DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven. Mt 15:12A
Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle
Acts 11:21B-26, 12:1-3, Psalm 98:1-6, Matthew 5:1-12
Acts 11:21B-26, 12:1-3
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
In today's reading, as we celebrate the feast of St. Barnabas the Apostle, St. Luke the writer gives us a blueprint of the character of Barnabas and it is one that a disciple must model on.
Barnabas was trustworthy and so was given the task of going to Antioch to oversee the church that had been established there. He encouraged the Christians there, rejoicing in their strong faith. Here St. Luke tells us a little about Barnabas but from it, we can paint a picture of him. He was a good man, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. He evangelized powerfully so many new believers were brought into the church in Antioch. He was humble and was not ashamed to go in search of St. Paul to assist him.
You sent the Apostles in twos. Paul and Barnabas worked together for a whole year to ensure that the church in Antioch was built on the firm foundation of Truth. Here is is that all who believed in You were called Christians.
Luke gives us many little details so we can have an idea of who worked in the area and we know their names. We know that they were men of prayer and faith. They fasted and were filled with the Holy Spirit whose promptings they listened to and obeyed. Your Holy Spirit asked to set apart Barnabas and Paul for a special mission and they were obedient and submissive and went where the Spirit led them. All was done as a community of believers guided by the Holy Spirit and prayer and fasting was an important element of their lives.
It is good for us too to remain in the close embrace of Holy Mother Church, to be obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and to live a life of prayer and of fasting so we can rely on Your strength rather than our own.
Psalm 98:1-6
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
What sad, miserable lives we would have led were it not for the goodness and mercy of the Father who sent You into the world to reveal His Love to us and to us draw as members into the family of God. No wonder the Church exults in the happy fault of Adam for because of his sin we have received to glorious a Savior in You. We know of the Father's immeasurable and unfathomable love for us sinners. He sent You into the world as one of us only because we, His pitiable children would have absolutely no doubt that He who is God is Love.
The Father sent You, His Only, Most beloved Son, into the world to become man, to enter into time and space as we do through our mother's womb. God, the infinite, almighty, majestic, all-powerful, God becomes small, weak, entrusting Himself to a young girl and her betrothed to carry out faithfully the plan of the Most High. Wow!!!
We have no excuse Beloved not to respond to such love and if we do, it is right that we be damned eternally.
It is right Beloved, that from the rising of the sun to its setting Your Name is praised in the one, holy, perfect, Sacrifice offered on every altar in Catholic churches everywhere. There is no Sacrifice more pleasing to the Father than this, that His children who belong to His Son for we are grafted to Him in Baptism, appreciate the lengths that He went to in order to save us.
May more and more people come to know You and in turn find a home in the Church You founded and in doing so they too will discover what it means to truly know how much God loves us although we can never fully understand.
Matthew 5:1-12
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Here is another example of how the new which was hidden in the old is now fulfilled.
Moses climbed up the mountain and there received the 10 Commandments and brought them down to the people. They were to abide by these commandments in order to live.
Today we read how You went up the mountain, sat down, as surrounded by Your disciples who had followed You and You taught them a new, and a radical way of living. The 10 Commandments were written on tablets of stone. The new way of living was embodied in You.
The Beatitudes are a blueprint on which every baptized Christian must model their lives. In doing so we know joy here on earth and the fullness of joy eternally in heaven.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.
Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
You also promise suffering, persecutions, and perhaps even death to those who follow You faithfully. However, You have also said, 'Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body and after that can do nothing more, rather, be afraid of the One who can kill both body and soul and cast it into the outer darkness forever.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven. Mt 15:12A
Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle
Acts 11:21B-26, 12:1-3, Psalm 98:1-6, Matthew 5:1-12
Acts 11:21B-26, 12:1-3
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
In today's reading, as we celebrate the feast of St. Barnabas the Apostle, St. Luke the writer gives us a blueprint of the character of Barnabas and it is one that a disciple must model on.
Barnabas was trustworthy and so was given the task of going to Antioch to oversee the church that had been established there. He encouraged the Christians there, rejoicing in their strong faith. Here St. Luke tells us a little about Barnabas but from it, we can paint a picture of him. He was a good man, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. He evangelized powerfully so many new believers were brought into the church in Antioch. He was humble and was not ashamed to go in search of St. Paul to assist him.
You sent the Apostles in twos. Paul and Barnabas worked together for a whole year to ensure that the church in Antioch was built on the firm foundation of Truth. Here is is that all who believed in You were called Christians.
Luke gives us many little details so we can have an idea of who worked in the area and we know their names. We know that they were men of prayer and faith. They fasted and were filled with the Holy Spirit whose promptings they listened to and obeyed. Your Holy Spirit asked to set apart Barnabas and Paul for a special mission and they were obedient and submissive and went where the Spirit led them. All was done as a community of believers guided by the Holy Spirit and prayer and fasting was an important element of their lives.
It is good for us too to remain in the close embrace of Holy Mother Church, to be obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and to live a life of prayer and of fasting so we can rely on Your strength rather than our own.
Psalm 98:1-6
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
What sad, miserable lives we would have led were it not for the goodness and mercy of the Father who sent You into the world to reveal His Love to us and to us draw as members into the family of God. No wonder the Church exults in the happy fault of Adam for because of his sin we have received to glorious a Savior in You. We know of the Father's immeasurable and unfathomable love for us sinners. He sent You into the world as one of us only because we, His pitiable children would have absolutely no doubt that He who is God is Love.
The Father sent You, His Only, Most beloved Son, into the world to become man, to enter into time and space as we do through our mother's womb. God, the infinite, almighty, majestic, all-powerful, God becomes small, weak, entrusting Himself to a young girl and her betrothed to carry out faithfully the plan of the Most High. Wow!!!
We have no excuse Beloved not to respond to such love and if we do, it is right that we be damned eternally.
It is right Beloved, that from the rising of the sun to its setting Your Name is praised in the one, holy, perfect, Sacrifice offered on every altar in Catholic churches everywhere. There is no Sacrifice more pleasing to the Father than this, that His children who belong to His Son for we are grafted to Him in Baptism, appreciate the lengths that He went to in order to save us.
May more and more people come to know You and in turn find a home in the Church You founded and in doing so they too will discover what it means to truly know how much God loves us although we can never fully understand.
Matthew 5:1-12
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Here is another example of how the new which was hidden in the old is now fulfilled.
Moses climbed up the mountain and there received the 10 Commandments and brought them down to the people. They were to abide by these commandments in order to live.
Today we read how You went up the mountain, sat down, as surrounded by Your disciples who had followed You and You taught them a new, and a radical way of living. The 10 Commandments were written on tablets of stone. The new way of living was embodied in You.
The Beatitudes are a blueprint on which every baptized Christian must model their lives. In doing so we know joy here on earth and the fullness of joy eternally in heaven.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.
Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
You also promise suffering, persecutions, and perhaps even death to those who follow You faithfully. However, You have also said, 'Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body and after that can do nothing more, rather, be afraid of the One who can kill both body and soul and cast it into the outer darkness forever.
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