07/12/2024

Today is the Feast Day of St Ambrose.

We can, all of us, during our life-times, find the Grace of the Holy Spirit that we need to walk on the path that is conforming to the will of God. It depends on our sincerity in seeking it out.

St Ambrose and his contemporary St Augustine are pillars of the Catholic Church, an Institution which  claims itself to be the source and guardian of  Jesus in the Sacramental Form he created at the Last Supper.

Even before the lifetime of St. Ambrose there were many unhappy divisions within the communities that formed the infant Church.

 It seems to me that in many ways St Ambrose, former Imperial Governor of Milan can be seen as an example of how the Roman Church became the Triple Crowned kingdom in this World  and thus deformed itself by not living up to Jesus' "My kingdom is not of this world" uttered in the presence of another Imperial Governor, Pontius Pilate.

Our lives are lived out in this world. God created us to be able to make the right choices to fulfill the Love, IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT, that "In the Beginning" looked at His creation and knew that it was good. 

I am sure that the institutional church known to St Ambrose was already losing its way for even then the ability to rule in this world was esteemed as a standard for those chosen for the Ecclesiastical Ministry that was already becoming entwined with the politics of government.

St Ambrose's  subsequent life, however, proved him to be a worthy spiritual descendent of the Apostles and tells me that it is I who have to be careful of how latching on to one historical fact (Bishop Ambrose was unbaptised when he was called to Office ) feeds my pride and reveals a weakness in lack of trust that God is the support of all that is good in this world.

There have been many saintly individuals within the Churches of East and West but the claims of both Rome and the Greek Orthodox to be the sole source of salvation in this world are just not true and have been the downfall of many of us whose faith has been more than scandalised by the failure of Churchly Institutions to be any better than the Jewish Scribes and Pharisees, who were the only people condemned in public, by Our Lord.

It is the failure of individuals to follow the right path that results in the corruption of all worldly institutions even those that have God's Word to guarantee their foundation. 

Dear Lord, I hope to avoid sin this day. Help me! May I become one with all the Saints and Mary in the community of Spirit that is the unseen power of Love in which we have image and likeness to your Infinity that cannot be known but can be only worshipped by reciprocation of that Love. Let me truly know the freedom that, with the help of  your grace, can know that today it has made a right choice and holds firmly to a place in the New Holy Family that was founded by your direct command  from the Cross to Mary and John. May my sins and those of the whole world find the forgiveness that is confirmed by Justice in Purgatory and the sure hope of the Holy Souls who now know that their mortal guilt has been overwhelmed by the Infinity of Mercy that is the Eternally Glorious Resurrection of  the Son that is IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT. Amen.

 06/12/2024

Jesus fulfills the future that is the complete holiness of mankind proclaimed in today's first reading by Isaiah and then praised by the confident joy of the Psalmist.

Even the learned and clever, those who go away in the spirit and believe in their own version of the  present reality of their lives, will come to the realisation that what they are aware of now, their own being existing in time, what they can understand from the past, mankind's record of our place in creation and the unknowable future can also with the favoured "little ones" become the children of God.

For when he sees his children, 

the work of my hands in his midst, 

they will sanctify my name; 

they will  sanctify the Holy One of Jacob 

they will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

Two thousand years ago "Emanuel", Son of IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT, Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the faith of David.

I believe I shall see the Lord's goodness 

in the land of the living.

Jesus walked the earth proving himself to the then-living by many signs and wonders and completed all that we the now-living, need to know on earth so that we can open our Souls, eyes and ears our very being to His Justice and thus 

We can be strong; wait for the Lord

be stout hearted and wait for the Lord.

For his Mercy is the never-ending stream of life poured out by him, for us on Calvary.

Dear Lord, you know everything and so I could sit back now and do nothing more and passively wait for my life to end. I know very little except that I am a living soul, a mortal body that is living in creation and that I have to actively fight against the tendency to sin that has always marred my life. I would like to become a serene presence in my own being, confident in You, untroubled by the Devil, World or Flesh but freedom is an essential if we are to become what it is you know us to have the potential to be. Let me know your will and help me access the Mercy that never ceases to fill up the Communion of Saints with the Struggling and Forgiven Sinners that enables mankind to become the "Image and Likeness" of You our Creator. Amen

 05/12/2024

Today I am very much having to control my thoughts to be able to recollect what I have just read this Thursday morning in the first week of Advent. The "Lord, Lord " discourse has frequently impressed itself on my mind and I have also frequently fallen away from the sincerity that Jesus thereby warns us all cannot be disguised from IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT.  

I can choose to reinforce the shield of sin that I use to block out my soul from receiving Grace, very much as I use sun screen to protect my skin, and this, deliberately ignoring God, can lead to the frenzy of sin leading to more sin and my soul thus, encased as a tortoise is by its carapace, my sin completes the work of devil, world and flesh.

I cannot be the judge of anything else but my own conduct. However,  it seems to me that the human community to which the prophet and psalmist of the first readings belong  has very successfully survived aware of sin, but very rarely avoided it, lost as it is in a total fixation on itself.

Jesus the perfect Jew is totally the opposite to the "Chosen People" in that everything he does and teaches is for all sinners, Jew, "Listen Israel IAM the Lord" and Greek "In the beginning was the Word" who now and then are seen in the laser light, which pierces our shield of sin, of God's Love for each individual soul, sinful or righteous. and calls us all to do his Will during our lifetimes. 

Isaiah and the Psalmist really do praise the Lord with words and poetic images but Jesus warns us with love for each individual that sincerity is not optional for  "the rains fell, the floods came, the wind blew and beat against that house and it fell, and  great was the fall of it." Sand cannot be disguised as rock . "Our Father who is in heaven" cannot be deceived and guides us all with revelations of Eternal Truth.

Dear Lord help me to overcome temptation as I live out this day. Help me be true to you in all that I endeavour and help me to show your love to my family that they too become able to return to you in prayer and thanksgiving. May Mary the greatest of created beings continue to lead Angels and Saints in praise of your Glory and may my "Lord Lord" become the reality of my being that you have created to know, love and serve. May the humble petitions of the Communion of Saints bring forgiveness to all sinners on Earth and in Purgatory. Let me break free of all that keeps me from total acceptance of your  will for me and let my "Lord, Lord" become a direct-line to your infinite Grace and totally sincere. Amen

 04/12/2024

Today's readings are dominated by the "Loving Kindness" or "Parental Care" that all humans have received throughout our historical past and our present lives, first from IAMIAM as revealed through the Old Testament prophets. 

The psalmist exults in the guidance of the "Good Shepherd" who reveals his perfect love in the kindness of his deeds, done for the sake of his being and not because of any merit on our part.

Isaiah has a vision of the end of time when the whole world shall be saved on the Mountain of the Lord where there will be perfect peace for all creation. The creation that has been marred by man will become the perfection of bodily and spiritual life that has always been  God's target for our freedom to aim for and achieve by recognising and accepting his will.

In the New Testament Jesus reveals the completeness of God. 

IAMIAM is IAMFATHERSONOLYSPIRIT. 

The pride of mankind has always resisted the Truth that we have to subdue our own being to be able to recognise and live by in this world. Many of the Chosen People did revolt against God and his Prophets.

The Acts and Pastoral Letters reveal the same revolt as a fight for unity in the very early days of Apostolic Resurrection Faith. Many of our Church Fathers struggled to maintain unity as expressed by the words  of belief, our Creed. 

Whenever the early Church was free from Jewish and Pagan persecution the resultant peace was always shattered by prideful Bishops who not only disagreed with each other but also used mob and state violence as had done the High Priests and Pharisees against Our Lord, to establish their version of Truth and control their "Kingdom" which was a Church of East and West very much of this world.

The Institutional Church has always been part of this world but in fulfilment of the words of Christ it has never been abandoned by the grace and every word that comes from the mouth of God for from the cross he left us all in the care of his sinless mother and beloved disciple John. 

"Heaven and Earth may pass away but My Word will stand" is the guarantee that no matter how sinful our own, and the lives of our worldly pastors, the Grace of God still reaches out for us to access from the  Communion of Saints that is the Living Reality of all souls, the  Forgiven, the Still Vulnerable and the Thankfully Penitent, Triumphant, Militant and Suffering. We have all been and still are trusted by Our Father to make the right choice by denying the world, flesh and Devil. 

We only have today to do so, now is always the favourable time.

Dear Lord, help me continue to raise my heart and mind to you by being in control of my body and my mind. Let me know that aligning myself to your revelations is the only way to become what you have planned for me to be in the future. Help me to be less focussed on my self and let me learn how to beseech your grace to be shared by all my family and all living souls. May Mary and all the Saints continue in their support for all of us who seek to do your will on Earth by avoiding sin and acknowledging failure by seeking your forgiveness. Let us all hope to rejoice with the forgiven Holy Souls in Heaven after the atonement that is a share in your pains on Calvary. Amen

 3/12/2024

As I begin to pray today I read the first reading for today's mass, it is from the prophet Isaiah. As with most of the Old Testament prophets I know the name but very little about how he lived out  his life in Israel.

I also know very little about the psalmist.

I know much more about the life of Jesus and his teaching to his friends and have have tried throughout my life to recognise his truth and conform my life to it.

Isaiah is used by IAMIAM to help prepare his chosen people for the great joy that he has prepared eternally for them to accept when he is Emanuel in Time and Human form. David too unknowingly sings of the "Incarnate Lord" and that "All nations will call him blessed".

Of all the Jews so favoured by IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT and so dedicated to the study of the Scriptures, the ones who have wisdom and understanding are bypassed by the final revelation.

The first knowledge of the Incarnation is given to a young girl and a humble carpenter. It is their eyes "That are first blessed to see what you see."

 The wise and understanding have still to work hard to become the Unequivocal Marian YES. Less than three hundred years after the Resurrection they were already arguing about Son and Father and Spirit and also even killing each other in support of their "wisdom and understanding".

Filled with the Joy of the Holy Spirit Jesus proclaims to his disciples of all generations the Trinity, IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT and this what we need to believe to support our search for righteousness, conformity to the will of God.

"All things have been handed over to me, by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

Dear Lord, may you be known thus to me as it was to Mary, according to thy word. Dissension came into the Churches founded by the Apostles much too soon and was exasperated by the worldliness that first arose about property and human pride of intellect and person. There have always however been those who were enabled to resist error and innovation. God is with us to the end of time, but we have to make the effort to lose all our worldliness knowing that he is the Eternal "All in All" into which we have been created to be welcomed . May Mary and all Angels and Saints who rejoice with FatherSonHolySpirit implore that the never ending mercy of heaven flow down onto all sinners on Earth and in Purgatory. May these the words of my prayer be a sincere worship and petition uttered in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

 02/12/2024

Each morning I have to confirm my believe in God by these my personal prayers of the Faith that I support by reflections on the Scriptures. The Scriptures that I read are those chosen for the mass of the day by the Catholic Church.

The Jews who became the first Christians had already belief in the supreme being whom they did not name except by what I  express as IAMIAM. They also had a belief in what they termed the Law. It was by their devotion to this Law that they were able to aim for Righteousness.

As a modern Catholic Christian I am aware that there must have been something intolerable in creation, the world of 2000 years ago, for FATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT  as he emptied himself of his divine immensity and chose to follow that same life route  as all his created mammals to become as human as we all are. He thus still trusted humanity to make his final revelation but in order to do so it is he who becomes true man from conception to the grave.

Jesus praises the Centurion  for his "faith" which the Centurion explains by a simple analogy between his own power derived from military discipline and the power he recognises in Jesus' own person. 

As we prepare for Christmas we will find many such incidents in the Scriptures in which the power of God is displayed by the man Jesus. The Angels sing, the shepherds worship, the Sages bring gifts and Herod, the non-Jew King appointed by the Romans will make the first attempt to kill the Son of God.

Dear Lord you know how I am perturbed that you yourself become man to ensure for me and for all of us salvation by following your way, truth and life. You know that we are still not really following your will on earth in these modern times. Is your Church any better than were the scribes, priests and pharisees of your day? Are we anymore righteous than the crowds who chanted "Crucify him, Crucify him"? Help me to access your grace so that I can do your will on Earth and join my prayers with those of Mary and all the heavenly chorus that my life will become all that you will me to be. Help me to know, love and serve by following you to my own personal death and thus be ready for the Loving Mercy that is your eternal being. Amen.

 01/12/2024

We should be ready every moment of our lives to be judged by God. I hope that it will happen for me in a less stark way than that sentence implies. I have lived for many years tied up in the affairs of this world. I have struggled against my personal sins and being tied up with the business of living in this beautiful world.

The Lord looked on what he had created and saw that it was good. Even human beings have a part in that unequivocal "good" and are still trusted by IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT to join him in maintaining that good which is to be found specifically in the "image and likeness" that is the human soul.

I have rarely fulfilled the obligations that are the will of the Father for all mankind. In this I am not alone and even, very shortly after the "Resurrection" there was dissent about how to complete God's will in this world among the very Apostles and disciples who had seen  the Risen Lord and received his final command.

What we now know as the Church has grown in this world over the last 2000 years and has maintained her teaching, preaching the word of God, in the face of great internal and external opposition but has always been contaminated by the sins of those who have fought against the teaching of Jesus to pridefully  present their own version of the Truth. 

Jesus is present in the Institutional Church ."This is my body". And where is Jesus there is IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT. "Woman behold your son, Son behold your mother" is the Spiritual Church of Love, the New Holy Family which has always saved our Faith from the damage which ignoring "My Kingdom is not of this world" has inflicted upon us and the "Church."

The very best thing that the Eastern and Western Catholic and Orthodox institutions have achieved is the preservation of the Scriptures and with them Liturgical Prayer and Seasons. Today She begins Advent and we all can follow Jesus' advice about Pharisees given to his friends "Listen to their words but do not do as they do" and thus prepare with Mary and Joseph to welcome God into the world.

Dear Lord, help me to become that being whom you have created me to be. Help me to keep on trying to understand how I can prepare  to leave this life and become a soul in your presence together with Mary and all the Saints. May the communion of Saints become a reality for me and let the prayers of your Holy Ones bring your Mercy to us sinners on Earth and to those saved and happily accepting the penitential regime of Purgatory. May those who mistake their personal pride for love of You be shaken up so that they do not continue with their self-centered perversions of truth to lead the little ones that they have forgotten that they too are into the Temptation that is the flash-in the-pan headline only religion that insults both You and us, God and man. Amen