Church? 

There are no Bishops praising or blessing the perpetrators of the slaughter in Gaza, Yemen, Burma, Sudan where our brothers and sisters are slaughtering each other at the very moment I am sitting in front of this screen.

The source of all holiness on Earth was known personally by the Apostles whose eye-witness accounts of the facts of revelation were recorded  and verified by the Holy Spirit at the time the worldliness of the Church first began to become more important than the personal holiness of its hierarchy. 

Scripture is our protector from the deviances of men in ecclesiastical power but it is not our sole protector on earth for even during the most disgraceful years of the Papacy there were holy men and women whom by the grace of God were able to be the Church of Love also founded by Jesus who included his mother in his New Holy Family of she and John.

Dear Lord help me be true to your grace. Let me find my place in heaven. Let me know that your grace is for all even those to whom you have not revealed yourself. May the prayers of Mary and all the saints overcome the backsliding by which both Jews and Gentiles lose touch with their faith which you have granted to us. Let us know what we can do to overcome the pain and suffering of so many innocent on Earth. Let my sins be forgiven and may my soul be ready to accept whatever death comes to me. Amen

 10/06/2024

God knows how unhappy I am at the state of his institutional church. Actually, I am really saddened when I try to understand how the Church of the ages forgot so quickly that its reason for being is not of this world. 

The Jews and Gentile/Pagans of the first century gave true meaning to their lives by accepting that Jesus is the Word and that his Resurrection finalizes God's explanation of why each one of us has this mystery of self living at that the centre of our beings.

Jesus was born into a world that was ruled from Rome. The Romans had lost their fight to maintain the political system that had been the republic, pride of their forefathers. The Greeks of Europe, Asia and Africa had also been swallowed up into this Roman Empire. 

All political power was maintained by force but in the Promised Land  God had settled those to whom he had revealed that he is Perfect Being, Love, Power and Glory and promised special care for them and their descendants. 

All that I do in life is done in the presence of God. That is true for all individuals. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is the template to fit which we all have to modify our own lives. He does not only reveal our target but also by his life, death and resurrection provides us with the source of the help to reach the Eternal life as promised.

Dear Lord, help me to be sincere in my search for and obedient to your will as revealed to the prophets and completed through the Incarnation. May Mary and all the Saints pray for us to receive the grace to live lives of quiet beatitude never venturing after things too great or avoiding those of which we are capable. You have never asked us to be true to a human kingdom or institution let us all join with John and Mary in the New Holy Family you created on Calvary in your last words to your mother and disciples and to all mankind.

 09/06/2024

As we live out our lives, our time on earth, we have to conform to the will of God which is revealed to us by the Scriptures and by our consciences which we have to choose to keep open to be formed by the Holy Spirit.

St Paul tells us that our outer man, our bodies, decay but the inner man, our souls are renewed by the Holy Spirit. The older we get the more aware we become of bodily decay but our souls can still be the never changing/ever growing centre of our being. 

The Psalm begins in the pain of our humanity when we have separated ourselves from God. It is our sinful selves. In the first reading Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent but their and all subsequent sins are our own. Our EverGreater, PerfectBeing, IAMIAM, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Unbounded Freedom cannot turn a blind eye to the fact of our rejection of his Love by misuse of his Gift of Human Freedom. Today's Psalm  becomes thanks for and recognition of the Loving Mercy that is the Being of Our Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel, his human family, which is totally embarrassed by the public beginnings of Jesus revelation of himself, they count it as notoriety, are not rejected by the adult Jesus. At the age of thirty, he is a complete adult male and is free to worship with the other men in the Temple or Synagogue. He is His Father's Eternal Word revealed within the confines of a truly human body. His rebuke is directed at those who think that there is ever a valid reason to interrupt the Word of God.

Our earth has never seen the equal of Jesus of Nazareth. He is the total perfection of God in what is the perfected human body. He is father, mother, brother and sister of the whole  human family and through his life, death and resurrection continues to bring the Holy Spirit into our lives. He is the salvation that only each one of us can let into our individuality and so into history. We cannot find blame for our sins other than in our misuse of freedom. May God protect me from the "unforgiveable sin".

Mary was never excluded by Jesus. How could he who was first borne by Theotokos ever deny the immaculate source of his humanity?

Dear Lord, today's readings are the summation of  the meaning of Your Creation that is and is known by human life. Help me to keep your teaching to the forefront of my mind so that I can avoid the pain that my sins create for me. Let me know that all humans are your family and let me avoid doing harm to anyone in thought, word or deed. Help me join your mission to spread the Good News by directing a first reader to these prayers and meditations that have arisen out of disappointment in the institution that became "of this world" very early  and the corruptor of many throughout its history. 

 08/06/2024

The Immaculate Heart of Mary

The Apostles and disciples who had known the Lord in his lifetime had accepted their mission and had gone out to preach the Good News. They first of all would follow the Temple ritual prayers and met in the Portico of Solomon. They prayed, as had Jesus, the Psalms and they studied the scrolls of the Old Testament as enlarged upon by the " Translator ", the Targum in the Synagogue and by their Rabbi during their three years with him.

It was  there that they announced the Good News of the Resurrection and recalled the teachings and deeds of Jesus. They did this by word of mouth; the only texts that they had were written in Aramaic, Hebrew or in Greek.Their world was governed by Caesar, it was the Roman Empire but its language and its culture were Greek. 

We do not have any fragments of written New Testament texts earlier than the end of the second century. Scholars know that they existed but our original "Church" was just men and women who accepted their own belief in the scrolls of the Old Testament and Jesus as the living faith that, as did St Paul, they had received from the Apostles. It was in this spirit of faith that they would meet on the first day of the week  to give thanks for their resurrected founder's new commandment sealed by his eternal sacrifice, the Sacrament of his Body and Blood.

God can do anything he wants to. There are no limits to his being. God could have just "cancelled" us if we were displeasing to him. But we have to try to understand that we are "Good" and we are "Loved".

We are loved to the extent that he prepares a sinless human body from which to procreate himself as a complete human being to live all the stages of human life before accepting death in atonement for the sins of the world. This is the will of our God revealed by Jesus. This is how much we are loved.

Mary is the perfect human being. She is sinless Woman as her Son is sinless Man. Jesus spent the first months of his humanity physically close to her heart and he never loses the sense of that closeness to Theotokos. Even in this today Mary and Jesus are close to each other in Eternity which reveals that the Immaculate Heart of Mary really is an essential part of the merciful forgiveness of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. She is not God but there is none closer to his Love than she. Thank God for Mary the Mother of Our Lord.

Dear Lord, May I learn to love you as do your saints. Let it always be a struggle for me to find what seem to be the right words to express what is the meaning in the tangle of words, wishes, images and memories that is  my inner self. Let me be honest with a sincere desire for atonement for my sins. May all the world recognise that the riches and ambitions that are of this world are themselves nothing that will last. The only lasting joy is ours if we can follow your footsteps even to Calvary if you so wish. Help me to accept with an open heart the grace to atone for our sins that the prayers of Mary and the other saints of heaven win for me and all other sinners living and dead. Help me to know you better, love you more sincerely and to serve you more honestly in this world so that I can become ready to be engulphed by your Glory in the next.