Isaiah 66:18-21, Psalm 117:1-2. Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13, Luke 13:22-30

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the way, the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father, except through me. Jn 14:6

Isaiah 66:18-21, Psalm 117:1-2. Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13, Luke 13:22-30

Isaiah 66:18-21

My soul's beloved, the Father sent You into the world in order to gather to Himself every man, woman, and child from the first to the last. He first chose from all the world Abraham and through Him He began to slowly but surely put His great plan to make known His love to us so that we may know Him, love Him and give Him glory for all His marvelous deed. You are the Sign that He set among us and You chose in turn sent out disciples into the world to carry out the mission of making God known and loved in the whole world.

Each one of us has to come before You with the brothers and sisters to whom he or she has made You known and loved. We do not save ourselves alone but we are called to bring others to the knowledge of Truth and Love so that the whole world can acknowledge that You are God and sing Your praises from one end of the earth to the other. So that they whole world can offer to the Father the one, holy, and acceptable Sacrifice that is pleasing to God. Your priests will be from every nation, every race, every culture and they will raise their hands to You along with Your people in the most awesome sacrifice of love, praise, worship, adoration and thanksgiving.

Psalm 117:1-2

 

My soul's beloved, this is the mission that all the baptized receive. We are called to proclaim to the whole world the Good News that You have saved us. Together, every nation is called to acknowledge what You have done for us and glorify You for giving us life and for revealing to us the love of God.  Love that did not abandon us despite our deliberate turning away from Him but sought a way to restore to us what we had so wantonly lost.

Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13,

My soul's beloved, when we are disciplined we have a tendency to pout, to complain, to lose heart, and to become disgruntled. Today You tell us that we should accept it as coming from a loving Father who corrects and disciplines because He cares for us. Had he not done so then we would continue to choose that which is detrimental to the salvation of our souls. Sometimes tough love is required because we are stubborn, or because our bad habits can lead us to lose sight completely of the goal which is eternal life. When we accept discipline in the right spirit we are glad of it because it makes us stronger and better able to resist temptation. God desires that all His children be whole and happy and this is why He is constantly pruning us. Let us rejoice that God loves us so much He is prepared to help us to be the very best that we can be with His help.
 

Luke 13:22-30

 

My soul's beloved, today You remind us that we cannot take our salvation for granted. We cannot claim knowledge of You, or that our baptism alone guarantees us a place in the Kingdom of God. We are called to love God first and then we are called to love each other in the same way that God loves us. This is not easy. We are selfish, proud, self-righteous, haughty, boastful, and we constantly seek to put our own interests above those of others even those who are most in need of our love and compassion.

 

It is not enough for us to say we know You it is more important that we spend our lives discerning Your will for us and then doing it promptly and joyfully.