18/08/2024

It is quite easy for us today to follow in the mass readings the revelations that have guided us for nearly 2000 years into the understanding that supports our recognition of the "signs of the times", our place in the  Providence of God.

We are intelligent beings but only when we use our brains to accept and follow the guidance that is recorded in Old and New Testaments. The wisdom  of the first reading opens up our beings to perceive the bounty that is being aware of Our Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the joy of prayer revealed in the Psalm.

In Ephesus, the newly born Christians are living in the midst of pagan splendour and face all the same temptations that dominate our so-called "post-christian" civilisations in these times. He tells them and us to do more than just sing the praises of God, our words must become part of our being, lodged in our hearts.

St John who, has had more than thirty years to reflect on the deeds he witnessed when he walked with Jesus in Galilee; more than thirty years of caring for the Mother of Our Lord, writes with the truth in words that are directly from Jesus.

"I am the living bread come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever and the bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world".

The Resurrection and the sealing by the Holy Spirit complete  the teaching in this world of the Incarnate Word, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. John and Mary knew this in their hearts. They had survived in this world always aware of the Mystical Body of Christ and we can still join with that New Holy Family in their eternal prayer even though we are far from the "outward signs of inward grace".

It is only God who knows the reason for the Incarnation. His foundation on St Peter has also not ever been true to his "My Kingdom is not of this world" declared before Pilate. It is only God who knows when he will return to Earth. I can only repeat in hope the cry of the first Christians. "Maranatha Lord. Come Lord Jesus Come".

Dear Lord, you know how I have wasted your grace throughout my lifetime. Let me atone for my sins here on Earth and then please keep a place in Purgatory open for me to undergo my deserved punishment. Help me to show by the signs of my life that I have the integrity of being that comes from doing your will and being open to your grace. May my prayers join those led by Mary present with you and all the saints in that "moment" of heavenly joy that begins in death but never ends for you our creator are God of the living and only have love for we sinners both on Earth and in Purgatory.

 17/08/2024

It is impossible for God to deceive. What we see is indeed reality. It is possible for man to not only deceive but also to ignore. We can be sure even in our ignorance, however, that we cannot deceive our Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Infinite Love, the Trinity is completely aware of everything that is real. From nano-particle to the most distant of stars, everything is known to the Father. 

The Old Testament reading for today emphasises that we should respond to God's revelation of himself completely; return his Love for us with the obedience that shows our love for him. 

The psalmist sings out the pure joy that we can experience when without sin we are filled with the Holy Spirit and "know, love and serve" in our inmost being which is known only to God, Mary and all the Saints. This is our natural state of being for it is a full-life as the image and likeness of  God who saw that his creation is "good" and it is filled with the Holy Spirit brought to us by Jesus' completion of the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel the disciples are preventing the children from milling around Jesus. Jesus, however, is pleased to acknowledge and welcome their presence for they are innocent souls. 

One of the most distressing sights of my life has been to witness the guilt of the English Hierarchy at the Judicial Enquiry into child sexual abuse, blustering in the face of the cross-examination as to their roles in the protection of the guilty by cover-ups masterminded by themselves. 

Those Bishops were "dragged before tribunals" but they did not receive any of the support promised by Jesus to disciples who in the course of their missions would face accusations in courts of law. They also did not receive any public punishment for the harm they have done not only to the children but also to the Institution through which they claim to serve the Vicar of Christ on Earth.

Dear Lord, you know how sinful I am and how I seek to atone. Help me not to be overcome by the weakness of the institution you founded on St Peter. You always chose the weak and the lowly  as examples of how to do your will and yet your Church quickly stepped into the worldly, both in east and west, power vacuums created by the long drawn-out collapse of the Roman Empire. Help me be aware of the grace witnessed by the three Marys and Saint John as it poured out of your pierced side on Calvary and let my faith be in your promise to be with us always even to the end of time. May my prayers uttered in my private room but recorded on this machine join those of Mary and all the saints that all sinners on Earth and in Purgatory choose forgiveness and know that it is we who have created our own need for punishment and reparation.

 16/08/2024

Each of us has to accept the Scriptures for what they are, the record of the revelation made by our Creator of himself at various times in the history of mankind. We have always treated these revelations as revelations of the "Supernatural" . 

It sometimes, however, seems to me that they should not be considered to be anything other than natural for it is God who created us and shapes our being. We are not abandoned alone in the world to make of it what we can as was the baby girl in the first reading.

Our Father was not "passing by" and noticed us, by chance the unwarted and discarded child. He is aware in his eternity of every moment of time and of all that it contains.  The mystery of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a creative loving kindness that by its nature creates from nothing, new created yet free individual human life that can chose to be informed by his revelation.

Reality is not only determined by the scope of our senses but is also God and our souls  longing for him. We all have totally natural souls that are all created equally to enjoy the Eternal Glorious Freedom of the Sons of God. 

The material discoveries of empirical science have bedazzled our being as did her awareness of her beauty,  Jerusalem. We have become infatuated by our awareness of our "Knowledge". It is hard for our children to grow up in a world that even denies that "male" and "female" are true categories of created being. 

Jesus came at a specific time in the history of the world. His chosen people had, yet again failed him, and since that time the overpoweringly human institution that was the Church founded on St Peter has many times proved itself to be more of this world than part of "the kingdom that is not of this world".

Jesus brings the first phase of revelation to its completion. He will never leave those who respond within their hearts, love answering love, abandoned in their own blood. He knew the faults of the world and the response of the Chosen People as a human being who confronted opposition and disbelief each day of his mission. He promised that he would return from the Father and confirmed us with the Holy Spirit.

Since then, we have changed the material face of the earth beyond recognition but we have to live lives that proclaim our faith in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our Father is not impressed by anything that is material. He is looking for us to recognise only his Love and to live lives that openly declare this to all others. He wants to find Faith in his Love on Earth when he returns. We have to become a  people who look for and do the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit during our lives on Earth.

Dear Lord, help me to use words to offer myself to you. You know all that is happening in my head at this moment. That I am now and have had a past. Let me make right choices for the future and be sincerely sorry for all my offences. May Our Lady the only complete body mind and soul with you in what we call the perfection of bodiless after-life, heaven, lead all the saints in their shared moment of ultimate joy that proclaims their praise of God and their pleas for the Mercy that forgives all sinners on Earth and in Purgatory. Amen.

 15/08/2024

Textual scholars of the Bible supported by theologians tell us that St. John's Book of Revelation belongs to a class of late Judaic Literature that is termed Apocalyptic. This doesn't help me at all to understand the vision described by John.

St Paul even at his most ecstatic writes plain truth in plain words and his words make plain sense. Today he is writing to Corinthians of the first century. He and his listeners are expecting the end-times to be soon with them. We know that their expectations were not met and we are still living in Christian Hope.

Our Lady was born sinless. She was created as were our first parents to do the will of God and be the embodiment of his image of perfect humanity. She was part of God's eternal plan of mercy for his backsliding chosen ones.

The Word became incarnate from her human being, her flesh, her womb and for nine months she is literally, Theotokos. For thirty years she alone in all creation knew God first as a human child and then as a young man who during the next three years, completed in mortal time the revelation  of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

At the foot of the Cross she witnessed the completion of the Eternal Mercy and with John accepted the responsibility to care for us all with the human love that in her perfection was the image and likeness of the Divine Love that forgives us all when we too know, love and serve.

Of course Mary joined her son without the need for death for she is how God intends us all to be. I have much to atone for and expect the Mercy of God to be tempered by His Justice before the day this human body has to answer for how I lived during my time on Earth.

                 Holy is his name and his Mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

                                   

 14/08/2024

The "visions" that were seen by all the prophets were all recorded in words. It is the power of words to inspire the imagination of man that impress us with their magic. That was true for all of mankind up to the middle of the twentieth century. But...... 

Today far more wondrous visions can be produced by a flick of a switch in the homes of most of the world. Images on our screens capture our imaginations and mostly lead us to believe in the ultimate power of mankind. Visions of "Glory" are a dime a dozen; who is going to read the words of  long dead prophets?

The Gospel for today is much more naturally realistic. The situation is ordinary life. How do we deal with malefactors? 

The Incarnation is not a vision. It is ordinary life. It is a historical event of human time. Son of Father, Son and Holy Spirit divested himself of divinity to be born as are all human beings. His first breath became a squall when smacked into life by the wife of the innkeeper, maybe one of the shepherds, ? We don't know who performed this necessary service for that helpless one who is the creator of all that is our universe and our being, but we are sure that he did begin to breathe as do we all.

Jesus teaches us that we have to confront misbehaviour whenever we encounter it. We chastise and are chastised by our children. Our societies try to govern by the rule of Law. What can I do when the Law has lost its moral compass? What can I do when the Church, the community of the people of God has always been flawed in its assertions about itself based on misinterpretations of today's Gospel?

Jesus did not crown St Peter with a triple crown. When we do gather consciously in the presence of God we have only one thing to ask of the Father. We have to ask for his loving care and grace for all of us to do his will on earth. Jesus taught us the Lord's Prayer and it is the only prayer we need to follow Jesus in his life that was lived totally for others. St Maximillian pray for us.

Dear Lord,  today we remember another saint of our times. There are people still living who knew St Maximillian and witnessed his choice. Most of your people do not have the opportunity to make such a courageous choice. We do all have the opportunity to seek out your mercy by prayerful recollection that we are not the stuff of cinematographic unreality but we have the reality of being that you have given to us, Help me this day to continue to live knowing your mercy bolstered by the hope that I will not offend you in anything I do or think. May Mary lead all the saints in their prayers for all sinners on Earth and in Purgatory and may we all never forget that it is the sin of humanity that crucified the living body of Jesus and that the same body became not a vision but the reality of the Resurrection; your Promise to all of us.

 13/08/2024

Ezekiel's acceptance of the Word of God is total. He has a hunger to know that he is doing the "will of God" and consumes the scroll with delight. It is "as sweet as honey" even though it does contain "lamentations, wailings and moanings". The "Word of God" is always "Good News" especially when it reveals our ""secret" sinfulness. We cannot live lives targeted on holiness, the righteousness on Earth that is pleasing to Father, Son and Holy Spirit, without following the "road-map" that is revealed in the scriptures.

The Psalmist is also overcome by the joy that is his when he receives grace and recognises that he is secure in the Love that comes from God. He needs nothing more than to bathe in the delight that it is to be known by, and to know God.

Long after Ezekiel and the Psalmist, the Incarnate Word, the sweet delight known by both of them, walks in the Holy Land. He is "true man" amongst his fellows. He is the "only begotten" Son who has first, as do we all, lived known only to his mother and after the Nativity in the obscurity of Nazareth. He has come because the "Chosen People" have not lived up to the Love lavished on them by the Father.

I can see in my own life the same pattern of devotion followed by backsliding that is displayed by the chosen people in the Old Testament. This is displeasing to God. We know that God is far greater than any human emotion that may sway us. We have to bow before him but he has created us as responsible beings who can implement from within his creation the Loving Will that is the origin of the "Big Bang" that still reverberates throughout the Universe and he knows when his will is not followed.

The twelve named "New Chosen Ones" who are going to be called "Friends" by the Son of God have accepted God's call for what it is but are all too human and the "What's in it for me " of human self-hood has to continually be put down. 

Poor Judas fails completely,  it is the will of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that the our sins can only be washed away by the "Blood of the Lamb" but Peter and the others who were lost to sight of during the trial of Jesus were renewed by the Resurrection.

Today the worldliness of the disciples is evident. Jesus, our relationship with God is always about freedom of will, does not tell them point blank that before possible rank therein, we have to think about how to enter "The Kingdom".

The great irony of the Church founded on St Peter is that it is she that has become the model for all worldly institutions. She was the very first institution with a management structure and the original model of all "Mission Statements". 

Jesus, however, during his trial, stated that "My Kingdom is not of this world" and in today's Gospel tells us that to enter his Kingdom we have to become totally devoted to "Our Father" who is the Loving Mercy that can find and forgive all sinners, with the total devotion of a little child not with any managerial competence.

Dear Lord, you know all my sins and that I am as penitent as I have ever been. I know that I am a disappointment to my self when I sin, Let me become more aware of the actual pain you endured as you prepared for your" time" in the garden and carrying the cross. Clear out the rubbish from my memory and let me welcome the cleansing of my soul that comes with forgiveness. May my prayers join those of Mary and all the saints that all sinners can be open to the Loving Mercy that is the being of the Kingdom. Amen.

 12/08/2024

Both the Old Testament and the New have moments when they speak of the Glory of God. For many of us throughout the centuries these reports of visions were how we tried to picture God's actual "being".  

The Incarnation means that Jesus, true man and true God, could become the visible focus of our worship but even the New Testament has tried to describe the "Glory" of the Nativity and Transfiguration. The last book, Revelations, is solely concerned with picturing the Kingdom of Heaven and there have been many who have been captivated by the details of this vision.

The man, Jesus, only begotten Son, lived a human life in this world, an infinitesimal speck of matter in the Universe. He lived exactly in the same way as do all of us. From conception to the tomb he is true man which is to say a true mammal, a being created out of the Eternal Glory that he loves as Son of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God has always believed in us and knows that we are capable of producing great wonders. He also knows that we are all material beings that can enjoy the delights of this world which we are ravaging more and more to produce a wealth that is leading us into deeper and deeper temptation to believe only in ourselves. 

Jesus is the perfect sinless human being that is formed to have the freedom to live and govern itself into the imitation of God that we have to be in order to complete God's vision of us. We can, all of us, complete our lives in God's Holiness but only if we accept the teaching for which the Crucifixion is only the beginning.

Dear Lord, help me to live out this day in a prayerful reality ready to do your will. Jesus walked through the dust of Palestine humbly teaching the men who could not completely understand his message until the Glory of the Resurrection overpowered all of them. Help me to remember how True God and True Man by his miraculous powers, gave us the signs pointing to the Resurrection as  the final reality of this world for us all and that all the work of preparation has already been done for us. We only have to rise above the tide of the materialism of this world, captivating as it may be, and open our hearts to the grace that flowed out of the side of Christ Crucified on Calvary. May Mary and all the saints help us all on earth to persevere in doing your "Will on earth as it is in heaven" and in Purgatory accepting the Justice of punishment, tempered with Mercy that results from our own faithlessness. Amen