Friday, October 13, 2017

Joel 1:13-15, 2:1-2, Psalm 9:2-3, 6 & 16, 8-9, Luke 11:15-26

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The prince of this world will now be cast out,
and when I am lifted up from the earth
I will draw all to myself, says the Lord.  Jn 12:31-32


Joel 1:13-15, 2:1-2, Psalm 9:2-3, 6 & 16, 8-9, 
Luke 11:15-26


Joel 1:13-15, 2:1-2

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

The prophet Joel is warning Your people if they do not repent, if they do not turn away from the iniquity, if they do not cast from them their wicked ways, and put on the garment of contrition and sorrow for sin then they will bring upon themselves a destruction the likes of which has not yet been witnessed.

They will be overrun by the enemy who will destroy them, and soon, the dark night will blot out Your light and sorrow and lamentation will be their lot. 

We look at our world today, the world created in love by the Father, redeemed by You, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit and we wonder Beloved, if all reason as fled, all knowledge of God disappeared. Will wisdom return? What great calamity will it take before Your creatures return to You and beg Your mercy and Your forgiveness?

Psalm 9:2-3, 6 & 16, 8-9

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

We thank the Father for appointing You as the only righteous Judge, there is no other. You know the human heart. You know how fickle we are. You know how easily we are tempted. The world has turned its back on all that is good, holy, noble, uplifting, pure, true, and beautiful. We look to our senses to gratify us. We look to people to give us what only You can give and time and time again we are bitterly disappointed. 

We have not yet understood that our joy, our delight, our satisfaction, comes when we acknowledge that You and You alone who are enthroned high above the heavens and the earth, are our Lord and our God and that all the idols we set up and worship will lead to our destruction. You will judge the world in fairness, in mercy, in compassion, and in truth. May we not find ourselves on the side of the goats but at Your right hand. 

Save us Beloved, lest we perish forever.   

Luke 11:15-26

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

The world, from the beginning, have been lied to by the Father of lies, and his willing disciples are prepared to testify to lies in order to spread division in order to scatter the faithful and weaken their faith, and their belief in You. Just as the crowds said that You cast out demons with the help of demons, so too, in our day, we give credit to human wisdom, human intellect, human emotions and feelings, with backing it with the Truth. There is only one standard by which we judge what is good, what is desirable, what we ought to seek with our whole heart, mind, soul, body, and spirit and that is the knowledge revealed to us by God throughout salvation history.

You have warned us that where our hearts are there will our treasures be found. Our poor, deceived world is being fragmented each day, each generation, into even smaller pieces. We have the world deafening us with lies, preaching a false gospel that there is no sin, there is no punishment, there is no evil, that Satan does not exist, and as long as we are alive we can do as we please as long as our freedom for self expression does no harm to another.

But You have shown us differently. To lose is to gain, to die is to live, in order to be exalted once must first humble oneself. The Way is narrow and rough and few choose to walk in it but to those who believe has been given the privilege of being counted as children of God.

Thank You for the Church, thank You for Your unchanging Word, thank You for the Sacraments that grant us supernatural strength to do battle in the world and win.  


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