28/05/2025

In the ancient world of European/ Middle eastern pagans it was the Greeks who had attained the highest levels of wealth and power in the Mediterranean, Asia Minor and the Levant. The world that witnessed the Incarnation was one dominated by Greek culture although it had become the Roman Empire

The final pages of Old Testament history are the account of the struggle between Temple Religion, pure Judaism, and those who copied the Hellenes, even to the extent of disguising their own circumcisions.

It seems from the report in the Acts that Paul in addressing the Aeropogatus that he was preaching a monotheistic interpretation of the "Meaning of Life" that had been unheard in Athens before he had stood in front of them. 

There was a synagogue in Athens. Paul also preached there and in the Agora. It is very unlikely that the Jewish belief in an unseen all powerful deity was not known in Athens before Paul preached. 

The scornful disbelief of the "learned and clever" was directed at the "Resurrection".

The "Resurrection" is the event that is the conclusion of the Supreme Being's revelation of himself as Creator God, Trinity of persons. "IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT" is our loving Father who has made himself known throughout Millenia and given us during the Incarnation the exact path that we need to follow to become the perfect humans whom he will welcome into his mansions.

"Scornful disbelief" arising out of the same self-pride and power over  God's Creation, people and materials as the Councillors of Athens is as dominant in our world of today as it has ever been.

I have to ask myself what it was in the Palestine of the first Roman century that it required "so great a Saviour" and what it is about now that we have not been blotted from the face of the Earth.

Mary's answer as always provides the "Be it done to us according to thy will" with which we can recognise the greatness of Our Father and pray for his grace to be upon us.

 27/05/2025

Today the Church that was founded by Jesus to maintain awareness of the loving presence of IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT throughout the created Universe celebrates the mission it received from the Resurrection using the words of Isaiah that proclaim the year of Old Testament "Jubilee".

St Gregory the Great did not seek to free the "Angelish" slaves from Britain but sent Augustine to evangelize those "Angels".

When he began his personal mission as recorded by Luke, Jesus used the same words, the Jubilee proclamation, "I am sent to give the good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives", to announce himself and his mission in the Synagogue at Nazareth, they were received by a fervour of hatred which would not subside even when he was a corpse hanging from the cross.

At this moment I am overcome by the richness of meanings that can be generated out of today's texts and pray that I do not get tangled up in all the economic, political and spiritual significances that can be generated out of the historical events and words of these Mass Readings.

I am one man and responsible for my own soul. I am quite happy with this my place and being for I know that there is nothing better that anyone can do with the gift of life than to be open to the significance of the Scriptures and strive to live in accordance with God's revelation of himself.

The primary mission that each of has in this finite world is to live according to the will of the Father by following the way, truth and life that is Son in order to be welcomed into the Glory of Eternity, that is Holy Spirit.

There is nothing greater than this to be known on Earth and it is by this Faith that we all can be saved.

Thanks be to God. Maranatha Lord! 

 26/05/2025

This morning St. Paul, St  Luke and their companions must have welcomed the guidance of the Holy Spirit as they continued their mission into Europe.

It is in the Acts that we see the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy at the Last Supper remembered by St John in today's Gospel.

The Psalmist sings of the reciprocal "delight" that is created when we knowingly maintain the alignment of our wills with that of the Father and prove this by our deeds.

Jesus tells the Apostles present with him at "The Last Supper" that they must not be deterred by the resistance that the Chosen People will continue to make not only to Jesus' words but to his very person when they, the Mystical Body of Christ, begin to fulfil their roles as witnesses to the Incarnation of the whole being of IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT by becoming the Church.

At the conclusion of this discourse Jesus walks out to pray in the Garden and then all is turmoil and denial as he stands alone to face the Chief Priests and Roman Governor. Jewish Temple and Roman State are united, acting together to condemn the author of Life to a criminal's death.

God knows that I pray each day to be able to access his grace for I do believe that we all can live only by every word that comes from the mouth of God, but even as I type these words my mind is turning to what I must do next in this "time of my life".

It has always been very difficult for me to live up to my own thoughts and control my own deeds.

 25/05/2025

The human wrangling that was part of the first days of the Church was focused on how Jews were to accept the complete teaching of Jesus who, himself a Jew, was the completion of IAMIAM's revelation to his chosen ones.

In the letters of St Paul we can recognise one source of what has become for us established doctrine that we can reflect upon. In the letters and Gospel of St John there is much more direct remembrance of the teaching of Jesus the Rabbi whom St Paul did not meet until after the Resurrection.

"Early Church" is much more than words. It is living people who came together to pray for many of them had witnessed the undeniable truth that a man from Galilee who had been crucified, died and was buried had been witnessed to be still alive and could be seen as still human "but with something greater" that obscured their first glimpses of him.

We are still that "Early Church" but our "first glimpse" of Jesus has now had two thousand years of human thinking, acceptance denial and piety to obscure our "Soul-sight". The heavenly Jerusalem that although vast beyond comprehension was seen as a spiritual reality by John's human sense of sight is purer than even the sharpest laser and is still so today.

For two millennia most of  the people living in this world seem to have missed the main point of the Jesus Revolution. God tells us that he is greater than we can possibly imagine. We are created by the Love that is IAMFATHERSOHOLYSPIRIT. It is possible for even me to live without sin for there is no end to the Mercy that we have to know, love and serve. We do this by truly living for the Kingdom which is not of this world and by completely rejecting the values of Mammon even when they seem to have been devoted to God.

The "The Donation of Constantine" and "Patrimony of Peter" are simply  lies which have refused to his face Jesus' words "My kingdom is not of this world" and has been been a weight around the neck of most of our Roman Popes.

Jesus is the only real-time revolutionary event that is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow all the "physical wealth, nations and knowledge" that has been made by man  before and since "those days" is sure to pass away but the words and deeds of Jesus, "The Pure Love of God" will be with us as they always have been since the beginning of time. We are completely free to make our own choice , remembering always that it is the cross not the man-built Temple that saves our souls.

I pray that I will continue to choose the right path and follow it with sincerity of faith made known by always discerning the will of the Father for it is that that I must follow.

 24/05/2025

In the today's reading taken from the "Acts", St Paul is informed by the Holy Spirit that he has to avoid the Roman Provinces of Asia and Bithynia and continues his mission until he reaches Troy where he is again guided by the Holy Spirit to continue into Europe.

As regards the history of salvation the circumcision of one man seems to be pretty much a small issue but the Jews who were ever present throughout "gentile" cities and provinces of the Roman empire would not have accepted that an uncircumcised man could be inspired by God and so Paul circumcised Timothy.

This circumcision is one of acts of the Apostles. It did take place before "The Council of Jerusalem" and would have been part of the unrecorded discussions which resulted in the abandonment of  the idea that Jewish cultural practises are a requirement for God's will to be done on Earth.

Jesus makes it quite clear that we have to always strive to live as he did during his lifetime on earth. He makes it clear that the beauty of Pharisaical thought and liturgy must not confuse us as to our human obligations. We have to act on this earth as if we were already in heaven. 

The Resurrection is the completion of Jesus, the true man, Son of IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT. It is the final act of God on this material earth. From that time onwards beginning with the Acts of the Apostles we have the responsibility to live bodily lives that denounce the human focussed values of this world but are ruled by the spiritual love and mercy that has created, begotten and lives in the Mystical Body of which we can form a part by joining the prayer that is always basically 

 "Be it done to me according to thy word".

Mary was the only person after Adam/Eve to be created a sinless human being. She was therefore able to become Theotokos and is exactly what this title proclaims her to be.

 23/05/2025

In a way we can say that today's reading from the Acts marks the formal beginning of the Church as an institution, a fellowship of believers in the Resurrection, secure in the Holy Spirit. 

There is an issue raised. It is discussed by the "Portico of Solomon" representing believers in the Resurrection and an answer is sent to Antioch where it will be again discussed and also implemented.

 Although it no longer exists except in this report in the Acts, the letter carried to Antioch by Barnabas and Paul is an answer to the question "Does the Law of Moses apply to all followers of "The Way?" and the James' dictum is accepted as the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I suppose that the undoubted "Synodality" of the decision and that it was James who signed the "decretal" caused problems for St Peter's understanding of his appointed role as "Rock" on which the faith of the world was to rely for leadership. We do know that very many good men could not accept the decision and preached against it and against its supporters.

John's Gospel is taken from the final teaching of Jesus to those at table with him in the Upper Room. He makes no mention of "decretals" or hierarchies. He is summing up the purpose he  (IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT) had in the Incarnation. John remembers that Peter knew that he,  John, was somehow "different" from his fellow Apostles and receives Jesus' enigmatical reply "What is that to you?" when he points this out to Jesus "What of this man?"

Jesus' total life is a demonstration of the Love that he commands us to have for each other. My life has to be lived not for myself. We all have to strive to put our self-love behind us "get thou behind me Satan". We have to remember that St Peter was forgiven for the greatest act of treachery ever perpetrated by man but that it was the three Marys and John who received the corpse from the Cross.

The final events of the human life of Jesus were a living memory for many of those who sought out "the way" in the early Church. It is to follow them in knowing, loving and serving that I am still alive. 

Lord help me to live righteously.

 22/05/2025

Today's readings continue with more of Jesus' final teaching from the Gospel of St John and the first collective decision made by the nucleus of the New Church. 

I do not know why Peter and the others are so convinced that the Holy Spirit is with the gentile believers just as it is with "us" to whom God has spoken through Prophets and given the Law of Moses.

This first council of the Church is the beginning of "Christianity" as an institution in this world. The institutional "foundation stone" appointed by Jesus presents the issue. James, the brother of the Lord, answers not to "Peter", so named by Jesus, but to "Simon". The first decision proclaimed by James establishes for ever how we are to live out our worldly lives.

We know that there must have been much more to it than the "press release" issued by James. Christian Jews continued to have difficulty in accepting that the bodily rite of circumcision was not a precondition for holiness and continued to be at each other's throats or even pulling each other's beards for many years and schisms to come.

From the time of the "Annunciation" it has been revealed that IAMIAM is a Trinity of persons. The more we know about God the greater is our understanding that an infinite gulf separates us. We can only come to know this because IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT reaches out to us and we are free to respond.

Most of the the Jewish Christians had not flocked to follow Jesus during his lifetime. In this they were normal humans who can respond to miracles but are loth to commit themselves to the way of life demonstrated in this case by Jesus and the  Apostles. The total commitment to Resurrection Faith displayed and preached by their fellow Jews, however, was not confined to those who had been born into the exclusivity of the Chosen People and this they could not bear.

Jesus, however, had not been condemned for being a Jew he had been condemned for blasphemy. He had claimed in many different ways to be a Divine Unity with the Father. He had promised to send an Advocate and The Holy Spirit had been received by all the congregations. This is accepted by Jew and Gentile Christian without quibble and yet the Jewish Christians can still challenge the Christian Orthodoxy that does not include Circumcision and the Law as indispensable to Righteousness in this world. 

God is IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT. "Go out and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit". There are not many of us who rely on the Holy Spirit who display this so that it is instantly recognisable to others as it seems to have been in the earliest days of the Church.

I am always quite thrilled to remember that "Veni  Sancti Spiritus" which should be sung in all Roman Rite Masses on Whit Sunday was composed by a man born about 12 miles from where I am now writing. Early Christianity began a long way away from here but did arrive in the fulness of time. Deo Gratias