Word in the Hand

Gospel Matthew 5:17-37 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. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven. ‘For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. ‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer ...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. James 1:22 ‘keep oneself unstained by the world’ Reflection ‘Dirty Old Town?’ It is easy to see all that is wrong with the world. You have only to turn on the television to see terrifying pictures of what is going on all around us. And even the so-called entertainment often seems cruel and demeaning. The radio, the internet, the newspapers have the same focus – we question the decency and behaviour of others. We ask ourselves ‘what is the world coming to?’ Just reading that paragraph makes me feel old. I remember being young enough to be able to laugh off such comments, to wonder why anyone would spend their time worrying about things that did not concern them and that they could do nothing about. Because my life was fine, the lives of those around me were fine. My world was very small. If you had said to me then ‘keep yourself unstained by the world’, I would have said ‘I do. I don’t get i...

Opening Prayer Here I am Lord, Listening Speak to me within my heart and soul. I am listening. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians 1 15:30 ‘I die every day’ Reflection The idea of thinking about death after the trauma of Easter seems unwelcome. We have had the Resurrection – why not simply believe the Golden Truth – that he is Risen and everything is going to be all right. That would be so simple to believe, except it’s not really. Everything is not all right; in our lives we still find sorrow and sadness and loss. And there is only much you can achieve by putting on a happy face. Paul didn’t have a problem with the idea of death or dying. Dying, for Paul, always gave you another chance –the Resurrection proves this. After all he only ever met the Risen Christ – his starting point, his whole understanding came from the knowledge that to become greater there is a need to die – as the wheat seed fall to the ground and dies to become a plant which then produces more seeds. Because every da...