Peter Blog a few random thoughts

Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror 'cos I get better looking each day to know me is to love me. I must be a hell of a man. O Lord it's hard to be humble but I'm doing the best that I can. This could be the song of the Pharisees in today’s Gospel. The Pharisees had a reputation of putting lots of burdens on people regarding the law and thinking that they were humble when in fact they were no humble at all. They saw themselves as perfect and others as worthless. Jesus could not stand religious hypocrisy and this false sense of humility. So what are the signs that we need to watch out for. Jesus points to three things. They do not practice what they preach. They demand more of others than they do of themselves. They crave attention and are caught up in the trappings of honour. They are focused on self and not on others or God. It becomes a fundamental religion so it becomes a set of principle...

Twenty Ninth Sunday of the year In today’s Gospel Jesus poses the Question that many people in pubs right across our land and at dinner tables tell us that we should never do and that is to mix politics and religion.   They are in one sense poles apart and yet they are linked also. We live in a world where Politics and Religion sit side by side sometimes not very well.   As a Catholic Christian how do we respond to this? Well I think that we have a very clear answer in today’s readings. In the Gospel today we see that Jesus is asked a question about politics and especially tax. Jesus gives a very clever response he realises he is trapped so he says “Very well, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God”  Religion and Politics live in harmony together we cannot take one away from the other. We are called to be responsive to both society and to God. We have a responsibility to both and our following of God must inform our decisions about pol...

Twenty eighth Sunday of the year There was a wonderful programme a number of years ago called Keeping up appearances. If you remember Hyacinth Bucket was the archetypal snob. Who was always trying to get the great and the good the well off and those who were socially acceptable to her “Candle lit suppers?”   She would spend most of the programme trying to get people to them. It is always blighted by her rather scruffy and unkempt in laws who are constant embarrassments to her. In today’s gospel we are invited to a wedding feast. In Jewish imagery the King is an image of God and the great feast is a popular Jewish image for the joy of the life to come. As we heard in today’s first reading: “On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare a banquet of rich food and a banquet of fine wines.” When the banquet is prepared he sends his servants who are the prophets out to inform the people that they are invited to this banquet but they refuse to come. The invited are the chosen peopl...

Twenty eighth Sunday of the year There was a wonderful programme a number of years ago called Keeping up appearances. If you remember Hyacinth Bucket was the archetypal snob. Who was always trying to get the great and the good the well off and those who were socially acceptable to her “Candle lit suppers?”   She would spend most of the programme trying to get people to them. It is always blighted by her rather scruffy and unkempt in laws who are constant embarrassments to her. In today’s gospel we are invited to a wedding feast. In Jewish imagery the King is an image of God and the great feast is a popular Jewish image for the joy of the life to come. As we heard in today’s first reading: “On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will prepare a banquet of rich food and a banquet of fine wines.” When the banquet is prepared he sends his servants who are the prophets out to inform the people that they are invited to this banquet but they refuse to come. The invited are the chosen people....

This parable when first heard by those listening would have angered and also shocked the listener. For what we have is a parable about how the Jewish people had treated the prophets in the past. They were sent by God to give the Good news of salvation to the people of Israel. Each of them were rejected and despised. Lastly after sending the prophets he sent his only Son and what we see is anger and a violent rejection of Christ. This parable became true with the death of Christ.  This parable then was telling the Jewish authorities what was going to happen to him. Sadly this rejection of Jesus and of Religion is also present in our country today. We have seen the dramatic fall in numbers coming to the Church and many people are actively against any forms of organised Religion. They see it as a hindrance to personal freedom and even actively opposed to it. We saw this is the lead up to the Papal visit last year. Where people such and Peter Tathell, Stephen fry led us to believe...

This parable when first heard by those listening would have angered and also shocked the listener. For what we have is a parable about how the Jewish people had treated the prophets in the past. They were sent by God to give the Good news of salvation to the people of Israel. Each of them were rejected and despised. Lastly after sending the prophets he sent his only Son and what we see is anger and a violent rejection of Christ. This parable became true with the death of Christ.   This parable then was telling the Jewish authorities what was going to happen to him. Sadly this rejection of Jesus and of Religion is also present in our country today. We have seen the dramatic fall in numbers coming to the Church and many people are actively against any forms of organised Religion. They see it as a hindrance to personal freedom and even actively opposed to it. We saw this is the lead up to the Papal visit last year. Where people such and Peter Tathell, Stephen fry led us to believ...