DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him. JN 14:23
1 CORINTHIANS 10:14-22
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Speaking to the people of Corinth, St. Paul reminds them that they cannot approach the Table of the Lord and eat Your Body and drink Your Blood after committing idolatry.
But what about us today who read these verses? How do we commit idolatry today? If we approach the Eucharist in a state of grave, unconfessed sin, if we are unrepentant and intend to continue to live in a state of sin then we are guilty of loving the sin more than we love You, our God, and hence are guilty of the sin of idolatry as well.
All who participate in the Holy Mass, all who approach the Eucharistic table and partake of the Eucharistic meal are one Body in You. We eat Your Body and drink Your Blood and are infused with Your life, we are in communion with You and with one another. If we dare to share in this divine meal lightly, casually, wantonly, knowing full well that we ought to refrain from doing so because we are not in a state of grace, then we eat and drink damnation to our soul. God will not be mocked. If You O Lord should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
PSALM 116:12-13, 17-18
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
There is no sacrifice as pleasing to God, Our Father, as the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving that we offer Him in the Holy Mass. The once-for-all, holy, perfect, Sacrifice offered by the Lamb of God, the Lamb without stain, or blemish, on Calvary is the only Sacrifice that takes away the sins of the world.
The unfathomable love of the Father for us is evident in this, that while we were still sinners God showed His love for us by sending You into the world to die for us. When we recognize what God has done for us and we appreciate this love He has for us that is beyond our ability to grasp and make sense of, when we come before Him with thanksgiving in our hearts and praise on lips offering Him the once-for-all Sacrifice of Calvary that takes away the sins of the world, nothing is more pleasing to Him. Heaven opens as Father, Son, and Spirit descend on our altars along with the angelic hosts and all the saints. This is the only Sacrifice, the only worship in Spirit and in Truth, that is pleasing to God - there is no other.
LUKE 6:43-49
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
We are called to bear good fruit in season and out of season. Our actions reveal the kind of tree we are. We are called to be vigilant always. You are the vine and we are the branches, if we do not bear good fruit we will be trimmed but if there is no life in us we will be cut off from the vine to wither and die.
Humility and obedience go hand in hand. When we hear Your Voice we must listen in humility and in obedience do as You ask. The Word of God is Life, the Word of God is the Way, the Word of God is Truth, we cannot live in God's love if we do not embrace the Word of God, be rooted in it, and build our lives on its sure foundation. From the Rock flows streams of Living Water. Built on the Rock our food and our water is assured. But if we build on the world, on the flesh, and on the devil then there will only be decay, destruction, and death.
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him. JN 14:23
1 CORINTHIANS 10:14-22
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Speaking to the people of Corinth, St. Paul reminds them that they cannot approach the Table of the Lord and eat Your Body and drink Your Blood after committing idolatry.
But what about us today who read these verses? How do we commit idolatry today? If we approach the Eucharist in a state of grave, unconfessed sin, if we are unrepentant and intend to continue to live in a state of sin then we are guilty of loving the sin more than we love You, our God, and hence are guilty of the sin of idolatry as well.
All who participate in the Holy Mass, all who approach the Eucharistic table and partake of the Eucharistic meal are one Body in You. We eat Your Body and drink Your Blood and are infused with Your life, we are in communion with You and with one another. If we dare to share in this divine meal lightly, casually, wantonly, knowing full well that we ought to refrain from doing so because we are not in a state of grace, then we eat and drink damnation to our soul. God will not be mocked. If You O Lord should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
PSALM 116:12-13, 17-18
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
There is no sacrifice as pleasing to God, Our Father, as the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving that we offer Him in the Holy Mass. The once-for-all, holy, perfect, Sacrifice offered by the Lamb of God, the Lamb without stain, or blemish, on Calvary is the only Sacrifice that takes away the sins of the world.
The unfathomable love of the Father for us is evident in this, that while we were still sinners God showed His love for us by sending You into the world to die for us. When we recognize what God has done for us and we appreciate this love He has for us that is beyond our ability to grasp and make sense of, when we come before Him with thanksgiving in our hearts and praise on lips offering Him the once-for-all Sacrifice of Calvary that takes away the sins of the world, nothing is more pleasing to Him. Heaven opens as Father, Son, and Spirit descend on our altars along with the angelic hosts and all the saints. This is the only Sacrifice, the only worship in Spirit and in Truth, that is pleasing to God - there is no other.
LUKE 6:43-49
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
We are called to bear good fruit in season and out of season. Our actions reveal the kind of tree we are. We are called to be vigilant always. You are the vine and we are the branches, if we do not bear good fruit we will be trimmed but if there is no life in us we will be cut off from the vine to wither and die.
Humility and obedience go hand in hand. When we hear Your Voice we must listen in humility and in obedience do as You ask. The Word of God is Life, the Word of God is the Way, the Word of God is Truth, we cannot live in God's love if we do not embrace the Word of God, be rooted in it, and build our lives on its sure foundation. From the Rock flows streams of Living Water. Built on the Rock our food and our water is assured. But if we build on the world, on the flesh, and on the devil then there will only be decay, destruction, and death.
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