DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:
love one another as I have loved you. JN 13:34
EXODUS 12:1-8, 11-14
PSALM 116:12-13, 15-16BC, 17-18
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26
JOHN 13:1-5
EXODUS 12:1-8, 11-14
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The story in Exodus of the Passover meal and the angel of death passing over the homes of all who had sprinkled the lintel of their door with the blood of the lamb is exciting. The preparation of the flight from Egypt and the crossing of the people of Israel through the Red Sea is pure drama and causes the soul to thrill at the mighty power of God. And yet, even that pales in comparison with the New Passover You instituted over 2000 years ago.
The first involves the sacrifice of a one-year-old male lamb or sheep, without spot or blemish, its flesh roasted and eaten with bitter herbs and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts which would save the chosen people of God from the hand of Pharoah and the Egyptians.
The second involves the Lamb of God without spot or blemish who, obedient to the will of His Father, offered Himself as the Perfect Victim in expiation for the sins, not of a chosen few, but of the whole world.
To this day the Jews remember the Passover event when God delivered them from slavery to freedom as He led them into the Promised Land.
To this day, and until You come again in glory, we will commemorate the Power of the Blood of the Lamb that delivers us from slavery to sin and sets us free to worship God in spirit and in truth. Your once-for-all Sacrifice instituted at the Last Passover with Your disciples, will be commemorated at Your command, until time shall cease.
We are sealed with the Blood of the Lamb, we eat Your Body and we drink Your Blood. We are commanded to offer to the Father this once-for-all Sacrifice in union with the poverty of the sacrifice of our own lives. The pleasing fragrance of this Sacrifice fills the heavens as God Himself is present on our Altar as together with all His angels and saints we praise, honor, and worship God for this sublime Sacrament of Sacraments. This is the Passover Meal that is a fulfillment of the old. You are the Lamb of God and the Gateway to the Father.
“This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all your generations shall celebrate
with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.”
PSALM 116:12-13, 15-16BC, 17-18
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
It was always the Father's intention that He would save us by the once and for all time Sacrifice of Your Life. This is why so many incidents in the Old Testament foretell it beginning with Genesis and Melchizidek, the Passover in Exodus, as well as the psalmist in the verses of this psalm.
The cup of salvation is the Cup of Your Blood. You are the Son of God and the Son of Mary, the handmaid of the Lord. God, our Father, was not prepared to shut us off eternally from Paradise and so He sent You into the world to loose the bonds of sin that held us eternally captive in death.
In these dark days, we are unable to participate in this Sacrifice of thanksgiving that is offered to the Father by our bishops and priests privately. Too often in the past, we have participated in the Mass casually, without reverence, as a duty rather than a privilege. Thank You for these days that is creating in us a greater understanding as well as a hunger and thirst for the true food that wells up to eternal life in us.
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
As we reflect on these verses taken from St. Paul's first letter to the people of Corinth, we give You glory for instituting the priesthood in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. How could we receive You in Holy Communion if You did not command Your Apostles to do what You did at the Last Supper in memory of You?
Thank You, Beloved, for Your Real Presence with us in the Holy Eucharist. Thank You, for the intimacy of this Sacrament for as often as we eat Your Body and drink Your Blood we are united with You, we are made one with You, You are in us as we are in You and so it will be until You come again in glory to be united with You eternally.
JOHN 13:1-5
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The Hour, that Holy Hour, is finally upon You and even now when You know all that is to happen, You, the Rabbi and Teacher par excellence, give Your disciples another important lesson in humility made visible in loving service.
The rich, the powerful, the influential demand to be served. They look upon the poor as their servants whom they have no compunction to humiliate and take advantage of. You show us a better way. You showed the Church and its shepherds a better way.
You did not exclude Judas from taking part in the Eucharist even though You were aware of his perfidious plan of betrayal. You washed his feet too. He had so many opportunities to repent but he rejected them all.
You were also aware that Peter would deny You not once but three times and he would do so cursing and swearing oaths. Yet Peter did love You more than the others and if we have love, no matter how far we slide down the slippery slope to hell, there is room for redemption.
The shepherds in the Church have been given an example of service by the Good Shepherd Himself and yet to this day so many live in gilded cages smelling strongly of self-aggrandizement rather than the smell of their flock.
It is time now for the shepherds of the flock as well as for the sheep to put on the apron of humility, get down on our knees, and wash the feet of one another. This is the time for repentance, contrition, penance, and true conversion of heart.
Grant my Beloved, that we will not let this time of chastisement and renewal be in vain.
I give you a new commandment, says the Lord:
love one another as I have loved you. JN 13:34
EXODUS 12:1-8, 11-14
PSALM 116:12-13, 15-16BC, 17-18
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26
JOHN 13:1-5
EXODUS 12:1-8, 11-14
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The story in Exodus of the Passover meal and the angel of death passing over the homes of all who had sprinkled the lintel of their door with the blood of the lamb is exciting. The preparation of the flight from Egypt and the crossing of the people of Israel through the Red Sea is pure drama and causes the soul to thrill at the mighty power of God. And yet, even that pales in comparison with the New Passover You instituted over 2000 years ago.
The first involves the sacrifice of a one-year-old male lamb or sheep, without spot or blemish, its flesh roasted and eaten with bitter herbs and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts which would save the chosen people of God from the hand of Pharoah and the Egyptians.
The second involves the Lamb of God without spot or blemish who, obedient to the will of His Father, offered Himself as the Perfect Victim in expiation for the sins, not of a chosen few, but of the whole world.
To this day the Jews remember the Passover event when God delivered them from slavery to freedom as He led them into the Promised Land.
To this day, and until You come again in glory, we will commemorate the Power of the Blood of the Lamb that delivers us from slavery to sin and sets us free to worship God in spirit and in truth. Your once-for-all Sacrifice instituted at the Last Passover with Your disciples, will be commemorated at Your command, until time shall cease.
We are sealed with the Blood of the Lamb, we eat Your Body and we drink Your Blood. We are commanded to offer to the Father this once-for-all Sacrifice in union with the poverty of the sacrifice of our own lives. The pleasing fragrance of this Sacrifice fills the heavens as God Himself is present on our Altar as together with all His angels and saints we praise, honor, and worship God for this sublime Sacrament of Sacraments. This is the Passover Meal that is a fulfillment of the old. You are the Lamb of God and the Gateway to the Father.
“This day shall be a memorial feast for you,
which all your generations shall celebrate
with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.”
PSALM 116:12-13, 15-16BC, 17-18
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
It was always the Father's intention that He would save us by the once and for all time Sacrifice of Your Life. This is why so many incidents in the Old Testament foretell it beginning with Genesis and Melchizidek, the Passover in Exodus, as well as the psalmist in the verses of this psalm.
The cup of salvation is the Cup of Your Blood. You are the Son of God and the Son of Mary, the handmaid of the Lord. God, our Father, was not prepared to shut us off eternally from Paradise and so He sent You into the world to loose the bonds of sin that held us eternally captive in death.
In these dark days, we are unable to participate in this Sacrifice of thanksgiving that is offered to the Father by our bishops and priests privately. Too often in the past, we have participated in the Mass casually, without reverence, as a duty rather than a privilege. Thank You for these days that is creating in us a greater understanding as well as a hunger and thirst for the true food that wells up to eternal life in us.
1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
As we reflect on these verses taken from St. Paul's first letter to the people of Corinth, we give You glory for instituting the priesthood in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. How could we receive You in Holy Communion if You did not command Your Apostles to do what You did at the Last Supper in memory of You?
Thank You, Beloved, for Your Real Presence with us in the Holy Eucharist. Thank You, for the intimacy of this Sacrament for as often as we eat Your Body and drink Your Blood we are united with You, we are made one with You, You are in us as we are in You and so it will be until You come again in glory to be united with You eternally.
JOHN 13:1-5
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The Hour, that Holy Hour, is finally upon You and even now when You know all that is to happen, You, the Rabbi and Teacher par excellence, give Your disciples another important lesson in humility made visible in loving service.
The rich, the powerful, the influential demand to be served. They look upon the poor as their servants whom they have no compunction to humiliate and take advantage of. You show us a better way. You showed the Church and its shepherds a better way.
You did not exclude Judas from taking part in the Eucharist even though You were aware of his perfidious plan of betrayal. You washed his feet too. He had so many opportunities to repent but he rejected them all.
You were also aware that Peter would deny You not once but three times and he would do so cursing and swearing oaths. Yet Peter did love You more than the others and if we have love, no matter how far we slide down the slippery slope to hell, there is room for redemption.
The shepherds in the Church have been given an example of service by the Good Shepherd Himself and yet to this day so many live in gilded cages smelling strongly of self-aggrandizement rather than the smell of their flock.
It is time now for the shepherds of the flock as well as for the sheep to put on the apron of humility, get down on our knees, and wash the feet of one another. This is the time for repentance, contrition, penance, and true conversion of heart.
Grant my Beloved, that we will not let this time of chastisement and renewal be in vain.
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