FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The Lord will come; go out to meet him!
He is the prince of peace.

ISAIAH 48:17-19

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The divine lament never changes, 'O that you paid attention to my commandments!' You woo us, You beseech us to always do as You ask us if we desire to know true peace and joy. Rich blessings would be ours if we only followed in the Way pointed to us. 

The world is as it is today because we pay no heed to You, the Eternal Word, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. If we did we would be living in an age of peace where all would know You and serve You, the only God, Maker of heaven and earth, who is, who was,, and ever will be. Sadly, generations have wandered so far from the Truth they no longer recognize it and the tragedy of our times is this, because we have strayed from the Way for far too long our children and our children's children have been cut off from You and their souls are in peril of eternal destruction.   

There is time yet, Beloved, as long as the day lasts, we can still come back to You and be saved. Hear the cries of those who pray for the conversion of sinners and hear and answer their prayers before it is too late. 

PSALM 1:14, 6

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The world, and many in it, follow the counsel of the wicked.  Those seated in the highest echelons of power scoff at things that are holy, the things of God, and they ridicule and profane divine law.  

Few ponder the Word of God and instruct others to follow in the Way of Truth and Life, but those who do are happy, they are blessed, they possess the peace that the world cannot give. True disciples make You and Your Word their dwelling place. They walk in the light of Truth and all they do prospers because they receive life-giving grace from the Sacraments that are dispensed by Your Church. They bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit in every season. 

Grant O Lord, that as we wait for Your coming again in glory, we who believe, who hope, who have faith, and who have placed all our trust in You, might never cease praying for the conversion of sinners before it is too late and they, like winnowed chaff, are driven away from Your Presence to be destroyed forever. Do not forget that You came to save sinners, Beloved. Have mercy, seek the lost, and bring them back to the fold, especially the souls we love and pray for each day. 

MATTHEW 11:16-19

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

We have all strayed from the path of wisdom. We are perverse. We seek to be amused all the time like children. We prefer to be fed on milk like infants and whine and complain when we are presented with solid food because suffering, sacrifice, obedience, humility, self-control, are distasteful to us. 

Recent generations fit Your description perfectly. We are immature children willfully disobedient who scoff at wisdom which points the way to truth. We laugh when we ought to weep. We are merciless when we ought to be merciful. We are filled with childish rage and rave and rant because divine and natural law refuse to condone our fanciful and perverted notions of irrefutable natural facts. Commonsense is dumped by the wayside and lies are touted as truth according to the latest fashionable mantra that the popular culture of the day preaches. 

We stand on the brink of total moral and spiritual bankruptcy bringing about our own doom as we spiral into the abyss and we can blame no one but ourselves.

We truly are a perverse and evil generation who call lies the truth and the truth lies just as John the Baptism was scorned and condemned for asceticism and You were scorned, labeled, and condemned as a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’ 

Have mercy on us O Lord, and grant that we wake up before it is too late.