DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
The Spirit of truth will be my witness;
and you too will be my witnesses. JN 15:26 27
JEREMIAH 20:10-13
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Jeremiah, like many of the prophets in Scripture, were persecuted, hounded, threatened, and killed. So it was with You as well. The Pharisees, the Scribes, the teachers of the Law, and all the temple authorities hated You with a visceral hatred. They constantly set traps for You so they could denounce You in public. You called them out repeatedly for being hypocrites who followed the letter of the law and not the spirit.
Jeremiah is lamenting that even those who used to be his friends wanted to see his downfall. Similarly, one of Your Apostles, Judas, handpicked by You could have remained a loyal witness to the end, but instead decided to betray You to Your enemies to his everlasting shame and damnation.
Unlike You, Jeremiah cried out to God for vengeance against his enemies; You, my Beloved, cried out to Your Father to forgive all who were responsible for Your death which includes me too. Thank You, my Lord for laying down Your life for me so I may never taste eternal death.
PSALM 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Sometimes we forget that no matter how great the calamity, the difficulty, the trial, the suffering You are always in control and You will not permit those put their faith in Your love to undergo unnecessary trials. When we look back on all that caused us the greatest hardships we also recognize that great good came from them.
We are so easily brought low. We forget that God is our loving Father and loves us more tenderly than any earthly father or mother ever could. We will never be asked to carry a cross, or a burden to heavy to bear and even then, You are yoked to us so both yoke and burden are easy and light.
In the times of our greatest trials, Beloved, let us keep our gaze on the Cross. No suffering, no trial, no difficulty is greater than that which You experienced for love of us. Every question is answered when we look at the Cross.
ROMANS 5:12-15
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The natural consequence of sin is death and we inherited the consequence of that first sin committed by Adam. Since then sin has reigned in the world and with it comes condemnation from the Accuser. We are born weak and susceptible to every temptation because of the stain of original sin on our soul. One Word issued forth from the mouth of the Creator, that same Eternal Word through which the foundations of the world were laid and everything in it, could have restored us all to our former glory before Adam's sin. However, incomprehensible it is to us, the truth is, that God chose to free us of original sin in a way that is so radical it beggars the imagination so no one can ever doubt the unfathomable, irrevocable, everlasting love of God for us, His sinful and often ungrateful children. "If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift." Thank You, Jesus, for Your obedience unto death, even death on the Cross, so I could receive and share eternal life with You.
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
We are privileged to be living in these times when the power of the Gospel through the testimony of people all over the world gives witness to the Truth of everything You taught, did and preached. Lives are transformed miraculously and souls that were dead in sin are brought to life again.
In our time, the power of the Holy Spirit that descended on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, seems to have waned. A spiritual malaise afflicts many of us. We have become lazy, lukewarm, flaccid in our morals, and indifferent to the things that are eternal. The Enemy that never sleeps has wormed his way insidiously into our life and is now visible in popular culture. Now is the time for us to rise from our slumber. The Deceiver has us believing that evil has triumphed but he has always been a liar. The Truth is, that we need not be afraid for You have said that eternal life belongs to those who remain faithful to the end. The body will perish and decay, the soul lives forever and we have to decide which to preserve, our mortal body or our eternal and immortal soul.
Each of us must decide if we will walk the broad way that leads to hell or the narrow way that leads to life. ‘So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’
The Spirit of truth will be my witness;
and you too will be my witnesses. JN 15:26 27
JEREMIAH 20:10-13
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Jeremiah, like many of the prophets in Scripture, were persecuted, hounded, threatened, and killed. So it was with You as well. The Pharisees, the Scribes, the teachers of the Law, and all the temple authorities hated You with a visceral hatred. They constantly set traps for You so they could denounce You in public. You called them out repeatedly for being hypocrites who followed the letter of the law and not the spirit.
Jeremiah is lamenting that even those who used to be his friends wanted to see his downfall. Similarly, one of Your Apostles, Judas, handpicked by You could have remained a loyal witness to the end, but instead decided to betray You to Your enemies to his everlasting shame and damnation.
Unlike You, Jeremiah cried out to God for vengeance against his enemies; You, my Beloved, cried out to Your Father to forgive all who were responsible for Your death which includes me too. Thank You, my Lord for laying down Your life for me so I may never taste eternal death.
PSALM 69:8-10, 14, 17, 33-35
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Sometimes we forget that no matter how great the calamity, the difficulty, the trial, the suffering You are always in control and You will not permit those put their faith in Your love to undergo unnecessary trials. When we look back on all that caused us the greatest hardships we also recognize that great good came from them.
We are so easily brought low. We forget that God is our loving Father and loves us more tenderly than any earthly father or mother ever could. We will never be asked to carry a cross, or a burden to heavy to bear and even then, You are yoked to us so both yoke and burden are easy and light.
In the times of our greatest trials, Beloved, let us keep our gaze on the Cross. No suffering, no trial, no difficulty is greater than that which You experienced for love of us. Every question is answered when we look at the Cross.
ROMANS 5:12-15
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The natural consequence of sin is death and we inherited the consequence of that first sin committed by Adam. Since then sin has reigned in the world and with it comes condemnation from the Accuser. We are born weak and susceptible to every temptation because of the stain of original sin on our soul. One Word issued forth from the mouth of the Creator, that same Eternal Word through which the foundations of the world were laid and everything in it, could have restored us all to our former glory before Adam's sin. However, incomprehensible it is to us, the truth is, that God chose to free us of original sin in a way that is so radical it beggars the imagination so no one can ever doubt the unfathomable, irrevocable, everlasting love of God for us, His sinful and often ungrateful children. "If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift." Thank You, Jesus, for Your obedience unto death, even death on the Cross, so I could receive and share eternal life with You.
MATTHEW 10:26-33
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
We are privileged to be living in these times when the power of the Gospel through the testimony of people all over the world gives witness to the Truth of everything You taught, did and preached. Lives are transformed miraculously and souls that were dead in sin are brought to life again.
In our time, the power of the Holy Spirit that descended on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, seems to have waned. A spiritual malaise afflicts many of us. We have become lazy, lukewarm, flaccid in our morals, and indifferent to the things that are eternal. The Enemy that never sleeps has wormed his way insidiously into our life and is now visible in popular culture. Now is the time for us to rise from our slumber. The Deceiver has us believing that evil has triumphed but he has always been a liar. The Truth is, that we need not be afraid for You have said that eternal life belongs to those who remain faithful to the end. The body will perish and decay, the soul lives forever and we have to decide which to preserve, our mortal body or our eternal and immortal soul.
Each of us must decide if we will walk the broad way that leads to hell or the narrow way that leads to life. ‘So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’
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