Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Acts 8:1B-8, Psalm 66:1-7, John 6:35-40

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS


Everyone who believes in the Son has eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day, says the Lord. Jn 6:40



Acts 8:1B-8, Psalm 66:1-7, John 6:35-40

Acts 8:1B-8

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

You prophesied when the enemy struck the Shepherd the sheep would scatter. Yet even in persecution, God brought about good. This is the power of God and the will of God that the Gospel would be preached beyond Jerusalem and even to the ends of the earth.

Persecution will always be the lot of Christians for if You, our Lord, our Master, and our Teacher, had to suffer, then so must Your disciples. You have shown us that suffering is indeed the way that leads to heaven. No one, if they are truly committed to walking the Way of Truth and Life, can avoid it.

Through the history of the Church grief-stricken members of the faithful have buried saintly men and women who have been martyred because they believed in the Gospel and were prepared to lay down their lives for You.

There have been many enemies of the Church, who like Saul, were committed to destroying, murdering, and torturing those who believed in You and this continues to the present day. The Enemy is aware of the power of the Gospel that continues to draw all those who sincerely seek the Truth to the Light of Faith in You. 

We too Beloved, if we had courage, would like the early disciples, preach the Good News with such conviction that the same signs and wonders that occurred then would occur today for You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. That joy and fervor in the early Church would still be alive in our churches today. Sadly, Beloved, it is not so, not because You have not kept Your promises but because we are indifferent, lukewarm, and selfish. Renew the life of the Spirit in us Beloved, so we can have a new Pentecost and draw the world back to You, back to God.

Psalm 66:1-7

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

From the moment of creation, all that lives has given You joyful praise for it is fitting that we praise, worship, and adore the God of all creation.  Truly praise is the language of those who belong to You, we ought not to let the circumstances of our lives dictate whether or not we will open our hearts and our mouths to glorify You.

Beloved, I know that if I only look at my life and see how faithful and good You have been in caring for me I too will never cease to raise up to You a heart full of gratitude that expresses itself in joyful praise. 

Help me Lord to count my blessings and to see in all things that You are present and are working all things for good even if I am unable to recognize it.

John 6:35-40

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

How blessed the crowds were to hear You speak these wonderful words of love and promise, that eternity in the Kingdom was theirs if they were willing to make that final leap of faith and believed in You.

We believe Beloved because You said it and Your Word is Truth. 

"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day."


I believe my Lord and my God, thank You for Your assurance of eternal life and the promise to give me a share in Your Resurrection on the last day.

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