29/02/2024

The parable of Dives and Lazarus is pretty foundational for all who try to follow Jesus along the way, the truth and the life. Death is the moment that tells us all that there is nothing more that we can do for what we will face then is the judgement that determines our existence. 

The poor man at the gates and the rich man in the palace; fine linen or dog-licked sores.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit certainly condemn the wealth of Richman, Dives. They do not condemn the poverty of Lazarus but Dives in his torment can pity the fate that awaits his brothers if they do not change their ways. We are not told the reaction of Lazarus to the reversal of their earthly lives.

We have to ask ourselves on this the miserable "extra day"of the year's morning, whether or not Jesus condemns wealth for itself alone. The rich young man went sorrowfully away because he was a man of great wealth. Passing through the eye of a needle is easier for  a fully-laden camel than it is for a rich man to enter Heaven.

In this 2024 many of us are living in environments which retain in form of buildings and goods wealth that was being created at the time Jesus walked on earth. Many of us are richer than former kings and emperors but throughout Europe and USA  there are millions fleeing from societies where there is no peace in which to set about the acquisition of wealth or think about one's place in creation.

There are millions of Dives and millions of Lazaruses but only one of me. Rich and poor alike are one with me in that we have to know that wealth and poverty are both of no value in our quest to align ourselves with God's will.  

Each one of has to do the will of Our Father regardless of the  world's economy and our place in it for "Heaven and earth will pass away but my word will stand." God does not have favourites and even the poor have the  freedom of will to say "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven " or ignore Our Father and his revelation of Mercy. This is within the freedom of all of us. Without the will to serve God, poverty alone will not bring about redemption.

Dear Lord help me to truly know that it is your will that I am seeking out and truthfully atoning for my sins. It is only by my deeds and sincerity of heart that I can approach your altar in Heaven and confess the wilful corruption with which I have marred my life. May the prayers of your Mother and your Heavenly friends never fail in bringing your Mercy to me, my family and to all sinners especially to the Holy Souls.

 28/02/2024

The mother of James and John is one of the few voices that come out of the "multitude" that surrounds Jesus and the Apostles. The typical voice is asking for a cure either for themselves or a relative. The mother of the "Sons of Thunder", however, is asking for power to be given to the "fruits of her womb". There is nothing spiritual about her request. She wants her sons to be "top dog" in the only sort of kingdom that she can envisage, an Empire in the here and now.

The prophets of the Old Testament were all of them expected to reveal the greatness of IAMIAM in this world and they made no proclamations about life of the world to come. The "milk and honey" had to be now and thus it was so. Even today Theologians can still make a living by discussing whether the Chosen People had a concept of "soul", spiritual life, or not.

The Resurrection overcomes all the mysteries of the Old Testament and the First Fathers built up their understanding of Jesus' message by searching the scriptures which had shaped the Apostles devotion to IAMIAM in such a way that Jesus' "Follow me" did not promote an argument but rather instant obedience.

Of course, we do not know whether the events in this mornings' Gospel reading really do follow the timeline recorded by Matthew. If they do, we have to ask ourselves how anyone could ask to be part of the "Kingdom" foretold by Jesus. We are told elsewhere that the Apostles could not understand what Jesus could mean by "rising from the dead".  

Today, Jesus' has informed his followers that they will be going to Jerusalem where he " will be handed over to the Chief Priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the pagans to be mocked, scourged and crucified and on the third day he will rise again". 

The only human who could seek out to follow this road is the Son of God, Jesus, the only Son, begotten not made, born of the Father before time began, God from God, Light from Light and he chooses to suffer in this world so that we can follow him not to worldly "thrones" in Cathedrals/ Palaces but to the Eternal Life that Father, Son and Holy Spirit offers to all of us if we choose to accept it.

Dear Lord, help me to become prayerful this day. I am helpless as a rag-doll and can only live when the Holy Spirit keeps the sparks of your Love smouldering within this carcass over which I have never had control and thus sinned in the grotesque ways that still trouble my conscience. You have taken away the sins of this world but the tiny speck that I am still knows that  what I have done wrong in my life has been by my choice. May the prayers of Mary and all the saints help me to grow strong in your love and may the Holy Spirit confirm that we should all, fathers and mothers, pray only for the gift of righteousness be given to all our children. 

 27/02/2024

It is always easy for me to agree with Jesus' words but today he asks me  whether I have  ever lived my belief in my actions. I can read the Gospels and thus search for truth. I can wallow in Theology understanding probably less than ten per cent of the leading lights of my generation. I can read the lives of Saints but know that I am far behind in my dedication to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus' condemns hypocrisy. IAMIAM looks for dedication of the heart not for gifts made from his own creation. We all have to  look for the warning signs of both these faults in our selves before we proceed with the very easy task of recognising them in others.

Jesus is straightforward in his command to the twelve. He tells them that they should never feed their egos out of the results he brings about through them. Each of our bodies has one human father but in the Church, Christ's Body on Earth, there is only  "Our Father" and he is not of this world.

Even though there is nobody else who reads these words of mine I am a teacher trying to teach myself how to live my life. I try to keep my being open to receive that Grace without which there is no salvation. Many of us created in the Image & likeness have been so overcome by the wonder that is our being that the Father has been forgotten. Even nonentities such as myself can have an inner core of overweening pride.

The bleeding and broken corpse hanging on the cross is our only teacher. Jesus our teacher's foundation lesson is that all virtue can be possible for each one of us if we have the true humility to admit that "I" am totally dependant on God. I am nothing without him.

Dear Lord help me to be sincere in all my thoughts, words and deeds. Help to remember always that all humanity can be saved as your mercy is for all who choose to accept it. Even the perpetrators of the inhuman violence that still disfigures your creation are my brothers created to do your will and accept your mercy. May my prayer be united with the those of Mary and all the Saints that the peace of heaven be brought to life on Earth. Let these moments spent searching for you remain with me throughout this day and may I learn how to forget myself in the humility that teaches us all the way, the truth and the life.

 26/02/2024

I need to be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit if I am not to lose myself in the vast sea of knowledge and experience that is available without even moving out of this chair. Our computers are truly amazing and we are now able to turn over to them tasks that used to need our personal attention.

In the first centuries of Christian worship some became so intolerant of the demands made on on their personal attention by the Good News which included the care for their neighbour as they would for themselves, that they left their congregations and sought the lonely places that enabled them to raise their minds and hearts to God in peace and solitude.

Jesus too, often went into lonely places to be with his Father but he never remained separated from his companions for very long. His whole mission is to give the people of the world the grace to be able to live within the will of Our Father. For this reason " Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my Church." 

Jesus did, at his trial where he was judged by both the State and the Temple, affirm  to both these institutions and for all time that his Kingdom was not of this world. The difficulty for us now and for the apostles then is that we are living bodily lives in this world and although at death we cannot take anything with us our goods do remain. 

The unintentional created wealth of the Church has promoted avarice and ambition throughout the ages and wealth has brought with it all the vices of any Human Institution that we can find in abundance within the Church which seems to be decaying today.

The body of Our Lord never decayed. Father, Son and Holy Spirit has compassion for humanity and revealed the Resurrection as the first fruits of the new creation that will begin with the end of time. We are all created to share in that new beginning but we have to follow God's teaching to become blessed of Our Father and to remember that our receiving of compassion is reciprocal; "the amount you will receive is the amount you have given out".

Dear Lord, help me to feel compassion for all victims of clerical vice and also to know what the world cannot acknowledge that the perpetrators can feel remorse and feel truly sorry for their sins. Each one of us, however, must be aware first of all of our own sinfulness and seek the Mercy that is the very being of You whom we know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Let me beseech you that the prayers of Mary and all the saints are heard in the souls of all who turn to thee and that that glimpse of Love can be turned into the good works that we all need to do to fill our own cup of compassion. Amen.

 25/02/2024

The three readings for this morning's mass are all chosen for us to reflect not only on them in themselves but also for us to consider how we are to understand scripture as the record of God's dealings with the world.

Is IAMIAM asking Abraham to kill his son and burn him on an altar because total obedience is the only way to "know " the Glory of God? If true and this is our God what hope do we have in finding meaning in our lives?

St Paul who is a Jew faithful to the Law and the total message of the Old Testament has been immersed in the "Glory of the Lord" on the road to Damascus and now knows that the Jesus whose followers he has been persecuting is in fact the Son of IamIam and that the perfect everlasting sacrifice has been made for the benefit of all.

Peter, James and John have the Glory that is the being of Father, Son and Holy Spirit revealed to them. They want to be held in that wonder for ever, they don't want to move from that place but they have to ask themselves what meaning could be hidden in the words "rising from the dead".

We have to believe in the Bible for everything we "know" about God starts in that record of revelation. In the Old Testament God seems to approve of trickery. Jacob got the blessing and kept it by deception. God tests us to the limit as he did  Abraham for in this world we have freedom; he has not strait-jacketed us into virtue, we must choose for ourselves.

The story of Abraham is harsh and cruel but God chose to reveal to his chosen people that the  sometime human sacrifices made by the civilisations surrounding them could never be lawful. The Transfiguration of Jesus is a glimpse of the reality of Heaven. St Paul a true son of Abraham answers for all time the question of Peter, James and John. The meaning of "rising from the dead" is that "He not only died for us, he rose from the dead and there at God's right hand he stands and pleads for us".  

Dear Lord, help me not to be overcome by the vastness and beauty of the world that mankind has built from your creation. Help me to see the one path in the tangle of possibilities afforded by each second of life that keeps me following your will. May the prayers of Mary and all the Saints continue to bring the hope of your mercy that can sustain us all in life even though the possibilities for sin are immense. May my sins and the sins of the whole world find forgiveness if not in this world then in purgatory. Save us all from eternal damnation. Amen.

 24/02/2024

That the rain falls on the wicked and on the just tells us that God does not reveal himself in the natural events of his creation. We may interpret natural disasters as signs of God's displeasure but the physical creation follows the rules of nature/science with which they are embedded at their beginning out of nothing.

The Jews of the Old Testament, however, were advantaged over all others by the revelation to them of the moral code by which God's Image and likeness is to live in this physical world. They didn't succeed although many tried and are still trying.

We have to realise that God could just turn his back on us. For us not to exist would do no harm to God. There is something about us that Father, Son and Holy Spirit love with  Infinite Love beyond our understanding and the overwhelmingly wonderful solution to our lack of integrity is for God to become a natural man born as we all are from conception, begotten not made, and take onto himself the guilt of sin in the perfect humanity of Jesus.

Father Son and Holy Spirit have nothing but Love for all of us. Even at the most wicked moment of my life, God was there to pull me out of my own Hell created by my sins. All the wicked failures of mankind by Nation or Religion can be forgiven for God is the EverGreater and the mercy created by his suffering on Calvary is ours for the asking.

We are never "asking for Mercy" when we engage in mutual slaughter, exterminating our fellow men in gas chambers or when anyone of us despises or envies any other one of us. Sin begins in Adam and Eve and grows as does the population of the world. 

We all have to concentrate on our own lives for it is only in that body, mind and soul, my "I" that I can be assured of doing the will of God. If all the individuals of the world were to do that nobody would be dying as they are at this moment from the violence of others.

Dear Lord, You have upheld my being for more than 80 years even though you know how easily I can sin, send the same mercy I receive into the minds and souls of all who are fighting in the place where Joseph sought refuge with you and Mary from the hateful power of Herod and let hatred be purged and no more weapons fired. Bring peace to my soul and to all the World. Amen

 23/02/2024

Many of us try to see the "Will of God" or indeed "Acts of God" in present or past events in our lives or in history. Some Christians believe that God's dealings with mankind throughout the Old and New Testaments show that all events in our lives are beyond our control and thus all of us are predetermined to be saved or damned.

In this passage from the Old Testament God makes sure that Ezekiel teaches that we all should know that we have the freedom to change the course of our lives by either opting for or against the Love of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God is not in Time. In His Eternity He is more aware of everything Past Present and Future and of all the unrealised possibilities as I am now aware of this keyboard. (I think that I should never refer to God in a past-tense as everything "is" in his timeless presence.) He knows but does not predetermine that the Chosen People showed ( in human time) themselves unworthy of the trust he places in them.

The Love that Father, Son and Holy Spirit have for this Creation ensures that we are all capable of "Being Holy, for I am Holy" and God empties himself of his infinite power/being and is born as we are to be the only offering able to offset the sinfulness that began with Adam and Eve.

It is my sins and the sins accumulated by mankind that need to be recognised by their perpetrators before they can be forgiven. Jesus warns his disciples to beware of the scribes and Pharisees and we too can only look back with disbelieving horror at the behaviour of our priests and prelates who have rarely been examples of Apostolic virtue. 

I cannot bear to think how that culpability is continued in the Church entrusted by the Saviour to lead us and to join with him in Heaven as together the Sacraments, Gods presence in time, are prepared to strengthen our souls who face a daily and deathly struggle against, the devil, the world and the flesh for possession of our souls.

Dear Lord help me to grow in prayerfulness and let me withstand all temptations. Let Mary and the saints share with all the world the grace within which they are in heaven. Help me to understand your Word for I know you do not wish to deceive anyone but have created us all to use our freedom to recognise and return your love. Help me and my family to learn how to know, love and serve and let me feel no anger towards anyone