SATURDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

If you make my word your home
you will indeed be my disciples,
and you will learn the truth, says the Lord. JN 8:31-32

ACTS 13:44-52 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

To this day my Lord, there are Christians who, knowing nothing about the doctrines of Holy Mother Church, use blasphemies when speaking about the Holy Eucharist, our Beloved Mother Mary, and the saints, and our veneration and deep devotion and love for Your Mother and ours, and our brothers and sisters the saints, who have gone before us.

Jealousy and envy are deadly - they make us crazed and blind. When we reject the Truth for whatever reason we become agents of evil as is evident in our world today. When faced with the hostility of those who arraign themselves against us let us, like Paul and Barnabas, boldly proclaim the Gospel. Those who reject it do so at their own peril.

In our own country, we witness the ugliness and violence that divisiveness brings. They are unable to see that they are mere puppets to carry out the evil agenda and dirty work of those who are in power.

Thank You, Lord, for the many Christians, who love truth and are examining their faulty beliefs and coming home to the Church. Bless them abundantly Lord and grant them all the graces they need to persevere and grow in truth and love.

Keep us docile to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and be led by Him and all our labor in Your vineyard will bear fruit.

PSALM 97(98):1-4 ©

Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.

The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

JOHN 14:7-14 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Your frustration with Philip is palpable as we see from Your conversation with him. The disciples, especially the Twelve, have been with You for three years they were witnesses to all Your mighty miracles that clearly confirmed that You were the Son of God, and yet when You told them that seeing and knowing You they also see and know the Father, Philip says:

‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied.’

‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip,’ said Jesus to him, ‘and you still do not know me?
‘To have seen me is to have seen the Father,
so how can you say, “Let us see the Father”?

How can I dare to fault them, Lord, when I am no better than they? I know You. I am a cradle Catholic and I have been a practicing Catholic all my life and yet I allow life, suffering, loss, grief to weigh me down. A disciple must carry the cross that God lays on him daily and follow You. I whine, I complain, I feel discouraged, I ask for a different cross than the one given to me. 

You give us this wonderful assurance Beloved, that if we believe that You are in the Father and the Father is in You then not only will we do even greater works than those done by You, we can ask for anything in Your Name and You will do it.

I tell you most solemnly,
whoever believes in me
will perform the same works as I do myself,
he will perform even greater works,
because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask for in my name I will do,
so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask for anything in my name,
I will do it.’

But I O Lord, am a person of little faith and this is why my life thus far has been so ineffective. My prayer this day is, "Lord, increase my faith. I believe, help my unbelief. Amen.

FRIDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me. JN 14:6

ACTS 13:26-33 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

All who saw You after Your glorious resurrection from the dead became Your witnesses. When the persecution of Christians caused them to flee from Jerusalem they carried the Good News with them and proclaimed the Gospel wherever they went. We are not citizens of the world but exiles. Our true home is with You in the Kingdom of God. We are children of God because You entered into our death and have raised us up in Your life making us a new creation in Baptism.

Beloved, You came into the world to die so we can live. Everything that happens to us in this life prepares us for our true homeland. In this world, we will suffer many tribulations but ask us to be of good cheer for You have overcome the world. You have robbed death of its sting. You have crushed the head of Satan. You O Lord have won the victory. The devil is a liar and has been so from the start - grant us this grace O Lord, to shut our ears to his lies and to fill our ears with the Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of Your Word. Like Paul and the rest of the Apostles, and disciples let us not allow the world to crush us rather let us rejoice when we are persecuted because we are called by Your Name for it is a Name that saves.

PSALM 2:6-11 ©

‘It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.’
I will announce the decree of the Lord:
The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you this day.

‘Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter’s jar.’

Now, O kings, understand,
take warning, rulers of the earth;
serve the Lord with awe
and trembling, pay him your homage.

You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.

JOHN 14:1-6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I am Your disciple, I am a child of God, I am co-heir with You to the Kingdom of God. You have prepared a place for Me when the foundations of the world were laid and my name is written in heaven.

Today, my Lord and my God, I desire to receive this word and take it to heart as Your disciple, as one called by Your Name. I desire to have this word engraved on my heart and in every cell of my body: 

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God still, and trust in me.
There are many rooms in my Father’s house;
if there were not, I should have told you.
I am going now to prepare a place for you,
and after I have gone and prepared you a place,
I shall return to take you with me;
so that where I am
you may be too.
You know the way to the place where I am going.’

Thomas said they did not know where You were going so how could they know the way to You. 

What You said to him You say to the Church and to the world:

‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.’

God is our Father, You O Lord are our Brother, Savior, Spouse, Friend, and the Holy Spirit is the Helper, the Paraclete, the Comforter, the Guide who is given to us to help us navigate safely through the troubled waters and bring us to harbor there to remain with You, the Father and the Spirit forever.