31/08/2021

The imminent return, the parousia of the Lord is still to the forefront of St. Pauls mind as he writes to the Thessalonians. No-one knows when to expect the Lord's return and for this reason we need to avoid a spiritual sleep and stay wide awake. This teaching is even more important for us 2,000 years later.

Jesus is recognised by the the devil which obeys his command and thus impresses the synagogue. Public recognition of Jesus begins and crowds start to look out for him. His reputation grows and his followers increase; the authority he displays is recognised but the crucial break through into the mainstream of religion does not happen.

Our all powerful Lord does not use force; we are made in his image and likeness and thus have freedom to choose. Our choice is guided, however, by God's revelation of himself; by the Law of the covenant and by the recorded scriptures. Our Church too as founded by the Lord has the duty  and reality of being Christ at this present moment; the Sacramental Presence is the Real Presence and each day Christ through his Priests offers his Body and Blood as our spiritual food .

I really believe this and yet I am estranged from the Church which is more concerned with the things of this world rather than with being prepared for either the return of the Lord or our being called.

Dear Lord, help me to know your will for me and show me how to cooperate with it. Let me be known in the prayers of your Mother and all the Saints.

 30/08/2021

The early Church had many adherents who had known Jesus and who had witnessed the Crucifixion and been mystified by the Resurrection. They well knew that He had promised to return and eagerly looked forward to it "Maranatha " was never far from their lips or thoughts. But what about those who died before the "Parousia"? St Paul's words to day are to those for whom the delay in the Second Coming was unbearable . Their 1st Century world continued to function in  its usual way and up until the destruction of the Temple there were no signs or portents. Their fellow believers got older or sick and died.

It is a great sign for us  that  those Jews and pagans who formed the first congregations and received the first Sacraments were able to tolerate the result of their decisions to believe this new preaching, the  main point of which was the Resurrection and the awaited return. of Jesus.

They must have had  hearts completely open to the Lord and teachers whose words rang out with sincerity and joy. The immensity of the hope enkindled by the real presence of the Holy Spirit is still freely available for all peoples. The Scriptures are still a source of wonder and joy and we are still the same human beings created by the Lord to live righteously knowing that we have been saved to share in the fruits of  Ever Greater Love the source of which is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord let me never become satisfied by my efforts to know, love and serve you. Help me to be true in all the little ways that lead to you.

 29/08/2021

There is no ambiguity in Jesus. He always he talks straight to us . Sometimes he may be difficult to decipher; sometimes he is beyond my comprehension; but always his message is straight and clear.. Yesterday I  had  difficulty but today there is no missing of his direct teaching. 

It is always easy to spot hypocrisy in others but applying our judgement to ourselves is always more difficult. Jesus definitely rejects the trappings attached to the Law as reveled to Moses; but the Law itself is from God and revealed on Mount Horeb. He gives us a complete condemnation of  all sin and it is my state of mind that leads to the injustices that begin his list. Adultery and fornication are such a big part of life in this modern world and are justified by all practitioners of vice who so doing reject the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Our Church furnishes many examples of all the nastiness that fills all mankind once they give up their   inner consciousness of God and his revealed teaching.The only thing wrong with our Church is its failure to be our Church as founded by Jesus.

Dear Lord let not my frustration and anger with our modern pharisees occlude my vision of my own soul and let the sincerity of my will be matched by reality of deeds. 

 28/08/2021

Well I  am back now after being away from Monday to Friday. It is the feast today of St Augustine. The choice from St Paul could remind us of The City of God but Jesus was insistent that his sphere was not a human kingdom.. Love one another after first being sure to put God first in our consciousness is Jesus' foundational message. 

The master in the parable is pretty tough. The one who buried the talents probably didn't feel secure even when he knew that he couldn't lose his buried treasure. Saving my soul seems to be my object in life and that poor servant tried to do just that. What is it that he didn't do? I hope that Jesus is not teaching that the fruits by which we will be known are the spiritual equivalent of Dollars which in Capitalism are the only measure of value. If that is so I have no idea of the meaning of this story of failure in life.

St Paul's message seems to be much more Christian telling us to live quietly and earn our own living and to continue loving our neighbours.. Jesus' teaching is always direct even if enclosed within parables and so I will keep on pondering and praying to find the right answer to this one.

Dear Lord I thank you for the weather and the warmth of our welcome of this past week. May we all grow in the kindness and love of thee.  

 22/08/2021

The people listened to Joshua and agreed to join him in recognising the Lord as the only true God. They would abandon worship of any other deity local or foreign. This solemn assertion by the whole people in the sight of God proved to be too much for them as time passed.

The nuptial image of Christ's Church is not just obedience (though many object because of this) but sacrifice. Husbands must be ready to sacrifice anything for the love of a wife. Christ is to be obeyed by the Church created by his Cross. He is worthy of obedience and a husband too should strive to be worthy of loving obedience. The nuptial bond is as much a mystery as our very being; it is the same as the bond between Christ and his Church and thus is created the one body; Christ's mystical body, our Church. This is the solemn teaching of our Church. Is it proving to be too much for us?

The people stayed with him a long time; they had been overawed by the miracle of the feeding of the5000. Some had seen him walking on the water; all had been enthralled by his charismatic presence and some had listened to his words. As Jesus had anticipated, some of the some who had listened were not at all impressed. . He knew that what he was going to say would not be welcomed as good news. He knew this but did not water down his message to avoid giving offence. 

Many of Jesus teachings are hard to accept even to the extent that the human weakness of some of our pastors doesn't allow them to be true to God's words. His words in all their complexity and stark reality are indeed "the message of eternal life".  Peter's powerful acclamation of the Lord proves to be too much for him  to continuously live up to; nevertheless, we get a glimpse of the vastness of God's loving Mercy in the subsequent events of his  life and especially in its ending.

Dear Lord may the words of my Baptismal renunciations be with me for the rest of my days. Let me live up to the cleansing of that moment and never fail to be open to the promptings of The Holy Spirit. 

21/08/2021

The words of Jesus about the Pharisees must be filling the minds of the clergy who are reading them today.What must it be like for our pastors who know that they have lost contact with the Good Shepherd? I cannot understand why so many of our priests are ignoring the teaching of Christ. All of their secrets are known to God. The Love that is the Trinity has brought salvation to humanity through the Incarnation who has then humbled himself even more .......... The words of St Paul are well known and they are still true.

What must it be like for our good shepherds who know more than we do about the filth and duplicity which fills God's Church on earth and are trapped between their calling to devote their whole lives to growing and caring for the people of their parishes and the falseness of the structure that has grown out of the Petrine foundation. All human organisations have as their first task the maintenance of their own structures and so lose sight of their original purpose and begin to crumble. I have to accept that is happening now at this moment and have to ask if this could be the Will of God. 

It can't be true that God would want his Church to be corrupted in such a pathetic manner. We could make an analogy, however,  between now and the the times of the Old Testament . Jesus came to complete the Law not abolish it and I am sure that the mankind saved by by the Crucifixion is very little different than the motley crew led out of Egypt by Moses. We are capable of polluting anything; even the whole world.

Dear Lord let me learn how to follow only you and to avoid sinful thoughts. You have saved us for all times let us know that there is always a solution for men of goodwill

 20/08/2021

Loving God is the most important work of our existence. My brain and fingers are halted at those words. How can I love what is greater than anything I can imagine? Neither the brain nor the senses can take in  such an immensity. Even Martha sat at the foot of the living Jesus. We have to find Jesus in the records of his words and deeds. He tells us that the second commandment is to love our neighbour as our self  I can do that by keeping God's commandments 

"Love" is itself a problem. We all experience it as the first of our emotions that we recognise. We have all been children and most of us have experience of a mother's love. As we grow in mind and body we can become aware of the beauty of the world and begin to ask ourselves what's  it all about. The answers come to us faster and faster and pretty soon the original questioning awe disappears swamped by the choices we have to make of the great goods living offers to us.

God knows us better than we know ourselves and has revealed to us that "life" is not just the living and dying that he has created for all animals. That is why I start each day with an attempt at prayer. It is my soul that longs for the Lord and each day is a little life that is rounded by the little death, sleep. Each day I have to commit anew to knowing, loving and serving and to do this in complete sincerity avoiding all sin.

I find it very hard. God help me!

Dear Lord let not the wonders of your creation fill my mind to the extent of excluding you.