Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31 - 5:1, Psalm 113:1-7, Luke 11:29-32

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts. Ps 95:8


Memorial of St. Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church


Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31 - 5:1, Psalm 113:1-7,
Luke 11:29-32

Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31 - 5:1

My Love, Beloved of my soul,

Nothing that God does is done randomly. Everything is heavily pregnant with meaning and relevance. This is why it is important to know the Old Testament for it sheds a powerful light on the New only then we can fully appreciate and understand the fulfillment of the promises, the Covenants, the deeper significance, as we see the correlation between the two. St. Paul was a Pharisee and a great scholar of the Torah this is why he is able to understand and describe so well what God is about in the Old as He slowly but surely brings about His plan of salvation. God is dealing with weak and sinful people and this is why it takes so long, but God is love, God is faithful, and God is patient.

In today's passage of the Letter to the Galatians once again, Paul shows us how to understand the significance between the two sons of Abraham, the two women who bore them, and what it means for the descendants of the two sons. 

We who are baptized into the Church are set free from the yoke and slavery of sin and have become children of the freeborn woman. Those who remain outside the bosom of Holy Mother Church are children who are still in slavery because of the taint of original sin.

Grant me O Lord the grace to remain a child of freedom, to resist temptation and not submit to it, for too great a price was paid to set me free.

"For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm
and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery."
Psalm 113:1-7

My Love, Beloved of my soul,

It is truly right and fitting that we praise You our Lord and our God with every breath we breathe, with every heartbeat, with every pulsebeat. Truly You are worthy of praise, honor, thanksgiving, and worship. Praise is offered to You Beloved from the rising of the sun to its setting as all over the world we offer You the only Sacrifice acceptable to the Father, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Thank You, Father, for lifting us up from the miry depths of sin and for the Lamb of God who has made atonement for my sins and the sins of the world.

Luke 11:29-32

My Love, Beloved of my soul,

Every generation is an evil generation because, despite the fact that God has not only visited His people, He continues to remain in our midst in all the tabernacles in the world. Never more so is God with us, than in the intimacy of receiving You in the Holy Eucharist, yet the world still demands signs and miracles. You are all the Sign we need. The Sign of the Cross is all we need and yet we refuse to believe.

Truly Beloved, the world knows You but they reject You because the demands of discipleship are too high and the sacrifices too great. The culture we live in today and the attractive lies that the culture promotes makes it almost impossible for the weak to resist its wiles. However, judgment will come. We will be condemned by those whom we least expect because they are many who yearn for You but are deprived of You because they are denied the freedom of confessing and practicing their faith in public. 

In Your mercy, O Lord, grant me the strength to resist temptation, and courage to remain faithful to the end. Amen.