This blog is for the use of the whole parish; please let me know if you'd like to contribute.
Chris (email link at the bottom of each page)
Our goal, destiny and purpose
28-11-2020, 07:40coming, end-time, faith, Jesus, promise, secondPermalinkLuke 21:34–36
Jesus understood the human: condition with all its weaknesses, inclinations and peccadillos. He counsels us to be careful or our hearts will be weighed down with three things: dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and ‘that day’ will close unexpectedly on us like a trap. The day the Lord was referring to is the day of his coming, the day of judgement but also the day of our death. We know for sure that these things will come upon every person who lives on the face of the earth (v. 35).
Since the beginning the Christian faith has encouraged the idea of keeping watch, being vigilant and in constant prayer in anticipation of the coming of the Lord. In this we are united to our brothers and sisters in the Jewish faith, who pray and long for the first coming of the Messiah in glory and honour. We pray for Jesus’s second coming, for we believe he is the promised Messiah, and returns in glory and honour after securing our eternal salvation.
However, truth be told, if we can resist being dissipated and drunk, most of us succumb to being overwhelmed by the anxieties and cares of life. When this happens, we are easiiy confused, lose clarity and are consumed with the things of this world. The real challenge for all of us is keeping our goal, destiny and purpose to the forefront of our minds and hearts.
What is our goal, destiny and purpose? To be with God, to share in the joy of heaven, to know the resurrection life – these are the end realities for which we long and pray and which one day will be a reality. For sure we need to strive, for sure we need to apply ourselves and work, but more, much more than this, we need to turn humbly to the Spirit who helps us in our weakness.
Tomorrow the season of Advent and Christmastide begins and we enter a time of waiting, longing and hoping as the liturgy makes present to us the events, the drama and the grace of Jesus’s first coming, while looking forward to his second, his return in glory but also to his coming into our lives in a new, exciting and dynamic way.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. With eyes of faith we see his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father full of grace and truth.
Chris
From Bible Alive
Apocalypse 22:1—7 • Psalm 94(95):1–7 • Luke 21:34–36
Photograph ©2020 threeshoes photography
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, come
26-11-2020, 07:49Apocalypse, coming, glory, Jesus, revelationPermalink
Luke 21:20-28
The disciples’ admiration and appreciation of the beauty of the temple has prompted Jesus to make a long discourse about the destruction which he foresees will happen to Jerusalem, and which in fact did happen when the Romans marched on the city and destroyed it in AD 70. As is typical in prophecy, Jesus presents the events of Jerusalem’s fall and the end of the world side by side. At one moment he is describing the fall of Jerusalem in graphic detail, at the next his thoughts have turned to the end of the world. The suffering and destruction of the earlier event mirror the suffering and destruction of the much-larger-scale catastrophe which will signal his return to this earth.
We need to take Scriptures like today’s reading very seriously indeed. The same Luke who recorded the beauty of the nativity scene also gave us today’s apocalyptic vision of the end of the world: people fleeing to the mountains, nursing mothers being warned of a time of dread, many falling by the sword, nature in a state of uproar and tumult, and grown men fainting from sheer terror. lt will be a time of great chaos and suffering; it will be a time of great testing and trying
The Church today teaches that this time will indeed come but we do not know when: “The Church Will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection. The kingdom Will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God’s victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 677).
Jesus warns that these events will cause the faith of many to be shaken. But in forewarning of these events, his purpose is to assure his disciples that they are part of God’s overarching plan for the world. When they see these cataclysmic events taking place, they will know that his plan is being fulfilled and that Jesus will soon return. Jesus wants us to rest assured in the knowledge that God is in control and his purpose is being fulfilled.
Lord Jesus increase my hunger, thirst and longing for your return. Join my prayer to the prayer for your Church, the Bride: ‘Come, Lord ]esus come.”
Chris
From Bible Alive
Apocaylpse 18:1—2, 21—23; 19:1—3, 9 • Psalm 99(100):2—5 • Luke 21:20—28
Marriage in Heaven
21-11-2020, 17:42eternal, glory, love, perfectionPermalinkApocalypse 11:4-12 • Psalm 143(144):1–2, 9–10 • Luke 20:27–40
Jesus incurred the wrath and indignation of two groups in Israel: the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Each group was intent on trying to trip Jesus up, catching him out, boxing him into a corner. The Sadducees, unlike the Pharisees, did not believe in the resurrection of the body. They approached Jesus with all the arrogance of an elite professional religious caste and put before him a disingenuous conundrum all wrapped up as a sincere query about the levirate law on marriage. According to this law a dead man’s brother was obliged to marry the widow, who could then bear a child so that the deceased brother’s line and estate would be retained within the family and his lineage would continue into posterity. The Sadducees were trying to back Jesus into a corner, hoping that he would either renounce the resurrection of the body or condone polyandry (where a woman has more than one husband).
True to form Jesus transcended the question but seized the moment to teach about the afterlife. In heaven the institution of marriage will be succeeded by a new kind of relationship with God and with each other, which, despite us having a new body, does not involve procreation. We believe in the salvation of the whole person, body and soul, and although there is no marriage in heaven, we believe that we will be reunited with our loved ones.
For those who have had an unfortunate experience of earthly marriage, perhaps having suffered separation, divorce or other adverse circumstances, this prospect might not be a favourable one. But in the passage from temporal to eternal on the good will remain – evil falls away – and the love that once united a couple remains. Defects, misunderstandings or suffering will fall away. Indeed this very suffering, accepted with faith, will transformed into glory. Many spouses will experience true love for each other only when they are reunited in God, and with this love there will be joy and fulness of the union that they might not have known on earth.
In God all wıll be understood, all will be forgiven and all will be well.
Lord, you are the resurrection and the life. Death is not the end, but the beginning of life, life to the full.
Chris
From Bible Alive
The Parable of the Talents
15-11-2020, 15:50God's, spirit, workPermalinkProverbs 31:10–13, 19–20, 30–31 • Psalm 127(128):1–5 • 1 Thessalonians 5:1–6 • Matthew 25:14–30
One of the interesting things about the parable, and sometimes overlooked, is that back then, believe it or not, the notion of making loads of money wasn’t as lauded and applauded as it is today. People traded to survive, not to make a killing, and business (in the way we understand it today) was viewed in much the same light as prostitution and exploitation. Nevertheless, the Jews were known as shrewd business people and canny investors.
Now clearly the parable isn’t simply about the benefits of making a return on an investment versus burying your capital and not even making any interest. Nor is it simply about using our God-given natural talents to bless our friends and neighbours, for example – there is no reward (return) in that (Matt. 5:46). No, the talents or gifts are primarily spiritual gifts: the charisms, graces, blessings and fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are worth far more than gold (1 Pet. 1:7). We are eagerly (yes, eagerly) to desire the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy (1 Cor. 14:1). We are not to be ignorant about the spiritual gifts (like the servant who buried his talent). There are different kinds of gift (talents) given by the Spirit: the message of wisdom or knowledge, the gift of healing, miraculous powers, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues and the interpretation 0f tongues (1 (Cor. 12:1–11).
Lord, thank you for the gifts of your Spirit. Help us to use our gifts for the building up of the Church to the glory of God.
Chris
From Bible Alive
The Kingdom
12-11-2020, 10:07Jesus, kingdomPermalinkPhilemon 7–20 • Psalm 145(146):7–10 • Luke 17:20–25
http://endtimestruth.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Sun-and-Clouds-Images-of-the-Kingdom-Dollarphotoclub.jpg
A key ingredient of Jesus’ teaching is that the kingdom of God is within us. Expounding this truth, Paul taught that the kingdom of God is not a matter of rules and regulations but ultimately of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (see Rom. 14:17). St Anthony of Egypt said: “There is no point in us travelling to find the kingdom of heaven, or crossing the sea in search of virtue. As the Lord has already told us, God’s kingdom is within you.”
Jesus turned the idea of the kingdom of God on its head. The Jewish people were expecting a political Messiah who would overthrow their Roman oppressors and re-establish the Davidic dynasty They rejected Jesus because he did not measure up to these expectations. The kingdom of God was breaking into their world but they were too preoccupied with their own notions and ideas of the kingdom to recognise it.
The kingdom of God, manifested in Jesus, is first and foremost a spiritual reality rather than something of this world (vv. 20-21;John 18:36). The kingdom is not a place or a way of life but a person. Jesus is the kingdom and the kingdom is Jesus. Where Jesus is, there is the kingdom. As the Scripture scholar Origen once said: “The gospel of Jesus is autobasilea, the kingdom himself.”
Reflecting on the words contained in the Our Father, the great saint and Church father Cyprian of Carthage wrote, “ ‘Thy kingdom come’ . . . Christ himself is the kingdom of God, whom we day by day desire to come, whose advent we crave to be quickly manifested to us. For Since he himself is the resurrection, because in him we rise again, so also the kingdom of God may be understood to be himself, because in him we shall reign.” The closer we are then to Jesus, the closer we are to the kingdom of God. And the closer we are to Jesus, the more we wıll pray for his return to earth, because those who love long to see the beloved, the One they love.
We manifest the kingdom of God to the world by showing that we know Jesus. How do we show this? By our witness of peace, love, joy and righteousness in the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.
“Let the proud seek and love earthly kingdoms, but blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” ( St Augustine)
Chris
From Bible Alive
The Good of Money
07-11-2020, 10:12PermalinkPhilippians 4:10–19 • Psalm 111(112):1–9 • Luke 16:9–15
Money, money, money!’ – as the Abba song goes – ‘it’s the rich man’s world.’ And that’s where the problem lies. Money is tainted, as Jesus describes it, because it carries the danger of reducing our world to the attainment or acquisition of money. When money is our world, then it also becomes our God and we can find ourselves even serving it.
Like the Abba song, today’s few verses mention money so many times that it almost seems like a little world in which money dominates. But, of course, there is no real intrinsic problem with money. It is strictly an artificial means invented by our ancestors to facilitate trading with each other In the past, trading happened through barter, putting an equivalent value on various goods, even tıme, so that a day of a man’s work was said to be equivalent to, for example, a sack of potatoes. Money was invented to represent the same value as the hours of work or a quantity of vegetables, so that we would not need to carry around sacks of potatoes if we wanted a skilled worker to do a job for us. Money was a great idea and it facilitated society because we could give something we had in exchange for something we wanted. It was a way of using our gifts, skills, goods to service others and to benefit from those skills, etc., of others in return.
The taint of money comes not from money itself but from the human heart in which greed resides. From within the heart, the need and desire to build society and to exchange goods and skills can be corrupted into the lust simply for profit. The heart can produce a self-centredness that wants to take advantage of others. As mentioned above, the corrupt heart can shrink the world simply to ourselves.
Jesus invites us to use money in a different way. Profit is no bad thing: it becomes bad only insofar as it is used wholly to serve ourselves. What matters in the end is the state of our heart. It is through our union with Jesus that our hearts are transformed. Like the heart of Jesus, who came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many, our hearts can give money its true value in the building of society and the kingdom of God.
Most Sacred Heart ofJesus make our hearts like unto thine. Amen.
Chris
From Bible Alive
The meaning of Christ, by St Paul
03-11-2020, 07:18God-man, love, sacrifice, WitnessPermalinkPhilippians 2: 5-11
In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus: His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are; and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. But God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
A note from the Life Application Bible:
2:5-11 These verses are probably from a hymn sung by the early Christian church. The passage holds many parallels to the prophecy of the suffering servant in lsaiah 53. As a hymn, it was not meant to be a complete statement about the nature and work of Christ. Several key characteristics of Jesus Christ, however, are" praised in this passage: (1) Christ has always existed with God;
(2) Christ is equal to God because he is God (John 1:1ff; Colos- sians 1:15—19);
(3) though Christ is God, he became a man in order to fulfil God’s plan of salvation for all people;
(4) Christ did not just have the appearance of being a man — he actually became human to identify with our sins;
(5) Christ voluntarily laid aside his divine rights and privileges out of love for his Father;
(6) Christ died on the cross for our sins so we wouldn’t have to face eternal death;
(7) God glorified Christ because of his obedience;
(8) God raised Christ to his original position at the Father’s right hand, where he will reign for ever as our Lord and Judge.
How can we do anything less than praise Christ as our Lord and dedicate ourselves to his service!
Jesus and the Pharisees
01-11-2020, 10:24compassion, God's will, healingPermalinkPope Francis must be a bit of a nightmare for the Roman Curia. His easygoing, warm and inviting Latino approach to life has certainly ruffled a few feathers and raised a few eyebrows over the years since he became Pope. He has a kind of healthy and rather amusing approach to pomp, circumstance and the trappings of his centuries-old office.
However, Pope Francis is undoubtedly very conscious that he stands in the shoes of the humble fisherman. He refuses to wear the traditional papal red leather shoes, preferring instead his well-worn pair. He chooses to travel in a clapped-out Ford rather than the papal limo. He has declined to have the kind of security fitting for a leader of state, even saying no to bulletproof glass. He refuses to be a prisoner of the Vatican but rather its liberator. We should thank God that he is our Pope. Of course, Pope Francis is walking in the steps of jesus — because Jesus too ruffled feathers, kicked against the status quo and moved in the power of the Spirit.
Today we join Jesus seated at a 'nd of banquet, given, it would appear, in his honour. Many of the religious establishment of the day were there, watching to see whether he would step out of line. It is very likely that the sick man was a fellow guest but, remarkably, when he was healed by Jesus there was no joyful celebration, only stony silence. The law of the Sabbath had taken precedence over the law of God’s life and grace. What is at the heart of the matter here? Jesus was constantly challenging preconceptions about God and how to live by faith. He clearly loved the Pharisees, who on the whole were good men devoted to God and his law. They were, however, closed to what God was doing in their midst.
At the World Youth Day in Brazil in 2013, Pope Francis urged the young people present to mess things up in their parishes when they returned home. He meant that when following God’s will we may have to step out of line, ruffle feathers and challenge the status quo – we need to respect what has gone before but be open to what the Spirit is doing now in our midst.
Lord teach me to be open to the work of the Spirit both in my own life and in your world today.
Chris
From Bible Alive
Philippians 1:1–11 • Psalm 110(111) • 1–6 • Luke 4:1-6
Adult Education
Advent
alms
angel
angels
anger
annunciation
answer
Apocalypse
apostles
apostolic
archbishops
architect
ascension
ask
atonement
banquet
beatitudes
bishop
bishops
Blessed
blessings
blind
blood
body
bread
brokenness
burden
CAFOD
care
centurion
chances
change
charity
Children
Christ
Christian
Christian Aid
Christ the King
church
Churches Together in Biggleswade
cleanse
come
comfort
coming
commandment
commitment
compassion
Conference
contemplation
conversion
coordinator
Coronavirus
courage
covenant
COVID-19
cross
cure
daily bread
Damascus
death
death to self
delight
desert
Devil
diocese
disciples
divine
Divine Office
divine work
divinity
Dominicans
doubt
Downside
earthly matters
Easter
eat
effort
encouragement
end-time
enemy
equality
eternal
Eucharist
evangelical
evangelise
evil
example
fairness
faith
faithfulness
fasting
Father
faults
fear
fear of God
feed
fever
fiat
find God
fire
fish
food
foretold
forgive
forgiveness
foundations
fountains
Francis
free
fruit
fruitfulness
Fund-raising
future
Gabriel
generosity
gentle
gift
giving
glory
God
God's
God's Plan
God's will
God-man
Godhead
Golden Rule
good
gospel
grace
gratitude
greatness
heal
healing
health
heart
heaven
heavenly matters
High Priest
Holy Spirit
Holy Week
Holy_Spirit
homeless
hope
Hosea
humble
humility
hypocrisy
I AM
immortality
incarnation
increase
In Jesus's Name
innocence
insight
Internet
jealousy
Jesus
joy
justice
Justice and Peace
kindness
King
King David
kingdom
knowing
knowledge
law
Lent
leprosy
life
light
live streaming
living
loaves
Logos
Lord
Lord's Prayer
lost
love
lunatic
Magi
manna
maranatha
martyr
Mary
Mass
Matthew
meaning
meditation
mercy
Messiah
mindfulness
Ministries
miracle
miracles
moral
Mount
mountains
mystery
mysticism
name
narrow path
Nazereth
neighbour
new creation
new life
New Testament
New Year
Nineveh
None
obedience
Old Testament
OneWorld
online
Organisation
Our Lady
outcast
outcasts
Palm Sunday
parable
Paraclete
Parish
Parish Youth
Passion
Paul
peace
penance
perfect
perfection
Peter
Pilgrimage
pity
poem
poor
Pope
power
praise
prayer
Prayers
preparation
proclamation
Prologue
promise
prophesy
prophet
prophets
protection
question
rebellion
recovery
reflection
refugee
reign
rejection
rejects
renewal
repentance
rest
resurrection
revelation
rich
righteiousness
righteousness
risen
Rock
Rolheiser
Sabbath
Sacraments
sacrifice
Sadducees
Safety
salvation
Satan
save
Saviour
sayittogod
Scriptures
second
Second Coming
seed
self-indulgence
self-sacrifice
sent
sermon
serve
service
sheep
shepherd
sights
signs
silence
sin
sinfulness
sinners
Social
Solomon
Son
Son of God
soul
sower
spirit
Spirit of Christ
Spiritual
splendour
St Benedict
steadfast
Stephen
stoning
storm
storms
strength
struggle
suffering
SVP
talents
teacher
teaching
tears
temptation
tenants
The Cross
Thérèse of Lisieux
time for God
today
transgressions
Trinity
trust
truth
understanding
unity
unworthy
victory
vine
vinedresser
vineyard
virgin
Visits
walk
watchful
water
way
wealth
weary
Website
will
Witness
women
Word
work
World
worm
worship
wounded
yearn
Year of Faith
yoke
You
July 2022 (1)
June 2022 (1)
April 2022 (2)
March 2022 (3)
February 2022 (4)
January 2022 (1)
December 2021 (3)
November 2021 (6)
October 2021 (3)
September 2021 (4)
August 2021 (3)
July 2021 (1)
June 2021 (2)
May 2021 (2)
April 2021 (2)
March 2021 (1)
February 2021 (7)
January 2021 (7)
December 2020 (7)
November 2020 (8)
October 2020 (4)
September 2020 (7)
August 2020 (6)
July 2020 (8)
June 2020 (8)
May 2020 (9)
April 2020 (9)
March 2020 (17)
February 2020 (9)
January 2020 (7)
December 2019 (8)
November 2019 (7)
October 2019 (6)
September 2019 (6)
August 2019 (3)
July 2019 (5)
June 2019 (4)
May 2019 (3)
April 2019 (4)
March 2019 (5)
February 2019 (2)
January 2019 (5)
November 2018 (1)
October 2018 (3)
September 2018 (2)
August 2018 (2)
June 2018 (3)
May 2018 (3)
April 2018 (3)
March 2018 (5)
February 2018 (5)
January 2018 (5)
December 2017 (7)
November 2017 (4)
October 2017 (3)
September 2017 (5)
August 2017 (4)
July 2017 (3)
June 2017 (6)
May 2017 (4)
April 2017 (4)
March 2017 (6)
February 2017 (4)
January 2017 (5)
December 2016 (4)
November 2016 (4)
October 2016 (3)
September 2016 (5)
August 2016 (5)
July 2016 (4)
June 2016 (8)
May 2016 (4)
April 2016 (4)
March 2016 (6)
February 2016 (4)
January 2016 (3)
December 2015 (5)
November 2015 (4)
October 2015 (2)
September 2015 (2)
August 2015 (1)
July 2015 (3)
June 2015 (3)
May 2015 (5)
April 2015 (6)
March 2015 (5)
February 2015 (5)
January 2015 (2)
December 2014 (4)
November 2014 (4)
October 2014 (7)
September 2014 (5)
August 2014 (3)
July 2014 (5)
June 2014 (5)
May 2014 (5)
April 2014 (5)
March 2014 (6)
February 2014 (9)
January 2014 (5)
December 2013 (5)
November 2013 (6)
October 2013 (5)
September 2013 (7)
August 2013 (5)
July 2013 (5)
June 2013 (5)
May 2013 (1)
April 2013 (3)
March 2013 (3)
February 2013 (1)
January 2013 (5)
December 2012 (10)
November 2012 (7)
October 2012 (6)
September 2012 (6)
August 2012 (4)
July 2012 (2)
June 2012 (6)
May 2012 (10)
April 2012 (4)
March 2012 (3)
February 2012 (2)
January 2012 (8)
November 2011 (1)
October 2011 (1)
September 2011 (1)
August 2011 (1)
May 2011 (1)
April 2011 (1)
March 2011 (4)
February 2011 (2)
January 2011 (2)
December 2010 (2)
November 2010 (1)
October 2010 (3)
September 2010 (1)
August 2010 (1)
May 2010 (1)
March 2010 (2)
February 2010 (1)
January 2010 (3)
November 2009 (2)
October 2009 (1)
July 2009 (1)
May 2009 (1)
April 2009 (2)
March 2009 (1)
February 2009 (3)
January 2009 (1)
November 2008 (1)
October 2008 (1)
September 2008 (4)
August 2008 (2)