Numbers 21:4-9, Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21, John 8:21-30

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS


The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live for ever.


Numbers 21:4-9, Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21, John 8:21-30

Numbers 21:4-9

My soul's beloved, this is our wilderness and it is from here that we journey to the Promised Land which is the Kingdom of God. This journey lasts a lifetime and it is during this journey that can become difficult and impossible sometimes that we begin to complain and become cantankerous. But it is the very difficulties that we chafe against that helps us to grow strong in faith, to rely on You for strength, and to count on You for help with the confidence of a child. But there are times when we succumb to temptation and sin and the wages of grave sin is death. But God does not desire the destruction of the sinner - He created us for life and life in abundance this is why He instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent, mount it on a pole and told Moses to ask all who had been bitten with the deadly poison to raise their eyes to the serpent thus raised above the ground and they would live. 

You took upon Yourself the sin all all human beings from the first to last. You allowed the punishment of sin to fall upon Your innocent Body. You paid the price that sin demands, eternal death, and in paying the price You gave us in exchange Your Life, the Life that leads to a share in Your glory eternally.

Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21

My soul's beloved, each time I called You answered. When I was filled with sadness and anxiety You came to my help and You comforted me. You have always heard my prayers and granted me what I needed. You are never further away than the sound of my cry. You are no shrouded in secrecy in heaven, hidden from the people You created but You come down to us, You walk with us, You make our heart Your home and You feed us with Your own Flesh and give us to drink of Your Blood. We eat and drink and we are transformed, healed, strengthened and are renewed in faith, hope, and love. We praise You Lord. May every breath I breathe praise You my soul's most beloved.

John 8:21-30

My soul's beloved, every sinner, like the Pharisees are given a chance to repent and to renounce sin. You kept nothing hidden but spoke plainly of the events that were to come. They would take Your life and in doing so, because of their unbelief, they would have lost their chance of being saved by the Messiah, the One that they were waiting for but did not recognize when He came among them. How often my Lord, have I failed to recognize You when You came to me in the disguise of my neighbor? You said that anything I do to him or her I do to You.

So long as I prefer to remain in the world and refuse to look beyond the desires of the flesh I can have no part in You. There is nothing hidden anymore - You revealed plainly to the world that the Father sent You and even today, as then, You are rejected. People behave like they have a choice, an option to believe or not, to accept or not that You are the great I AM, the Son of the Living God, the One sent by the Father to become the expiation for our sins. If we deny You then we condemn ourselves to eternal damnation.

Once again You foretell Your death and the manner in which You will die. You will be raised up like the bronze serpent in the desert, above the earth, and only those who look at You and believe that You are the Savior of the world, will receive the salvation that You came to give. You did all things to perfection and in perfect accord with the Father's will - teach me too to accept all that You will for my life joyfully.