Ezekiel 37:21-28, Jeremiah 31:10-13, John 11:45-56

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD,
and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Ez 18:31


Ezekiel 37:21-28, Jeremiah 31:10-13, John 11:45-56


Ezekiel 37:21-28

My soul's beloved, this is a prophecy for our times, while it may have been one also for the people of Israel who were scattered, it is more truly one of what God has done for us in You, with You and through You. Unity is the gift and the work of the Holy Spirit. You made that beautiful prayer to the Father that we may be one just as You and the Father are One. You desire that we may also be one with You and the Father and one with each other. This is the Kingdom that You came to establish with You as our King and our Ruler. 

Never has there been a greater defilement, greater apostasies, greater transgressions, in any age as the one in which we live. Our idols are our entertainment, our body, our gadgets, people, pleasure, and pandering to the desires of our flesh until we have become insensate. There is no silence and silence is not encouraged for if we only took a moment to look at the abomination our lives have become we would be horrified. Yet, You give us hope. You assure us of deliverance and cleansing so we may once be Your people and You our God. Calvary and the Cross will continue to draw the world and all its people to You in every time and age even though we transgress and wantonly destroy ourselves in hedonism.

As David was prince over a united Israel, so are will You be the King of Kings over a united world and all its people. Your laws, written on our hearts will be observed and obeyed. You will grant us life in abundance and blessings shall flow from generation to generation who will live in the peace that was obtained through the shedding of Your Blood and the everlasting Covenant of Love that You established. 

You have made Your dwelling place among us. You are present in all the tabernacles of the world where You draw Your faithful to You night and day until time comes to a close and You will set up Your Sanctuary forever.

Jeremiah 31:10-13

My soul's beloved, the Word of God came into the world, and dwells among us. It is You who gather people from the ends of the earth and together we all climb up the Holy Mountain, to the place where You dwell and we offer to You our sacrifice of praise, worship, adoration and thanksgiving. You are the Shepherd that gathers the flock and brings them together. You guard us as the apple of Your eye. You go in search of the lost and carry them home.  All are saved and all will come to the knowledge of Truth. All will be led on the Way that You have opened to the heart of the Father through the Holy Spirit our Teacher, our Guide, our Paraclete, our Helper. 

In the celebration of the Holy Eucharist from the rising of the sun to its setting the Name of the Lord is glorified. We are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb and we are more than conquerors through the streams of blessings that flow from the throne of Grace to us. We are fed on the finest grain, the fattest lambs, the sweetest honey, the best oil.

As we are made holy, as we understand and live by the two great commandments of Love of God and love of neighbor, we will become a royal people, a holy nation with You as our King. You will turn our mourning into dancing, our sorrow to joy, You will console us and wipe away the tears from every eye and peace will once more be ours a peace that only You can give.  We pray for that day. We long for that day. We will see that day for God Himself has promised it to us.

John 11:45-56

My soul's beloved, the raising of Lazarus to life after he was dead four days was clear proof of Your identity. Only God has power over life and death this was self-evident. This is why Your enemies were livid, anxious, and prepared to go to any lengths to preserve the status quo. The power and position they enjoyed was being threatened. The Way that Your proposed was so controversial, so contradictory,that they could not imagine embracing it.  The Law had become of paramount importance and anything that threatened it had to be obliterated. They were prepared to murder to achieve this end.

You raised Lazarus from the dead when his body had already begun to decompose and the people believed that here among them was truly God in human flesh. If this Good News was broadcast everyone would come to believe, and the great fear was that the Romans would kill all the Jews, so Caiaphas said better that You should die before Israel as they knew it be completely destroyed. They thought as men do not as God does. And so without knowing it Caiaphas, the Pharisees, the Scribes, the religious authorities and the Rome all colluded together to bring about the the death of the Son of God, sent by the Father to become the Eternal Sacrifice by which the whole world was saved, redeemed, and reconciled forever to Him.