Sirach 39:33-35, Acts 4:31-21, Mark 16:9-15, Psalm 118:1 & 14-21

Daily Meditation:  Sirach 39:33-35

Sirach 39:33-35

33 All the works of the Lord are good and he will satisfy every need in due time.

34 You must not say: This is less good than that, for in its time everything will serve a purpose.

35 So now, with all your heart and in full voice, sing and bless the Name of the Lord.

Beloved, You are truly the delight of my soul.  You make me smile.  You satisfy every need.  My deepest longing is You .  I feel every fiber of my being drawn to You.  I feel like a child with its arms outstretched longing to be picked up and knowing that its wish will not be denied.  I  hunger and thirst for You and my soul is parched for it longs to drink deep of the joy that only You can give.  Truly Beloved, every other misplaced love is counterfeit except love that is true, sacred, pure and good.  Love for You and love for my neighbor. Love devoid of any self promotion or self interest.  Only love of You can help generate a healthy love of self and neighbor.

I will sing Beloved, You know I need no encouragement in this regard and I will bless Your Holy Name all my days.

Beloved, today is the end of the month of April and tomorrow begins Mama's month of May.  O Triune God grant us the grace as a family to pray the Holy Rosary and give her our daily garland of roses to delight her loving heart.

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Daily Mass Readings:  Acts 4:31-21, Mark 16:9-15, Psalm 118:1 & 14-21

Acts 4 :31-21

Beloved, I receive You every morning in the Eucharist.  Do the people I encounter during the day recognize that I have been with You?

Even today Beloved in certain countries Your people cannot speak Your Most Holy Name aloud in public places.  Satan recognizes the power there is in the Name that is above every other name.  Why Beloved, even in western countries that boast of democracy and free speech governments are afraid to permit Your Name to be spoken aloud in the public square.  Evil, ever prevalent in every nation, knows and recognizes that if believers were given free rein, they would stand up boldly, courageously and unafraid to testify to the  marvels that You have done and which You continue to do.

But we know that no power on earth or in the underworld can suppress Your Name for there will always be all kinds of people trained, untrained, educated and uneducated who, like Peter, John and the other Apostles, will stand up and preach the Gospel unafraid of the consequences even to the shedding of their blood, which in turn will help to bring even more people to follow You.  Nothing, not even death can stop the power of Your Name for if they put down one, a hundred more will rise up.  Such is the power of Your Name and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Mark 16:9-15

My Beloved, how often we refuse to accept Your message from those who do not fit our preconceived notions of who Your messengers should be.  You choose whoever You will, often it is the little ones of this world who are chosen to speak Your Word.  Those without guile or malice.  The humble who can be trusted to speak the truth as it is, unvarnished truth.

Mary had seven demons cast out of her by You.  Perhaps the others still judged her uncharitably and she was also a woman.  They could not conceive of the idea that You would choose to reveal Yourself to her first rather than to them, the recognized alpha males of the nascent Church, who were hiding and weeping in repentance and shame at their cowardice.   They would not even accept the testimony of the disciples who encountered You as they were fleeing the city.  Heartbroken, let down, deflated, discouraged.  The entire sequence of events of the last few days had entirely  demoralized the two disciples on the way to Emmaus.  The Messiah was last seen hanging from the Cross and quite dead and finally buried.  All their hopes and visions of grandeur of a new Jerusalem with them holding important and powerful positions, were dead and entombed with You.  It appears that no one had understood Your mission and role as the Messiah even though You spoke so often of all that would happen to You in detail, even to they way You would die, the betrayal, the denial, the scourging, the hanging. 

Am I not like them sometimes Beloved?  I make plans and I expect You to follow my lead rather than trusting You in perfect and loving surrender, even when it does not make sense to me.  Only when You showed Yourself to the chosen eleven were they prepared to believe.  You scolded them for their stubbornness and lack of faith.

Grant me the grace never to reject You when You present Yourself to me in a guise I find difficult to accept.  Give me true simplicity and humility of heart and a docile spirit.  Thank You.

Psalm 118:14

14 The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation.