Daily Holy Mass Readings:
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| IMITATING CHRIST |
My Beloved, You have shown us how to live and how to
die. Every answer to life’s most
burdensome and painful questions can be found in You and in Your Word. All we ever need to be happy in this life is
You and the sure knowledge that we were created for happiness in this life and
eternally in the life to come.
It is true my Beloved that there are many who suffer and
suffer much, but You have shown us how to suffer. If we only come to the Father in confidence,
accepting His will in humility and obedience, no matter what it is He asks of
us, if we ask for His Spirit to help and sustain us and if we walk in Your
footsteps, the road will not be so rough, dark and narrow because we will not
walk alone.
We are called to be saints, we are called to be holy and
perfect. We are called to believe that all
You say is true and it is then why are so many Christians so unhappy, so
miserable, so full of murmuring, grumbling and complaints? The answer to all life's difficulties is You Lord, why can’t they believe despite being
familiar with all Your promises?
Verse 18 I for my part will show you my faith in the way I
act.
This is what I am saying my Beloved. I cannot say I have faith and then pull long
faces. You have said if anyone wants to
come after You he has to pick up his cross daily and follow You. What part of this verse is difficult to
understand. You invite us to take Your
yoke upon our shoulders and learn from You because You are gentle and humble of
heart. To be like You means spreading
Your fragrance in the world through my witness of You.
Again, this is what I am talking about my Beloved. The psalmist knows You, he is familiar with
Your ways. He has experienced Your
goodness in the midst of adversity. He called
on You for help and You did not fail him.
He has tasted the sweetness of Your compassion and mercy. He has understood that when he yields to God’s
will in humility and obedience, You will never abandon him. He knows that You are with him, You walk with
him and he is not alone. Verses 8-9 sum
up what God does for us when we abandon ourselves to His mercy.
My Beloved, how clear it is that we do not wrestle with
shadows and drop down in sheer exhaustion and despair. No, we don’t.
We are people of faith. We are
Christians and Catholics at that. We
cannot act like Satan and denounce the Cross.
The whole purpose of the Christian life is to walk with the cross and
accept the suffering that comes with it and have the sure knowledge
born of faith that You walk with us and help us every step of the way.
If I know who You are in every fiber of my being, this
knowledge enables me to take You at Your Word and because Your Word is the foundation
of my life and influences my thoughts, words and actions, I am joyful. The paradox of the Christian life is that if
I want to save my life I must lose it like You did. Lose the world and inherit the Kingdom.
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