At various times in the past
and in various different ways,
God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;
but in our own time, the last days,
he has spoken to us through his Son. HEB 1:1-2
NUMBERS 6:22-27
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
You are God's blessing to us and since we are called by Your Name we ought to be a blessing to one another.
All God's children are blessed because we live in the light of Your love. Being grafted to You we are His children by adoption and the Light of Your countenance shines on us. As Catholics, we approach the Holy of Holies as Moses did in the burning bush and each time he entered the Tent of Meeting, we not only behold You face to face to worship and adore You, but we eat and drink Your body and blood and receive divine life.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, the Name before which heaven and earth prostrate and adore to the glory of God our Father, causing the clouds to part, the heavens to open and rain down blessings on all who are called by Your glorious Name.
PSALM 67:2-3,5,6,8
My Soul's Beloved,
The psalmist echoes the beautiful blessing that asks God to look down on this world He created by the power of Your Name and to bless all who believe in You. There is no other Name given to us that can save the world. The power of Your Name causes demons to tremble and heaven and earth to rejoice. Your Name alone is our saving help.
As we enter a new year, Beloved, we enter it with faith, hope, and joy for all the wonderful possibilities that are open to us in living out the Gospel. May we labor tirelessly to make You known and loved so many can come to know You and be saved. Now is the time before You come again, not in mercy, but as the righteous judge.
Thank You for another year in which to draw closer to You. Another year to praise You, adore You, and to comprehend with greater clarity how blessed we are to have You as our Brother, God as our Father, and the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, as our constant companion, teacher, and guide. For as long as we have breath, for as long as we are alive, may we bless, thank, praise, and adore You.
GALATIANS 4:4-7
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
God chose a people, through Abraham, He chose one nation among all the nations, Israel, and He chose a Woman, Mary, to be the Mother of His Son. She is clothed with the Sun of Justice, for she had the wonderful privilege of being Your Mother, the Mother of God, as Elizabeth first testified when she said, 'And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?'
The Law condemns us, this is why God sent You into the world to redeem the children born under the law and to claim us by adoption through You, as His children. St. Paul says, the proof that we are His sons and daughters, is because You taught us to call God, 'Abba, Dad, Papa, Dada.' Who would dare to address Him with such familiarity when even the chosen people dared not utter His Name. Only the High Priest used it once in the whole year when he entered alone into the sanctum sanctorum and pronounced it, YHWH.
Thank You, Beloved, for setting us free from slavery to sin and making us heirs through adoption to God's Kingdom.
LUKE 2:16-21
My Soul's Beloved,
Today's Gospel focuses on the shepherds' response to the angel's message and Mary's response to what the shepherds narrated concerning the message of glad tidings they had received.
Our response to the Good News must be modeled on that of the shepherds'. As soon as the angel departed they made haste to do what the angel had said and found Mary, Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger exactly as the angel had described. They told Mary and Joseph what they had seen and heard as well as everyone they met. They were the first evangelists who announced the Good News and all who heard them were astonished - God had come to dwell with His people.
St. Luke says, 'As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.' Mary's response to the often inscrutable and incomprehensible way of God must be the attitude of every disciple. We may not always understand but in faith and in a spirit of quiet contemplation we too must treasure the divine mysteries in the sanctuary of our soul.
The first shedding of divine blood was at Your circumcision and with it, You identified Yourself firmly with God's Chosen People, the Jews. The Gentiles would have no need for circumcision since You entered into our death by baptism and gave us new life by Your resurrection.
Mary and Joseph gave You the Name revealed to them by God through the angel, the Name above all names Jesus,
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
No comments:
Post a Comment