Wednesday 17 May, 2023 | Sixth Week of Easter |Readings: Acts 17:15,22-18:1; Psalm 148:1-2,11-14; John 16:12-15 (You can find these in full on the Universalis website – Click here)
“When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.” So says Winnie the Pooh in A.A Milne’s series of books. Perhaps we can quite understand what the loveable bear means. Whilst each of us has varying degrees of intellect, insight or understanding, there are many occasions when we are simply too aware of our own limitations, and we too may feel like ‘a Bear of Very Little Brain.’
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth.’ As he speaks to them, he knows that they are confused. Not long after this moment they will disperse in fear as Jesus is arrested. The darkness of Gethsemane will give way to chaos and pain. After his death, they will spend much time searching their hearts, thinking about all that Jesus has said to them. And, in the days after the Resurrection they will be filled with joy as the Risen Lord reveals more of the Mystery of God. This doesn’t mean that God becomes for them a subject to study beneath the microscope. Rather than capturing everything there is to know about God, they will be caught up in love of him, embraced by his Majesty.
St Anselm of Canterbury wrote of us having “Faith seeking understanding.” We can never claim to know everything about God. We can simply hope, through faith, to glimpse something of God’s Mystery and Majesty, and embrace all that is revealed to us. Of the Eucharist, St John Vianney wrote, “If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy.” Yes, we are given so many beautiful gifts by God, and so much is revealed to us but whilst our understanding of them may increase, we can never know the true joy and beauty until, as St Paul says in the First letter to the Corinthians, “we shall see God face to face, and know as we are known.”
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Mass today (Tuesday 17 May, 2023) is celebrated at St Paul’s Church, Grangetown at 10am and St Mary’s Church, Butetown at 11am | If you would like to send a prayer request then click on the ‘REQUEST PRAYER’ Button. You can discover more about Worship across the Ministry Area on our Worship page
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