Sunday, August 12, 2018

1 Kings 19:4-8, Psalm 34:2-9, Ephesians 4:30---5:2, John 6:41-51

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;
whoever eats this bread will live forever. Jn 6;51

1 Kings 19:4-8, Psalm 34:2-9, Ephesians 4:30---5:2,
John 6:41-51


1 Kings 19:4-8

My Love, Beloved of my soul,

Without the Food that You provide in the Eucharistic banquet of love, we will not be able to endure our sojourn in this valley of tears. Elijah was discouraged and although considered to be the greatest prophet in the Old Testament, he too was unable to endure life without spiritual sustenance. The food provided by the angel of the Lord is a dim foretaste of the awesome Meal that God, in time, would provide for His children.  

Elijah was able to journey for 40 days and 40 nights on the food that the angel had provided. We who are baptized into the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, receive in Holy Communion food that will provide us with strength as long as we live on earth.

Psalm 34:2-9

My Love, Beloved of my soul,

You commanded at the Last Supper that we eat Your Body and drink Your Blood until You come again in glory. 

Each time we approach the Eucharistic table as we come together as members of God's family, we experience His goodness in foreseeing our need for spiritual nourishment. Without this divine meal, we would never be able to overcome the wiles and lures of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Thank You for appointing a guardian angel to each one of us who encamps with us and accompanies us in the valley of tears. Thank You Beloved for not only being our refuge but for also giving Yourself to us a food that provides us with all the graces we need and enables us to grow in virtue.

Ephesians 4:30---5:2

My Love, Beloved of my soul,

You have given us Your Holy Spirit to dwell in us because You are aware that without His help we can do nothing pleasing to God. However, we can be indifferent to His Presence in us. Despite receiving the great Gift we can continue living in the flesh making not the slightest attempt to allow Him to possess us completely. He is given to us as our Counselor, Paraclete, Guide, Helper, and if we ignore His gentle voice we will make no progress at all in our spiritual life.

It is a matter of great scandal that although we grow in age we make no progress in wisdom and remain spiritual infants. 

St. Paul urges us to imitate You and live in love as the Father desires us to. We are called to reflect You in the world so Your fragrance emanating from us might draw others to You.
John 6:41-51

My Love, Beloved of my soul,

The Jews rejected You because they thought they knew You and thus they missed the opportunity of believing in the One sent by the Father to save the world. The Messiah had come to them, was in their midst, but because they had preconceived ideas of how the Messiah would come into the world they rejected You.

It is easy to find fault with them for rejecting You yet we too are guilty of the same sin when we reject one another simply because we believe we know them. We categorize people, we label them, and we do not give them the time of day because we have closed our minds and pre-judged them.

You are a God of contradictions and we if we fail to recognize this great truth we will fail to recognize You in our brothers and sisters whom You have appointed and empowered with a great mission.

It takes humility and openness to recognize God's presence in those whom we perhaps consider least likely to be God's ambassador.

In rejecting You the Jews not only failed to recognize that the Messiah was already in their midst but they also rejected the Food of Angels that would have strengthened and sustained them in their journey to eternity.

Thank You, Beloved, for turning to the Gentiles, thank You for the mission entrusted to the Apostles, thank You for grace that makes it possible for us to believe in You and Your Word and thus be saved.

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