Ezekiel 47:1-9 ,12, Psalm 2-3,5-6,8-9, John 5:1-16

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Ezekiel 47:1-9 ,12, Psalm 2-3,5-6,8-9, John 5:1-16

Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
 
My Beloved, from Your side flows streams of life giving water and sinners are bathed clean and the foul stench of iniquity is washed away. You restore our heritage in the waters of Baptism and You grant us Your Holy Spirit who abides in us making us grow in holiness. He blesses us with gifts and as we exercise these gifts fruit begin to grow which we are called to share with others. In the Church born from the wound on Your Side, You make a home for all. Here all are welcome the sinner and the saint and all share in the Eucharistic Banquet of Your Love; here we receive Your Body which is real food and Your Blood which is real drink and which abounds to abundant life.

Psalm 2-3,5-6,8-9

My Beloved God has anointed You the Christ, and has given You the Name Jesus, which means One who saves. You are Emmanuel – God with us. This is the happy result of the sin committed by our first parents. No matter how hard the rulers of the world try to bring down and destroy what has been given to You by Your Father they will never succeed. God laughs in derision as evil multiplies itself in the world in a vain attempt to kill, steal and destroy what belongs to You. We know that the head of evil has already been crushed under Your foot and Satan and his minions are in their death throes. In their rage they are ravaging the world in a last ditch attempt to create as much havoc as they can before they are finally destroyed and You come again to claim once and for all the victory You have gained on the Cross.

John 5:1-16

My Beloved, You were persecuted for doing good on the Sabbath a holy day for the Jews. Any one with an iota of good sense would know that You could not be faulted for all the miracles You performed on this day they preferred to nitpick on what is permitted and what is not and lost sight of the larger picture. Before we make haste to judge them it would do us well to reflect on our own selves and see how often we have been absorbed in fulfilling the letter of the law and have forgotten its spirit.

When You came to the paralytic man lying for 38 years beside the pool which was supposed to have miraculous powers You asked him a direct question. “Do you want to be healed?” One would expect him to ecstatically exclaim, “Yes, I do.” Instead he talks some nonsense about not being able to enter the pool at the right moment. That was not Your question. Very often we to prevaricate – healed and whole, demands would be made of us, responsibilities would have to be handled, and it is easier to lie down and wallow in our sinful habits rather than receive healing and go about the Father’s business, toiling in His Vineyard and putting out into the deep.