Isaiah 49:1-6, Psalm 71:1-6, 15 & 17, John 13:21-33, 36-38

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK

Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father; you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.

Isaiah 49:1-6, Psalm 71:1-6, 15 & 17, 

John 13:21-33, 36-38

Isaiah 49:1-6

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

Little did the prophet Isaiah know exactly what he was prophesying about when he wrote these mind boggling verses about You and so many others. In the light of the New Testament everything that he wrote about You shines with the radiance of the morning sun. How clearly visible You are when we are familiar with the Gospels.

This is the Good News of our salvation; God sent You into the world. In obedience to the will of the Father You became incarnate through the fiat of the Virgin. Called by God from the moment of Your conception, named by Him Jesus, one who saves, He made of His Eternal Word a double-edged sword that could cut through bone and marrow to reach the heart of the most hardened sinners bringing them to conversion. Born of the Father eternally. One in Him from the beginning, He sent You into the world as His Servant, and You came into the world as One who serves not to be served and to give Your life as a ransom for many.

How often in Your public ministry it would have seemed that You toiled in vain. You walked the length and breadth of the Land chosen by God and revealed the truth of salvation to the people of God, descendants of Abraham, to bring together the people God had chosen for His own when He chose Abraham and made a Covenant with him, and with his descendants.  But they rejected You. They plotted against You. They hated You because they were afraid that You had come to take away their puny power and authority from them and they would zealously be on guard to prevent such a move.  You undermined their authority time and time again. You exposed the chief priests, the pharisees and scribes as hypocrites and worse and they hated You with a hate that was from hell. 

They chortled with glee when they thought they had vanquished You as they gazed at You impaled on the Cross. You were disfigured, You did not look like a Man but a bloody, caricature of one from whom people turned away their glance.  

Yes Father, we thank You, we did not deserve such a Savior but You gave Your Son to us anyway. We used Him ill and we continue to do so. In our own families we have those who continue to reject Him because they are afraid of the cost of discipleship. How foolish to be afraid to counted among those who belong to Him.

Beloved, not only did You raise up all the tribes of Jacob, and draw all of Israel to Yourself, but You have gathered together all nations, and all peoples even to the ends of the earth under Your mighty Name. You are the Light of the world and in Your light we have light.

Grant me the grace in the next few week to truly enter into Your Passion so I may, to the extent that my finite can, comprehend what You have done for me and the unrepayable debt I owe. Thank You.

Psalm 71:1-6, 15 & 17

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

Thank You for the Church that gives us the beautiful season of Lent once each year lest we forget the immensity of the Gift of Salvation and the price that was paid in order that we may receive it. May we never take You for granted. No matter how much we meditate on Your Passion Beloved, we cannot truly comprehend the horror of it all and most terrible of all was that the Sinless One became sin for our sake. You became a horror to Yourself as You took upon Yourself and made reparation on our behalf for every sin ever committed. 

Thank You for 'paying a debt You did not owe to cancel the debt we could not pay.'

John 13:21-33, 36-38

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

When we are troubled with little things we get agitated and lose our peace but here You are celebrating the Last Supper with Your closest friends knowing full well what awaits You. How heavy Your heart would have been for You knew the price that was going to be exacted from You. 

Judas betrayed You for 30 paltry pieces of silver, the price of a slave. That's what You became for our sake. The only Son of God a slave and  servant so we might become sons and daughters of Your Father. 

After dining with You and after three long years of friendship, Judas walked away. The evangelist tells us that it was night. Darkness comes over any Christian who is baptized when they walk away from You coldly, calmly, deliberately, purposefully, in order to sell You for the paltry thrills of the world and the flesh. 

We can be either like Judas or Simon Peter who vowed that he would follow You everywhere You went. How many promises I have made and broken over and over again. How many times in moments of foolish exuberance I have assured You that I would lay down my life for You and I turned tail and ran at the first obstacle? How often I too have betrayed You like Peter did and You have forgiven me over and over again.

Thank You Beloved for Your compassion, understanding, mercy, and forgiving love. Undeserved I know but You give it anyway. Thank You.