Fr Alan told us a story once of an old lady having visions. She told her parish priest and her parish priest told her if she were to see God, could she ask God what sins the parish priest had, which only God and the priest knew.
The next time the priest saw the old lady, he asked her if she had seen God and what sins the priest had. The old lady told the priest she had seen God and she had asked God of the priest's sins. However, God told the old lady that God has forgotten all the priest's sins.
I think this story is befitting for this post, after I have written several posts about sin.
I am also relief to know God has forgotten all my sins. It is a new beginning for me each day, knowing of the mercy and love of God for me and that God has a memory problem.
Hearing all the lovely sermons of Fr Alan for many years did not bring me to conversion. I had a pick and mix attitude to my faith. I chose what I like about my Catholic religion and ignored the rest.
However, God loves me so much and he gave me a community of Christian brothers and sisters and I could see many of these people leading a Christian life. It is actually seeing people able to live a Christian life which made me aware that I too could abandon my pick and mix attitude towards my Catholic faith. Some people call pick and mix Christianity as cafeteria Christianity.
And so I called God to drop a bomb into my life so I could repent. With God's love, mercy and grace, I could walk away from a dichotomy of a Christian lifestyle and be a Christian.
Almighty and living God, I thank you for your love for me and for you to teach me to love only you. I thank you for the many blessings each day, and I pray you will give me the protection I need each day to arrive safely in heaven one day. Amen.
What Fr Alan Fudge said
Wednesday 31 August 2016
Christ is Kyrios
During the Roman period, Roman citizens would come to the statue of caesar to burn incense and would say Caesar Kyrios. Christians would not do this and were put to death. Why?
This is because for Christians, Christ is Kyrios.
Who is your Kyrios? Kyrios is a Greek word which means lord or master. Who is your lord and master? Your money, your career, your processions, your employer or something else?
In the primitive Church, the Romans hated Christians because they thought Christians divided families. Fr Alan said Christians did not divide families. Sin divided families.
In Romans 6:16, St Paul has written certain sins lead to death.
Fr Alan said, "Mortal sin kills." Fr Alan said Christians did not invent mortal sin. This concept came from the Jewish faith.
Fr Alan also said there was not much point for people who have mortal sins to receive communion.
WHY? This is because it is like giving food to a corpse. Fr Alan said, "There are people who do not want to talk about sin and say there is no such thing as mortal sin." Fr Alan said, "Racism is a very serious mortal sin."
Fr Alan said, "When one has mortal sin, one is dead and unable to love."
So when one is racist, one is unable to love people who are different from us.
Almighty Father, clean our hearts and drive from it all kinds of fear, including aversion to people who are different from us. Give us your Holy Spirit which helps us to love others, especially those who are different from us. Amen.
This is because for Christians, Christ is Kyrios.
Who is your Kyrios? Kyrios is a Greek word which means lord or master. Who is your lord and master? Your money, your career, your processions, your employer or something else?
In the primitive Church, the Romans hated Christians because they thought Christians divided families. Fr Alan said Christians did not divide families. Sin divided families.
In Romans 6:16, St Paul has written certain sins lead to death.
Fr Alan said, "Mortal sin kills." Fr Alan said Christians did not invent mortal sin. This concept came from the Jewish faith.
Fr Alan also said there was not much point for people who have mortal sins to receive communion.
WHY? This is because it is like giving food to a corpse. Fr Alan said, "There are people who do not want to talk about sin and say there is no such thing as mortal sin." Fr Alan said, "Racism is a very serious mortal sin."
Fr Alan said, "When one has mortal sin, one is dead and unable to love."
So when one is racist, one is unable to love people who are different from us.
Almighty Father, clean our hearts and drive from it all kinds of fear, including aversion to people who are different from us. Give us your Holy Spirit which helps us to love others, especially those who are different from us. Amen.
Onesimus
I remember Fr Alan telling us about Onesimus. Fr Alan said, "Onesimus means useful."
Onesimus was a slave of Philemon, and he was accused of stealing from Philemon, and Onesimus ran away, went to Rome, met St Paul, heard the preaching of Christ, repented, became a Christian, and St Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon with a letter, asking Philemon to forgive Onesimus and accept him as a brother in Christ.
WOW!
Only Christians can do this! And all three - Paul, Onesimus and Philemon all became saints.
This is really a story about repentance and during Lent, we are all called to repent.
Some people are averse to hearing, "Repent and believe in the Gospel." Why? I suppose this type of people think they are living a Christian life and do not have any sins and what is there to repent and believe in the Gospel, when this type of people already believe in the Gospel.
Well, all I can say is that it is not easy to repent and believe in the Gospel. Let us take this Sunday's Gospel from Luke 14: 25 - 33.
Jesus asks us to hate our mother, father, husband, wife, son, daughter, brothers, sisters and ourselves and be his disciple. Can you really do this? Many people are scandalised by this!
Then on verse 33, Jesus says, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions. Can you really give up ALL of your possessions and be a follower of Christ.
Fr Alan said, "Christians are not called to be poor." So what does this mean? Fr Alan taught us that we must not be attached to our possessions and money, and be free with these.
Fr Alan told us a story about himself. He wanted to go to the seminary and he was the only son. His grandmother called him to her room and showed him all her money in a trunk and told Fr Alan that if he were to give up the idea of going to the seminary, he could have all of his grandmother's money. At that point, Fr Alan said he had to hate his grandmother. WHY? He had to hate the idea of his grandmother tempting him not to go to the seminary. Of course he went to the seminary and left all his possessions and followed Jesus.
When his parents visited him after a year or two later when he was in the seminary, Fr ALan's mother was so upset when she saw his room. Fr Alan's room, which is called a cell, was bare, like Pope Benedict's room in the Vatican when he was the reigning Pope.
Why? This is because both Fr Alan and Pope Benedict have given up their possessions and turned to God.
Fr Alan said one Lent, "To repent means to have a metanoia." Metanoia means to change one's way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion. And for those people who find the concept of sin difficult to contemplate and to "repent and believe in the Gospel" does not apply to them, then perhaps they could think about repentance means to have a metanoia - to change one's way of life, turn to Jesus and have a deeper relationship with Him.
Almighty Father, remove our pride and the lie of the Devil, making us think we are perfect Christians, who do not sin or do not have any need of repentance. Teach us the real meaning of metanoia, turn to you and look only at you, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Onesimus was a slave of Philemon, and he was accused of stealing from Philemon, and Onesimus ran away, went to Rome, met St Paul, heard the preaching of Christ, repented, became a Christian, and St Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon with a letter, asking Philemon to forgive Onesimus and accept him as a brother in Christ.
WOW!
Only Christians can do this! And all three - Paul, Onesimus and Philemon all became saints.
This is really a story about repentance and during Lent, we are all called to repent.
Some people are averse to hearing, "Repent and believe in the Gospel." Why? I suppose this type of people think they are living a Christian life and do not have any sins and what is there to repent and believe in the Gospel, when this type of people already believe in the Gospel.
Well, all I can say is that it is not easy to repent and believe in the Gospel. Let us take this Sunday's Gospel from Luke 14: 25 - 33.
Jesus asks us to hate our mother, father, husband, wife, son, daughter, brothers, sisters and ourselves and be his disciple. Can you really do this? Many people are scandalised by this!
Then on verse 33, Jesus says, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions. Can you really give up ALL of your possessions and be a follower of Christ.
Fr Alan said, "Christians are not called to be poor." So what does this mean? Fr Alan taught us that we must not be attached to our possessions and money, and be free with these.
Fr Alan told us a story about himself. He wanted to go to the seminary and he was the only son. His grandmother called him to her room and showed him all her money in a trunk and told Fr Alan that if he were to give up the idea of going to the seminary, he could have all of his grandmother's money. At that point, Fr Alan said he had to hate his grandmother. WHY? He had to hate the idea of his grandmother tempting him not to go to the seminary. Of course he went to the seminary and left all his possessions and followed Jesus.
When his parents visited him after a year or two later when he was in the seminary, Fr ALan's mother was so upset when she saw his room. Fr Alan's room, which is called a cell, was bare, like Pope Benedict's room in the Vatican when he was the reigning Pope.
Why? This is because both Fr Alan and Pope Benedict have given up their possessions and turned to God.
Fr Alan said one Lent, "To repent means to have a metanoia." Metanoia means to change one's way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion. And for those people who find the concept of sin difficult to contemplate and to "repent and believe in the Gospel" does not apply to them, then perhaps they could think about repentance means to have a metanoia - to change one's way of life, turn to Jesus and have a deeper relationship with Him.
Almighty Father, remove our pride and the lie of the Devil, making us think we are perfect Christians, who do not sin or do not have any need of repentance. Teach us the real meaning of metanoia, turn to you and look only at you, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Monday 29 August 2016
Sin
I used to do a church crawl in London finding for a place where I could worship. I noticed that many priests were afraid to talk about sin, the devil, hell, punishment and Fr Alan never had any problems talking about these topics.
I found Ogle Street in the early 1990's with a number of my friends and we used to drive in a convoy from West London to Central London each Sunday to listen to Fr Alan preaching the most wonderful sermons, calling us to turn to Jesus and to lead a Christian life.
We all loved his sermons and how he used to make the readings from the Bible alive for all of us.
So what did Fr Alan say about sin?
Fr Alan talked about private, public, habitual sins.
So if I were to sit there thinking of someone leaving half his food on his plate and how he has robbed the starving by wasting food, then I have committed a private sin, judging this person with my heart, and other people who not have known about this.
If I were to cause a sandal by stealing someone's husband, than that sin would be public and everybody would know about it.
As for private sin, nobody would know about it and I could have sinned, and rot away like Lazarus who had died, buried and was rotten when Jesus called him out of his grave. In another word, I could have sinned privately, rotten to the core and nobody would know about it, until Jesus calls me to repent.
However, both private and public sins have consequences and these sins damage us, the sinner, and other people around us.
Fr Alan also talked habitual sins, which were sins which we could not get rid of - such as gambling, taking drugs, watching ponography, masterbating and some of these sins could be private sins, where nobody would know that one has committed such sins, but nevertheless these sins would cause self damage and also to those around us.
Allan Wing reminded me that Fr Alan said, "Some people finds it difficult to cut with their sins because the sins are pleasurable [as in enjoyable]." I believe only God can call us out of this type of pleasurable sin by doing something big in our lives and giving us a huge shock. This could be in a form of "punishment".
Fr Alan used to say, "You will be punished!" What does punishment mean? God punishes us by calling us to order because he loves us. God is trying to redeem us from our bad ways of hurting other people or ourselves, and God puts something shocking in our lives so we can change and make a cut with our sins. God does this completely out of love. God our Father is a good parent, and like good parents, God disciplines us, so we can grow closer towards him and love him more and stop sinning.
Fr Alan also said, "Some people think sexual sins are the worst sins." Fr Alan said, "The worst sins are those pertaining to money."
Fr Alan used to tell us about how families would split up because of a Will. Family members would fight over money and how money could drive some people to do very strange things. This is why avarice is one of the seven deadly sins.
However, do remember of God's mercy and God is always merciful and all of these sins could be forgiven.
So, go to confession and ask for forgivenss and even before you walk into the box, God has already forgiven your sin.
What I like about going to Fr Alan for confession was that he could tell me my sins, and he would also explain to me why I have committed these sins and how I could avoid committing these sins. I suppose Fr Alan knew me very well.
I remembered on one Holy Saturday morning when a group of us had just finished cleaning the church to get ready for the great feast of Easter. Fr Alan came to me and told me to stop eating junk food. How did know I had been eating convenience food and eating out frequently? I felt Fr Alan could see through me. I never told Fr Alan about my eating habits. With that remark from Fr Alan, I could walk away from destroying my body and began eating healthy.
Only grace from God can help all of us not to sin again. Do not be afraid of our sinful nature. God loves us with all our sins. Just ask from God the grace not to sin again.
I am going to give you the advice which Fr Alan gave to me when I used to go to confession with him. Fr Alan would say to me, "Be kind to yourself. Throw yourself onto the Throne of Mercy."
So throw yourself onto the Throne of Mercy and be kind and gentle to yourself. Remember God is love and mercy.
And finally, there is nothing to be ashamed of that we are all sinners. I think it is very cool to pray for the Word of God to act as a mirror to show us our sins.
Almighty and ever living God, thank you for your love and mercy, always forgiving me. Please give me the grace not to sin again. Amen.
I found Ogle Street in the early 1990's with a number of my friends and we used to drive in a convoy from West London to Central London each Sunday to listen to Fr Alan preaching the most wonderful sermons, calling us to turn to Jesus and to lead a Christian life.
We all loved his sermons and how he used to make the readings from the Bible alive for all of us.
So what did Fr Alan say about sin?
Fr Alan talked about private, public, habitual sins.
So if I were to sit there thinking of someone leaving half his food on his plate and how he has robbed the starving by wasting food, then I have committed a private sin, judging this person with my heart, and other people who not have known about this.
If I were to cause a sandal by stealing someone's husband, than that sin would be public and everybody would know about it.
As for private sin, nobody would know about it and I could have sinned, and rot away like Lazarus who had died, buried and was rotten when Jesus called him out of his grave. In another word, I could have sinned privately, rotten to the core and nobody would know about it, until Jesus calls me to repent.
However, both private and public sins have consequences and these sins damage us, the sinner, and other people around us.
Fr Alan also talked habitual sins, which were sins which we could not get rid of - such as gambling, taking drugs, watching ponography, masterbating and some of these sins could be private sins, where nobody would know that one has committed such sins, but nevertheless these sins would cause self damage and also to those around us.
Allan Wing reminded me that Fr Alan said, "Some people finds it difficult to cut with their sins because the sins are pleasurable [as in enjoyable]." I believe only God can call us out of this type of pleasurable sin by doing something big in our lives and giving us a huge shock. This could be in a form of "punishment".
Fr Alan used to say, "You will be punished!" What does punishment mean? God punishes us by calling us to order because he loves us. God is trying to redeem us from our bad ways of hurting other people or ourselves, and God puts something shocking in our lives so we can change and make a cut with our sins. God does this completely out of love. God our Father is a good parent, and like good parents, God disciplines us, so we can grow closer towards him and love him more and stop sinning.
Fr Alan also said, "Some people think sexual sins are the worst sins." Fr Alan said, "The worst sins are those pertaining to money."
Fr Alan used to tell us about how families would split up because of a Will. Family members would fight over money and how money could drive some people to do very strange things. This is why avarice is one of the seven deadly sins.
However, do remember of God's mercy and God is always merciful and all of these sins could be forgiven.
So, go to confession and ask for forgivenss and even before you walk into the box, God has already forgiven your sin.
What I like about going to Fr Alan for confession was that he could tell me my sins, and he would also explain to me why I have committed these sins and how I could avoid committing these sins. I suppose Fr Alan knew me very well.
I remembered on one Holy Saturday morning when a group of us had just finished cleaning the church to get ready for the great feast of Easter. Fr Alan came to me and told me to stop eating junk food. How did know I had been eating convenience food and eating out frequently? I felt Fr Alan could see through me. I never told Fr Alan about my eating habits. With that remark from Fr Alan, I could walk away from destroying my body and began eating healthy.
Only grace from God can help all of us not to sin again. Do not be afraid of our sinful nature. God loves us with all our sins. Just ask from God the grace not to sin again.
I am going to give you the advice which Fr Alan gave to me when I used to go to confession with him. Fr Alan would say to me, "Be kind to yourself. Throw yourself onto the Throne of Mercy."
So throw yourself onto the Throne of Mercy and be kind and gentle to yourself. Remember God is love and mercy.
And finally, there is nothing to be ashamed of that we are all sinners. I think it is very cool to pray for the Word of God to act as a mirror to show us our sins.
Almighty and ever living God, thank you for your love and mercy, always forgiving me. Please give me the grace not to sin again. Amen.
Saturday 27 August 2016
St Monica
St Monica - the mother of St Augustine
Today is the feast day of St Monica.
It has also reminded me of Fr Alan's mantra - "Close your book of complaints!"
Fr Alan told us of this story of St Monica sitting next to St Augustine and his mistress for years eating their meals. She said nothing and kept her mouth shut. St Monica had closed her book of complaints.
Fr ALan said, God answered St Monica's prayers, and at the age of 33, St Augustine walked down the baptismal font with his son and became a Christian.
St Monica - pray for us.
Today is the feast day of St Monica.
It has also reminded me of Fr Alan's mantra - "Close your book of complaints!"
Fr Alan told us of this story of St Monica sitting next to St Augustine and his mistress for years eating their meals. She said nothing and kept her mouth shut. St Monica had closed her book of complaints.
Fr ALan said, God answered St Monica's prayers, and at the age of 33, St Augustine walked down the baptismal font with his son and became a Christian.
St Monica - pray for us.
Friday 26 August 2016
Food and Drink
What did Fr Alan said about food and drink?
I have already mentioned Fr Alan said we have not been called to be puritans and on feast days the vino must flow.
During the first year of me worshiping at St Charles, Ogle Street, W1, I heard Fr Alan saying on one Easter Sunday morning that there were lamb, fish on the table during the Easter morning breakfast and vino was flowing.
At that time I was rather surprised that people could eat fish, lamb and drink wine early on Easter morning.
Fr Alan also said it was impossible for people to pass drinks and food on to one's enemies if they were sitting together having a meal. This was because passing on food and drink to another person was a sign of wanting the other person to live.
One Lent, a sister told me that I should give up cooking and baking for Lent. Fr Alan got to hear of this and he immediately said to everybody, "Definitely not!" Fr Alan said, "When Juyee cooks, she is giving life to others and this must not be stopped, especially during Lent."
This Sunday's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus said, ". . . when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay back . . ."
And again in 2 Corinthians 9:7, St Paul wrote, "For God loves a person who gives cheerfully."
So be generous, cook without counting the cost and give with a cheerful heart and do not expect any repayment.
Why? This is because God will not be outdone by one's generosity. So trust in God and just give without counting and God will reward you a hundredfold.
Fr Alan told me a story, one lunch time, that there was a handicap centre in India where people were constantly ill. The leader of the charity realised the cook was very angry and he changed the cook and people stopped getting ill.
So the moral of this story is to have a happy disposition if one is cooking for others.
The last note about what Fr Alan said about food: Fr Alan said dessert was the main course of the meal. Fr Alan had a sweet tooth and when I cooked for him, I paid a particular interest on the dessert and would spend the majority of my time preparing a good dessert. Since then, I have always love dessert, in memory of Fr Alan.
May Fr Alan eats lots and lots of desserts in heaven with lots of evaporated milk [not cream] and no Chinese food! LOL
How I have enjoyed my time cooking and eating with Fr Alan! How I have missed Fr Alan!
Heavenly Father! Thank you for putting Fr Alan in front of me. Thank you for his wonderful teachings on how to lead a Christian life. I pray he is having his reward in full in heaven, eating lots of delicious desserts everyday. Amen.
I have already mentioned Fr Alan said we have not been called to be puritans and on feast days the vino must flow.
During the first year of me worshiping at St Charles, Ogle Street, W1, I heard Fr Alan saying on one Easter Sunday morning that there were lamb, fish on the table during the Easter morning breakfast and vino was flowing.
At that time I was rather surprised that people could eat fish, lamb and drink wine early on Easter morning.
Fr Alan also said it was impossible for people to pass drinks and food on to one's enemies if they were sitting together having a meal. This was because passing on food and drink to another person was a sign of wanting the other person to live.
One Lent, a sister told me that I should give up cooking and baking for Lent. Fr Alan got to hear of this and he immediately said to everybody, "Definitely not!" Fr Alan said, "When Juyee cooks, she is giving life to others and this must not be stopped, especially during Lent."
This Sunday's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus said, ". . . when you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; that they cannot pay back . . ."
And again in 2 Corinthians 9:7, St Paul wrote, "For God loves a person who gives cheerfully."
So be generous, cook without counting the cost and give with a cheerful heart and do not expect any repayment.
Why? This is because God will not be outdone by one's generosity. So trust in God and just give without counting and God will reward you a hundredfold.
Fr Alan told me a story, one lunch time, that there was a handicap centre in India where people were constantly ill. The leader of the charity realised the cook was very angry and he changed the cook and people stopped getting ill.
So the moral of this story is to have a happy disposition if one is cooking for others.
The last note about what Fr Alan said about food: Fr Alan said dessert was the main course of the meal. Fr Alan had a sweet tooth and when I cooked for him, I paid a particular interest on the dessert and would spend the majority of my time preparing a good dessert. Since then, I have always love dessert, in memory of Fr Alan.
May Fr Alan eats lots and lots of desserts in heaven with lots of evaporated milk [not cream] and no Chinese food! LOL
How I have enjoyed my time cooking and eating with Fr Alan! How I have missed Fr Alan!
Heavenly Father! Thank you for putting Fr Alan in front of me. Thank you for his wonderful teachings on how to lead a Christian life. I pray he is having his reward in full in heaven, eating lots of delicious desserts everyday. Amen.
The Word of God
Fr Alan said, "The Word, [as in the readings from Scripture], is always in the singular, [even if were three readings from the Bible in a Celebration of the Word]."
Other examples of such uncount nouns include furniture, food, information, luggage, advice, equipment.
So we say, "The Word of the Lord." and not the words of the Lord.
Fr Alan said, "Christians should not go through three days without listening to the Word of God." So people who are in communities should meet at least twice a week to hear the Word of God together - once for Sunday Mass and the other during mid-week - and respond to the Word, which is to put flesh on the Word of God.
To put flesh on the Word means to relate the Word of God to our lives and experiences.
Fr Alan also said the Word of God should be drip-fed. Fr Alan said, "When water is constantly dripping on a rock, over time there would be an indentation." Similarly, the Word of God can have this effect.
If we were to listen to the Word of God given to us within a week, as in a retreat, then it would be like throwing a bucket of water over a rock and soon the rock would be dry and no indentation has been made.
Since hearing what Fr Alan had said, I stopped going to 8 day retreat with the Jesuits. However, Fr Alan also said he would go for a 30 day retreat when he retired. Fr Alan died before he retired.
So when the Word of God is drip-fed to us, over time, as in years, we will slowly respond to the Word of God.
Fr Alan also said we should belong to a Scripture school to study the Bible and we should not expect a priest to explain all the readings in any Liturgy of the Word. It is in this Scripture school that we begin to familiarise ourselves with the Word of God and understand its deeper meaning and how the Word of God relate to our lives.
When I first attended St Charles, Ogle Street in the early 1990's, Fr Alan said, "Pray to God that the Word of God can be a mirror for your lives and show you your sins."
How terrifying it was for me when this became true and my prayers were answered!
I will write more about what Fr Alan said about sin in another post in the future.
Fr Alan also said, "The Word of God is the Holy Spirit, and when the Word is announced, it is looking for a home in our hearts." So Fr Alan encouraged us to welcome the Word into our hearts with great expectation.
Let us pray: Almighty Father, give us the grace to enter into your Word each day, and may your Word show us our sins and show us who we really are. Unless we know ourselves, we can never get to know you. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Other examples of such uncount nouns include furniture, food, information, luggage, advice, equipment.
So we say, "The Word of the Lord." and not the words of the Lord.
Fr Alan said, "Christians should not go through three days without listening to the Word of God." So people who are in communities should meet at least twice a week to hear the Word of God together - once for Sunday Mass and the other during mid-week - and respond to the Word, which is to put flesh on the Word of God.
To put flesh on the Word means to relate the Word of God to our lives and experiences.
Fr Alan also said the Word of God should be drip-fed. Fr Alan said, "When water is constantly dripping on a rock, over time there would be an indentation." Similarly, the Word of God can have this effect.
If we were to listen to the Word of God given to us within a week, as in a retreat, then it would be like throwing a bucket of water over a rock and soon the rock would be dry and no indentation has been made.
Since hearing what Fr Alan had said, I stopped going to 8 day retreat with the Jesuits. However, Fr Alan also said he would go for a 30 day retreat when he retired. Fr Alan died before he retired.
So when the Word of God is drip-fed to us, over time, as in years, we will slowly respond to the Word of God.
Fr Alan also said we should belong to a Scripture school to study the Bible and we should not expect a priest to explain all the readings in any Liturgy of the Word. It is in this Scripture school that we begin to familiarise ourselves with the Word of God and understand its deeper meaning and how the Word of God relate to our lives.
When I first attended St Charles, Ogle Street in the early 1990's, Fr Alan said, "Pray to God that the Word of God can be a mirror for your lives and show you your sins."
How terrifying it was for me when this became true and my prayers were answered!
I will write more about what Fr Alan said about sin in another post in the future.
Fr Alan also said, "The Word of God is the Holy Spirit, and when the Word is announced, it is looking for a home in our hearts." So Fr Alan encouraged us to welcome the Word into our hearts with great expectation.
Let us pray: Almighty Father, give us the grace to enter into your Word each day, and may your Word show us our sins and show us who we really are. Unless we know ourselves, we can never get to know you. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Thursday 25 August 2016
Close your book of complaints
I was listening to a friend today in which she was discussing about her niece having bad things to say about her sister - my friend's niece's mother.
It reminded me of what Fr Alan had said.
Fr Alan said, "Close your book of complaints!"
We have so many things to complain about - we do not have the right parents, our parents drink too much, our sister is too fat, our husband is too ugly, our wife is too lazy, our parish priest is too old, and the lists goes on. Under all of these complaints, is our grievance against God, that God has got it wrong and sold us short.
This is why Fr Alan taught us to close our books of complaints.
I said to my friend that perhaps she should have told her niece that if she had nothing good to say about her mother, then she should keep silent.
Having a complaining culture is not conducive for us to be Christians.
So, accept what God has given us and accept that what God has given us is good. Remember, God does not give poison to his children.
Let us consider "Blessed are the poor . . ." from Matthew 5. In the JB, the current UK liturgical Bible, it is written as "Happy are the poor . . ."
Fr Alan asked us if we knew what happiness meant? He was referring to the Beatitudes.
Fr Alan said, "Happiness means we are in the right place."
Are you in the right place? Are you happy with your vocation? Are you happy in your religious life? Are you happy in your marriage? OR Do you have complaints to make against God?
Happy are the poor, theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. You see when you are poor, i.e. knowing that nothing belongs to you, you are very happy and blessed. I remember an English lady saying, "Procession is a curse." If you have nothing, then there is nothing to worry about.
Even when one is financially rich, one can be blessed when one knows everything belongs to God. This means we become free with our money, our possessions - our homes etc. This gives us a huge freedom. WHY? This is because we know we are in the right place.
So let us pray: Almighty God and Heavenly Father, help us to appreciate everything we have received from you is good. I thank you for my parents, for what you have given me, my siblings, my community, the Holy Mother Church, my friends etc. I thank you most for Fr Alan, whom has taught me so much about my faith. I ask you to bless Fr Alan and let him come before you in your heavenly throne and rejoice with you, with Jesus Christ your son, and the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen.
It reminded me of what Fr Alan had said.
Fr Alan said, "Close your book of complaints!"
We have so many things to complain about - we do not have the right parents, our parents drink too much, our sister is too fat, our husband is too ugly, our wife is too lazy, our parish priest is too old, and the lists goes on. Under all of these complaints, is our grievance against God, that God has got it wrong and sold us short.
This is why Fr Alan taught us to close our books of complaints.
I said to my friend that perhaps she should have told her niece that if she had nothing good to say about her mother, then she should keep silent.
Having a complaining culture is not conducive for us to be Christians.
So, accept what God has given us and accept that what God has given us is good. Remember, God does not give poison to his children.
Let us consider "Blessed are the poor . . ." from Matthew 5. In the JB, the current UK liturgical Bible, it is written as "Happy are the poor . . ."
Fr Alan asked us if we knew what happiness meant? He was referring to the Beatitudes.
Fr Alan said, "Happiness means we are in the right place."
Are you in the right place? Are you happy with your vocation? Are you happy in your religious life? Are you happy in your marriage? OR Do you have complaints to make against God?
Happy are the poor, theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. You see when you are poor, i.e. knowing that nothing belongs to you, you are very happy and blessed. I remember an English lady saying, "Procession is a curse." If you have nothing, then there is nothing to worry about.
Even when one is financially rich, one can be blessed when one knows everything belongs to God. This means we become free with our money, our possessions - our homes etc. This gives us a huge freedom. WHY? This is because we know we are in the right place.
So let us pray: Almighty God and Heavenly Father, help us to appreciate everything we have received from you is good. I thank you for my parents, for what you have given me, my siblings, my community, the Holy Mother Church, my friends etc. I thank you most for Fr Alan, whom has taught me so much about my faith. I ask you to bless Fr Alan and let him come before you in your heavenly throne and rejoice with you, with Jesus Christ your son, and the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen.
Love the Lord your God
In today's long reading in the Office, St Louis wrote to his son, instructing him to love the Lord, his God, with all his heart and all his strength . . .
Do you know what it means to love God with all your strength?
Fr Alan said to love God with all your strength is to love God with all your money.
So how do we love God with all our money?
So, let us pray, we are able love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind.
Amen.
Do you know what it means to love God with all your strength?
Fr Alan said to love God with all your strength is to love God with all your money.
So how do we love God with all our money?
So, let us pray, we are able love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind.
Amen.
Wednesday 24 August 2016
From dear Elizabeth Ajagbe on Fr Alan said . . .
Dear Elizabeth Ajagbe has just written to me to remind me of Fr Alan's teachings.
Fr Alan said, "There are no depths that we can fall as Christ has gone lower". Imagine God the Father allowing Jesus to go into hell after he was murdered. What was Jesus doing in hell for three days? He was recusing our forefathers. Heaven was closed after the fall of Adam and Eve and these poor good people, like Adam, Eve, Abraham and others had to wait in hell for Jesus to rescue them.
Fr Alan had a similar icon to the one below in the sacristy of St Charles' Ogle Street, London W1. The icon is called "Christ’s Descent into Hades" and in this icon, you see Christ rescuing Adam and Eve.
So, Jesus has conquered death and we have nothing to fear anymore and even if we have gone to "hell" in our crisis, do not worry. Jesus has gone lower!
By the way, Fr Alan said, "Our sins have put Jesus on the cross!" Imagine this! This is not to give us psychological problems worrying about our sins, but to help us realise that it was not the Romans who put Jesus on the cross. Jesus climbed onto the cross and he consummated his marriage there on the cross. When I first heard Fr Alan saying this, I was struck very hard and realised the buck stopped with me. Fr Alan has taught me to stop thinking other people should change and it is me who must change.
Some people think they cannot change. Fr Alan said, "Do not believe in the lie of the Devil and think you cannot change." Everybody can change with the help of God.
Another explanation of "There are no depths that we can fall as Christ has gone lower" could be the kenosis of Jesus. Jesus, God and King, became man, accused as a criminal, put on the cross, and died. This has conquered death and we therefore have little to fear.
All of us as Christians, are called to walk the path of Jesus and this means we too will experience kenosis in our journey towards God the Father. Therefore at some point, all of us will experience this self-emptying.
Fr Alan also said, "Christ is mercy within mercy within mercy! Fr Alan talked about mercy even before Pope Francis called for the Year of Mercy. Yes, Jesus is pure mercy.
When I went to confession with Fr Alan, he would say to me, "Throw yourself onto the Throne of Mercy!"
You know God is sitting on the Throne in heaven with Jesus on his right. Fr Alan said, "Jesus is our advocate." And so each time the devil comes in front of God the Father accusing you or me, Jesus would stand up in front of God the Father and show to God the Father his wounds, to remind God the Father that our sins have been forgiven. This is why Father Alan kept on saying to us, "Christ is mercy with mercy within mercy!"
Don't you think this is just beautiful?
Finally, Elizabeth reminded me that Fr Alan said, "Do not put brackets on God's power!" Fr Alan said "God loves us so much that he respects us." So if we were to put brackets on any part of our lives, God would not enter into it. So if we have a slavery to something and we put brackets around this sin, God will not interfere with that aspect of our lives. So to encourage us to walk towards holiness, Fr Alan encouraged us to have courage not to put brackets around our lives in front of God.
Dear Sweet Jesus, thank you for always having mercy on us and asking for mercy for us in front of God the Father. Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for my sins. Dear Sweet Jesus, please enter into my life and clear the mess and bring me towards God the Father. Amen.
Fr Alan said, "There are no depths that we can fall as Christ has gone lower". Imagine God the Father allowing Jesus to go into hell after he was murdered. What was Jesus doing in hell for three days? He was recusing our forefathers. Heaven was closed after the fall of Adam and Eve and these poor good people, like Adam, Eve, Abraham and others had to wait in hell for Jesus to rescue them.
Fr Alan had a similar icon to the one below in the sacristy of St Charles' Ogle Street, London W1. The icon is called "Christ’s Descent into Hades" and in this icon, you see Christ rescuing Adam and Eve.
So, Jesus has conquered death and we have nothing to fear anymore and even if we have gone to "hell" in our crisis, do not worry. Jesus has gone lower!
By the way, Fr Alan said, "Our sins have put Jesus on the cross!" Imagine this! This is not to give us psychological problems worrying about our sins, but to help us realise that it was not the Romans who put Jesus on the cross. Jesus climbed onto the cross and he consummated his marriage there on the cross. When I first heard Fr Alan saying this, I was struck very hard and realised the buck stopped with me. Fr Alan has taught me to stop thinking other people should change and it is me who must change.
Some people think they cannot change. Fr Alan said, "Do not believe in the lie of the Devil and think you cannot change." Everybody can change with the help of God.
Another explanation of "There are no depths that we can fall as Christ has gone lower" could be the kenosis of Jesus. Jesus, God and King, became man, accused as a criminal, put on the cross, and died. This has conquered death and we therefore have little to fear.
All of us as Christians, are called to walk the path of Jesus and this means we too will experience kenosis in our journey towards God the Father. Therefore at some point, all of us will experience this self-emptying.
Fr Alan also said, "Christ is mercy within mercy within mercy! Fr Alan talked about mercy even before Pope Francis called for the Year of Mercy. Yes, Jesus is pure mercy.
When I went to confession with Fr Alan, he would say to me, "Throw yourself onto the Throne of Mercy!"
You know God is sitting on the Throne in heaven with Jesus on his right. Fr Alan said, "Jesus is our advocate." And so each time the devil comes in front of God the Father accusing you or me, Jesus would stand up in front of God the Father and show to God the Father his wounds, to remind God the Father that our sins have been forgiven. This is why Father Alan kept on saying to us, "Christ is mercy with mercy within mercy!"
Don't you think this is just beautiful?
Finally, Elizabeth reminded me that Fr Alan said, "Do not put brackets on God's power!" Fr Alan said "God loves us so much that he respects us." So if we were to put brackets on any part of our lives, God would not enter into it. So if we have a slavery to something and we put brackets around this sin, God will not interfere with that aspect of our lives. So to encourage us to walk towards holiness, Fr Alan encouraged us to have courage not to put brackets around our lives in front of God.
Dear Sweet Jesus, thank you for always having mercy on us and asking for mercy for us in front of God the Father. Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for my sins. Dear Sweet Jesus, please enter into my life and clear the mess and bring me towards God the Father. Amen.
Where will we be without our sacraments?
Some of the brothers and sisters of my community had a domestic celebration of the Word [Psalm 60] last night and after the celebration of the Word, we had a meal.
While eating poulet aux olives, I mentioned that our Catholic faith is a sacramental religion and Eugénie reminded us what Fr Alan said. Fr Alan said without the Church and sacraments, we could be anywhere.
What does Fr Alan mean by this? We could be anywhere mean we would be totally lost. The Church is our mother who guides us and feeds us. She feeds us with the sacraments and without the sacraments, we would have sacramental starvation.
Fr Alan also said the Church is a hospital where the weak and sick comes for healing. We are healed through listening to the Word, receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, receiving the Holy Spirit through the sacraments etc.
Therefore as Catholics, we cannot become solo Christians, divorce from the Church and think we can walk to Jesus with our mother, the Church and without the sacraments. We also cannot walk to Jesus on our own, without our fellow Christians. We need our fellow brothers and sisters to support us on this journey towards Jesus and the Father.
May we all arrive safely in heaven.
While eating poulet aux olives, I mentioned that our Catholic faith is a sacramental religion and Eugénie reminded us what Fr Alan said. Fr Alan said without the Church and sacraments, we could be anywhere.
What does Fr Alan mean by this? We could be anywhere mean we would be totally lost. The Church is our mother who guides us and feeds us. She feeds us with the sacraments and without the sacraments, we would have sacramental starvation.
Fr Alan also said the Church is a hospital where the weak and sick comes for healing. We are healed through listening to the Word, receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, receiving the Holy Spirit through the sacraments etc.
Therefore as Catholics, we cannot become solo Christians, divorce from the Church and think we can walk to Jesus with our mother, the Church and without the sacraments. We also cannot walk to Jesus on our own, without our fellow Christians. We need our fellow brothers and sisters to support us on this journey towards Jesus and the Father.
May we all arrive safely in heaven.
Tuesday 23 August 2016
What Christians do . . .
The second long reading in the Office today, is a reading from one of the homilies of St John Chrysostom. This reading reminded me of what Fr Alan had said about what Christians should do.
I have given an impression in my previous posts that Christians do nothing in front of God - but I took this extreme view to make the point that we should not always be micro-managing our situations and leave God out in the cold.
Of course Christians should be doing things, such as feeding the poor, loving our enemies, forgiving others etc.
There are a number of things which Christians should do with great effort. I will discuss three of these today.
Fr Alan said all Christians should pray, fast and give their money away to the poor. All of these would need huge effort on our part.
We need huge effort to get up in the middle of the night to pray, and sit in silence in front of God without going to sleep during our prayer.
We need huge effort to fast, such as not eating meat on Fridays or going without food during Lent. Then what do we do with all the money saved from fasting. We give this money away to the poor. Fr Alan said by the end of Lent, our purses should be empty of money - meaning we have given away all our money in our purses.
Fr Alan said even if we do not have any money, we still need to give our money away. Fr Alan said almsgiving covers a multitude of sins. Fr Alan said almsgiving bona fides our prayers and fasting.
I remember saying this to someone and the person asked how could one give away money one does not have in the first place?
Now you can see why we need a huge effort to give our money away to the poor.
This morning second long reading from St John Chrysostom discusses the five high roads to repentance, which are acknowledging our sins, forgiving the sins of others, fervent and diligent prayer - praying from one's heart, giving away our money to the poor and humility.
St John Chrysostom has said even if one is poor, one can lay aside anger, carry oneself humbly, persevere in prayer and acknowledge one's sins. St John Chrysostom has written that poverty cannot be an obstacle for not giving away one's money away to the poor. Do you remember the poor widow giving away her money to the Temple treasury? [Mk 12 and Lk 21]
Do you understand why Fr Alan said even if you are poor, you have to do almsgiving?
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, help us to get real, stop us from pretending to be good Christians and teach us to really enter into deep prayer and fasting, and giving our money away to the poor. Amen.
I have given an impression in my previous posts that Christians do nothing in front of God - but I took this extreme view to make the point that we should not always be micro-managing our situations and leave God out in the cold.
Of course Christians should be doing things, such as feeding the poor, loving our enemies, forgiving others etc.
There are a number of things which Christians should do with great effort. I will discuss three of these today.
Fr Alan said all Christians should pray, fast and give their money away to the poor. All of these would need huge effort on our part.
We need huge effort to get up in the middle of the night to pray, and sit in silence in front of God without going to sleep during our prayer.
We need huge effort to fast, such as not eating meat on Fridays or going without food during Lent. Then what do we do with all the money saved from fasting. We give this money away to the poor. Fr Alan said by the end of Lent, our purses should be empty of money - meaning we have given away all our money in our purses.
Fr Alan said even if we do not have any money, we still need to give our money away. Fr Alan said almsgiving covers a multitude of sins. Fr Alan said almsgiving bona fides our prayers and fasting.
I remember saying this to someone and the person asked how could one give away money one does not have in the first place?
Now you can see why we need a huge effort to give our money away to the poor.
This morning second long reading from St John Chrysostom discusses the five high roads to repentance, which are acknowledging our sins, forgiving the sins of others, fervent and diligent prayer - praying from one's heart, giving away our money to the poor and humility.
St John Chrysostom has said even if one is poor, one can lay aside anger, carry oneself humbly, persevere in prayer and acknowledge one's sins. St John Chrysostom has written that poverty cannot be an obstacle for not giving away one's money away to the poor. Do you remember the poor widow giving away her money to the Temple treasury? [Mk 12 and Lk 21]
Do you understand why Fr Alan said even if you are poor, you have to do almsgiving?
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, help us to get real, stop us from pretending to be good Christians and teach us to really enter into deep prayer and fasting, and giving our money away to the poor. Amen.
Monday 22 August 2016
High Summer Feast Day
Today is the memoria of Our Lady, Queen and Mother and I was thinking why has the Church put this memoria in front of us.
I then remembered that in normal Catholic countries, last Monday would had been the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Fr Alan said after a high feast, there would had been a smaller feast on the eighth day after that feast - which would be called the Octave. Fr Alan said the Solemnity of the Assumption of the BVM used to be our summer high feast and today, the octave of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the BVM, would therefore be the smaller feast of Our Lady, Queen and Mother.
In the days before the Reformation, the people in this country would had celebrated this Summer High Feast with dancing and feasting on the streets. However, after the Reformation, the puritans cancelled all of this celebration and public holiday.
Fr Alan said as Christians had not been called to be puritans. Fr Alan also said if we do not know how to feast, then we do not know how to fast.
Another thing is that Our Lady has been honoured by the Christian Church for 2000 years. However, after the Reformation, the Protestants threw Our Lady out with the bathwater.
In other words, it is normal for Christians through the ages to honour Our Lady. The key operating word here is HONOUR - not worship. Like the way you honour your father and mother!
So let us pray that we become moderate Christians and not become puritans. O Lord, teach us to walk the middle path, and not always thinking we are right and better than others. Amen
I then remembered that in normal Catholic countries, last Monday would had been the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Fr Alan said after a high feast, there would had been a smaller feast on the eighth day after that feast - which would be called the Octave. Fr Alan said the Solemnity of the Assumption of the BVM used to be our summer high feast and today, the octave of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the BVM, would therefore be the smaller feast of Our Lady, Queen and Mother.
In the days before the Reformation, the people in this country would had celebrated this Summer High Feast with dancing and feasting on the streets. However, after the Reformation, the puritans cancelled all of this celebration and public holiday.
Fr Alan said as Christians had not been called to be puritans. Fr Alan also said if we do not know how to feast, then we do not know how to fast.
Another thing is that Our Lady has been honoured by the Christian Church for 2000 years. However, after the Reformation, the Protestants threw Our Lady out with the bathwater.
In other words, it is normal for Christians through the ages to honour Our Lady. The key operating word here is HONOUR - not worship. Like the way you honour your father and mother!
So let us pray that we become moderate Christians and not become puritans. O Lord, teach us to walk the middle path, and not always thinking we are right and better than others. Amen
Sunday 21 August 2016
Natural Religion
The A level results came out on Thursday, a few days ago, and a church in West London was filled with worshipers, praying for their examination results. I said to my neighbour that they were all pagans!
I love using the word pagan because it gives me a good feeling when I use this word, like some people saying the four letter word!
Thinking about the situation on that Thursday early morning Mass, I thought of "natural religion". I once went to see Fr Alan and asked him for the meaning of natural religion and Fr Alan said natural religion was using God.
I remember going to Mass at St Charles, Ogle Street, after 9/11 and Fr Alan said in his homily about people praying just before they died and some of this could be natural religion.
Fr Alan also told us a story that he was once on a plane and the person sitting next to him was reading a ponographic magazine. When the flying got a bit turbulent, the person got out his rosary and started saying his prayers. This is another example of natural religion.
There is nothing offensive about natural religion. It is a good beginning. However, we need to make progress from this and move on to put all our trust in God.
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus said, "I do not know where you come from." And the person then said, "We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets." Jesus replied, "I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!" [Luke 13]
Could Jesus say the above to us one day? We could reply to Jesus, we attended Mass and heard the Word.
So, if the teachings of Jesus have not made an impression on us, and we have not changed, then this disastrous situation might become real for us.
Being selective about Jesus' teaching is very natural for most of us. We ignore what we do not like and give people an impression we are Christians - followers of Jesus Christ. I remembered hearing many of Fr Alan's explanations on some of Jesus' teachings, and I was horrified. For example, "sell all your possessions and give the money to poor". [Mt 19:21]
Fr Alan said in one of his homilies, "You may look like a Christian, smell like a Christian, sing like a Christian, smile like a Christian, but you are not a Christian." I often thought of this and wondered what Fr Alan meant.
Could Fr Alan be referring to this "pick and mix" attitude we have to our Christian faith?
And how do all of these link to natural religion? Well, if you and I have natural religion, all of what I have described would be second nature for us.
Let us pray. Almighty God and Father, show us the "natural religion" within us and train us to drop this tendency and be better Christians, loving the people you put in front of us, and accepting ALL of Jesus' teachings and not using you in our daily lives. Amen.
I love using the word pagan because it gives me a good feeling when I use this word, like some people saying the four letter word!
Thinking about the situation on that Thursday early morning Mass, I thought of "natural religion". I once went to see Fr Alan and asked him for the meaning of natural religion and Fr Alan said natural religion was using God.
I remember going to Mass at St Charles, Ogle Street, after 9/11 and Fr Alan said in his homily about people praying just before they died and some of this could be natural religion.
Fr Alan also told us a story that he was once on a plane and the person sitting next to him was reading a ponographic magazine. When the flying got a bit turbulent, the person got out his rosary and started saying his prayers. This is another example of natural religion.
There is nothing offensive about natural religion. It is a good beginning. However, we need to make progress from this and move on to put all our trust in God.
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus said, "I do not know where you come from." And the person then said, "We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets." Jesus replied, "I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!" [Luke 13]
Could Jesus say the above to us one day? We could reply to Jesus, we attended Mass and heard the Word.
So, if the teachings of Jesus have not made an impression on us, and we have not changed, then this disastrous situation might become real for us.
Being selective about Jesus' teaching is very natural for most of us. We ignore what we do not like and give people an impression we are Christians - followers of Jesus Christ. I remembered hearing many of Fr Alan's explanations on some of Jesus' teachings, and I was horrified. For example, "sell all your possessions and give the money to poor". [Mt 19:21]
Fr Alan said in one of his homilies, "You may look like a Christian, smell like a Christian, sing like a Christian, smile like a Christian, but you are not a Christian." I often thought of this and wondered what Fr Alan meant.
Could Fr Alan be referring to this "pick and mix" attitude we have to our Christian faith?
And how do all of these link to natural religion? Well, if you and I have natural religion, all of what I have described would be second nature for us.
Let us pray. Almighty God and Father, show us the "natural religion" within us and train us to drop this tendency and be better Christians, loving the people you put in front of us, and accepting ALL of Jesus' teachings and not using you in our daily lives. Amen.
Parenting
What did Fr Alan said about parenting?
Fr Alan said if parents do not discipline their children, their children would grow up and discipline their parents. They will climb on to the heads of their parents and pull their hair.
What does Fr Alan mean about good parenting?
I have seen children doing what they want, shouting at their parents, being rude to their parents and other adults, and in front of these, the parents are unable to do anything or not wanting to do anything about their children's bad behaviour.
Some parents are so confused that they feel they cannot discipline their children or unable to discipline their children.
So, what does Fr Alan mean by discipline. For Fr Alan discipline means to correct the children.
Children will be children and they will always push the boundaries and the parents have to "draw" very clear boundaries, so the children will not over step these boundaries.
In my humble opinion, many parents are so insecure and always wanting approval from their children and they have forgotten these children are God's children, and they have been given the job to look after these children and it is their duty to bring up the children to be God fearing and steep in Christian values.
So, I think parents should learn to be parents and children be children, and parents should correct their children when the children are in error.
Fr Alan would not approve of parents hitting their children. Discipline for Fr Alan would be parents calling their children to order and explaining to the errors of their ways.
Let us pray for all parents and may God give them the grace to be good parents to bring up their children to be God fearing with good Christian values.
Amen.
Fr Alan said if parents do not discipline their children, their children would grow up and discipline their parents. They will climb on to the heads of their parents and pull their hair.
What does Fr Alan mean about good parenting?
I have seen children doing what they want, shouting at their parents, being rude to their parents and other adults, and in front of these, the parents are unable to do anything or not wanting to do anything about their children's bad behaviour.
Some parents are so confused that they feel they cannot discipline their children or unable to discipline their children.
So, what does Fr Alan mean by discipline. For Fr Alan discipline means to correct the children.
Children will be children and they will always push the boundaries and the parents have to "draw" very clear boundaries, so the children will not over step these boundaries.
In my humble opinion, many parents are so insecure and always wanting approval from their children and they have forgotten these children are God's children, and they have been given the job to look after these children and it is their duty to bring up the children to be God fearing and steep in Christian values.
So, I think parents should learn to be parents and children be children, and parents should correct their children when the children are in error.
Fr Alan would not approve of parents hitting their children. Discipline for Fr Alan would be parents calling their children to order and explaining to the errors of their ways.
Let us pray for all parents and may God give them the grace to be good parents to bring up their children to be God fearing with good Christian values.
Amen.
Money
What Fr Alan said about money?
Fr Alan said a number of countries in Europe, such as France, Spain, Italy etc., have their public holidays on religious feast days. However, in the UK, our public holidays are Bank Holidays. This shows how much people in this island love money. They love money so much that they change the first day of the week to Monday, instead of Sunday. If you do not believe me then go to WHSmith and look at the diaries there - Monday is put on top of the diaries and not Sundays. Fr Alan said M for money, M for Mondays.
Fr Alan said when he was a seminarian, he and his brother seminarians had to pray in front of a five pound note, which had been framed! Amazing! I must ask my brother seminarians if they have to pray in front of money.
He then told us not to bring dirty money to Ogle Street. He said dirty money was not welcomed at St Charles, Ogle Street.
So what did Fr Alan mean by dirty money?
Well, if we were to obtain our money by doing jobs which were not approved by the Church - such as from selling drugs or from prostitution, then Fr Alan said he rather not have anything to do with our dirty money.
Fr Alan said that there was a time in which the Church would not baptise someone if he did work which was "dirty". For example, in the early Church, if a Roman soldier wanted to be a Christian, he had to leave the Roman Army and then he could be considered for baptism.
How about today? Fr Alan said if one were a newsagent, one could not be a Christian.
Why is this? Well newsagent sells pornographic magazines and Christians do not look at pornographic materials, sell pornographic magazines or materials. So for those who watches pornographic materials online - stop it!
My neighbour, a medical doctor, went for a conference on Christianity and medicine and she discovered the addictiveness of pornography.
Therefore, if you are trying to be a Christian, then you need to avoid watching or handling such materials, as pornography is as addictive as drugs.
So other professions which hinder you from being a Christian includes pushing drugs. Imagine the harm this does to the people who take drugs, their families and friends, including their neighbours. So if you were to be doing this, then Fr Alan would not want your money at Ogle Street.
Only the grace of God has allowed us not to take drugs, deal with prostitution, handle pronographic materials and Fr Alan said do not think of yourself better than those who have these vices. Without the grace of God, we could do a lot worse. So when we look on at these people, we need to look at them like the way Jesus would look at them - with a lot of love and pity.
So, let us pray. Almighty God, thank you for giving us the grace not to do all these bad things and earn dirty money. We pray for those people who are addicted to drugs, pornography, prostitution and other vices. We ask you to love these people too with tender loving care and give them graces to avoid these vices. Amen.
BTW: Fr Alan allowed people who wanted to give up vices to come to Ogle Street and meet in the rooms below the church.
Such groups include Alcoholic Anonymous, Gambling Anonymous, Debt Anonymous and others. These groups are still meeting in St Charles Ogle Street up to today.
Fr Alan said a number of countries in Europe, such as France, Spain, Italy etc., have their public holidays on religious feast days. However, in the UK, our public holidays are Bank Holidays. This shows how much people in this island love money. They love money so much that they change the first day of the week to Monday, instead of Sunday. If you do not believe me then go to WHSmith and look at the diaries there - Monday is put on top of the diaries and not Sundays. Fr Alan said M for money, M for Mondays.
Fr Alan said when he was a seminarian, he and his brother seminarians had to pray in front of a five pound note, which had been framed! Amazing! I must ask my brother seminarians if they have to pray in front of money.
He then told us not to bring dirty money to Ogle Street. He said dirty money was not welcomed at St Charles, Ogle Street.
So what did Fr Alan mean by dirty money?
Well, if we were to obtain our money by doing jobs which were not approved by the Church - such as from selling drugs or from prostitution, then Fr Alan said he rather not have anything to do with our dirty money.
Fr Alan said that there was a time in which the Church would not baptise someone if he did work which was "dirty". For example, in the early Church, if a Roman soldier wanted to be a Christian, he had to leave the Roman Army and then he could be considered for baptism.
How about today? Fr Alan said if one were a newsagent, one could not be a Christian.
Why is this? Well newsagent sells pornographic magazines and Christians do not look at pornographic materials, sell pornographic magazines or materials. So for those who watches pornographic materials online - stop it!
My neighbour, a medical doctor, went for a conference on Christianity and medicine and she discovered the addictiveness of pornography.
Therefore, if you are trying to be a Christian, then you need to avoid watching or handling such materials, as pornography is as addictive as drugs.
So other professions which hinder you from being a Christian includes pushing drugs. Imagine the harm this does to the people who take drugs, their families and friends, including their neighbours. So if you were to be doing this, then Fr Alan would not want your money at Ogle Street.
Only the grace of God has allowed us not to take drugs, deal with prostitution, handle pronographic materials and Fr Alan said do not think of yourself better than those who have these vices. Without the grace of God, we could do a lot worse. So when we look on at these people, we need to look at them like the way Jesus would look at them - with a lot of love and pity.
So, let us pray. Almighty God, thank you for giving us the grace not to do all these bad things and earn dirty money. We pray for those people who are addicted to drugs, pornography, prostitution and other vices. We ask you to love these people too with tender loving care and give them graces to avoid these vices. Amen.
BTW: Fr Alan allowed people who wanted to give up vices to come to Ogle Street and meet in the rooms below the church.
Such groups include Alcoholic Anonymous, Gambling Anonymous, Debt Anonymous and others. These groups are still meeting in St Charles Ogle Street up to today.
Sit back and wait on God
How can we learn to sit back and wait on God?
I remember going to see Fr Alan about a personal problem and after hearing what I had to say, Fr Alan told me to sit back, do nothing and wait.
I use this advice now for all things in my life. If something is from God, all I have to do is to sit back and wait, and do nothing, and if the thing comes to me then I know it is really from God.
To do this, I have to learn that there is no need to always want to take control; always finding ways to manipulate situations for my own end. This means there is less stress, less worry and I am able to put my trust in God and just wait, knowing in God's good time, He will deliver.
So, let us pray we are all able to sit back, do nothing, put all our trust in God and let God do the rest.
Amen
I remember going to see Fr Alan about a personal problem and after hearing what I had to say, Fr Alan told me to sit back, do nothing and wait.
I use this advice now for all things in my life. If something is from God, all I have to do is to sit back and wait, and do nothing, and if the thing comes to me then I know it is really from God.
To do this, I have to learn that there is no need to always want to take control; always finding ways to manipulate situations for my own end. This means there is less stress, less worry and I am able to put my trust in God and just wait, knowing in God's good time, He will deliver.
So, let us pray we are all able to sit back, do nothing, put all our trust in God and let God do the rest.
Amen
Who is Fr Alan - Fr Alan said . . .
Fr Alan James Fudge 1940 - 2011
Fr Alan was a parish priest of St Charles Borromeo for 33 years and he was a priest for 40 years and died five years ago on 5th August 2011.
Fr Alan was such a wonderful teacher and shepherd for the faithful at St Charles Borromeo, Ogle Street, London W1.
Some people have encouraged me to start writing what Fr Alan had said before I forget his teachings.
Elizabeth Ajagbe, this Tuesday evening, said to us that we did not have to do anything - we did not have to do Morning Prayer, attend the celebrations of the Word with our brothers and sisters, and these have reminded me of what Fr Alan had said.
Fr Alan said our religion is not Muscular Christianity and we do not have to work hard for our salvation. Our salvation has already been won by our Lord and Master - Christ Jesus who has died for us on the cross.
Some of us think we have to try harder to be better Christians. Fr Alan said it was not about trying harder, but it was about trusting in Jesus Christ and doing the will of God which would lead us to heaven.
In this blog, I will try to remember what I have learnt from Fr Alan and I will be posting on the theme, "Fr Alan said . . ."
If you remember what Fr Alan has taught you, please write to me on juyeeteo@aol.com and we can collectively remember what our great teacher has taught us about Christianity.
Canon Michael Munnelly, the parish priest who took over St Charles Ogle Street after Fr Alan passed away in 2011, informed us that in order for the Church to investigate the cause of Fr Alan, there should be a local cult.
So when we share our collective memories of Fr Alan's teachings of following Jesus, perhaps this will inspire more people to learn more about Fr Alan's teachings.
Fr Alan was a parish priest of St Charles Borromeo for 33 years and he was a priest for 40 years and died five years ago on 5th August 2011.
Fr Alan was such a wonderful teacher and shepherd for the faithful at St Charles Borromeo, Ogle Street, London W1.
Some people have encouraged me to start writing what Fr Alan had said before I forget his teachings.
Elizabeth Ajagbe, this Tuesday evening, said to us that we did not have to do anything - we did not have to do Morning Prayer, attend the celebrations of the Word with our brothers and sisters, and these have reminded me of what Fr Alan had said.
Fr Alan said our religion is not Muscular Christianity and we do not have to work hard for our salvation. Our salvation has already been won by our Lord and Master - Christ Jesus who has died for us on the cross.
Some of us think we have to try harder to be better Christians. Fr Alan said it was not about trying harder, but it was about trusting in Jesus Christ and doing the will of God which would lead us to heaven.
In this blog, I will try to remember what I have learnt from Fr Alan and I will be posting on the theme, "Fr Alan said . . ."
If you remember what Fr Alan has taught you, please write to me on juyeeteo@aol.com and we can collectively remember what our great teacher has taught us about Christianity.
Canon Michael Munnelly, the parish priest who took over St Charles Ogle Street after Fr Alan passed away in 2011, informed us that in order for the Church to investigate the cause of Fr Alan, there should be a local cult.
So when we share our collective memories of Fr Alan's teachings of following Jesus, perhaps this will inspire more people to learn more about Fr Alan's teachings.
Friday 19 August 2016
Prayer
How do we learn to sit back, do nothing and wait on the Lord?
Through prayer!
I had gone many times to St Charles' Ogle Street and I had seen Fr Alan praying in the church. Fr Alan's life was punctuated with prayers. He taught us to pray through praying in front of us.
I remembered Fr Alan saying, "All Christians should be contemplatives." What did Fr Alan mean by this.
To be a contemplative means to be able to pray in silence. However, most people I know find praying in silence very difficult.
Fr Alan said when we start praying in silence, the crazy monkeys within us would be doing triple somersaults and we would find ourselves unable sit still, like as if ants are crawling around us.
Fr Alan said slowly by slowly we would begin to tame our bodies to sit still in front of God and enter into silent prayer.
When Pope Benedict XVI visited the UK in 2010, he told the young people to spend time in silence with God each day, so they could hear the will of God.
So we as Christians are all called to sit down in silence, do nothing and wait on the Lord.
All easier said than done. It has taken me years to be able to sit down in silence to tame the crazy monkeys and ignore the crawling ants, and wait on the Lord. I can now do it without timers, as alarm clocks, and flow with the Spirit of the Lord.
I have to remember that it is easy to forget and become deskilled and therefore each time I sit down and pray in silence, I know it is a new beginning, sitting with the Lord of love and the Holy Spirit is the one who can really teach us to pray in silence.
At the end of the prayer time, the spirit within me will let me know the prayer time is up and I awake my senses and say the Glory Be or the Lord's prayer. I do this during Morning Prayer after the Long Readings and Gospel of the Day and also in the evenings after saying the Evening Prayer.
So let us pray to the Holy Spirit, and ask God to teach us to pray in silence, to go with the flow with the Holy Spirit and in this way, we learn to sit in stillness, and in the silence we get to hear God's soft voice, experience his love and learn to put all our trust in the Lord.
Amen.
Through prayer!
I had gone many times to St Charles' Ogle Street and I had seen Fr Alan praying in the church. Fr Alan's life was punctuated with prayers. He taught us to pray through praying in front of us.
I remembered Fr Alan saying, "All Christians should be contemplatives." What did Fr Alan mean by this.
To be a contemplative means to be able to pray in silence. However, most people I know find praying in silence very difficult.
Fr Alan said when we start praying in silence, the crazy monkeys within us would be doing triple somersaults and we would find ourselves unable sit still, like as if ants are crawling around us.
Fr Alan said slowly by slowly we would begin to tame our bodies to sit still in front of God and enter into silent prayer.
When Pope Benedict XVI visited the UK in 2010, he told the young people to spend time in silence with God each day, so they could hear the will of God.
So we as Christians are all called to sit down in silence, do nothing and wait on the Lord.
All easier said than done. It has taken me years to be able to sit down in silence to tame the crazy monkeys and ignore the crawling ants, and wait on the Lord. I can now do it without timers, as alarm clocks, and flow with the Spirit of the Lord.
I have to remember that it is easy to forget and become deskilled and therefore each time I sit down and pray in silence, I know it is a new beginning, sitting with the Lord of love and the Holy Spirit is the one who can really teach us to pray in silence.
At the end of the prayer time, the spirit within me will let me know the prayer time is up and I awake my senses and say the Glory Be or the Lord's prayer. I do this during Morning Prayer after the Long Readings and Gospel of the Day and also in the evenings after saying the Evening Prayer.
So let us pray to the Holy Spirit, and ask God to teach us to pray in silence, to go with the flow with the Holy Spirit and in this way, we learn to sit in stillness, and in the silence we get to hear God's soft voice, experience his love and learn to put all our trust in the Lord.
Amen.
Muscular Christianity
Some of us have this need to feel that we must energetically profess our faith. Fr Alan said this could be a sign of insecurity and our faith is not concrete, as in solid.
I tend to agree with Fr Alan. I think there was a time when I used to be so loud about my Christian faith and I felt that I had to push my Christian faith down someone's throat and as I matured I felt that if people could not see Jesus in me, in the way I love others, going that extra mile for others, then what was the point of shouting about it.
Some of us are so insecure and have a need to be in control and push God out of our lives. We have to try harder to go up our career ladders and turning our careers into our idols. Some of us do not trust God to provide for us and have a need to invest in securities because we are not secure in our relationship with God. Some of us feel the need to sit on the driver's seat and take control and this again is because we want to play god.
So, to sit back to wait on God comes with maturity in faith. When we can see in our lives that God has already got a plan for us, all we have to do is to sit back, do nothing and put all our trust in God.
In this morning's first long reading of the Office, the responsory really touched me. "Blessed are those who wait for him [Our Lord]; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength."
The question is am I able to wait for the Lord in quietness and in trust? Do I feel the need always to be doing something?
So let us pray we are all filled with the Spirit of God, able to put all our trust in our God, knowing and tasting his love for us and knowing that GOD will not give poison to his children.
Amen.
I tend to agree with Fr Alan. I think there was a time when I used to be so loud about my Christian faith and I felt that I had to push my Christian faith down someone's throat and as I matured I felt that if people could not see Jesus in me, in the way I love others, going that extra mile for others, then what was the point of shouting about it.
Some of us are so insecure and have a need to be in control and push God out of our lives. We have to try harder to go up our career ladders and turning our careers into our idols. Some of us do not trust God to provide for us and have a need to invest in securities because we are not secure in our relationship with God. Some of us feel the need to sit on the driver's seat and take control and this again is because we want to play god.
So, to sit back to wait on God comes with maturity in faith. When we can see in our lives that God has already got a plan for us, all we have to do is to sit back, do nothing and put all our trust in God.
In this morning's first long reading of the Office, the responsory really touched me. "Blessed are those who wait for him [Our Lord]; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength."
The question is am I able to wait for the Lord in quietness and in trust? Do I feel the need always to be doing something?
So let us pray we are all filled with the Spirit of God, able to put all our trust in our God, knowing and tasting his love for us and knowing that GOD will not give poison to his children.
Amen.
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