Jesus with You in my boat what do I have to fear?

I shall not sink into the abyss to be forgotten forever, for You O Lord have redeemed me. And even if I should die, I will do so in Your loving embrace and I shall rise again to new life in You.

Jesus with You in my boat what do I have to fear?

The raging sea of despair, torrential winds of change and uncertainties, thunders of doom, lightning threats of destruction will never overrun me. For I lie next to You in the slumber of Your peace and love.

Jesus with You in my boat what do I have to fear?

O Faithful Shepherd my Lord and my God I belong to You. I listen to Your voice and I follow You. For I live in the blessed assurance of Your words, “I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from my hand. The Father, for what he has given me, is greater than anyone, and no one can steal anything from the Father’s hand.” John 10:28-29

My faith is in You Lord now and forever. Amen Alleluia!

First Reading

Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19 ·

Abraham looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God

Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.

    It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. They lived there in tents while he looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God.

    It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead himself, more descendants than could be counted, as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.

    All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and nomads on earth. People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of their real homeland. They can hardly have meant the country they came from, since they had the opportunity to go back to it; but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.

    It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though the promises had been made to him and he had been told: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.

Gospel

Mark 4:35-41

‘Even the wind and the sea obey him’

With the coming of evening, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us cross over to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind they took him, just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. Then it began to blow a gale and the waves were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. But he was in the stern, his head on the cushion, asleep. They woke him and said to him, ‘Master, do you not care? We are going down!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ And the wind dropped, and all was calm again. Then he said to them, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’ They were filled with awe and said to one another, ‘Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey him.’

How long will we allow the precious life giving Word of God to wash over us? Every time we read today’s Gospel we tend to make empty promises to do better and to live better but when will we actually put our resolve into action? If we think that we have already done so or are hard at work in doing so, then what fruits have we bore? How much has changed in our lives by living His Word? And how have we contributed to effect the same change in others such that they too are living the word of God in their lives to the full?

Receiving the Word of God is not just a matter of attentive listening, it is about the preparation of our hearts to receive His Word and the uniting of our wills with His so as to put His Word for us into action.  The willing sacrifice to do what is necessary in order to bear fruit. “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24

Let Your Word be a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Always and forever. Amen

First reading

Hebrews 10:11-18 ·

Jesus achieved the eternal perfection of all whom he is sanctifying

All the priests stand at their duties every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking sins away. He, on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his place forever, at the right hand of God, where he is now waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for him. By virtue of that one single offering, he has achieved the eternal perfection of all whom he is sanctifying. The Holy Spirit assures us of this; for he says, first:

This is the covenant I will make with them

when those days arrive;

and the Lord then goes on to say:

I will put my laws into their hearts

and write them on their minds. I will never call their sins to mind,

or their offences.

When all sins have been forgiven, there can be no more sin offerings.

Gospel

Mark 4:1-20

The parable of the sower

Jesus began to teach by the lakeside, but such a huge crowd gathered round him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there. The people were all along the shore, at the water’s edge. He taught them many things in parables, and in the course of his teaching he said to them, ‘Listen! Imagine a sower going out to sow. Now it happened that, as he sowed, some of the seed fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some seed fell on rocky ground where it found little soil and sprang up straightaway, because there was no depth of earth; and when the sun came up it was scorched and, not having any roots, it withered away. Some seed fell into thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it produced no crop. And some seeds fell into rich soil and, growing tall and strong, produced crop; and yielded thirty, sixty, even a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!’

    When he was alone, the Twelve, together with the others who formed his company, asked what the parables meant. He told them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of God is given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables, so that they may see and see again, but not perceive; may hear and hear again, but not understand; otherwise they might be converted and be forgiven.’

    He said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those on the edge of the path where the word is sown are people who have no sooner heard it than Satan comes and carries away the word that was sown in them. Similarly, those who receive the seed on patches of rock are people who, when first they hear the word, welcome it at once with joy. But they have no root in them, they do not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, they fall away at once. Then there are others who receive the seed in thorns. These have heard the word, but the worries of this world, the lure of riches and all the other passions come in to choke the word, and so it produces nothing. And there are those who have received the seed in rich soil: they hear the word and accept it and yield a harvest, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.

Whether we were born into a family of believers or having entered into the larger family of Christ Jesus by our baptism, we are all One Body in Him. We therefore must keep the faith alive and strong by fanning into a Hot Holy smouldering flame; the gift we received from God our Heavenly Father by living in the Spirit.  So that everyone in the world can witness the love of Jesus by our Love for them and for one another.

We must strive with all vigour and conviction to encourage one another to attend community and family prayer meetings so as to centre ourselves on the Word of God so as to live out our lives according to His Will for us.

Jesus we are Yours as You are ours! Bless and keep all in Your loving care. Holy Spirit live in us and be our guide. Amen

Saints Timothy and Titus pray for us.

First reading

2 Timothy 1:1-8

Fan into a flame the gift God gave you

From Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus in his design to promise life in Christ Jesus; to Timothy, dear child of mine, wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Night and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him as my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers; I remember your tears and long to see you again to complete my happiness. Then I am reminded of the sincere faith which you have; it came first to live in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I have no doubt that it is the same faith in you as well.

    That is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but 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.

Gospel

Mark 3:31-35

Who are my mother and my brothers? Those that do the will of God

The mother and brothers of Jesus arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’

Nothing we offer up, do on our own can cover our sins or take away the guilt and shame that we rightfully should have for what we have done and failed to do that separated us from God our Heavenly Father.  How grateful and thankful are we that in His great love and mercy God our Heavenly Father sent His Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to cleanse us in His precious Blood, to purify, sanctify and set us free from all guilt and shame so that we can live fully in His peace, love and joy? Do we take the Sacrament of love and reconciliation with Him for granted? Or do we marvel at our awesome God who unveiled for love of us so that we can gaze upon His face and walk hand in hand with Him and live in His presence.

Having ourselves been cleansed of our sins do we go on walking steadfast in His light and in Holiness sharing His love with all with courage and conviction so that they too might enter into the wonderful relationship we share?

I remember distinctly my own transformative encounter with my Lord such that my own wife became quite exasperated and perhaps thought I had gone cuckoo! At one point she cried out,” You know we use to talk about music, movies, vacation spots, family and a whole lot more. Now it’s Jesus this and Jesus that, enough already!” She was simply acting out because she had not yet had the same encounter with the Lord as I had. I knew I had to just continue to be patient, loving and charitable towards her but it was not easy and I failed on occasion. I had to face criticism as well as sarcasm not just from her but from a lot of others both, family, friends and colleagues. “It’s just a matter of time before you revert to your old self” “Don’t think you’re all holy moly now!” Praise the Lord! That if we remain steadfast and perservere, He will make a way! Today my wife is serving as a Lector! Hallelujah!

Jesus thank You for loving me, my spouse, my children, my parents, siblings and my community. Lead us to walk always in Your presence. Amen

Hear The Reflection Read Out (Computer audio)

First reading

Hebrews 9:2-3,11-14

He has entered the sanctuary once and for all through his own blood

There was a tent which comprised two compartments: the first, in which the lamp stand, the table and the presentation loaves were kept, was called the Holy Place; then beyond the second veil, an innermost part which was called the Holy of Holies.

    But now Christ has come, as the high priest of all the blessings which were to come. He has passed through the greater, the more perfect tent, which is better than the one made by men’s hands because it is not of this created order; and he has entered the sanctuary once and for all, taking with him not the blood of goats and bull calves, but his own blood, having won an eternal redemption for us. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer are sprinkled on those who have incurred defilement and they restore the holiness of their outward lives; how much more effectively the blood of Christ, who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God through the eternal Spirit, can purify our inner self from dead actions so that we do our service to the living God.

Gospel

Mark 3:20-21

Jesus’ relatives were convinced he was out of his mind

Jesus went home, and once more such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.

The darling of Heaven, the Alpha and Omega, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came for love of us as a living sacrifice once for all to save us from eternal death. Before leaving us to ascend to God our Heavenly Father He left us the gift of a new Heavenly reality, whereby earth unites with Heaven through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at Holy Mass. We then receive Him body, blood, soul and divinity into our very being as we are united with through Him with the Holy Trinity in Communion.

Are we worthy then to call out and praise His Holy name? Or have we allowed sin to prevail in our lives such that it has deprived us of the privilege of worshipping and glorifying Him by singing His praises and witnessing to His love and joy in our lives. For evil ones can never pay Him proper homage or give credible witness to His promises fulfilled.

Guard my soul dear Jesus for into Your hands I commend my spirit. Amen

St Agnes Pray for us….

First reading

Hebrews 7:25-8:6

He has offered sacrifice once and for all by offering himself

The power of Jesus to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.

    To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because he has done this once and for all by offering himself. The Law appoints high priests who are men subject to weakness; but the promise on oath, which came after the Law, appointed the Son who is made perfect for ever.

    The great point of all that we have said is that we have a high priest of exactly this kind. He has his place at the right of the throne of divine Majesty in the heavens, and he is the minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tent of Meeting which the Lord, and not any man, set up. It is the duty of every high priest to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so this one too must have something to offer. In fact, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are others who make the offerings laid down by the Law and these only maintain the service of a model or a reflection of the heavenly realities. For Moses, when he had the Tent to build, was warned by God who said: See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

    We have seen that he has been given a ministry of a far higher order, and to the same degree it is a better covenant of which he is the mediator, founded on better promises.

Gospel

Mark 3:7-12

He warned them not to make him known as the Son of God

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him. And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he warned them strongly not to make him known.

It is intriguing and rather exciting to peek into the past to see how God’s plan of salvation slowly unraveled itself from the beginning in Genesis all the way through to the unveiling of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In today’s first reading it mentions that the King of peace came to Abraham Father of all nations bearing gifts of bread and wine, can we still not see that this a foreshadowing of our high priest Jesus; our Prince of Peace who will later offer Himself as a sacrifice from which the bread of life (Body) and wine of our salvation (Blood) will be offered up to redeem the World and grant us eternal life!

Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel that there is no ‘good and appropriate time’ to exercise mercy and love. For Jesus never takes a rest day from caring for and loving us, so like Him we must exercise mercy and love all the time. For He came to give us new life in Him restoring and making us whole so that we can live in His peace, love and joy. Let us not be obstinate and readily forgive others who have hurt us otherwise through hardness of heart we will plot and scheme to our own destruction.

Jesus my Lord and King reign in my heart now and forever. Amen

First reading

Hebrews 7:1-3,15-17

You are a priest of the order of Melchizedek, for ever

You remember that Melchizedek, king of Salem, a priest of God Most High, went to meet Abraham who was on his way back after defeating the kings, and blessed him; and also that it was to him that Abraham gave a tenth of all that he had. By the interpretation of his name, he is, first, ‘king of righteousness’ and also king of Salem, that is, ‘king of peace’; he has no father, mother or ancestry, and his life has no beginning or ending; he is like the Son of God. He remains a priest for ever.

    This becomes even more clearly evident when there appears a second Melchizedek, who is a priest not by virtue of a law about physical descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it was about him that the prophecy was made: You are a priest of the order of Melchizedek, and for ever.

Gospel

Mark 3:1-6

Is it against the law on the sabbath day to save life?

Jesus went into a synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they were watching him to see if he would cure him on the sabbath day, hoping for something to use against him. He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up out in the middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better. The Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.

Blessed are You Lord God of all creation, Your mercy and love endures forever! And I will sing Your praises!

This is how our hearts filled with the joy of our Lord, should awake to greet the Lord our God at the start and the end of our day. He our faithful and ever loving God who remembers not our sins but came for love of us to unite us forever with God our Heavenly Father. For we are truly beloved children of God our Father we must therefore love one another as He loves us.

In today’s Gospel I am reminded that we should ask important question especially in these times of the pandemic. Are we taking the administrative approach such that it prevails over a pastoral one? Have we shifted our focus to our very own survival and have forgotten those who are hungry and thirsty? Are we still counting the cost of savings souls?

Jesus my Master in all that I say and do let it be after Your own heart. Let me love everyone with and in Your love. Amen

First reading
Hebrews 6:10-20
In this hope we have an anchor for our soul

God would not be so unjust as to forget all you have done, the love that you have for his name or the services you have done, and are still doing, for the saints. Our one desire is that every one of you should go on showing the same earnestness to the end, to the perfect fulfilment of our hopes, never growing careless, but imitating those who have the faith and the perseverance to inherit the promises.
When God made the promise to Abraham, he swore by his own self, since it was impossible for him to swear by anyone greater: I will shower blessings on you and give you many descendants. Because of that, Abraham persevered and saw the promise fulfilled. Men, of course, swear an oath by something greater than themselves, and between men, confirmation by an oath puts an end to all dispute. In the same way, when God wanted to make the heirs to the promise thoroughly realise that his purpose was unalterable, he conveyed this by an oath; so that there would be two unalterable things in which it was impossible for God to be lying, and so that we, now we have found safety, should have a strong encouragement to take a firm grip on the hope that is held out to us. Here we have an anchor for our soul, as sure as it is firm, and reaching right through beyond the veil where Jesus has entered before us and on our behalf, to become a high priest of the order of Melchizedek, and for ever.

Gospel
Mark 2:23-28
The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath

One sabbath day, Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to pick ears of corn as they went along. And the Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing something on the sabbath day that is forbidden?’ And he replied, ‘Did you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of offering which only the priests are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?’
And he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; the Son of Man is master even of the sabbath.’

We live in a world in which darkness looms. Too many distractions readily available to take away our focus from the light of the world; our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Sexually suggestive and immodest advertisements, pornography are rampant and easily accessible. More and more people are confused and then later convinced that Christians are wrong about the pride movement and abortion. Eventually they become blinded the world and Christ no longer holds dear to them. They forget the many times He was alongside them in their greatest trials and tribulations. How He comforted them and poured out His love and grace upon them and their family. Even led them to a community of disciples to journey on with them. They have allowed the antichrist of the world free reign in their lives.

What must we the faithful do? We are to keep our focus on the reign of God so as to  lead others who have lost their way back into His Kingdom. Therefore it is imperative that we always start our day with the Word of God. We need to put on the whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Only then in holiness can we walk alongside those who have been mislead, so as to lead them back to the path of life. The attack on the family and the sacredness of the family is a real and present danger! It is an attack on the Holy family of God and so we must stand ready to do battle for the sake of our humanity as beloved children of God our Heavenly Father. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. .

First reading
1 John 3:22-4:6
The Son of God has come and given us the power to know the true God

Whatever we ask God, we shall receive,
because we keep his commandments
and live the kind of life that he wants.
His commandments are these:
that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another
as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his commandments lives in God and God lives in him.
We know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.

It is not every spirit, my dear people, that you can trust; test them, to see if they come from God, there are many false prophets, now, in the world.
You can tell the spirits that come from God by this: every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh is from God; but any spirit which will not say this of Jesus is not from God, but is the spirit of Antichrist, whose coming you were warned about.
Well, now he is here, in the world.
Children, you have already overcome these false prophets, because you are from God and you have in you one who is greater than anyone in this world; as for them, they are of the world, and so they speak the language of the world and the world listens to them.
But we are children of God, and those who know God listen to us; those who are not of God refuse to listen to us.
This is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood.

Gospel
Matthew 4:12-17,23-25
The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light

Hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled:

‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali!
Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan,
Galilee of the nations!
The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned.’

From that moment Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’
    He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people. His fame spread throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them. Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordania.