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John’s Gospel

John’s Gospel is a work of homage to, and service for, the Lord of Life. The language used is consistent with that which would have been familiar to a Palestinian Jew who was well acquainted with the contemporary Hellenic Greek of the upper classes. When referring to that John who baptised and acted as a precursor for Christ, unlike the other gospels, the author does not call him ‘the Baptist’ or the ‘Baptiser’. Matthew, Mark, and Luke distinguishes him from the apostle John in this way. In this gospel no such distinction is necessary for its author is John the apostle himself. This gospel is the work of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth acting through John as he recounts the wonderful experiences he had as a first hand witness to the actual events of Christ’s ministry on Earth. This is the Spirit of Truth Jesus speaks of in John 16:12-13. In this gospel, the focus is on the ministry of Christ that is conducted mainly within Judea and Jerusalem. Here the events happen, but thes...
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The gift of God's love

Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  (Opening to Psalm 106) When a person loves someone in a romantic sense that love can be felt powerfully, experienced as a deep-seated emotion that removes all else from that person's focus save the object of that great affection. This can lead to a developing situation in which matters that are important but not related to the natural flow of this reinforcing mutual exchange of affection can be relegated from the forefront of the mind and, sometimes, ignored altogether. In essence, such intensity of emotions seduces one's mind with the all-pervading joy of the present perfect union with another. This sometimes happens to such an extent that it is clear to external observers that the person has changed profoundly and seems to view their world through the prism of their new-found love.  This condition cannot and does not last indefinitely. If one is blessed with a true union of manifest quality,...
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Haggai reflections

Reflections on Haggai: We read the two chapters of Haggai and we learn of God's disquiet, of his observations ; his chosen people are home in Israel again after their long exile. The relatively  benevolent Persian king Darius reigns and they are free to build their  temple at Jerusalem once more. It's in ruins and they begin to rebuild it. But they are half-hearted, they build slowly and without quality for they are focused not on the temple of their God but on the problems and desires of their lives. Well I remember the flush of enthusiasm with which I embraced the word of God as a young man. My heart overflowed with love for him and I felt buoyed daily by the delight of the Holy Spirit working through me in reaching out to others. They were heady times, I had just been baptised and the bible felt like a firebrand  in my hand, inspiring me to take the word of God to those in darkness. My faith was strong and God's power was before me, shining as the sun. All was as it sh...
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reflection on contrition

A reflection on contrition Luke 4 :18..   "He hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart." Shame, regret, remorse-all these things are bound up with the idea of contrition. However, contrition has to be defined in terms of an emotion every bit as strong as hate or envy or anger but, we note,  of a different colour altogether. The strength of the emotion that we know when we experience contrition is proportional to the strength of love we have for the person we have dishonoured by our actions. Our remorse is a measure of our love. If we truly love God as he commands us, then, the knowledge that we have hurt the one we love is painful in deed. Feeling upset because we have let a friend down is a healthy emotion. It forges a desire not to do this again, it stimulates us to make some recompense for our misdeeds, it galvanises us to try harder the next time we feel a need to indulge our nature and put our interests before those of God. Now, God understands us; he reads and kno...
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