DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
says the Lord. JN 13:34
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
At every Holy Mass, we hear readings from Sacred Scripture with a clear message, a similar theme, weaving them together into a tapestry rich in color, texture, design, and beauty which is a marvel to behold.
For over 2000 years Holy Mother Church. like Mother Mary, has contemplated, pondered, and with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in fullness in her, has kept alive in her memory a rich deposit of faith comprising of Apostolic Tradition, and Sacred Scripture. You said to Peter, on that fateful day of Your passion and death, "Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
This is the unvarnished truth. Even St. Paul, who of all the Apostles is perhaps the greatest evangelist, headstrong though he was, did not presume to make important decisions based on his own understanding but consulted Peter and the rest of the Apostles. No matter how heated the discussions got, Peter's ruling was final. Whether we like it or not, whether we agree or not, the Chair of Peter is where all authority on matters of faith and morals finally rests.
After more than a thousand years dissent and division reared its ugly head, many unwittingly became pawns of Satan, and what St. Paul warned the people of Galatia against, tragically came to pass leading many to follow false shepherds.
Let me warn you that if anyone preaches a version of the Good News different from the one we have already preached to you, whether it be ourselves or an angel from heaven, he is to be condemned.
Let us never cease to pray the prayer You prayed to the Father, that we may be one just as You and Your Father are one and that in Your time we will be but one flock and have but one visible shepherd appointed by You who are our invisible Good Shepherd.
PSALM 111:1-2, 7-10
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Praise and thanksgiving are the natural outpourings that spring from a grateful heart. The highest form of praise, that which is most pleasing to God, is when we, Your people, the sheep of Your flock, come together to offer the Father, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
It is here that we ponder the single, most unifying, most breathtaking miracle that occurs every time the priest takes ordinary bread and wine, prayers a blessing over them, and speaks Your words over them, 'This is my body, this is my blood' and it truly becomes Your Body and Your Blood which we then eat and drink and we are in communion in a perfect union with You and with each other who eat and drink at the Banquet of Love.
Beloved, thank You for this eternal Covenant of Love, that keeps Your Church alive until the day You return in glory. You are the Word of God, and Your Word is Truth. We believe and in believing, we are saved for eternal life and eternal union with You in the Kingdom of God.
LUKE 10:25-37
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The world, like the lawyer who wanted to disconcert You, keeps asking this question to which we all actually know the answer because it is written as a natural law in the heart of every human being. 'Who is my neighbor?'
After You narrated one of the most sublime parables, The Good Samaritan, the lawyer is able to reach the irrefutable conclusion to the question he posed.
Every one of us has been like the priest and the Levite who passed by the half-dead man who was robbed and beaten while he was on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho. We wear blinkers. We choose to see only what we wish. We do not want to be disturbed, be roused, taken out of our comfort zone, we hedge ourselves in, and are quite content with our insular little lives.
The Good Samaritan in the parable stretches our imagination, gives us a new vision, and a broad and rich understanding of what it really means to be a neighbor. How often we read in the Gospels that You were moved with compassion and here too we read that when the Samaritan who was traveling that way saw the half-dead man, was moved with compassion. His compassion moved him to action. He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said, “and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have.”
Is my compassion just a fleeting emotion or does it move me to act like the Good Samaritan? You speak directly to me today when You say, 'Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbor to the man who fell into the brigands‘ hands?’ And when I answer as the lawyer did, ‘The one who took pity on him’ You say to me what You said to him, ‘Go, and do the same yourself.’
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