Isaiah 66:10-14, Judith 13:18-19, John 2:1-11

DAILY HOLY MASS READING

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES

Isaiah 66:10-14, Judith 13:18-19, John 2:1-11

http://www.bibleclaret.org/bibles/english.htm

Isaiah 66:10-14

“They have no wine.”

My Beloved, to Your Blessed Mother has been given a place of honor and glory beside You. She shines bright with the light that comes from You.  She is beauty, grace, goodness, holiness and humility. She knows that she has nothing of her own - she is created and fashioned by the Triune God and is God's perfect masterpiece. First and foremost  among all human creatures simply because this is how God wills it.  

It give You tremendous joy to see her delighted and her delight comes from aiding her children - the adopted brothers and sisters of Her Son.  She will do all in her power to draw all her children home to You. She was witness to the Sacrifice that was made for our salvation - such a terrible Sacrifice that she desires that not one should be lost for the price paid for each soul cannot be measured.

She brings with her the abundance and fruitfulness of God and she invites all her children to press around her and receive from her rich treasury, an abundance of God's grace and mercy for she is co-mediatrix with You. The sword that pierced through her soul is the channel through which all grace flows from You through her to us.  All we her children need do is call on our mother and she will hasten to help us for Your Sake who redeemed us.

Her heart continues to be pierced mysteriously each time her children withdraw from the Light of Grace and refuse the salvation that is given freely so all may be saved and come to the fullness and knowledge of the Truth that is in You Christ Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Mary.

Judith 13:18-19

 

18“My daughter, may the Most High God bless you more than all women on earth.

And blessed be the Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has led you to behead the leader of our enemies.

19 Never will people forget the confidence you have shown; they will always remember the power of God.

Just as all that is new is prefigured in the old so also is our Blessed Mother prefigured here in the Book of Judith. Verse 18 is an echo of the Angel Gabriel's greeting to the Mother of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now all generations call her blessed and will never forget as long as time lasts that it was her 'Yes; her 'fiat' that gave us our Savior.

Verse 19 We have only to look at our Blessed Mother and we recall the wonderful thing that God did for us through her who trusted implicitly in God.  Through her the Son of God became the Son of Man as well.  Through her we received our Redeemer who won the victory over the enemy and death was destroyed forever.  She crushed the head of Satan under her heel.

Thank you Mama for saying yes to the Father, for conceiving the Son of God Jesus through the power of the most Holy Spirit and bringing Him forth into the world to save us.

John 2:1-11

 My Beloved, Your Presence is a must in all our celebrations in order that they may be sanctified and made holy in the sight of God. Your Mother and You were both present at the wedding in Cana and You brought Your disciples along with You. (Wherever Your are my Bridegroom, there is the wedding banquet and where there is the wedding banquet the friends of the Bridegroom are always present.)  

A wedding is a joyful occasion. It is one that holds the promise of new beginnings filled with hope, love and expectation. However one needs more than these to sustain and keep alive the vows and promises one makes or else when we run out of wine we will have no source where we can be filled again. Marriage then becomes as wearisome as a millstone around one's neck and all the joy seems to have been wrung out of life.

We need Your Presence Beloved and we need our Blessed Mother as well so when we do run out of wine she will make our need known to You and she will ask You to come to our aid and help us.  You will obey her wishes and to us she will say, "Do whatever he tells you to do."  In this alone we will find fulfillment.  Just as it was food and drink for You to do Your Father's will, so it must be for us in order to find meaning, fulfillment and purpose in our lives.  To do Your will always and everywhere will keep the wine jars full to overflowing always.