24/02/2026

I had no idea at all about what I was going to write this morning. That is true about most mornings but sometimes there is a sort of trend that I follow.

I was shocked this morning, however, that Jesus tells us not to pray as the "Gentiles" do. I had never associated the worship of idols with verbal prayer although I do vaguely remember having read somewhere a comparison between Ancient Egyptian "poetry" and the Psalms.

God knows that I have always been disturbed that he made a choice of the Jews to receive his direct revelation. I have always felt sorry for the neglected Gentiles. So, I have today belatedly realised that it was the whole world that was to have benefitted  from the way to holiness that the Jews of the Old Testament kept to themselves.

I have today realised that IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT does not respond to "Lord, Lord" but it is we who have to respond to him. We have to know, love and serve in the secret, except to Him, centre of our beings and never turn "prayer" into a show.

The ways of God are unknowable except to the extent that he reveals them to us. I believe that the Incarnation, Jesus, is Way, Truth and Life, the Living Word that is the only gate through which we sinners can pass through death into the presence of our Creator and Saviour. 

It is up to us how we present ourselves at the gate but we are not alone in this life as Jesus hears all our prayers, even those that we babble, and has created a place of spiritual safety for our souls in this world, the New Holy Family.

"Woman behold your son, Son behold your mother."

 23/02/2026

Monday Lent Week 1

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

 ‘Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them,

You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy"

Holiness is inseparable from Love. We owe our total beings, body and soul, to the Love that is the self-awareness of Our Father, IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT and reveals itself in Creation, the reality in which we know that we too have our being.

In the circumstances in which I was raised, the post-war culture of the victorious yet beaten and already declining British Empire, "holiness" was not in my experience greatly admired and usually defaced by sectarian antagonism.

We were, however, always ready to spot the hypocrisy of others. The word itself triggered images of the "Holy Joes", "holier than thou" sectarians, and tract distributing spinsters who had first appeared in the novels of Victorian England. 

That was "then" but in the "now" that is so different, I am able, thanks be to God, to understand that to aim after holiness is the only "safe" thing to do with our lives. Jesus  has given us ample warning that although his "kingdom is not of this world" it is on how we live without sin, in harmony with our neighbour in this world “Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.", that we will be judged.

Although today's Gospel begins with a separation of the flock into sheep and goats , which could be taken as an image of predestination, Jesus makes it clear that it is we who are in charge of our own lives. As "image and likeness", we have freedom to choose between the "ways" of this world and his revelation as "way, truth and life".

It was a huge wrench for the Apostles to accept that the Law had been superseded, perfected by the Incarnation and in many respects the Church subsequently failed to become free of the High Priestly entanglements with this world from which Jesus had freed her. How is it possible that any Pope could read, "My kingdom is not of this world " and still wear three crowns.?

During the1,500 years that the Church has definitely been part of this world to the extent of shaping the culture even of non Christian nations, war, i.e. neighbours killing neighbours, has never been absent and has even been promulgated by the Church founded by Christ. 

At the moment "this world" is again dominated by war and preparations for war. A nation which broke free from enslavement to the worldly "divine right of kings" is demonstrating its "manifest destiny" by threatening its perceived enemies with "shock and awe".

I have come to believe that there has never been a "just war". "Turn the other cheek" is another confirmation of  "Thou shalt not kill". The early Church was inspired by the Apostles that the return of Jesus would not be delayed. This Gospel still fills us with hope, but even during my lifetime I have witnessed the falling away of ever greater numbers of  believers. 

Modern man has been able to enhance the things of this world into marvels that are beyond the imaginings of my childhood and yet we are still the same beings, created to know, love and serve in this world as we reject corruptible worldly joys and fears, seeking only to do the will of Our Father in his Church of Love, the safety of the New Holy Family created on the Cross as he died on Calvary.

"Woman behold your son, Son behold your mother."

"M

 

 22/02/2026

First Sunday of Lent

Today the Church founded by Jesus guides us on this first Sunday of Lent by asking us to take stock of what, where and who we are.

We are not the first human beings. We are also not the first sinners.

The apex of the created material universe is the human being, Adam /Eve, who can now not only understand how he has developed from the simplest form of life but has also become capable of understanding and manipulating the matter of creation even to the extent of copying the intricacies of his own brain and produce non-living intelligent memory. We are, however, the product of the loving will of Our Father and so just, as with Jesus,  "there is something greater here".

IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT is the creator of all "being" but with us he has added to our "natural body" the "image and likeness", the freedom that is similar to, but impossibly to imagine smaller, than his own.

We are in the twenty-first century. We are still free.

We are part of the ninetieth generation that has lived and died since the reset of creation that was the Jesus Event, the real-time Incarnation of our God. I have for some time been unable to remain confident that the history of the Institutions that claim  to be the guardians of the sacramental presence of Jesus in this world are justified in their claim. I am not just disappointed by the failings of modern clergy but the bad deeds of historical Patriarchal Emperors in the East and Popes in the West does not convince me the Church has ever become the "kingdom that is not of this world", i.e. Jesus' own

We are followers of Jesus Christ. He has never deserted us.

Each one of us is free to become the recipient of the free gift of salvation created by the Incarnation. We are the followers of the Way, we recognise Truth and we seek Life, knowing that we can find them in the Church of Love, The New Holy Family for "if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man; much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ".

Jesus speaks to all of us from his cross and thus creates the loving familial security that we can all share.

"Woman behold your son, Son behold your mother."

 20/02/2026

Friday after Ash Wednesday

At the moment there is a lot of fuss being made in public about "fasting". Isaiah's message   in this morning's First reading warns the followers of IAMIAM that when they boast  about their devotion to following the Law of Moses i.e. "fasting", they have indeed "lost the plot".

The  relationship of our sun and moon in the material universe has brought it about that this year there is a coincidence between Ramadhan and Lent . I know that in the world there are millions of Moslems who have rejected the Resurrection and God's complete reset of our relationship with Him, by sincerely claiming that Mohammed is the final messenger of God. They are mistaken. Jesus warned us that this would happen.

The Church of Peter both in the West and the East, Rome and Byzantium became worldly organisations and took on political roles even before Constantine's Edict gave freedom to all religions in the Empire. They thus failed to honour Jesus' "My kingdom is not of this world" and generation after generation humanity continues in failing to "fast" of the things of this world and dutifully follow the way, the truth and the life that is Truth demonstrated by the  Incarnation, IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT himself living the life of any man.

On his Cross the bleeding corpse of the Son of God becomes the "loser" that is so much despised by the rich and powerful of my generation. On the third day he reveals to the whole world that there is "always something greater here" for the asking. Beyond physical death there is Eternal Life. God has always said this first to Adam, then to his chosen people and finalised his message at his trial and crucifixion.

"My kingdom is not of this world"   "Father forgive them for they know not what they do". "This day you will be with me in paradise" "Woman behold your son, Son behold your mother" "It is finished".

We have not been true to the teaching of Jesus just as his forefathers failed to listen to the prophets, even to the sublimity of Isaiah which is also "WORD OF THE LORD" Amen !

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice,  to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free

and to break every yoke?

7 

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them

    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

8 

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you;

    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

9 

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.” If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

10 

if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.

11 

The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places and make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail.

12 

Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach,  the restorer of streets to live in.

 19/02/2026

I have always comforted myself for my lack of understanding how to achieve worldly success by Jesus' words in this morning's Gospel. 

I am not alone in this and that is why those of us who try to live according to God's will are despised as "losers" by many of our  successful contemporaries. I have sometimes thought that being "despised" by the successful in this world is a mark of God's favour "Blessed are you when men revile you".

With Jesus, however, "there is always something greater here". The warning "what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his own life?" is not to be used, as I have done as a defence for my incompetent weakness and failures, but as our personal challenge to overcome all the material temptations of this life, chief of which is our sense of self, our egos. 

The whole of Jesus' teaching is that every human life has to  accept that Our Father has not created us in the image and likeness of other men, our this worldly fathers, but as completely free souls, image and likeness which has the sole purpose of overcoming whatever circumstances, our personal crosses, into which we are born to prepare ourselves for His assessment of how we have known, loved, and served.

Sometimes holiness seems to be beyond my reach but I am sure that Jesus Son of God and son of Mary has shown us the way and not only instituted the Church founded on Peter to be the Guardian of his Body and Blood but also created as he died on his cross, his New Holy Family that is the purely  spiritual Church of Love and totally beyond human corruption.

"Woman behold your son. Son behold your mother."

 18/02/2026

Ash Wednesday.

Our Father has never left us alone in the reality of material creation in which his will to love and also have completely free creatures choose to aspire to knowing, loving and serving the non-material reality that he reveals himself to be, can flourish.

We all should know that we are not God. Each bodily human life will end. The wonders that we have achieved  in our World have not been created out of nothing. Each generation is born into an already existing world. Each human idea and insight is based on what was previously known by another human being.

Even though our first parents misused the loving freedom that was their created being, i.e. "image and likeness", and became the first link of the chain of sin, to which I know that I have also contributed, and which now fills the world, the Love that is Our Father did not "cancel"  humanity but offers to each succeeding generation and individual the freedom to aspire to the holiness that the Bible reveals to be the will of God.

The first guide book to holiness is the Old Testament. IAMFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT revealed himself as the one True God to the Jews and supported their righteous efforts to become an example to the nations. Mankind including the Jews, however, followed the way of Adam and continued to misuse the freedom that had been created to choose the ways of God.

The Eternal Being that is God is timeless and is totally aware of everything. I look back to 2000 years ago and become aware that an "Angel of the Lord appeared unto Mary and she conceived by the Holy Ghost". During our lifetimes, as we try to search for God's will our freedom is limited by time and thus understand the Eternal INCARNATION to be a reset of Creation, a change in God's plan and forget "In the Beginning was the Word."

I know that I am living in a world that OURFATHERSONHOLYSPIRIT knows rejects him. The immensity of his Love, however, is so great that he reaches out from eternity to each one of us and with Love assures us that total forgiveness can be ours when we make the effort to access the timeless Mercy poured out in bitter pain by Jesus, True God and True man when Eternity was present in time on Calvary.

Dear Lord, help me to truly atone for my sins and let this Lent become a time of renewal for the whole world and for my loved ones.

 17/02/2026

According to some scholars, St James may have known Jesus from childhood but we can be sure that he has taken in what Jesus, his Rabbi for three years had taught him. 

God, Our Father does not tempt us into sin. We comfort ourselves with excuses but even when overcome by temptation we are aware in the centre of our beings that we are losing control and are choosing to do what  is displeasing to God.

In this morning's Gospel Jesus is still annoyed that his chosen disciples are not able to just be at peace in his presence and untroubled by their worldly needs. It is not as if they had not gone through this "breadless" situation before. Jesus reminds them of how he had been able on two previous occasions to provide for the bodily needs of thousands who had been without bread.

Jesus is true man and has already allowed himself to experience in solitude all the levels of temptation that we can undergo. He never loses control and never reacts in human anger. When he drives out the money changers and cattle dealers from the Temple courtyard he is still just and is righting a wrong. He never loses his temper.

Today he chastises the Apostles for he is Son of God and even though they have witnessed His miracles and He has interpretated his parables for them, a little bit of hunger occupies their minds to the extent that they are no longer focussed on Him.

Today I will try to continue throughout the day to remember that there is nothing more important for me to do than commit myself to the way of life taught in first century Palestine by the Incarnate Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth by his life, death and Resurrection and recorded in the Holy Spirit inspired words of the New Testament.

Dear God, help me to be truly sorry for my sins let my prayers be joined to those of Mary and all of us still living in Your New Holy Family and let me prepare this Lent in holiness to witness your resurrection. Please accept this  Act of Contrition and in Thy mercy pardon my sins. Amen