Come, you nations, worship the Lord,
for today a great light has shone down upon the earth.
ISAIAH 52:7-10
My Soul's Beloved,
In a world where good news, joy, and peace is sadly lacking there are those, who for Your sake, bring consolation, joy, and peace in their wake because they love from the heart and are not afraid to speak the truth in love. The Good News of our salvation is the only News that can give the world hope and light - let us not be afraid to proclaim it always.
In these grim months of the pandemic, life has changed dramatically for so many. Those with nothing have suffered most. Yet, Your shepherds have not failed us. Your Church has been a bulwark to many who turned to them to feed us, nourish us, teach us, and strengthen us, not on the Bread of the Eucharist but on the Bread of the Word - and we have been strengthened, nourished, and satisfied. You are a generous God who feeds us with both Your Flesh and with Your Word.
The enemies of the Church who hoped to use the current events to destroy her have found to their consternation that the Church will survive anything that evil and the forces of darkness unleash upon her, for we have Your assurance that You are with her always, until the end of the age.
The song of the Church is, 'Hosanna, glory to God in the highest, peace on earth to people of goodwill.' Our God, Emmanuel, walks with us and will never forsake those who are called by Your Name.
PSALM 98:1-6
My Soul's Beloved,
It is a mystery to those in the world who do not believe that the strength of God is made manifest in a helpless little Baby, in poverty in a stable among the beasts of the field, with donkey, ox, and sheep. And that victory was won by a Man flagellated within an inch of His life, crowned with thorns, spat upon, mocked, jeered at and ridiculed, stripped naked, nailed to a cross where He suffered agonizingly until, after forgiving His enemies, He gave up His Spirit to His Father. In doing so He changed the world and every man, woman, and child forever. You won back for God as the new Adam that which the old Adam lost irrevocably.
So yes, as the psalmist proclaims we
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
God has made known His salvation to all and all who believe receive eternal life.
As we recall Your Birth today, and as the Church and the world celebrate this Holy Night, we fall on our knees in adoration, worship, praise, thanksgiving, and love. Our hearts are filled with gratitude that God so loved us that He sent You, His only Son into the world to save us. Thank You, Lord.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
HEBREWS 1:1-6
My Soul's Beloved,
This gift of the Holy Spirit to speak eloquently and with great clarity about all God has done for us through You, His Son, has been given to just a few and one among them is the writer of this letter to the Hebrews.
Beloved, anyone who approaches the Word of God made Flesh with the heart and spirit of a child will have no difficulty at all in embracing the Truth that sets all who believe in You free.
With just a few bold strokes of his pen, the writer paints a vivid picture of how God pierced space and time and clothed in the flesh, came to us in the weakest, most helpless form imaginable, a baby.
It is something the worldly-wise, the blasé, the jaded, will never understand for it is beyond their capacity to do so. This is why God chose a young Virgin in a little unknown town, Nazareth, to be the Mother of His Son and sent His angels to announce the Good News of His birth to a group of poor shepherds. Their open hearts and childlike spirit gladly embraced this mystery, they were capable of wonder, of being awestruck, of knowing that with God nothing is impossible. It also reveals to us the heart and mind of God who has a preferential love for the poor, and the poor in spirit.
In You, Beloved, the Father makes us heirs to the Kingdom of God. All that is Yours is ours as well.
The letter to the Hebrews tells says:
He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature, sustaining the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the right hand of divine Majesty. So he is now as far above the angels as the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name.
The wonder of it all is this - You taught us that God who is Your Father is our Father too and we can approach Him through You day or night, calling Him Abba. For Your sake, He will deny us nothing - and most especially He will not deny us a place in His Kingdom.
O come let us adore You, Christ, our Lord, our King, our Savior now and forever more.
JOHN 1:1-18
My Soul's Beloved,
Inspired by the Word and by the Holy Spirit, it has been to a few including the beloved disciple, John, to part the clouds separating earth from heaven, and revealing to us just who the Word of God is. The Word made flesh lived among us, walked with us, touched us, healed broken bodies, broken spirits, broken lives and You continue to do so to this day and for as long as time will last.
The opening verses of John's Gospel is a celestial poem inspired by Wisdom who was present even before God laid the foundations of the world. The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.
You, Beloved, are God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God. God created nothing without You, for You are His Word which uttered but once, accomplishes all God wills.
Every blade of grass, every drop of rain, every sunrise, and sunset, every flower, fruit, and grain, every animal and bird, every baby conceived in the womb is created by the power of the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us.
The Word is the light that illumines the heavens and illumines the hearts of all who believe. The Word is the life that sustains all life. Like John the Baptist we are all invited to be witnesses to the Light of the World so the world no longer walks in the darkness of sin.
No one has ever seen God;
it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known.
it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known.
By Your redeeming sacrifice, we are now children of God and heirs to His Kingdom. Thank You.
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