In our society people who hold, or practice a religious faith are being treated like second class citizens. Society seems to applaud immoral behaviour and people of faith are being scorned and marginalized. The legal system increasingly restricts our lived out practice of our beliefs; I am starting to feel like an alien in my own country.
I am writing about my faith. In the hope that I will shed light on the issue and with God’s grace, redress the situation.
The first on the seven deadly sins is pride. Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise.
We all know how proud we feel when we are praised, or some project we take part in succeeds. It is the simplest of sins. Murder, theft or inappropriate sexual habits may be easy to see to label and condemn, but pride is the one that condemns us all. Pride strikes to the heart and we do not see it.
Jesus was anti pride and pro humility, in fact he was humility incarnate.
Paul writes of his attitude although He existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men.…
Our Lord washed the feet of his disciples, is washes our feet.
Repeatedly the Gospels record Jesus encouraging us to be humble. In Luke 14:1,7-14 we are encouraged not to take the place of honour, but to take the lowest positions.
If we are to convert the world, fix our society you and I must be humble. Trusting God and his will, not our ability. We must encourage others by our good example. I pray that I can put aside my vanity and pride and be more humble.
I pray that our leaders can put aside their arrogance and be more Christ like. Realising that your cannot resolve a violent situation with ever more violence. We must encourage justice, as without justice there is no peace.
John the Baptist is the only saint in the calendar (apart from St Joseph) who has two feasts to himself. One, in August, celebrates his death, and one, in June, celebrates his birth. And this is as it should be, for as Christ himself said, John was the greatest of the sons of men.
The greatest, but also the most tragic. A prophet from before his birth, leaping in the womb to announce the coming of the incarnate God, his task was to proclaim the fulfilment of all prophecies – and thus his own obsolescence. And he did it: with unequalled courage he spread the news that he, the greatest of all men, was the least in the kingdom of heaven. His disciples, and the devil, would have preferred him to fight, to build his sect, to defeat this upstart whom he himself had baptised, to seize his place in history. But he did not – and so, rightly, he has his place, and he has glory in heaven.
We envy the great and the talented, and sometimes we think that they themselves are beyond envy. But when they come across someone with greater gifts, as one day most of them will, they will see for the first time what it means to feel like us. Let us pray that they, like John the Baptist, may pass that test.
Pope Francis In a recent phone call to an Italian teenager shows a significant change in the Papacy, a return to Biblical roots and humility and a closeness to God.
The Pope’s famous phone call to an Italian teenager is more significant than we first thought “He said to me, do you think the Apostles would have used the polite form with Christ? “Would they have called him your excellency? They were friends, just as you and I are now, and with friends I’m accustomed to using ‘tu’.
The writers of the Gospels record that when Jesus’ followers ask him, how should we pray Jesus replies “Our Father….”
Scholars write the English translation of abba (Greek: Αββα, Aramaic: אבא) are best captured by father, dad, daddy, in English
You and I ought to follow the Gospels and the Pope, in not making God distant. We ought to be humble and familiar. We need to reflect Christ in the world and not man’s image of Christ, not my image of Christ. We ought to allow God’s Spirit to fill us, to study the scripture and live the gospels. Each day we should examine out performance, apologise for our failings and ask for the grace to be more like Christ.
And we should pray
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Everybody who dies in the faith of Christ is accepted into the presence of Christ in heaven. Virtually since it’s inception the church has named dead individuals as people who have gone to glory. Examples of grace, love, piety and holiness good examples who we should follow and to whom offer up prayers of supplication, asking them to intercede on our behalves.
I have often felt that canonising a pope, a bit wrong, unnecessary. Until recently I have not seen what good a pope can do. I am so impressed with Pope Francis, it has changed my mind and now I look at the individuals rather than the incumbent of an office. Clearly some popes will appear more saintly than others.
I have been horrified by Pope Innocent III, who was far from innocent and can be named alongside Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Papa Doc and Hitler.
St Pius X (1835 - 1914) was death and entry into glory is celebrated today was truly a saintly individual and a pope.
He was born in the village of Riese, near Venice, one of ten children of a very poor family. He was ordained to the priesthood at the age of 23. He was successively bishop of Mantua and of Venice, and was elected Pope, against his wishes, in 1903. In his time as Pope, he sought to “restore all things in Christ.” He insisted on the separation of Church and State, and banned the formation of political associations that claimed exclusive religious sanction for their political programme, whether of the Left or of the Right. He revised the code of Canon Law, founded an institute for scriptural studies, and initiated the revision of the Latin translation of the Bible (the Vulgate) and the reform of the liturgy.
He lived in great poverty even when he was Pope, and preached sermons every Sunday in the courtyards of the Vatican, to any who would listen. In his simplicity and goodness of heart, he performed miracles even when he was alive, and the clamour for his canonization started immediately after his death, on 20th August 1914, broken-hearted at the outbreak of the First World War.
I pray that I can be more like Pius. If we all were more like him we would change society and draw the world to Christ.
When I hear about the dreadful deaths in Egypt and the horrendous war in Syria, I cannot help but feel ever so grateful to live in leafy rural Britain. I am well fed, warm, dry and at no risk of violence. I may live in what some might call a post Christian society, but that is just the point. Christian Society. People may have lax morals, but the ethos of Love they neighbour is embedded in British society. Sadly this tolerance and respect does not seem to exist in Egypt. The behaviour of brother toward brother is awful. It reminds me of the shameful crusades. God must cry. I do not know where this violence will end, but I pray that Egypt can discover love, forgiveness and the tolerance that comes from New Testament values. South Africa and Northern Ireland found peace, but we must remember there is no peace without justice. As individuals we must try to radiate these values to the world.
The doctrine of The Assumption teaches that at the end of her life, Mary, the mother of Christ, was taken body and soul into heaven. The church celebrates this feast today 15th August.
Personally, I have always found this teaching, this doctrine, hard to swallow. The empiricist in me questions the metaphysical nature of the Assumption. The theologian in me believes that because the scriptures do not explicitly state that Mary the mother of our divine Lord died and was buried it does not mean she did not die, it just means the writers of scripture did not think that Mary’s post resurrection life was not important, or central to the purposes of the documents they were writing. In their eyes the inclusion of details about her life was not necessary to spread the Good News. Is there a record of Joseph’s death, or Mary Magdalene's?
However, I have no problem accepting, the existence of God, the virgin birth and the resurrection. I have no problem believing that Mary had to be special to be graced as The Mother of our Divine Lord. I glory in the communion of saints. I have no issue with asking Mary or any of the saints in glory to intercede for us. Yes I can petition God directly, but equally I can ask the saints in glory for assistance too.
Why then do I have an issue? Perhaps I have no good reason, perhaps I have picked up others prejudice growing up in a protestant environment. Maybe I just do not understand why in 1950 the then pope thought it necessary to make the doctrine of the Assumption a central tenant of the faith. Maybe my issue is that I see with the eyes and perspective of a man, and a little man at that.
God is God and he and his doings are beyond my understanding. I can only hope to see and understand a little of the Divine, I am small, discrete and limited. God is infinite. Regards the Assumption perhaps I need to go on a little faith.
I do know that hundreds of thousands of souls have found their interface with the Divine through Mary and Marian devotions, asking Mary the Mother of God to intercede with Christ on their behalves. They have received much consolation and comfort and I have no doubt found their way to Christ by this route.
I am arrogant, assuming I know best, that I am the font of knowledge, when the reverse is true, I know a little, a very little. Perhaps I need to trust God and the leaders of his Church on earth. I need to grow in humility and so pray:
Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." —Deuteronomy 6:4-5
I am plagued with this commandment. I hear it all the time, it is engraved on my heart, repeatedly it comes back to me in the day. With every sin it comes back to me. Whenever I engage in vain thoughts or actions. There it is in my head.
Love God with ALL your heart
But I am constantly distracted.
I can see an attractive young woman, be reminded of an old girlfriend, build castles in the sky, dream of winning the lottery, be distracted in work, TV or other entertainment, even when writing the blog.
I fail, I fall. All I can do is strike my breast, apologise, say sorry and with God’s grace do better.
Unless I can turn my face from sex, drugs and rock and roll and truly Love God with ALL my heart I will not be a truly effective evangelist. You and I are called to be just that, to go out to all nations. We must go out into the world and draw people back to Christ. To do that we must love, or at least try to love God with all our heart.
Every day, Every hour every moment, not just on Sunday morning when the Minister and community are watching us.
With God’s grace I will put aside my impure and unfaithful thoughts and focus on Christ.
Practising the Examen every day, two or three times a day helps. About the Examen
Today the Church remembers Laurence. We do not know much about Laurence, other than he was a deacon. Laurence was one of the seven deacons of the Church of Rome and was executed on 10th August 258, four days after Sixtus II and his companions. By now, few of the facts of his life are known for certain: he was probably a Spaniard from Toledo. By the sixth century, it was one of the most important feasts throughout much of western Christendom. His name occurs (with Sixtus’s) in the Roman Canon of the Mass.
Acts 6:1-4, first mentions the deacon’s role:
In those days, as the number of disciples grew, the ones who spoke Greek complained that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food, as compared with the widows of those who spoke Hebrew. The Twelve assembled the community of the disciples and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Look around among your own number, brothers, for seven men acknowledged to be deeply spiritual and prudent, and we shall appoint them to this task. This will permit us to concentrate on prayer and the ministry of the word." This proposal was unanimously accepted by the community.
A deacon, then, is a servant. That's what the word means in Greek and that's what deacons are for: to serve.
Laurence must have excelled in his service and love. As he was much loved by the community he left behind.
You and I are called to be deacons, we are called to serve, to be Our Lord’s body in society, to be on fire with love, salt and light, drawing people to Christ.
If we are to fix this world, we must be like Laurence, we must allow Christ to consume us, so we can be his servants.
Today the Church celebrates and remembers the Transfiguration of the Lord
The
Transfiguration of the Lord can sound embarrassingly magical. Jesus
goes up onto a mountain and his clothes become dazzlingly white.
Prophets appear and talk to him. And then it is all over and Jesus tells
his disciples to say nothing.
We should hold on to the absurdity of the incident.
There is simply no reason for all this to have happened. In particular,
there is no reason to put it into a gospel – the evangelist makes no
capital out of it, it is simply there.
And this is the strength of the Transfiguration as an historical incident. There is no reason for anyone to have invented it.
It is not central to the Christian case. It is not used to win
arguments. There is only one reason to put it into the Gospel, and that
is because it happened. It is one of those cases of the evangelists
writing things down without knowing why they were important, and their
very puzzlement is what makes the story so convincing.
Why, then, did it happen? Surely so that we could see
and understand that Jesus is at once one of the prophets and the one
that was prophesied by them; and that he is God, and lives for all
eternity in a blaze of dazzling and unapproachable light.
The true miracle of the Transfiguration is not the
shining face or the white garments, but the fact that for the rest of
the time Jesus hid his glory so well.
If we are to win souls for Christ, if we are to re-fill our churches, if we are to turn society around we must reject Satan, and all his works. It begins with you and I, we must reject Satan. Our lives must become true reflections of Christ, we must become the loving reflection of Our Lord in this world.
Rejecting Satan and all his works is not just an act of will, a thing of a fixed moment in time, it is an ongoing act a process. Few of us are born as saints, we are born sinners and become saints, through the grace of Christ. We have to work at it, I have to work at it. Like learning a musical instrument we have to practice, every day for an extended period of time.
Ignatius of Loyal amongst other things left us a useful tool in the struggle, 'The Examen'. Built into the life of the pilgrim it helps us to progress, day by day, to being a truer reflection of Our Lord.
The Examen is a simple prayer system. The key thing is that it is done regularly.
Once a day, twice a day, three times a day it does not mater, but regularly. Each day you see where you are, and see where you ought to be and you strive to change. Check out this video.
Reject Satan and all his works, do this.
How Can I Pray the Examen?
1. Become aware of God’s presence. Look back on the events of the day in the company of the Holy Spirit. The day may seem confusing to you—a blur, a jumble, a muddle. Ask God to bring clarity and understanding.
2. Review the day with gratitude. Gratitude is the foundation
of our relationship with God. Walk through your day in the presence of
God and note its joys and delights. Focus on the day’s gifts. Look at
the work you did, the people you interacted with. What did you receive
from these people? What did you give them? Pay attention to small things—the food you ate, the sights you saw, and other seemingly small pleasures. God is in the details. 3. Pay attention to your emotions. One of St.
Ignatius’s great insights was that we detect the presence of the Spirit
of God in the movements of our emotions. Reflect on the feelings you
experienced during the day. Boredom? Elation? Resentment? Compassion?
Anger? Confidence? What is God saying through these feelings?
God will most likely show you some ways that you fell short. Make
note of these sins and faults. But look deeply for other implications.
Does a feeling of frustration perhaps mean that God wants you consider a
new direction in some area of your work? Are you concerned about a
friend? Perhaps you should reach out to her in some way. 4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it. Ask
the Holy Spirit to direct you to something during the day that God
thinks is particularly important. It may involve a feeling—positive
or negative. It may be a significant encounter with another person or a
vivid moment of pleasure or peace. Or it may be something that seems
rather insignificant. Look at it. Pray about it. Allow the prayer to
arise spontaneously from your heart—whether intercession, praise, repentance, or gratitude. 5. Look toward tomorrow. Ask God to give you light
for tomorrow’s challenges. Pay attention to the feelings that surface as
you survey what’s coming up. Are you doubtful? Cheerful? Apprehensive?
Full of delighted anticipation? Allow these feelings to turn into
prayer. Seek God’s guidance. Ask him for help and understanding. Pray
for hope.
St. Ignatius encouraged people to talk to Jesus like a friend. End
the Daily Examen with a conversation with Jesus. Ask forgiveness for
your sins. Ask for his protection and help. Ask for his wisdom about the
questions you have and the problems you face. Do all this in the spirit
of gratitude. Your life is a gift, and it is adorned with gifts from
God. End the Daily Examen with the Our Father.
