John 9:1-41 “Open wide the eyes of my soul.” John got grace. Now, all of us got grace in the eyes of the Lord. Our issue is to let grace get us. John got grace spiritually. He also “got” grace rationally; that is, he understood the difference being in or out of grace makes in our life by moving from the rational physical to the conscious spiritual. This chapter is one of the best of his exercises. It is tricky in that for the first thirty nine verses we are talking about physical blindness, then in the last three verses he jumps into writing about spiritual blindness. The purpose is to find out if the reader can make the shift. It is good practice to see if you can get the Grace. Read more
First Sunday After Christmas
Posted by Paul Edwards (Fr. Paul) on Dec 19, 2013
An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went. Christmas is about Peace on Earth and good will toward everyone. All is calm and all is bright, sleep in gentle sleep. If this has been a meaningful Christmas for you because of all that happened, well and good. It will not last long. Here comes the New Year of unknowns and out of control, sudden occurrences. If this has been a meaningful Christmas to you because you came into it and through it in the Peace and Presence of Jesus, it will last through this New Year and on. Read more
Year C Ninth Sunday After Pentecost Meditation
Posted by Paul Edwards (Fr. Paul) on Jul 11, 2013
This the well known story of Jesus visit to the sisters, Martha and Mary. Mary sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. Martha complained to Jesus to tell Mary to come in and help her. Well it was not exactly like that. She had to get her guilt trip in on Him as well. "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." Legalism looks at what Martha was griping about. Grace looks not about what Martha said but how she said it. The difference between legalism and grace is that legalism has to make sense! Read more
Christmas
Posted by Paul Edwards (Fr. Paul) on Dec 20, 2012
The tragedy at Newtown will always be a painful memory. The question asked is, “Where was God?” We think of God as Loving, Almighty and all Knowing. He knew this was to happen so why did He not intervene? The answer is to face the fact that we are in a spiritual war between good and evil. An emotional Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy got it right when he said that Evil visited the Village of Newtown. Read more
Advent IV
Posted by Paul Edwards (Fr. Paul) on Dec 13, 2012
This is a good opportunity to become conscious of our “Soul”. Using Freudian symbols, the Soul is the “Ego”. It is who we are. Our thoughts are the “Superego” which can be overly judgmental and moralistic. The “Id” is the consciousness that can become an undisciplined little child. The Soul never stands alone. Its strength is in being able to keep the thought and the consciousness in balance. If the thought becomes too strong, the soul can lose its ability to choose. It becomes what the thought thinks about a situation. If the Id takes over the soul without any sense of morals, it becomes promiscuous. Without the balance of the other two, the soul becomes our old self. Read more
Easter Day: The Lord Is Risen Indeed!
Posted by Paul Edwards (Fr. Paul) on Mar 29, 2012
The proof of the resurrection is in who was not there. Look at the women coming and who is not there! It was Mary the mother of Jesus. Why was she not there? It was because she spiritually understood who He was and believed the scripture. Read more
Meditations on Year B Christmas Eve
Posted by Paul Edwards (Fr. Paul) on Dec 15, 2011
One of the sayings I hear around Christmas is "it does not seem like Christmas." It is an interesting question to ask ourselves: "What do I need for Christmas to seem like Christmas?" Read more
Year B Advent IV LUKE 1:26-38 “Let it be!”
Posted by Paul Edwards (Fr. Paul) on Dec 08, 2011
Mary had every right to be afraid. When a good friend comes to us and gives us praise, we may wonder what they really want. When God sends the Angel of the Lord to give us praise there may be more to it than just the praise. The difference is the friend might expect more from us. God does not expect anything from us but to receive what He already has given. Read more
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