DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened
and I will give you rest, says the Lord. MT 11:28
REVELATIONS 7:2-4, 9-14
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
I have done nothing to be counted among those who are washed in Your Blood in the waters of baptism. I have been marked with the Sign of the Cross for eternity. This gift of faith has been handed down to me all I needed to do on my part was receive it and make it my own. This gift of the Sacrament of Baptism has opened the door for me to receive all the other Sacraments as well.
In the Sacrament of Confirmation, I made a public declaration of the gift of faith freely accepted on my behalf by my parents and godparents. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, every sin is forgiven when I approach You with a heart filled with contrition for my sins and a firm resolve with Your help to sin no more and avoid every occasion of sin. In the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, You feed me on Your Flesh and You give me to drink of Your Blood, without which Beloved, I would wither and die on the vine and would be good only to be cut off and thrown away.
I have received the Sacrament of Matrimony as well. Beloved, You know it would be difficult if not impossible to give up in those times that every marriage faces, were it not for the abundance of graces received in this Sacrament which is a reflection of the ultimate Marriage with the Bridegroom and His Bride, the Church.
When I am gravely ill and when I will at last pass from this life to the next You give me yet another wonderful Sacrament of Anointing to help me in the final lap free of fear or anxiety so I can breathe my last breath in peace in Your blessed company
And last but not least You instituted the Sacrament of Holy Orders, the Holy Priesthood, without which I would not have been able to receive any of Sacraments.
I have no excuse, Beloved, not to become a saint and to someday be counted among all the unknown saints who have gone before me and whose feast the Church, Your Bride, celebrates today when I too will join my own voice to their in triumphant praise, ‘Victory to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’
‘Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen.’
PSALM 24:1-7
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
How can I thank You enough for being counted among those who ascend Your holy mountain and there, offer to the Father, the only Sacrifice that is pleasing and acceptable to Him, the Sacrifice of His only Son?
I have done nothing to deserve so great an honor and privilege, in truth, I have been neglectful, unworthy, unmindful of the treasures of the faith that have been heaped upon me. Yet, Beloved, You have been gracious, kind, merciful, tender, compassionate, forgiving, and above all most loving.
Thank You, for all the graces You make available to us to help us journey safely and in confidence from this life to the life that is to come. Thank You, Father, for knowing that we could never regain what was so carelessly lost eternally to us by Adam. Thank You, for the New Adam who makes all things new.
Holy Spirit, keep the Face of our God ever before us, and always imprinted in our souls so we may strive constantly to live holy lives pleasing to God, with Your help, and do nothing that will separate us from Him.
1 JOHN 3:1-3
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
It is so easy to get discouraged and lose heart when we look around us. Evil abounds. Death, destruction, violence, and sheer wickedness seems to have taken root and is spreading malevolently everywhere. Never has the world been so polarized. An appalling ignorance of what it means to be an authentic Catholic and Christian, sheer indifference to moral and spiritual truths has enabled the world to embrace every foolish, witless idealogy without subjecting it to the principles of natural law, reason, or logic.
Where are we going from here Beloved, for it seems we have reached the point of no return and are heading swiftly downhill into the black hole of violence and straight into hell?
And yet, we must hold on to this truth, we must cling to the knowledge that God is alive, we are redeemed, and all is well with the children of God. Let us hold on to the revealed Word of God that is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What is this Truth? The Father has lavished on us so great a love as to be called Abba, Dad, Papa because that is who we are in You, His only Son.
The world may refuse to acknowledge You but we do. With Your help, we will stand firm, and with the help of Your Holy Spirit, we will prevail and receive the victory that You have already won for the children of God.
This is our hope, Beloved, that once this life ends we look forward to a glorious and eternal destiny where we will behold You face to face and we will live in the presence of God and the company of all the angels and saints eternally. Until then may we strive after holiness and purity for we are after all sons and daughters of God.
MATTHEW 5:1-12A
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Every time Your people come to Church we ascend the mountain of the Lord with You for we are Your disciples. You who have drawn us to Yourself, You come to us, You seat Yourself with us and You feed and nourish us with Your Word, as well as with Your Body and Blood.
At every celebration of the Holy Mass, we come together as Your Body and we are privileged to encounter You in the same way as we will when time will be no more. You make present to us, through the eyes of faith, what we shall actually and finally behold.
Beloved, we cannot remain in ignorance - You have shown us the Way, You have revealed the Truth, and You have given us Life but unless we receive it and live it we are lost.
The Beatitudes are the blueprint on which we model our lives on You, they guarantee us safe passage from this valley of tears into the Kingdom of God.
Without imbibing the virtues of humility, compassion, kindness, a hunger and thirst for justice and righteousness, without being forgiving, merciful, loving always, without striving after purity of heart, mind, body, and spirit always, without doing violence to the evil inherited through original sin, without actively and always building bridges instead of walls that divide and separate us, without being ready to lay down our lives for the sake of the Kingdom of God, and being prepared to suffer all kinds of injustice for Your sake and for the sake of the Gospel, we have no hope of building the Kingdom of God on earth. But if we do, Beloved, and we can for all the saints who have gone before us have shown us it is possible, then we too shall enjoy the reward that they enjoy now.
Keep us safe O Lord, for heaven and for eternity.
No comments:
Post a Comment