DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David! MK 11:9-10
EZEKIEL 34:11-12, 15-17
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
We need never fear the evil that lurks in the dark for we have You, our Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for us. Scripture describes God as a tender, watchful shepherd who looks after his sheep. He will go to any lengths to keep them safe, take them to pasture, lead them to streams of fresh water. He keeps his flock together, keeps them from going astray, and keeps them safe from danger.
There are times beloved when a sheep, unaware or even unmindful of danger, separates from the flock and wanders away from the safe path to unfamiliar territory unaware of the terrors that hide in the shadows. But You keep all Your flock in view and should one leave the fold You will go in search of it. You Yourself look after Your sheep so not one of them is lost except the ones who will it.
Thank You for the life-giving Sacraments that You instituted and which Your Church administers to Your sheep. We are fed by Your Body, our thirst is sated by Your Blood, we are washed clean from every stain of sin in the water that poured from Your side. We are sealed in Your Holy Spirit. The healthy and the strong as well as the weak and the sick receive the same watchful care from You.
For as long as time lasts we will experience Your tender compassion and Your merciful love and when time will cease to be You will separate the sheep from the goats to face Your righteous judgment as the just judge.
PSALM 23 :1-3A, 5-6
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
It is in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church where the faithful have the whole, the perfect, the consummate experience of You as our Shepherd. The Church, Your Bride, formed from Your pierced side receives, preserves, and hands down all she received from You to all her children in its entirety. She is endowed with the richest of treasures that stream life and grace in the Sacraments and is the repository of the rich deposit of faith both in the Word handed to her in Scripture and oral, apostolic Tradition.
She permits You alone, her invisible head, to take her by the hand and lead her to green pastures through the visible head Peter and his successors who care for her and shepherd her faithfully in Your Name.
This beautiful psalm, written by David, the shepherd king, describes to perfection the one and only Good Shepherd who loves every sheep in His flock and watches over them more tenderly and carefully than a mother watching over her children.
Thank You, Beloved, for all the shepherds in Your Church who administer the same watchful care over Your sheep until Your coming in glory when we shall dwell in Your house forever and ever. We yearn for Your return O Lord.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-26, 28
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
After the fall of Adam, the gates to paradise were slammed shut. No child of Adam would gain admittance into God's presence for he passed the ignominious stain of his first sin to all his offspring. Beginning with Adam all who died would remain asleep until the appointed time when God would send You, His only Son, into the world to give Yourself over to death and be raised to life again in Your glorious resurrection.
You experienced a death like ours in order that we may enter into Your life. You are the New Adam who takes away the sins of the world. You are the Lamb of God who became the willing Victim for our sins, and now, in Your life we have life.
When time shall be no more, You will return to lead the faithful back to paradise. There will be the final judgment of all humankind those who aligned with the Enemy will go to their eternal death and those who are sealed in Your Blood to eternal life and joy. Having reconciled all things to Yourself, and having destroyed death forever, You will present to Your Father, Your Bride along with all creation, under Your rule, dominion, authority, kingship, and power, handing it all over to Your Him after executing perfectly His plan of salvation for the whole world. You will then take Your place as God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.
MATTHEW 25:31-46
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Today all Christians in union with Your Church celebrate Your feast under the title, Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. As the liturgical year comes to a close we affirm and proclaim Your authority, dominion, power, and kingship over the universe.
Even as we celebrate You as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings we also remind ourselves that time will cease to be and there will be the final judgment when all humankind will stand before You. Matthew records what You said to Your disciples about Your coming again in glory, escorted by all the angels and the saints. You will take Your seat as the just judge, appointed by the Father and You will pronounce judgment. Some will go to eternal damnation while some will accompany You to everlasting glory.
We will hear You speak and depending on which side we are on Your words we will either be invited to accompany You into the Kingdom of God or we will condemn ourselves to eternal separation from You. Every thought, word, and deed will be made plainly visible to all and we will be judged by them.
Let us begin now if we have not done so already, to see You in every person we encounter each day and do good, be kind, be caring, and giving. Let us see You in the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, the homeless, the imprisoned and do all we can to alleviate their distress so when we exclaim, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you; or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome; naked and clothe you; sick or in prison and go to see you?” We will hear You say, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” Rather than be commanded to depart from You, cursed by our own indifference and apathy to eternal fire that was never intended for the children of God but for the devil and his angels.
Let us never ever forget that when we neglect to do good to a brother or sister we neglect to do it to You for we are all God's children and we, in particular, are members of Your Body.
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