DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.
ISAIAH 49:1-6
PSALM 71:1-6, 15 & 17
JOHN 13: 21-33, 36-38
ISAIAH 49:1-6
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
To serve is the noblest way of living - this is what You came to show us. The surest way to the Kingdom of God is to lay down one's life. All the great saints recognized this truth.
On You was laid the Cross and the scourge and by Your wounds, we are healed.
Beloved, no life is worth living if it is lived vainly-gloriously. You showed us the Way, You revealed the Truth, and You gave us Your Life in abundance through the Sacraments You instituted. How carelessly we have used and abused all that is sacred. We drifted so far away from the God who so loved the world He gave us His only Son so we could be saved.
We deserve a far greater chastisement than that which is being visited on us right now. O Holy Spirit of God, draw us back to the Light of the World and to the God of our salvation. Renew in us the graces we have received at our Baptism. Open our eyes that we may see, our ears that we may hear, our hearts that we may love and give generously without measure. Have mercy on us O Lord! Have mercy on us!
PSALM 71:1-6, 15 & 17
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
You are our refuge, our strength, our fortress, our deliverer, our mighty tower, our rock. Who can come against us when You, Emmanuel, are with us.
Our sins have enslaved us and we are captives of our own greed and selfishness. Rescue us from the Enemy. Break the chains that bind us. Have mercy on Your people O Lord, the people You won by the power of the Cross. We confess we have sinned and have done what is evil in Your sight. This world over which You gave us dominion is soaked in innocent blood. The cries of all the helpless victims have called to You for vengeance like the cry of Abel and we have brought upon ourselves the punishment that we deserve.
We are sorry. Forgive us and remember Beloved, ours were the suffering You bore, ours the sorrows You carried, You bore the punishment that brings us peace and by Your wounds, we are healed.
We cry out like Peter and the Apostles, "Save us, Lord, lest we perish."
JOHN 13: 21-33, 36-38
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
What is it that prevents us from understanding even when things are laid out clearly before us? What is it that keeps our intellect from perceiving the truth?
Not once, but several times in the three years that You spent with Your disciples You revealed Your divine mission and even now at the Last Supper You hold nothing back. What could be more astounding to the twelve than the knowledge that it would one of them who would actually betray You and yet they just seem mildly curious - who is it, Lord? One would imagine that there would have been an uproar each one demanding to know who it would be and then rounding on the culprit when the person was revealed. Yet it all seems so unnaturally calm, so civilized. No one is prepared to make a scene. Do they even take You seriously?
You spoke Your death so often that they just brush aside as they have done before. This is uncomfortable news they cannot comprehend it. It is a human failing to not dwell on the things that make us uncomfortable. Our response generally is, let's have a good time and forget all about it. Numb it. Hide it. Kill it. Bury it. It will probably go away. No one likes to suffer yet the path that the Father chose to glorify You was through suffering.
John never fails to mention that Judas kept the money bag. It must have irritated him no end that You entrusted it to him even though they all knew he stole.
Did Judas ever love You? He may have admired You and he would have enjoyed the reflected glory but there would have always been something that was slightly off in his character. Like Judas, we are all given an opportunity to redeem ourselves in Your sight. Everyone deserves a chance, and Judas had his.
This is the most important conversations You will have with Your friends before You are put to death. But even now they are unable to grasp that the end of the Mission is here, the time has finally arrived.
The impetuous Peter makes many brash promises about dying with You. Even if all the others fail he says he will not forsake You. Are we not like him, fair-weather friends who are around when all is well but abandon ship at the first sight of the storm? Despite all that they had witnessed they did not believe You, least of all Peter when You foretold that he would betray You not once but three times.
At some point in our lives, we have all been guilty of the sins of the apostles and disciples who ran away when You needed a friend most. Thank You, Beloved, for not holding our sins against us. Thank You for Your unfathomable mercy.
Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father;
you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter.
ISAIAH 49:1-6
PSALM 71:1-6, 15 & 17
JOHN 13: 21-33, 36-38
ISAIAH 49:1-6
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
To serve is the noblest way of living - this is what You came to show us. The surest way to the Kingdom of God is to lay down one's life. All the great saints recognized this truth.
On You was laid the Cross and the scourge and by Your wounds, we are healed.
Beloved, no life is worth living if it is lived vainly-gloriously. You showed us the Way, You revealed the Truth, and You gave us Your Life in abundance through the Sacraments You instituted. How carelessly we have used and abused all that is sacred. We drifted so far away from the God who so loved the world He gave us His only Son so we could be saved.
We deserve a far greater chastisement than that which is being visited on us right now. O Holy Spirit of God, draw us back to the Light of the World and to the God of our salvation. Renew in us the graces we have received at our Baptism. Open our eyes that we may see, our ears that we may hear, our hearts that we may love and give generously without measure. Have mercy on us O Lord! Have mercy on us!
PSALM 71:1-6, 15 & 17
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
You are our refuge, our strength, our fortress, our deliverer, our mighty tower, our rock. Who can come against us when You, Emmanuel, are with us.
Our sins have enslaved us and we are captives of our own greed and selfishness. Rescue us from the Enemy. Break the chains that bind us. Have mercy on Your people O Lord, the people You won by the power of the Cross. We confess we have sinned and have done what is evil in Your sight. This world over which You gave us dominion is soaked in innocent blood. The cries of all the helpless victims have called to You for vengeance like the cry of Abel and we have brought upon ourselves the punishment that we deserve.
We are sorry. Forgive us and remember Beloved, ours were the suffering You bore, ours the sorrows You carried, You bore the punishment that brings us peace and by Your wounds, we are healed.
We cry out like Peter and the Apostles, "Save us, Lord, lest we perish."
JOHN 13: 21-33, 36-38
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
What is it that prevents us from understanding even when things are laid out clearly before us? What is it that keeps our intellect from perceiving the truth?
Not once, but several times in the three years that You spent with Your disciples You revealed Your divine mission and even now at the Last Supper You hold nothing back. What could be more astounding to the twelve than the knowledge that it would one of them who would actually betray You and yet they just seem mildly curious - who is it, Lord? One would imagine that there would have been an uproar each one demanding to know who it would be and then rounding on the culprit when the person was revealed. Yet it all seems so unnaturally calm, so civilized. No one is prepared to make a scene. Do they even take You seriously?
You spoke Your death so often that they just brush aside as they have done before. This is uncomfortable news they cannot comprehend it. It is a human failing to not dwell on the things that make us uncomfortable. Our response generally is, let's have a good time and forget all about it. Numb it. Hide it. Kill it. Bury it. It will probably go away. No one likes to suffer yet the path that the Father chose to glorify You was through suffering.
Did Judas ever love You? He may have admired You and he would have enjoyed the reflected glory but there would have always been something that was slightly off in his character. Like Judas, we are all given an opportunity to redeem ourselves in Your sight. Everyone deserves a chance, and Judas had his.
This is the most important conversations You will have with Your friends before You are put to death. But even now they are unable to grasp that the end of the Mission is here, the time has finally arrived.
The impetuous Peter makes many brash promises about dying with You. Even if all the others fail he says he will not forsake You. Are we not like him, fair-weather friends who are around when all is well but abandon ship at the first sight of the storm? Despite all that they had witnessed they did not believe You, least of all Peter when You foretold that he would betray You not once but three times.
At some point in our lives, we have all been guilty of the sins of the apostles and disciples who ran away when You needed a friend most. Thank You, Beloved, for not holding our sins against us. Thank You for Your unfathomable mercy.
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