Zephaniah 3:14-18, Isaiah 12:2-6, Luke 1:39-57

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Zephaniah 3:14-18, Isaiah 12:2-6, Luke 1:39-57

Zephaniah 3:14-18

My soul’s beloved, every promise that God has made, He has fulfilled in You. Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Visitation of our Blessed Mother, Virgin and Queen to her cousin Elizabeth. She was carrying St. John the Baptist in her womb at the time and was six months pregnant when Mary made the first Eucharist procession as she carried You newly conceived in her womb and travelled to the hill country in Judea to visit her and be of help to her cousin. The prophet speaks of that meeting long before it takes place. God is hidden in the womb of the daughter of Jerusalem, the woman chosen to bear the Son of God. Recalling His covenant love for His people, God sends us a Savior, Emmanuel who will remain with us and give us hope. Casting out all fear we will walk in the freedom of the children of God that You will win for us through suffering and death so we can have a share in Your resurrection.

Isaiah 12:2-6

My soul’ beloved, once again today we read of another great prophet centuries before You were born singing a hymn of praise at the saving work that God has done for us in redeeming us. Salvation is granted to us by You and no other. We rejoice and are glad for the new life that You grant us through the Sacrament of Baptism, the forgiveness of sin through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the strength we receive as we are  nourished on  the Bread of Angels in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

We praise You as we come together to celebrate Your most Holy Name and marvel at Your saving help as we recall the wonders that You have done and rejoice at the Father’s love for us. We thank You my soul’s beloved for remaining in our midst and being Emmanuel, God with us.

Luke 1:39-57

My soul’s beloved, Your mama was a woman who did not let the grass grow under her feet. She was a woman of action. No sooner was it revealed to her by the Holy Spirit that Elizabeth her cousin was six months pregnant, she set out in haste, making a difficult journey in the hills of Judah to visit her and assist her. Too often we make excuses for being lazy for not getting up and going where we are needed and being useful. There is a joy that comes from a life of service that is so satisfying and yet most of us prefer to sit on our hands and lead selfish lives.

Mary’s beautiful hymn, the Magnificat recognizes that every good and perfect gift comes from God and she give Him all the glory for what He has done for her. She rightly prophecies that all generations shall call her blessed for it was He who chose her, through His power and the overshadowing she would conceive God’s own Son who was to save the world. She was aware that God chose her through no merit of her own and raised her high above all His creatures. He adorned her with every virtue. Her soul was an impeccable garden where the infinite God would take flesh from her, be enclosed in her womb. Would make a home for Him in her body as He grew in secret as she nourished Him with her blood. She is truly and without question the Mother of God for she is the Mother of the Son of God. And yes, all generations will call her blessed for God chose her in her lowliness and made her sit among princes.

2Peter 1:2-7, Psalm 91:1-2, 14-16, Mark 12:1-12

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

2Peter 1:2-7, Psalm 91:1-2, 14-16, Mark 12:1-12

2Peter 1:2-7

My soul’s beloved, these few verses are filled with eternal truths. St. Peter begins with a blessing that we may be filled with grace and peace which flow from knowledge of God and of You who are our Lord. Your divine power working in us enables us to possess all we need to live a life of holiness. As we grow in our knowledge of You we learn of the awesome promises that are granted to us in and through You. As we claim these promises as ours through the Sacraments we share in Your divine nature and the attractions and attachments of the world begin to lose their hold on us. He urges us with single minded devotion to increase our faith by goodness which will then sent into motion a chain of events faith to goodness, from goodness to a hunger and thirst to know You, which will help us to exercise self control and moderation in all things which will in turn enable us to be steadfast and as we follow You more closely each day we will love everyone we meet and seek their good.

Psalm 91:1-2, 14-16

My soul’s beloved, I dwell in the shadow of the Living God, Your shadow encompasses me. You are my strength and my refuge. I cling to You for I recognize that should I lose my hold on You or should You let me go I will die. But You have rescued me from the pit of destruction, from the wiles and the traps set by the enemy to snare me. Your mighty protection guards me and keeps me safe from evil. I have Your assurance that when I call You will answer me. When I am in trouble You will stay by me. I in turn will honor You, worship and adore You and offer You thanksgiving and praise all my days. Thank You my soul’s beloved for Your promise to grant me eternal life once my journey here comes to an end through the power of Your saving work through Your incarnation, passion and glorious resurrection.

Mark 12:1-12

My soul’s beloved, when we speak the truth, when we point out evil, when we boldly tell the world that we reject the sinful culture and climate of moral depravity they propagate then we can be absolutely certain of the consequences. The powerful have their own wicked, immoral, personal agendas which they will safeguard with every tool available to them. They will crush anyone who stands in their way. This is what You say to the Pharisees in this parable and this parable is true even to this day.

We have been given the world. It is Your gift to us. When we sinned God did not reject us as justice demanded He should instead His prodigal love was prepared to send You into the world knowing that You would be rejected and slain, to redeem us. You showed us the way to the Kingdom of God and made it possible for us to get there. However, those who do not know You, those who are in love with the flesh and the world, seek to destroy Your living legacy and those who seek to keep it alive until the time of Your coming again in glory.

You have warned us that if they persecuted You and killed You we who follow You can expect no less. Keep us faithful my soul’s beloved for we know that You have already won the victory.

Genesis 14:18-20, 1Corinthians 11:23-26, Psalm 110:1-4, Luke 9:11-17

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

THE FEAST OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (CORPUS CHRISTI)

Genesis 14:18-20, 1Corinthians 11:23-26, Psalm 110:1-4, Luke 9:11-17

Genesis 14:18-20

My soul’s beloved, these few verses are pregnant with prophecy. It says so much of what will be fulfilled centuries later. Here is Abram our father in faith is received by the mysterious king Melchizedek of Salem which will later be called Jerusalem. He was a king and a priest and brought bread and wine a foreshadowing of the Eucharist that You would institute at the Last Supper. He blessed Abram who in turn gave the king a tenth of all he had. 

You are the Priest King and You take bread and wine, consecrate it, change it into Your Body and Blood and You feed us, strengthen us and nourish us with this divine food and drink.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

My soul’s beloved, we now see fulfilled and practiced as instructed by You the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. What was once in shadow now is revealed in all its glory and splendor as St. Paul who did not know You in life but had a personal encounter with You after Your ascension into heaven, explains the tradition that has been handed down to him directly from the Apostles who received it from You when You instituted this Sacrament at the Last Supper. Two thousand years later we continue to celebrate the Eucharist at every Holy Mass, the priest at every altar recalls Your Words and bread and wine become Your Body and Blood and the faithful are nourished. The Church will celebrate the Eucharist until the time of Your coming again in glory.

Psalm 110:1-4

You are the Son of the Most High and to You is given all authority and power. You reign in splendor at the right hand of God and Your rule extends over all that is seen and unseen. You have been given a name that is higher than any other and Your Kingship is established in heaven, on earth and everywhere there is no Name is heaven and on earth by which men and women can be saved but Yours alone. Our High Priest, our King and our Lord and God.

Luke 9:11-17

My soul’s beloved, thank You for seeing our need for divine sustenance without which we could not persevere in our faith. Thank You for Your Body and Blood, for instituting the awesome Sacrament of Love where You lovingly feed us with Yourself making us for a while united to You in perfect harmony and oneness. For this I offer You grateful thanks. Amen

Jude 17, 20-25, Psalm 63:2-6, Mark 11:27-33

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Jude 17, 20-25, Psalm 63:2-6, Mark 11:27-33

Jude 17, 20-25

My soul’s beloved, everything that St. Jude exhorts us to do confirms all You have just said to me in Your Word to me today. How gracious and good You are my Lord and my God, I do not deserve such kindness but You do not treat me as I deserve because You love me. Having experienced Your perfect love I must strive to show the same love to others. I am most deeply grateful for the gift of my faith, for the gift of being born in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I thank You for Your love that is so palpable it keeps me firmly rooted in You. Thank You for not condemning me although justice demanded that I should be; rather You took my condemnation upon Yourself and paid the  price that was mine. Thank You for the certain and sure hope I have that You are leading me to eternal life.

I am now duty bound to reveal to those who doubt all that You have done for me, how You saved me and how You make available to me rich and abundant graces through the Sacraments that help me to keep the Law of Love, exercise it daily and strengthens me in faith and in hope. Help me to be tireless in this mission that has been entrusted me which is to make You known and loved just as I know and love You.

Psalm 63:2-6

My soul’s beloved, the psalmist expresses beautifully and powerfully all that my own poor words cannot. He speaks of a longing, a thirsting, a yearning a pining for You comparing it to land that is dry, parched and gasps for water. I wake up each morning before dawn, I spend time before You in the Adoration chapel, and You bathe me in Your love filling me with grace. Just being in Your holy Presence strengthens me and I shine like Moses because I have been before You. 

If You did not love me I would no longer exist. It is Your love that upholds me, sustains me and enables me draw breath. My food and drink which feeds my spirit comes from praising You, offering You thanksgiving and worshipping You fully aware and alive to the truth that without You I can do nothing and I am nothing. You invite us to feast at the Eucharistic table and there we banquet on Your Body and Your Blood which wells up to eternal life in us.

And every night when the daylight hours have come to an end and I lie on my bed my soul clings to You. Your Name is the Name which my heartbeat, my pulse beat and my breath echo until l I fall asleep and as my sleep my spirit continues to speak Your Name until I awake to a brand new day and take up the song of Your Most Holy Name that Name that is given to us and no other by which all are saved. 

Mark 11:27-33

My soul’s beloved, so often just like the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and the elders we deliberately deny the truth that is self-evident so we can wallow in sin. We pretend we do not know because admitting that we do has serious consequences. We have to decide, to make a choice consciously to either walk on the side of Truth or live in denial of it although we know it thus making us hypocrites just like them.

The people who questioned You that day as You entered the temple after throwing out the money changers and those who were buying and selling and defiling the house of God, stood by filled with a helpless rage as You went about in righteous rage clearing the temple of God of all that had made it a market place instead of a place where people came to worship the living God. You did what they refused to do because they benefited from all the trading that went one there. They dared not approach You at the time because they were facing and enraged God although they did not know it yet had to somehow be dimly aware of it. Now it was a new day and they saw You as a man and had the courage to question You. You put before them one simple question and You assured them that if they answered Your counter question You would give them the answer to theirs.

They could not because any answer they gave would trap them just as surely as they set out to trap You time and time again and failed. A truthful, ‘Yes’, would raise the challenge as to why they did not believe John the Baptist if they knew he came from God. To say, ‘No’ would enrage the people who believed that he did so they preferred a weak denial and thus they never heard the emphatic truth from Your own lips that the authority by which You did everything they witnessed came directly from Your Father, who is the Living God. Their clung to their hypocrisy until they nailed You to the Cross and watched You die.  Blessed are those who without seeing believe. Thank You for this awesome assurance.