Saturday, June 30, 2012

Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19, Psalm 74:1-7, 20-21, Matthew 8:5-17

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGSLamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19
                                                                  Psalm 74:1-7, 20-21
                                                                 Matthew 8:5-17



My Beloved, the images described in these verses are images of Your Church, the daughter of the New Jerusalem.  The lives of some of her anointed have given rise to great scandal and they have brought the Church to her knees in shame and the shame of her members.  Their actions have weakened the Church to such a degree that she seems incapable of rising up again without great difficulty.  Her Vicar and her faithful are struck dumb, for there is no defense when the most innocent and vulnerable of her little ones have become victims of evil.  The entire Church is now called to make reparation not only for those in the hierachy who have sinned but also for the majority of her members who have long since departed from the path of Life commanded by the Master of the Gospel of Love.  The remnant who are faithful offer repentance by fasting, they moan with tears in order that You may once again bring new life to Your Body.  No longer are the young fed on the truths of the Church and they fall by the wayside because they are unable to withstand the weakness that comes from a terrible famine and drought of holy things and a lack of the Holy Spirit.  Those on whom they rely and who are entrusted with the obligation of raising their children in the faith have themselves been unfaithful.  They have long since chosen to walk in the paths of unrighteousness and deceit.  They have allowed their morals to be shaped and formed by the false gospel preached by the world and now their children too are dying spiritually and morally.

Within the Church have been found false prophets who for decades have preached a false doctrine on matters of faith and morals.  They have twisted the truth to make it more palatable to themselves and to those who choose to be cafeteria Catholics.

There is a slow awakening to the realization of the depths to which we have sunk as well as to the depth of our need to return back to You.  Already there are cries rising up to the Mercy Seat to have pity and hear Your faithful who cry out to You night and day to relent from Your fierce anger and to bring us Your saving help.


My Beloved Jesus, if the Father had not tied His own hands by sending You to die for us sinners and thus save us, He would have destroyed the world several times over by now.   It is Your Blood, the Blood of the Sacrificial Lamb without spot or blemish, the acceptable Saving Victim for our sins that holds back the wrath of God.

God of mercy bring us back and we shall be saved.


In today's Gospel reading we hear of two healings - one was performed upon the request of the army captain for his paralyzed servant and the second healing was that of Peter's mother-in-law whom You healed without being asked.  You visited Peter's home, saw his mother-in-law was ill, You stretched out Your hand and at Your touch the fever simply vanished.

Beloved, there are many people who are paralysed by sin and although they wish to be healed they are unable to help themselves?  Do we approach You and intercede on their behalf?  Is our faith strong enough to make the prayer of the captain our own?  Do we believe that God is powerful and His Word is capable of setting free those we pray for from all bondages of sin?  And after we have prayed do we believe with complete confidence that what we have asked in faith will in fact be granted to us even if the answer is not one we expected?

When You come into our homes do You feel so welcome, so at home, so at ease that You can approach us without an invitation?  Can You reach out with the ease of a familiar friend and touch us and pour out Your healing grace and power into our souls, hearts, minds, bodies and spirits so that we can experience perfect healing in all the areas of our life?  And what is our response to this gift?  Do we get up at once and begin to serve You?

Friday, June 29, 2012

Acts 12:1-11, Psalm 34:2-9, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18, Matthew 16:13-19

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGSActs 12:1-11,
                                                                   Psalm 34:2-9,
                                                                   2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18,

SOLEMNITY OF STS. PETER & PAUL


My Beloved no plan against those who belong to You will succeed.  Those who live lives of debauchery will find after a while that their senses are dulled.  They need to constantly find new and more horrific ways to tempt their palates.  Evil draws its pleasure from more evil.  When Herod decides to persecute the Church he does so because it pleases him but when he finds that the Jews, who did not like him too much, were pleased by his attacks on the Church, he decided to curry favor with them by boldly arresting Peter, Your Vicar on earth. They would soon discover that although God may be silent for a time He is not asleep - in fact He is ever watchful and protective of His own.

When the members of the Church heard of Peter's arrest they all began to pray and we see that when the whole community of God prays it has the ability to release the most awesome power of God.  Peter himself was serene.  Twenty four guards were appointed to watch over  Peter who was so heavily chained it would have been impossible for him to escape even if he tried.

Peter sleeps peacefully that night in fact his sleep is so deep that when God sends His angel to wake him up Peter has to be literally shaken up.  Once awake the angel said, "Get up quickly."  When we work for the Kingdom there is no time for lolling around or hitting the snooze button and grabbing a few more seconds or minutes of sleep.  As soon as we hear the call we have to be awake, alert and ready for action.  The angel makes sure that Peter wears his belt, puts on his sandals and wraps himself in his cloak.

It is important to note that while we are alert when we hear the call, we cannot run off in a tangent.  We must make sure we have all that we need.  We have got to be properly equipped.  There is no room for compromise.  God gives us the time we need to prepare ourselves while He not only helps us but keeps watch as well.  No barrier is unsurmountable with God beside us.  No guard, no gate, no wall  with no exceptions all give way at His command and open the way for those who work to bring about His Kingdom in the world.  God remains with us to strengthen us when we need Him but when we are ready, like any good Father, He lets go and we go ahead in faith believing He is beside us whether we see Him or not.  God  is always with us

MAGNIFY THE LORD WITH ME - Psalm 34

Those who belong to You my Beloved remain safe under the shelter of Your wings all the days of their lives.


My Love, we live in different times from the days of St. Paul and we face different threats and dangers today, but our attitude has to be like his.

Today the world is steeped in immorality.  There is a constant denial of Beauty, Truth and Wisdom, and this imperils all human beings and most especially those who seek to walk the narrow way.  Those of us who call ourselves, Catholic and Christian have to live as heroically as St. Paul did.  Our war is against ourselves and the world.  I am called to live a holy life in secret and in public.  The way I speak, move, dress, act, laugh,smile, pray, work, think, breathe, sleep and rise must all be under the discipline and control of the Holy Spirit.  I must permit Him to will and work in me.  I must believe that You are always beside me to strengthen me when I am weak and to encourage me to live a life of holiness both publicly and privately.  I am called to live a life of grace boldly only then can I pray Verses 6-8 as confidently as St. Paul did. 

"6 As for me, I am already poured out as a libation, and the moment of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is laid up for me the crown of righteous­ness with which the Lord, the just judge, will reward me on that day; and not only me, but all those who have longed for his glorious coming."


My Beloved, there are people of different faiths in the world and almost all have heard about You. Should You as them, "Who do you say I am," we will surely hear differing responses.  But when You direct this question to me as You did to Peter and Your Apostles, when You say to me,  "M--- Mine, who do you say I am,"  I respond, together with Peter and say "My Beloved, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God," and I add, "You are my Life, my Love, my Hope, my ever present thought asleep or awake. I live in You as long as I live, I breathe in You and through You as long as there is breath in my body and until I take my last breath here on earth.  When I die, I will die with You beside me, with You holding me close to You.  I draw my life from the Church which You founded on Peter and the Apostles and which You entrusted to Peter and his successors - they will hold it safely until You come again in glory to claim Your Bride. Maranatha Lord Jesus, Maranatha!!!!"

Thursday, June 28, 2012

2 Kings 24:8-17, Psalm 79:1-5, 8-9, Matthew 7:21-299

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS2 Kings 24:8-17
                                                                  Psalm 79:1-5, 8-9, 
                                                                 Matthew 7:21-29


My Beloved, because God is patient, sinners have the gall to believe they can live as sinfully as they like without having to face the consequences of the evil they do.  When spiritual and political leaders of nations as well as those who have authority and power  in any sphere of human activity,  permit their morals to become corrupt and evil, and they lead those they govern to do the same, we can be certain that sooner or later God's righteous anger will stir up against such people, leaders and nations.  Sinners will have to pay the price for their wickedness.

It is so easy to get caught up with the world and the evil that is constantly being paraded before us as good and pleasing to the eye.  But when the day of reckoning finally dawns, we will realize to our consternation that the wages of sin is death.  Evil destroys and annihilates everything in its wake.  

Beloved one of these days the world will witness the dawn of God's righteous anger against it due to the lifestyle that is propagated and encouraged in this age of hedonism. 

Grant O Lord that Your wrath will be tempered with mercy and compassion for the sake of Jesus Your beloved Son. Amen.


In the days when evil rules and claims dominion in every sphere of our life - politically, spiritually, morally and personally then a witch hunt begins to seek, drown and destroy those voices that are raised to stir and disturb the dying conscience of sinners.  The blood of innocence is spilled and the darkness in the hearts of men spreads like a pall as it muffles and silences the voices of those that are raised up to condemn and seek justice. Only for so long will evil have its day for it will ultimately turn on itself and be destroyed.

Keep us faithful  O Lord until the day of Your coming!! Maranatha Lord Jesus!! Maranatha!!!


My Beloved, this is a warning to all pious hypocrites.  You see the heart and if we believe we can fool You we are truly stupid.  The gifts You give us and which manifest Your power, does not guarantee that those who possess them are leading holy and exemplary lives pleasing to You.  Great charlatans through the ages have deceived people.  False prophets abound spreading error through the good gifts they have received and which they use for evil. 

The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church is built on the Rock of Peter,  You are its cornerstone and we who build our lives on this rock solid foundation have Your personal pledge and guarantee that You will always guard her from teaching error.  We can be certain that we will be unshakeable if we are grounded in her.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

2 Kings 22:8-13, 23:1-3, Psalm119:33-34, 36-37, 40, Matthew 7:15-20

DAILY HOLY MASS READING:     2 Kings 22:8-13, 23:1-3
                                                             Psalm119:33-34, 36-37, 40
                                                             Matthew 7:15-2


In these Scripture verses found in the Old Testament, we are told that the Book of the law was found in the House of Yahweh.

The God of Love and the Word of the God of Love together with the Holy Spirit who is the bond of love between the Father and the Son is found in His Church.  It is here that the Word of God dwells and is present in fullness.

My Beloved, You have given us the law of love which has its origins in God the Father and is made manifest in You through the working of the Holy Spirit.  All leaders of Christian nations and most especially the spiritual leaders in the Church have to be guided by this Law of Love.  It must be their guiding principle.  Your Word must be the rule of life and they are called to lead by example.  King Josiah is to be admired.  

We read this in verse 23:3 
 
"3 The king stood by the pillar; he made a covenant in the presence of Yah­weh, promising to follow him, to keep his commandments and laws, and to respect his ordinances. He promised to keep this covenant according to what was written in the book with all his heart and with all his soul. And all the people promised with him."
 His actions are most edifying and so it ought to be in our own day and age within the Church and among all nations who have their roots and origin in Christianity.  However the opposite is true nations are falling all over themselves to deny that there is a God or that there are such things as a Christian spiritual and moral code of life that must be practiced in every sphere of our existence.  

My Beloved, together with the psalmist I too pray that You might pour on me a full measure of Your Holy Spirit in order that I may receive through Him understanding and insight only then will I be able to obey Your will and be faithful to Your commandments.  I am weak, I am self-indulgent, I allow my feelings to dictate my actions rather than exercising my will over my  emotions in order to direct them rightly.  Vanity Lord, I am full of vanity in every stripe and hue.  Teach me Lord how fleeting life is.  Too soon will this life end and then what shall  I have to bring before You my Lord - empty hands and an even emptier heart?  In Your mercy and love help me, strengthen me and give me the desire to always choose to do that which I know to be right and true only then will I glorify You alone always.



Who is a false prophet?  He or she whose actions are in complete contradiction to his or her words.  Such a person says one thing but does something else.  There is a lack of consistency in the saying and in the doing.  Even worse what they say and do are in complete contradiction to Your revealed Word.  There is a deliberate desire to mislead and twist the truth in order to make it more palatable to their hearers.  There is a persistence in holding on to an erroneous position or a deliberate desire not to accept the validity of an argument despite being made aware of the divine logic behind the reasoning.    We see this rampant among our protestant brothers and sisters - the various Christian denominations who doggedly insist the Catholic position is so and so and such and such despite explaining until we are blue in the face that it is not so or explaining that the Catholic position is not either or and theirs almost always is.  Sola Scriptura or Sola fides.  The Catholic Church is wholeness, fullness, Life, Truth and Light to illuminate the Way.

Beloved You make it fairly easy to see whether we ourselves or those who act in Your Name are producing good fruit or not. By our fruits will we be known. 

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-36, Psalm 48:2-4, 10-11, Matthew 7:6, 12-14

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS:    2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-36, 



 2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-36

My Beloved, no plan against those who belong to You will succeed, it does not matter if they have all the power in the world behind them, they will eventually retreat the way the came like the Assyrian army that threatened war against God's chosen people.  Our God swears a covenant oath and it stands firm forever.

Sometimes Beloved, it might seem that everything is against us and we will definitely be defeated simply because we seem to be outnumbered and all alone, without any influence or power working in our favor.  But this is a lie.  If we trust You, if we call on You in faith and throw ourselves into Your loving arms and claim our Father's protection victory will most assuredly be ours and evil will have no power over us for You have vanquished evil forever on the Cross.

Thank You.

Psalm 48:2-4, 10-11

My Beloved, Your Bride - the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church is elvevated like Mount Zion high up on the mountain top.  It is the place in which God has chosen to dwell.  In her Your people gather to offer You praise  and to proclaim that You are worthy and  to offer to God on on her altar, the Sacrifice of Perfect Love, pleasing and acceptable to Him.  No plan will succeed against her for she is clothed in the strength of the Almighty and He is her Defender and Protector.  No evil plot against her will succeed and those who work to destroy her will themselves be destroyed.

My Beloved, everytime we come together for the Eucharistic celebration we recall Your unfailing love and from one end of the world to the other  fitting praise is offered to You who alone are worthy.

 Matthew 7:6, 12-14

Beloved, It takes wisdom and discernment to know when to share holy and eternal things with another.  We cannot share the treasure we have indiscriminately.  We have to have our ears attuned to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to to lead us when and how to speak.
You invite us to do to others what we would want them to do to us. These are words of profound wisdom yet they convey the truth so simply and effectively. All wars would cease, peace would reign in the world and there would be an end to misery and poverty if only we paid heed and practiced what You desire us to do.   St. Paul too expresses this same thought so beautifully in Romans 13:8 when he says, "Do not be in debt to anyone.  Let this be the only debt of one to another: Love."

My Beloved we lack discipline in almost every area of our life whether it be in the acquiring of material possessions or in the practice of spiritual exercises. This wanton pandering to the flesh is most abhorrent to You. Very few wish to or are willing to take up the Cross daily and walk with You. Few desire to be yoked with You. Few are prepared to walk through the narrow gate and choose the rough road in order to gain the abundant life that awaits those who pesevere in faith, hope and love. They prefer present pleasure and are so caught up with the here and now that they have become deaf and blind to the reckoning that will come in the hereafter.


Monday, June 25, 2012

2 Kings 17:5-8, 13-15, 18, Psalm 60:3-5, 12-14, Matthew 7:1-5

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS:  2 Kings 17:5-8, 13-15, 18, 
                                                              Psalm 60:3-5, 12-14, 
                                                              Matthew 7:1-5


2 Kings 17:5-8, 13-15, 18

My Beloved why is it that even after having a powerful conversion experience, receiving divine insight and witnessing personally the powerful love of God we still remain prone to sin and fall back easily and take up old sinful habits again?  Is it a lack of discipline?  A habit is formed by a repeated action of something which could be either good or bad.  If we are steadfast in repeating a good action over and over again soon it will become a way of life.  Take for example an hour of personal prayer, Scripture reading, good spiritual reading, meditation etc.  But it is so much easier and attractive to the flesh to give in without too much of a fight to the passion that only render us spiritually weak and flaccid.  What easy prey we become to the enemy when we put up a token resistance or no resistance at all.

God sent prophets and holy men to warn Israel over and over again, but they refused to listen.  We see the same thing today Lord, the world refuses to listen.  Whole nations are hell bent on denying their Christian roots and heritage and they seem to be hurtling down the road to destruction in every aspect of life.

When we turn back to You in sorrow, contrition and repentance, our world which is decaying rapidly in morals, will we stop giving off the unbearable stench of death, and only then can there be a new dawn and a new beginning.

In the era in which we live Lord, people despise the common dictates of decency and morality.  There is a kind of diseased hedonism that is sweeping the world.  The body is the new idol and men and women are falling all over ourselves to prostrate before it in worship. 

It is heartening to know that God never destroys completely no matter how terrible His anger against us.  He preserved the tribe of Judah and from here our Savior would eventually be born.  Where there is God there is always hope.

Psalm 60:3-5, 12-14

Verse 13.  Help me Beloved for human help is worthless.  I need You with every breathe I breathe.  I need You, I want You, I desire You, I want nothing and no one but You alone my Lord.  I know that I have lived largely for myself for many years in my youth and there have been periods in my life when I have lived sinfully,  but now I know how sweet it is to belong to You and to love You and be Yours alone - all Yours.

Matthew 7:1-5

My Beloved, You do not mince words and what You say to me today cuts through the chase and pierces the heart.  God has appointed You alone a the righteous Judge and I have often been guilty of nudging You out of Your throne of Justice and Mercy and placing myself on it. Seated on Your throne of mercy I have condemned and consigned everyone left, right and centre to perdition while all the while I am the one most deserving of condemnation.

Forgive me Lord and help me to be most gentle when I look at my neighbor for I know that in all probability I have been where he or she is now most likely I have sunk even deeper in the slime of sin than he. May I first look at my own faults, weaknesses and failings before I turn the blinding searchlight of my critical spirit on others.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Isaiah 49:1-6, Acts 13:22-26, Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-15, Luke 1:57-66, 80

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS:  Isaiah 49:1-6, Acts 13:22-26, 
                                                                   Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-15, 
                                                                  Luke 1:57-66, 80

Isaiah 49:1-6

These verses from the prophet Isaiah apply to You my Beloved and to everyone who accepts Your invitation and mission to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations.  From St. John the Baptist, whose birthday the Church celebrates to day to the Apostles, disciples, martyrs, saints known and unknown, to the least in Your Kingdom who shine Your light in the world, this is our call from God who called us by name while we lay hidden in our mother's womb.  The work God has entrusted to each is unique and requires a response.  The work for each is different and is tailored to each ones vocation in life.  But no matter what that vocation may be, we are all called to spend our strength and our life in laboring for His Kingdom.

Grant O Lord that I do not squander the opportunities You provide me each day to labor in Your vineyard and for Your glory.

Acts 13:22-26

My Beloved, we see how God removes Saul whom he had appointed as king when he abandoned the ways of God and He let His favor rest on David a young, ruddy faced boy who tended his father's sheep on the hills.  Men would not have given him a second glance and would have laughed to scorn if God had consulted them before selecting and appointing David as King.  Thankfully God does not seek nor need our advice nor are His ways our ways.  God empowers those He has called and chosen; giving us all that is required to carry out the work that He has entrusted to us.  Throughout salvation history we see how God works through man to establish His Kingdom on earth.

Pride must never overshadow us in our work.  In all things it is Christ alone who must be preached and glorified as the only Lord and Savior of the world.

Psalm 139:1b-3, 13-15
 
My Father, my Abba, I thank You for creating me.  It was love alone that fashioned and formed me and made me the person I am.  From the moment of my conception Your mighty hand and watchful eye were on me.  There is not a part of me that is unknown or hidden to You and I rejoice in Your intimate knowledge of me.  I love You and I am glad that I am Yours.

Luke 1:57-66, 80

My Beloved, there is a divinely appointed time for everything.  There is no such thing as chance or coincidence in the work of God and in His choosing and appointing of those who are given His mission.

When we obey God, His mighty power is unleashed in us .  His Word becomes active and alive just as Zechariah's tongue was loosened once he obeyed God's will.  He was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and he sang a hymn of praise and prophecy for what God had done and for the mission that God had in store for his son John.

The hand of God is always protecting those who respond to His invitation to work in establishing His Kingdom and in the spreading of the Good News.  God is always present to those who are His own in the world.  As we cooperate with Him, slowly but surely His Kingdom becomes a reality as men and women are formed in Your image and likeness.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

2 Chronicles 24:17-25, Psalm 89:4-5, 29-30,31-34, Matthew 6:24-35

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS:  2 Chronicles 24:17-25, 
                                                                     Psalm 89:4-5, 29-30,31-34, 
                                                                     Matthew 6:24-35


 2 Chronicles 24:17-25
                                                                     
My Beloved how easy it is to turn away from You and return back to the cravings of the senses if we are not always watchful and alert!.  As long as the priest Jehoida was alive, king Joash and the people that the king ruled over lived lives that were holy and pleasing to God, but when Jehoida died the king turned to sinners for advice and then began his ruin and that of the people.

We have the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church to whom we turn to instinctively for help and advice.  She can be trusted never to teach error for this is the promise of the Bridegroom to His Bride.  Just as the leader of the Jews, the priests, scribes and pharisees plotted evil against You, so did they hate the prophet Zechariah.  He was a constant irritant to their conscience and the voice of truth and so they wished to silence and him and eventually, they killed him.  

So too were You an irritant to the people of the law and those who were supposed to guard it, teach it and live it.  They failed on every count and You did not let them forget it so they hated You with the passion with which evil hates good.  Though You were innocent they laid traps for You and eventually when Your hour had come, You permitted them to snare You in their evil.  They treated You with a cruelty and brutality that was truly horrific in every detail and eventually they crucified You like a common criminal.  

They thought that once they were rid of Zechariah they would be free to give free reign to their evil desires without having anyone trouble their conscience.  How wrong they were in their thinking as they would soon find out.  Before dying Zechariah cried out, "Let Yahweh see and do justice."  Your cry to the Father was radically different, You cried out passionately saying, "Father forgive them they do not know what they do."  And so You sought to exonerate us for the heinous and evil crime we committed in crucifying You.  Thank You my Beloved.

Psalm 89:4-5, 29-30,31-34
                                                                     
My Beloved, God made a new covenant of love with us when He sent You to become one like us to save us.  You are the pledge that God made with man.  A pledge that fulfilled and established us forever as His children.  In obeying the Father, He has established You forever as the Way, the Truth and the Life that leads us to Him.

Verses 31-34 are most poignant.  These verses are what those who turn away from God and sin deserve and rightly so.  He promises a punishment of the rod and the scourge to sinners.  But You my Beloved took the place of all who have sinned and You yielded to the Father's demand to let the rod and the scourge fall on Your sinless Body instead of mine and You absorbed my iniquity and shame.  You made me acceptable and pleasing in God's sight once You made satisfication to God for our inquity for the righteousness of God demands that justice is served, punishment is meted to the guilty and restitution is made.

Matthew 6:24-35

My Beloved, if I am obsessed with what I will eat and wear - in short if I am constantly taken up with pleasing the flesh then I will have to choose money over You for my obsession for material things which I use to indulge my creature comforts will take precedence over You.  They will so possess me that there will be no room in my life for You. This is why You warn me that I cannot love both God and money at the same time.  I can choose to be either Your servant or I can serve my love for money and material gain.

Beloved, sparrows and pigeons abound where I live here in Kuwait.  People are always feeding the pigeons but it is the sparrows that fascinate me.  I love to watch them, I love to listen to them singing their little hearts out which seem to burst with songs of praise to God who provides them with all that they need.  They fly joyfully and lightly.  They are content.  They are not even aware that it is You who is their Provider.   In winter here we have little yellow wild flowers that grow with abandon in this desert, arid, sandy land.  They are everywhere even in the cracks on the sidewalks.   You can see them blooming in places where one could never imagine that something as lovely as this could take root and bloom if only for a while.  Yet it is so - they are here today and they will wither tomorrow and yet God lavishes such beauty on them.

What about those who trust Him?  How does God clothe them?  Are those who love, serve and trust God with their whole mind, heart soul, body and spirit dressed in furs, jewels and expensive garments?  Do they dine fastidiously on fine and exotic food and wine every day?  Of course not!  So how does the Father clothe them and feed these loving, trusting little ones?  He does so by illuminating their smiles with the light and warmth of sunshine, their lilting and joyous laughter that evokes an answering response,  the radiance that shines through their eyes comes from a soul and heart filled with God's love.  They have a sure knowledge that they can trust God in every circumstance of their life so they do not worry and are not anxious about anything.  They rest confidently in that special place that is reserved on the breast of my Beloved - the place reserved for the beloved disciple whom He loves.


Friday, June 22, 2012

2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20, Psalm 132:11-14, 17-18, Matthew 6:19-23

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS:  2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20, Psalm 132:11-14, 17-18, Matthew 6:19-23

Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20

Evil sometimes seems to have won the day.  It can become so powerful and rampant that one can be tempted to lose hope that it will ever be vanquished.  Yes we must always remember that through it all the hand of God and the plan of God is silently at work though often times it is almost unseen.  There are people whom God has chosen and appointed to carry out His plan and they work quietly, silently, tirelessly, faithfully, patiently and fearlessly.  In our darkest night we must always remember that God never fails.  This is what Athaliah too discovered despite her murderous actions in order to ensure that she ruled over God's people, God's chosen was removed, hidden and cared for until the appointed hour had come.

No plan against God's chosen people will triumph for long.  Victory belongs to God alone and His will is always at work in the world to draw all things to Himself.

Psalm 132:11-14, 17-18

How beautifully these verses throw light on the Scripture passage of the 1st reading of the day.  Suddenly the exquisite detail in the fine and intricate filigree is thrown into relief.  Everything is but a prequel to what will ultimately be fulfilled when every promise and prophecy comes alive in Jesus, the Beloved Son of the Father, His Eternal Word that was drawn forth from the Being of God the Father eternally.
                                                           
Matthew 6:19-23

"My Beloved, how can I store up treasures for myself with God in heaven where no rust will destroy and no thief can steal?"

"A life of good works has already been prepared for you to do by the Father and which ought to be executed by you with love for God and neighbor.  This will ensure that you not only increase your treasure but God will add to it abundantly and will keep it safe with Him until you come home to the place that we have prepared for you.

M--- Mine where your treasure is there will your heart be.  Where does your treasure lie M--- Mine?"

"My Beloved, my treasure is in You, with You and it is You my Lord." 

Truly my Beloved the eyes reflect the condition of the soul.  When we look into the eyes of some people terror strikes the heart for one can see the death and the darkness in the soul.  Then there are those whose eyes sparkle for they reflect all that is true, good and beautiful for their heart is full of all that is true good and beautiful.

It seems that in the world we live today light has become darkness and the darkness is very dark indeed.  But truly Lord, I do believe that You are victorious and evil has had its day and is on its way to destroying itself completely. What we are witnessing in these days is evil's last and frightening hurrah.  The time of peace that comes from You the Prince of Peace will dawn.  In fact it is here already and the Light will shine and set ablaze the whole world.