Wednesday, December 25, 2019

The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) - Mass During the Day

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS


A holy day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, and adore the Lord.
For today a great light has come upon the earth.



ISAIAH 52:7-10
PSALM 98:1-6
HEBREWS 1:1-6
JOHN 1:1-18



ISAIAH 52:7-10

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

How is it possible knowing what we do to still remain in sin, ignorance, and darkness?  How is it that those of us who do know choose to remain silent or are too lazy, afraid, or indifferent? The Son of God has come into the world, the Lord God has visited His people. He came with glad tidings to announce freedom from the tyranny and slavery to sin and freed us and we continue to live ordinary, unremarkable lives. If only we truly understood, if only we gave the Holy Spirit free rein in our lives, we would no longer be blind, and deaf, and dumb. Our eyes would see, our ears would hear, and our mouths would never cease to praise and glorify the God who saves until the whole world joined in our praise and thanksgiving to our glorious God.


PSALM 98:1-6

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

While it is true the culture we live in today has stolen the true spirit of Christmas, we who believe celebrate with great joy Your birth.

Thank You Father, for revealing to us the true cost of love. Thank You for all that You teach us of humility, obedience, suffering, reverence, worship, and awe as we gaze at the Nativity scene.

Thank You Holy Spirit for revealing the power of love that makes it possible for us to make Christ incarnate in our own lives.

Thank You Beloved, for being born in us and for coming to us in the Holy Eucharist and ministering to us in the Holy Sacraments.

This is the season of great thanksgiving for all that God has done for us. 


HEBREWS 1:1-6

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

In this beautiful and inspired letter to the Hebrews, the writer recalls how God revealed Himself to the world through Salvation History. He speaks eloquently of that moment in time when He sent forth His Word who became Flesh in the womb of the Virgin and was born among us in silence and in humility.

Enthroned in the Manger and enthroned on the Cross - our God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord, and the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind will come again victoriously in glory, triumph, and splendor to rule and reign forever.


JOHN 1:1-18

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

It is never so dark in our lives or in the world because You are here. You pierced time and eternity to become Emmanuel, God with us and no power on earth or in the underworld can over overcome the Light, the Word of God made Flesh who dwells among us.

You are present in our world. We see You everywhere in joy and in suffering, in beauty and misery, in the humble and the awe-inspiring. You are in all that is mighty, grand, glorious, and breathtaking just as You are in the little, the weak, the forgotten, the marginalized, the unseen and the unheard.  

We can see You, hear You, touch You, taste You in those around us, yes, but most especially in the Sacraments that make You tangible and present as You minister to us from the moment we are conceived, draw breath, live and die.

Thank You for choosing me to be one of the elect not through any merit of my own but simply because You chose me. I am baptized. I am grafted into Your Body. I am a member of the Church You founded. I have the privilege of eating Your Flesh and drinking Your Blood in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. I am forgiven no matter how many or how grave my sins when I approach You with a contrite and sorrowful heart in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 

May I never take for granted all the graces and gifts that You so bountifully shower on me. And may I never forget that I am also called to share what I have received and invite everyone to desire You and receive a share in Your Kingdom as well.

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