19/11/2024

I suppose that we all have replicated in our own lives the difficulties that St John reprimands in the Churches he has founded in Sardis and Laodicea. At first, we receive the Good News with an enthusiastic joyfulness and  devote our time and thoughts to becoming the People of God.

We, however, are living our mortal lives in time and as it passes we change and our awareness that we have been created by the love that "passeth all understanding" weakens into the wishy-washiness that John's vision is counteracting.

Those who have responded to the  calling that inspired the Apostles to drop everything and walk off behind the stranger must view in horror the backsliding from even the look-warm faith that has emptied their churches.

The meaning of "God with us", Emmanuel, is preached in St Paul's letters which encourage us to live our lives with the Faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. "Faith" is not shutting our eyes to the sin that is openly avowed and flaunted in these times, even by Bishops. 

In the past, secularly powerful warrior bishops and Crusade-Preaching Popes were obviously not following the will of God. Nothing can excuse the burnings of leaders and the slaughter of followers of those who pointed out the discrepancy between the Gross Mismatch between the wealth of the Church and the poverty of her founder.

During the first centuries  the Church founded on St. Peter was not only persecuted from without but also from within her ministers were beset by how to understand with their minds, live and preach with their words and lives the Resurrection and "every word that comes from the mouth of God" for that is the meaning of Jesus, God with us and the source of Eternal Hope, 

"Today salvation has come to this house because this man too, is a Son of Abraham, the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.

Dear Lord, help me to become fearlessly devoted to your teaching even though it is my nature to be weak and fearful. Let me benefit from reading the examples of martyrs and interpretations of your word. Give your strength to those who are able to give public voice to the devastation that has become the wreck of organized religion in this world. There are very few public figures left who are uncontaminated by "the learned and the clever" who are achieving the destruction of our Faith begun by those who nailed you to the cross 2000 years ago. May my prayers be joined with those of  Mary, all Angels and Saints that I avoid sin this day and that my sins and those of all sinners on Earth and in Purgatory receive the Mercy that is undeserved but is as always the free gift of your Love to us. Amen

 18/11/2024

Every day that I read the scriptures chosen over the centuries by the Church that has at its core the Resurrection, which brought joy to the hearts of the 11 surviving Apostles and the unnamed hundreds at that time and the billions since then, I try to adjust myself to this both worldly and heavenly reality and put all my attention on becoming truly devoted to God as I begin my day aware that I am always in the presence of IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT.

As I type these words there is always self-judgement simultaneously present in my mind. This wants me to be "brilliant" as the world reckons "brilliance" and mocks both my words and the honesty of the intentions they are meant to reveal.

I can do nothing about my "brilliance" but I can and do strive to be honest and can thus become tied up in the complexity of my being that has struggled for more than eighty years to become what Our Father has intended us all to become "image and likeness".

When I am finding Christianity to be a difficult struggle I can also imagine St Peter "but Lord, where should we go?" There is only one answer to that question which is put by our mortality to our need for a rational answer to the wonder of being. "Heaven and earth will pass away but my word will stand". 

There is nothing greater to be found by all struggling human beings than the "Faith" that always brings recovery even when we are determined to remain blind.

Dear Lord, Help me to avoid sinning this day by being always aware of and open to  your grace. Never let me forget that "Lord, Lord" is not enough and thus be open to the needs of all your children. May your mercy guide my children away from Mammon and let them become open to the everlasting Glory that can be theirs if they only open their eyes to realise the fundamentally flawed way that is the way of the world. May my prayers join those of Mary and all Angels and Saints both in thanks and praise of you and in pleading for the forgiveness of all us sinners on Earth and those paying the just price for their sins in Purgatory. Amen

 17/11/2024

I am always ready to listen to my soul and use my will-power to search for the will of "Our Father". I have read somewhere that the kingdom of heaven cannot be stormed, it is free gift; it is given to us; and is available every moment that we are alive in our bodies on earth.

It is "free" to us but a great price has been paid and we will pay a great price if we do not listen to it

I say "we will pay a great price" for during my life-time most people whom I have met do not agree with Faith in God  and interpret their own existence according to the rules of matter, Physics, Chemistry, Biology three Sciences ruled by the unseen power of Numbers.

All of us are aware of our being. Each of us becomes more and more aware of our selves the longer that we live and today I am most aware of my being as one who has not lived in the true response to the Father in whose Presence, my soul always knows that we are.

I am sitting now trying not to think for the immensity of God is a terrible thing to contemplate. How can the power of Being greater than the Universe be found and known by the speck that is my being. The crucifixion, Jesus hanging and bleeding out on Calvary, however, assures "Woman behold your Son, Son behold your mother" that he knows us eternally. He knows each one for by the death of Son IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT proclaims the Resurrection which is God's last gift to his creation.

Dear Lord, help me to do your will today by avoiding all temptation, especially the one that becomes pleased with what I have written. Help me to pay the price for my sins, although that is impossible for you know I have never been even since my childhood the pure soul that is  the result of Baptism. Help to use the season of Advent to find the forgiveness that I should know that there is for me and for all who sincerely say "The Apostles' Creed.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.

 16/11/2024

St John thanks the recipients of his letter for their care of the three strangers whom he had sent on to them.

We know of this seemingly trivial event of 2000 years ago because it is recorded by St John. We  know neither the people nor the timescale involved. The people of the New Testament were conscious not only of the Good News as a personal Faith but also knew of themselves as part of a New Community of the Holy Spirit that was growing out of the Jewish Diaspora.

We call that community Christianity today. Our founder Jesus makes sure that we remember that he attended the synagogue and took part in Temple festivities during his time on earth.

Today Jesus tells us all that he knows that we are human. He knows that it is easy for us to lose heart. It is by prayer that we fix our minds and hearts on heaven even as we live in the midst of the "nonsense-sphere" that is politics, entertainment, and sport which have become the most important part of  life for most of the world that is not living in an actual war-zone. They are the source and end of most economic activity that we engage in throughout our lives and are nonsense because they always come to an end even though God, IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRT, has made himself known and declared his loving intentions for us, the way, truth and light to Eternal Life.

Jesus' parable of the persistent widow who is finally treated fairly by the judge has many parallels in all the centuries since then. The scandal of the disgrace and imprisonment of falsely convicted Post Masters in the UK is one that is still ongoing.

He does, however, leave us with a rhetorical question that seems to have no logical connection to the parable but invites us to review the state of our personal faith now and to consider how little a part faith in God plays in our this worldly lives ruled entirely by Mammon.

Dear Lord, help me to remain this day aware of you and ready to be judged if you were to call me or bring to an end this faithless world. I know that I have many sins that need punishment and that I have responsibility for not being able to convince my family that being true to You, IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT is the source and also the eternal end of our lives in this world. May the mercy implored for us by Mary and all the Angels and Saints help me and all the world to believe and thus let there be "Faith" on Earth when you return. Let me always remember in prayer those who now come into my mind May our sins be forgiven and let us all finally share the Glory that is you. Amen

 15/11/2024

St John lived a long life. He was known by the other Apostles to have a special place in Jesus' affections. This has given rise to many calumnies about Jesus and his Apostles. Actually leaning on Jesus  at the Last Supper is a difficult act to replicate. The only thing about it to repudiate is the false interpretation of its significance.

The love for others that is preached by John can be experienced within our families. Parents for children and children for parents. Jesus' recognises that this is a natural relationship which is an integral, "printed code" part, in varying degrees, of the physical being of all created animals. "Who would hand a stone  to his child when he asks for bread?

John's lifetime witnessed a growth in deceivers who tried to impose their own learning onto the earliest of ecclesiastical communities. 

In the  Church that met in the Upper Room and in the Portico of Solomon there were many sincere Pharisees and others who couldn't deny the wonder of the Resurrection and the events of the past three years but still had to clear out the baggage of the "Law" which they loved and had worked hard to acquire. 

The Church that is the Body of Christ is not a gift in appreciation of the intelligence of mankind. She has always had to be very careful about how to handle the interpretations of Scriptures made by the clever and the wise who are  always ready to offer their own version of what is God's will revealed through the prophets and completed by Incarnate Son who has to die to bring about Salvation.

Today I have noticed the grammar of the question asked by the Disciples. They don't ask "When?" about the coming of the kingdom but "Where?" which is a response to Jesus' "The Kingdom of God is among you". We have to open our hearts and minds for "My Kingdom is not of this world" and is thus incorporeal, we have to recognise and implore the Holy Spirit for the Grace to persevere as humble believers and be without any pride in what has to be obedience to the will of the self-revealing IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT. 

No-one can explain God who is always greater than  any person or thing that is within this creation that we know during our lifetimes. We all have to accept that we have to accept and share his love for us with the whole world. This is the only way we can become the beings that our God has created us to be. "Thy will be done" has to be fulfilled by faithful loving service and obedience.

Dear Lord when I open my heart to you, I know that I can do your will but also know that any sinfulness on my part comes about by my own failures to be honest. Your love is always available to hold back my cooperation with the devil that is my own disobedience to your will. Help me to, this day, remain in your love by sharing it with all sinners still on Earth or in Purgatory. and may the angels and saints led by Mary sing your praises as those souls who have availed themselves of your Grace join the eternity of Loving Glory that is part of the purpose your Creation. Amen.

 14/11/2024

All of Paul's letters are personal in that he always has either the people of the Church to whom he is writing or specific individuals in mind as he writes.  I can't forget his asking for the return of a tunic that he had left at Troy. "I can't forget" write I, but I can't remember whom he asked to do this personal service. 

He is also filled by the Holy Spirit when he admonishes, praises or corrects his Churches. He tells Philemon that when he is preaching the Word of God he can have no diffidence or concern for the reactions of reader or listeners.

Today's letter shows how the attitude of the Early Church to slavery was not one of instant aversion. Paul accepts that Philemon does have rights over the person of his escaped slave and offers compensation for any loss that he might have incurred as a result of Onesimus' desertion.

The Jesus we know from the Gospels also makes no allowances for the scruples of his listeners "Thou brood of vipers" could not have attracted any Pharisee to give a "fair-hearing" to his preaching. 

Today most of those who heard Jesus "The kingdom of God is among you" did not know that the words were literally true and that they were hearing, looking at and could even touch Son who was no allegory but the reality of IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT.

David knows that all the "good" in human life comes from the unseen power of God and can sing with "Joy in his heart" for he knows how God cooperates and shows us the happiness that it is to obey the Word of the Lord.

Dear Lord, You know that my letters to you are heartfelt and as sincere as I am able to make them. Prayer is becoming a delight and I thank you for the inspiration that turns my heart and soul to you each morning. You also know that by the time I go to bed I am unable to recollect the words spoken by you in this morning's Gospel even though I return to these my morning's offerings to You throughout the day. I know that you know me and that I am never truly alone. May my prayers be joined with those of those who stood at the foot of the cross in horror as you breathed your last. May your mother and ours lead all possible prayer directly to your heart and may we on Earth and accepting punishment in Purgatory be forgiven for accepting temptation in deeds that have allowed us to sin and add to the torments you suffered as a real man on Calvary. Come soon, Lord Jesu Come

 13/11/2024

"Enslaved by passions and luxuries" is hard to believe of St Paul. 

He had, as a student of "Pharisees", devoted his life before Damascus to the study of the Scriptures. When he stood by at the martyrdom of St Stephen it was not as an idle bystander but as one who thoroughly believed in the righteousness of the actions of those who threw the stones.

I have often allowed myself to be enslaved by emotions. I have often lost my self control and known at the time that I did so that I was not acting within the boundaries set by Our Father.

Jesus, the Incarnation, has come into the world not because there is anything we have done to attract his love. I have great difficulty in completing this thought but I have to say that it seems to be that Our Father could be regretting his trust in Adam and Eve.

There has to be a great enough reason for the creator to empty himself of "Godness" and take on to himself the pain of my sins and the sins of all the world and die. The learned and the clever tell us that the "Ever Greaterness of God" cannot be swayed by emotion.

Jesus at no time during his life on earth ever taught the "god of the Philosophers". Human logic and rationality can and do talk itself into a corner whereas Our Lord taught us to call God "Daddy", a Dad who knows each of us and wants only the best for us for he is IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT with arms outstretched on the Cross and open heart pouring out Love for each individual child known to him.

Dear Lord, I know that faith becomes hope and thus we have love that feeds our ability to live without sin. I frequently try to understand that you had to become man to be able to make a sacrifice sufficient to save us from our sins. We have always failed you, in the garden, in the Promised Land and in your Church but you still know that we can accept your Love to become sinless now. Help me to be an open heart to receive your Love and to return it to both You and my neighbour wherever he/she is to be found. May I join my prayers to those of Mary and the other Marys who stood with John aghast with despair at the foot of the cross that seemed to terminate your mission in failure. May our unified prayers bring the free gift of your mercy to us the undeserving sinners on earth and in Purgatory. May we be overpowered by the Love that is lavished like manna on the Chosen People and St Therese's rose petals on all the Universe to be accessed by those who seek out your way, truth and light. Amen