30/09/2023

For the Jews of Jesus' day the return of their ancestors from their captivity in Babylon was still a hugely important event which was kept alive in their minds every time they heard the Scriptures or visited Jerusalem. 

Zechariah is one of several prophets who are given visions of the rebuilding of the Temple. His image of a city guarded only by God who was located in the Temple did not come about and ruined walls are a characteristic of all the cities of the Old World that are still visited today.

Today Luke tells us that when Jesus was seemingly admired and accepted by all he warned his disciples that there was a lot more to him than preaching and miracles. He was the Son of man and had a role to play in the world of God's Providence; he had to destroy the power of sin by making for us a direct line, as it were, to Salvation. A line that has always been open at God's end but which we have, in the confusion and sinfulness of our worldly lives not used to contact him.

The image of God being at the other end of a telephone line is much too simplistic to apply to "our Father who art in heaven" but does emphasise the forever open loving relationship he offers to all his human children. The Incarnate Word is with us to know and be accepted. The arms stretched wide in bitter pain on the cross enfold us in infinite Love. 

This is the meaning of the words the disciples couldn't understand when spoken by Jesus and the event when witnessed on Calvary could only bring despair.

Dear Lord, Let me be truly yours in all of my being. Let me not lose touch with your mercy and be devoted to you in every moment of my life. Let these be more than words but the truth of my being that recognises its sin and cries out for mercy. May Mary never forget as she leads the Heavenly Chorus of Angels and Saints in praise of you that as Theotokos she is a direct part of the Salvation that Father Son and Holy Spirit revealed ultimately by the Resurrection but others of us, having initially rejected it by sin, look to her to plead for the grace which the Crucifixion of your and her Son brought into the world to be given to us, sinners as we still are. May all of us come to know your grace by cleansing our beings of sin and opening ourselves to your everlasting free gift of Loving Mercy. Amen

 29/09/2023

The greatness of Father Son and Holy Spirit is such that there is nothing that he lacks. The nature of his being, Love, is a continuously self-fulfilling creation of beings. It has been revealed to us by this Love that there are other than ourselves sentient beings who as spirit are in eternity but are also able to act in worldly time to do the will of the Father. 

Mary received news of her vocation by the "message of an angel". There is sometimes a wish to understand why God acts in the way he does. We ask ourselves "Why Mary?"or "Why an angel?". 

Before God's revelation to the Jews all humanity was telling itself stories to explain each individual's self-awareness. After Adam there was no more Evolution. Each human being was completed with image and likeness of God in its "isness", its being and also aware of the realness of the world around it, "the other than itself".

We are not illusions. We are the creations of God, we have the ability to choose how to live our lives and our infinite God has an infinite number of choices for us to make each moment we are alive in worldly time. Only God has the ability to process the billions of free choices made by each of us and their interactions with the billions of other choices made by those with whom we are coexistent. He is our Ever Greater Father and although he has revealed the right pathway for us to follow we are free to act in his creation as we wish and thus cooperate or not in his Providence. There is no such thing as a predetermined fate.

The Apocalypse is a Jewish vision of the spiritual universe modified by the final revelation of Jesus. It is fittingly the last book of the Bible as in its images it clearly hides more of God than it reveals. I do not know what part my Guardian Angel has played in my life but I can remember one occasion that I had resigned myself to death but was able through "my own?" efforts to disentangle myself from the netting and reach the surface.

Dear Lord, Let me continue to live not only aware of, but also thankful for your love. Nathanial was promised a sight of heaven's unending contact with earth through the mediation of your spiritual messengers confirming that  we are not left alone to complete our lives in dedication to you. Mary was totally shocked by Gabriel's message, may her prayers, the prayers of all the saints and the Chorus of Angels be heard in our hearts and imitated here on earth. Overpower the evil that is the Father of Lies. You are our God and your Loving Mercy fills our world with joy. Let my soul live only to know your loving salvation. Amen

 28/09/2023

There is always purpose in the Church's choice of readings from Scripture. 

The return of the Exiles from Babylon and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem is effected by IAMIAM through the worldly kingship of Darius. Haggai is inspired to silence the doubters by reminding them that although they have "laboured in the vineyard" the results have been meagre. They are commanded to place the rebuilding of the Temple before all projects aimed at their own material comfort.

The New Testament reading from Luke, is very short. In it the Herod, the son of the King Herod who slaughtered the Holy Innocents,  and who, even though he liked to hear the word of God as preached by John the Baptist, had had Jesus' cousin decapitated, is making enquiries about Jesus.

All sorts of rumours about the uneducated carpenter who was challenging the religious authority of the Scribes must  have been circulating around Herod's part of Palestine. For some, this Jesus was the long awaited "Messiah". For others he was a new ruler who would cancel the crippling debt of the poor. For some he was John the Baptist returned to life or maybe another of the Scriptural prophets.

Worldly living is always in the providence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We can treat it as the only reality and act as did the returning exiles until awakened by the word of God delivered by Haggai. Jesus taught us that we are to discriminate between God and Caesar. "My Kingdom is not of this world". We can never accept the decrees of Providential Rulers in whose power we find ourselves to be, claiming for themselves authority that  belongs to God.

The early Christians refuted the Emperors who claimed to be gods. They were martyred. How do we live in our democracies that challenge every single one of God's precepts usurping for themselves an authority greater than God's?  We have no need to await an answer for Jesus' words; "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's" are true for all time. The words are true but how am I to act them out?

Dear Lord, I know that I am of a generation that has been completely seduced by material success with a worship of our own bodies feeding our love for Mammon. Help us to recover our "delight" in you and accept that the salvation of the poor lies in our dedication to you and not in forgetting "your delight in us" by thrusting away your mercy. May Mary and all the saints continue to plead that our complacency in your worldly providence be shaken to its very core. Let us all be awakened to the need for holiness as that is your will for me and all other people i this world. Amen.

 27/09/2023

I do not have a deep knowledge of Scripture and I try to approach each of the readings as it comes. Sometimes I am prompted, usually by something that I cannot understand, to check the context. This is when Wikipedia is a wonder to be acknowledged with thanks to God, and with a donation that reflects its value to all of us who want to continue learning all our lives.

In today's reading, the Old Testament becomes more than the history of the place of Israel in God's Providence. Today we have to listen to the prayer that comes out of Ezra's deep meditation into his relationship with God. Ezra has been tormented by the knowledge of how many of the people of God have been contaminated by intermarriage with non-Jews.  

He knows that all of them have suffered because of these sins but that the contract between God and Moses is still the only way they have of knowing God. It is their racial heritage that has to be preserved for only the descendants of those who came out of Egypt with Moses can be the inheritors of the Covenant and by following the Law of Moses they are truly the people of God.

Our Lord condemned the Pharisees of his day for their slavish adherence to their "father Abraham" and to the Law of Moses. The "Word became flesh and dwelt among us" to show us the way which had been lost. 

Today we can be sure that Jesus preached to all nations and that his kingdom is not of this world. Ezra returned to Jerusalem with what he considered to be one race and the wealth that made all the temples of the world into the central banks of all the Empires of the world before the birth of Our Saviour.

This is the Mammon that Jesus drove out of Herod's Temple but is still with us as the "Patrimony of Peter" that has hamstrung the Vicar of Christ since the second century.

Dear Lord you know the limits of human thinking. My reflections about your will for mankind are limited by my capacity. I have no problem in recognising both my limitations and my sins but I do hope that I am raising my mind and my heart to you. Forgive me my sins and help me to recognise your ways. May Mary who stayed with you until your death continue to plead for the Mercy that is real human blood pouring from a real human corpse on Calvary and the same Body and Blood, the Holy Eucharist on the Altar. May my sins and the sins of all the world be forgiven so that we can atone to receive with hope the punishment that you decide for us. Lord forgive us our trespasses. Amen

 26/09/2023

The rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem is treated in the Old Testament as a unique event. Even the words of the proclamation, however, reveal that Darius was trying to rule his vast new empire by seeking the cooperation of all his subject peoples not only the Jews. It refers to IAIAM as the god whose  "name" dwells in Jerusalem. Similar building or renewal of temples took place all over his empire.

"History" in the Old Testament is an entirely one-sided view of the events of God's Providence that were experienced by all the peoples of that part of the world not only by the Jews. The terrible events of all wars are always committed by both sides and by men who have not had the courage to disobey evil commands. Our individual exculpating "If I hadn't somebody else would have done" carries no weight with God.

In our modern democracies we have the opportunity to vote for our leaders. The problem that we all face is that there are no political parties that advocate keeping to the "Will of God" and condemning  the comfort of Hedonism and the avarice of Mammon. 

The public face of our Church lost all moral authority when the sanctity of the Blessed Sacrament is lost by its distribution to unrepentant sinners. The Body of Christ is not magic it requires true intention by the Clergy in its confection with heaven and true yearning for forgiveness which requires confession and repentance by the recipient.

Today's Gospel tells us that all souls are equal. Even the Immaculate is still also a created being as we are. Once God has been seen all our created souls will have no emptiness until the End of Time brings us to a New Creation.

Dear Lord, let me be protected this day from all sin and let my heart be open to receive your grace. May the pains of death not overcome my longing for you. Let my readiness to accept punishment be shared by all who have shared my sin. May Mary's prayers and those of our brothers in Heaven be heard that your mercy still is available as we on Earth and in Purgatory seek it out.

 

 25/09/ 2023

We all live in the same time which is measured by the fixed rules of the of the relationship between the relative movements of our world measured in days, hours and seconds, the moon months and the sun seasons and years. Human time is thus measurable it cannot be controlled by man but it is the when and where we live out our lives. 

Humanity is, as far as we know, the summit of creation and all of us are souls which are  eternal beings reflecting the Glory of God ( image and likeness) and minds and bodies which are the "dust" of the material world and thus limited by when and where we are born and  in death will rot. God creates us to live in order for us to use and care for his earthly creation of which the most important part is our souls

Cyrus was part of God's Providence as are we all. God never forces anything onto mankind but guides us at first through prophets and then by the Incarnation reveals that we can all choose to attain the eternity he has created us for. Cyrus thus by an act of his own will fulfilled the Will of God and ordered the rebuilding of the Temple. This was an earthly act as was its destruction. "My kingdom is not of this world".

Jesus tells us today that if we catch a glimpse of the light of Eternity we should not hide it but share it with our friends and family. Cyrus and the other great rulers, the stars, the celebrities have played their part in God's Providence and shone in this world with brilliance but in death  have learned the truth of Jesus' message which at no time is hidden under a bushel. We all from the highest to the lowest dwellers in Providence have to answer for the condition of the eternal part of our being, our souls not for our care of buildings and Trust Funds.

Dear Lord let me learn how to accept the Love that is the being of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and throughout this day also accept what I encounter in your providence. May Mary and all the Saints within their timeless immersion in eternity not forget the needs of all our souls which are still living on this Earth or atoning for their sins in Purgatory.Dear Lord, have mercy on us all. Amen. 

 24/09/2023

What does St Paul mean when he says that his body is glorified in the Lord?   St Paul had an experience unique throughout history on the road to Damascus. He was chosen by the Resurrection. 

The other Apostles had been called by Jesus of Nazareth who was definitely a man the same as they were. The Glory of the Transfiguration was only witnessed by Peter James and John and of these three only John did not desert the Lord on Calvary.

The Resurrection, the event of Father Son and Holy Spirit taking possession of Jesus' corpse in the tomb was witnessed by no man. It was God touching our World directly to show us that his Love is greater than the confines of time and space that govern creation. All the recognitions of the risen Lord were not instantaneous but nobody except St Paul was blinded in the act of seeing. St Thomas even touched the wounds that were still evident on the body the first fruits of the new creation.

God has created us to have the freedom that is a reflection of his own. He has revealed to us the way we should limit ourselves by only acting for the good of others. St Paul knows that the Glory that blinded him and stopped his persecution is still with him and manifest in the work he still does on earth but his soul is longing for the presence of God that is heaven.

I am sure that the St Paul who prayed that he was ready to lose his soul if that could bring about the redemption of his own people would teach that the Glory of God is that a fraction of a  second in world time of true repentance would be accepted and earn the full reward of Mercy. God, however is also Just and he would know the deceitful who would try, as it were , to climb over the back wall of the vineyard in today's parable and then present themselves for the full wage.

Dear Lord, your Glory is beyond my comprehension. I cannot say how great thou art but as a man I can show by my deeds that I believe what I think and say. Have mercy on all sinners let us all know that in the beauty of our world we witness only a miniscule of your Glory. May Mary your mother for whom the Glory of your choice of her was delivered by the message of an angel lead all the repentant sinners of heaven in a never ending chorus of praise that becomes a small part of your Glory and may your Mercy not be rejected by any for we all are in need of it.