THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Repent, says the Lord,
for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. MT 4:17

DEUTERONOMY 30:15-20 

My Soul's Beloved, 

Our entire life is a constant battle between choosing You over self and more often than not, because we are so weak, we choose to indulge our sinful impulses rather than walk the narrow and difficult path that leads to life.

Moses laid out clearly what God's chosen people must do in order to receive the promised inheritance. If they followed God's commandments they were assured of His blessings and they would live a happy and prosperous life. 

The choice is always ours - we can choose blessings or a curse, disaster or success, life or death. The Truth is revealed to us more fully than to Moses. They received the Commandments written by the finger of God, we have received the Eternal Word of God in the Flesh. They behold God in a cloud, we see You face to face, we eat Your Body and drink Your Blood and are sustained by You, the Word of God, and by the Breath of Your Spirit.  

We know the consequences of willful disobedience. If we love You we must keep Your commandments. If we don't we invite death to our soul. We gaze at the Cross and we see You who became a Curse for our sakes so we might receive blessings from God. 

As we enter another season of Lent we are given the opportunity to choose life or death, blessing or curse, to obey You and cling to You or stray from the path of righteousness. If we are drawn into worshipping and serving false gods we will suffer eternal separation from You. Grant us the courage, the will, and the grace to choose life now and always. 

PSALM 1:1-4,6 

My Soul's Beloved, 

As long as we are alive in this world we have the freedom to choose the path of life and light or the path of darkness and death. God does not force us to love Him. He has shown us the Way, the Truth is revealed, and grace is available if we choose Life. 

The Word of God in Sacred Scripture reveals clearly what we can expect when we choose to walk in Your footsteps - happiness will be our lot. God will delight in us and we will find our delight in Him. Unsurpassed joy is ours when we dwell, meditate, and contemplate God's Word.

The deeper we are rooted in You the more fruitful we will become. The more we love You the less will we desire the company of those who offend You. Having placed all our trust in You we will be youthful in spirit and joyful in hope. All we do will be inspired by Your Spirit, Your Word, and Your Life and we will strive always to be like You.  

If the whole world chose to be planted beside the streams of lifegiving water flowing the throne of God we would soon discover the Kingdom of God in our midst. May this Lenten season cause us to draw ever closer to You and hasten the time of Your return. Amen.

LUKE 9:22-25

My Soul's Beloved,

We are living in an age where people will do anything to avoid suffering. They indulge in every excess in order to blunt the edge of sorrow to the ruin of their physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. 

You came to show us the Way to eternal life, You did not just point to it You are the Way but only a few choose it for it is narrow, rough, and difficult.

You describe the destiny of the Son of Man with words that are anathema to those who are of the world - grievous suffering, rejection, and death. We are prepared to do anything, pay any price to avoid it. Disdaining the cross, the vast majority miss the promise that comes after the suffering, the rejection, and the death that follows martyrdom. The promise is that we will be raised to new life and will share in Your resurrection.  

Today, the second day in Lent, You extend the invitation once again to all who wish to be Your disciples. ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me.' The paradox of the cross is this -  'For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it.' 

In a world where the vast majority has made getting, spending, wasting, consuming, acquiring, and discarding their sole purpose in life, they will discover too late, that they have lost their soul forever.