THURSDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER - 2020

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

ACTS 8:26-40

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

This passage of Philip's encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch is a lesson in evangelization.

First, we must be attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, in Philip's case it was the angel of the Lord who spoke to him and pointed out the person to be evangelized

Second is obedience - once we know what we must do we obey promptly. Philip ran.

Three, we meet the person where they are at. The Eunuch was reading the prophet Isaiah and Philip took his lead from here and asked him if he understood what he was reading. 

Four, we must be prepared to accompany the person on their journey. Philip accepted the invitation to sit with the Eunuch and instruct him.

Five, we ourselves must know Scripture well in order to teach and instruct. If we are ignorant we will only cause confusion. Philip could explain that the sheep led to the slaughter referred to You and from this point on he was able to share the Good News. 

Six, we allow the Holy Spirit to take control and allow Him to guide us. It is the Spirit who creates the desire for salvation. As soon as the Eunuch saw some water he asked to be baptized.

Seven, once we accomplish what the Holy Spirit asked us to do, we move on.

While the work of evangelization is the work of the Holy Spirit we must always be prepared, ready, and attentive.


PSALM 66:8-9, 16-17, 20

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Today the psalmist teaches us that praise is fundamental to prayer. Before we bring our petitions to You we must first be aware of who You are and praise will well up in our souls for You are a God who saves. The psalmist says we must 'loudly sound his praise'. 

Beloved, how often You have stopped my feet from slipping, and for this, I give You grateful thanks.

Even as we make our pleas to You it must be preceded by praise for Your never-failing faithfulness. There has never been a time that I called and You refused to answer me. Miserable, wretched sinner though I am, You have never failed me; You always deal with me with great compassion, kindness, and tenderness. Thank You, my Lord, and my God.

JOHN 6:44-51

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

You could not have said it any clearer than this, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him." It is the Father who decides who comes to You to receive the salvation that is granted through You alone.

At baptism, we become children of God. Once we are baptized we rightly address God as Abba and God our Father desires that all His children be saved. He desires that all His children be fed with the Bread of Angels. You are the Manna that came down from heaven as food for our souls, providing strength for our pilgrim journey from this life to the next.


The Father calls us constantly. It is His desire that not one of His little ones is lost. The old Adam lost paradise to all who came after him. The New Adam restores all that the old Adam lost. Everything in its time, from the creation of the world, brought us to this moment when God revealed His love for us. God's love became incarnate in the flesh and became Man. There is nothing that we undergo as human beings that You do not understand. This is why we can always trust You. And this is why it is the Father's will that there is salvation in no one else but You.

MEMORIAL OF ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA, VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

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

ACTS 8:1B-8

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

In today's reading from the book of Acts, we hear that Philip proclaimed You to the people of Samaria. The power of the message he preached and the many wonderful signs of healing, caused the people to pay attention and to believe in the Good News.

The disciples scattered to the nearby regions because of the severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem. Often we moan and groan about our difficult circumstances instead of using them as opportunities to begin anew. 

The Church always grows stronger in times of persecution and hardship. We are living in one of those times when a virus, invisible to the naked eye, has turned our world and our way of life upside down. Never has there been a greater fervor, a greater hunger for the sacraments, a greater unity among the people of God. There is great joy among us even in the time of our tribulation; this is the work of the Holy Spirit.

PSALM 66:1-3A, 4-5, 6-7A

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Who would have thought that in unprecedented times like the present, the best in many people of every faith, race, culture, and language would come to the fore? People are looking beyond their own narrow circle and widening their vision in a spirit of a true recognition of our shared humanity. Everyone is praying for a miracle but isn't this the real miracle? In these uncertain times, we rejoice at the nobility of the human spirit. 

You have changed the stony hearts of many everywhere into hearts that are compassionate and empathetic of the less fortunate. May we not lose these wonderful graces that You have so bountifully given us. May these seeds that are sown in tribulation take root deep within us and may good fruit grow abundantly from this painful time. 

JOHN 6:35-40

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Truly, we have to prostrate ourselves before the Father in gratitude for all that we have received because everything we have received from You is willed by Him. 

If we have the Eucharist, it is because the Father wanted us to be fed on bread made of the finest wheat and slake our thirst on wine made from crushing the sweetest grapes welling up to new life in us. Your Flesh is food indeed and Your Blood is drink indeed.

You came down from heaven to do the will of the Father - and what is His will? It is this, that You should not lose anything of what He gave You, but that You should raise it on the last day. 

Beloved, were it not for the Father, we would have not known You, we would have not known the Father's love whose fullness is in You. Lord Jesus, You are the Treasure of the Father and He desires to share His Treasure with us. We are grateful and gladly accept You into our hearts, our homes, our lives and permit You to transform us into Your image and likeness; this will be our gift to the Father.

TUESDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the bread of life, says the Lord;
whoever comes to me will never hunger. JN 6:35AB

ACTS 7:51 - 8:1A

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

People like Stephen filled with the Holy Spirit are filled with boldness and courage. Their zeal is so great that they are unafraid to speak the truth. Then there are those who are so steeped in their own sense of entitlement and grandeur that they practically foam at the mouth when their weaknesses, their sins, their wickedness is revealed. They will not rest until they have done their worst to avenge their public humiliation. 

The fact that Stephen was innocent did not stop them from stoning him to death. He forgave his murderers in imitation of You. Surely, there was more than one person in that crowd who, edified by the way Stephen met his death, was filled with sorrow and shame. We know of one man at least, whose life would soon be transformed from Saul to Paul because of Stephen's final prayer forgiving his murderers. “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” You have the power to transform the greatest sinners into great saints.


PSALM 31:3CD-4, 6, 7B, 8A, 17 & 21AB

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Thank You for all You have accomplished by Your saving work on the Cross. Thank You, Beloved, for the hope that we have in You. Thank You, Beloved, that there is nothing in this world that can separate us from Your love. Thank You for dying for us and for showing us how to live. Thank You, Beloved, for paying the price of our redemption and throwing wide open, the gates of heaven to all who believe in Your Name.

Grant O Lord, that the prayer  Stephen prayed in the final moments of his life be my prayer from the moment I awake, and until I close my eyes in sleep each night, "Lord Jesus, into Your hands, I commend my spirit."


JOHN 6:30-35

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Nothing is so clear to those who are given the gift of the fullness of truth than this, faith is a gift given by God to whomever He pleases. There are many, many Christians who fall short of receiving it in its entirety for many reasons, for many it is pride and prejudice. There are also many, many Christians who have read Chapter 6 of John's Gospel and have had the scales fall from their eyes, not unlike the scales that fell from Saul's eyes and there are even many more who have read it several times but either gloss over it or fool themselves that it doesn't mean what it says. If they dared to believe it would turn all their pet beliefs of Your Church on its head.

“I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Can it get any clearer than this, my Lord? “Amen, amen, I say to you, my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”

Grant O Lord, that those who seek Truth may not halt their journey when they only receive its first glimmer, rather let them ask for the grace to pursue the Truth until they find that You, its Cornerstone, have built Your Church on the Rock of Peter. Amen.

MONDAY OF THE THIRDS WEEK OF EASTER - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

One does not live on bread alone
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. 

MT 4:4B

ACTS 6:8-15

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The life of Stephen teaches us that when we yield to the Holy Spirit and He reigns in us, then we are able to witness to the Good News with a wisdom and power that is not of this world. 

The world hates divine wisdom. The world is confounded with signs and wonders worked by God's little ones. The world does not understand the language of love which pours itself out for the good of the other. The world is afraid of what it does not understand or cannot control as we have seen through the centuries. 

There have always been Christian martyrs. The Shadow of the Cross falls across every authentic witness to the Truth as it fell across Stephen, the first martyr who was stoned to death for proclaiming the Good News of salvation. As Christians we will be persecuted, we will suffer, we will be tormented but You have said, "In the world, you will have hardship, but be courageous: I have conquered the world."


PSALM 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

God sent You into the world in order to save it. You came to show us the Way, to reveal the Truth, and to pour into our hearts the Life of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Baptism.

We are called by Your Name and we have been sealed in Your precious Blood. You are our Kinsman and You have covered us in Your mantle. We must be unafraid to walk in the Way of Truth that will lead us to the joy of eternal Life with You.

Grant us the courage to proclaim the Good News with gentleness, wisdom and power.

JOHN 6:22-29

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

John tells us that the crowds came looking for You, the Lord, the day after they had eaten their fill of the bread. The people had noticed that the disciples had left without You. They thought You were still in the area but couldn't find You. So they too got into boats and crossed the sea to where the disciples were. When they found You with the disciples they were surprised and said, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" You knew their motives and responded, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”

You are always admonishing us gently as You reveal the truths of the Kingdom of God. Our response must always be one of obedience. We must seek to do the will of God always and above all, we must believe in You whom the Father sent for the salvation of the world. This is all that God asks of us. To believe in You and in Your saving work for the life of the world. This is the Good News we are called to proclaim always and everywhere by our lives.

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS


Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us;
make our hearts burn while you speak to us. LK 24:32

ACTS 2: 14, 22-23

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

For a short while, it will be the Eleven, before Peter instructs the disciples that there must be Twelve in keeping with the divine plan.  Sometimes we make less than ideal choices and fall short of the divine plan but we must always keep that ideal before us and with Your help restore it.

Despite his abject failure at a crucial time in his discipleship, Peter now stands before the crowd a new man - man born again with the fire of the Holy Spirit. A man unafraid to proclaim the Good News with firm conviction and zeal.  

Too many of us are navel-gazing, wondering what kind of impact we are making. Too often we are concerned with making a good impression rather than yielding to the Holy Spirit and concerning ourselves too much with the results. We are called to be faithful, that is all that matters, the results we must leave to You for after all it is Your work that we do.  

You are God. Exalted at the right hand of God. The promise of the Holy Spirit that You received from the Father now pours upon all flesh. It is this Holy Spirit that we must rely on in our on-going conversion as well as in leading others to the truth by the way we live our lives each day. This is the witness to which we are called - to live in Your Presence all the days of our life.


PSALM 16:1-2, 5, 7-11

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

You said that when You are raised above the earth, You will draw everyone to You. Without Your suffering, passion, and death there would be no glorious resurrection. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life - there is no other way by which we can be saved except through You and the power of Your Name.

You O Lord are our refuge, our hope, our sanctuary. You are the Rock and we stand steadfast and indestructible when You are the foundation on which we stand.

Thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit without whom we could do nothing to please God. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we cry out to the glory of the Father that You are Lord.

You abide in us and You lead us as a shepherd leads his flock. We belong to You, we are sealed in Your Blood and marked with the Holy Spirit. Thank You, Beloved, for claiming us as Your inheritance. Keep us faithful to the end.

1 PETER 1:17-21


My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

To all who teach and preach falsely that our works have no place in our salvation, St. Peter states unequivocally in today's reading, "If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s work conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning."

We are called to live every day of our lives as children of God ransomed at a price we could never pay.

Now is the time to wake up from our slumber. This is the time when salvation is knocking at our door. This is the time to put behind us the things of the night and walk in the newness of the Spirit of Light and Truth.

May we never forget from this moment on, that we are the adopted children of God purchased with the Sacrifice of the spotless and unblemished Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. 


LUKE 24:13-35

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

So often we are sad and downcast, like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, because we have not understood the things of heaven. We are too busy grubbing around for answers in earthly things rather than looking towards heaven.

It is so very comforting to know that You are true to every one of Your promises. You said when two or more are gathered in Your Name, You are present. Cleopas and his companion were talking of You and there You were with them.

We cannot find answers to life's difficult questions unless we are fully, and rightly formed in the faith. We have to look into the treasury of our faith both Old and New in order for Truth to stand out with clarity. We cannot reject either one. When we are familiar with both we see how every promise God ever made finds its fulfillment in You.

However, even knowledge of the Old and New Testament is not enough - with God there is always more, infinitely more. Too many stop once they have some clarity believing they have all the answers. 

The disciples recognized You at the breaking of bread - the Holy Eucharist. The Sacrament of Holy Communion. We can only embrace the fullness of the faith in the Church You founded where the Sacraments You instituted can be received through the successors of the Apostles.

It is only in the Church where the four marks are present that You are found in fullness and in Truth, the Church that is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. 


Many like Pilate ask, "What is truth?" But stop half-way after receiving a glimpse of it. Those who pursue Truth all the way find that it makes its home in the Catholic Church. 

BE NOT AFRAID to follow the Light that will take You to the end of the journey in order to discover the fullness of Truth.

FEAST OF ST. MARK, EVANGELIST - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

We proclaim Christ crucified;
he is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1COR 1:23A-24B

1 PETER 5:5B-14

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

In today's Liturgy, St. Peter instructs us in his letter to be humble. Humility is the mother of all the virtues, without it we will not be open to receiving the other virtues.

The demons are proud and pride continues to be the downfall of many.  In these grace-filled days, we are given an opportunity to examine our lives in the time that has been granted to us. We need to see ourselves as we truly are and weed out all those faults that have taken root in us. Only in humility can we go down on our knees and entrust our lives to You, realizing perhaps for the first time, that without You we can do nothing.

What St. Peter has said is relevant to our time as well. He asks us to cast all our burdens on You and warns us that the devil is prowling around us. This is the time to resist the temptations that have found a foothold in our lives. This is the time to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are suffering. This is the time to yield to the Holy Spirit and allow grace and peace to flood our souls and make us a new creation in You.


PSALM 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

You have granted us favor upon favor and this is the time to praise You as we have never praised You before. How You care for us. If You didn't You would allow us to continue wallowing in sin but You desire that we return to You with humble and contrite hearts.

Now is the time of our salvation.

We thank You for St. Mark the evangelist, who was privileged to know You, to know the Apostles and in particular St. Peter whose close friendship with him enabled him to give us such a beautiful account of the Gospel.

He now lives with You in glory in the land of the living where we hope to be someday rejoicing and glorifying Your Name forever. 

MARK 16:15-20

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The Mission given to the Eleven Apostles is given to everyone who is baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are all commissioned to preach the Gospel in season and out of season. The unvarnished truth is that only those who believe and are baptized will be saved and this burden for the salvation of souls must be deeply impressed upon us. 

You desire that people in every nation and of every race be saved. But how can they be saved if witnesses of Your love did not go out to them and give them the Good News? You assure us that when we proclaim the Good News we will receive the power of the Holy Spirit to testify with great signs and wonders the Truth of the Gospel.

Your disciples witnessed Your Ascension into heaven and we know that You will return again.

Maranatha! Lord Jesus, Maranatha!

FRIDAY OF THE SECOND OF EASTER - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
MT 4:4B

ACTS 5:34-42

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, cautioned the members of the Sanhedrin to let the Apostles go for if they were doing the work of God then they would find themselves fighting against God Himself, if not, their followers like those of Theudas and Judas the Galilean would perish with their death.

Gamaliel persuaded the Sanhedrin to let the Apostles go, they did so but not before ordering them flogged and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus.

Through the centuries all who believe in Your Name have continued to preach and teach the Good News in the Name that is above every other and countless men, women, and children have suffered for the sake of the Name. This is why the Apostles and all who are persecuted for Your sake and the sake of the Gospel, rejoice for having being counted worthy to suffer all kinds of punishment and even death for the sake of Your Name. 


PSALM 27:1, 4, 13-14

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Truly, You are my light and my salvation and I need fear nothing. If You be for us who can be against us? All who make their refuge in You are safe from the wiles of the Enemy. No evil can touch us when we hide in You.

Beloved, our churches are closed but we dwell in the shadow of Your wings in our homes as we come together to pray and to worship You. Never have we been closer to You than during these days of uncertainty. You have not abandoned us. The Church has not abandoned us because we are the Church.

We continue to contemplate Your Face as we participate spiritually in the Holy Mass. We receive Your Body and Blood spiritually each day and we are confident that You grant us all the graces of this Sacrament as if we were truly present. 

These are extraordinary times of grace and blessing. This time will pass but the memories of having experienced the bountiful love of God will stay with us. Holy Mother Church has shown us in so many ways that You continue to remain very, very close to Your people, the sheep of Your flock. 

Thank You.

JOHN 6:1-15

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

John preferred to call the marvelous miracles You performed signs. Because that's what they are - signs that You are God. In today's Gospel reading we are told that You went up the mountain, sat down with Your disciples, looked out, and saw the vast crowd that had gathered.

You saw that they were hungry. Their spiritual hunger was satisfied and now You wanted to satisfy their physical hunger as well. You asked Philip if they could arrange to buy enough bread to feed the crowd. John says, that You said this to test Philip. You expected Philip to respond differently from the way he did. By now the disciples should have recognized that You are God and Philip's response should have been, "Lord, You are God, You have the power to feed them."

It was Andrew who noticed that a boy had five barley loaves and two fish but remarked, "What good are these for so many?" Again we see a lack of faith for they had not fully grasped that You are God.

John tells us that there was a lot of grass there and You told the disciples to have the people recline in the grass. This experience is unlike the Exodus when they were expected to eat in haste. Here there is an atmosphere of relaxation and of eating with friends. 

You then took the five loaves (representing Your five wounds) and the two fish (symbolic of Your divinity and humanity) gave thanks to Your Father and instructed the disciples to feed the crowd of five thousand who were seated there. 

We are told that everyone ate their fill of the bread and fish. You then told the disciples to gather the fragments so that nothing is wasted. They collected twelve baskets with the bread that was leftover. You had provided far more than the crowd could eat. 

You are the Bread of Life and You have commanded that we eat Your Body and Drink Your Blood in order to receive eternal life. We can receive the Holy Eucharist only through the hands of the twelve Apostles and their successors. 

We pray to You O Lord, the Kings of Kings, and Lord of Lords to provide us with good Bishops and priests in every age and that all who hear Your call to the priesthood say a resounding and generous yes.

THURSDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord; blessed are those who have not seen, but still believe!
JN 20:29

ACTS 5:27-33

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Timidity, cowardice, and greed acquiesce to godless authority for different reasons. Largely though, it can be indifference that causes many to exist in an atmosphere of hostile peace. If something does not touch us personally and our faith is the kind that washes its hands of responsibility for neighbor, then we will find many ways to kill our conscience.

The Apostles, post-Pentecost were a new creation. Filled with the Holy Spirit they witnessed boldly to the truth and nothing was going to stop them from preaching the Good News. The truth is that Your Blood is upon us just as it was on the high priest and the Sanhedrin, and whether we know it or not it is Your Blood that saves.

PSALM 34: 2, 9, 17-20

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

It is very consoling to know that You hear the cry of the poor. Poverty is seen in many forms. It is not only the lack of basic material necessities that make us poor but our poverty is greater when we lack the Holy Spirit.

The world is steeped in sin because we have failed in our mission to preach the Gospel that saves the world. These are times when the world is hurting but they do not know that You are at hand, ready to heal, console, and give new life. Our silence makes us accountable for their ignorance of You. 

Grant us a new Pentecost so we may reignite the world with Your love and Your power.

JOHN 3:31-36

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The words You spoke to Nicodemus speak plainly to us as well. You came from above in order to reveal to the world the things of heaven. How could we, earthly creatures, know of heavenly things unless someone came from heaven to reveal these things to us. God's love for us His errant children, prompted Him to save us who were lost forever. The price of redemption for the sins of the world cost the Father the life of His only Son.  

Not only did You pay it in perfect submission to the will of Your Father, but You also gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit without measure. Without the Holy Spirit, it would be impossible for us to please God.

Thank You for the gift of faith and the power of the Holy Spirit through whom we receive new life. Give us a spirit of boldness and courage to tell the whole world that it is from You alone we receive eternal life. There is no other way to the Father except through You.

WEDNESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life. 

JN 3:16

ACTS 5:17-26

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,,

Envy corrodes the soul. It was the envy of the members of the Sanhedrin who conspired to put You to death by crucifixion. Nothing short of an ignoble, horrific death would satisfy them - their intent from the first was clear which is why they brought You to Pilate. 


Envy, the kin of jealousy, once again rears its ugly head in the Sanhedrin, when the Apostles, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit continued to do mighty deeds, and preach powerfully in the Name they believed they had erased when they killed You. 

A mighty power has been unleashed upon the world since that first Pentecost and it is unstoppable. We have received this power at Baptism and we are commissioned to preach the Good News, instead, we have allowed ourselves to be seduced by the culture of the world. 

It is not too late. Now is the time for reflection and metanoia. Now is the time to gird ourselves in the power of the Holy Spirit and live the Gospel boldly and without compromise.


PSALM 34:2-9

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

It is possible to have supernatural peace and joy welling up in our soul always if, like the psalmist, we bless Your Name at all times and Your praises constantly spills from our mouth. Anchored in Your Word and guided by it every day would be filled with excitement at the wonder-working power of God in our lives. 

The faces of the saints are radiant with joy because Your love fills their hearts to overflowing and this radiance and glow can be ours if we always yield in loving submission to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

JOHN 3:16-21

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Many preachers and false prophets of gloom and doom, especially in these days of trial, blame our present troubles on God's wrath. They say we are being punished by God who is enraged with us. John, the disciple of love begs to differ. He says, "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." He goes on to say, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him."

We condemn ourselves by not believing in You whom the God of love sent into the world to save it. We choose darkness. We have put out the light by our sins. We choose to blind our eyes and stop our ears. How then can we blame You for our suffering which is caused by our own sins or is the consequence of the sins of others? 

Every evil deed is done under the cover of darkness. You are the Light of the World. You are Truth and the Light of Truth reveals the blackness in our souls. If we accept the Truth then we will walk in the Light and be saved. The choice to walk in the Light or in darkness in ours to make and the consequences are our own. It is time to stop blaming God for our blindness.

TUESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The Son of Man must be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life. JN 3:14-15

ACTS 4:32-37

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

In the early Church, the community of believers was of one heart and mind - can this be said of the Church today? Sadly, no. This is not true either of the hierarchy or the faithful. We are all so concerned about our own little interests, we have drawn in the pegs of our tent to cover only very, very few. We covet everything. We want more of everything. We have spent every waking moment in panting after the things of the world and have not cared who was trampled and crushed in the process.

Perhaps this chastisement will awaken our dead conscience. We could turn it around from chastisement to blessing. You have the power to draw good from evil, grace from suffering, life from death, beauty from the broken. This is the time to return to the way it was when there was no needy person among the early Christians. This is the time to broaden our tents so all may enter and find refreshment and hope.

Grant my Beloved that is will be so. Amen.


PSALM 93:1-2, 5

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

At a time when grief, sadness, pain, suffering, panic, anxiety, stress and death overwhelm nations the verses of this psalm are a balm to the weary soul.

The world stands firm and unshakeable because You hold it up by the power of Your Name. To You is given glory, honor, power; at Your Name demons tremble and heaven and earth bow low in adoration and worship.

We are Your people, the sheep of Your flock. You lay down Your life for us and took it up again so we could live with You forever. 

Jesus, we place all our hope and trust in You and we know that we do not hope or trust in vain.

JOHN 3:7B-15

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

One can have sympathy for Nicodemus even though You expected him to have a greater grasp of spiritual things.  But there can be no excuse for our inability to know, to understand, and believe because for over 2000 years the Church has kept everything alive in her memory. From the fount of the wisdom of the ages, she teaches us faithfully and unerringly by the power of Your Holy Spirit.

We have the exquisite grace and gift in our time to have the riches of the Old and the New available to us at the click of the mouse and every other way that print makes possible,  but this will also be to our condemnation. We have not used what is so readily available to us to grow in wisdom and grace rather we have spent countless hours that are lost forever in useless, frivolous, sinful, recreation. 

You have revealed both earthly and heavenly things but we have not paid heed. We see more clearly than Nicodemus ever did how all the prophecies find their fulfillment in You; this is why Your gentle rebuke to Nicodemus applies even more rightly to us.  

Grant us a desire to spend more time on matters of the soul and bestow on us the gift of the Emmaus experience of hearts burning within us. 

MONDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

If then you were raised with Christ,
seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. COL3:1

ACTS 4:23-31

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

If You are with us no power can stand against us. The Holy Spirit gives us a spirit of boldness not of timidity. Too often we make excuses that we lack the knowledge, the education, the ability to speak well and for every person who goes out boldly to preach the Good News there are hundreds more who receiving gladly the free gift of faith, are content to hide it under a bushel of excuses refusing to share it with the world.

The early church teaches us how to pray and release the power of the Holy Spirit on us and on the world. We need to rid ourselves of the mantle of timidity and cowardice and put on Your armor and preach and teach boldly in Your Name. For there is no other Name by which we can be saved.


PSALM 2:1-9

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The rulers of the earth have always conspired against those who worship You in spirit and truth. The enemies of the Church are legion within and without. But all who take refuge in You are safe. 

We are Your inheritance and the time is coming when Evil will be banished from the earth and all will worship the one true God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 

JOHN 3:1-8

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

You are merciful. You meet us where we are in the midst of our weakness, our timidity, our failure, our excuses and You minister to us just as You ministered to Nicodemus. He was timid and afraid to come to You by day even though he recognized that You were a teacher sent by God. He sought You under the cover of darkness but You did not condemn him for his lack of courage. 

It is in Baptism that we are made children of God. We are washed clean of original sin and given the gift of faith through the power of the Holy Spirit who from this moment on will make our body His temple.

The power of the Holy Spirit can be released fully in us only when we grant Him the freedom to do so. Sadly too many of us will remain too timid, too fearful, too weak, too intimidated by the world to yield to Him completely. 

SUNDAY OF DIVINE MERCY - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord; blessed are they who have not seen me, but still believe!
JN 20:29

ACTS 2:42-47

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The lives of the apostles after Pentecost serve as a blueprint for Christian living. Believers on fire with the Holy Spirit lived in community, they came together to pray and celebrate the Eucharist. They shared everything so those who had much did not have any left over and those who had little wanted for nothing. Their way of life is so alien to the way we live. We have no peace because our wants are insatiable. We want new, better, faster, bigger, more expensive and we have no rest unless we acquire these things.

We do not think twice about spending in a day what would sustain families for years. We are so busy getting and spending that we are exhausted, unhappy, and strangely dissatisfied because nothing seems to fill the emptiness within us.

True joy comes from knowing who we are. Our possessions can never satisfy us only You can fill the vast empty expanse within us. The world can be drawn to You only if those who believe in You witness by the joy in their lives that in possessing they possess all things.


PSALM 118:2-4, 13,15, 22-24

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

We thank You for Your mercies that endure forever. We thank You that You do not treat us as we deserve but that Your heart burns with love for us. We thank You that despite the fact that the world rejects You, You do not reject us but pursue us relentlessly to the end.

Thank You, for dying for us and for giving us every opportunity as long as there is breath in our body, to repent and return home to You.

Thank You for Good Friday which gives way to Easter Sunday. Thank You for Divine Mercy that never tires of seeking and saving the lost.

1 PETER 3:1-9

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

St. Peter praises us who have not seen You and yet believe in You. This is faith and it is a gift. We believe in a God of mercy a God who lay down His life for us. A God who did not spare His only Son but gave Him up in order that we who were dead could live again.

We believe and because we do we have an imperishable inheritance kept for us in heaven where rust does not corrode nor moths destroy. We believe that we are saved and that our salvation was bought at a price so great we can never hope to repay it. It is God our Father's free gift to us. We are children of God, and co-heirs with You to the Kingdom of heaven.

Yes, in this world we will have trials, suffering, persecution, and may perhaps even have to die but these are nothing compared to the joy of eternal life with You. Thank You for the gift of new life that is given to us through Water and the Holy Spirit. Thank You for assuring us that we are blessed because even though we have not seen we believe. Keep us faithful to the end.

JOHN 20:19-31

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The disciples hid behind locked doors trembling and paralyzed with fear. Fear cripples us. It freezes our power of reasoning and when we compromise our conscience fear takes center stage. This is how You found Your disciples - cowering in fear expecting to be rounded up by the authorities for being Your followers, and shame for having abandoned You.

You entered the room despite the locked door and Your first word to them was like sweet balm on a painful wound. They are words every sinner longs to hear. "Peace be with you." Then You showed them Your wounds, the wounds that You invited Thomas to touch and believe, the scars that are a permanent reminder to heaven, hell, and earth of the price of our salvation.

In Your great mercy, You institute another Sacrament, the Sacrament of Reconciliation giving Your apostles the power to forgive sins in Your Name and giving all sinners an opportunity to start over. You commissioned them - sending them forth into the world just as the Father sent You. Since then the disciples have continued to send forth new disciples in Your Name to baptize, to forgive, and to feed us with Your Body and Blood and administer to us the Sacraments we need in order to live holy lives.

We believe, Beloved, we have not seen You but we believe and believing we are saved.