WEDNESDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die. JN 11:25, 26

ISAIAH 49:8-15 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

In a world that appears increasingly to be descending headlong into a terrifying abyss of darkness caused by our own choices and the choices of the godless, these verses from the prophet Isaiah are healing balm to the troubled soul.

With You every time is a favorable time, You always answer our prayers, You are an ever-present help in times of trouble. It is never too late to turn to you as long as we live and even when we turn to You with a last wordless plea even as we breathe our last breath in this life. 

We are a people formed for You. We are a people who believe in You. We believe that the Father sent into the world to lay down Your life to redeem us. As great as our sins are Your compassion is far greater. When we return to You like the prodigal son You rush out to meet us and to embrace and restore us back into the fold.  

The Sacraments are the fulfillment of Your promises:

They will never hunger or thirst,
scorching wind and sun shall never plague them;
for he who pities them will lead them
and guide them to springs of water.

We are fed and restored when we eat Your Body and drink Your Blood. The streams of living water flowing from Your side imbues us with mercy and grace bringing us times of refreshment and healing. 

You are the Way to the Kingdom of heaven and You are our crook and our staff that guide us on this difficult terrain helping us to navigate all the pitfalls with the help of Your Holy Spirit.

In the midst of sorrow, You give joy, in the midst of pain, relief, in the midst of fear, confidence, in the midst of doubt, faith. When life seems too much to bear You come to our help and console us. You wipe the tears from our eyes. You bring healing and You restore to perfect health in mind, soul, body, and spirit.

No one who knows You and has experienced Your tender love and compassion can ever say:

 ‘The Lord has abandoned me,

the Lord has forgotten me.’

Isaiah says it better than anyone ever could:

Does a woman forget her baby at the breast,
or fail to cherish the son of her womb?
Yet even if these forget,
I will never forget you.

I believe, I hope, and I place all my confidence in You, my Lord, and my God.

PSALM 145:8-9,13b-14,17-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved, 

I thank You for the words of this beautiful psalm assuring us that You never fail. Your compassion, Your love, Your goodness are eternal. You never run out of love for us even when we are most undeserving.

We are unfaithful, fickle, lukewarm, cold, indifferent, hateful, selfish, hard of heart, and hardened even more in conscience and yet all it takes is genuine remorse and You fly to our aid to forgive, heal, console, and restore all we had lost by our sins. 

Yet, Lord, may we never take Your love for granted and delay our return to our Father's house. For as long as today lasts we will hear Your voice gentle wooing us back to the way leading to life. Grant each of us the grace to hear Your call and to return to You before it is too late for repentance and forgiveness. 

JOHN 5:17-30 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The truth stood before them but it was incomprehensible and repugnant to those with closed minds. If they believed it would mean a total renunciation of everything that they had put their faith in, more often than not from habit rather than genuine conviction. A closed mind is a dark mind, not a single ray of light can penetrate the thick darkness of ignorance and intolerance. The Jews had made up their minds to reject You so no miracle no matter how spectacular would convince them of the truth. You showed them up as the petty tyrants they were who preyed upon the ignorant and the poor and they hated You with a murderous rage. The fact that You cared nothing for their opinions and made light of their religious authority and mocked their stringent observances of the letter of law did nothing to endear You to them. More than anything they knew that You had absolutely no regard for them and their religious posturing.

To them, You were a blasphemer and a lunatic who made extraordinary and mind-boggling claims. But there was a small band of faithful disciples who believed and to them and to us You say that all who believe are saved and will receive eternal life but those who reject You condemn themselves. 

Let us not take this warning lightly, "Whoever refuses honor to the Son refuses honor to the Father who sent Him."  

Thrice in this passage selected for us today in verse 19, verse 24, and verse 25, You say, Very truly, I tell you, or I tell You most solemnly.  God does not speak lightly and so we better listen to what You have to say to us. 

Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. (vs 19)

Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. (vs 24)

Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (vs 25)

It is up to us to believe and choose eternal life or to doubt and choose eternal death.