Hypocrites

I wonder ... how many of us are hypocrites? Are you a hypocrite? Am I a hypocrite, do you think?

A hypocrite is a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs.

Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment." Matthew 22:37-38

We say we love God, but how do we love Him? What are the tangible, physical, noticeable acts that prove we love Him?

In Olden Times, at the time of the prophets and at the times of Jesus, the faithful showed that they loved God by offering animals as burnt sacrifices. These could be doves, or pigeons or a lamb or goat or an ox. They had to be perfect animals, not those blemished, or lame or sick and diseased. Animals that people would not want for themselves.

Of course, God does not really need or wants such sacrifices. He will not in any way be found wanting or diminished if we do not offer Him any sacrifices. But people did it as a sign of love and respect.

How do we love God today?

When two people get married they vow and promise to love each other. But, if we're honest, over time such love wains a little. That is why many people renew their vows. 

How often do we do that with God? How often do we tell Him we love Him and how do we show such love?

We may not offer burnt sacrifices, but how often, and how much do we give to the Church, or the poor, or to charity? How much is enough? Say, your weekly spend on food is $200 - is $20 a week to charity a lot or too little? Our offerings need not be financial, how often and how much do we offer our time, or knowledge, or expertise to help those less fortunate than us?

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ Matthew 25:40

We say we trust God. How much do we trust Him, and how do we show it? Do we trust Him as a child trusts his parents?

"What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?" Luke 11:11-12

When we pray, do we really trust God to respond with what is best for us, in His own time? Or do we tell Him precisely what He should do? You'd be surprised how many people want to serve God in an advisory capacity.

When we praise God, do we do so because we really believe that He is in control of every situation? Or do we just pay lip-service with our praise?

It can be so easy to jump up and down praising God when all is well, and fade away into depression and disbelief when things go wrong in our lives.

To re-state the question: how many amongst us are hypocrites?

Am I addressing this to anyone in particular, or is it just to myself?

Memories

 

I was thinking the other night as I hung upside down from my hammock. I always do my thinking at that time, and then it dawned on me ... it was morning once again. I realised that although I was upside down, as I opened my eyes, I could see the door, the walls, and the room exactly as they are; not upside down. Why is that?

Then another thought struck me as I fell to the ground. 

When I'm sitting on the couch watching TV I see the picture perfectly - for example, a newsreader talking to me. 

If I were to lean sideways horizontal on the couch, the TV does not turn sideways too. The picture  remains the same and my eyes still see the newsreader straight way up. Why is that? 

If I were to take a photo with a camera and then move the camera horizontally (90 degrees) the second photo would be sideways; but this does not happen when I lean sideways myself. Maybe my eyes are turning sideways instead!

And then I thought some more. Do things happen as we see them, or do they happen one way and we see them differently?

For example, if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to see it, does it remain upright?

When a chicken lays an egg, does it come out the pointy way out or the large way out?

I've always wondered which came first, so I ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon ... I'll let you know!

Then my mind wandered a little further back to my childhood. We used to love playing hide-and-seek in the woods with friends. We used to tie a dead squirrel to someone's leg and then try to find him by smell alone.

I became very good at it. I could even smell round corners. I developed stereophonic 3D sense of smell. I could pin-point at someone in the elevator and say, "it was you!"

Breaking wind in an elevator is wrong on so many levels.

As a young man in my twenties I got involved in helping at Church. Every Saturday, in the big hall, we held Bingo games to raise money for charity. I used to call the numbers in Latin to make sure only the Catholics won. One day, I got this feeling in my soul that this was all wrong and Jesus would not be happy. So I had to learn Aramaic instead. Is that the language Jesus spoke?

Things must have been very different those days. Not like now. My wife brought me a cup of tea and I wondered. What did they drink in Jesus' time? They did not have tea, or coffee or hot chocolate. Maybe it was boiled fish water. Must have tasted awful; unless they added milk and honey. Or is that in the Old Testament?

By the way, did you know I met my wife on the net? We were both bad trapeze artists!

She liked spiders. She collected them like pets. So I went to a pet shop and tried to buy her one. It cost £50. Can you imagine? £50? So I got one cheaper from the web.

Anyway, enough thinking for now. I think I hurt my head when I fell off the hammock. My wife did not like us having a hammock in the bedroom. So I bought her a trampoline instead ... she hit the roof.

What's the point of it all?

 

Something that has no point is pointless - like a pencil!

I was wondering  about priests, vicars, ministers or other religious preachers? Do they always see tangible results in their work? Does what they say, and do, really change lives, and keep them changed until the day these souls meet their Maker?

I suspect that when such a priest gets to meet God face to face, he may well be asked: "And how many of the people I put in your direction have made it to Heaven?" I wonder what they would answer then?

How many people do priests really lead to Heaven?

This is a great responsibility for priests and such like religious people. Are they really changing lives by their own example? Or are they just self-bemused shepherds just herding wild cats in all directions? What evidence is there that their works have led one more person towards Heaven?

How about you and me?

We write our Christian Blogs week in week out; but do we see any tangible results from what we write? Is anyone really taking any notice of our pearls of wisdom? Or are we writing just to satisfy our own egos, and to say to God, "There you are. I've done my bit writing about Christianity, now let me into Heaven!"

What is the point of writing a Christian Blog?

Few amongst us, don't check our Blog statistics to see who has read us. There's a bit of pride and self-satisfaction in all of us.

What about those comments we get on our Blogs? Are they just pleasant platitudes from like-minded Christians? Or do they actually influence anyone anywhere reading them? 

 

Where is the tangible evidence that one individual has been somehow touched by what we write to make him search more and discover, for the first time perhaps, the love of God?

Are we preaching to the already converted?

If all we are doing is writing Christian posts for other Christians who either don't bother to comment or just say something nice to be polite; then what's so clever about that? What good have we done?

Time for Reflections.

OK ... let's all stop now and take a deep breath. I hope that what I have said above has not discouraged anyone from continuing with their Christian Blogs.

Remember the parable of the sower where Jesus teaches that some seeds ended on the footpath, and others on rocky ground, and others among thorns and only a few on good ground?

In this parable the seeds are the Word of God spread amongst many who would not listen.

The sower is God teaching us. Or Jesus preaching throughout the Holy Land. Or the prophets and Disciples. The sower is of course all of these. But he is us too. Yes ... you and me. Writing our own Blogs.

We have a duty and a responsibility to evangelise and spread the Word of God to everyone. Not just to Christians.

If the Word of God was meant for just Christians we would dig a long furrow and make sure that the seeds are planted one by one carefully in the furrow and none are wasted. But Jesus does not say that. He spread the seeds far and wide and if people do not want to listen that is their problem. Not yours.

And that's where social media and our Blogs come in. They are the open fields where we spread our seeds in the hope that someone somewhere might listen to the Word of God.

That's why it is important to check our statistics and see which posts got more hits, and what subjects attract attention from readers old and new.

Encourage one another.

That's why it is also important to comment on other peoples' Blogs, especially if we are already Christians and agree with what is being said, (or disagree even). Our comments serve as encouragement for people to keep on posting, and even if we disagree with something, they serve as a discussion and a learning opportunity from one another.

The worst thing is to visit a Christian Blog and say nothing.

The early Christians, after Christ's Resurrection, may have disagreed with each other perhaps, but at least they discussed their opinions and encouraged each other to go on with the task of building the Church of Christ.

And so should we when we visit other Christian blogs. We should comment not only on other peoples' blogs but also respond when others comment on our Blogs. And if possible, also visit those who commented on our Blogs and return the courtesy.

Today, we are no different to those early Christians. Social media is the wilderness longing for the Good News; and our Blogs are the fields where we plant the seeds which will grow and bear fruit.

Let your Blog be the one Jesus would want to read.

Wrong Decisions

 

Do you ever make the wrong decision and regret is afterwards. Happens to me often. I decided to improve myself so I went to the local college to enrol on an evening course; one evening a week. I had a choice of Emergency First Aid or Cookery. All the other courses were fully booked. 

I enrolled on the cookery classes to impress the family like those TV cooks do. A few weeks in the course, as I was leaving, a young lady walking ahead of me broke the heel of her shoe. The heel just came off. Her leg twisted and she fell to the ground in pain. She started crying. I approached her and got down to the ground beside her. I did not know what to do. I offered to cook her an omelette. She said something rude I'd rather not repeat here.

If only I had taken the First Aid course I could have given her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

There was this old lady standing at the bus stop hopping from foot to foot and watching up the road. It was obvious she wanted to cross the street but was too scared of the heavy traffic. Being the gentleman, I held her by the arm and said, "let's cross together madam!"

I walked her across the road. She was generally reluctant and kept looking back. She was obviously scared but I encouraged her along. When we got to the other side she hit me on the head with her umbrella. 

"You made me miss my bus, you idiot!" she said, "I was in a hurry to get home to go to the toilet. If I pee myself again it will be your fault!"

I gave up the cookery course. No one appreciated my food except the dog. I took up a Health and Safety course instead. The instructor was a young engineer. The first day of the course he had his arm in bandages. He lectured us on the dangers of falling off a ladder. He said that when working at heights you must always have someone hold the ladder for you in case it slips. He explained, "Don't do like me. When holding the ladder for someone, if he happens to fall, move away quickly in case he falls on you!"

I gave up that course too. There was another place available in the Self-Defence course. They advised me it would be useful in case I am attacked or mugged in the street on a dark night. Good idea, I thought. It is always dark at night where we live.

They taught us karate. Breaking planks of wood and bricks with a chopping motion of your hand. It hurt a bit but was effective. I got good at it.

One night I was attacked by a mugger. He took me by surprise. He hit me from behind and as I dropped to the ground he hit me again and again and took my wallet. As I lay there on the ground I saw a brick. I broke it with one chopping motion.

I complained to the college. They moved me to carpentry class. A few days later I was mugged by another thug on my way home. I offered to build him some shelves and he let me go. 

I always wanted to learn to play the guitar. I enrolled on that course too. By this time the college was getting a little fed up of me changing courses so often; but they obliged especially when some people had left their courses creating vacancies.

The instructor taught me how to use the plectrum. It’s a small triangular bit of plastic used to pluck the strings of the guitar. It’s easy to use, according to my instructor. Hold the plectrum with your fingers and pluck the strings one at a time. He showed me how to use it and then asked me to try.

I wish I didn’t … and so did he. I plucked the string so hard that the small piece of plastic flew out of my hand and hit the instructor in the eye. What he said next could not be put into music no matter what instrument you use. It was a string of unrepeatable words, none rhyming nor musically melodic, and hardly likely to be ever used in any lyrics I can think of.

Whether I liked it or not, the college moved me to Art Classes. Painting, drawing, pottery ... that sort of thing.

The first lesson I attended we had to paint a nude. I did not know what to do. Should I go or should I stay? The instructor sat us round in a semi-circle whilst the model got ready behind a screen. When he removed the screen ... ... I recognised the naked lady as someone from work!!!

Divisions

 

I've been blogging for a few years now, and been on other social media websites too. I met a number of  kind and interesting people through the Internet and exchanged views, opinions, and thoughts ... learnt quite a bit from them too.

One thing that has intrigued me though, as a Catholic, is the number of times people have written to me saying that Catholics are not Christians. 

I did not expect that. I expected people writing against Christianity, or mocking it even. This is quite common in the UK. You see it on TV all the time. Comedians and others mentioning God or Jesus in a mocking way to attract laughs and applause.

But I did not expect attacks against a particular denomination within the Christian family.

Now I'll admit, Catholics can be a bit weird at times, (maybe often). They have what appear as peculiar habits and beliefs and dogmas set out by people high up on the managerial tree. Also, a lot of times lay Catholics misunderstand what they are taught by the Church and as a result project the wrong image of their Faith.

But in basic terms, Catholics believe the same things that other Christian denominations do.

We believe in one living God, His Son Jesus, the Holy Spirit, what is taught in the Bible and lots of other things Christians believe in. I wrote about this earlier in a post called CREDO. Check it out here and see where we differ in opinions and beliefs. 

Now (some) of the peculiar bits about the Catholics:

LATIN - There was a time when Mass was celebrated in Latin. This was stopped (generally) years ago and now Mass is celebrated in the language of the country where it is said.

STATUES, CANDLES AND FLOWERS - Yes, Catholic churches have statues of Christ and other Saints. This is to help the faithful to visualise how these people may have looked. Very much like you having a photo of a loved one in your wallet or on your desk. It is WRONG to worship these statues made of stone or whatever. Some Catholics get this bit wrong, they light candles and place flowers in the hope the Saint will answer their prayers and do them favours. This is also WRONG. You cannot buy God's favours, or the Saints', with candles, flowers, prayers or anything else. Perhaps the Church should re-teach this message which seems to have been misunderstood by some.

PRAYING TO MARY AND SAINTS - Yet another source of confusion. We do not (should not) pray TO the Saints but ask the Saints to pray FOR us. Imagine when someone is ill and you pray to God to heal him and care for him. You are in effect pleading with God for some help on behalf of this person. This is good. It shows charity and generosity of spirit on your part. When we pray to Saints, we ask them to plead for us with God and His Son, Jesus. To put in a good word for us. A good reference. I know I need as many prayers and pleadings for me; so any prayers from the Saints, or from you, would be welcome. Praying to Saints does not by-pass God, or Jesus, it is an extra channel through which some people like to channel their needs and requests. 

When we pray to Mary, yet again, we are not by-passing God. Or worshipping her. We only worship God and no one else. The way I see it is this:

God must have favoured Mary to have chosen her as the mother of Jesus. Jesus must have loved her and honoured her as He grew up. I guess God still honours her for saying YES when the Angel Gabriel visited her. Do you think God will be angry with me for honouring and loving Mary too?

FISH ON FRIDAYS - Years ago, the Church leaders suggested that, as a sacrifice and to honour Jesus, Catholics should not eat meat on Fridays, (the day Jesus died). It was in fact a mortal sin to eat meat on Fridays. This means if you die, having eaten meat on a Friday and not confessed and been forgiven of that sin, then you'd be going down without a parachute.   

This practice was because meat in those days was expensive. So people got in the habit of eating fish instead, which was cheaper. It is not compulsory to eat fish on Fridays. In fact it is not compulsory to eat, or not eat, anything. The practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays has largely faded away. Some still do not eat meat on Fridays, others abstain. It's a personal choice.

This has been a quick tour of what may be seen as different between Catholics and other Christians. If there are any other differences or questions you'd like explained please mention them in the comments box below, or write to me privately at enquiries@holyvisions.co.uk  Your e-mail comes to my desk and no one else. I shall respond, either privately, or by posting another article here.

Bernard Rossignol

 

I wonder ... what is the last thing you do before going to sleep at night? 

When I'm actually travelling on business, before going to sleep I check all the park benches nearby to make sure there are no other people sleeping near me. I hate it when there's someone nearby in case they steal my shoes when I'm asleep.

And that's how I first met Bernard Rossignol. He is French, you know. You don't pronounce his name Bernard like in English, but Bear Naar ... like in French.

Anyway, there I was in the park at midnight searching for a free bench on which to sleep when I saw Bernard walking through the trees. I stopped him and asked, "Are you looking for a free bench too?"

He must have thought I was a Park Ranger because of my abrupt manner of speaking. 

"Non monsieur ..." he said in a French accent, "I am doing zee walking of my tortoise!"

"Walking a tortoise?" I said incredulously, "I see no tortoise here!" 

"Zat eez bee cause I let 'im off ze lead and he run away in ze bushes!" he replied.

I did not believe him and asked him his name which he gave me without hesitation. So I asked him what he was doing in the park at this late hour. He said that he was a music conductor and a tenor. He likes to go out on a walk at night as the fresh air clears his lungs and helps him sing.

As he was talking, a fox came out hurriedly from the bushes and ran between his legs. That's when I first realised that he was bow-legged. 

"With legs like that you should play the cello!" I said. 

I don't think he understood because he replied, "I cannot Monsieur ... I 'ave ze cold!"

At that moment a tortoise happened to walk by slowly from some bushes. It had a red flashing light on its back to help see it in the dark. It also had a sensor stuck on its shell. Apparently he has a receiver in his pocket and can locate the tortoise if he loses it.

"Allo Alphonse ..." he said as he picked up the tortoise and put it in his bag.

I asked him what Rossignol meant in French. He said it is nightingale; the singing bird!

He gave me a couple of tickets for his next concert. Here's a short video I took on my cellphone of him conducting the orchestra.

Stupid animals

 

They say that one thing that distinguish us from animals is that we have opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs means that our thumb can bend and touch all the other fingers. So we can hold things, small things, we can eat with one hand, and we can do many things animals cannot. There are of course many animals with opposable thumbs, but they cannot touch all their other fingers with their thumbs.

Try picking up a single grain of rice, or lentil, or a KFC leg with your thumb and index finger and tell your dog, "See ... I can do this and you cannot!"

Actually, I think many animals are just not smart, regardless of whether they have opposable thumbs or not. Try teaching your dog to say "Pretty Polly!" You'd be wasting your time. And you don't need any thumbs to say "Pretty Polly!"

When I point to his bed and tell my dog, "Go to bed!" he looks at my finger instead of his sleeping-couch. That is stupid.

He is so stupid he lost three out of five games of chess against me. He can never remember that the bishop moves sideways on the board. That's dumb.

Try teaching a cat to fetch a ball when you throw it in the park. Another waste of time. When I take it off its lead it just runs away. 

We've had our cat since it was a small kitten. It is black, and now rather big. He's as big as a large dog like an Alsatian at least. He eats about two kilos of meat a day and sits there growling.

I took it for a walk once and it climbed up a tree dragging me behind him holding on to his lead. It was a pine type tree and I got cut up and bruised with all the needles and sharp branches. That's a stupid cat indeed.

Some people think that speaking to animals gently and quietly will help teach them. Believe me, it does not seem to work. They are too dumb to understand. 

A friend of mine wanted to prove that animals are really smart and can understand humans. He says, or claims, he was a horse whisperer. He believed he could calm a horse by approaching it slowly and quietly speak to it. He also wanted to be a lion whisperer. An ambition he achieved just a few minutes before his tragic death.

Some animals provide us with food. I've already mentioned KFC. Once at a restaurant I had an elephant steak. It has a taste you'll never forget. 

As a side dish I also had rhinoceros cutlets. When I got out of the restaurant I started head-butting Jeeps and charging at people.

I used to be an amateur dramatic actor. A member of a small troupe who performed locally in various venues.

Being a perfectionist, I liked to dress in full costume beforehand and rehearse my lines in front of a full length mirror.

On one occasion I played the part of one of the mice that turn into horses in the Cinderella story.

So I took my costume home and put it on; then I stood there in front of the mirror looking like a giant mouse.

The cat came in and AHHH!!!! He was totally frightened out of his nine lives. 

He thought one of the many mice he has been chasing in the past had come back for revenge. He climbed madly on top of the wardrobe and would not come down … shaking to death he was.

The dog usually half-asleep in front of the TV woke up suddenly upon hearing the cat’s commotion.

He looked at me and decided there’s no way he’d let a giant mouse usurp his territory. He started growling … I tried to calm him down … but he pounced toppling me onto the ground and biting me in several unmentionable places.

Animals are dumb ... opposable thumbs or not.

Getting Old

 

Getting old takes courage. It isn't for everyone. Only brave people get old. Getting old is not for wimps who whine and whimper at anything that goes wrong in life. 

Like crying over a paper cut ... "boohooo ... I have cut my finger on the edge of the paper!" 

Grow up you wimp or you'll never get old.

Getting old has many advantages too.

For a start, you can afford not to care about certain things. Always in the news they have stories about rising temperatures, ice caps melting, things happening around the world, political differences and so on ... and you wonder ... is worrying about all this going to make me any younger? 

The chances are that many things predicted will not happen anyway. 

I remember reading years ago that we will have robots everywhere and they will be able to do all our house chores like cleaning, washing, cooking and taking out the trash and so on. 

Did not happen. All I have now is the TV remote control and when I point it at the wife she does not stop talking or lower her voice. So much for technology.

Another advantage of growing old is that you can dress as you want. 

Men can wear their trousers pulled up all the way to their nipples and have them held up by braces and a wide belt pulled tightly round the chest. Together with a white chequered shirt and brown woollen pullover, both tucked in inside the trousers, and covered by a tweed jacket, and you're good to go as the modern old age style. You'll be a sex symbol for women who don't care.

Women too can wear what they want at a certain age. I will not go into details in case someone I know reads this article and ... well, I'd better not go on any further.

Old people tend to be very smart you know. One trick is to pretend not to understand modern technology and new inventions. By pretending ignorance, more often than not, someone will fix the thing for you.

An old friend I know, in order to prove that he is "with it" he buys new gadgets even though he does not know how to use them. Like cell-phones for instance. Every time his cell-phone rings he presses the wrong button and takes a photo of his ear. 

He bought a new sound-activated bedside lamp. Whenever he wakes up in the night all he has to do is tap his hands once or twice and the light comes on. He told me the other day that when he breaks wind whilst asleep the lights come on as if to reprimand him.

Women, as they grow older, can of course be elegant and demure and full of wisdom. 

I visit an elderly lady every now and then to see if she is OK. It was raining heavily on my last visit. I asked her if she wanted anything from the supermarket. As it happened, there were quite a few items that she needed that day. So I gave her my list so that she can shop for the both of us. No point me going out and getting wet as well, is there?

She said the other day that nostalgia isn't as it used to be. Back in the day nostalgia was thinking about the good older days when she was young and life was great. Today nostalgia is remembering the last model of cell-phone or tablet you had.

Getting old also allows you the opportunity to act a little disgracefully and get away with it ... if you act smart that is.

For example when you're on the bus and have eaten an orange or banana or a chocolate bar and you don't know where to put the peelings/skin/wrapper; just casually drop it in the woman's bag sitting next to you. Chances are you'll never get caught. But if you do, just tell her you thought it was your own bag.

And another thing ... getting old allows you to be a little adventurous. You can send the dog's urine instead of yours to the hospital for testing. That should confuse the doctors!

Getting old is the time to laugh at life and all it throws at you. Have fun, do what you want ... within limits. And have that extra scoop of ice cream or glass of your favourite drink if you want to. 

So there you have it. As you grow older take back control. Don't let society pigeon hole you into their categories just to satisfy their statistics and calculations.

Wear your underpants on your head as a sign of protest. That should certainly get you noticed. It certainly works for me. I've been followed everywhere for the past week by two men in white coats and big butterfly nets.

The Samaritan Today

 

Once upon a time an elderly man was making his way home through the park after a long day at work. Some youths set upon him. They were carrying knives. They mugged him, injured him badly and left him lying in a pool of blood.

A while later a city gent happened to pass by. He looked at the bleeding man on the ground and thought: This may be a trap. If I stop to help him someone might come out from the bushes and attack me. I'd better hurry home.

And so he did.

A while more later another man happened to come along. He saw the elderly man on the ground and thought: I'd better pretend not to have seen him. If I stop and call the police and ambulance they will ask me a lot of questions. They will want a lot of information. I'll be a witness and I'll probably have to go to Court eventually to say what I saw. I really can't be bothered with all this. I'd better rush home.

And so he did.

A few minutes later a learned man came by. He had studied sociology, philosophy, and many other important subjects and he was now a famous professor at the local University whose opinion and views were often sought on matters of importance. He looked at the injured man on the ground and thought: Whoever did this needs help. They must be from an under-priviledged background and up-bringing. Poor souls!

And he hurried home thinking about modern society and decided to write a paper on crime and poverty.

Two thousand years after Jesus told a similar story, (Luke 10:25), life hasn’t changed so much in this world.

Logically Speaking

 Let's consider this together. You are a logical, clear-thinking, person. Right?

You are not prone to flights of fancy or imaginations. And you don't believe in unicorns, tooth fairies and other such things. In fact, you would say you are a level headed person ... most of the time ... and analyse what you think and believe carefully.

Yet ... you pray. Perhaps sometimes ... when you need help or are in a panic. Or maybe you pray regularly.

Let's think about this. If you pray, it is logical to deduce that you believe there is Someone listening to your prayer. You're not just talking to yourself, are you? Not you, surely. You're a logical, clear-thinking, person.

And if you believe there is Someone listening to your prayer, you also (logically) believe that He can do something about it.

However you perceive Him to be, there is a supreme living Being, out there somewhere, listening to your pleas and able, (and willing), to do something about them in His time and in His way.

You were told about God at some stage in your life. You slowly and gradually perhaps, or maybe suddenly, came to believe in Him. He became a part of your life. At some point in your life the realisation that God exists became real.

For some people, God is a daily essential step by step part of their lives. They do nothing without God's guidance. For other people, He is somewhere in the background, only to be accessed in times of emergency. 

How is He for you?

Whatever your response, logically speaking, God is real. He exists. He is there for you. You've accepted that when you prayed. It's logical.

This moment may be your personal revelation. The light went on in your head moment. The moment when you see it all clearly. 

Or it may be a personal re-revelation moment. You are re-affirming what you always knew and believed.   

Once Jesus asked His disciples, "who do you think I am?"

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in Heaven." (Matthew 16:16-17)

That very instant you first had your revelation moment, when you knew for certain that God exists, that is when God through His Holy Spirit, made Himself known to you.

You knew then as you know again now, that God exists for real.

You are God's disciple.  

As the disciples of Christ had to believe and act in a certain way, in order to honour and serve Jesus. So should we, with the help of the Holy Spirit, act likewise.

When things go wrong

 

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I'd like to talk about something which must have crossed our minds many times as Christians, but we tend to sweep it and hide it under the carpet or shake it from our minds. There are times in life when bad things happen suddenly and they turn our lives upside down; and as Christians we accept these things as the will of God. We accept that God has allowed them to happen for his own purpose; but perhaps deep inside us, if we're honest, we don't approve. We don't agree with what has happened.

Now … is that a sin?

Is that the ultimate sin? Are we standing in defiance of God when we think that way? When a tragedy happens and someone suddenly dies, or someone is taken ill to such an extent that it changes all his life and the life of those around him.

We accept these things as the will of God but we say it's not fair; it's not right; it's not just. It's wrong that that poor baby had to die so young and the hurt it has caused his family and would continue to cause his family.

So, when that happens; what does God think?

Is this our human nature trying to understand what is super human?

What is not of this world? What is of God's world?

As Christians we try hard in these circumstances to hold on to our faith. We know that what happened is God's will, but our human minds can't understand why it happened; and God knows that.

God does not ask us to understand Him. He asks us to trust Him and to love Him … and as hard as it is, that's what we should try to do when tragedy happens.

Perhaps we should remember the words of Jesus on the Cross.

He said “Lord forgive them they don't know what they're doing”. So when our thoughts tempt us to say it's not right; it's not fair; it's not just that this has happened; let us think back and know for certain that God forgives us for these thoughts.

Thank you for listening. God bless you.

Lettuce Pray

 

The priest in church said, "Lettuce Pray!"

I looked round at the people around me. They all looked stern and serious and somewhat sad looking. Some looking down, some eyes closed, some staring ahead into space. I wondered what was going on in their minds. 

No doubt God's computer was being overloaded with e-mails all asking for various favours all at once and all wanting to be served first. Some I would guess advising God on what He should do; and helping Him in solving their problems. 

It's amazing how many people are willing to serve God in an advisory capacity.

Instead of praying, as the priest suggested, I recalled how attitudes and feelings have changed over the years. I remember years ago peoples' faces were brighter, more shiny, more positive, more hopeful perhaps. After Mass they used to congregate outside church in the car park and yakety yak yakety yak for at least half-an-hour until they dispersed and went home. This does not seem to happen any more.

Is it my imagination, or are Christians not so happy these days? Not just Christians, I guess it is people in general. I look at them in the streets, on the bus or train, at work even; and they all seem to be carrying a load on their backs that is grinding them down to oblivion. 

Maybe the priest should have said, "Let us worry!" That would be more appropriate.

Worry is good for you.

Worry causes stress and illness and makes us unable to fight disease.

Worry is contagious and it makes others feel miserable and worrying too.

Worry gets us nowhere but it keeps our mind numb and unable to think straight.

Worry is an insult to God because it implies that we do not trust Him enough to help us, or care for us, or love us.

Worry is a sin!!!

I wonder how many people realise that? Worry is a sin!!!

So ... which one will it be? Lettuce Pray or Let us worry?

Hello ... Hello ...

 

Hello ... Hello ... God?

God ... are you there?

Please pick up ... pick up ... don't put me on the answering machine!

Hello ... is that God? 

Hi ... I have called to say ... thank you!

MORAL: Be patient. Be thankful.

Just a thought towards God

 

There are many people who go throughout life without giving a thought towards God. It's simple really. Especially if they don't believe in God anyway. 

They get up each morning and get on with their daily life, however busy it may be, and God does not feature on their radar of existence. 

This often happens to so-called believers too. Life gets so busy that God is slowly, often unintentionally, relegated to the back of their minds until Sunday when they attend church for an hour or so.

If we start from the premise that God is a loving, caring, Father; then we realise that like any loving Father He likes to hear from His children every now and then. To tell Him how we are getting on in life. The difficult bits as well as the good days.

Every glance towards God, every thought, however fleeting and short in time, even as a cry for help, for us or on behalf of someone else, is a Divine connection with God. 

At that very instant when we turn to God, whatever the reason, we and God are united as one. Godly Father and child united in thought and in eternal love.

We cannot possibly imagine how much that means to God. To have one of His children turn to Him and devote even the shortest time available to be united in thanksgiving and genuine trust.

The writing on the board

 

Once again Father Ignatius was teaching Catechism to the 5th Form at the local Catholic School. They were discussing the Commandment about respecting one’s parents and as one would expect the youngsters had plenty to say about that.

“It’s alright to have to respect our parents,” said a young girl, “but surely they should respect us too?”

“I suppose I understand,” replied the priest reassuringly, “can you elaborate on this?”

“Well …” she hesitated, “I am fifteen years old and I don’t think I should be told what time I have to be home by …”

“What does anyone else think?” asked Father Ignatius.

“I agree …” replied another young girl, “my parents are just the same. They insist I’m at home by 9.30; can you imagine that? 9.30!!!”

“It’s their way of exerting power” said one of the boys, “my parents always think they know better …”

“That’s right …” added another lad, “my father has banned me from visiting the disco in town. It’s not fair!”

The priest let the youngsters vent their frustrations for a few minutes, and then he got up from his desk and moved towards the blackboard.

This had the desired effect of shutting them up for a while. He then picked up a piece of chalk and wrote on the board in big letters:

“IT’S NOT FAIR”

And proceeded to sit down once again.

After a few seconds silence he said in a soft voice, “I’ve heard many of you say it’s not fair just now … do you agree?”

“Yeah !!!” said one or two of them.

“I can understand that …” continued Father Ignatius, “from your perspective it may seem not fair that your parents impose certain restrictions on you. Perhaps it’s because the reasons for the restrictions have not been explained to you … but no matter for now.

“I would like if I may to explore the statement ‘It’s not fair.’ Can we do that do you think?”

They nodded in agreement. They had a lot of respect for his kind approach and the way he sympathized with their situation.

“No one has ever said that life is fair” continued the priest, “or meant to be fair even.

“What we perceive as fairness in our eyes may not be so to someone else.

“I visited a few of our parishioners in hospital yesterday. There was a young boy of twelve with an incurable illness. That’s not fair … the chances are he will not make it to his next birthday and his parents were totally distraught.

“I also met the family of a man in a coma. He had been injured in a road accident and has been unconscious ever since. No one knows when or if he will recover. The family is now short of cash and they may well lose their home. That’s not fair.

“Every other day or so, I hear of someone in our Parish being made redundant, and losing their job because of the current economic situation. They’ve done nothing wrong and they’re now on the street. That’s not fair.”

He stopped as he noticed one of the girls upfront getting a little tearful.

“What I’m trying to say …” he said gently after a short pause, “is that I sympathize entirely with you. You see your parents actions as unfair, yet perhaps you miss the point that they do what they do out of love for you. It is because they care.

“I had similar problems with my parents when I was young. My father was a farmer and as you’d expect he brought vegetables fresh from the land home for dinner. And like many a young child, I hated vegetables. Especially spinach … it looked like boiled grass!”

They laughed in unison.

“But they made me eat my vegetables … it’s not fair!”

They laughed again.

“And talking of fairness …” went on Father Ignatius, “I read that an innocent man has been falsely arrested, beaten up and tortured, and nailed to a Cross to die.

“Now that’s really not fair.

“You can read all about it in the Bible.”

He paused again to gauge the situation before continuing.

“So whilst I understand how you feel about your parents and the way they restrict you sometimes, I urge you please to accept it in obedience for the sake of Jesus who did so much for you. And still does.

“Is that a deal?” he asked with a smile.

And as always, his gentle loving empathy gained him their respect and sincere appreciation.