DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life. John 6:63, 68
Jeremiah 20:10-13, Psalm 18:2-7, John 10:31-42
Jeremiah 20:10-13
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Today You remind me that as long as You are with me I need be afraid of nothing. Jeremiah was hounded by those with power. They hated him because he spoke the truth. He made their sins public knowledge and condemned them for hiding their wickedness under a cloak of respectability.
This is what the Chief Priests, the temple authorities, the Pharisees and Scribes did. So did their ancestors before them; they too killed the prophets and the men of God sent to them to urge them to change their wicked ways or be destroyed.
As we draw nearer to Passion Week we get a hint from passages in the Old Testament what You Yourself will have to suffer and endure. As the momentum gathered to put You to death there was constant plotting and strategies put in place to trap You. You had to be always on guard. You would not give Yourself into the hand of the Enemy until the hour had arrived.
Christians today are also called to suffer persecution for Your sake. They hate the Church for she is unshakable in the stance on Truth. She stands against the culture that denies sin and for this the world is prepared to destroy her faithful followers. However, we need never be afraid of those who can kill the body and after that can do no more. You proved this to be true in Your glorious Resurrection. May we sing Your praises Lord now and always.
Psalm 18:2-7
Dear Love, Beloved my soul,
I exult along with the Psalmist and sing along with him, "I love you, O LORD, my strength, O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. Truly You are a faithful God for each time I called You when I was in trouble You hastened to help me. You keep me safe from the wiles of the enemy. I am constantly tempted to give in to concupiscence and if it were not for Your timely grace and help I would have been lost to You forever.
I thank You Beloved for putting angels in charge of me lest I dash my foot against a stone. You know how weak I am. How easily I am tempted. How quickly I can fall from grace and this is why You stand guard around me and keep the enemy away from me. You know I cannot do it on my own. My Rock, my Beloved, my Fortress, my High Tower. Thank You.
John 10:31-42
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
The world has not changed in 20 centuries Beloved. Those who hate Truth will still pick up rocks to kill those whom they do not agree with. Those who will not align with them to call evil good, and lies truth. We have only to look at all the aberrations in our world that are touted as normal and how the world is doing its best to shove a square peg in a round hole. They get livid when the those who walk on the side of Truth refuse to cow down to them and their bluster.
You refused to back down from the Truth and Your enemies could do nothing to make You vulnerable and afraid. You simply walked through them and they could not lay a hand on You.
Today You say something that our Protestant brethren would be wise to note. You say to the Jews
"Is it not written in your law, 'I said, 'You are gods"'?
If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,
and Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life. John 6:63, 68
Jeremiah 20:10-13, Psalm 18:2-7, John 10:31-42
Jeremiah 20:10-13
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Today You remind me that as long as You are with me I need be afraid of nothing. Jeremiah was hounded by those with power. They hated him because he spoke the truth. He made their sins public knowledge and condemned them for hiding their wickedness under a cloak of respectability.
This is what the Chief Priests, the temple authorities, the Pharisees and Scribes did. So did their ancestors before them; they too killed the prophets and the men of God sent to them to urge them to change their wicked ways or be destroyed.
As we draw nearer to Passion Week we get a hint from passages in the Old Testament what You Yourself will have to suffer and endure. As the momentum gathered to put You to death there was constant plotting and strategies put in place to trap You. You had to be always on guard. You would not give Yourself into the hand of the Enemy until the hour had arrived.
Christians today are also called to suffer persecution for Your sake. They hate the Church for she is unshakable in the stance on Truth. She stands against the culture that denies sin and for this the world is prepared to destroy her faithful followers. However, we need never be afraid of those who can kill the body and after that can do no more. You proved this to be true in Your glorious Resurrection. May we sing Your praises Lord now and always.
Psalm 18:2-7
Dear Love, Beloved my soul,
I exult along with the Psalmist and sing along with him, "I love you, O LORD, my strength, O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. Truly You are a faithful God for each time I called You when I was in trouble You hastened to help me. You keep me safe from the wiles of the enemy. I am constantly tempted to give in to concupiscence and if it were not for Your timely grace and help I would have been lost to You forever.
I thank You Beloved for putting angels in charge of me lest I dash my foot against a stone. You know how weak I am. How easily I am tempted. How quickly I can fall from grace and this is why You stand guard around me and keep the enemy away from me. You know I cannot do it on my own. My Rock, my Beloved, my Fortress, my High Tower. Thank You.
John 10:31-42
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
The world has not changed in 20 centuries Beloved. Those who hate Truth will still pick up rocks to kill those whom they do not agree with. Those who will not align with them to call evil good, and lies truth. We have only to look at all the aberrations in our world that are touted as normal and how the world is doing its best to shove a square peg in a round hole. They get livid when the those who walk on the side of Truth refuse to cow down to them and their bluster.
You refused to back down from the Truth and Your enemies could do nothing to make You vulnerable and afraid. You simply walked through them and they could not lay a hand on You.
Today You say something that our Protestant brethren would be wise to note. You say to the Jews
"Is it not written in your law, 'I said, 'You are gods"'?
If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,
and Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
Faith in God cannot be separated from the works that flow naturally from faith. Our works are signs that make our faith visible. The greatest work is that we love God above and before all and we love one another just as You loved us and lay down Your life for us. This is the greatest work ever done and it won for us redemption and salvation. We make love visible by action.
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