Hebrews 5:1-10, Psalm 110:1-4, Mark 2:18-22

DAILY MASS READINGS

Hebrews 5:1-10, Psalm 110:1-4, Mark 2:18-22

Hebrews 5:1-10

My Beloved, we must love, honor and respect our priests.  We must support them both spiritually and materially.  They did not decide on their own to  be priests and to offer their lives to You alone, rather they were invited by God to imitate You and to share in Your priesthood and ministry.

A priest is called from among men because he best understands our weaknesses and human frailties and is able to intercede before God with greater empathy.  He is compassionate when we confess our sins and he is able to enter fully into the awesome mystery of being Christ for us in order to bring us to complete spiritual health and wholeness offered by You through the Sacraments.

Verse 4 reminds us that that one does not become a priest by his own choosing but is called by God and it is God Himself who confers the dignity of the priesthood to whoever He chooses, that is why we must pray that all who hear His call to serve Him as His priests must humbly accept His invitation.

You Yourself were called by Your own Father to become our High Priest.  You submitted to His will and became incarnate.  Only a human person could truly understand the human condition so You entered into our humanity and became like us.  You suffered all the frailties of our flesh, tempted as we are tempted, suffering the inclemency of the weather and the cruelty of men.  In becoming one like us, You were able more perfectly to atone for our sins and obtain grace for us to overcome our miserable weaknesses because You understand us fully.  You could moan, groan and shed tears while You interceded with Your Father on our behalf.  Thank You my Beloved.  Thank You Abba. Thank You Holy Spirit.

Psalm 110:1-4

Abba Father, anyone who opposes Your beloved Son is unworthy of being Your child.  You have raised Him and given Him a place and a Name that is higher than any other and all those who deny Him and His authority and Kingship will not be welcome in the Kingdom having chosen to deliberately turn away from Your love.

Jesus is begotten by You from all eternity.  He is God in essence and in nature.  He is One with You and is indivisible from You and the Holy Spirit.  He makes You visible in Himself and having seen Him we can now boast that we have seen You as well.

He is our Prophet, Priest, King and Sacrificial Victim.  We eat His Body and we drink His Blood and we are taken up into Him and become one with Him.  Thus we become one with You and the Holy Spirit as well since You are one.  

Thank You Beloved for the most awesome Gift of Yourself in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

Mark 2:18-22

My Beloved, our Bridegroom, our perfect Joy, to know You and to love You and to walk with You aware of Your Loving Presence in me is to already live in heaven while still on earth.  You make this possible through the power of Your most Holy Spirit who abides in me and makes my body His temple.  He is Your Spirit and the Spirit of Your Father and in all humility He also lives, moves and has His Being in me.

Why would the disciples fast my Love while they were at the wedding feast and were the best friends of the Bridegroom?  You came to make all things new, to take the old and infuse in it new vigor, new life and new meaning.  All that was old was only a poor shadow and a dim reflection of the reality and the beauty of the new.

You walked on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples and You opened their hearts and minds so they could see how the old was a promise that gave birth and found its fulfillment in You.  The old deals with fear, rituals and endless animal sacrifices that did nothing to redeem us. The New brought us salvation, love, life, peace, joy and hope when it gave us the Gift of Faith in You.