DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.
Isaiah 50:4-9A, Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 & 33-34, Matthew 26:14-25
Isaiah 50:4-9A
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
I thank You for Your Word every morning that refreshes my soul, You speak words of wisdom, and You give me understanding as I am too dull to do so without Your help. Your words lift me up. They soothe me, they have power to give me peace and rest. They encourage me and enable me to accept the little crosses that are sent my way every day.
The prophet speaks clearly about all that You will have to endure. The Holy Spirit enables him to reveal what You have to suffer to make reparation for sins of the whole world. You gave us a perfect example of how to suffer in silence, in patience, in humility, in obedience. We deserve to suffer because we are sinners but when we are invited to suffer even when we are innocent You showed us that such suffering has infinite merit when we imitate You.
You gave Your life into the hands of sinful men and they made sport of You who are God. Open my ears Beloved, that I may hear and be transformed. Today, so many reject You because they do not know You. I am called to be a witness to You. This is my mission. May I not take it lightly but pray constantly for those who, were it not for the prayers of the Church and its members, would be lost eternally. This cannot be Beloved, too great a price was paid for our redemption.
Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 & 33-34
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
David thought he suffered when he was being hounded by Saul. Great though his sufferings were as recorded in his psalms, they take on a more powerful and poignant meaning when we look at them in the light of the Gospels.
Your immense sufferings were caused by my sins Beloved, let me never take all that You bore for my sake, for granted.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother's sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns n
Matthew 26:14-25
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Judas sold You so cheaply. 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. The chief priests did not haggle because they would have been prepared to give far more.
We barter with the devil all the time, "What are you prepared to give me in order to sell my soul?" We barter all that is most precious with evil for paltry moments of pleasure, self-indulgence, and temporary gain. None of these last. The world and all it has to offer cannot match the infinite value of the treasures of heaven. All that the world touts as good is transitory and leaves an empty gaping hole and nothing of the world can fill it.
That is was Judas Iscariot found out to his dismay. He ate with You. He was given opportunity after opportunity to realize the enormity of what he was contemplating and yet he set his heart against the only true Friend and Brother he had. He didn't get it. Three years in Your company and he was still clueless as to who You were, and what Your mission was. He was so full of his own ideas of who You should be and what You ought to do that there was no room for grace to work.
When You revealed to the Twelve that one of them was to betray You, the evangelist records that they were deeply distressed. That is all but one. His inner being was so dark that he had the gall to look into Your Beloved Face and ask, "Surely it is not I Rabbi?" He gives himself away completely by the way he addressed You. He called You Rabbi whereas the others said, 'Lord'. How distant he was from You even though he was at table with You. He shared in the Eucharist and it did nothing for him. In fact he ate and drank damnation to himself. He will forever be remembered as a thief and as Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed the Lord.
Beloved, let me not be so quick to point fingers and judge. Rather, let me look at myself and see the many ways in which I too callously walked away from the true, the good, the noble, and the beautiful. How often I too have betrayed You but You have been exceedingly gracious and merciful to me and have not permitted me to die in my sins. Thank You Beloved. Stay with me and keep me faithful to the end. Amen.
WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.
Isaiah 50:4-9A, Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 & 33-34, Matthew 26:14-25
Isaiah 50:4-9A
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
I thank You for Your Word every morning that refreshes my soul, You speak words of wisdom, and You give me understanding as I am too dull to do so without Your help. Your words lift me up. They soothe me, they have power to give me peace and rest. They encourage me and enable me to accept the little crosses that are sent my way every day.
The prophet speaks clearly about all that You will have to endure. The Holy Spirit enables him to reveal what You have to suffer to make reparation for sins of the whole world. You gave us a perfect example of how to suffer in silence, in patience, in humility, in obedience. We deserve to suffer because we are sinners but when we are invited to suffer even when we are innocent You showed us that such suffering has infinite merit when we imitate You.
You gave Your life into the hands of sinful men and they made sport of You who are God. Open my ears Beloved, that I may hear and be transformed. Today, so many reject You because they do not know You. I am called to be a witness to You. This is my mission. May I not take it lightly but pray constantly for those who, were it not for the prayers of the Church and its members, would be lost eternally. This cannot be Beloved, too great a price was paid for our redemption.
Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 & 33-34
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
David thought he suffered when he was being hounded by Saul. Great though his sufferings were as recorded in his psalms, they take on a more powerful and poignant meaning when we look at them in the light of the Gospels.
Your immense sufferings were caused by my sins Beloved, let me never take all that You bore for my sake, for granted.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother's sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns n
Matthew 26:14-25
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Judas sold You so cheaply. 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. The chief priests did not haggle because they would have been prepared to give far more.
We barter with the devil all the time, "What are you prepared to give me in order to sell my soul?" We barter all that is most precious with evil for paltry moments of pleasure, self-indulgence, and temporary gain. None of these last. The world and all it has to offer cannot match the infinite value of the treasures of heaven. All that the world touts as good is transitory and leaves an empty gaping hole and nothing of the world can fill it.
That is was Judas Iscariot found out to his dismay. He ate with You. He was given opportunity after opportunity to realize the enormity of what he was contemplating and yet he set his heart against the only true Friend and Brother he had. He didn't get it. Three years in Your company and he was still clueless as to who You were, and what Your mission was. He was so full of his own ideas of who You should be and what You ought to do that there was no room for grace to work.
When You revealed to the Twelve that one of them was to betray You, the evangelist records that they were deeply distressed. That is all but one. His inner being was so dark that he had the gall to look into Your Beloved Face and ask, "Surely it is not I Rabbi?" He gives himself away completely by the way he addressed You. He called You Rabbi whereas the others said, 'Lord'. How distant he was from You even though he was at table with You. He shared in the Eucharist and it did nothing for him. In fact he ate and drank damnation to himself. He will forever be remembered as a thief and as Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed the Lord.
Beloved, let me not be so quick to point fingers and judge. Rather, let me look at myself and see the many ways in which I too callously walked away from the true, the good, the noble, and the beautiful. How often I too have betrayed You but You have been exceedingly gracious and merciful to me and have not permitted me to die in my sins. Thank You Beloved. Stay with me and keep me faithful to the end. Amen.
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