Joseph of the Messiah is a Brother of the ‘Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance’ – living in a monastery in Northern Ireland.

He is happy for his personal reflections to be shared on this website.

2026 Reflections

Lent

Ash Wednesday

The appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God.[1]

“Come back to me with all your heart”, says the Lord.

Turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion.[2]

A lot of people are suffering the absence of God in their life. Deep down they would like to return to the Father, but they don’t know how. They turn their eyes to the Church for inspiration, guidance and help, but often encounter the scandal of self-righteous, shallow Christians offering the Lord only lip-service only – their hearts are far from God.

Jesus instructs his disciples on the important practices of almsgiving, prayer and fasting.[3]

Almsgiving does not mean giving money to charity, even anonymously to avoid parading good works before others to receive their praise. Is there an elderly person or couple living near you? Why not call, say hello, and see if they need anything. If you call to the local shop each morning for your milk, bread, newspaper etc., offer to bring theirs so that they don’t have to leave the house.

Prayer does not mean going to Mass on Sunday, which is liturgical worship. Prayer means spending time alone with God, in your private room. Close the door and shut out the world for a time. And when you talk to God, do not babble (using lots of words) or chant prayers or mantras, as heathens do – treating prayer as a magical incantation to summon God like a genie from a lamp. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask.[4]

Fasting does not mean giving up chocolate or alcohol for Lent, longing for St. Patrick’s Day and Easter to indulge once more. Fasting is a desire to give preference to the things of the spirit over the things of the body. On a practical, physical level, fasting helps focus the spirit and discipline the body. Done properly, it is a powerful form of prayer. Close your mouth to what goes in it, to close your mouth to what really makes you impure: what comes out of it – foul language, negativity, anger and hatred.

Turn to the Lord again. Go back to God with all your heart. Be reconciled.

Never mind the hypocrites, and do not imitate them.

Keep your almsgiving, your prayer and your fasting secret from praise and safe from ridicule. It is a private, personal matter between you and God, your heavenly father, who is full of tenderness and compassion.

[1]Second Reading, 2 Cor 5:20 – 6:2

[2]First Reading, Joel 2:12-18

[3]Gospel, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18.

[4]This instruction of Jesus (verses 7 and 8) has been inexplicably removed from today’s Gospel reading.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday – ‘Choose Life’

God created you in his image – an eternal spirit with intellect and free will – and after his likeness – the likeness of his life in loving service. As a child in any family, you are free how you choose to live your life. But if your heart strays from God, if you refuse to listen to Jesus, and if you let yourself be drawn into worshipping other gods and serving them – like the gods of Hollywood or Las Vegas, such as money, pleasure, fame, fashion, entertainment – I tell you today, you will most certainly perish.”[1]

God is not a judge threatening punishment. He is a Father giving his child advice about living a life of true happiness and lasting fulfilment. It’s then a matter of choice: live in God’s kingdom, or choose your own comfort and pleasure. And let’s be honest, it’s not an easy choice. For Jesus says:

“If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me.”[2]

Renounce yourself – that incredibly dominating part of your being that wants comfort and pleasure.

Take up your cross – of living in the world after the likeness of Jesus.

Follow him – hated, rejected, and crucified, knowing that the world might treat you the same.

And I still haven’t highlighted the hard part yet… that it’s every day.

No two week holidays, no day of rest, no evening off.

Can you put your hand on the plough every single day and not look back, no matter how hard it gets, whether you feel like it or not? For ploughing a field is no easy job; it’s long, backbreaking work. And there are constant distractions and temptations to take your hand off the plough and look back to see that everyone else is living it up in the world and you seem to be on your own. But the truth and reality of life comes at the end, when it’s time for the harvest.

Many will panic when death comes for them, when they realise they’ve got it all wrong and have wasted so much time, so much life, not doing anything of value; neither loving God nor others in a proper selfless way.

Anyone who wants to save his life for this world will lose it in the next; but anyone who loses his life for my sake – by renouncing themself, taking up their cross, and following me every day – that person will save it.

What gain, then, is it if you have won the whole world… if you have lost or ruined yourself?

I set before you life or death. Choose life.

[1]Deut 30:15-20

[2]Luke 9:22-25

Friday after Ash Wednesday – “Fasting”

“The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice. These times are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and fraternal sharing (charitable and missionary works).”[1]

Many of the faithful have fallen away from an understanding of Lenten fasting and reduced it to a self-focused challenge: can you go forty days without chocolate? Whereas it may such abstinence, fasting involves eating less, or not at all. Moreover, what value has eating less if you continue in sinful habits such as gossip? What use is abstinence from alcohol, when you refuse to abstain from binge-watching TV? “Fasting like yours today will never make your voice heard on high. Is that what you call fasting? A day acceptable to the Lord?”[2]

Lift up your hearts… We lift them up to the Lord.

Have you ever tried to lift something chained to the ground? So how are you going to lift up your heart, your soul, to the Lord, if it is shackled by the desires of your flesh: eating, drinking, home comforts, and all forms of entertainment and pleasure?

You need to fast for three reasons. The first, is to do penance for your sin. Fasting purifies not only the body. If done properly, it makes the heart contrite and humble.

Secondly, it frees you from slavery by making the body toe the line of the spirit. If done properly, it rejects the serpent tempting and seducing you into gluttony (eating and drinking too much), sloth (making you too tired or lazy to pray or go to Mass), and lust (giving in to all the sinful pleasures of the body).

And thirdly, fasting frees our heart and mind for contemplation of God. And if done properly, we can finally “lift up your heart to the Lord”.

In each of these reasons for fasting I emphasised if done properly. There are two key elements. The first is prayer; prayer that comes from the heart during your time of fasting.

Secondly, if you tell everyone and they praise you, you have received your reward; so keep it a secret, a spiritual offering, and let God and his angels praise you and give you a double reward: one for your fasting, and the other for abstaining from recognition and praise.

Will you strive hard during these remaining days of Lent to fast and pray? Will you seek the Lord day after day, and long to know his ways? Will you become a true and faithful disciple, denying the appetites of the body and making of yourself a temple of the spirit? Do you long for God to draw near? Will you be ready when Easter morning comes to hear the good news that Jesus is risen? Will he reveal himself to you and call you by name? Amen.

[1]Catechism, para 1438

[2]Isaiah 58:1-9

Saturday after Ash Wednesday – “Come, follow me”

Jesus noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything, he got up and followed him.[1]

Is it really that simple? Just leave everything, get up and follow Jesus? It wasn’t for me. And it wasn’t for Levi either. For Levi was Matthew the apostle and author of the Gospel. Matthew, which means “gift of God”, lived and worked in Capernaum – the hometown of Peter, Andrew, James and John. Jesus regularly preached in its synagogue and performed exorcisms and healing miracles there, including healing Peter’s mother-in-law. As a taxman taking money from his own people to give to the Romans, Matthew was the most recognised and hated person in Capernaum. He didn’t care – he was rich and in with the Romans; wearing the best clothes and shoes, the most expensive perfumes and oils, indulging in all the Roman pleasures and pastimes, even on the Sabbath.

The first time they met, Jesus stopped and stared at Matthew, who stared back defiantly. Neither spoke, but the encounter shook Matthew to the point that he could no longer look at himself in the mirror without hating the person he had become. So he went to the synagogue to hear Jesus speak. He stood there at the doorway – half inside, half outside – ignoring all the judgemental glances and unpleasant comments cast at him, including from Peter, who could never keep his mouth shut. Jesus looked reproachingly at Peter – who bowed his head in embarrassment and went to hide behind the other apostles – before turning his gaze on Matthew. And Matthew could no longer meet that gaze. How could Jesus see him and not judge him? He deserved to be judged.

Never judge anyone. If only you could see the potential within them and encourage them to see it too.

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘Thank God I am not like other people, like this tax collector.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He could not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’[2]

That tax collector was Matthew. Why didn’t Jesus name him, or Luke clarify who it was? Why didn’t Matthew mention the incident in his own Gospel? Humility. Matthew, now an apostle, was there as Jesus told this parable. And this time Peter was there beside him, smiling as two brothers who had left their sins in the past, got up from their lives and followed Jesus.

And so, in the name of Jesus I say to you: “Come. Follow me!”

Do you hesitate? You are not worthy? So? You’ll never be worthy. Come, follow me anyway. Is it possible that God would share his grace with you, a sinner? Jesus does not judge your misguided sin. He sees into your heart. He knows your deepest desire. “Come, follow me.”

Christ’s blood is on your souls. What will you do when he turns his gaze on you? If you answer this call and remain faithful to it, you will be without fault. It is never too late. Pray today’s Psalm:

“Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am faithful. Save the servant who trusts in you.”[3]

“Come. Follow me!” And Matthew left everything, got up, and followed Jesus.

[1]Luke 5:27-32

[2]Luke 18:9-14

[3]Psalm 85(86)

Week 1 Sunday – “Jesus tempted in the Desert”

Jesus was tempted by Satan three times, in three different ways, on three levels. Be aware! You may encounter the same attempts against your own life.

Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was very hungry, and the tempter came to him.[1]
There are two things here. First, that Satan has little or no interest in those already living a life of habitual wrongdoing. They are already hooked on his drug and walk willingly into sin; no temptation needed. No, Satan only goes after those living in a state of grace, who pray and fast.

            Secondly, he comes for you after time spent in prayer and fasting. Either you are weak from the endeavour, or you think you’ve reached the state of perfection – you are already a saint, incapable of falling. And so, either out of weakness or thinking yourself invincible, you lower your guard and walk naively into occasions of sin.
            “You are already saved, so you can enjoy the pleasures of the body without sinning”, says the tempter to those who think themselves incapable of sin. Or “You can indulge just this once and go back to confession tomorrow”, he says to those in a moment of weakness. “After all, you are human, not an angel. God created you with a body with good and natural instincts. So like the rest of the creatures, there is nothing sinful in what you do. If you walk in the presence of God in Eden, then eat, drink, make love and enjoy the earthly life you are blessed with. You’ll be okay as long as you thank God. For what is God if not love and joy who created you thus?”
            The first temptation – the body: “Turn these rigid, lifeless stones – the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments – into bread, something you can consume. Feast on lust, gluttony and the comfort of sloth.”
            “Man is also spirit”, replies Jesus, “fed by the Word from the mouth of God.”
            Victory… over temptation in the body.

            “You are indeed spirit, made in God’s image”, continues Satan. “Put it to good use. You have talents which should not be buried in the ground. Fulfil your mission, for you are special: a prophet, a priest, a saint. Look at the attention others are getting (=envy). They are no way near your level of knowledge and sanctity (=pride). It’s time to ascend to the summit of the Temple/Church (=greed) and from there you can put them in their place (=anger) as you demonstrate how angels serve you.”
            The second temptation – the spirit.
            “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Though his angels serve you in doing God’s will, they are not servants at your back and call to do your will.
            Victory… over temptation in the spirit.

            These first two temptations are subtle. You might not even recognise the presence of Satan, for he is hidden behind rational arguments, or he appears as an angel of light wearing the false mask of self-righteousness.
            There is no such problem with the third temptation. Having won victories over him in both body and spirit, you are no longer easily deceived. And so Satan actually appears to you and makes you a direct and clear proposal – a once in a lifetime offer, no tricks.
            “Why serve God in a miserable life of suffering and serving others? Do you really want to be scourged and crucified? Look at successful singers, actors, models – you think they got where they are on their own? No, I am the prince of this world. They accepted my offer and signed my contract – the same one I offer you. What do you get? Money, success, fame. You will be worshipped and adored as a god – with all the power and fame, all the luxury and pleasure, you could ever want. All you have to do is change your allegiance – swap teams. Kneel and worship me, not God.”
            “Be off, Satan! For scripture says: You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.” Then the devil left him, and angels appeared and looked after him.

Victory… over temptation in the will – in the ultimate freedom of choice that is yours to make.

Do not think just of Christ’s temptations, but of his victory over the attempts made by Satan against him. When you are tempted, see yourself in Jesus, and see yourself as victorious in him. He could have kept the devil from himself; but if he were not tempted he could not have taught you how to triumph over temptation.[2]

[1]Matthew 4:1-11

[2]Cf. St Augustine, On Psalm 60 – from the Office of Readings (Vigils) of today.

Week 1 – Monday “Social Doctrine”

The hungry, the thirsty, strangers/foreigners, the naked, the sick and prisoners[1] – whose moral duty is it to care for them? The government’s? The Church’s? Their family’s? Yours?

The social doctrine of the Church developed in the nineteenth century when the Gospel encountered modern industrial society. The Church promotes deeper understanding of the laws of social living and strives to inspire right attitudes with respect to earthly goods and in socio-economic relationships.[2] The Catechism[3] rightly places this under consideration of the Seventh Commandment – You shall not steal – which applies not only to each individual, but to employers and state governments. “You must not steal nor deceive nor fraud nor exploit nor rob. You must not keep back the labourer’s wage. You must pass judgement according to justice.”[4]

I’ve never been a fan of philosophy; so many words to overthink and exhaustingly explain the minutiae of what to a child is quite simple: Do not steal! Of course not. But that’s only the restrictive negative aspect, the absolute minimum required for social living. The real commandment is ‘be kind and generous’. Is there more to say than this? As you live a life of virtue the Holy Spirit will guide you, and your guardian angel will teach you how to be kind and generous in each given moment.

What benefactor has enabled you to look out upon the beauty of the sky, has blessed you with rain, with different kinds of food, with houses, with a life of humanity and culture, with friendship? Is it not God, who asks you now in your turn to show yourself generous? Because we have received from him so many wonderful gifts, will we not be ashamed to refuse him this one thing only, our generosity?[5]

Being kind and generous brings its own reward – it gives you such an interior sense of achievement and joy that you gain much more than you have given. And this participation in the Kingdom of God is but a foretaste of what is to come. You will recognise Christ in the hungry, the thirsty, strangers/foreigners, the naked, the sick and prisoners. And when the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, you will join the virtuous in eternal life.

[1]Today’s Gospel, Matthew 25:31-46

[2]Catechism paras 2419-2421

[3]Paras 2419 and following, where it also addresses arguments of economy, social justice, solidarity and love for the poor.

[4]Today’s First Reading, Leviticus 19

[5]From a sermon by Saint Gregory Nazianzen, in today’s Office of Readings (Vigils).

Week 1 – Tuesday “The Kingdom like a Seed”

Thus says the Lord: ‘As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.’[1]

Jesus explains that the seed that is sown, this smallest of seeds, is the Gospel (= the good news) of the kingdom of God.[2]

If your heart is hard and your mind closed over – like a path – you hear the Gospel but it does not penetrate and you are easy pickings in life for the birds and the demons.

Maybe you are open to the Gospel and clear a place for it in your life. It springs up quickly and the rituals of religion give you a satisfying feeling of self and belonging. But the soil is only superficial and there are too many rocks in how you live. When the reality that following Jesus means renouncing your self and taking up your Cross, your faith withers and dies.

Perhaps you have cleared the rocks and the soil is good enough for the Gospel to take root and grow. But the enemy comes and sows darnel among the wheat. To the naked eye darnel looks exactly like wheat and you can only tell them apart by the fruit they produce. The worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke you like thorns, making you unfruitful.

The seed falls on good soil when you hear the Gospel and understand it. It penetrates deep within and you are willing to die to everything and everyone that is not of God that you may bear fruit in your life. Only then does this smallest of seeds grow into a tree, producing bread for the eating – the bread of eternal life – that you share generously with others. The Gospel does not return to God empty. It carries out his will and succeeds in what it was sent to do in me and in you.

Behold, the word of the Father from the mouth of his Son as enlightened by his Holy Spirit.

Our Father in heaven,

may your name be held holy,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.[3]

May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.[4]

[1]Isaiah 55:10-11

[2]The Parable of the Sower, of the Wheat and Darnel, and of the Mustard Seed – Matthew 1:1-43

[3]Matthew 6:7-15

[4]Song of Songs 1:2

Week 1 – Wednesday “The Sign of Jonah”

‘This is a wicked generation – asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, and when Jonah preached they repented.’[1]

There are many self-proclaimed prophets and disciples in this wicked generation asking for and proclaiming signs. They claim to hear the voice of God and to be on a mission as they enthusiastically predict signs and warnings of imminent chastisement and doom.

In the 8^th century BC when Jonah preached, ‘Only forty days more and Nineveh[2] is going to be destroyed’ – he wasn’t very happy about being sent as a prophet (= a representative) of God. No true prophet is happy about being one. Moses tried to talk God out of sending him to Pharaoh. Elijah fled to the desert and asked God to let him die. And Jonah, instead of going East to Nineveh, first went West, got on a boat and tried to sail in the opposite direction. So one clear sign of a true prophet is their humility, their reluctance to speak, followed by their desire to run away and hide from attention in solitude and silence.

But the people of Nineveh believed in God and in an effort not to perish and change God’s mind they decided

to fast completely from food and even water;
to call on God with all their might;
to renounced their evil behaviour and the wicked things they had done.[3]

And God relented. He did not inflict on them the disaster which he had threatened. Why?

God saw their efforts to renounce their evil behaviour. So you can fast and pray all you like – as that wicked generation of Pharisees and Scribes did – but unless you renounce how you behave and stop sinning, it will all be for nothing.

However, turning away from sinful behaviour and resisting temptation is NOT easy. There is rarely a straightforward or quick transformation from sinner to saint.

So do not fret if you continue to sin, or if you can’t free yourself from temptation. What God wants to see is your effort:

Fast, pray, renounce the wicked things you have done, and make an effort to renounce your sinful behaviour. Do this for just forty days – God will see your effort and send

[1]Luke 11:29-32

[2]Nineveh was the largest city and capital of the Assyrian Empire. You can still see its ruins, including the site of a shrine to Jonah, and its ancient walls on the eastern bank of the Tigris River in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

[3]Jonah 3:1-10

Week 1 – Thursday “Esther”

As a consequence of their spiritual apostasy, their refusal to heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah, the Jewish people were conquered and scattered in diaspora throughout the Persian Empire. Esther, a Jewish woman of extraordinary beauty became one of the queens of Persia. She learnt from her cousin Mordecai that Haman, the king’s advisor, had tricked the King into signing a degree ordering the death of every Jew in his kingdom. Mordecai persuaded Esther to put her own life at risk by interceding with the King to save her people.[1]

Strangely, the Book of Esther does not mention God. It records neither words, nor miracles, nor any intervention of God at all. The Jews are saved from genocide at the hands of Hitler-like Haman through the courage of one strategically placed woman, Esther, and her cousin Mordecai.

Nonetheless, before her prayer which we heard today, which does not even exist in the original Hebrew text[2], Esther says “Go, gather together all the Jews and we will fast for three nights and days”.[3] And Mordecai tells Esther, “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place. Maybe you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”[4]

It may not mention Him directly, yet God is clearly at work. He chooses people to accomplish his plans. Joseph was sent into captivity in Egypt to save the Jews from famine. Moses was rescued as a baby to deliver the Jews from slavery. And if any of them, including Esther, had freely chosen to remain silent, not to act, then as Mordecai indicates, God would simply have chosen someone else.

As with Esther, Joseph, Moses, and many others, I add my own witness to the truth of the promise made by Jesus.

Ask, and it will be given to you.

The one who asks always receives.

Search, and you will find.

The one who searches always finds.

Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

The one who knocks will always have the door opened to them[5]

You may not see God, but he is present. You may not hear God, but he hears you. Do you desire God’s providence in your life? Then ask in prayer, knock by fasting, and search by turning away from sin.

[1]The Jewish feast day of Purim at the beginning of March commemorates these events every year.

[2]Esther 4:17 – this entire prayer is only one verse because it is from the Septuagint (= LLX), the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible.

[3]Esther 4:16

[4]Esther 4:14

[5]Today’s Gospel, Matthew 7:7-12

Week 1 – Friday “Denying Christ”

Thus says the Lord: ‘If the wicked man renounces the sins he has committed, he shall live because of the integrity he has practised.’[1]

What about those outside the Church, like Muslims and Jews? Is it their fault if they were born in a different country, or into a family, culture or religion that is not Christian?

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing; they have little judgement. Therefore, Father, forgive them. They are nailing me to the cross, but they do not know who it is that they are nailing to the cross. If they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory. Therefore, Father, forgive them. They think it is a lawbreaker, an impostor claiming to be God, a seducer of the people. I have hidden my face from them, and they do not recognise my glory. Therefore, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[2]

But what about ignorantia juris non excusat – ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse’? Responsibility for knowing the truth falls on the individual and you cannot escape justice by claiming you did not know.[3] This doctrine first shows up in the Bible in Leviticus 5:17: “If a person sins and commits any of these things forbidden by the Commandments, even though he does not know, he is still guilty and shall bear his punishment.” And as Jesus says, “you will be thrown into prison and not get out till you have paid the last penny.”[4]

How much more does this apply to Christians; those who have no excuse whatsoever for pleading ignorance of the Ten Commandments and still have fallen away into sin. “For if the upright man”, continues Ezekiel, “renounces his integrity, commits sin, copies the wicked man and practises every kind of filth, is he to live? He himself has broken faith and committed sin, and for this he shall die”.

But you object, “What the Lord does is unjust.”

Listen, you: is what God does unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the Christian renounces his integrity, his faith, to commit sin and dies because of it, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed.

Those of you who renounce sin shall live because of the integrity you have practised.

Those of you who renounce integrity shall die because of the sin you have practised.

As Jesus said to his disciples: “If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.”

[1]Ezekiel 18:21-28

[2]From today’s Office of Readings (Vigils), from the Mirror of Love by Saint Aelred

[3]This applies only if the law in question has been properly promulgated — published and distributed in a way that is accessible. A secret law is no law at all.

[4]Matthew 5:20-26

Week 1 – Saturday “Love your Enemies”

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be children of your Father in heaven; perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’[1]

The other option to loving and praying for people, is to hate them, and to want to see them get what they deserve. While such negativity rarely does them any harm, it transforms (or better ‘deforms’) you into a very unlikeable Christian. By imitating them you turn into what you hate and you end up the one needing love and prayer.

You weren’t born with hate in your heart – you learnt it from others. But as a child of God you should learn from him. He sent you Jesus to show you how to live, and he sent his Holy Spirit with the grace to be perfect like the Virgin Mary.

Love those who sin and pray for those who persecute. You don’t have to like them, and you certainly aren’t called to agree with them; but you do have to love them and pray for their wellbeing. Don’t judge them in your mind or heart; forgive them, remembering your own sins and how you too have been forgiven.

Learn to look with better eyes. If your eye is pure, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is judgemental, your whole body will be full of darkness.

If only you could see your soul and theirs; you would see the potential of who you really are.

When this was revealed in my life I implored my Guardian Angel, “Help them!”

“We do”, replied the angel. “Every moment of every day of their lives. But they don’t listen. They refuse our help.”

The more I looked, the more my prayer developed: something must be done.

And finally, I prayed: “Can I help? Send me!”

“Give witness to the mercy of the Father, the love of the Son, and the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

How?

“Love each one of them, even your enemies; pray for them, even those who persecute you.”

[1]Matthew 5:43-48

Week 2 – Sunday “Transfiguration”

Jesus took Peter, James and John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone. There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light.[1]

Would you like to climb the high mountain of the Lord and see the face of Jesus transfigured?

God instructed Abraham: “Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you”.[2] Leave your country, your nationality, your culture and your language to seek first the kingdom of God. Leave your family, your relatives by blood, for relatives in the spirit; a family of angels and saints. Leave your father’s house and its home comforts for your heavenly Father’s house, where the Beloved will take you into his inner wine cellar.

The journey is NOT easy. Elijah had travelled for just one day through the desert when he said “Lord, I’ve had enough”, and he sat down and wanted to die. God sent an angel with food and water, but Elijah didn’t move. So the Lord’s angel came to him again, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat! If you don’t, you will not be strong enough to make the long journey.” The food gave him new strength and he travelled for 40 days and 40 nights; he kept going until he arrived at the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. The Lord said, “Go out. Stand on the mountain in front of me. I am going to pass by.”As the Lord approached, Elijah pulled his coat over his face as went out and stood at the entrance to the cave– for who can see the face of God and live?[3]

When Moses came down from the same Mount with the Ten Commandments, his face was radiant – transfigured from speaking with the Lord. For the Lord spoke face to face with Moses, as a man to his friend. The Israelites, however, were so afraid even to approach Moses that he had to put a veil over his face.[4] The Apostle Paul explains that “their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. And even to this day, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transfigured into his image with ever-increasing glory by the Spirit who comes from the Lord.”[5]

Renounce your self [your country, family and home comforts], follow Christ across the desert, [he will send angels to strengthen you for the journey], and if you persevere the dark night alone in a cave on the mountain of God, you too will see the face of Jesus.

However, if you want to see his face transfigured in the Glory of God, you must be willing to look upon his face transfigured by the hatred and rejection of man; a face crowned with thorns, spat upon and mocked. You must look upon him as he hangs on the Cross and with tears of compunction acknowledge your Lord and your God.

With me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy.[6]

[1]Matt 17:1-9

[2]Gen 12:1-4

[3]1 Kgs 19

[4]Exodus 33:11 & 34:29-35

[5]2 Corinthians 3:13-18,

[6]Today’s Second Reading, 2 Tim 1:8-10

Week 2 – Monday “Do not Judge”

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not judge”,[1] but when I say this people usually retort that they are entitled to their opinion and that I shouldn’t judge, for to do so is arrogant.

“We have not listened to your servants who spoke in your name. We have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God.”[2]

The truth is, we rarely listen. Listening requires you to be silent and reflect on what was said and why. If you really listen you’ll soon be aware that 95% of what is either:

judging events (the meal, the party, the film, the politics, the football, etc.)
judging others (their looks, dress, behaviour, comments, etc.)
or judging yourself (good or bad).

And the real crux is that a positive judgement is still judging. It might sound silly that even saying good things is still judgemental, but remember that Jesus said, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, except one – God.”[3]

If 95% of what you say has neither substance nor worth before God, the way is one of silence. And in that silence you grow into a state of awareness of yourself, of God and of the other.

The entire time I was with Mother Teresa in Calcutta I never said a single word to the poor, the hungry, the sick, the lepers, the abandoned orphaned babies, or even to those who were dying. Why? Because I couldn’t speak the language. Being deprived of the gift of speech left me feeling extremely handicapped, even useless. But I learnt a lot about silence and the nature of love.

And after I learned to live in silence, rarely opening my mouth, I began the real stage of learning how not to judge. For the entire spiritual journey towards holiness is that of body (in this case, holy purification of my tongue through silence) and then of spirit (holy purification of my thoughts and feelings through silence).

If you love the Lord my God with all your mind and all your heart, everything becomes prayer. And as Jesus taught us, when you pray do not use many words. Rather retreat into the private room of your soul and close the door of judgement.[4]

Jesus said to his disciples: Do not judge. Do not condemn. Be compassionate. Grant pardon. And give. Because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.

[1]Luke 6:36-38

[2]Daniel 9:4-10

[3]Mark 10:18

[4]Matthew 6:5-14

Week 2 – Tuesday “Sodom”

Notwithstanding the primacy of silence, are there times when you should speak up?

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Listen to the command of our God, you people of Gomorrah. ‘Wash! Make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good‘.[1]

The sexual immoralities of Sodom and Gomorrah have been back in vogue since the 1960s. Lately it has formed into a dangerous cult movement, infiltrating society and church at all levels. They are outraged over how other people act and are easily angered by all who offend their extremely fragile sensibilities. Taking the moral high ground, they claim that religious opinions on morality are socially unacceptable and amount to hate crime. Suddenly everyone is an expert in things they do not understand, and they encourage others to join their sensually explicit parades of adults behaving worse than unruly children. Disagree and they throw a tantrum; an emotional outburst of uncontrolled and irrational frustration or rage; how dare you rain on their parade!

It wasn’t so long ago that anyone being a ‘drama queen’ was quickly advised to grow up. Now the drama queens have taken over TV, the streets, the Churches and even more worryingly, the schools. Their goal is to indoctrinate children in gender denial and experimentation; encouraging them to idolise emotions and practice disordered sexual behaviour free from legal constraints, moral guidelines or codes of practice on how to behave either in public or in the bedroom.

The filter in their brain has been removed – that part of the intellect which analyses every thought and feeling before deciding whether its a good idea to externalise and impose them on others. They profess their ignorance as wisdom, and proclaim their sin as shining virtue. For all their talk of understanding, empathy and tolerance, they refuse such things to others who think or behave differently from themselves; it is inconceivable that others might disagree or have different opinions. Pretending to be in the right, they use words such as ‘pride’, ‘tolerance’, ‘acceptance’ and ‘love’ … but as weapons to impose their immoral choices on others, including children.

And now it has become illegal to offend these people in any way by expressing a contrary opinion, or questioning whether their beliefs are intellectually sound. What next for those who disagree even privately in silent thoughts and prayers? Drag outdated Christians with their judgemental virtues into the public eye and throw stones at them? Put them in ghettos for the socially unacceptable, or skip straight to concentration camps to enforce vaccines and reprogramming?

Just as bad are those Catholic clergy or Christian denominations who out of ignorance or cowardice have decided to be offended on their behalf and to adopt their cause as their own. “Such clergy do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they! Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing fancy garments, like wanting to take the place of honour at meals and the front seats in meetings, being greeted as if they were Lords in public and having people call them Father”.[2] They neither talk nor act like a real person, but as a black photocopy of one. Or they dress up as if on stage acting out a performance for the gratification of the public. Either way, they seem to lack understanding of the human condition, of the dangers of labelling people in society (even those who are sinners), of the real and powerful influence of the demonic in everyday lives, and of the power of prayer and grace. It’s amazing how few clergy overcome their bland image as pale shadows or put aside their careers as actors. Do they have the courage to step up? A weak and wounded human being? Yes; but one who is also a genuine disciple of Jesus.

Where are the saints? There are good people in this world fighting silent battles away from social media coverage, with no clear or evident successes, and seeking neither praise nor recognition. They demonstrate genuine warmth and humanity which makes you feel good about yourself and adapt a more positive outlook for the potential of humanity. Saints who face up to insurmountable challenges and fight unwinnable battles only to face scorn and ridicule for their courageous efforts. Saints who renounce self, embrace the Cross, and follow Jesus in enduring the rejection and hatred of the modern world and its culture of Sodom and Gomorrah.

You do this, and should I keep silence? Do you think that I am like you?[3]

Saints use few but well-chosen words that come from the silence of their communion with God. They are not words of judgement nor hate speech. They are an attempt at making you aware of the natural and supernatural consequences of sexual immorality. Their prime concern is the health and wellbeing of the soul.

‘Come now, let us talk this over,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing to obey.’

[1]Isaiah 1:10, 16-20

[2]Matthew 23:1-12 – edited.

[3]Today’s Psalm; 49(50)

Week 2 – Wednesday “The Cup of Christ”

Jesus told the Twelve he would be handed over to the high priests to be condemned to death for blasphemy. Then he would be handed over to the pagans, the Romans, to be mocked, scourged and crucified.[1]

Having heard this, two of the apostles, John and James, the sons of Zebedee, were keen to book their front row seats in heaven. Did they not hear what Jesus was about to suffer? Did they not understand?

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to go to heaven and share in the glory of Jesus in everlasting life. I wish more people had such longing. The difficulty arises, however, when they discover that the only path to heaven goes through Calvary. There is no other way. If you want to participate in the joy of Christ’s glorious resurrection, you must be willing to participate in the sorrow of his shocking passion and death. Can you drink that cup?

What does that mean? John and James, for example, lived out completely different lives. James was a missionary and the first apostle to die a martyr’s death. On the other hand, John stayed with the Virgin Mary, was a New Testament writer, and was the only apostle not to die a martyr’s death.

So don’t get ahead of yourself on your spiritual journey, neither wondering what seat you’ll have in heaven, nor predicting what saintly suffering you will embrace. For being a saint is less about what you do, and more about who you are and how you react to the unexpected trials you face.

You may encounter hidden snares, the slander of a pagan crowd as they plot against you and plan to take away your life – your reputation and good name.[2] Or you may fall foul of a plot from high priests accusing you of blasphemy, as Padre Pio did. As against Jeremiah, they listen carefully to everything you say to twist your words (which are good) and throw them back in your face as though you had spoken evil.[3]

Whatever cross you endure, remember that it is as nothing compared to what Jesus endured; that you might participate in eternal life and take a seat in his kingdom.

As for me, I trust in you, Lord, no matter than happens when I drink your cup.

I say: ‘You are my God. My life is in your hands. Deliver me from the hands of those who hate me.’

[1]Matt 20:17-28

[2]Psalm 30(31)

[3]Jer 18:18-20

Week 2 – Thursday “Hades”

The rich man died and ended up in Hades – in agony and in torment in the flames.[1] We know that Hades follows death[2], but is it a place of eternal torment? Is it what we call Hell?

Jesus said that Capernaum, exalted to heaven for having been the home of five of the Apostles[3], a place where Jesus preached and performed miracles, would “be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.”[4] That is quite a statement, having your home town compared to Sodom and coming off worse.

Peter said of Christ “that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.”[5] That’s fine for Jesus, who has “the keys of Hades and of Death”[6], but about about the rest of us? Thankfully Jesus said: “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”[7]

Hades is not Hell. Hell, the place of eternal damnation where both body and soul are killed[8] is called Gehenna in the New Testament.[9] The tongue of hypocrites is the fire of Gehenna, and Pharisees and scribes are sons of hell and will not escape its condemnation.[10] So it is better for you to tear out that part of you that causes you to rebel against God, like your hypocritical tongue or impure eye, than to be cast into hell fire.[11]

Hades is Greek for the Old Testament Hebrew word Sheol. Synonymous with “the grave”, it signifies life after death awaiting eternal judgement. Before Christ, we had little knowledge of it. It was ‘under ground’, in the grave, and attached to Hell. There was no other place to go, for the gates of Heaven were closed. Only by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the power of Satan, the power of sin, and the power of death, overcome and defeated; and the Gates of Heaven were reopened.

Hades is attached to Hell, but not in it. Hell is for demons and human souls who rebel and refuse to repent; despairing of the mercy of God for all eternity, they choose Hell. Before Christ, Hades was called ‘limbo’ – where the dead went to await the final judgement before entering heaven. It is called Purgatory now. And if your sins have been grave, you will end up in the lowest part of Purgatory closest to Hell. And there is great torment and agony there. And the souls in that place, like the rich man today, cry out and beg. For Sheol in Hebrew means ‘to beg’.

This is all very dark, you say. Why am I preaching suffering, hell and eternal damnation? Clergy today, especially at funerals, preach that everyone who has died is in Heaven with the relatives who have gone before them. Though I acknowledge their goal is to offer comfort and consolation to the families of the deceased, they are NOT speaking the Truth, nor are they preaching the Gospel. It is not I who speak of Hades and Hell – it is Jesus. For the rich man today, knowing the truth of life after death, begged Abraham to warn his family of the suffering in Purgatory.

Abraham said “a great gulf was fixed to stop anyone crossing over”, but that was before Christ. In his infinite love and mercy, Jesus gave himself up to suffering and death, to pay the price for your sin. He made that crossing and prepared a way for you to cross. By his Cross you may cross. It is the only Way. For he is the Way, the Truth and the crossing into Eternal Life.

The rich man died and was buried… and nobody even remembers his name. But the poor man Lazarus died and was carried away by the angels and everyone remembers his name.

[1]Luke 16:19-31. The Greek word Hades is used ten times in the New Testament.

[2]For Hades follows Death in Rev 6:7-8.

[3]Peter, Andrew, John, James and Matthew.

[4]Matt 11:23

[5]Acts 2:25ff quoting David in Psalm 16:8-11.

[6]Rev 1:17-18

[7]Matt 16:18

[8]Mat 10:28, Lk 12:2, James 3:6

[9]Literally referring to the Hinnom Valley, a ravine south of Jerusalem where constant fires were kept burning to consume the dead bodies of animals, criminals, and refuse. The valley was notorious for idolatrous practices to the demon Moloch, burning the children alive there as sacrifices. Jeremiah (19:1-32) said the place would become a place of divine judgement.

[10]Matt 23:15-33

[11]Matt 5:22-30 and 18:9; Mk 9:43-47

Week 2 – Friday “Killing the Son”

“They will respect my son” he said.
But when they saw him they said, “Come on, let’s kill him.”[1]

Why would anyone want to kill Jesus? Because you feel naked when you stand before him. No more pretending or putting on a show. No more lies or excuses. Just you – all your thoughts, all your feelings, all the things you have done, all the things you have failed to do. And in your nakedness you see your sin. In fact, when everything is stripped away in you that comes from God’s grace, the only thing left, the only thing you can 100% call your own, is your sin.

How dare Jesus strip you naked and leave you so exposed? After all it’s not your fault you acted that way. It was someone else, or circumstances at that time, or the hand you’d been dealt in life. Look at what others did to you? Shouldn’t Jesus be off judging them and making them pay for what they’ve done? Where’s the justice in that! No, you won’t let go of my hate? No, you won’t forgive them? I agree with you. I’m fed up with this nonsense about loving and kindness, about mercy and forgiving. I want to get ahead of the rest, beat the competition and be the best. Is there no way to be rid of this Jesus and go on living as we have done? If only we could be rid of him. Come on, let’s kill him.

But when I stood before Jesus and saw my sin I didn’t feel such anger or hate. I didn’t even feel ‘respect’. I felt ashamed. And that is the Greek word used in today’s Gospel: “They will be ashamed by my son.”[2]

Shame at my sin was the beginning of the process. When Adam and Eve were naked in their sin, God their Father had pity on them, and clothed them. I saw all the graces I had received from God throughout the years; graces I had taken for granted, and often ignored or abused. Little had I offered even a ‘thank you’ of appreciation. I saw how many times I had fallen into sin, but as with any child, my Father didn’t stop loving me, nor love me less. And no matter how much I hurt my Father, he was always ready to forgive me and move on, hoping that I would not sin again – doing harm to myself, and doing harm to his gracious and loving heart.

But no, I keep on sinning.

“I’ll send my son”, says the Father. Surely when you see how perfect he is, how loving and forgiving, how he suffered and died for you – surely then you’ll be ashamed and make an effort not to sin? Try to be good and loving children, as is my son, as is his mother?

Standing before Jesus makes me ashamed, and from that I am humbled. It breaks my heart! And that’s nothing compared to when he smiles and opens his arms, delighted that I am ashamed of my sin, that it has made me humble and contrite of heart. That’s all he wants.

So, I urge you: seek him, seek his face.

By his sufferings shall my servant justify many, taking their faults on himself, surrendering himself to death and letting himself be taken for a sinner, while he was bearing the faults of many and praying all the time for sinners.[3]

[1]Matt 21:33-46

[2]evntre,pw – in the active voice = to put to shame. In the passive voice, as in today’s Gospel = to be put to shame, to be ashamed.

[3]Isaiah 53:11-12, from Morning Prayer.

Week 2 – Saturday “Prodigal Son”

The most famous Biblical example of walking away from a life of sin is that of the prodigal (=wasteful) son[1]. However, his long journey from famine to feast was more complicated and difficult than you think.

He began to feel the pinch but, determined to resist, he hired himself out.
He was hungry and realised his life amounted to nothing more than feeding swine.
He finally came to his senses by comparing his present state with what it should be.
He decided to change.

At some stage in life, maybe more than once, we all go through something similar. It starts with a deep, inner unhappiness with life and a restlessness of spirit that hopefully inspires you to seek a better life – if your soul is open to healing. However, like the prodigal son, you still need to find the courage, strength and determination to do something about it.

He got up and started the journey.

You are ready to start but maybe shame for your sins is holding you back. There is so much baggage and such a mess that you hardly know where to begin. Like a misbehaving child approaching a parent you fear a reaction of anger, criticism, disappointment and punishment. You have to make the decision that from this moment on your past is in the past. Cut ties with your sinful habits, consign them to your past and make your present different. Don’t let your sin stop you making the journey. Let it go and embrace the wonderful power of humbly accepting that:

You’ll never be ready.

You’ll never be worthy.

There will never be a better moment than now.

So get up and start walking away from a life of sin.

He persevered and didn’t turn back.

Your sin, however, follows you, and you fall, more than once. Do not think of yourself as a failure. What is important is your determination to walk away from sin as a habitual daily practice, of viewing it as an acceptable way of life. You continue to sin but to a lesser degree and unwillingly as you struggle against the flesh, the world and the devil. Though sin remains an obstacle before you, don’t let it stop you. The journey is like falling in love, which isn’t at all easy. You have to make a leap of faith that when you give your heart it won’t be broken. You are handing over control to God, and if your objective is to live a holy life, you will not fail.

Father, forgive me.

“As we forgive those who trespass against us” is the only thing you promise to do to fulfil the three aspirations of the Our Father: may your name be hallowed, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth by me as it is in heaven by your angels and saints. Like the prodigal son, forgiveness is not just an idea you accept; it is something you have to get up and do. For as [=when, while and because] you forgive, you take the grace from your having been forgiven and you share that grace with others. Do not criticise others. Do not judge them. Forgive them in silence [=without making a public scene of it] and love them [=openly] in grace. By participating in God’s righteous love you do his will, and draw ever closer to being pure and perfect in God’s eyes. And oh to experience that embrace of the Father and hear him say, “this child of mine was dead, but has come back to life; was lost, but is found.”

[1]Luke 15:11-32

Week 3 – Sunday “I thirst”

Tormented by thirst, the people complained against Moses. ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt?’ they said. ‘Was it so that I should die of thirst, my children too?’[1]

You die of thirst if you don’t have water to keep you alive. But there’s more to the complaint here than just water, for once more they moan about being brought out of Egypt. They thirst after the old life of sin they have left behind, for the body thirsts for comfort, pleasure and excitement. But the human spirit also has a thirst: for knowledge, for love and for peace of mind. For yourself, even more so for your children.

Jesus, tired by the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour [= twelve noon]. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’[2]

You will be happy in life if you give Jesus a drink – if you hunger and thirst for righteousness[3]. Not for justice, the righteousness of man, neither in the world nor in your own life; but the righteousness of God that is holiness – that the kingdom come in you and God’s will be done on earth by you as it is heaven by the angels and saints. A holiness that satisfies the hunger and thirst of Jesus in serving the hunger and thirst of others. ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in.’[4]

Jesus is the bread of life; who goes to him shall never hunger, who believes in him shall never thirst. For the water that Jesus gives, his Holy Spirit, becomes a fountain of water springing up in you into everlasting life.[5] Like Jesus, you will have food to eat that others do not know about, ‘My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.’

At the sixth hour, tired by the journey, Jesus sat down by the well. ‘Give me a drink.’

At the sixth hour, tired by the journey, Jesus was raised up on the Cross. And three hours later, and the ninth hour [at 3pm], knowing that all things were now completed,

Jesus said, “I thirst!”

They didn’t offer him up their holiness to drink, only the gall of their sins, which Jesus drank and said: “It is complete!”

And bowing his head, he died.[6]

[1]Ex 17:3-7

[2]John 4:5-42

[3]Matthew 5:6

[4]Matthew 25:35-44

[5]John 6:35 & 7:37-39, referencing Ezekiel 47

[6]John 19:28-30

Week 3 – Monday “Prophets and Glory”

Jesus said: no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.[1]

There were three classic offices of authority and service in the old Testament: the King in his palace with lots of officials and servants; the High Priest in the Temple in Jerusalem, served by his priests, scribes and sacristans; and the prophet living in poverty in the wilderness all on his own. There were (and still are) many rulers and priests who abuse their position to gain wealth or fame, or who unjustly impose themselves on others. But the only ones treated badly are always the prophets, the saints, of God? Why? Because they cannot be corrupted by money, pleasures, power or fame. Prophets seek out no one and entertain no one, unless sent by God. They are not interested in who you are in the eyes of the world, nor what you own, nor how much money you have. They treat everyone the same, and distinguish only between those who truly seek God, and those who do not.

‘In the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.’

Despite being told to approach the prophet, Naaman presented himself before the King with money and finery. ‘Am I a god?’ asked the King. Was healing something that could be bought for a price? Or something the rich and famous felt entitled to? For when he went to Elisha with his team of servants and all his chariots, Naaman was deeply offended by the fact that Elisha didn’t come out to acknowledge him personally. Moreover, he expected a great show: come out, call on God, wave your hand about, and hey presto: I’m cured. When this didn’t happen, Naaman was indignant and went off in a rage.[2]

Elisha sent a messenger to speak to Naaman; but if he lived alone in the wilderness and in poverty, where did he get a messenger? ‘Messenger’ in Hebrew means any type of messenger, including those of God – the angels. Elisha sent an angel to Naaman to tell him what to do to be healed. Given Naaman’s tantrum, you wonder why God even bothered healing him. You wonder why Jesus healed ten lepers when only one returned to give him thanks. For when Naaman was healed, he returned to Elisha. And this time he didn’t wait outside expecting Elisha to come out and pay him homage. This time Naaman went in and stood before him. Did he acknowledge and praise Elisha? No. He acknowledged and praised God. And that is exactly what Elisha wanted. It’s what any prophet wants.

For as the kingdom is God’s, and the power to heal is God’s, so too all the glory is God’s. And a prophet, a saint, renounces everything and everyone to participate in that kingdom, that power and that glory of God.

And if you want to be healed of your leprosy of sin, listen to the simplicity of the message of the prophet, speaking on behalf of God, speaking through God’s messenger angel: wash yourself and you will be clean. Not once, seven times – persevere in washing yourself for as long as it takes. And your flesh and your soul will become clean once more, like the flesh and the soul of a little child.

[1]Luke 4:24-30

[2]2 Kgs 5:1-15

Week 3 – Tuesday “The Fire of Forgiving”

King Nebuchadnezzar commanded everyone to fall down and worship as god the golden statue he had set up. When Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah refused, they were thrown into a furnace to be burnt alive. As they stood in the heart of the fire, Azariah prayed:

“May the contrite soul, the humbled spirit be acceptable to you, Lord. Let our sacrifice be to you today that we follow your will wholeheartedly. And now we put our whole heart into following you, into fearing you and seeking your face once more.”

Put your whole heart into seeking the merciful face of God through prayer and fasting, and follow the will of God wholeheartedly by being merciful to others.

Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’

Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.’[1]

Forgive those who trespass against you, who daily inflame your anger in the fiery furnace of not getting your own way. Endure the burning heat of having to put up with their annoying habits and infuriating demands. Sacrifice your own will; of not having things the way you want them or think they should be.

Even in the monastery the fire is intense. That brother is saying the psalms too quickly, too slowly, too loudly, too quietly. He doesn’t bow properly, nor turn the pages at the right time. He kneels when I sit, and stands when I kneel. He drinks from a glass instead of a cup. He eats too much or too little. He gets up from table because he forgot something.

What a fiery furnace it is to seek to deny yourself; to turn your judgemental gaze away from your brother and put your whole heart into seeking the merciful face of God.

Ah, it is indeed a fire that scourges the flesh, crowns the spirit in thorns, and crucifies you to the very depths of the soul.

But behold! In the living flame of love, stands another with you.

King Nebuchadnezzar jumped up and said. “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire? Yet I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt. And the fourth has the appearance of a son of God.”[2]

[1]Matthew 18:21-35

[2]Daniel 3:91-92

Week 3 – Wednesday “The Law”

Moses said to the people: ‘Take notice of the laws and customs [?!] that I teach you today, and observe them, that you may have life.’[1]

Laws and customs is a very poor translation of the Hebrew, making you think of the laws of purity and religious ritual customs that Jesus criticised[2]. Moses spoke not of them but of ‘statutes and judgements’.

Whereas statutes refer to the statutory law enacted by the legislature [=the Government], judgements are the specific interpretation and application of the statutory law in individual cases in court. Therefore the statutory law is the Ten Commandments enacted by God through Moses, and the judgements are those interpretations and applications applied in individual cases throughout the Old Testament by the judges and the prophets. Thus Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them.’[3]

I am the Lord your God – but you prefer Ronaldo and Taylor Swift.
Do not say my name in vain – but you curse in the name of Jesus and Christ and God.
Keep holy the Sabbath – but you prefer secular entertainment and pleasure.
Honour your parents – but they are a burden and you no longer need them.
Do not kill – but you justify abortion and war.
No adultery – but you divorce, do not marry and take lovers to your bed.
Do not steal – but you think you can get away with it.
Do not tell lies against others – but you gossip behind their backs.
Do not desire another person – but lust and pornography is rampant.
Do not desire material things – but greed and gluttony is part of your life.

You stand accused under the statutory law of God; how do you plead, guilty or not guilty? And I don’t want to hear any excuses or justifications like you love the person, or it is your body, or everyone else is doing it, or, the most stupid argument of all – that this is the 21^st century. If you do not want to keep the commandments of God the reason is simple: you do not want to keep them. You prefer the law of Satan to the law of God, the freedom of sin to the freedom of holiness, the kingdom of Hell to the kingdom of God. “Observe them, that you may have life”; but you prefer death.

If only you could see God and know the truth of these things? You have eyes, but you do not see because you are blinded by sin. Only a pure heart can see the face of God, for your heart is impure in pleasure. You hear the Gospel, but your mind rejects it as a suitable way of life for you. You do not know the life-giving virtue of the Commandments because you do not live by them; you live in darkness.

Your soul should be clean of sin, like a mirror reflecting the light of Jesus. If there is the rust of sin on the mirror of your heart, you cannot see your own face, let alone the face of God; for no one who has sin within them can see God. If you understand this, then start to live in purity of heart, in holiness towards God, and in justice towards others according to the statutes. Only then will you understand all this and see God.[4]

[1]Deut 4:1,5-9

[2]Cf. Mark 7

[3]Matthew 5:17-19

[4]Cf. The Office of Readings (Vigils), edited by me from the book addressed to Autolycus by Saint Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch.

Week 3 – Thursday “A Divided House”

“A household divided against itself collapses.”[1]

This applies to all households, even that of a monastery. “How good and how pleasant it is when brothers live in unity, for there the Lord gives his blessing: eternal life.”[2] But what if the personality, habits or mannerisms of a brother are contrary to one’s own? How should the community proceed?

“Listen to my voice … and you will prosper. But they did not listen, they did not pay attention; they followed the dictates of their own evil hearts, refused to face me, and turned their backs on me.”[3]

If a brother prioritises his own ego of ‘me first’ and ‘I want’ over the collective well-being, it leads to tensions and conflict within the community. The voice of the devil soon sows seeds of mistrust and conflict among the brothers to divide their unity and weaken their strength. Idle talk (gossip and slander) quickly erodes trust within a community, breeding discontent, undermining community spirit and leading to fragmentation.

“Since many religious do not understand that they have entered religious life to carry Christ’s Cross, they do not get along well with others. Some will try you with words, telling you what you would rather not hear. Others by deeds, doing against you what you would rather not endure. Others by their temperament, being in their person and in their actions a bother and a nuisance to you. And others by their thoughts, neither esteeming nor feeling love for you. You will find yourselves confused and frustrated. Trials will never be lacking in religious life, nor does God want them to be. For in this way you may find genuine humility, inner quietude and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you do not practice this you will know neither how to be a religious nor will you know how to seek Christ, but only yourself.”[4]

“Remember always that you came here [to the monastery] for no other reason than to be a saint. If this was not your reason for entering the religious state, you should not have done so, but you should have remained in the world to seek your own comfort, honour, reputation and ease.”[5]

We aren’t called to like the brothers we live with. But we are called to love them.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour the other, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”[6]

[1]Luke 11:14-23

[2]Psalm 133

[3]Jer 7:23-28

[4]St John of the Cross, though I cannot find the reference.

[5]St John of the Cross, Degrees of Perfection n.16, and I cannot find the reference for the second part.

[6]1 Cor 13:4-8

Week 3 – Friday “The First Commandment”

The ways of the Lord are straight, and the virtuous walk in them.[1] First, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. Second, love your neighbour.’[2]

The ways of being a disciple might appear easy if you think that loving God means just going to Mass on a Sunday, and that loving your neighbour means being nice to people. But be careful you don’t start off down the wrong path – the path where you expect God to sanctify and glorify you in your life, that he should be the one to love you, adapting himself to your life.

The true path of discipleship is the desire to know, love and serve God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (= your will) in your daily life on earth as a servant in God’s kingdom. This desire never stands still nor is content; it ever increases through deeper knowledge and intensified love by the action of the Holy Spirit as you are transformed in his living flame of love. All your thoughts, feelings, desires and actions take on his divine nature; for they start in God, come to fruition in God, and return to God. You want nothing for yourself – everything is for God. You no longer live – for you have died and Christ lives in you.

And like Christ, you willingly endure and suffer the many trials of the world, of your bodily senses, and of your spirit. For you understand that either in this life, or in the next, you must reject Satan, overcome temptation and sin, and pass through the preparatory flames and sufferings of purgatory before seeing God. You must spend the night awake in prayer in Gethsemane, have your body scourged of sin, have your spirit crowned with thorns and mocked, carry your cross amid the rejection and hatred of the world, be stripped of your garments, nailed to the cross, be crucified, and die.

There is no other way. Which is why so few reach these heights in their lifetime.

God wants everyone to be a saint, but he finds so few souls willing to make the journey. Great determination and courage are required to walk the narrow path that leads to eternal life.

But what about commandment number two – loving your neighbour?

First, learn commandment number one.

Only then will you see the good, the God, in others, and their potential to be like you – striving down the path after your Beloved Jesus. If you focus on the first commandment, if you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength, the second commandment comes naturally, for you will know and love creatures through God, as God himself knows and loves them.

[1]Hosea 14:2-10

[2]Mark 12:28-34

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Week 4 Saturday – King Solomon

“Solomon offered a thousand holocausts on that altar”. A man of extremes, Solomon gathered so much wealth during his reign that his net worth is estimated at two trillion; he was a billionaire two thousand times over. On top of that, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines, who were instrumental in leading Solomon away from God to worship demons. And the number of gold talents Solomon received every year was 666.[1]

Solomon had asked God for “a heart to understand” and received “a heart wise and shrewd”.[2] So what went wrong? For happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding. The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens.[3]

Solomon wanted these gifts so that he could govern God’s people, but knowledge and power – to say nothing of excessive wealth and 1000 sexual partners – often leads to arrogant self-sufficiency and disobedience.

Missing are the key words of Solomon’s advice to his own son[4]: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing – whether good or evil.

For what use is knowledge and understanding if you do not fear God enough to keep his commandments, to avoid the temporary pleasure yet deadly effect of sin.

O severity of sin that severs from grace;

The gravity of a worldly grave.[5]

Salvation in Jesus is far from the wicked who are needless of God’s statutes. His just commandments give life, for they are eternal. All that I do is before God. May his decrees give me help, for I am lost like a sheep.[6]

And Jesus took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length.[7]

[1]1 Kgs 10:14

[2]Today’s First Reading, 1 Kgs 3:4-13. This is a poor translation of the original Hebrew text. Better is the New King James version: having asked for “an understanding heart”, God gave Solomon “a wise and understanding heart”.

[3]Prov 3

[4]Ecc 12:13-14

[5]I wrote this one night in prayer.

[6]Psalm 118, which we recite at Sext today (Saturday).

[7]Today’s Gospel, Mark 6:30-34

Week 5 Sunday – Salt and Light

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You are the salt of the earth.’[1]

Is today’s world to God’s liking or does it leave a bad taste in his mouth? The way people behave in society, on the internet and even on national TV is hard to swallow. Modernist woke philosophies are impossible to digest. But the hardest to stomach are nominal Christians – in name only.

A Christian is supposed to be a disciple of Christ – to follow his teachings and imitate him in a life of prayer and virtue. They are supposed to be the salt of the earth – used to purify the water and make it holy, and to make the world palatable for God, so that he doesn’t turn away completely and say:

“I’ve had enough. Even the humility and suffering and death of my Son hasn’t changed how they behave. They don’t want grace and a life in heaven with me. They have chosen sin and a hellish existence without me.”

Isaiah today says the righteous “share bread with the hungry, shelter the homeless poor, clothe the naked man, and give relief to the oppressed”.[2] Have you ever done any of these things, even once?

At least “do away with the clenched fist and the wicked word”, says Isaiah – “then your light will shine”. But I’ve met clergy who are just as angry and use the same foul language as the rest of the world – though they make an effort to mask it at times in public.

As a Christian, every word and action reflects on Jesus, the Christ we represent. That shouldn’t be too hard to grasp. In any job you must obey the code of conduct; behaviour in breach of that code results in your dismissal. If salt becomes tasteless it is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot.

How many Catholics today even know their faith? The Ten Commandments? The Seven Deadly Sins? The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit? The Seven Sacraments? The Seven Virtues (four Cardinal and three Theological)? Have they studied the virtuous lives of Saints to understand what is sinful behaviour and how to avoid it; what is a life of virtue and how to live it?

It is your duty as a Christian to be a disciple of Christ, and to put his word into practice by leading a saintly life.

“Your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.”

[1]Today’s Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16

[2]Today’s First Reading: Isaiah 58:7-10

Week 5 Monday – Empty Religion

Having made the crossing, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up. No sooner had Jesus stepped out of the boat than people recognised him, and started hurrying all through the countryside and brought the sick on stretchers to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, to village, or town, or farm, they laid down the sick in the open spaces, begging him to let them touch even the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched him were cured.[1]

And? Is that it? They recognised Jesus as what – a miracle worker? It would seem so, for their only interest was in having the sick cured. And then what?

When Jesus healed the ten lepers, only one came back (a Samaritan) praising God, and throwing himself at the feet of Jesus, he thanked him. “Where are the other nine?” Jesus asked him. “Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”[2]

Jesus frequently told those he cured not to tell anyone, for the more his reputation spread as a healer, the more people expected him to serve them like a wandering Doctor at their beck and call. It doesn’t matter that he got into a boat and went to the other side of the lake to spend time with his true disciples, the entitled masses wouldn’t let up. After all, it was all about them and what they wanted.

Even today a ‘practising Catholic’ seems to mean simply going to Mass on a Sunday, and confession once or twice a year. But if they do pray, are they just asking for things; treating God as their servant?

“In the presence of the ark, King Solomon and all Israel sacrificed sheep and oxen, countless, innumerable…”.[3]

Solomon – ever the man of excesses and putting on a show. It is repeated for emphasis his exaggerated countless, innumerable sacrifices in the presence of the ark of the covenant – which held the relics of their faith: the two Tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s Staffand some manna from heaven.[4]

But only “when the priests came out of the sanctuary the cloud filled the Temple of the Lord, and because of the cloud the priests could no longer perform their duties: the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s Temple”. If their duties in the Temple had been about praising God in the first place, the glory of the Lord would enhanced their rituals… instead it put a stop to them.

Ask yourself, why go to Church – for yourself, or to praise God? Do you recognise Jesus there? Does the invisible mystery of God penetrate within your soul and the glory of the Lord fill the Temple of your body?

[1]Mark 6:53-56

[2]Luke 17:11-19

[3]1 Kgs 8:1-7,9-13

[4]Cf. Ex 25:16. High Priest Aaron’s staff (Num 17:10) and a golden pot of manna (cf. Ex 16:33-34) where also conserved by the Ark. According to St. Paul (cf. Heb 9:4) they were placed inside it.

Week 5 Tuesday – The Law and Tradition

Jesus said, ‘How ingeniously you get round the commandment of God in order to preserve your own tradition! … In this way you make God’s word null and void for the sake of your tradition which you have handed down.’[1]

There is nothing wrong with Tradition, which “comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus’ teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.”[2] We are blessed to have two thousand years of saints and sinners trying to live the Gospel in their lives.

If we systematically reject the opportunity of living in the grace of the Holy Spirit received on, in and through the Church, we end up running around in the dark unsure of how to live.

Animals have no such problem. The natural law on how to live is ingrained into them. They are like a computer that has all its programming already installed and will never need updating.

As creatures, we also have natural law in our programming, accessible by the use of our faculty of reason. Unfortunately, our system is full of bugs and viruses. The most dangerous of these is the demonic virus. It keeps getting into the system, no matter how often we try to remove it and do a clean. It disguises itself as a legitimate program. Masquerading as ‘reason’ it gives us wrong instructions at every turn. Using such silly suggestions as ‘this is the 21^st Century’, its main purpose is to hide our higher capacities, or to prevent us accessing them if we find them.

So God intervened and revealed to us a Fools’ Guide – the Operating System and How to Run a Diagnostic and Troubleshoot. We know it as the Ten Commandments. It really is a fools’ guide; for do we really need to be told such simple basics as not to kill, steal, or commit adultery? Yet we weren’t even capable of following these basic rules, and ended up editing the Guide to suit how we want to operate. So God gave us the option to sign up to the Church and its Anti-Virus. Its an option because we’re not forced to sign up. Even though God made us and made our operating system, we are free to choose how to run things.

So, many insist on giving free reign to the demonic virus. Unfortunately, like all viruses, we are deceived into thinking it is part of the system and will do no harm. But its only purpose is to get us to lower our firewall and anti-virus programming, so that all sorts of bugs and viruses can get in and destroy the core of our system from within.

And there are those who freely follow the demonic and have the audacity to impose their process on others.

‘It was of those hypocrites that Isaiah so rightly prophesied in this passage of scripture:

This people honours me only with lip-service,

while their hearts are far from me.

The worship they offer me is worthless,

the doctrines they teach are only human regulations.

They put aside the commandment of God.’

[1]Mark 7:1-13, quoting Isaiah 29:13

[2]Catechism, para. 83.

Week 5 Wednesday – Unclean

Today is all about working hard to purchase for all the comforts, pleasures and entertainment we crave. Even more important is to rise the social ladder – to mingle with a better class of person and get invited to the right parties: chique and debonair with la crème de la crème. The words are French to give it that certain je ne sais quoi of haute culture and joie de vivre. S’il vous plaît, rendezvous for aperitif … à la carte caviar, fois gras, ratatouille, and crème brûlée.

Well done… for starters you had raw fish eggs and fattened liver of a duck; your main was stewed vegetables; and you had custard for dessert. Bon appétit e merci.

The good news is that what you ate wasn’t sinful. For Jesus today clarifies that whatever goes into your mouth cannot make you unclean, because it does not go into the heart; but through the stomach and passes out into the sewer.[1] “For it is from within, from your hearts, that evil intentions emerge and make you unclean.”

Let’s look at the list Jesus gives:

Fornication – did you marry your partner in Church?

Theft – did you claim as your own the deeds of another?

Murder – did you murder anyone’s good name?

Adultery – did you lust after anyone there?

Avarice – did you express a love of money or possessions?

Malice – did you desire ill of anyone?

Deceit – did you tell a lie?

Indecency – did you wear a revealing dress?

Envy – did you desire what another has?

Slander – did you speak ill of anyone not present?

Pride – did you boast or show off?

Folly – did you say or do anything silly?

“All these evil things come from within and make you unclean.”

Were any of these on the menu at your party?

“Free your minds, then, of encumbrances; control them, and put your trust in nothing but the grace that will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. Do not behave in the way that you liked to before you learnt the truth, but make a habit of obedience.”[2]

[1]Mark 7:14-23

[2]1 Peter 1:13-14 – the reading from this morning’s Terce (= the prayer of the Third Hour).

Week 5 – Thursday – At the Feet of Jesus

A woman (a pagan), whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at his feet.[1]

Surely lots of people fell at the feet of Jesus?

When he healed the ten lepers, one of them returned and fell down at his feet, giving him thanks – he was a Samaritan. The Gerasene Demoniac (another pagan) was seen sitting at the feet of Jesus after his exorcism. And Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, fell at his feet – to heal his daughter.[2]

Pagans 3 Jews 1.

In the Gospels there is only one other person mentioned at the feet of Jesus: At the home of Simon the Pharisee, Mary stood at his feet, behind him, weeping. And she began to wash his feet with her tears, and wipe them with her hair. And she kissed his feet and anointed them with fragrant oil. And she remained silent when Simon the Pharisee spoke ill of her.

Following her conversion, Mary returned to her family home in Bethany, and sat at Jesus’ feet listening to his word. And she remained silent when her own sister, Martha, criticised her to Jesus. And when her brother Lazarus died, Mary fell down at his feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

And six days before the Passover and the Last Supper, Mary took a pound of expensive oil and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And she remained silent when one of the Apostles, Judas Iscariot, criticised her. And when the Risen Jesus appeared to Mary in the Garden he said to her ‘Do not touch me’, because she knelt to kiss his feet.[3]

Pagans 3 Jews 1 … Mary 5.

Mary is a great saint and there are no better guides on becoming a contemplative always at the feet of Jesus in silence, no matter how often we are criticised for our past lives of sin, or that the contemplative life is equivalent ‘doing nothing for humanity’. She is even a guide for those who seek a more active life as a disciple. For having himself washed the feet of the Apostles, Jesus said: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should wash the feet of others.[4]

And there is one final occasion to mention, not recorded in the Gospel. For Mary was one of the few disciples who remained faithful during the Passion of Our Lord. She stood under the Cross and watched him die. And when his body was taken down and placed in the arms of his heartbroken mother, Mary of Magdalene once more began to wash his feet with her tears, and wipe them with her hair. And she kissed the feet of her Beloved, now dead.

[1]Mark 7:24-30

[2]Cf. Luke 17:16; Luke 8:35; and Mark 5:22/Luke 8:41

[3]For all these incidents with Mary cf. Luke 7:38/John 11:2; Luke 10:39; John 11:32; John 12:3; and John 20:17

[4]John 13:5-14

Week 5 Friday – Open your Ears

Looking up to heaven Jesus sighed. Then he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened’.[1]

The derivative form (dianoi,gw – dianoigo) of the usual Greek verb for ‘open’ (avnoi,gw – anoigo) is used only six more times in the New Testament, all by Luke – twice in his Gospel, and three times in Acts.[2]

On the Road to Emmaus, the eyes of the disciples were opened and they recognised Jesus. And they said, “Did not our heart burn within us while he talked and opened the Scriptures to us?”[3] And when the Risen Lord appeared to the Apostles in the Upper Room he opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.[4]

It is not easy to recognise Jesus, or understand Scripture. The eyes, ears, heart, and mind must be opened to enable perception and understanding. Many have eyes and do not see; ears and do not hear.[5] For example, Stephen said “Behold! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” The Jews did not see, and they reacted by stoning him to death.[6]

An openness to Jesus and his Holy Spirit is required, as in the conversion of Lydia, when the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.[7] But when Paul went to the synagogue of Jews in Thessalonica for three Sabbaths and reasoned with them from the Scriptures, opening and demonstrating that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Messiah”, only some were persuaded.[8]

Writing reflections is often an arduous task. To see and understand is one thing; to explain/open it to others is something else. How can a first-time mother explain the truth, beauty and love that she experiences with her child? Only other mothers can truly understand. Maybe that’s why Jesus sighed when he looked to heaven in today’s Gospel.

Oh Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will speak of your praise.[9] For the Holy Spirit is the only true Teacher; the only one who opens. Your words are Spirit, Lord, and they are life – the words of eternal life. Open our heart, O Lord, to accept your words.

Those with ears – hear![10]

[1]Mark 7:31-37. ‘Ephphatha’ is Aramaic.

[2]However, it used a seventh time in Luke 2:23 to quote Exodus 13:2: “As it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD’.”

[3]Luke 24:31-32

[4]Luke 24:44-45

[5]Cf. Mk 8:18

[6]Acts 7:56

[7]Acts 16:14 – using the same form of the verb.

[8]Acts 17:2-3

[9]Ps 51:15

[10]Matt 13:9

Week 5 – Saturday – Sts Cyril and Methodius

Week 6 Sunday – Sin and Purgatory

Though quite long the main point of today’s Gospel is that “if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.”[1]

The Ten Commandments are basic guidelines, first principles, to living a life of virtue with God and each other. Under the guidance and grace of the Holy Spirit, you move beyond the simple exhortation Do Not Kill. You learn that to be angry with someone and refuse to forgive them; to hate them and call them stupid; or to take away their good name by talking about them to others, all amount to killing them. Not in their body, but in their spirit, which is even more precious.

And when you speak do not swear. “All you need say is ‘Yes’ if you mean ‘yes’; ‘No’ if you mean ‘no’. Anything more than this comes from the evil one.” Swearing, or using foul language is a huge problem today; made even worse when God or the name of Jesus is used, taking the name of the Lord in vain. It is rightly called ‘cursing’, for that is exactly what you are doing: cursing God, cursing others, and ultimately, cursing yourself.

Jesus says: “you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. You will answer for it in hell fire. You will have your whole body go to hell.”

The punishment Jesus mentions seems harsh if you lack a proper understanding of what happens to you after death. You do not die – you move on to the eternal part of your life. And as on earth the choice is yours on how you want to live your life. Do you want a life of grace and virtue with God in Heaven? Or do you want a life alone with your sin in Hell with the devil and his demons?

Let’s hope you choose God… but only those without sin can see the face of God – for where God is, sin is not. That’s going to be a problem, for only Saints are ready to enter Heaven and see the face of God after their passing. The vast majority of souls who choose God are sinners. You are not ready for Heaven. And so you go to Purgatory.

Initially you might start far from God and feel the hell fire – a place of repentance for your sin. Passing through rehabilitation from the effects of your addiction to sin, step by step Purgatory becomes a place of training in virtue until, finally, one of preparation in holiness to see the face of God. So although Jesus says “you will be thrown into prison and you will not get out till you have paid the last penny”, he also says that even those “who teach others to infringe the commandments will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven” – so if you repent and choose God, you get there eventually. But I urge you to start your purgatory, your preparation for heaven, as soon as possible. Don’t leave it until you die, for it makes things much harder for you.

As St Paul says today, “We have a wisdom to offer those who have reached maturity; the hidden wisdom of God revealed to us through the Spirit that God has prepared for those who love him.”[2]

If you wish, you can keep the commandments; to behave faithfully is within your power.

God has set fire and water before you – put out your hand to whichever you prefer.

You have life and death before you. Whichever you like better, will be given you.[3]

The choice is yours. Choose wisely.

[1]Matt 5:17-37. There is the option to read a shortened version at Mass.

[2]1 Cor 2:6-10

[3]Today’s First Reading, Ecclesiasticus 15:16-21

Week 6 Monday – Signs

The Pharisees demanded a sign from heaven to test Jesus. And with a sigh that came straight from the heart he asked, ‘Why does this generation demand a sign? Amen, I say to you. No sign shall be given to this generation.’[1]

The Pharisees could be forgiven for asking for a sign, given that their Jewish faith was built on them. The rainbow was the first sign, symbol and pledge of the covenant with Noah and all creation.[2] Then in the time of Abraham, the miraculous birth of Isaac and circumcision were the two signs of the Covenant with the Chosen People.[3] Moses and Aaron were later given signs to show that they ministered in the name and power of God; most notably the ten great signs, otherwise known as the ten plagues. Even the blood upon the Jewish households was a sign for the Angel of Death to pass over. And remembering the Passover (= the feast of unleavened bread), and keeping the Sabbath became the signs, symbols and pledges of the Covenant.[4]

In the New Testament miraculous signs were performed by Jesus and the apostles. It also prophesied that they will also be performed by false Messiahs, Antichrists and prophets at the end times to deceive the elect on behalf of the beast.[5]

So why did Jesus refuse? Were the miracles not enough? Was his explanation of the fulfilment of Scripture and the Covenant not clear? Had they become so wrapped up in external signs and rituals that they lost the one true sign – faith. As St James says today: “If there is any one of you who needs wisdom, he must ask God, who gives to all freely and generously; it will be given to him. But he must ask with faith, and no trace of doubt, because a person who has doubts, in two minds, wavering between going different ways, must not expect that the Lord will give him anything”.[6]

‘With a sigh that came straight from the heart…’

How frustrating it was for Jesus to be questioned and doubted. Even when the signs were clear and obvious, he was questioned about the source of his knowledge, the authority of his power. What a stubborn, stiff-necked people.[7]

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”[8] Jesus is the sign, symbol and pledge of God’s mercy. Harden not your hearts today, but listen to the voice of the Lord:[9]

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;

No one can come to the Father except through me.[10]

Every single soul – either in life or after passing through death – must bend the knee at the name of Jesus if they want to enter Heaven and see the face of God.

[1]Mark 8:11-13.

[2]Gen 9:12-17. God earlier had placed a sign on Cain to prevent anyone killing him in Gen 4:15.

[3]Gen 17:11-21, 18:14, & 21:2

[4]Ex 3:12, 4:8-30, 10:1-2, 12:13, 31:13,17

[5]Jesus (Jn 20:30), apostles (Acts 2:43), false Messiahs (Mtt 24:24, Rev 19:20).

[6]James 1:1-11

[7]Ex 32:9.

[8]Isa 7:14

[9]Ps 94:8

[10]John 14:6

Week 6 Tuesday – Trials and Temptations

“Happy the man who stands firm when trials come. He has proven himself, and will win the prize.[1]

We face trials and temptations on a daily basis. Are they from God or the devil? St James says, “Never say, ‘God sent the temptation’; he does not tempt anybody.” But if all temptations are trials, aren’t all trials temptations? Aren’t they two different words for the same thing?

The word used here by James is peira,zw (peirazo). It means ‘to make an attempt, to try to do something, but fail’. For saying “I tried to call you” automatically means ‘I failed’. Saul tried to join the disciples after his conversation, but failed, for they didn’t trust him. Paul (with Silas and Timothy) tried to preach in Asia, but failed, for the Holy Spirit did not permit it. And Jesus tried to instruct Philip, but failed.[2]

In English the word ‘attempt’ is the same word as ‘tempt’ and ‘temptation’. And that is what temptation should be – a failed attempt at your faith and virtue. Thus Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Tempter, who could easily be called the Attempter.[3] It is clear that it is the devil who does the tempting, not God, and James is right in saying that “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone”; so why was Jesus led into the desert to be tempted?

Because temptation is common to us all. Just as Abraham was tested about Isaac, so we are all tested to see whether we are in the faith or false disciples and liars. Jesus was tempted for he was fully human. We cannot say he had superhuman powers of resistance. We have a High Priest who can sympathise with our weaknesses, for he was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sinning.[4]

As you face temptations in life be aware of two things: it was not the devil who directly tempted Jesus most, but other men – a mixture of Pharisees, Scribes and lawyers. And secondly, God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are capable… if you are living a life under the guidance and grace of his Holy Spirit.[5]

Thus James today says, ‘Happy the man who stands firm when trials come’. This is a different Greek word, peirasmo,j (peiramos); a test of faith. Thus in the Parable of the Sower, the seed that fell on rock were those whose roots remained shallow in the faith; they believe for a while but fall away in time of trial.

And it is this Greek word which is used in the Our Father: do not lead us into trial. Pope Francis once said that God “never leads anyone into temptation”. As a result, the Italian Bishops changed the words of the Our Father, from ‘lead us not into temptation’ to ‘abandon us not in temptation’. However, the Greek text of the Our Father clearly says ‘lead’, not ‘abandon’. A wiser, more humble approach, was to leave the text as it was, and try to understand the meaning of trial/temptation. For as Jesus warned the apostles in Gethsemane, using this same word, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into trial/temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”[6]

If this is all to much to take in on a first reading, then consider this: a trial is facing a difficult period in life – like divorce, abuse, destitution, or death of a loved one. It puts your faith to the test.

The temptation which arises during these trials is the attempt to persuade you to ‘curse God and die’.[7]

Beloved, do not think it strange that such trials try you, as though they happened only to you. Do not harden your hearts in rebellion against God in the day of trial or in the wilderness. For the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of trial. Fight the good fight of faith! Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and rejoice that you participate in Christ’s suffering.[8]

[1]James 1:12-18

[2]Acts 9:26, Acts 16:1-7 and John 6:6 et al.

[3]Mm The Devil – the Tempter (1 Thess 3:5). Cf. Matt 4:1-3, Mark 1:13, Luke 4:2, 1 Cor 7:5 & Rev 2:10.

[4]Cf. 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Corinthians 13:5, Revelation 2:2, Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 11:17

[5]Cf. Matt 16:1, Matt 19:3, Matt 22:18, Matt 22:35, Mark 8:11, Mark 10:2, Mark 12:15, Luke 11:16, John 8:6.

[6]Matthew 26:41, Mark 14:38, Luke 22:40,46

[7]Job 2:9

[8]1 Peter 4:12-13, 2 Peter 2:9, Hebrews 3:8, 1 Tim 6:12

2025 Reflections (Christmas)

Christmas

Christmas Day (25.12.2025) A Reflection on the Prayers and Readings from each of the four Christmas Day Masses.

The Vigil Mass focuses on Jesus as Son of David – the Messiah. God had promised his Chosen People that the virgin would conceive and give birth to a son, and they would call him Emmanuel. The glory of the Lord would be revealed and all would see the saving power of God. To keep this promise, God raised up one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour. Tonight I keep the vigil for the Christmas dawn and pray that Christmas morning will find you at peace, ready to welcome the Lord with confidence. For know that the Lord is coming to save you, and in the morning you will see his glory. Happy those who acclaim such a King – who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face and find joy in your name. As the Bridegroom rejoices in his Bride, so will God rejoice in you.

Mass at Midnight celebrates this holy night, radiant with the splendour of the birth of the child Jesus, the true light of the world. The angel appeared to the shepherds and the glory of the Lord shone round them. And a great throng of the heavenly host praised and sang glory to God in the highest. O sing a new song to the Lord, sing to the Lord all the earth. O sing to the Lord bless his name. Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad. God’s grace has been revealed, for your Saviour has descended from heaven and is born, bringing the joy of God’s saving love to the whole world. Those who have walked in darkness will see a great light. May the joy of your Saviour’s birth make you heralds of his Gospel, and be a foretaste of that joy that lasts for ever, in fellowship with the heavenly host.

Mass at Dawn celebrates the dawn of a new age, a new light to shine upon the earth, and its reign will last forever. The shepherds hurried to find Jesus and returned glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard; it was exactly as they had been told. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. When the kindness and love of God our Father was revealed, it was not because he was thinking of any righteous actions you might have done yourself; it was for no reason except his own love that he saved you, by renewing you with the Holy Spirit which he has so generously poured over you through Jesus Christ your saviour. With faith and joy may you too ponder all these things, and may the birth of Jesus increase your understanding of the love revealed in him.

Mass During the Day ponders the great mystery of the Incarnation, that the Word through whom God created the heavens and the earth, became flesh and dwelt among us. At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son; the Son through whom he made everything there is. He is the radiant light of God’s glory, sustaining the universe by his powerful command and destroying the defilement of sin. Give praise to the Word who created you. Give praise to the Word who restored you to share in his glory. For the darkness has given way to the bright light, bringing life to all you who await salvation. For you shall see the Lord face to face. You shall see the salvation of your God.

Christmas 26th December 2025 Matthew 10.:17 “St Stephen and Witness”

St Stephen, First Martyr of the Church

Gospel – Matthew 10:17-22

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues.

More lazy translation of the Gospel today. Here is my accurate translation:

These twelve [apostles] Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying[1], ‘Be wary of people; they will hand you over to councils, and in the assemblies they will whip you[2]. And you will be brought before rulers and kings because of me, to witness[3] to them and the nations. When they hand you over do not worry what or how you speak; it will be given you in that hour how you speak. For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your Father – he speaks in you.

Stephen was the first martyr; the first to witness with his death in the new era of the Church. However, there were others before him who died for Jesus, such as John the Baptist and the Holy Innocents[4]. But let us not forget all those who gave their lives in witness before the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Abel was the first, murdered by his brother Cain. He was followed by judges, prophets and saints remembered in the Old Testament; faithful Jews in the centuries before the birth of Jesus who suffered and died for their faith, for fidelity to the covenant they had made with God.

In Second Maccabees chapter seven, for example, a mother watched as each of her sons was scourged, tortured and killed before her eyes. They encouraged one another to die bravely, saying, ‘You have the power to do whatever you want with us, but do not think that God has abandoned our people. The Lord God is looking on and understands our suffering. The Lord will have mercy on those who serve him. God, the King of the universe, will raise us from the dead and give us eternal life’.

They were killed for being Jews.

So let us not cast aspersions at Jewish Sanhedrin and Synagogues who killed Stephen and other Christians, such as James – the first apostle to suffer martyrdom. For like Jesus himself, they too were Jews, faithful to God.

Our Jewish ancestors taught us many things about God and humanity, about sin and apostasy, about grace and forgiveness. They gave us words and songs, such as the psalms, that we still use in the Church today to cry out to God. They witnessed how to remain faithful to belief in God, even when faced with persecution and death.

Stephen … a Jew, a Christian … the first martyr.

He was not the first … and he was not the last.

[1]The beginning of Jesus speaking to the apostles, not the disciples, is in v.5 of Matthew 10.

[2]A severe punishment such as whip, flog or scourge.

[3]The Greek word for ‘witness’ is ‘martyr’.

[4]Whom we celebrate in two days’ time.

Christmas 27th December 2025 John 1:1 “St John and the Word”

St John, Apostle and Evangelist

First Reading – John 1:1-4

Something which has existed since the beginning, that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes; that we have watched and touched with our hands: the Word, who is life –

this is our subject. That life was made visible: we saw it and we are giving our testimony,

telling you of the eternal life which was with the Father and has been made visible to us.

There is a subtle yet terrible error in most English translations of this passage, which changes your understanding of God, of how He approaches you, and of how you respond.

Here is how it reads in Greek for those with eyes to see:

About the Word of life who was from the beginning – whom we have heard, whom we have seen with our own eyes, whom we have looked upon and our own hands have touched – this life has been revealed. And we have seen, and witness, and confess to you: that eternal life who was with the Father, has been revealed to us.

The Word of God is not something, but someone.

Not a concept that you read and touch with your intellect, but a person who you see with your eyes and touch with your heart.

John did not see it, he saw him.

‘He saw and he believed’.[1]

The Word of God has been revealed to me. I have seen him with my own eyes; heard him with my own ears; touched him with my own heart.

More truthfully, it was he who touched my heart and gave it life.

Jesus.

[1]Today’s Gospel, John 20:2-8.

Christmas 28th December 2025 “The Holy Family”

Today’s Vigil Readings[1] speak of the values and virtues of Christian family life. Whereas St Paul speaks about obedience, love and respect[2], Pope Paul VI[3] highlights the Holy Family’s home in Nazareth as ‘the school of the Gospel’ offering lessons of silence (teaching prayer and recollection), of family life (as austere and gentle), and of work (for nobility more than economic value).

What neither mentioned is the importance of chastity – the rock on which a peaceful and unified family is built. Without holy chastity the family risks disintegration, and without chaste families, society falls apart. After sixty years of sexual revolution, the licentious call to be unchaste has reached new lows of depravity in recent years; from private bedrooms to public displays in schools and on our streets; from cross-dressing to encouraging children to use contraception, have abortions, block their puberty and undergo surgery in an attempt to change their sexual identity.

The Catechism[4] confirms that every man and woman should acknowledge and accept their sexual identity. Chastity means the successful inner integration of sexuality of the person as a spiritual being. Under the cardinal virtue of temperance[5], either you govern your passions and find peace, or you let yourself be dominated by them and become unhappy.

All baptised are called to chastity, to cultivate it in a way suited to their state in life. The acts in marriage by which the intimate and chaste union of the spouses takes place are noble and honourable. Spouses do nothing wrong in seeking this pleasure and enjoyment; they accept what the Creator has intended for them. It is natural and right that the two ‘become one body’ and the true nature of these acts fosters self-giving and enriches the spouses in joy and gratitude. Their love desires to be joined to the other physically as an expression of penetrating into the mind and heart of the other. The pleasure of this loving union is more than just physical or sexual; it is mental, emotional and spiritual.

The greatest fruit of their love, and of this union of love, is the conception of a child. Chastity achieves the twofold end of marriage: the good of the spouses (= fidelity) and the transmission of life (= fecundity). The future of the family depends on it, to live together in peaceful harmony and loving union with God and each other.

[1] Also known as the Office of Readings, the Vigils are sung in this Cistercian Community every morning at 4am and last approx. 40-60 mins.

[2] Ephesians 5:21-6:4

[3]In address which was given by at Nazareth.

[4]Part Three, Chapter Two, Art. 6

[5]Temperance seeks to permeate the passions and appetites of the sensual body with the use of reason.

Christmas 29th December 2025 1 John 2:3 “The Church and Morality”

First reading – 1 John 2:3-11

We can be sure that we know God only by keeping his commandments. Anyone who says, ‘I know him’, but does not keep his commandments is a liar refusing to admit the truth.

At times I have wondered whether the external aspect of the liturgy is more a hindrance than a help. For today’s modern culture considers the eye a screen for superficial entertainment, ignorant of the window through which light, or darkness, passes to the soul. So, unfortunately, liturgy is often superficially ‘performed’; making it difficult to see beyond the ‘show’ and allow the liturgy to penetrate to the soul. For without a constant and genuine living of the Gospel in their lives supporting the sincere preaching of its commandments, the shepherds fail the sheep in the liturgy and risk leading them into the superficial, external piety of Pharisees – the bane of true discipleship.

The commandments themselves have been reduced to ‘love of neighbour’. But by ignoring the first and most important command of all – to ‘love the Lord your God’ – we have no idea what ‘love’ is. The Hippies from the 1960s – the beginnings of the Rainbow culture – offered the world their interpretation of ‘love’ as behaviour based on free choice; free from the morality of ‘authoritarian establishments’ such as the Church. What they fail to appreciate is that the Church’s morality is guided and instructed by God. Like immature and irrational children, they want the freedom to satisfy their sensual appetites. They reject the true sacrificial nature of a parental love; one that is giving, thinks not of self but of the wellbeing of the other. They are not free, they are libertines.

So anyone who goes to Mass and says ‘I know God’, but does not keep the commandment against adultery, for example, is a liar refusing to admit the truth. And it is under the commandment against adultery that the Catechism refers to all sins against chastity as Lust – the disordered desire for, or inordinate enjoyment of, sexual pleasure.[1]

A silly idea is that good people do not know what temptation means. This is not true. For only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of an enemy by fighting against him, not by surrendering. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. Anyone who gives in to temptation after five minutes, does not know that victory in that battle lay in fighting for six minutes. That is why immoral people know very little about morality. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in to the temptation to be immoral. You never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside you until you try to fight it. Christ, and his blessed Mother Mary, are the only two who never yielded to temptation; and so they are the only ones who know fully what temptation means—the only complete moral realists.[2]

The personal war against temptation and sin can often be a long one, wherein we gain victories and suffer defeats. Be not discouraged. In the tender compassion of our God, by the sacrifice of his Son, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, mediated by the person of the Virgin Mary, victory is certain if like Simeon in today’s Gospel[3] we believe that we shall not see death, but set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. And then what joy to say: At last, all-powerful Master, you give leave to your servant to go in peace, according to your promise. For my eyes have seen your Salvation[4]… your Jesus.

[1]Catechism Part Three (Life in Christ), Section Two (The Ten Commandments), Art. 6 (The Sixth Commandment), para. 2351

[2]This paragraph is from C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianty; edited to adapt it to the reflection.

[3]Luke 2:22-35

[4]This version, known as the Nunc Dimittis, is used in the Roman Breviary at Night Prayer.

Christmas 30th December 2025 Luke 2:36 “The World”

Gospel – Luke 2:36-40

Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, was a widow, eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer.

Why would anyone live their life like this? I suppose its understandable for an eighty-four-year old widow. I mean, how else is she supposed to spend her day? Watching soaps and quiz shows on TV?

If you go into Church during the week the vast majority of those present are elderly. On the other hand, most young people are out eating, drinking and being intimate with each other. From this I deduced the philosophy that life is a marathon, not a sprint. The Kingdom of God, though present and accessible in this life, really kicks in after death; eternity and all that stuff comes afterwards.

Thus I decided to enjoy all the pleasures the world had to offer. I reckoned thirty-five would be the right age to put the world aside and dedicate the rest of my life to prayer and self-denial – just to make sure I got through the gates of heaven into eternal life. There was the chance I could die before the age of thirty-five, but the odds were in my favour.

The only real problem was that I was not exactly in a position to put my new philosophy into practice, given the fact I was only nine years old at the time. The full extent of my sinful desires included wanting to kiss girls and gorge myself on sweets. So I patiently waited, remaining perplexed by the clear and obvious clash of trying to live harmoniously in both worlds.

Pleasures and entertainments all seem wonderful… until you walk home, look in the mirror or lie awake in bed. For in that solitude and silence, the glossy sheen of the day evaporates as if it were a passing dream, and the reality of you, and God, remains… fully present, always true. It’s not as if the kingdom of God disappears while partying. You simply choose to turn your face away from it, turn your back on God and indulge yourself for a bit. But the pleasure and happiness always seems so fickle and short-lived afterwards; nothing more than temporary distractions from the only world that is real and constant.

So like John today in his letter[1], I am writing to say, you must not love this passing world or anything that is in it. Because nothing the world has to offer – the sensual body, the lustful eye, pride in possessions – could ever come from the Father, but only from the world.

Noel, son of Edward, of the tribe of Gallagher, is fifty-five years old and never leaves the Church, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. And each moment – in all its simplicity and poverty – experiences such a beauty, such wonders… ah… unlike anything this world can offer.

[1]1 John 2:12-17

Christmas 31st December 2025 1 John 2:18 “The Last Days”

First Reading – 1 John 2:18-21

Children, these are the last days. You were told that an Antichrist must come, and now several antichrists have already appeared.

Another year ends and people everywhere are celebrating in the hope that next year the world will get better. Yet how many are making resolutions to live a good Christian life?

This past year amidst all the noise and distractions of the world and the complaisant silence of Christian shepherds, many self-proclaimed mystics and prophets have arisen in their place. They speak of God, of the Antichrist, and of the end times. They speak of a coming sign – a chastisement from God. They eagerly await imminent judgement… of others, not themselves.

Don’t listen to them. Valid signs of the last days are all in Scripture[1]. Did we learn the lesson of the Flood? Not a chance. Instead, let’s take the Rainbow – the sign of God’s promise not to judge us again while we live – and use it as a sign of our pride in sin. For the world worships pride over humility. Crowded parties over solitude. Screaming aloud over silent prayer. Lust over chastity. Riches over evangelical poverty. Public fame over being hidden in God.

The cleansing of judgement by water in the Flood did not work. But surely the cleansing of mercy by blood would? Especially if the life and blood was that of Jesus, the Son of God – the most innocent and holy person ever to be born?

No, we choose the anti-Christ sacrifice of the life and blood of innocent children in the temple of their mothers, before they are even born. The smoke rising from the ovens used to burn their bodies rises before the throne of God, the Father of these children. How do you think he will react? You don’t care… not if you continue to believe the ‘gospel’ of Satan – the cold rationalism that such a thing is right and good. What right are you talking about? The good of whom?

There is only one sign of the end times and the anti-Christ you need to think about:

Jesus, the true Christ, is coming.

He is coming to confirm the choice you have made on how you want to spend eternity; chosen by you, as proven by how you live.

Are you ready to see Jesus coming towards you?

[1] For example: Genesis 6-9, Daniel 7, 9,12, Isaiah 28-33, Matthew 24-25 and The Book of Revelation.

Christmas 1st January 2026 “Mary, the Holy Mother of God”

AGood and evil, grace and sin, life and death… How can you distinguish one from the other?

A woman once listened to deceptive words, subtly planted within her mind, and was seduced by their suggestive, hypnotic offers. Rather than dismiss such thoughts without discussion, she listened. Rather than close her eyes or look away, she gave in to the curiosity of ‘harmless’ looking. The enjoyable pleasure of listening and seeing[1] inflamed within her the desire to touch. Touching, she feared she would be struck down, but she was not. And so she longed to taste that sweet fruit; to take it inside her and consume it. And in the act of consumption, her eyes were opened… to the reality that evil was now inside her, consuming her. Inside, because she had been deceived and invited it in.

She saw her own death, and knew it was certain. For she was no longer living a life in grace, but in sin. No longer a servant of good in the kingdom of God, but a slave to evil in the kingdom of Satan. Why had she listened to that seductive snake and did his bidding? Why had she allowed her senses to inflame the passions of her flesh? Now her free spirit no longer reigned in her, enslaved as she now was to the appetites of her body. She had lowered herself from a rational being, little lower than an angel, to that of the instinctive level of beasts, whose appetite said feed me, and was obeyed; for she had neither the intellect nor the strength of will to choose otherwise. Eve was doomed

And so were we all, because of her… until Mary.

Mary refused to listen to the words of the serpent, whose temptations had no effect on her. For Mary had consecrated herself to God and was intent on remaining pure in her thoughts, desires and choices, and on keeping an angelical purity in her woman’s body. The palpitations of her heart were only for Him her Lord, her whole being only for him her Beloved. Her ‘yes’ to God overcame the effect of Eve’s ‘yes’ to Satan. And that is how Mary has the Devil under her heel, by rejecting him under a will of obedience to God.

You too have access to the same grace and power over the Cursed One, to overwhelm and subjugate him in your life, so that he will not rise from under your heel.

‘How?’ you may wonder. ‘It can’t be possible.’ After all, you have made the same mistake as Eve, your mother in sin. You have been careless, maybe deceived, and you have invited sin into your life. And now, like a beast, you too are a slave to your appetites.

For God’s sake… LISTEN!

You are no longer slaves to sin, but children of God the Father, and children of Mary, the Mother of God, your mother in grace. Imitate her… close your eyes to sin and ponder these things in your heart. Not in what you think of as your heart, but in the depths of your soul, where Evil cannot enter unless you allow it to. If you have invited sin into your life, rescind the invitation. Tell it to get out and leave you in peace. Strive to be obedient to the will of God, your loving Father. Ponder the things of God in heart, and ask your Mother to help, that you too may be filled with grace.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.

[1]I tell you that anyone who looks lustfully has already committed adultery in their heart – Mt 5:28.ccordion Content

Christmas 2nd January 2026 John 1:19 “Prophets”

Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, Doctors

Gospel – John 1:19-28

John appeared as a witness. He declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ.’[1]

Are you Elijah?[2]

Are you the Prophet?[3]

Who are you? What have you to say about yourself? Why are you baptising?

Prophets are often treated harshly by Church authorities. But after the Church was set up by Jesus through his Holy Spirit on Mary, Peter and the apostles, you think it would be a simple matter to choose Christ and be a Christian, or deny Christ and be whatever you want.

However, the problem remains: what does it mean to choose Christ and be a Christian?

As I carry my tray through the canteen buffet of life, there are so many things on offer. So from the Christian menu I’ll have a bit of occasional Church – not too much thank you. Moving on, I’ll definitely have lots of likes and praise from the Self Menu… Lots of nice possessions and TV entertainment from the World Menu…. And some juicy sex and judging of others from the Satan Menu, just for dessert, and only at the weekend – and I promise to cut back or go on a diet soon.

Imagine reaching the cashier at the end and being told, ‘Sorry, you can’t have all that. Choosing the Christ Menu automatically excludes the others’.

Well, nobody told me! That’s not my idea of being a Christian! I don’t think I like that at all! How dare you or anyone else tell me what I can pick and choose! Besides, everyone else is doing it! Look over at the management table and see what they’ve got on their plates! Then John the Baptist comes in saying: ‘You can’t do that. You have to choose.’

He isn’t going to be very popular, is he? And the management over at the top table? How are they going to treat this messenger. Rather than being humble, admitting their error and embracing the truth of what he says and who he represents, it’s easier and better if they just discredit him – make up lies about him; brand him arrogant and have him ejected. Then everyone can go back to doing what they like, without a know-it-all prophet giving them a guilt-trip.

Though the choice is yours, I encourage you to listen again to the words of St John from today’s First Reading:

‘Keep alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning. As long as what you were taught in the beginning is alive in you, you will live in the Son and in the Father. And what is promised to you, by his own promise, is Eternal Life’.[4]

[1]Daniel 9:25 said the Messiah (= Christ) would appear after sixty-nine weeks (= years) after a proclamation was given to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey exactly 483 years after a decree to rebuild the wall.

[2]In the final verses of the OT, Malachi 4:5-6 said “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction.” To this day the Jews are still waiting for Elijah to return and announce the Messiah’s arrival, and they believe he will come at Passover.

[3]A prophet like Moses God was promised through Moses; ‘I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.’ (Deut 18:15,18)

[4]1 John 2:22-28

2025 Reflections (Advent)

Advent

1st Week Wednesday – Isaiah, Psalm and Matthew (3.12.2025) “Feasting and Fasting”

Reading (Isaiah 25:6-10)

On this mountain,

the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples

a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines,

of food rich and juicy, of fine strained wines.

Psalm 22(23)

You have prepared a banquet for me

in the sight of my foes.

Gospel (Matthew 15:29-37)

Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them off hungry, they might collapse on the way.’ … He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and he gave thanks and broke them and handed them to the disciples, who gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected what was left of the scraps, seven baskets full.

Feasting, especially on good food and wine, has been a particular pleasure of mine. Yet wine dulls the mind, and food slows the body. Feeding the flesh (and its sensual delight in comfort and pleasure) starves and weakens the spirit. Of this I am certain. I would gauge that about 95% of what we eat is purely for pleasure, and thus, Gluttony. The body therein becomes even more susceptible to Sloth (laziness), especially a laziness in regards to the things of the spirit; like time and effort dedicated to prayer, spiritual reading and Church (instead of TV or other distractions and forms of entertainment). And soon we pass all too easily into the full worship of the body, both our own and those of others, in the third sin of the body: Lust.

However, being greedy for food and drink is not the sin of Greed, which I do not hold as a sin of the body but of the spirit (along with Pride, Anger and Envy). Greed is a lack of generosity that will not share; a looking after number one and one’s own personal interests, finances and possessions that gives little or nothing to the other. Greed is a disease rampant in today’s world, driven by materialism and consumerism. And this greed has branched out into destroying this great period of Advent and the celebration of Our Lord’s Nativity, turning it into a festival of brightly decorated trees, wrapped presents, the false personage of Santa Claus, and a Gluttony of food and drink.

Fasting and penance are practices which the modern world and, it pains me to say, some in the modern Church, have belittled or ignored. And yet, the crowd in the Gospel were with Jesus three days, praying and fasting, as they waited to be healed. And when Jesus fed them it was with bread and fish – the basic food of the poor at that time in Israel. The Lord’s feasting on rich food and fine wines in Scripture, has always been understood as food and drink for the soul and spirit; in particular, the allegory of the vine producing good fruit (grapes) used to produce the best wine, kept till last.

If you intend to feast this Christmas, I suggest you steer clear of gluttony by balancing your feast with prayer and charity. Find a way of giving generously (the same amount you spend on yourself and your family this Christmas) and when you sit down on Christmas day, set a place for Jesus and raise a toast in his honor.

1st Week Thursday – Matthew (4.12.2025) “Lawless Shepherds”

Gospel (Matthew 7:21,24-27) ?

A careful person will immediately notice something missing from the Gospel passage used in today’s liturgy: verses 22 and 23 have been omitted. Let’s put them in.

It is not those who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.

When the day comes many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?”

Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, all evil doers!”

Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. [Matt 7:21-24]

‘Evil doers’ is translated elsewhere as ‘you who practice lawlessness’. The original Greek is ‘those working contrary to the law’, and any act contrary to the Law of God is sin, and therefore evil. This understanding relies on your closeness to God; the closer you are, the more gravely you consider sin of any kind, and seek to avoid anything that goes against doing the will of our Father. For though we listen to these words of Jesus, do we go beyond a mere acknowledgement that there is wisdom in them? Do we actually act and put them into practice. Do we make them more than just nice words of wisdom? Are they the law by which we live our lives?

Well, surely the sheep cannot be criticized if even the shepherds of the Church fail to live the true Gospel nowadays? Woe to those shepherds, and I have seen so many of them, who offer only lip service to God. Woe to those who carry out routine duties going through the motions while their spirit is far from God. For what am I even here in the Abbey if I rise at 3.45am every day and sing the psalms, if the words coming out of my mouth are not rising from a spirit seeking always to know, love and serve Jesus? In vain is my early rising, for the Lord pours his blessings on those who love him, even while they sleep.

Maybe the verses were omitted from today’s liturgy because it casts the clergy in a bad light. A priest living a holy life brings many souls to God. A priest who is sexually impure (especially with other men or children) or is a heretic unfaithful to the Doctrine, abandons the flock or leads them to follow Satan in his sin. Scripture prophesied that the abomination of desolation will affect the priesthood, leading many to apostasy (to embrace the doctrines of hell) in anticipation of the arrival of the Antichrist. We seem to have entered something similar these past fifty years. The end of all this is deicide: to kill belief in the one true God, Jesus Christ.

Priests need to be more than superficial Pharisees. They must be like angels: messengers and servants of God working tirelessly and selflessly as intermediaries between God and man. Yet, more than angels, for only priests can perform the miracle of the Mass.

If the priest is sinful do not worry. The Mass and the sacraments are still valid. For the very fact of the holy sacrament of their ordination makes them Christ in that moment. They still prophesy in the liturgy, drive out demons through the sacraments, and work the miracle of the Mass. So do not judge them. Leave them to God. Pray for them, that they become what they are supposed to be: Christ to others. If they refuse, Jesus will tell them to their face: ‘I have never known you; away from me’.

1st Week Friday – Matthew 9.27 (5.12.2025) “The Greatest Miracle”

Gospel (Matthew 9:27-31)

As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting, ‘Take pity on us, Son of David.’ And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up with him and he said to them, ‘Do you believe I can do this?’ They said, ‘Sir, we do.’ Then he touched their eyes saying, ‘Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you.’ And their sight returned. Then Jesus sternly warned them, ‘Take care that no one learns about this.’ But when they had gone, they talked about it/him all over the countryside.

Why did Jesus warn them not to speak of this? Let’s look at two possible continuations.

Simon is working when he hears someone shouting. Ah, it’s just blind Joe, going through the village, causing a commotion, shouting ‘Look at me! I can see!’. He is the centre of attention as he recounts everything he did and how his faith restored his sight. And Joe became famous throughout the area, and everyone wanted to hear his story.
Simon is working and when someone walks by he raises his head and sees blind Joe; but it can’t be! He’s completely transformed and healed. ‘Joe!’ he exclaims. ‘What has happened?’ Joe smiles, ‘After shadow and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see [Today’s Reading, Isaiah 29:18]. Jesus, Son of David, is the Messiah promised to us by God. Behold, our Lord will come with power and will enlighten the eyes of his servants [2^nd Gospel Acclamation].’

I imagine Jesus knew the healing would result in the first, not the second. That they would talk about it, not him [for it is the same pronoun in Greek and can be translated as either] all over the countryside.

What is the greatest miracle performed by Jesus in the Gospels? His powers over nature? No, for man is the apex of all creation. The healing of the sick? No, physical illness is not an impediment to holiness, and can even be a vehicle towards it, as many saints have shown. The casting out of demons? No, your guardian angel is more powerful than even Satan. It is the miracle which shocked the Jewish clergy to its core, for they rightly claimed: ‘Only God can do that!’ The miracle that Jesus forgives our sins.

Psalm 26(27)

There is one thing I ask of the Lord,

for this I long,

to live in the house of the Lord,

all the days of my life.

The “Proslogion” of St Anselm (Office of Readings):

Lord, how long? How long, O Lord, do you forget us; how long do you turn your face from us? When will you look upon us, and hear us? When will you enlighten our eyes, and show us your face? When will you restore yourself to us?

…

Teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to me when I seek you, for I cannot seek you unless you teach me, nor find you unless you reveal yourself. Let me seek you in longing, let me long for you in seeking; let me find you by loving you and love you in the act of finding you.

1st Week Saturday Matthew 9.35 (6.12.2025) “Unclean Spirits”

Gospel Matthew 9:35-10:1,5,6-8

He summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness. [missing text] These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘[missing text] Go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.’

I don’t know why the Church insists in carving up the Gospels for reading at Mass. Here they have left out vv.2-4, where the twelve are appointed as apostles and their names are listed. They’ve also omitted a part of v.5, where Jesus instructs them not to go to gentiles or Samaritans, which explains why it continues ‘Go rather’. Who makes these decisions? Is there a group with cut & paste fetish in the Vatican Liturgical team? Reminds me of the old clerical joke: What’s the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist.

And on the subject of unclean spirits, Jesus gave the apostles authority over them. This same power is in the hands of all the faithful through the grace of Baptism. We must exercise this authority in our daily lives, for we are all affected and influenced by unclean spirits. Spirits which encourage and empower us with such feelings as bitterness, resentment, judgement, rebellion, anger, arrogance, hatred, jealousy, etc.; as well as the desire to commit such acts as retaliation, nastiness, sex, violence, and even engage in occult practices. They also feed such feelings as rejection, fear, insecurity, confusion, anxiety, shame, depression, and addiction. These become habitual sins, a pattern of response to situations in life that hinder our identity and freedom as a child of God. Unclean spirits gain an entry point and gradually increase their influence over our negative thoughts and emotions until we end up a slave to them. And these demons tell us lies that we repeat to ourselves as truth: “This is just who I am. There’s nothing I can do about it”. Some go even further and blaspheme: “God made me this way. It’s all God’s fault. God doesn’t care about me. There is no God.”

Renounce these lies! Cast out the unclean spirits that have entered, deceived and enslaved you.

Consider the reflection that in life there are two wolves inside of us at battle. One is good (= positive) the other is bad (= negative). Which one wins? The one you feed.

The devil’s tactics is to use his fellow unclean spirits to get us to feed the bad wolf, the negativity in our lives, while at the same time remaining completely hidden so that we think it’s all a part of being human. Our fallen human nature still has a powerful inclination towards negativity and sin, but prayer, sacrifice and the sacraments are the weapons with which we fight back and win. Remind yourself that as co-heirs with Christ, you are loved and blessed by God… unconditionally. You don’t have to sort yourself out first before approaching Jesus. Place yourself in his presence. He is loving, non-confrontational and reserves judgement. Thank God for all you have in life, express sorrow for your failings, ask him to help you in your weakness, and surrender your life to his. You could use prayers such as: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”, or “Heavenly Father. Thank you. Sorry. Help me. Amen”. What does God do if we take this step?

Psalm 146(147)

He heals the broken-hearted,

he binds up all their wounds.

2nd Week Sunday Romans 15:4 (7.12.2025) “Persevere in Hope”

Second Reading (Rom 15:4-9)

Everything that was written long ago in the scriptures was meant to teach us something about hope from the examples scripture gives of how people who did not give up were helped by God. And may he who helps us when we refuse to give up, help you all.

There are various stages in the journey of the soul to God, and throughout the journey perseverance in unflappable hope is of outmost important; perhaps the most important of all. Even to begin the journey back to the Father’s house, like the Prodigal [= recklessly extravagant or wasteful leading to self-destruction] Son, requires considerable effort to get up and walk away from the life you are living. Maybe you have had a strong conversation experience giving you that super-charged energy [grace] to do so and initially everything seems easy. Heaven is just around the corner and it’s all plain sailing from now on. Then, within a few days or weeks, the bubble bursts, the euphoria disappears and life seems to go on just as before, except now you feel utterly confused. What happened? Where did God go? Don’t turn back to your old life and wonder if religion is for you. If you persevere in hope and get into a daily routine of Church, prayer and self-denial, you’ve reached Level 1.

After a while the satisfaction from these religious practices begins to run a bit dry. Is this all there is, a continuous monotonous routine? If you persevere in hope seek a deeper, more rewarding knowledge of God, reading books about or by the saints. Distance yourself a bit from others and the world, and spend more time alone and in quiet. Well done, Level 2.

Eventually, and this may take years, the words fade away and you are left with the realisation that you still haven’t achieved the sanctity of the saints. Why does God have to make it so hard? You’ve made your choice and committed yourself to a spiritual life; so why doesn’t he answer? What more is there to do? Is it all a lie? Moreover, you feel an inner pain you can’t explain; it’s like heartburn that distracts you so much it’s all you can think about. If you persevere in hope and embrace ideas such as humility, poverty, charity and the desire for God, you will have reached Level 3.

Gospel (Matthew 3:1-12)

In due course John the Baptist appeared; he preached in the wilderness of Judaea and this was his message: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’

You have journeyed far into the desert and you begin to feel – not think – feel that the kingdom is tantalisingly close; near at hand. It’s behind a thin veil you neither see nor understand how to penetrate or pass. You are like the Bride running desperately through the town asking ‘Have you seen my Beloved? If you do, tell him I am sick with love’. Persevere in hope, be patient, You have put your hand on the plough; do not turn back like the Israelites to Egypt, or Lot’s wife to Sodom. If you turn back now you will fall right to the bottom and everything you have done will count as nothing. You will not enter the Kingdom of heaven in your lifetime, and it is so close, at hand. Hope in the Lord. “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Once in such a period of prolonged absence and darkness I cried out ‘Why, Lord? Why must I suffer so?’ He replied, ‘I want to see how much you love me?’

Never give up. Persevere in undying hope. The Lord is always with you. Yet he is coming in a way that … ah… you will see, if you persevere… to one day profess, ‘My Beloved is mine, and I am His’.

2nd Week Monday Genesis 3:9 (8.12.2025) “The Immaculate Conception”

First Reading (Genesis 3:9-15,20)
The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’

Anne (descendent of the priestly Levite tribe of Moses and Aaron) and Joachim (descendant of the royal family of King David from the tribe of Judah) were both elderly and childless, but never gave up hope. They were saints of a true and lasting virtue = the chastity of a married couple. For the marriage bed is a holy place sanctifying the sacrament of marriage. It is guarded by angels and too often treated with contempt these days. Anne and Joachim prayed and dreamt of a child: they got Mary, the immaculate conception, destined to be the Mother of Jesus.

Through a song [source: Maria Valtorta], Anne announced the good news to Joachim:
“Glory to the Almighty Lord! His supreme grace has visited me from heaven and I am blessed. There is a bright star, an innocent little child. Praise be to God, to my Lord, who had mercy on me. His light said to me: ‘A star will come to you; the perfect woman, holy and pure as a gift of the Lord’. And yours Lord, she shall be, and may joy and peace come upon the earth through this infant girl conceived without sin.”

The angels rejoiced for they had never seen a brighter light than Mary, Queen of Angels. For she is the highest Adversary of Satan (the Adversary of God), destined to defeat heresies used to dull the intellect to prevent us from knowing her. He counsels against our turning to her through slander. Do not believe his lies. Whereas Eve admitted, “The serpent tempted me and I ate”, Mary declares, “The serpent tempted me and I crushed its head with my heel”.

The Catechism of the Church (paras. 968,969) teaches: “In a wholly singular way Mary cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Saviour’s work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace. This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”

For despite the efforts of Satan and his followers, the holiness and absolute beauty of Mary shines on in her mission and her sole desire: to attract you to God with the sweetness of her smile and the warmth of her love.

On this feast of Mary, who experienced the perfection of God’s saving power, radiant in beauty and wisdom, chosen among all women to be the spouse of the Holy Spirit, the mother of Jesus, our advocate with the Father and the Mediatrix of his grace, let us pray for her intercession with the Holy Trinity: with God the Father, to whom she is a humble and obedient daughter; to God the Son, to whom she is a pure and ever-virgin mother; and to God the Holy Spirit, to whom she is a faithful and loving Spouse.

“I loved and searched for her from the beginning, I desired to have her as my bride, I fell in love with her beauty. She enhances her noble birth in union with God’s life, and he has always loved her.” [Wisdom 8:2-4]

Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

2nd Week Tuesday Matthew 18:12 (9.12.2025) “The Lost Sheep”

Gospel Matthew 18:12-14

Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all.’

Such a poor, lazy translation, missing important nuances. The original Greek text is:

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them is led astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go seek out the one misled? And when it happens that he finds it, ‘Amen’ I say to you; he rejoices over it more than the ninety-nine, those not led stray.’

Reading the first translation used at Mass, you imagine a sheep leaving the flock and heading off on its own in search of better grass to graze. Doesn’t seem so bad; happens all the time. But in the original Greek, the passive tense is much more sinister. For it did not stray of its own accord; it was led astray; away from the flock, away from the guidance and protection of the shepherd, led away by someone else. And whereas a sheep can only be physically led, the stronger significance when we are led astray is that we have been ‘deceived’.

And that is why Jesus says ‘Amen’, a Hebrew word adopted into Greek. We believe it means ‘so be it’ or ‘thy will be done’. However, it is used in the Greek New Testament as:

a) a declaration of truth; for example, ‘truly I say to you’, ‘what I say is the truth’;

or b) a statement of what it is right to do so; for example, ‘praise the Lord, Amen’ – it is right to do so; he should be praised.

Jesus is making us aware of the danger of being deceived and led astray. It is the principle tactic of the devil: to cleverly dress up lies as highly rational and persuasive arguments. And in case you think this doesn’t apply to us in our daily lives, but only to those who have been by deceived by great heresy or completely led astray away from the one true Catholic faith, let me explain how subtly demons work to deceive and lead us away in even the smallest of things.

In the Cistercian Abbey we rise every morning at 3.45am. Yes, 3.45am, every single morning, every single day, for the rest of our lives; no lie-in at the weekend, or time off for good behaviour. The first subtle demonic whisper: a deceptively rational thought which just seems to come to mind, as if it were my very conscience giving me good advice: ‘It won’t do any harm if you miss one day. It’s not as if God is so petty. You’ll hardly go to hell’. Seems reasonable, given that our Church here is freezing at that hour, as it’s a huge stone building and the heating doesn’t work.

For me to miss prayer at any time of the day is unthinkable. Not only because of a sense of duty and responsibility to the others who are there, praying as one community; but quite simply, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be at 4am (or any other time of the day or night), and there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing than giving thanks and praise to my Lord and my God.

2nd Week Wednesday Isaiah 40:25 (10.12.2025) “Lift up your Eyes”

Reading (Isaiah 40:25-31)

‘To whom could you liken me?

And who could be my equal?’ says the Holy One.

Lift your eyes and see [not ‘look’].

Who created [not ‘made’] these [no ‘stars’]?

I offer you three short reflections; all you need to be perfect in loving the Lord your God. Few words are needed; just years of prayer and reflection.

‘To whom could you liken me?’

In Hebrew… who (mi) is like (ka) God (El)?

When Lucifer persuaded others to join his heavenly rebellion against God promising, ‘We will be like God!’, one angel stood up to him with the defiant words mi ka El; Who is like God?

Mi-ka-El. Michael, Archangel.

‘Lift up your eyes and see’

Predictions of a dystopian future – for example, The Hunger Games – foresee humanity in uniform grey, marching slowly along, heads bowed in subjugation, depression and fear. Lift up your eyes! You are a child of God! This truth will set you free. From earthly oppression? No. Our King has set us free, beginning with his Coronation on the Cross, the Throne of his victory and our freedom over Satan, the consequences of being under his oppression (which is our sin), and the consequences of our sin (which is death). Lift up your eyes and see! You are free! And oh, and what great price was our freedom purchased.

‘Who created these?’

In Hebrew the verb ‘create’ (bará) is used exclusively of God. Only God creates. Lift up your eyes and see creation, especially the heavens by day and by night, and ask yourself: who (mi) created (bará) these (élleh)? As God in Hebrew is Elohim, question holds its own answer:

Béresheet bará Elohim. In the beginning God created.

Mi ka el?

Mi bará élleh?

Béresheet bará Elohim.

Amen.

2nd Week Thursday Matthew 11:7 (11.12.2025) “John the Baptist”

AToday’s Gospel selection omits verses 7 to 10:

As they departed, Jesus began to speak to the multitudes concerning John:

“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written:

‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’ [1]

Amen, I say to you; among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”.

– Matthew 11:7-11

John’s birth to such elderly parents, six months before the birth of his cousin Jesus, caused quite a stir; enhanced when his father Zechariah, a priest in the Jerusalem Temple, was struck dumb, only opening his lips on the day of John’s circumcision. When word began to circulate that the promised Messiah had been born, John was considered a prime candidate, including among the assassins sent by Herod to find and kill him; for Bethlehem is but 5 miles outside Jerusalem. Elizabeth fled alone with John into the desert, while Zechariah remained to delay the assassins, giving his life to protect them. Elizabeth survived just a few years in the desert, and the first time a voice was heard crying in the wilderness was after John buried his mother; he was only four. He cried out to God, and God heard him.

“I, the Lord, your God, I am holding you by the right hand. I tell you, ‘Do not be afraid. I will help you’.” [First Reading, Isaiah 41:13]

And so John lived in the desert, in solitude and silence; the first desert Father, the first monk. But he was never alone or lonely. Nor was he bored. For as a wayfarer in this life on a journey through the desert to the Promised Land, you keep the company of God and his angels. In such a journey you sacrifice your life completely. You die… to your self, to the world and to sin. From his mother’s womb John was the first to acknowledge Jesus and accept his invitation: ‘deny your self, take up your cross, and follow me’.

When the time came to prepare the way of the Lord, he went into battle. Like David facing Goliath, John did not wear the armour or clothing of kings. His armour was forged from penance and fasting; faith was his only shield, the staff of prayer his only weapon. Like Elijah and the other prophets, he set out alone to warn those who had abandoned God in their lives to repent.

John was the greatest born of woman, ‘but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he’. How is that possible? Because to be born physically of a woman into this life is so insignificant when compared to dying to this earthly life and being born in the Spirit into eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, logically, our short, temporary lives should be lived in preparation for our earthly death, for eternal life and standing before the Face of God. If your prime focus is not so… repent… the Kingdom of God is at Hand.

Cf. Isa 57:14, Mal 3:1

2nd Week Friday Matthew 11:16 (12.12.2025) “A Child – your soul”

AcGospel Matthew 11:16-19

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place’. “We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t be mourners.”

Like all children, I hope, you have good intentions this Advent. You reflect on the type of person you are, on how you treat others, and sometimes pray (if you have time). Maybe you go to Church every Sunday, give to charity, and give up chocolate in Lent. But though you may not consider yourself in a bad place with God, you are still focused on worldly things: what you own, what you wear, your career. Such concerns make it impossible for you do better. Especially at this time of year, when instead of it getting easier, it gets crazier. As you fret and hurry about town getting ready for Christmas, maybe stopping to have a coffee and gossip with a friend, what can I say except ‘you are like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place’.

What is missing? A little child,whom you have long abandoned and continue to ignore: your soul

You have occasional moments of awareness that she still lives, this child. They sing dirges at a funeral, and she mourns; they play pipes at a wedding and she dances. In such moments you get a glimpse of another life with her, like a tentative touch of a child on your hand; ‘please play with me’. A touch of hope that you’ll say ‘yes’, but also of fear of the pain and disillusion she feels when you say, ‘No; not now, I’m busy. Later. I promise’. You let the moment pass and your promise to spend more time with her fades away, and the child goes back into the hidden depths of your soul, patiently waiting for the next opportunity to try and get your attention.

Go away from the market place for just one day, and leave the children there who know nothing but to shout at each other.

Go into a church and stand before the crèche of the nativity scene. The child is not there. Jesus is absent. Is it the same with your soul?

2nd Week Saturday Ecclus and Matthew (13.12.2025) “Good things come to those that wait… “

First Reading (Ecclus 48:1-4,9-12)

The prophet Elijah arose like a fire, his word flaring like a torch.

The prophet Elijah was born 9^th century BC in Tishbe in Gilead, a region East of Israel in modern-day Jordan. His name in Hebrew, Elí-Yah, means ‘My God Yahweh’. We read in the first and second book of Kings[1] how he was sent by God to oppose the nationwide idolatry introduced by their Jewish King, Ahab. He had married the infamous Jezebel, a Phoenician Princess, who had encouraged Ahab to replace the Jewish faith with the religion of Ba’al – the worship of demons, which included child sacrifices. Elijah proclaimed a drought as God’s punishment, and after seven years he challenged the 450 priests of Ba’al to a contest on Mount Carmel[2] to test who really spoke for God. It ended with Elijah putting all 450 of them to death and the drought was lifted.

Jezebel was furious and swore revenge, so Elijah fled to Mount Horeb (aka Mount Sinai), where, like Moses, the presence of God passed before him. Moses and Elijah fulfilled the greatest desire of all prophets and saints: to climb the mountain of the Lord, hoping to see the face of God. They came closer than anyone, but they did not see his face; for no one could see the face of God and live. Yet centuries later, Moses and Elijah were both present on the Mount to finally saw the face of God… the transfigured face of Jesus.

Gospel (Matthew 17:10-13)

As they came down from the mountain the disciples put this question to Jesus, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?’ ‘True;’ he replied ‘Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it should be; however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him’.

Where today are God’s prophets; those who speak with and for God? Do we see the face of Jesus in our priests and religious? Is their face radiant like Moses from being in the presence of God? Is their faith strong in fortitude like Elijah to face off against the practice of idolatry, the very worship of evil, in society? Where are they indeed. Their absence has a left gap which filled by self-proclaimed prophets; writing books, setting up prayer houses, making podcasts and posting videos on YouTube. Many fail to recognise that they are false. They have not been sent by God to speak for him. They seek not his glory, but their own fame and fortune.

How can we recognise a true prophet of God? They live in solitude, silence, and poverty; they spend their time, day and night, in daily penance, pray and reading Scripture. They never look for attention and abhor the idea of having followers or disciples. When they speak, they do so with few words and only in charity, in answer to a plea for help. Their sole identity? A mere signpost, pointing out the path to God.

Cf. 1 Kings 17-19, 2 Kings 1-2

Carmelites acknowledge Elijah as their spiritual founder, when they began as a group of European pilgrims following the Third Crusade (1189-91) who settled on Mount Carmel as hermits. The feast day of Elijah is July 20.

3rd Week Sunday Isaiah and Matthew (14.12.2025) “Gaudete, Rejoice ! The Lord is Near.”

The liturgical colour and priestly vestments look pink but are actually rose. For today the standard penitential violet is mixed with the white of the approaching festival.

Gaudete = Rejoice!

First Reading Isaiah 35:1-6,10

Courage! Do not be afraid. Behold,[1] your God is coming.

Another inexplicable omission of verses 7-9, which contain the promise:

And there will be there a highway and a way, and a way of the Holiness.

Never more apt than of John the Baptist, who was sent ahead of the Lord, to prepare his way before him.

Gospel Matthew 11:2-11

John in his prison had heard what Christ was doing and he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?’ Jesus answered, ‘Go back and tell John what you hear and see’.

One of the most misunderstood passages in the Gospels.

Having baptized Jesus, does John really not recognize him as the Messiah?
So why did John send his disciples to Jesus to ask him ‘are you the One?’
The apostles James, John and Andrew were once disciples of John.
Strange that the ones sent were still disciples of John and not of Jesus?

It wasn’t John who needed to understand that Jesus was the Messiah; it was those disciples who refused to believe it and wouldn’t leave John. Only false prophets gather disciples about themselves to glory in their hero-worship. As a true prophet of God, John’s only interest was to send them to Jesus with the instruction, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, the One who is to Come. Follow what you hear him say and see him do’.

How hard it is for us today to recognize Christ in what we hear him say and see him do. Only through prayer and prayerful reflection on Scripture can we too recognize Jesus for who is, especially in his priesthood and the Sacraments of their hands. Then we can witness to the Good News (= the Gospel), of what we have heard and seen.

That Jesus is the Christ (= the Messiah), the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. If we open our hearts to the truth of him, Jesus comes to us in a special way, never more so than at Christmas.

Second Reading James 5:7-10

You too have to be patient; do not lose heart, because the Lord’s coming will be soon.

Gaudete, Rejoice! The Lord is Near!

[1]Of all the sins of lazy translators, translating the word ‘Behold!’ as ‘look’ or ‘see’ must rank as the worst. Some even leave it out completely.

3rd Week Monday Matthew 21:23 (15.12.2025) “Balaam recognizing God.”

Gospel Matthew 21:23-27

Jesus was teaching in the Temple and the chief priests and elders asked him, ‘who gave you this authority?’

How is it possible that after more than two thousand years of being the chosen people… of being favoured with direct revelation, miracles and intimacy with God… of education and preparation for the Messiah… that the vast majority of their chief priests and elders were incapable of recognizing that the authority and power of Jesus was from God? An even worse possibility is highlighted by Jesus in the parable he tells them straight after they question his authority, about the tenants of the vineyard who saw and recognized the son, but decided to kill him so that they would inherit his authority and power, so that they would be Lord and Master.

Is it so hard to recognize the authority of God? Balaam was capable of it, and he wasn’t even a Jew. He was, in fact, a pagan magician, hired by King Balak of Moab to cast curses on the Israelites. Balaam is even mentioned by the Apostles Peter, John and Jude as the personification of greed, (having used religion for personal gain), of inducing people to eat unclean food (sacrificed to demons), and to commit fornication[1]. Yet this wicked man, Balaam, admits in today’s First Reading[2] to see “what Shaddai [= the Almighty] makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened.”

“I see him”, he says, “but not in the present. I behold him – but not close at hand: a star of Jacob.”

Many centuries later three more pagan magicians, or Magi, would see the same star, this time in the present, and it would be identified with the descendant of Jacob and be called the Star of David. It led them to a child in a cave in Bethlehem, and it didn’t take words or parables or miracles for them to recognize on whose authority this child was sent.

If only people would put aside their arguments over authority and power, both those within the Christian Church (our very own chief priests and elders) and those not of the Christian faith. If only they would gaze in silent awe at the nativity scene and pray the words of today’s psalm:

Lord, make me know your ways.

Lord, teach me your paths.

Make me walk in your truth, and teach me.

For you, God, are my salvation.[3]

[1] 2 Pet 2:15, Jude 11, and Rev 2:14 (written by John).

[2] Numbers 24:2-7,15-17

[3] Psalm 25:4-5

3rd Week Tuesday Matthew 21 (16.12.2025) “Lip Service Only”

Gospel Matthew 21:28-32

A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said. Jesus said to them, ‘I say to you Amen, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you’.

Offering up lip service is to express support or agreement in words only, without any real intention of following through on them. ‘All talk, no action’ criticises those who fail to practise what they preach. None more so than a priest, who during his ordination to the Diaconate is instructed by his Bishop: “Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach”. As Elvis Presley would say, “A little less conversation, a little more action please”.

The apostle James[1] warns: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.” For the real danger lies in deceiving not others but yourself with your false sense of righteousness. It undermines the authenticity of your faith. It is a form of hypocrisy that Scripture consistently condemns. God desires truth in the heart; genuine worship… in spirit and truth.[2] Ezekiel complained to God: “People come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice”.[3]

Consider the superficiality, the empty words and gestures, of the Pharisees. ‘You hypocrites!’ says Jesus; ‘Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain’.[4]

Worship should be an expression of genuine love and reverence for God. Involve your heart and mind, and allow a relationship with God to transform your life. When Elvis said “A little less conversation, a little more action please”, he was imploring the girl to stop talking and start loving him, for the song continues: “close your mouth and open up your heart”. For ‘prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.’ Despite their sin, or maybe because of it, their heart is restless, seeking and hoping in the Lord. And one day, while the hypocrite is still sitting in Church and thinking about how holy they are, the prostitute might find the courage and grace to arise and go to our father, and say to him, “Father, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

[1]James 1:22

[2]Cf. Psalm 51:6 and John 4:24

[3]Ezek 33:31

[4]Matt 15:7-9, referencing Isa 29:13.ordion Content

3rd Week Wednesday Matthew 1 (17.12.2025) “The Genealogy”

Readings at Mass are difficult. None more so than when long (and seemingly boring) genealogies are read. The one in Luke is that of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. That makes sense – she was his mother. So why is the genealogy today from Matthew that of Joseph? After all, he was not the biological father of Jesus.

Matthew, one of the Twelve Apostles, was the first to write a Gospel. However, unlike the others, which were written in Greek, Matthew wrote his in Hebrew[1]. For whereas Mark, Luke and John wrote Gospels for the Gentile converts throughout the Mediterranean, Matthew’s Gospel was aimed specifically at the Jews in Israel, with the sole intention of convincing them that Jesus was the Messiah. Throughout his Gospel, therefore, he explains everything about Jesus as ‘in fulfilment of Scripture’.

It was a difficult task to get the Jews to accept Jesus as the Promised Messiah, as the Christ[2]. They had to be walked step by step through the history of their interaction with God as his Chosen People. The genealogy from Abraham to David, from David to the Babylonian deportation, and from the deportation to Joseph, was one clear way of placing Jesus in their own historical context of the Covenant and the Promise.

Jesus, of course, is more than ‘of the tribe of Judah’ and a descendant of David. But Matthew did not want to frighten off potential Jewish readers right at the start by jumping to the end of the lesson about the identity of Jesus as the biological Son of God, and even more inconceivably, the Word made Flesh. The Word through whom all Creation was made. The Word that had spoken to them throughout their history.

And so Matthew addressed them in a style they were used to from his earlier life as Levi. Writing as a legal accountant in simple facts, he wrote to prove that Jesus was the Messiah, not only by fulfilling prophecies, which were open to interpretation, but by giving direct, irrefutable, documented proof that Joseph was of the tribe of Judah and a direct blood descendant of King David.

But what has this to do with Jesus? As adoption in Jewish culture grants full familial rights, Joseph conferred upon Jesus the rightful legal status as a son of David, a member of the Royal Family, which included the right to claim the throne as King of the Jews. It was a position he embraced with much suffering; crowned with thorns and mocked by the pagans in preparation for his glorious coronation, eagerly desired by his own people, on the Throne of his great majesty and victory – the Cross.

Hail Jesus, son of Abraham, son of Judah, son of David, born to a fifteen-year-old in a lowly manger on Christmas Night. The King nobody wanted. Nobody except Joseph.

[1]The original Hebrew version lies hidden and we have only the Greek translation. I believe it will reappear when it is time for God’s final effort at persuading his Chosen People to acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah.

[2]‘Christ’ is the Greek word for the Hebrew word ‘Messiah’ [lit. = Mashiach] – both meaning ‘the Anointed One’

3rd Week Thursday Matthew 18-24 (18.12.2025) “Joseph”

Today’s Gospel[1] speaks of the first great trial of Mary and Joseph as a couple. Although they were betrothed (engaged), they were not married and did not live together, normal at that time when betrothal lasted between six and twelve months. Whereas Mary told Joseph that Elizabeth was pregnant and of her decision to go and stay with her until the child was born, she left out the bit about being pregnant herself. Why? It was what God wanted. How do we know that? Because Mary always did the will of God.

Consider this account from the visions of Maria Valtorta[2].

The Holy Spirit said to Mary: “Be silent. Entrust me with the task of justifying you with your spouse”. When or how, Mary did not ask, for the secrets of God are holy. The angel of the Lord revealed her divine pregnancy to certain people at the right time. First to John, and through him to his mother Elizabeth. Then to Zechariah at the circumcision of John, as we know from his Song the Benedictus[3]. But when Joseph came to bring her home after her three-month stay, Mary realized that it had not yet been revealed to Joseph. Imagine the shock when Joseph noticed her figure. And though, as always, he did not say anything, his silent suffering began at that moment.

For three days Joseph was caught in a great vortex of conflicting thoughts and emotions; a turmoil of reflections, one more piercing and painful than the other. He believed himself a man betrayed by his wife. His good reputation and the esteem of his family and friends would collapse around him amid pointed fingers, scorn and ridicule. Above all, he perceived that his love and esteem for Mary had been misplaced.

The three days of Joseph’s passion were short in number, but deep in intensity. And they were terrible also for Mary. When they we arrived in Nazareth, she watched him go away with an abrupt ‘goodbye’. He did not visit Mary once during those days, leaving her alone in the house where everything reminded her of Joseph. And she continued to hope beyond measure, pray with confidence, and forgive Joseph’s doubt. God had requested such obedience of Mary. It cost her much, but she obeyed. ‘I am the handmaiden of the Lord’, she said, ‘and servants do not discuss the orders they receive. They fulfill them, even if they cause bitter tears.’

Had he not been so holy, Joseph would have acted in a human way, denouncing Mary as an adulteress to be stoned, so that both her and the child would perish. But Joseph was holy; a holiness so dignified and silent, that it has been hardly noticed throughout centuries. His pure spirit lived in God. He saved your Saviour for you, as he saved his mother, the Virgin Mary.

And so Mary was able to say to Joseph, “Jesus is coming to us poor people, to make us rich in God. Rejoice, Joseph! The House of David has the King long awaited.”

[1]Over the next few days the Gospel passages at Mass are from St Luke’s narrative. Today’s Gospel from Matthew 1:18-24 takes place after those of Luke, not before.

[2]In The Gospels as Revealed to Me (aka The Poem of the Man-God), Vol I.

[3]Sung every morning at Lauds.

3rd Week Friday Judges, Luke and Psalm (19.12.2025) “The Nazarites”

First Reading, Judges 13:2-7,24-25

‘Take no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean. For you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, for the boy shall be God’s Nazarite’. … The woman gave birth to a son and called him Samson. The child grew, and the Lord blessed him; and the spirit of the Lord began to move him.

Gospel, Luke 1:5-25

‘Your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son and you must name him John. He will be your joy and delight and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he must drink no wine, no strong drink. Even from his mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.’

Based on the Hebrew word nazir – meaning ‘to be set apart or consecrated’ – the Nazirite vow[1] was voluntary, could be done by either men or women, had a limited time frame (normally thirty days), and had three specific restrictions: do not drink alcohol, do not touch dead bodies, do not cut your hair. Samson broke all three of these vows; cutting his hair was just the final straw, causing the spirit of the Lord to leave him.

Apart from Samson, there were two other exceptional children who were proclaimed by an angel as Nazarites consecrated to God their entire lives: the prophet Samuel[2], and John the Baptist.

‘To be set apart or consecrated’ remains a key factor in our relationship with God as Christians. For Jesus himself instructed us: ‘deny yourself, take up your Cross, and follow me’. So in his letter to the Romans[3] St. Paul writes: ‘I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed.’

Some have heeded this call to be set apart from the world, a holy people consecrated to God[4]; courageous men and women who live a consecrated life of prayer and sacrifice. They take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and some take two additional vows: a vow of enclosure (called ‘stability’), by which they do not leave the monastery; and the vow of hospitality, or service to the poor. Through these new Nazarite vows of consecrated life, a religious seeks to fulfil Rule No. 1: Love the Lord your God with all your mind, with all your heart, and with all your strength.

But what about Rule No. 2, ‘Love your neighbour’? … Ah… first learn Rule No. 1.

Psalm 70(71):3-6,16-17

For you Lord are a rock where I take refuge, a mighty stronghold to save me.

It is you, O Lord, who are my hope, my trust.

On you I have leaned from my birth, from my mother’s womb you have been my help.

So I will declare your mighty deeds, proclaiming your justice, yours alone.

My lips are filled with your praise, with your glory all day long, all the days of my life.

Amen.

[1]Cf. Numbers 6:1-21

[2]Cf. 1 Samuel 1:8-28

[3]Rom 12:1-2

[4]Cf. 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Peter 1:15

3rd Week Saturday Isaiah 7 (20.12.2025) “Asking for a Sign”

First Reading Isaiah 7:10-14

The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign…’.

‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’

Today’s reading makes Ahaz sound a saintly man. He wasn’t.

After the death of King David’s son and heir Solomon, the kingdom was split in two. The northern kingdom of Israel was the first to fall away from God into such demonic practices as sacrificing children. They later allied with Syria in war against the Southern Kingdom of Judah and their King Ahaz. Not only were Ahaz’s son and his second-in-command killed, but over one hundred thousand soldiers were lost and Judah’s towns were plundered. The prophet Isaiah came to encourage Ahaz to place his trust in God, as had his father King Jotham, one of the good kings of Judah. Given Ahaz’s weak faith, he was even offered a sign of God’s pledge of presence and power. Ahaz refused. He offered himself and his kingdom as vassals to the King of Assyria. To show his devotion, he adopted the demonic religion of the Assyrians; he desecrated and closed the Temple in Jerusalem, built altars in every town in Judah for sacrifices, and even sacrificed his own son, burning him alive[1]. Ahaz refused the sign of God out of ignorance and arrogance, not out of humility.

What did God mean by inviting Ahaz to ‘ask for a sign’? A sign of his power? A token or pledge of his fidelity? Circumcision and keeping holy the Sabbath were once signs of the covenant between God and his people. Circumcision was replaced by the new sign of the Chosen in the Holy Spirit through baptism and the other holy sacraments of the Church. Most Christians are ignorant to this reality and fail to fulfil either pledge: they neither live out their baptismal vows, nor keep holy the Sabbath.

Modern obsession with scientific knowledge and what you can see with your own eyes has led to a level of doubt worse than that of the apostle Thomas. A failure to engage with the mystery of God leads to a lack of faith, of trust in God; in what he offers, in what he promises. Faith is so weak that people flock to places on the mere rumour that the Virgin Mary has appeared, yet do not flock to Mass every day, or even on the Sabbath. For do you really need a sign that God loves you and is faithful?

Do not be like Ahab, or like modern-day politicians, worried by war, making alliances and deals, thinking that such things keep them safe. God has given you many signs, irrefutable proof of his love for you. Turn to him for protection this Christmas, and behold in silence the mystery of the great sign God has given you.

It is this: the maiden is with child

and will soon give birth to a son

whom she will call Immanuel,

a name which means ‘God is with us’.

Did Mary refuse? What was her response to this astounding gift of God?

‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’
And the angel left her.

[1]You can read all this in 2 Kings 15-16 and 2 Chronicles 27-28.

4th Week Sunday Romans 1 (21.12.2025) “A Servant”

‘Paul, servant of Christ Jesus.’ Peter, James, and Jude use the same word of themselves at the beginning of their letters[1]: δουλος [doulos] ‘servant’. There were three quite different types of servant in the Greek and Roman world at that time.

1. An involuntary slave who was the property of their master. A slave was not free and had no legal identity or rights. They were just like any other possession; their owner could do whatever they wanted with them, even kill them; as in the parable of the Master who dealt with the evil servant by ‘cutting him in half’.[2]

2. A bond servant arose out of necessity, to pay off a debt or other contractual obligation. In the parable of the man who owed ten thousand talents, ‘his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made’.[3]

3. A voluntary servant with rights who acted as the legal representative of their Master. This type of servant was sent three times in the parable to invite different guests to the Master’s feast[4], and in the parable of the Wicked Tenants, the Master twice sent his servants to receive the fruits of their labour; but the servants were beaten, stoned and killed.[5]

Which type of servant is Paul, the apostles, and saints? Voluntary servants, naturally, for nobody forces them into it. Jesus sent them out to preach the Gospel in his name as his representatives. Yet he warned them that they would encounter rejection and persecution: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.[6]

Yet the wonderful mystery of being his servant takes you deeper… if you are open to humility. For whoever would be considered the greatest servant of Christ must become less than a voluntary servant. You go beyond seeking to be popular or a people-pleaser in your ministry and become a bond servant of Christ.[7] For while serving, humility made you aware of the great unpaid debt of your own sin, and of your former slavery to it, for ‘whoever commits sin is a slave of sin’.[8] You bind yourself more fully to Christ; penance and self-denial become an intrinsic aspect of your service.

And then you go even deeper into the mystery when you experience the merciful love of Christ for you, his servant. The love that brought him to humble himself and become a slave; his freedom and rights taken away, treated worse than any slave ever unjustly sentenced to undergo terrible torture, humiliating public ridicule and excruciating death. From this understanding springs the desire, born out of love for so great a Master, to imitate him in all things; to be considered by everyone no better than a slave of his love and mercy.

[1]Peter (2 Pet 1:1), James (1:1), and Jude (1:1).

[2]Matthew 24:51

[3]In Matthew 18:21-35.

[4]Luke 14:16-24

[5]In Matthew 21:33-46.

[6]Cf. John 15:20 and Matt 10:24-25.

[7]Cf. Gal 1:10.

[8]John 8:34

4th Week Monday Luke 1:46 (22.12.2025) “Magnificat”

We hear two magnificent songs of praise today. Firstly, that of Hannah, at the dedication of her son Samuel[1] into a life of service to God: ‘My heart exults in the Lord’. Secondly, of the Virgin Mary, in the house of Elizabeth: ‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord’, which is better translated as ‘my soul magnifies the Lord’, for this Canticle (= Song) is The Magnificat, sung throughout the Church every day at Vespers (Evening Prayer).

There is quite a step up from Hannah’s experience of God to that of Mary; from a heart which exults, to a soul that magnifies. ‘To magnify’ is to make something appear larger than it is, especially when viewed through a lens or microscope[2]: thus if something or someone appears grander in our eyes, they are ‘magnificent’.

The Lord Jesus is magnificent and the Virgin Mary is his magnifying lens. Everything about her magnifies God. As in the house of Elizabeth, she magnifies the presence of Christ. So when we imitate Elizabeth and venerate Mary as Mother of God, she is blessed among all women, because blessed is the fruit of her womb, Jesus, Mary’s sole desire is to magnify God, to show us Jesus. If you are unable to see the greatness of God – for your eyes, your heart, are not pure – use the Virgin Mary. She does not make God greater, nor make him appear bigger than he is. That is impossible. But like any magnifying lens through which we gaze, we may see what is not visible to our restricted vision.

It is your role as a Christian, especially if you are in ministry, to magnify God, to make Jesus visible to others through your every word and action. Is your life an imitation of Christ, reflecting the light of his Holy Spirit to others? Or are you a Pharisee? All their works are done to be seen by men – they widen their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments[3]; for the only person they want to appear greater in the eyes of others is themselves. They love nothing better than hearing themselves praised. Compare them to when St. Peter spoke: the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word and they magnified God.[4]

So this Christmas, call me Scrooge or the Grinch if you like, but speak not to me of trees, nor decorations, nor presents, nor Santa Claus, nor TV. I do not wish to be among family and friends, feasting and gossiping among kisses and throw-away greetings of Happy or Merry Christmas.

My earnest expectation and hope is that I will be ashamed of nothing this Christmas as I remain before the crib, and with all boldness, as always, so now more so, Christ alone will be magnified in my body, whether by my life or by my death.[5]

[1]The other two miracle conceptions of those dedicated to the Lord as Nazarites from birth are Samson and John the Baptist.

[2]The original Greek word meant to actually ‘enlarge’ but was also used figuratively as recognising the greatness of someone’s name or reputation; to extol, or praise them.

[3]Cf. Matthew 23:5

[4]Cf. Acts 10:44-46

[5]Phil 1:20

4th Week Tuesday Luke 1:57 (23.12.2025) “The Hand of the Lord”

Gospel – Luke1:57-66

The hand of the Lord was with him.

What does it mean. the hand of the Lord was with John the Baptist, even as a newborn baby?

‘Hand’ in most languages, including biblical Hebrew (yad) and Greek (keir), refers to power and control.[1] The hand of the Lord is known to all his servants, in whose hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind; that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, that we may fear the Lord God forever.[2]

One of the keys to recognizing Jesus is the power of his hand. He healed many by putting out his hand, touching them, or taking them by their hand. He also taught how disease can cause the hand to wither, and warned us about the disease of sin springing from the power and control we hold over others: ‘if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you’.[3]

Jesus himself was betrayed by the hand of one who sat at his table, who dipped his hand in the dish with Jesus; betrayed into the hands of men, into the hands of sinners, that we should be saved from our enemies, from the hand of all who hate us.[4]

Most English Bibles incorrectly say ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand’. The Greek perfect tense refers to a past action with present consequences, and should be translated as ‘the kingdom of heaven has drawn near’.[5] The past action is the birth of Jesus, Son of the living God, and it has real and present consequences for us all. It is a fearful thought – to fall in the hands of the living God and his justice, especially if you leave it until the hour of your death. But the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. Remember Peter who became afraid when walking towards Jesus across the lake, when he cried out, “Lord, save me”? What did Jesus do? He immediately reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Do not doubt the mercy of God this Christmas. Draw near to Jesus in the crib and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands of sin. Purify your hearts from divided loyalty. Humble yourselves before the child, under the mighty hand of God.[6]

[1]You would imagine many references to the hand of the Lord in Scripture, yet a quick search shows only 33 in the OT and 3 in the NT. Both 3 and 33 are meaningful numbers. Those in the NT are by Luke, here in Lk 1:66 and twice in Acts 11:21 and 13:11. The hand of God appears 7 times in the OT (another significant number) but not once in the NT.

[2]Cf. Isa 66:14, Job 12:9-10, Joshua 4:24.

[3]Cf. Matt 8:3, 9:25, 12:10, & 5:30.

[4]Cf. Luke 22:21, Matthew 26:23,17:22, 26:45-50, & Luke 1:7.

[5]Cf. Matthew 3:2, 4:17, & Mark 1:15

[6]Cf. Hebrews 10:31, John 3:35, James 4:8, Peter 5:6.

4th Week Wednesday 2Samuel 7 (24.12.2025) “The House of God”

First Reading – 2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-12,14,16

Thus the Lord speaks: ‘Are you to build me a house to dwell in?’

Today’s translation adds ‘are you the man to build me a house to dwell in?’, thinking this is what God meant to say. For ‘the man’ who built the first Temple was not David, but his son, Solomon.

They have not understood God, nor when he speaks, nor what he wants.

God is God. He created the earth, the sun, and the entire universe. Do you know everything about the earth, or understand how the universe works? Then how can you possibly expect to know everything about God and understand how he works. Can you build a house for the Sun? Then how can you build a house for God? Open your mind to the grandeur of God when you are next looking out the window of a plane, at tiny cities and mountains below you; imagine how tiny the whole earth is to God. Go out at night and gaze up at the stars and try to count them; marvel that God counts the number of the stars; he calls them all by name.[1]

There’s nothing wrong with building a Temple or a Church as a place to gather and praise God. As Catholics you are even more blessed, for you have Christ present in the Eucharist in the tabernacle. However, the danger is if you begin to think that you have Christ under lock and key in a box, or that you have God housed within the walls of the Church.

God speaks:

Are you to build me a house to dwell in? Then you do not know me…

In the beginning I created the heavens and the earth.

Are you to build me a house to dwell in? Then you do not understand me when I speak…

Behold, a virgin will give birth to a child: my Beloved Son.

Are you to build me a house to dwell in? Then you do not understand what I want…

Listen to my Son. I will love you. I will come to you. I will make my dwelling with you.[2]

[1]Psalm 147:4

[2]John 14:23

General Collection 2025

Section 1 – Belief

Section One

has three chapters:

Chapter 1. Our Capacity for God

Chapter 2. God comes to meet us

Chapter 3. Our response

Chapter 1. Our Capacity for God

The first question is Why does faith matter?

“You cannot imagine at all how much you interest God; he is interested in you as if there were no one else on earth.” – Julien Green (a man, 1900–1998, French-American writer)

St Paul tells us that “God desires that all
i) be saved;
and ii) come to the knowledge of the truth.” – 1 Tim 2:4

What does that have to do with me, in my life? Because we have an infinite desire to be happy. And God, as our Father, wants us to be happy. And so God has placed in our hearts a longing to seek and find him. St. Augustine says, “God have made us for himself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in him.”

The second question is How do we seek and find God, in order to be happy and saved?

Paul’s letter to Timothy has already told us: “come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Blaise Pascal (17^th century French mathematician and philosopher) explained: “You must know people and human things in order to love them. You must love God and divine things in order to know them.”

That’s not entirely true. Your parents know you pretty well, better than you think, and there is nothing that could stop them from loving you.

But a higher form of knowledge does comes through relationship. As Jesus said, “thank you Father for hiding your knowledge from the very wise and revealing them to little children.” He also encouraged us to become like little children and told us, as the St Columb’s boys know, “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added onto you.”

We’ll look at how to partake in the Kingdom of God in our next three meetings on sacraments, moral living and prayer.

Chapter 2. God Comes to Meet Us

Part 1 – In Revelation

Simply because we cannot physically see something does not mean it does not exist. You just have to open your eyes, your mind, your heart.

God reveals himself in three ways:

Indirectly in creation/nature. Atheists or scientists have no excuse. Galileo Galilei, mathematician and physicist said “Mathematics is the alphabet with which God wrote the world.” Or look at the stars as the Wise Men did. The Logos is written in Creation. Logos is Greek – for speaking, but ‘speaking rationally’, also meaning ‘to arrange in order’. Centuries before the Word became Flesh, you will find the term Logos in Greek, Indian, Egyptian, and Persian philosophical and theological systems to indicate the divine rationale evident in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and meaning. The 6th-century-bc Greek philosopher Heraclitus, discerned in the cosmic process a logos correspondent to the reasoning power in man. Later the Stoics defined the logos as an active rational and spiritual principle that permeated all reality. Philo of Alexandria, a 1st-century-ad Jewish philosopher, taught that the logos was the intermediary between God and the cosmos, being both the agent of creation and the agent through which the human mind can apprehend and comprehend God. According to the Middle Platonists the logos was both immanent in the world and at the same time the transcendent divine mind. So the Logos, the divine will and Word by which the universe was framed, the divine reason in which human reason shares, is God’s first indirect revelation to humanity.
Directly by Revelation through the Holy Spirit; from the OT to the Chosen People, the Holy Spirit, in and through the Church, continues to lead us to an ever deeper understanding of God.
his definitive revelation, when God spoke once and for all, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the same today, as he was yesterday. As Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: “I cannot picture God the Father. All I can see is Jesus.” “The happiness you are seeking,” said Pope Benedict XVI, “has a name and a face: it is Jesus of Nazareth.”

Part 2 – In the Church by Transmission

It is the mission (mission in Latin = sending) of the Church to transmit the Good News of Salvation. That by our words, deeds and example we show how good it is to belong to the Kingdom of God.

This is done through Scripture and Tradition, which are bound closely together. The New Testament developed and was written out of the faith community of the early Church. However, handing on the faith is done less by documents than by personal witness: the Gospel of Jesus Christ should be written on our hearts more than in a book, as it was for the apostles (from the Greek, meaning messenger) and the martyrs (from the Greek, meaning witness).

The magisterium (from Latin, meaning teacher) presents and interprets the faith through the Holy Spirit, to protect it from false teachings. And although individuals can err or commit grave sins, the Church as a body can never fall away from its mission.

Part 3 – The Sacred Scriptures

“To be ignorant of Scripture is to be ignorant of Jesus Christ,” said Saint Jerome (who wrote the definitive Latin translation of the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek). The books of the Bible (from Latin, meaning books) are “inspired” by the Holy Spirit (from the Latin, meaning “breathed in”). The right way to read the Bible is prayerfully, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 3. Our Response

Part 1 – I Believe

“Credo ut intelligam – I believe in order to understand.” – St Anselm of Canterbury.

I believe in Jesus, I trust him as a person, to order to form a relationship of understanding, and then wisdom, the higher forms of knowledge.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and whoever seeks finds, and to whoever knocks it will be opened.” Mt 7:7-8

Only then, when we belong to a faith community of others who also say “I believe” can we join together with them and say

Part 2 – We Believe

Let me conclude with the Foreword, written to you young people by Pope Benedict.

“If you are now going to apply yourselves zealously to the study of the Catechism, I want to give you one last thing to accompany you: You all know how deeply the community of faith has been wounded recently through the attacks of the evil one, through the penetration of sin itself into the interior, yes, into the heart of the Church. Do not make that an excuse to flee from the face of God! You yourselves are the Body of Christ, the Church! Bring the undiminished fire of your love into this Church whose countenance has so often been disfigured by man. “Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the spirit, serve the Lord!” (Rom 12:11).

“When Israel was at the lowest point in her history, God called for help, not from the great and honoured ones of Israel, but from a young man by the name of Jeremiah. Jeremiah felt overwhelmed: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth” (Jer 1:6). But God was not to be deterred: “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak” (Jer 1:7).

I bless you and pray each day for all of you.”

Section 2 – The Celebration of the Christian Mystery

Part Two – The Celebration of the Christian Mystery

Having previously looked at the Faith of the Church, we now look at how the Church expresses and lives out its faith in the sacramental liturgy.

Section One – The Sacramental Economy (Gk = “household management”)

Chapter One – The Pascal Mystery (Gk from Hebrew = “Passover”; ‘Easter’, is Saxon = “spring festival”).

art. i – The Liturgy (Gk = “public act”)

art. ii – The Sacraments (Latin = “sacred oath”)

Celebrating the mysteries of God is about encountering Jesus Christ by obeying his command to “do this in memory of me.” But it is not just theatre, the re-enactment of scenes from the life of Jesus. Through the Liturgy, we engage in divine worship to praise God and receive his blessings (Latin = “say/wish well”) through the sacraments. Liturgical celebrations of the Sacraments are visible signs of the invisible blessings we receive. Angels and saints in heaven join us in celebrating each and every liturgy. All of the blessings and graces we receive are thanks to the death and resurrection of Jesus – what we call the Pascal Mystery (Gk from Hebrew for ‘Passover’; ‘Easter’ is a Saxon word = “spring festival”). Every liturgy is a celebration of Easter. All seven sacraments were enacted by Jesus with his disciples, the first Christians, the beginning of the Church. He gave the sacraments to us as the ordinary means of participating in the salvation won through his death and resurrection, so that belonging to the Kingdom of God, we can be saved for all eternity. I say ‘ordinary means’, for although God has made our salvation dependent on receiving the sacraments, God himself can perform extraordinary salvation of those who are unaware or are incapable of participating in the faith and sacraments of the Church.

Some, like baptism and confirmation, are a single irrevocable gift of grace, and we receive them only once. Others have renewing and healing graces which we need throughout our entire journey through life; for example, the Eucharist and confession.

Chapter Two – How We Celebrate the Sacraments

art. i – The Liturgy

art. ii – Liturgical Unity and Diversity

The most important thing to remember is that Jesus is present in all liturgies: in his Word as Scripture, in his sacrament, and in his priest, who by grace of his sacramental ordination acts in place of Jesus, the High Priest. Priests should lead an exemplary life, as they, more than others, are called to holiness. But even if they don’t, the sacrament still takes effect, for Christ himself is at work in their liturgical words and actions.

As we celebrate special days like birthdays and anniversaries every year, so too the Church sanctifies the entire calendar year by celebrating the mysteries of Christ in the liturgical calendar, which starts again very shortly with the first week of Advent. Sunday, the day of the resurrection, is at the centre of Christian time, which is divided into weeks. Within each week we celebrate each day with individual readings at Mass, and certain days dedicated to remembering the saints. But even more than that, within each day, those of sacramental holy orders are obliged to pray seven times each day the public prayer of the Church, called the Liturgy of the Hours.

We have the Church as a place for us to gather and celebrate our prayers and liturgies together in the presence of God. Of course, it’s easy to say “I don’t need to go to Church, I can pray in my room”. But most who say so, use this as an excuse, for they never pray anywhere. So I invite you, call into a church, on your own, when there’s nobody there. It’s impossible that it won’t have an effect on you. Have the humility to admit it, and the courage to do something about it.

Section Two – The Seven Sacraments

Chapter One – The Sacraments of Initiation (Latin = “beginning”)

art. i – Baptism

art. ii – Confirmation

art. iii – Eucharist

Baptism joins us with Christ. As it creates a covenant with God, the person must say ‘yes’ to it, and parents do so as they confess the faith on behalf of their children. For they want what is best for their child, and in baptism we are freed from the influence of original sin and the power of eternal death. Cf. The Baptismal Card ….

Confirmation (Latin = “strengthen and consolidate”) gives us Christ’s Holy Spirit, as at Pentecost (Gk = “50^th”, as it happened 50 days after the Resurrection), when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Virgin Mary, the apostles and disciples, so that they could be living witnesses to Christ and his Gospel.

The Eucharist (Gk = “thanksgiving”, originally referring only to the prayer of thanksgiving which precedes the consecration) gives us Christ’s body and blood. We are Church not because we are in the same parish, or gather in the same church, we are Church because through reception of the Eucharist we are transformed into the body of Christ. Mass comes from the Latin = ite missa est – “go, sent you are”.

Chapter Two – The Sacraments of Healing

art. iv – Confession (penance/reconciliation)

art. v – Anointing of the Sick

Confession reconciles us with Christ. Being aware of your sin is only the beginning. You have to realise “I don’t like that I do that and I don’t like how I feel afterwards. I wish I could stop it, and be stronger.” Think of the prodigal son: he came to his senses, he decided to return, he got up and walked away from his sinful existence, he saw it through to the end without turning back, and he said “sorry”. So the elements of confession are: examination of conscience, contrition (= sorry), a purpose of amendment (= change), confession (“saying”), and penance. Penance (Latin = “to be sorry”) are physical acts or demonstrations of how you are sorry for your sins. The word penance led to the idea of being punished, in such words as penalty, the penal system and penitentiaries (prisons), which impose penance on those who break the law. But regarding the sacrament we should think of Zachaeus, who as penance for his past life of sin said “Look, Lord! Here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Think of Peter jumping into the water, his longing to reach Jesus and be forgiven.

Through the Anointing of the Sick, Christ heals, consoles and strengthens. Viaticum (Latin = “provision for the journey”) is the last Holy Communion they receive before dying.

Chapter Three – The Sacraments of Service

art. vi – Holy Orders

art. vii – Matrimony

Through the sacrament of Holy Orders, priests (Latin ‘presbyter’ = elder) have the privilege of being the minister of all the sacraments, especially of forgiving sins and celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

In the sacrament of Matrimony, Christ promises his love and fidelity in the couples love and fidelity.

Chapter Four – Other Liturgies

Popular pieties, like saying the Rosary, are a good supplement, something extra which helps the people become more devotional. As long as they are not an attempt to earn or feel an entitlement to God’s grace, for they are never a substitute for the sacraments.

Section 3 – Life in Christ

Section 1 – Vocation to Life in the Spirit

Ch. 1 – The Dignity of the Human Person

[8 Articles: Image of God – Beatitudes – Freedom – Human Acts – Passions – Conscience – Virtues – Sin]

Every single person, from the first moment of conception in the womb, has an inviolable dignity. Not only are we adopted children of God, but we were created in the image and likeness of God. Remove God from the equation and we become mere animals, the result of blind evolution. As in today’s society: the survival of the fittest, where the strong can dominate, and the weak can be used and abused. If human dignity is based on success and accomplishment, then those who, instead of contributing to society, are viewed as a burden, can be eliminated: as did such dictators as Hitler (17 million), Stalin 1922-1953 (23M), and Chairman Mao Zedong 1943-76 (78M).

Does being good mean doing what we are told? Is God just another dictator whose laws and rules of behaviour we must obey, or we face banishment and punishment? Jesus mentioned the beatitudes as an indication how we should behave: poor in spirit, mourn, meek, peacemakers, hunger and thirst for justice. Or did he? The word ‘blessed’ here is translated badly, to try and make them seem more important. In reality the word is ‘happy’. And the misunderstanding is even deeper, because the beatitudes are not the cause, but the effect, of holiness. Giving away all your possessions, mourning and beating your breast, and holding protests to free Palestine, will not make you holy. If you are in a relationship with God, then you are happy, even if you are poor, or mourning, or hungry, or persecuted. And it is the same with morality. We act in a good way not because God or our parents are forcing us to do so, but because we are in a relationship of love with them, and we want them to be happy, and when we behave well, we realise that doing so makes us happy too. A good person is free, even if poor and imprisoned. A bad person is a slave, even if they are rich and famous.

Are you free to do what you want? In God’s eyes, yes. Completely. But society and family impose laws to restrict the exercise of your freedom to protect others and yourself from detrimental harm which you would choose. Choosing God does not mean a restriction of your freedom, as if you become a slave or a “yes man” or a puppet. Walking with God makes you greater, not smaller, though the world will certainly try to demean and ridicule you. It is evil that wants to entice you to ‘be free’ and ‘do what you want’. But sooner or later, as with drugs or pornography, what seems good at first, soon becomes an addiction, and you realise you are no longer free, for you no longer have the power to do what you what. You’ve been duped into doing what evil wants, in order to tempt you to renounce your freedom and dignity as children of God, and becomes slaves of Satan. Whether you like it or not, there are only two possible futures for you: either you belong to the Kingdom of God, or you belong to the Kingdom of Evil. And because you are free, a greater freedom than others thanks to your baptism and confirmation, and that you have the means to be strong and remain free thanks to the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist, you are responsible for your choices, and you won’t be able to pass the blame for anything you consciously and voluntarily choose. Of course, you’re level of guilt/responsibility are diminished if you are acting under the influence of coercion, fear, or ignorance.

Conscience is con scienza, with knowledge. And assuming full responsibility for your actions is the first step to being mature and free. The word virtue comes from the Latin root vir, for man. Virtue means manliness or valor, as Adam was supposed to behave.

The four cardinal virtues are: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance.

Prudence from Latin word prudentia, which means “foresight” or “sagacity”. “intelligence; discretion; practical wisdom to see what is suitable.”

Justice – the just. Law of land or God. For it is the same word in Latin and Italian, but in English we distinguish because those who are just and seek justice, and those who are righteous and seek mercy. Imitate God and be merciful in how you treat others, especially those you consider beneath you in things such as parents’ jobs, money, grades at school, good looks, or sporting abilities.

Fortitude – from Latin fortis, “brave, strong”.

Temperance – Latin temperantia “moderation, sobriety, self-control.”

The three supernatural virtues: Faith (which perfects reason), Hope (which perfects memory/emotions) and Charity (which perfects will).

The 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit: knowledge, understanding, wisdom, fear of the Lord, piety, counsel and fortitude. They are all linked to our capacity to know and share our knowledge.

The Biblical words (Hebrew and Greek) for “sin” are related to archery and literally mean “missing the mark”. Sin is turning away from God, and loving another identity of self which, like the original sin, declares that you want to be your own god. Venial sin damages your relationship with God; mortal sin is serious enough that it breaks with God, to the extent that the Church holds that anyone who dies in a state of mortal sin goes to hell.

The word vice comes from the Latin word vitium, which means “fault”. The word vicious means “full of vice”. Vices are negative habits that dull your intellect (your prudence) and weaken your fortitude, your strength to make right choices. They mostly fall under one of the seven capital sins: pride, anger, envy and avarice (of the spirit) and the three that attack the body: lust, gluttony and sloth.

Ch. 2 – Human Society

[3 Articles: Person/Society – Social Life – Social Justice]

The Magisterium of the Church has spoken often on the ordering of life in society and social justice. Catholic Social Teaching (CST), is a framework that guides the Church’s approach to social, economic, and political issues. It is built upon four foundational principles.

1. Dignity of the Human Person

It is the cornerstone of Catholic social teaching. It asserts that every individual is created in the image and likeness of God, which endows them with inherent worth and rights that must be respected and protected. This principle emphasizes that human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and calls for respect for all individuals, particularly the vulnerable and marginalized.

2. The Common Good

… refers to the social conditions that allow all individuals to reach their full potential and flourish. It encompasses not only individual welfare but also the collective well-being of society. According to this principle, actions should be taken to ensure that everyone has access to basic needs such as education, healthcare, and employment opportunities. The common good requires a commitment to justice and equity in societal structures. This is NOT the greater good, wherein we decide to do whatever benefits the majority, and thus ignores the minority.

3. Solidarity

… emphasizes the interconnectedness of all people and fosters a spirit of unity and mutual support. This principle calls for individuals to recognize their responsibility towards others, advocating for social justice and working against injustices such as poverty, discrimination, and inequality. Solidarity is about standing with those who are suffering and ensuring that everyone’s rights are upheld.

4. Subsidiarity

… advocates for decisions to be made at the most local level possible, promoting the idea that higher levels of authority should only intervene when necessary. This principle supports the empowerment of individuals and communities, encouraging them to take responsibility for their own lives while ensuring that larger institutions do not overreach their bounds.

Ch. 3 – Law & Grace

[3 Articles: Moral Law – Grace & Justification – Church as Mother and Teacher]

The Church’s concept of natural law is a fundamental aspect of Catholic theology and moral philosophy. It posits that there are universal moral principles inherent in human nature, which can be discerned through reason.

Natural law is the moral order established by God, which is accessible to human reason. It is grounded in the eternal law, which reflects God’s wisdom and purpose for creation. As St. Thomas Aquinas articulated, natural law is “nothing else than the rational creature’s participation in the eternal law”. This means that humans, endowed with reason, can discover moral truths that align with their nature and the divine order.

Natural law provides a framework for discerning right from wrong. It suggests that certain actions are inherently good or bad, independent of societal laws or norms. The Church teaches that these moral truths are universal and immutable, applicable to all people regardless of culture or time. It serves as a foundation for both personal ethics and societal laws. For example, prohibitions against murder and theft are rooted in natural law, reflecting a universal understanding of right conduct. This capacity is essential for achieving true happiness and flourishing as individuals and communities.

While natural law is accessible through reason, the Church acknowledges that human understanding can be clouded by sin. Therefore, divine revelation (as found in Scripture) supplements natural law, providing clearer guidance on moral issues where human reason may falter.

The Five Precepts of the Catholic Church are essential guidelines that outline the minimum requirements for Catholics to participate in the life of the Church. These precepts serve as a foundation for the moral and spiritual life of the faithful. Here are the five precepts:

1. Attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation: Catholics are required to participate in the Eucharistic celebration on Sundays and designated holy days, which commemorates significant events in the Christian faith.

2. Confess Your Sins At least Once a Year: The faithful must partake in the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least annually, particularly to prepare for receiving the Eucharist during the Easter season.

3. Receive the Eucharist at Least During the Easter Season: Catholics are obliged to receive Holy Communion at least once a year, ideally during the Easter period, which emphasizes the importance of this sacrament in their spiritual lives.

4. Observe Days of Fasting and Abstinence: The Church requires adherence to specific days of fasting and abstinence as a form of penance and spiritual discipline, primarily during Lent and certain other occasions.

5. Provide for the Needs of the Church: The faithful are called to support the Church’s material needs according to their abilities, which includes financial contributions as well as volunteering time and resources.

These precepts are designed to ensure that Catholics maintain a basic level of spiritual engagement and responsibility within their faith community.

Section 2 – The Ten Commandments

[10 articles]

About our relationship with God

1. I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.

About our relationship with our Neighbour

4. Honour your father and your mother.

5. You shall not kill.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

9. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife.

10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s goods.

The First Commandment states “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).

In today’s world, with materialism, personal ambitions and worldly distractions, many people find themselves caught up in consumer culture, celebrity worship, or the pursuit of success, which are modern forms of idolatry. This commandment encourages individuals to reflect on what they truly value and where their devotion is directed. What takes precedence?

The concept of idolatry has evolved; it is not limited to physical idols but includes superstitious or occult New Age pagan items or practices which apparently bring good luck, or promise to tell your future. This includes our modern-day fascination with magic, in everything from Free Masons to Yoga. You should also be aware of guided meditation or dance courses, especially saying you’ll get in touch with yourself, nature or the universe. Be warned against such words as occult (hidden), gnostic (knowing secret knowledge), transcendental (going beyond sensory experience) and esoteric (the inner circle).

The Second Commandment is in line with the Our Father prayer, “hallowed be thy name”, for it is a grave sin to take God’s name in vain, to curse using his name, to blaspheme or to make promises in his name (which would account to testing him).

Modern examples of blasphemy reflect a diverse range of actions and expressions. Examples of taking the name of Jesus Christ in vain can be seen in various cultural, social, and personal contexts. These instances often reflect a disregard for the sanctity of His name and can manifest in different forms: Expressions like “Oh my God” or “Jesus Christ!” often used in moments of surprise or frustration without any genuine reference to faith or reverence.

Religious Satire and Parody in Cartoons, Films and Television Shows. South Park is a notable example. Andres Serrano created Piss Christ, which submerged a crucifix in urine. Memes and videos on Social Media. Hand gestures (the one eye) and symbols: including the false use of the crucifix or the name, like Madonna. Kanye West’s album titled Yeezus and his claims of being equal to Jesus. Like the Beatles, who said they were bigger than Jesus.

Individuals or groups invoke Jesus’ name to legitimize actions or lifestyles that contradict His teachings. Some televangelists or YouTubers using Jesus’ name as a means to manipulate followers for monetary gain. This exploitation of faith is seen as a serious form of taking His name in vain.

Hypocrisy Among Believers. Individuals who identify as Christians but engage in behaviour that contradict Jesus’ teachings—such as supporting abortion—like Joe Biden and nearly every other modern-day politician.

Song of Songs – Prologue

“Let me sing to you, my friends, the song of His love for his vineyard” – Isa 5:1

May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
Your Love is better than wine.
By the scent of Your good ointments,
Your name is ointment poured forth;
this is why the virgins love you.
Draw me after you!

We will run!

The king has brought me into his inner chambers:

We will rejoice and exalt in you.
We will remember your Love more than wine.

Rightly do they love You.

Intro

The Song of Songs – Shir HaShirim – is the song of all songs, the love poem of all love poems, using the same Hebrew phrase as in “king of kings” or “holy of holies” to say this is simply the best. This song speaks not of theology, nor dogma, nor morality; nor does it even mention God directly. It simply speaks of the love between a Bridegroom and his Bride. But Jesus is the Bridegroom, as acknowledged by John the Baptist, who compares his own mission as being his best man. Our Lord also calls Himself the Bridegroom, when referring to his disciples he says “the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast.” We also have the parable of the 10 virgins waiting for the Bridegroom and the Wedding Feast at Cana as evidence.

Anyone who says that the Song of Songs speaks of human love, in either a romantic or erotic form, has understood little of God and less of his love for us. For just as God is the Alpha and we are made in his image, so our human ideas and expressions of love are, at best a likeness, a reflection of His love. Human romance tries to imitate and poorly fails to capture the great desire, humility, fervour and yes, ecstasy, that the soul experiences when touched by God. This is a song of absolute love, of how the lowly creature is taken to the heights of He who alone is Holy, amid pure and divine revelation, amid the great mystery of God and his love for a holy soul.

May He kiss me with the kisses of His Mouth.

Most translate it as “let him kiss me”, which is an inadequate translation for 2 reasons. First, it changes He from being the subject, he who is the active one, into being passive, the object of my permission; let him, as if the action depending on my power. No, it is May (please, I pray you, let it happen) He (nobody else) kiss (the most intimate gesture) me (my very person) with the kisses (not the words or breath) of His (and nobody else’s) Mouth (fully, and not just with his lips).

Send no more prophets or mystics, no more apostles or priests, not even angels or saints will suffice now. I will be content no more with visions and dreams, I am tired of angelic apparitions, I want neither the kisses of the angels nor the flattery of men. for no one can satisfy my soul now that it has arrived at the point in the journey wherein I desire only God, in and of Himself.

At first, I was granted the privilege of kissing his feet as a sinner, then as I progressed to kissing his hand as his servant, next he kissed my forehead as his friend, but now near the end of the ascent I desire the kiss of his mouth, to seal the union of my soul with my Beloved.

May He kiss me, because I as much as I desire it, I am passive in being kissed and can only hope to receive it when the Bridegroom is ready. And that final kiss of union is with the Trinity, that He the Father kiss me with the kisses (His Spirit) of his Mouth (the Son). This is a great mystery and only those who have been kissed and received the Beatific Vision can understand it, and still fail to explain it beyond: May He kiss me with the kisses of His Mouth.

Your Love is better than wine.

Love here is capital L for dodim, the plural of dod (= Bridegroom). For they are the manifestations of the love of the Bridegroom, which is better than Wine. Wine is repeated 7 times in the Song to express the intoxication in that love that comes from the ecstasy of these mystical manifestations, but the wine, these manifestations, are inferior to his Love. Thus even at Cana when Jesus shared his wine, having kept the best wine to the last moment, it is still inferior to him. So many are lost in fascination with intoxicating mystical experiences, true and false, and they want to stay there, thinking they are already in heaven, which they mistakenly believe to be some Roman Elysium Fields. They fail to leave the wine and the feasting and follow the Beloved to his Cross.

By the scent of Your good ointments

The scent is the same root as spirit. This scent of the invisible Spirit is better than the intoxicating wine, it is a deeper reminder of your presence. Like when you roll over in the morning after your spouse has risen and you delight in their scent still present on their pillow.

Your name is ointment poured forth;

The Name, from the oil poured out, Messiah in Hebrew and Christ in Greek, the anointed one, anointed in oil, poured out on the name that is Jesus. From the delights of the mystical wine, to perfume left by his presence to the oil of his Name is a progression in the mystical life.

First, the intoxication of the senses and even the spirit in a direct reaction to the caresses in immediate consolation. They are intense and sensual but fade quickly when the moment has passed.

Second, the calmer but longer deeper and longer-lasting effect of the scent, which goes beyond the sensual and caresses the memory with thoughts and feelings of love, long after the Beloved is no longer present.

And thirdly, even deeper is the loving effect of the name of the Beloved, his identity and what he means to me, which remains forever.

this is why the virgins love you.

The maidens (which is Hebrew also means virgins) are those souls who are the good virgins who wait for the Bridegroom and keep the oil of their lamps ready for when he comes. But this is also the final fruit of my union with God – I must inspire others to love him. And that is why I include these other souls in the next verse

Draw me after you! We will run!

For I want others to follow in my example and run with me after Him. I would become a living sign and instrument of his love, I am a gong that no longer clangs, empty of love, my mouth no longer speaks of myself or teachings, rather my heart is a gong that rings out in joy and my mouth urges you, come follow him.

I will guide you safely, for unlike false teachers or pseudo mystical guides; they follow a book or a theory or a practice they have learned, and then use it to mislead others and seek to be reimbursed or be acknowledged as teachers and wise sages. I will guide you along the path I have walked myself. And I will tell you from the start that it leads to the Cross; and I will tell you not to worry that the journey is long, or that most times they will not run, except into error, and that you will have to walk or even crawl; and there will be times when you will stop and maybe even turn back to the distractions of the world and the temptations and false promises of the enemy.

Draw me after you, Beloved, for I am too weak to follow by my own strength, for though I am willing, I am also unable to do so without your grace. Draw me towards holiness, for too often have I run after other sinful adventures, as you reminded me through Jeremiah (2:25): “you said, I love foreigners and want to run after them!”

Let us run, you and I. Alone I can barely crawl or drag myself forward in sanctity, but with you, I can run. And though I say draw me, it is never an imposition forced on me against my will. Doing the will of the Father does not annihilate my nor cancel the free will you gave you, for that would be the error that I become absorbed to become part of you, which would make me your slave in bondage. No, I willingly choose to follow in your steps, because I am attracted by you, drawn by memories of your wine, the scent of your presence, and I willingly follow in your footsteps, even now, when I know it leads to the Cross.

So through Jeremiah you say “I have appeared to you from afar. I have loved you with an everlasting love, and this is why I draw you with loving-kindness” (Jer 31:3). And in Hosea you say “I lead them with reins of kindness, with a leash of love” (Hos 11:4). And through the beloved apostle John you say “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself” (Jn 12:32).

What matters is to want to be drawn, and then to allow yourself to be drawn. Not to grasp God, but to allow yourself to be grasped.

The King has brought me into his inner chambers

Teresa of Avila describes the progress in the mystical life as going deeper without the various chambers of the interior castle. And once again it is the King who has brought me. His is the initiative and the power. I cannot enter by myself. The only way I can enter is by invitation. And the only way to get an invitation is to attract him by living a secret and silent, holy life of prayer, sacrifice and virtue. The king of the eternal kingdom of God has brought me into not only his palace, but into his own private and secret chambers, with hidden treasures, kept under lock and key.

We will rejoice and exalt in you.

We will remember your love more than wine.

How right it is to love you

for when you enter into the King’s inner chamber and receive the beatific vision – this is God, the Creator, more than a relationship of love it is one of duty, of a subject to my king, of a mere creation to my creator.

And Yet listen to his stupendous words in Hosea: in that day I will espouse thee to me for ever, and I will espouse thee to me in justice and judgement, and in mercy and in commiserations. And I will

espouse thee to me in faith, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, your God.

Amen

Tower of Babel

After the Flood, God gave humanity another chance, saying “go, scatter over the earth”. So why did God confuse the language and scatter the people of Babel? Because, Nimrod, the King of Shinar-Babel-Babylon insisted they all speak the same language: his language. For tótalitarian states want total control over your public and private life.

“Big Brother is watching you” warned George Orwell’s 1984, with telescreens everywhere constantly feeding propaganda. ‘Come, we will build for ourselves a city, and a greatness, with its head in the heavens. And we will make a name for ourselves, we will not be scattered over the earth’. Like the pigs in Orwell’s other famous novel “Animal Farm”, they start by promising “All animals are equal”, only to clarify afterwards that “some animals are more equal than others.” It’s about forcing you to speak one language. They promise material happiness, world peace, personal safety; just get rid of God, change your beliefs, compromise your principles, and give up your free will.

Just south of Babel was another of Nimrod’s cities, Ur, where Abraham lived. And God said to Abraham, ‘Go, from yourself, your land, and your family and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and it will be a blessing for others.’ They say “come (… ) join us”, for they are all about themselves. God says, “go (…) from yourself” and I will make you a blessing for others. They want to build up in greatness, make a name for themselves, be famous; God says build down, in humility and I will bless you in your life and make your name great in heaven.

God could have wiped out that lot in Babel. But as the Virgin Mary said: God scatters the proud hearted. He casts down the mighty from their thrones, sends the rich away empty. God doesn’t kill or judge anyone while they live, no matter how evil: he scatters, casts down, sends away – hoping they change.

Clare Crockett spoke the language of Babel. She wanted to build up a greatness, make a name for herself, be a famous actress. Then God came into her life; he scattered her head and confused her heart by speaking another language. Like Abraham, Clare listened, went out from herself, her land, her family; she walked away from the culture of Babel. She built down, and God blessed her, made a name for her, and made her great as a Servant of God. For God looks on his servants in their lowliness. He raises the lowly, and fills the starving with good things.

Amen

The Story of Israel

To fully understand today’s readings, we need a short review of biblical history. If you read through the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, it is clear that God’s relationship with humanity was not a smooth one. It didn’t get much better when he formed a Chosen people for a special rapport, one of revelation and sharing – the children of God. It begins with Abraham, his son Isaac, and then his grandson Jacob. Jacob is given a new name: Israel. As Hebrew is a poetic language with profound meaning, Israel can mean either “man struggles with God” or “man will prevail with God” or “man seeing God”. Jacob’s sons form and give their names to the twelve tribes; and the word Israelite in Hebrew is actually “Sons of Israel”, sons of their father.

Eventually the ten northern tribes, who form the Kingdom of Israel, fall away completely into pagan practices. Those who remain faithful are the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. They settle in the South and make Jerusalem the capital of their Kingdom of Judah. The name Jew means “of Judah”. With them is the tribe of Levi, who from the time of Moses [himself a Levite], formed the priesthood, and focused on the Temple and its rituals as the centre of all Jewish religion and life. But they too abandoned God, and so God left them to it. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian Empire, specifically by Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonians burned Jerusalem, leading to the exile of many Jews to Babylon for seventy years.

Today through the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord says: ‘I am going to take the sons of Israel from the nations where they have gone. I shall gather them together from everywhere and bring them home to their own soil. I shall make them into one nation in my own land, and one king is to be king of them all; they will no longer form two nations, nor be two separate kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and their filthy practices and all their sins. I shall rescue them from all the betrayals they have been guilty of; I shall cleanse them; they shall be my people and I will be their God. My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for all. They will live in the land that I gave my servant Jacob, the land in which your ancestors lived. I shall make a covenant of peace with them, an eternal covenant with them.’

So the Jews returned and built a second Temple. In the time of Jesus, it was known as “Herod’s Temple” because Herod the Great undertook a massive renovation and expansion of the structure. Herod the so-called Great was the one who massacred the innocents when he heard that the long-awaited Messiah King had been born.

In the Office of Readings for today in his Letter to the Hebrews [the Jews], St Paul quotes Jeremiah: “the days are coming when I will establish a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah, but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors. They abandoned that covenant of mine, and so I, on my side, deserted them”. St Paul says that by calling this covenant “new,” God has made the first one, the one with the Jews, obsolete; “and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear”, he says.

And today, Caiaphas, high priest, the leading Levite, rallies many Levites and Judeans of Judah and Benjamin against Jesus, ‘it is better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed.’ He did this, says St John, to gather together in unity the scattered children of God. He wanted to reunite all the twelve tribes once more to make a great nation.

Having definitively rejected God and his Messiah, the Second Temple was destroyed and the Jews were driven from the Holy Land and scattered throughout the world. But they didn’t disappear, and the descendants of Judah and Benjamin and Levi have returned to the Holy Land after almost two thousand years and created the modern state of Israel. Their religious intentions are simple: what they have always been. To build a Temple in Jerusalem, to reunite the lost tribes back into their old covenant [the one that Paul says “is obsolete and outdated”] and to wait for their Messiah, their Christ, to come and announce himself or herself. We can only pray that the eyes of our Elder Brothers in the faith are opened: for Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ; anyone else is an impostor, an anti-Christ.

In the Gospel, as the Passover drew near, many of the people looked out for Jesus, saying to one another as they stood about, ‘What do you think? Will he come?’ Yes, he will. How should we prepare for his coming? We return to the Office of Readings from today and the words of Saint Gregory: “Like Simon of Cyrene, take up your cross and follow Christ. Like the good thief, acknowledge that for your sake, and because of your sin, Christ is crucified; for his sake, therefore, you must cease to sin. Worship him who was hung on the cross because of you. Derive some benefit from your shame: purchase your salvation with it. Admit how far you have fallen and prepare to enter paradise with Jesus. Like Mary of Magdala, prepare to weep on Holy Saturday. Then rise early on Easter Sunday morning desiring to be the first to see the stone rolled back, and maybe you’ll see the angels, and perhaps, even Jesus himself.” The Messiah. The Christ. Our Saviour.

Amen.

The Light of the World

“Nobody lights a lamp to hide it under a bushel” Does today’s well-known parable mean: don’t be shy about your accomplishments; share your knowledge with pride? No, it doesn’t. Does it encourage crowds to parade their Catholicism publicly on the streets. No, it doesn’t. Indeed, there is a misprint where it says “Jesus said to the crowd”. For today’s Gospel follows on from yesterday’s, where after telling the parable of the Sower to the crowd, Jesus spoke to the apostles in private. Jesus today is still speaking to his friends the apostles, not to the crowd. And he is speaking to you, his friends. Yesterday Jesus said, “the secret of the Kingdom of God is given to you.” This secret is explained today, and as Jesus urges, “let anyone who has ears to hear, listen to this”.

You have heard the Gospel many times; and like yesterday’s seed sown on rich soil, it has either produced love and virtue within your eternal soul, or it hasn’t. And “he who has – will be given more; from he who has not – it will be taken away.”

Jesus kindled his light in your soul, hoping that it leads you into eternal life. It is not to be smothered under a bushel, which was used to measure material wealth. As Jesus said yesterday: “thorns grew up and choked the Gospel out of them.” Are thorns such as the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, or the coveting of possessions choking the life out of your eternal soul? Nor is the light of Christ to be hidden under a bed, or a sofa, as happens when you prefer the light coming from your TV or phone. As Jesus said yesterday of those on the edge of the path; “no sooner have they heard the Gospel than Satan comes like a bird and carries it away.”

At baptism you received the light, to your own baptismal candle from the Easter candle representing Christ. At confirmation this light was taken to a new level, for as at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended like a tongue of flame and settled upon you. My friends, what have you done with that light? Has it been suffocated under a bushel of riches and possessions? Is it hidden under how you waste time on your sofa?

Today’s society has gone mad and the world grows darker. Nevertheless, they have no power over me. The light of Christ is where it should be: on its lampstand in my soul, and from there its light shines throughout my daily life. Neither darkness nor sin can extinguish the living flame of love within me because I simply won’t let it. Friends, don’t allow anything or anyone to extinguish the light within your soul.

I am the Light of the World, says the Lord, anyone who follows me will have the light of life.

Amen

The Immaculate Conception

Our Blessed Lady of Graces

‘Our Blessed Lady of Graces’

“Mary set out and went as quickly as she could” to visit Elizabeth, and she stayed with her for three months until John was born. For after the first duty to love God with all our being, which Mary highlighted in yesterday’s Gospel, there is the second duty to love our neighbour. The gift of God must increase our goodness. The more we receive from Him, the more we must give. Because the more we receive, the more obvious it is that He is with us, and within us. And the more He is with us and within us, the more we must endeavour to reach saintly perfection in love.

For it was Jesus within Mary who couldn’t wait to start his mission, to bring joy and salvation to others. As it was John the Baptist’s mission to announce publicly “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”, so John was the first to acknowledge that Jesus had arrived. The Baptist pronounced his first speech, as the Announcer of the Messiah, privately to his mother.

And it was through Mary that both John and Elizabeth received grace from God. For this reason, the feast of the Visitation is also called, “Our Blessed Lady of Graces”. God has chosen to make Mary a channel by which he dispenses his graces. And Jesus loves to grant them through her, for he sees them as gifts to his beloved Mother.

To rouse ourselves to greater devotion, let us remember two things about Mary today: she wants to love us, and the power of God works through her. Consider her visit to Elizabeth; a journey on foot of about 70 miles. Yet, Mary set out in haste, impelled by her love to begin immediately her role of dispensing graces. Her love has certainly not decreased since she went to heaven. There, she knows what we need, and has even greater compassion. Mary desires to help us more than we desire to be helped.

Anyone here can find her. Not one of you need fear approach her. She turns no one away. And when you approach Mary, don’t ask for anything. Just place yourself in her hands. For you do not even know what you need. She does, and through her, you will receive graces greater than you can ask for.

O Mary, as you quickly set out to visit Elizabeth, please, visit our homes this Christmas… and bring Jesus with you.

Amen.

On the Priesthood and Character of the Apostles

‘On the Priesthood and Character of the Apostles’

When Jesus saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few.’ So Jesus summoned his twelve apostles, instructed them and sent them out.

What’s it like to be called to the priesthood? The first thing to be aware of is that Jesus does not call one type of man, nor one type of personality. Listen and see if any of the 12 apostles had a personality or gifts like yours.

John, the beloved disciple, was pure, angelic and humble, yet his brother was James: a powerful preacher. Andrew was silent, meek – a gentle giant, very shy about speaking out; yet his brother was Simon Peter, who was short-tempered and impulsive, quick to talk and act. Good qualities for the first Pope. Of course, he was also extremely honest, humble and kind-hearted. Jude (aka Tháddeus), was like a lion defending Jesus, yet his brother, James, became the first Bishop of Jerusalem, because of his patient and diplomatic handling of the Jews. Then we have two elderly apostles, best friends: Philip and Nathaniel (aka Batholomew) – both were faithful, traditionalist Jews, very well educated but somewhat intolerant of non-Jews. That leaves Thomas – the youngest of them all, who was cheerful and very practical, hence the doubt – Simon the Zealot, whom Jesus had healed from leprosy, was older, educated and a wise, calming influence: he never judged – and Matthew (aka Levi), the converted tax collector, who had a particular love for sinners. And finally, we have Judas: he was of the temple, well-educated, well-known and very popular, a great people-pleaser. But it was that part of him which descended into his being a gossip, spoilt, arrogant and seeking glory for himself. He wanted the Christ of power, of miracles and fame. He was no friend of suffering or self-sacrifice, and he refused to accept a crucified Christ.

And me? Well, I’m not known for my subtlety or diplomatic skills. My Dean in Maynooth once said that my comments were a bit like my tackles on the football pitch – there’s no getting up from them. And a lady told me the other night I should read the book “how to win friends and influence people”.

It is very tempting to get drawn into wanting to be popular. But answering the call to priesthood isn’t about personal satisfaction or gratification; we’re called to a spiritual mission, not a job in customer service. We’re only interested in saving your souls for Jesus. Blessed be priesthood if we do not need recognition to do our duty! Happy are we if we do not lose heart when we encounter defeat. Woe if we say: “I am not going to do this anymore, because I get no personal satisfaction out of it”. For we are not the ones to be worshipped, it is the Lord our God. The glory of your saved souls in Heaven belongs to Jesus. Our task is to help you get there. What we learned without self-interest, we pass on without reserve. We didn’t answer the call to priesthood for ourselves, we answered it for you.

Amen.

On the Mystical Life

On the Mystical Life

He would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.

Jesus prioritized solitary prayer because the first commandment is to love God with your whole, detached and undistracted self. Only then are you capable of loving your neighbour as yourself: yourself, that is, in full loving union with God. All the saints sought solitude: to deepen their relationship with God through an interior life of prayer and virtue: a spiritual life, interior, intimate, secret, hidden from the eyes of others. And when compelled by love to leave God to be with others, the interior part still secretly clings to God in silent love and worship. Many call such saintly life “mystical”.

Academics define it as receiving visions, revelations, raptures, the gift of prophecy or of healing, etc. This is quite wrong. Whereas mystical life may include some of these graces, it is properly and more commonly the holy life God has called all of us to, for we pray “thy kingdom come”, and saintly living is participating in that kingdom now, as a prelude to and preparation for living in it forever with God, his angels and his saints.

Those who would make the mystical life about visions, voices, and revelations are false ‘new age’ mystics. They are easily recognisable, for unlike the saint, they like to gather others about themselves, to share experiences and demonstrate how holy they seem, and they often say things like “the Lord said to me in prayer”. They even believe themselves superior to the teaching and authority of God’s Church, thinking that they have been chosen to receive new and special revelations and missions. Be on your guard against these pious impostors, the saints warn us, for they are hallucinating, self-deluded souls. It is such as these that have brought sanctity into ill repute.

The true saint does not desire visions, revelations or extraordinary states of either body or soul; and if these are given to him, he would rather wish not to receive them, knowing they do not make him a saint and they are never entirely without danger. The true mystic is outwardly just the same as others, but interiorly everything is done from love of God, for love of God.

Is it an extraordinary way of life? If you mean, is it seldom met with? Then yes, alas! it is so. But if you mean, is being a saint an impracticable, impossible life, one meant only for a few chosen souls? Then no, you are wrong. Saintly life appears so only if you have too little faith and even less courage to live your life as Jesus expects.

Have faith! Take courage! Imitate Jesus…go off to some place where you can be alone and pray to the Father who loves you.

Amen.

On how to Pray

Year C – Friday in 1^st Week of Advent ‘’On how to Pray’’

The Lord said to Isaiah, “the eyes of the blind will see”. And the eyes of two blind men were cured by Jesus in today’s Gospel. I often wondered as a child listening to these stories, why aren’t there any miraculous healings today – here, in Derry. After all, Jesus is the same today as he was then. We have Christ and his Holy Spirit in the two sacraments of Healing: confession, and the anointing of the sick. We also have the Eucharist, which heals not just the soul, but the body.

It’s not God who is the problem, it is us.

Two blind men followed Jesus on his way. Have you any idea how hard it is to walk anywhere when you are blind? Try it. Close your eyes at home – the place you are most familiar with – and try walking from your living room into the kitchen and pour yourself a glass of water. The difficulty of that simple task should humble you, maybe bring tears to your eyes as you acknowledge how blessed you are that you can see. These two blind men followed Jesus outside, on the public road, along paths they did not know.

And they prayed to Jesus, asking for mercy, to heal their souls, not their physical blindness – though in their hearts they hoped for that too. They didn’t ask once, and then let it be, they followed him for days, and persisted, even when he went into the house. And they didn’t just ask Jesus, in some false show of meekness, they shouted out “Son of David, take pity on us!”. Their prayer was fervent and bold. For they believed, truly, with all their heart and mind and strength, that Jesus had the power to heal them. And the first question Jesus asked was “do you believe I can do this?”

So, if you are praying for a miracle, for yourself or someone else, and that might be that they rediscover their faith, or for healing from addiction, then Jesus instructs you how to proceed.

First, believe that God can perform the miracle. Second, follow Jesus in your life.
Third, fervent prayer that shouts out to Jesus and keeps shouting until he answers you. And lastly, the desire for the miracle so that you can glorify the power and the mercy and the love of God.

Don’t believe me? Believe Jesus. He encourages us to pray always without ceasing with humility that says “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” and He said “ask, and you will receive”, with that confidence of a child praying to our Father. Do so and Jesus assures us “whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will.” Such is the power of prayer and a faith that does not doubt. “All things are possible to he or she who believes.”

Amen.

On Sin

‘On Sin’

Today John says “we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.” But he continues, “Anyone who sins at all breaks the law, for anyone who lives in God does not sin, and anyone who sins has never seen him or known him.”

A particular sin threatens all of us who claim to live religious lives in God; the one thing that Jesus criticised over and over again, for it was also rife in his day… Pharisee; putting on an external show of piety, of being holier-than-thou, that butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth. Yet God knows the sin we do in the dark, and calls us ‘hypocrite’.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” and on this Jesuit memorial of The Most Holy Name of Jesus, it is breaking the law if we declare for Jesus in public… while in private, we are living in sin.

But are we humble enough to look in the mirror and see the truth about ourselves? After all, we have such a bloated notion of ourselves, we are so blinded by a false sense of our own holiness, that we consider ourselves beyond sin and superior to others. Indeed, we believe ourselves much advanced on the spiritual path, and in a position to guide and instruct others. For example, while I’ve been speaking about being a Pharisee, have you been looking at yourself, or thinking of someone else here that you judge to be one?

Go home, look into your own eyes in the mirror and ask yourself: am I a Pharisee? Do I misrepresent God to others; use God to show off to others; mislead others in my ignorance; and finally, the worst of all, destroy God’s work in other people’s lives.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven. I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Lawlessness is sin. As John said today: “Anyone who sins at all breaks the law, and anyone who sins has never seen him or known him.” And what’s worse, we will never see or know him, for as Jesus warned “you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Do not despair! “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Amen.

On Fasting and Lent

In Mass today we heard about fasting. And when the priest encouraged us “Lift up your hearts,” we responded: “we lift them up to the Lord.”

Have you ever tried to lift anything that was chained to the ground? It’s impossible. So how are we going to lift up our hearts if they are bound? If what we love and desire are shackled, like a mistreated animal, to what our body wants: eating, drinking, being lifted and laid, and desiring all forms of entertainment and pleasure. For it is through the body the subtle serpent whispers: “feed me, touch me, go to sleep”.

We must regain control; be masters, not slaves, of our bodies. And so, at least during Lent, we fast and abstain. Fasting does not mean merely eating less. Fast from sinful habits, like gossip. And abstinence does not mean merely avoiding certain foods like meat. Abstain from useless activities, like binge-watching TV.

We fast for three reasons: First, to do penance for our sin. Fasting purifies not only the body. If done properly, it makes the heart contrite and humble. Second, it frees us from slavery to the body, making it toe the line of the spirit. If done properly it rejects the serpent tempting and seducing us into gluttony (eating and drinking too much), sloth (making us too tired or lazy to pray or go to Mass), and lust (giving in to all the sinful pleasures of the body). And the third purpose of fasting is to free our heart and mind for contemplation of God. And if done properly, we can finally “lift up our hearts to the Lord”.

In each of the 3 reasons for fasting I emphasised: if done properly. There are two key elements if you want to go beyond fasting simply to improve your physical health. First, is prayer. Not the standard vocal prayer for particular days or times, though that has value. Rather, prayer that comes from the heart, not routine. A child coming home from school can’t wait to share everything with a parent; such is my prayer, my conversation with my Father in Heaven.

Secondly, keep it secret, keep it safe. Don’t be like the Pharisees. If you flaunt it about and people praise you, you have received your reward. You won’t get another. But if you keep it as a spiritual offering, and let God and his angels praise you, the Father will see your heroic virtue and give you a double reward: one for your fasting, and the other, for the sacrifice of not being praised for it.

We must strive hard now during these forty days of Lent, to get in shape. Will we still be awake when Easter Sunday comes; or will we have fallen asleep again, back into old habits? Get ready to jump up and run to the tomb with Peter and John on that glorious morning, to hear the good news: Rejoice, he is risen!

Amen.

On Children

“People were bringing little children to Jesus.” Children nowadays are the boss of the house, for it’s all about pleasing the child; and that’s our fault. We are too distracted by our jobs, pastimes and entertainment. When you ring the school dashboard you hear: “if you would like to report your child absent from school, Press 1.” Teachers would love to add, “If you want us to raise your child for you, Press 2.” Seriously, who is raising and educating our children? From what I see, it’s the TV and the Internet.

One reason there are so few vocations to the priesthood is there aren’t enough families raising their children in the faith. Another reason lies with us, the clergy and religious, the very disciples of Jesus: we turned them away; not the people, the children. We made them lose their faith.

And when Jesus saw this, he was indignant. Indignant? Sounds like Mark Darcy from Pride and Prejudice: “I do declare, I am most indignant.” When Jesus saw disciples causing young children (even infants) to lose their faith, he was more than indignant. He was angry – that’s the Greek word used here: avganakte,w (áganaktéo) — angry.

How many times was Jesus angry in the four Gospels? I checked it this morning. Was he angry with the Pharisees? No. Was he angry when Judas betrayed him or Peter denied him? No. Was he angry during his Passion and Death? No. Well surely, he was angry when he drove the people out of the Temple for turning it into a market? No, he wasn’t. Jesus was angry in the Gospels only once. Here today, with disciples rebuking little children, turning them away from Jesus, causing them to lose their faith.

Together we must bring the children back to Jesus. And if you are already grandparents, there’s no point saying “their parents won’t bring them” – for their parents are still your children. So, tell your children to go to Jesus, and to bring your grandchildren. Tell them the only thing that made Jesus angry was keeping the children from him. And if they don’t listen, make that effort yourself. Instead of taking them to the shop for sweets, take them into the church; teach them to dip their fingers in the Holy Water and bless themselves. And tell them the Good News about Jesus, about Saint Joseph who raised him, and about his wonderful mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Amen.

Oil for the Lamps

Mary, The Mother of God

The woman Eve saw what Satan offered her, and seeing, she wanted to taste it. And tasting, she understood, for evil was inside her. She saw with new eyes and heard with new ears the habits and voices of the world.

She began the sin by herself and accomplished it with her husband. Woman was no longer capable of dominating the reign of the spirit, because Eve allowed passions to master her; the body to reign, lowering herself and then her husband down to the instinctive level of beasts. And we were doomed, because of her… until Mary.

Mary obeyed in her joy because when she understood the mission to which God called her, she was full of grace. She had consecrated herself to God since her childhood, because the light of the Most High had shown her the cause of evil in the world and Eve’s role in bringing it about. Because of the pain of the Father for the corruption of Eve, who had lowered herself to the level of inferior creatures, it was Mary’s intention to soothe that pain by remaining pure in her human thoughts, desires and relationships, thus restoring an angelical purity to the woman’s body.

The palpitations of her heart were to be only for Him, and only for Him her whole being. She rejoiced with the joy of being the woman by means of whom peace was re-established between Heaven and earth. The joy of removing from God’s heart the bitterness of Eve’s disobedience and pride which were the beginning of woman’s downfall. But Mary humbly obeyed in every way. God inspired her to be a virgin. She humbly obeyed. God (through the High Priest) asked her to get married. She humbly obeyed. God (through the Angel Gabriel) asked her to be a mother. She humbly obeyed. God, no longer directly, but through Joseph, her husband, told her to go to Bethlehem when heavily pregnant. She humbly obeyed. God through Joseph told her to flee to Egypt. She humbly obeyed. God through Joseph told her to return to Israel but then to sidetrack to Nazareth. She humbly obeyed.

Mary said “Yes” and nothing else. That “Yes” cancelled Eve’s “No”. “Yes” to her Lord. “Yes” to Joseph, never doubting that God was speaking through him. Her whole ego was subdued and made a humble and obedient servant. And that is how she crushed Satan under her heel. For obedience is the one thing Satan is incapable of. Not humility, he does fake and false humility extremely well.

Mary had not confined herself to rejecting Satan, but defeated him by crushing him under such a vast will of obedience, that he, the Cursed one, was overwhelmed and subjugated. Satan will not rise from under the heel of the Virgin Mother.

Lucifer

‘Lucifer’ is Jerome’s Latin translation (ca. A.D. 400) of a Hebrew word in Isaiah 14:12, which is unique in the Hebrew Bible, Heylel, meaning, “shining one”. The full title is Heylel ben Shahar: ‘shining one, son of the dawn”. The name derives from the Latin term lucem ferre, bringer/bearer of light.” In Roman astronomy, Lucifer was the name given to the morning star (Venus).

The Greek translation is “ho heosphoros”, a descriptive term referring to the planet Venus, the “morning star.” The morning star appears in the heavens just before dawn, heralding the rising sun.

Thus both “Lucifer” (Latin) and “Phosphoros” (Greek) are both epithets given the planet Venus in antiquity.

The interpretation of Lucifer as a title/name for Satan is understood by reading Isaiah 14 (the only time ‘Lucifer’ appears in the Bible), which literally describes the downfall of the King of Babylon. In Biblical imagery, Babylon (Babel), and its kings, represent humanity’s rebellion and war against God. The name ‘shining one’ evokes the golden glitter of a proud king’s dress and court (much as his personal splendor earned for King Louis XIV of France the appellation, “The Sun King”). Referring the words symbolically to the King of the Angelic rebellion against God is obvious when you read Isa 14:12:

How you are fallen from heaven, Shining One, son of Dawn!

The text continues with the five famous declarations/intentions of this Shining One, who said in his heart:

“I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God;

I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon;

I will ascend to the tops of the clouds,

I will make myself like the Most High.” (vv. 13 & 14)

—

Yet you shall be brought down to Hell, to the lowest depths of the Pit. (v.15)

I encourage you to read the full text yourself.

Let us not forget that there are two main tricks of the devil:

1) (for the profane, who have no experience of the esoteric) to persuade humanity that he doesn’t exist; and

2) (for the initiated) his trick is to transform himself into an angel of light, offering his own light and knowledge, to lead them astray.

I guarantee you, such light/knowledge is not for the benefit of humanity, nor the glory of the Creator.

Love thy Enemy

“Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute.” Shouldn’t we hate those who do evil; those who are persecuting women and children at home and abroad? Those people depicted as monsters on the News? Surely we are not expected to love and pray for them? Listen to this true story from 1995.

I, Brother Joseph of the Messiah, am outside the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major) – one of the busiest places in Rome – contemplating how to be perfect. My guardian angel stops me and asks: “What do you see?” How noisy it is, I reply. These people are unaware that noise is one of the greatest causes of stress. It’s hard to be a saint in the city.

So the angel removes my hearing, and asks, “What do you see?” Without the noise I feel calmer now, but it still looks hectic: everyone is in a hurry, enslaved to a distorted concept of time. Some people allow their whole life to pass them by without ever appreciating a single moment of it. What do I see? Arrogant well-dressed Italians and lots of tourists: silly sun-burnt Irish; wacky Japanese, clicking cameras; badly-dressed, overweight Americans.

“You have to look with better eyes than that,” says the angel. “Don’t talk with your eyes, listen with them. If your eye is pure, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is judgmental, your whole body will be full of darkness. What do you see?” I see male and female. So many are sad, even depressed; frustrated, even angry. They are lost; stumbling blindly through life in darkness. No light, no beauty, no love.

“Behold!” I am allowed to see their souls within them, the potential of who they really are: children of our Father in Heaven. It’s tragic: they aren’t aware. Help them, I plead. “We do”, replies the angel. “Every moment, every day, for all time. But they don’t listen. They refuse our help.” The more I look, the more a feeling of empathy and pity grows within me. Surely something can be done? And finally, I say: Can I help? And the angel smiles.

As Catholics we must be perfect, as our Heavenly Father is perfect. As Jesus is perfect. As the Virgin Mary is perfect. We must love our enemies – those who have fallen into evil – and pray for those who persecute.

Amen.

Knowledge of Good and Evil

I want Love, not Sacrifice

The Lord says: “what I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts.” In a holocaust the entire animal was burned on the altar. In a sacrifice only some parts were burned, like the fat; the rest was eaten.

Why did God allow animal sacrifice as a form of ritual offering? They were farmers, shepherds – animals were all they had. And so, to teach them that God comes first in their lives, he told them that the firstborn animals were to be consecrated to Him. It was an act of thanks – thanking God for the first born; an act of love – offering God the first and best fruits of their labour; an act of faith – that God would send enough for them and their families to eat, with enough left over for strangers and those who could not fend for themselves, like widows and orphans.

Eventually, of course, they lost their way: they kept up the ritual, the physical aspect of religion, but they lost the significance of their actions, they lost their relationship with God. Religion became just an empty, meaningless obligation: go to the temple, pay the temple tax, perform ritual sacrifices. They lost the joy of going to the Temple to be in the presence of God: to thank him, as an act of faith and love. And so God told them, right throughout the Old Testament: listen you fools, it’s not the sacrifice of animals that I want. Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? It’s just a gesture.

Have we taken today’s Gospel and turned it into a similar silly empty gesture? Do we sit down the back and beat our breasts thinking “I’m not worthy”, while secretly congratulating ourselves on our worthiness. Except now we’re criticising the people sitting up the front as a self-righteous Pharisee. Let me tell you, it doesn’t matter where you sit.

As a parent, you’d be deeply hurt if you knew your children only called to see you once a week out of an empty sense of obligation. They stay for five minutes, pretending to listen or care, and they can’t wait to get away and do other things.

Well, children of God, our heavenly Father is no different. He’s deeply hurt if you act that way with him. Listen again to his words, pleading with you: “what I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts.”

Amen.

Following the Call

Jesus noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything, he got up and followed him.

Is it really that simple? It wasn’t for me. It wasn’t for Sr Claire Crockett. And it wasn’t for Levi either. For Levi was Matthew, the apostle, author of the Gospel. Matthew, which means “gift of God”, lived and worked in Capernaum – the hometown of Peter, Andrew, James and John. Jesus regularly preached in its synagogue and performed exorcisms and healing miracles there, including Peter’s mother-in-law (which Peter never forgave him for).

Matthew was an accountant, a tax lawyer, you know, a liar and a thief. He was the most noticeable and hated person in Capernaum. The first time Jesus stopped and stared at him, Matthew stared back in defiance. He was a rich man, always the best clothes and shoes, the most expensive perfumes and oils, indulging in all the pleasures and pastimes on the Sabbath, instead of going to Church. And yet that evening after seeing Jesus, he couldn’t look at himself in the mirror without feeling ashamed.

So, Matthew was drawn to the synagogue to hear Jesus speak. He stood there, half inside half outside, embarrassed at all the judgmental glances and unpleasant comments cast at him. Everyone… except Jesus. Peter, who could never keep his mouth shut, judged Matthew so harshly that when Jesus looked reproachingly at him, Peter bowed his head in embarrassment and went to hide behind the other apostles. Never judge. For remember when Jesus later spoke about the Pharisee boasting of his own self-righteous perfection in the Temple? The publican the Pharisee judged was Matthew, who could not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”

And so in today’s Gospel when Jesus notices Matthew, he notices how he has changed. The moment has arrived. “Come. Follow me!”

You hesitate. “I am not worthy,” you say.

“You’ll never be worthy. Come, follow me anyway. Be my humble servant and I will be everything for you.”

“How is it possible that God would share his grace with me, a sinner?” you ask.

“He sees into your heart. He knows your deepest desire. Come, follow me.”

And he left everything, got up, and followed Jesus.

This is the full story of Matthew’s conversion, of Sr Claire’s, of mine, and of many others. Called not once, but many times, before finally having the courage to leave everything, get up and follow him. It is never too late. Christ’s call is like the blood of the lamb on your souls. Where his call is, there will be no more faults, if you answer that call and remain faithful to it.

Amen.

Following God’s Call

Jesus called the Twelve to be his companions, and through his Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he gave each of them a mission.

Peter wrote letters and was the first bishop of Antioch before going to Rome. James, son of Zebedee, went to Spain before returning to Judaea. Andrew preached in the Ukraine and Greece. Philip went to Turkey and Greece. Bartholomew, travelled extensively in India, Ethiopia, and Armenia. Matthew wrote the Gospel and preached in Ethiopia, among other places. Thomas is known for his missionary work in India. James, son of Alphaeus, became the first bishop of Jerusalem and wrote his Epistle. His brother, Thaddeus, wrote the Epistle of Jude and was known as the “Apostle to the Armenians.”
Simon the Zealot preached alongside Thaddeus, including in Iraq. Judas, who rejected his mission, was replaced by Mattias, who founded a church in Cappadocia and preached in the Caspian Sea regions.

All eleven of these apostles were martyred, killed for preaching the Gospel. Only John, the brother of James, the other Son of Thunder, lived a long life taking care of the Virgin Mary and writing a Gospel, Epistles and the Apocalypse, on Patmos before dying peacefully in old age at Ephesus.

I’d like to go back and mention Judas, who refused the mission set out for him by God, choosing rather the mission of evil men. For there are those who preach the Gospel, and there are those who try to prevent it, at all costs.

So why did Jesus choose Judas? When Jesus looked at the Twelve, he saw their individual potential, he saw the reason God had created each and every one of them, the mission they were to fulfil on their journey to heaven. And that’s the same thing Jesus sees when he looks at you: your mission, your potential.

God created you for a purpose and gave you a personal mission to help you fulfil your saintly potential. If you reject it, God simply chooses somebody else, and the Church and the world moves on, as it did without Judas, as it will without you. I bear witness to that truth. I was due to be ordained a priest in 1999, 26 years ago. I too turned my back on my mission.

Have you answered your call? Have you fulfilled your potential? No? Then it’s time. Look, here I am, 28 years after leaving seminary. I’m ready now. It’s never too late. Look to Peter, not Judas. Where is the past? It’s in the past. Let it go. Don’t live with regret. Think of the present moment and cry out to God, “Here I am, Lord, I’m ready now! Draw me after you, Jesus. Let us run!”

Reflections of Joseph of the Messiah

2026 Reflections

Lent

Ash Wednesday

Thursday after Ash Wednesday – ‘Choose Life’

Friday after Ash Wednesday – “Fasting”

Saturday after Ash Wednesday – “Come, follow me”

Week 1 Sunday – “Jesus tempted in the Desert”

Week 1 – Monday “Social Doctrine”

Week 1 – Tuesday “The Kingdom like a Seed”

Week 1 – Wednesday “The Sign of Jonah”

Week 1 – Thursday “Esther”

Week 1 – Friday “Denying Christ”

Week 1 – Saturday “Love your Enemies”

Week 2 – Sunday “Transfiguration”

Week 2 – Monday “Do not Judge”

Week 2 – Tuesday “Sodom”

Week 2 – Wednesday “The Cup of Christ”

Week 2 – Thursday “Hades”

Week 2 – Friday “Killing the Son”

Week 2 – Saturday “Prodigal Son”

Week 3 – Sunday “I thirst”

Week 3 – Monday “Prophets and Glory”

Week 3 – Tuesday “The Fire of Forgiving”

Week 3 – Wednesday “The Law”

Week 3 – Thursday “A Divided House”

Week 3 – Friday “The First Commandment”

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Ordinary Time February

Week 4 Saturday – King Solomon

Week 5 Sunday – Salt and Light

Week 5 Monday – Empty Religion

Week 5 Tuesday – The Law and Tradition

Week 5 Wednesday – Unclean

Week 5 – Thursday – At the Feet of Jesus

Week 5 Friday – Open your Ears

Week 5 – Saturday – Sts Cyril and Methodius

Week 6 Sunday – Sin and Purgatory

Week 6 Monday – Signs

Week 6 Tuesday – Trials and Temptations

2025 Reflections (Christmas)

Christmas Day (25.12.2025) A Reflection on the Prayers and Readings from each of the four Christmas Day Masses.

Christmas 26th December 2025 Matthew 10.:17 “St Stephen and Witness”

St Stephen, First Martyr of the Church

Christmas 27th December 2025 John 1:1 “St John and the Word”

St John, Apostle and Evangelist

Christmas 28th December 2025 “The Holy Family”

Christmas 29th December 2025 1 John 2:3 “The Church and Morality”

Christmas 30th December 2025 Luke 2:36 “The World”

Christmas 31st December 2025 1 John 2:18 “The Last Days”

Christmas 1st January 2026 “Mary, the Holy Mother of God”

Christmas 2nd January 2026 John 1:19 “Prophets”

2025 Reflections (Advent)

1st Week Wednesday – Isaiah, Psalm and Matthew (3.12.2025) “Feasting and Fasting”

1st Week Thursday – Matthew (4.12.2025) “Lawless Shepherds”

1st Week Friday – Matthew 9.27 (5.12.2025) “The Greatest Miracle”

1st Week Saturday Matthew 9.35 (6.12.2025) “Unclean Spirits”

2nd Week Sunday Romans 15:4 (7.12.2025) “Persevere in Hope”

2nd Week Monday Genesis 3:9 (8.12.2025) “The Immaculate Conception”

2nd Week Tuesday Matthew 18:12 (9.12.2025) “The Lost Sheep”

2nd Week Wednesday Isaiah 40:25 (10.12.2025) “Lift up your Eyes”

2nd Week Thursday Matthew 11:7 (11.12.2025) “John the Baptist”

2nd Week Friday Matthew 11:16 (12.12.2025) “A Child – your soul”

2nd Week Saturday Ecclus and Matthew (13.12.2025) “Good things come to those that wait… “

3rd Week Sunday Isaiah and Matthew (14.12.2025) “Gaudete, Rejoice ! The Lord is Near.”

3rd Week Monday Matthew 21:23 (15.12.2025) “Balaam recognizing God.”

3rd Week Tuesday Matthew 21 (16.12.2025) “Lip Service Only”

3rd Week Wednesday Matthew 1 (17.12.2025) “The Genealogy”

3rd Week Thursday Matthew 18-24 (18.12.2025) “Joseph”

3rd Week Friday Judges, Luke and Psalm (19.12.2025) “The Nazarites”

3rd Week Saturday Isaiah 7 (20.12.2025) “Asking for a Sign”

4th Week Sunday Romans 1 (21.12.2025) “A Servant”

4th Week Monday Luke 1:46 (22.12.2025) “Magnificat”

4th Week Tuesday Luke 1:57 (23.12.2025) “The Hand of the Lord”

4th Week Wednesday 2Samuel 7 (24.12.2025) “The House of God”

General Collection 2025

Section 1 – Belief

Section One