DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and the Lord will be with you. Amos 5:14
Isaiah 58:1-9A, Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19,
Matthew 9:14-15
Isaiah 58:1-9A
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Forgive me for all the times that I have complained that You ave not heard me failing to recognize that I have sinned and placed a barrier between us. Unrepentant and hardhearted I was the one who distanced myself from You. You do not wish me to make an outward and meaningless show of my fasting and penance. Today, You reveal through the words of the prophet Isaiah, the kind of fast that is pleasing to You.
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
My most Beloved, Bridegroom of my soul, help me this holy season of Lent to see myself as I am and to rely on You every step of the way for without You and Your Spirit nothing I say or do would be pleasing to You.
Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Today, once again You reveal the key that unlocks Your merciful and compassionate heart. Only when I humbly acknowledge my sins, my faults, my weaknesses, my failure to cooperate with grace and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, can I be healed. A proud and haughty spirit You abhor. Help me never again to make excuses for my sins but to face them squarely, acknowledge them in sorrow and beg Your forgiveness.
Matthew 9:14-15
Dear Love, Most Beloved Bridegroom of my soul,
Your wedding guests mourn because You have been taken from us. We fast because You are no longer with us as You once were among Your Apostles and disciples. They too were bereft and inconsolable when You ascended to Your Father. However, Beloved, just as You promised, You sent them and us the Holy Spirit who remains with us and reveals to us all that You said. Your Word strengthens and nourishes us and Your Flesh and Blood in the Holy Eucharist provides food for our soul which wells up to eternal life in us.
So while the Church invites us to mourn and fast on some occasions we do so only to recall the price You paid to set us free and claim us for the Father eternally. But, we rejoice always that the Bridegroom is always with her Bride, the Church and can never be separated from her for she is forever one with You in time and in eternity.
FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY
Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and the Lord will be with you. Amos 5:14
Isaiah 58:1-9A, Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19,
Matthew 9:14-15
Isaiah 58:1-9A
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Forgive me for all the times that I have complained that You ave not heard me failing to recognize that I have sinned and placed a barrier between us. Unrepentant and hardhearted I was the one who distanced myself from You. You do not wish me to make an outward and meaningless show of my fasting and penance. Today, You reveal through the words of the prophet Isaiah, the kind of fast that is pleasing to You.
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!
My most Beloved, Bridegroom of my soul, help me this holy season of Lent to see myself as I am and to rely on You every step of the way for without You and Your Spirit nothing I say or do would be pleasing to You.
Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Today, once again You reveal the key that unlocks Your merciful and compassionate heart. Only when I humbly acknowledge my sins, my faults, my weaknesses, my failure to cooperate with grace and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, can I be healed. A proud and haughty spirit You abhor. Help me never again to make excuses for my sins but to face them squarely, acknowledge them in sorrow and beg Your forgiveness.
Matthew 9:14-15
Dear Love, Most Beloved Bridegroom of my soul,
Your wedding guests mourn because You have been taken from us. We fast because You are no longer with us as You once were among Your Apostles and disciples. They too were bereft and inconsolable when You ascended to Your Father. However, Beloved, just as You promised, You sent them and us the Holy Spirit who remains with us and reveals to us all that You said. Your Word strengthens and nourishes us and Your Flesh and Blood in the Holy Eucharist provides food for our soul which wells up to eternal life in us.
So while the Church invites us to mourn and fast on some occasions we do so only to recall the price You paid to set us free and claim us for the Father eternally. But, we rejoice always that the Bridegroom is always with her Bride, the Church and can never be separated from her for she is forever one with You in time and in eternity.
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