DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases. MT 8:17
We are not unlike the writer who pours out his soul to You in these verses. The temple is destroyed. You have fled. The people are stupefied with grief. When You were with them, they sinned, their wicked deeds, their infidelities, their abandonment of the true God for false ones, their idolatry caused them to lose all they once had that made them different from every other nation for God walked with them. Now there is no sacrifice, there are no offerings, they have been robbed of everything. Famished, they perish by the wayside and none of their spiritual leaders can do anything to help them, for they are just as guilty as the people.
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Do not forget that we are Your people, the sheep of Your flock? How much longer Lord, will You banish us from Your Table and from the Bread of Life that sustains us?
Why, O God, have you cast us off for ever?
Why blaze with anger at the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your people whom you chose long ago,
the tribe you redeemed to be your own possession,
the mountain of Zion where you made your dwelling.
Evil stalks us. Wherever we look there is only violence, fear, and anxiety world. People have lost their sanity.
O God, they have set your sanctuary on fire:
they have razed and profaned the place where you dwell.
Do not forget us O Lord. Do not turn Your gaze away from us. You are a God of mercy, full of pity and tender compassion for Your wayward, silly sheep. We are contrite. We return with repentant hearts and a sorrowing spirit. Take us back, Beloved, for the sake of Your Name. Thank You.
Remember your covenant; every cave in the land
is a place where violence makes its home.
Do not let the oppressed return disappointed;
let the poor and the needy bless your name.
Do not forget your poor servants for ever.
MATTHEW 8:5-17
Like the servant of the centurion who approached You in Capernaum and pleaded with You, to come and heal his paralysed servant who was in great pain, Beloved, we too approach You and ask for Your healing.
Every morning as we participate in the Holy Mass that is being live streamed, we are filled with longing for the real thing. We long to return back to our churches. We yearn for what we took so lightly and for granted for so long. We pray the words of the centurion as we watch the priest at Holy Mass and say the words we once said while we were bodily present at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and Your servant will be healed." Our eyes brim with tears, our hearts filled with longing, our spirits pant for the Food that gives life and for the Cup that saves and heals.
You were astonished at the faith of the centurion, and You are also astonished at our own lack of faith when for years we approached the Banquet Table and ate and drank of the heavenly meal with hearts and minds far away from You.
We believe Your Word has power to do all that You send it out to do. You commanded from a distance for the centurion's servant to be healed and he was. You touched the hand of Peter's mother-in-law and the fever left her instantly and she served You. You spent the entire evening of that day casting out evil spirits and curing all who were sick. To this day, You continue to take our sicknesses away and carry our diseases for us.
You are a God of love and You will not withdraw Yourself for us for too long for You desire that we live. We believe, we hope, and we put all our faith and trust in You and we know that You will not disappoint us.
Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases. MT 8:17
LAMENTATIONS 2:2, 10-14, 18-19
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
We are not unlike the writer who pours out his soul to You in these verses. The temple is destroyed. You have fled. The people are stupefied with grief. When You were with them, they sinned, their wicked deeds, their infidelities, their abandonment of the true God for false ones, their idolatry caused them to lose all they once had that made them different from every other nation for God walked with them. Now there is no sacrifice, there are no offerings, they have been robbed of everything. Famished, they perish by the wayside and none of their spiritual leaders can do anything to help them, for they are just as guilty as the people.
The Lord has pitilessly destroyed
all the homes of Jacob;
in his displeasure he has shattered
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has thrown to the ground,
he has left accursed the kingdom and its rulers.
We deserve our punishment, Beloved. Our churches are shut and we have no way of knowing when they will be open again and when we will receive the Bread of Life. The Sacraments are denied to us and many of us, famished for this spiritual nourishment, have perished or are perishing.
They kept saying to their mothers,
‘Where is the bread?’
Who can rescue and comfort you,
virgin daughter of Zion?
For huge as the sea is your affliction;
who can possibly cure you?
Only You can lift the weight of our burden from us and restore to us all that we deservedly lost. We acknowledge that we have sinned. We acknowledge that we are rightly punished for taking the treasures of the Kingdom of God lightly. Have pity on us Lord. It is You who gave us the gift of Yourself because the Father knows that without You drawing us into Yourself in the Holy Eucharist and giving us Your life we will perish.
Cry aloud, then, to the Lord,
groan, daughter of Zion;
let your tears flow like a torrent,
day and night;
give yourself no relief,
grant your eyes no rest.
Up, cry out in the night-time,
in the early hours of darkness;
pour your heart out like water
before the Lord.
Stretch out your hands to him
for the lives of your children
who faint with hunger
at the entrance to every street.
PSALM 74:1-7, 20-21
all the homes of Jacob;
in his displeasure he has shattered
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has thrown to the ground,
he has left accursed the kingdom and its rulers.
We deserve our punishment, Beloved. Our churches are shut and we have no way of knowing when they will be open again and when we will receive the Bread of Life. The Sacraments are denied to us and many of us, famished for this spiritual nourishment, have perished or are perishing.
They kept saying to their mothers,
‘Where is the bread?’
Who can rescue and comfort you,
virgin daughter of Zion?
For huge as the sea is your affliction;
who can possibly cure you?
Only You can lift the weight of our burden from us and restore to us all that we deservedly lost. We acknowledge that we have sinned. We acknowledge that we are rightly punished for taking the treasures of the Kingdom of God lightly. Have pity on us Lord. It is You who gave us the gift of Yourself because the Father knows that without You drawing us into Yourself in the Holy Eucharist and giving us Your life we will perish.
Cry aloud, then, to the Lord,
groan, daughter of Zion;
let your tears flow like a torrent,
day and night;
give yourself no relief,
grant your eyes no rest.
Up, cry out in the night-time,
in the early hours of darkness;
pour your heart out like water
before the Lord.
Stretch out your hands to him
for the lives of your children
who faint with hunger
at the entrance to every street.
PSALM 74:1-7, 20-21
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Do not forget that we are Your people, the sheep of Your flock? How much longer Lord, will You banish us from Your Table and from the Bread of Life that sustains us?
Why blaze with anger at the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your people whom you chose long ago,
the tribe you redeemed to be your own possession,
the mountain of Zion where you made your dwelling.
Evil stalks us. Wherever we look there is only violence, fear, and anxiety world. People have lost their sanity.
O God, they have set your sanctuary on fire:
they have razed and profaned the place where you dwell.
Do not forget us O Lord. Do not turn Your gaze away from us. You are a God of mercy, full of pity and tender compassion for Your wayward, silly sheep. We are contrite. We return with repentant hearts and a sorrowing spirit. Take us back, Beloved, for the sake of Your Name. Thank You.
Remember your covenant; every cave in the land
is a place where violence makes its home.
Do not let the oppressed return disappointed;
let the poor and the needy bless your name.
Do not forget your poor servants for ever.
MATTHEW 8:5-17
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Every morning as we participate in the Holy Mass that is being live streamed, we are filled with longing for the real thing. We long to return back to our churches. We yearn for what we took so lightly and for granted for so long. We pray the words of the centurion as we watch the priest at Holy Mass and say the words we once said while we were bodily present at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and Your servant will be healed." Our eyes brim with tears, our hearts filled with longing, our spirits pant for the Food that gives life and for the Cup that saves and heals.
You were astonished at the faith of the centurion, and You are also astonished at our own lack of faith when for years we approached the Banquet Table and ate and drank of the heavenly meal with hearts and minds far away from You.
We believe Your Word has power to do all that You send it out to do. You commanded from a distance for the centurion's servant to be healed and he was. You touched the hand of Peter's mother-in-law and the fever left her instantly and she served You. You spent the entire evening of that day casting out evil spirits and curing all who were sick. To this day, You continue to take our sicknesses away and carry our diseases for us.
You are a God of love and You will not withdraw Yourself for us for too long for You desire that we live. We believe, we hope, and we put all our faith and trust in You and we know that You will not disappoint us.
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