DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS:
My Beloved, St. Paul urges obedience first and then he asks us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. God has awesome blessings and gifts to give us throughout our lives but if we are not ready to receive them it will be much like throwing pearls to swine. My love for You must be so great that the fear of offending You in any way must be of paramount concern. If I am conscious all the time that I dare not do anything that would wound our friendship, then I would be following St. Paul's advice.
It is all grace. Without the faith and grace that is poured out on us by the Holy Spirit we would be defeated from the start. To be holy and perfect I need grace. Grant me the desire to frequent the Sacraments with the right disposition that I may be filled with divine power, only then can I live a life that reflects Your light which will guide me and those who are influenced by me.
Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14
My Beloved, when we live in the embrace of Holy Mother Church, we walk in the light of Truth. Obedient to her teachings and guided by them we will walk confidently and without fear of stumbling. The devil and the spirits of darkness have covered the earth, they roar, prowl and stalk waiting to snare those who have deliberately closed themselves to the power of faith, reason and truth. But those who walk with You walk with confidence knowing that they are children of God. We have a hope that is sure. If You were not present to us in the Holy Eucharist and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation life would be dry and bitter but because You are always beside us encouraging us and urging us on, we are filled with grace that makes us strong and unafraid. When we walk with the Church, we walk with You.
Luke 14:25-33
My Beloved verse 26 when taken out of context, as it so often is, we have human bombs causing mayhem, carnage and death. These verses,
26 “If you come
to me, without being ready to give up your love for your father and mother,
your spouse and children, your brothers and sisters, and indeed yourself, you
cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not follow me carrying his own cross
cannot be my disciple.
are knit together and must be understood as central to the first commandment which is to love God with everything that we are and our neighbor as ourselves. It is living the daily grind and monotony of life with all its joys, sorrows, disappointments, trials ups and downs, aware that we walk with You, as we struggle daily to walk faithfully in Your footsteps.
We cannot do battle in the world armed with ignorance. For 2000 years and more beginning with the Apostles, the Church Fathers, the writings of the doctors of the Church, the Saints, the Holy Fathers down the ages, Bishops, priests and laity, we have had the Holy Spirit inspiring the faithful to keep their gaze fixed on You. Like Mary, the Church has kept everything in her heart and has pondered on everything that You did and said. The tiny mustard seed of Your Word blossoms, it continues to grow and flourish bringing fresh depth and understanding of the truths of our faith.
If we are ignorant, if we do not make it our sacred duty to instruct ourselves, we will fail miserably in our mission because we will be beaten by lies and falsehoods and a distorted version of the truth. The beauty and majesty of the faith will be twisted and fed to us as truth and we will have lost the war long before we even set foot on the battle field.
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