Saturday, March 3, 2018

Micah 7:14-15, 18-20, Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I will get up and go to my father and shall say to him,

Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. Lk 15:18


Micah 7:14-15, 18-20, Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12, 
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32


Micah 7:14-15, 18-20

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

You are our Good Shepherd, You lay down Your life for Your sheep, the flock that are Your own. All who believe in You are led from the darkness of sin to the joy of eternal life in You. You lead us to pasture and there You feed us with Yourself. We receive grace, strength, and nourishment from You to help us on our journey in this valley of tears. You constantly show us signs and wonders especially in the Sacraments You instituted. 

Beloved, the Father has placed You between Him and us and His heart is moved with compassion when He sees the price paid for our redemption. It was He who desired that it be so. He asked You to pay the ransom for our sins because we could not and He could not bear to be separated from His poor fallen creatures whom He loved so tenderly.

Thank You Beloved for Your yes to the Father. Thank You for laying down Your life for us. Thank You for becoming the gate into which we enter in to eternal life. Thank You Father for the hope You have given us in Your Son. Thank You Holy Spirit for making it possible for us to lead a life of grace and thus strive to be holy and perfect just as our Heavenly Father is holy and perfect. Thank You for Your promises that are eternal and extends from Abraham to all generations to follow.
Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

Thank You for the comforting verses in this psalm. You are kindly and merciful always and the sinner can always find forgiveness in You. Thank You for being our refuge. Thank You for not holding our past coldness and hardness of heart against us but for giving us every opportunity for conversion.

Thank You for healing our wounds with Yours. Thank You for exchanging the Crown for the Cross in order that through the cross we may share Your crown as well. Thank You Father for the magnanimity of Your love unworthy as we are. Thank You for new beginnings in You Beloved and thank You for not remembering our past transgressions and iniquities. If You did no one could stand before You without shame and sorrow. You forgive and forget help us not to wallow in the past once we have been forgiven. Thank You for Your kindness, and compassion always.

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32


Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

It is truly comforting to know that sinners need feel no shame in drawing close to You and receiving healing and restoration from You. You came for us sinners not for the righteous. Forgive me for the times I have forgotten that I am a sinner and have been like the Pharisees who complained that You surrounded Yourself with those they considered unfit to associate with deeming themselves better than they.

To these You tell the greatest parable that has every been heard and is recorded by the evangelist so that all who read it can actually see and know the heart of our Father in heaven.

The parable must have astounded Your hearers at the time. Never had they ever known a father such as the one You described. Fathers were too dignified to ever respond as this Father did with his young, selfish, self-absorbed son.

He gave him what he desired knowing fully well it would do him no good. He loved him enough to let him make mistakes and so come to true wisdom and understanding. The world can never satisfy. People will let you down. God alone is unchanging.

When the younger son came to his senses he returned home but the eldest while being at home was truly a stranger for he did not know his father at all. In his own way he was just as bad as the younger boy. He did not consider himself a son. The sound of rejoicing in the house instead of giving him joy made him suspicious, it was an alien sound to him and when he was told the reason for the banquet his heart which was small, and his vision which was narrow, made him even more bitter, and filled him with self-righteous anger.

Once again the nobility and the generosity of the Father is revealed in the way He addresses the older son who had never strayed from home but never truly considered himself a son. He worked for his father yes, but he never considered that what belonged to his father was his as well. He had the mentality of a servant rather than that of a son.

With both his sons the father should the largeness of heart and spirit and the wondrous beauty of his love for both. They were his sons and each would always have a home in his father's house.

Thank You Beloved for this parable of the Father and His Love for us children whom He loves beyond measure. For the measure of the Father's love is the measure of the Cross.

Than You Beloved for the revelation of the Father and His love for us. Thank You for Your obedience to His will and in this You revealed Your love too for the family You inherited on the Cross.   



'Your brother has returned
and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf
because he has him back safe and sound.'
He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.
He said to his father in reply,
'Look, all these years I served you
and not once did I disobey your orders;
yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
But when your son returns
who swallowed up your property with prostitutes,
for him you slaughter the fattened calf.'
He said to him,
'My son, you are here with me always;
everything I have is yours.
But now we must celebrate and rejoice,
because your brother was dead and has come to life again;

he was lost and has been found.'"






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