Isaiah 54:4-6, Acts 8:26-40, John 6:44-51, Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20

Daily Meditation:  Isaiah 54:4-6

Isaiah 54:4-6

4 Do not be afraid for you will not be deceived, do not be ashamed for you will not be disgraced. You will forget the shame of your youth; no longer will you remember the disgrace of your widowhood.

5 For your Maker is to marry you: Yahweh Sabaoth is his name. Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel: He is called God of all the earth.

6 For Yahweh has called you back as one forsaken and grieved in spirit. Who could abandon his first beloved? says your God.

My Beloved, I claim these beautiful verses of promise not only for myself but for Your Bride, the Church.  True, she has been humiliated in the sins that a few have committed causing her great shame and disgrace presently.  This is a necessary purification.  The sinner must be revealed so they no longer cause harm to themselves or to the members of Your Church.  They must repent and turn away from their sins.  This is true for me too my Lord.  No matter how many times I stray, I will never be discouraged for You will help me to overcome my weaknesses.  You will strengthen me with grace.  I belong to You.  You have claimed me for Your own.  Thank You Beloved for not abandoning me in my sins but for seeking me and forgiving me when I repented.  I am Yours my Lord now and forever.  I rejoice in Your vow never to abandon me again, just as You have vowed never to abandon Your Church.

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Daily Mass Readings:  Acts 8:26-40, John 6:44-51, Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20

Acts 8:26-40

Verses 27-31

27........ an Ethiopian was passing along that way. He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians; he had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem 28 and was on his way home. He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah. 

29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and catch up with that carriage.” 30 So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah; and he asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian replied, 31 “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

From the verses quoted above my Beloved, we see why Your Bride needs the Magisterium.  The Spirit leads and guides Your Bishops who are the only true interpreters of Scripture.  In verse 29 we are told that the Holy Spirit takes the initiative in guiding the Apostle Philip and leads him the the Ethiopian.  The official,we are told is reading verses from the Prophet Isaiah.  This is the passage he read, "He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the shearer, he did not open his mouth. 33 He was humbled and deprived of his rights. Who can speak of his descendants? For he was uprooted from the earth." and he could not make sense of it. It is only in the light of Your life that these verses have meaning. Once the Ethiopian hears and understands the Good News, through the catechesis given to him by Philip, the Apostle, he expresses his desire to be baptized.

The Old Testament is vibrant and alive when it is read with the knowledge of the New Testament.  For over 2000 years the Church You have established together with the Magisterium have carefully guarded the faith against all heresies and have handed it down faithfully in all its beauty and purity.  She teaches what You Yourself have preached, taught and done. In her oral and written Tradition she passes it on from the Apostles and the Church Fathers to the present day and she will continue to do so faithfully until You return in glory.  Neither her enemies, nor Satan, nor even the gates of hell shall prevail against Your Bride.  We have this assurance from Your lips.  Thank You.

John 6:44-51

My Beloved, from these verses it is brilliantly clear that Your followers must eat Your flesh if they are to have life.  The Eucharist is a solemn Truth that You Yourself established,  commanding the Apostles to do exactly what You had done, in commemoration of You. This is not optional nor does any power on earth have the authority to dilute this teaching to a mere symbol.  This is another reason why there is the need of a voice that speaks with Your authority in the Church, so that Your people are not led astray.  Satan is devious - how could any Christian read John chapter 6 and not understand beyond the shadow of a doubt what You are saying.  Verse 51 says succinctly, "51 I am the living bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh and I will give it for the life of the world.”  Here is a proclamation of the truth, clear and uncompromising, that the Eucharist is Your Body.  Yet there are Catholics who actually turn their back on the Bread of Life.

Beloved, now that I receive You daily in the Eucharist, I cannot imagine having to start may day without this spiritual nourishment.  You fill me with unbelievable joy when You and I are one in a brief but heavenly union each day.  With You present in the monstrance of my heart, I pour out my love for You.  I know I am loved and cherished and that I belong to the King who will never abandon me but will see me safely home to eternity.

Thank You my Life for this gift of Yourself at every Eucharist.

Psalm 66:9, 20

 9 for he has preserved us among the living

and kept our feet from stumbling.

20 May God be blessed!

He has not rejected my prayer;

nor withheld his love from me.

I could so easily have been one among those who have been baptized in Your one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church who have turned and wandered away from the fullness of truth.  I pray for all who have done so my Beloved, especially members of my own family and my friends.  Thank You for the comfort and assurance of verse 20.