Isaiah 48:17-19, Psalm 1:1-4, 6, Matthew 11:16-19

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The Lord will come; go out to meet him!

He is the prince of peace.

Isaiah 48:17-19, Psalm 1:1-4, 6, Matthew 11:16-19

Isaiah 48:17-19

My soul's beloved, I know that I do not deserve love such as Yours. You do not love me because I am good or virtuous or possess any extraordinary gifts. You just love me because Your nature is love and You cannot be contrary to Your nature. I on the other hand are most undeserving of Your infinite love for me. You know my faults and failing better that I for I tend to overlook them, justify them, or make light of them. 

Help me Lord to be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit whom You have so generously given me. Who makes His home in me unworthy and sinful as I am. It is not enough to just hear His voice but to obey Him. Grant me the grace to do so joyfully and promptly not for what I can obtain from You but simply because this pleases You. I know that You find it pleasing when I am humble and obedient and when I seek only to please You in every way. Let me not worry about the good that will flow from living a life of virtue but rather let my only motive be to do so in loving response for all You have done for me. May my heart be filled with gratitude a, thanksgiving and praise for the life of grace that is possible when I live in close union with You.

Psalm 1:1-4, 6

My soul's beloved we have Your assurance that those who follow You who are the Way, the Truth and the life will always walk in the Light of Your love. They will obey Your law of love and will have nothing to do with those who deliberately choose to walk in the path that leads to death. Those who walk in the Way of Life will send their roots deep into You and will be fed and watered from the life giving springs that well up to eternal life in us. We will bear abundant fruit in every season and we will be a blessing to all who know us and will learn to love You and desire to experience the same joy that we possess.

Your Word my Beloved, is a light to my path and a lamp to my feet and so it is with all who choose to feed on Scripture and allow Your Word to guide us. Grant O Lord that I may be faithfully live in the Light of Your Gospel and be fed and nourished by the Sacraments. Stay with me Lord, watch over me, and do not permit me to stray from the path of virtue and righteousness all the days of my life.

Matthew 11:16-19

My soul's beloved, there is no pleasing or satisfying sinners who are bent on willfully living a live steeped in immorality. The deliberately ignorant and the willfully wicked do not desire to know the Truth; if they did then they would have to change their ways. They prefer a life of self indulgence and licentiousness even though it brings no lasting joy. The idolatrous love of the body, the lust for power, money, and the flesh are the idols that the world flaunts today and insists can satisfy our deepest needs. This lie is swallowed by the gullible despite the proof in their own lives that they are empty, hollow, sad, lonely, depressed, stressed, anxious and sick in mind, body and spirit. They believe that more of the same that is the cause of their dissatisfaction will relieve them and so the sad, unholy, cycle that leads to the death of the soul continues. 

You came to show us another way. The way that leads to eternal life and unending joy. But the sinner thinks it to hard, and impossible and refuses to even try it. They do not know that if they are willing to take only one tiny step toward You, You will run the other ninety nine and embrace them and restore all they have lost and more. You love as the Father loves, completely, totally, wholeheartedly, even to the laying down of Your life so we may live.

Thank You my Beloved, for loving me to the end.