DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
ACTS 11:1-18
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Too often there are many within the Church who like the Apostles and disciples, question what the Church does because they are hidebound. This is not the way of God and neither is it the way of the Church.
I know my sheep, and mine know me. JN10:14
ACTS 11:1-18
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Too often there are many within the Church who like the Apostles and disciples, question what the Church does because they are hidebound. This is not the way of God and neither is it the way of the Church.
Looking at our own times and our own successor to Peter, we see that not much has changed even 2000+ years later. God's ways are not our ways. God's thoughts are not our thoughts. True, some things are eternal and will never change. But some things can because the Church is as tender as a Mother and looks to the needs of all her children. Every human being has a right to find his or her place in the shadow of her wings for we are all Your brothers and sisters and God is the Father of us all.
At different moments in time, the Church adapts and evolves, because she is a living, breathing Church; but she does not do so at a whim. The Holy Spirit, who dwells in fullness in her, is the one that inspires and directs her. Let us not be so full of ourselves but show greater sensitivity to one another. The Spirit commands us not to discriminate but to be open and amenable to His prompting. Peter said, 'who am I to hinder God' and those who opposed him glorified God and said, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”
We must guard against making exclusive clubs within the Church for God excludes no one and neither must we.
PSALM 42:2-3; 43:3-4
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
How wonderfully the psalmist captures what Your sheep feel in these times when we are deprived of coming together as a community to praise and worship You and offer the Father the only, holy, and perfect Sacrifice that is so pleasing to Him, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
Yet we can also thank You for this enforced fasting from the Bread of Life for we are beginning to understand it is You we receive each time we approach the altar for Holy Communion. The prayer of longing of the psalmist now becomes our own:
Athirst is my soul for the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
Grant my Beloved, that in Your own longing to feed us with Your Body and Blood, that You will reduce the number of days of our fasting and exile.
JOHN 10:11-18
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
While it is true that the lives of people everywhere in the world have been turned upside down by this lockdown we can also discover how much goodness there is in the world.
While it is true that the lives of people everywhere in the world have been turned upside down by this lockdown we can also discover how much goodness there is in the world.
Today You speak of being our Good Shepherd and also enumerate for us the qualities of a good shepherd. The Church has gone through some terribly dark times when the evil done by so many shepherds, hidden for so long, has come to light. The sheep have been wounded and scandalized and many left because of the dark and evil deeds of their shepherds.
But now we see our Holy Father, as well as bishops and priests looking for innovative ways to keep their flock close and feed them as well as they can, considering that we are presently deprived of the Bread of Life.
Our wonderful priests all over the world are finding new ways to be close to their flock and we feel closer to them than we ever did before. These are truly wonderfully blessed times despite the uncertainty and I pray that this bountiful, good fruit lasts a long, long time.
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