THURSDAY AFTER EPIPHANY SUNDAY - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

‘This text is being fulfilled today
even as you listen.’

The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives. LK4:17

1 JOHN 4:19 - 5:4

My Soul's Beloved,

St. John says if I cannot stand my neighbor who I can see then I cannot, in all honesty, say I love God who is invisible. God's nature in love - not the namby-pamby kind that the world flaunts and trumpets, but a love that is prepared to be crucified and put to death for the sake of the beloved.

We are God's children created by Him in love for love and to love. This is why He commands that we who belong to Him, we who address Him as, 'Abba,' must love one another for we are all brothers and sisters in You. You have taught us that Your Father is our Father as well and we dare to call Him Dad because You instructed us to. 

All who believe in You, Beloved, are children of God and as His children, He commands us to love each other. God's nature is love and since we are His we ought to have His nature. The hallmark of a child of God is love made visible not only in word but in action. 

To love God is to obey all His commandments - we don't get to pick and choose which ones we will keep. If we find it hard to obey then it is clear that we do not love Him as we ought. Nothing is difficult for the one who loves least of all obedience to the commandments that enable us gain victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.

PSALM 72:1-2,14-15,17

My Soul's Beloved,

The Church invites us to continue to ponder the events of Your birth through this week after the feast of the Ephiphany as well as its implications for her children, and the world. 

Every longing, every sigh, every dream, and every prophecy since the children of Adam were cast out of paradise is fulfilled in You. All the great figures in the Bible were just a foreshadow of You. We look at these giants in the Old Testament Noah, Joseph, Moses, and David, and recognize God's plan of salvation unfolding slowly but surely.

You are our Covenant with God. You are the Way to the Father's house. You are the life-giving Truth that without You and without believing in You we can do nothing pleasing to God. A time is coming when every man, woman, and child, will believe that You are the only One whom the Father has given us who can take us by the hand and lead us home to the place that He prepared for us when He laid the foundations of the world. 

LUKE 4:14-22

My Soul's Beloved,

You return home to Nazareth, the little village where You spent 30 hidden years and the place is abuzz with the news of You being a great teacher, healer, and miracle worker. That sabbath the synagogue is packed and as You had done in the past You stood up to read the scroll that was handed to You. It was no coincidence that it was the scroll of the prophet Isaiah that was given to You, You found the place You were looking for and read:  

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,
for he has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives
and to the blind new sight,
to set the downtrodden free,
to proclaim the Lord’s year of favor.

Luke says, that all eyes on the synagogue were fixed on You intently, expectantly and then You said what generations of Jews had been longing to hear, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ The longed-for Messiah is finally here in their midst. This is indeed Good News yet the world is resistant to it to this day. But those who believe You will save.

You reveal to all who are willing to listen who You truly are? The One whom God sent into the world, His only Son, to set us free from slavery to sin and captivity to our selfish will and desires. 

Luke concludes, He won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips. The world approves so long as those who listen are not challenged to denounce and renounce it, do so and it will rip you to pieces and crucify you.