TUESDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me. JN 10:27

ACTS 11:19-26 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You have the power to draw immense good from every difficult situation. The persecution of the early Christians served to spread the Gospel beyond Jerusalem and was preached not only to Jews but to Greeks as well.

We see the hierarchy of the Church in action from the start and how necessary it was and is to ensure the smooth functioning of Your Body. The growing Church needed trustworthy overseers and Peter and the apostles appointed good men like Barnabas, he is described as a man filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith.

We need good and faithful shepherds to govern Your flock, to take them to pasture, ensure they are given food and drink so they remain healthy. A holy Church filled with the Holy Spirit and on fire with the love of God is prepared to emulate You in every way. The early Church teaches us how to live with one another in harmony as brothers and sisters. 

This is the time to cast all divisions aside and unite in love as Barnabas and Paul did, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and boldly profess the Good News so all may hear it and believing in it be saved.

PSALM 87:1b-3, 4-5, 6-7 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

While there will always be prophets of doom and gloom who keep pontificating about Catholics leaving the Church in droves there is always hope.  There is always springtime. While many leave because of poor formation, and shoddy catechesis, many more who are genuine seekers of Truth are finding You and are joyfully entering the Church. 

She is built on Your holy mountain - You cherish her and make Your dwelling place in her. There are many places where You are praised, adored, and worshipped and Your Holy Spirit is at work in these loyal and faithful hearts but the irrefutable, unvarnished, and inescapable truth is this - You prefer the Church born from Your side as Eve was created from the side of Adam. You wrapped her in garments of light, You bathed her in waters of mercy and washed away her sins from the tide of Blood pouring from Your side, and You work gloriously and marvelously in her constantly drawing men and women of goodwill to You through her. 

She is Holy Mother to all for she loves, nurtures, teaches, feeds, governs, and looks after all her children. God delights in her for she is espoused to the You.

In his register of peoples he writes:

‘These are her children,’
and while they dance they will sing:
‘In you all find their home.’

JOHN 10:22-30 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

For three years You dedicated Yourself exclusively to teaching, preaching, and performing the most astounding miracles, and still, despite everything they have witnessed and heard they ask, ‘How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ How frustrated You must have become on so many occasions in Your ministry when the people just didn't get it. We are so dull in our thinking, so caught up with the mundane we miss the spectacular. We are so busy with the cares of this world we forget we were created for eternal joy with You in the Kingdom of God.

Your response is a charge against all who have eyes yet refuse to see, and ears but refuse to hear:

‘I have told you, but you do not believe.
The works I do in my Father’s name are my witness;
but you do not believe.'

You point out the sobering truth to all who refuse to believe despite having heard the truth: You are no sheep of mine.

The sheep who belong to You listen to Your voice and embrace all You have said without watering down any of Your teachings because they are too hard or will make them unpopular.

The Church and all its members hear Your voice and follow You. She holds on to the Truth despite every opposition from the world, she embraces all the life-giving ways in which You nourish her, and because she does she receives eternal life from the Life-Giver, the Holy Spirit. None of her members have come to her on their own - it is the express will of Your Father that they belong to You. He chose them for You and You will ensure that not one sheep that the Father has entrusted to You will be lost for You and the Father are of one heart and mind.

MONDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my own sheep and my own know me. JN 10:14

ACTS 11:1-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We see from today's first reading how important it is to have a hierarchy, to have a voice of authority - if You had not given the Church the authority of Peter it would have fragmented and disappeared a long time ago. But You did, and she is alive and will live, grow, thrive, and be fruitful until You return.

When news of Peter's visits to the homes of Gentiles reached the apostles in Jerusalem, they were full of self-righteous indignation and criticized Peter for eating with them. They wanted to hold on tenaciously to the Jewish practice of excluding pagans believing that their inclusion would defile them. Peter then gave a detailed explanation of all that God had revealed to him in a vision and how he understood from it that God rejects no one, but gives freely to all who believe, the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

We like to make boxes and label them. We like to form exclusive little groups and refuse to allow anyone who has a different opinion admittance into them. But it is not so in the Church - she is the mustard seed that You planted and now birds of every kind make their home in her.

Peter explained how just as he had begun to speak the same Holy Spirit that they had received descended in power over the entire household and he understood this gift was for all who believe in You. Who was he to stand in God's way? The Apostles and the rest of the believers accepted Peter's explanation and rejoiced, glorifying God for the wonderful new work that had begun. God desires to grant supernatural life to all who repent and believe in the Gospel.  

PSALM 41:2-3,42:3-4 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I believe that this pandemic will create in us a yearning, a hunger, and thirst for You like never before. We have been indifferent far too long to God's greatest gift, the Holy Eucharist. You will not hesitate to risk the 99 for the sake of the one that is lost.

This is the prayer of the Church and all people of goodwill that the sheep of Your flock will realize that without You we will perish. In this time of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty we pray that the Holy Spirit will stir in our hearts a deep longing, hunger, and thirst for the Bread of Life and the water of eternal life. 

When our stony hearts are softened and we turn to You to provide us the food and drink we need, the doors of our churches will be flung wide open and multitudes will climb up Mt. Zion, the City of the Lord, and there our deepest needs You will satisfy with Yourself and our joy will be complete.

JOHN 10:1-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

There is but one sheepfold and one gate - no one can enter the Kingdom of God except through You. It must be so for the Father gave You up to the cruelest suffering and death thus paying the ransom for our sins. You paid a debt we owed but were unable to pay and hence were damned to eternal death. 

This is the unfathomable mystery of the love of God for us that while we were yet sinners God proves His love for us by sending You to die for us. You are the Shepherd of the flock for whom You laid down Your life and You are the Gate through which we enter the Kingdom of God and enjoy eternal life.

All the baptized know Your voice - in the cacophony of sounds in the world that lures us to our ruin, You call us constantly by name - we hear You and follow You. There are many charlatans in the world who profess to speak for You but they are liars because they choose and reject what suits them and thus deny the fullness of revealed truth embodied in You, Your words, and Your works. Those who are truly Your own will not stray from You.

Even as the early Church was being formed there were many teething difficulties but despite them, she enjoyed 1,500 years of unity until well-meaning and not so well-meaning leaders lacking in humility led many away from the fullness of grace and truth.  

May every believer come to the knowledge of this truth - You are the Shepherd and the Gate through which all who desire life enter. 

Anyone who enters through me will be safe:
he will go freely in and out
and be sure of finding pasture.
The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy.
I have come
so that they may have life and have it to the full.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY) - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my own sheep and my own know me. JN 10:14

ACTS 4:8-12 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

This Sunday's first reading begins with this fact - Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has transformed him from a coward who denied You and hid with the rest of the apostles fearful of what would happen to them because they were Your followers now stands before the very same people who orchestrated Your death and proclaims the truth boldly.

Claiming no credit for himself for the healing of the cripple he tells his interrogators that he was glad to confess to them and to all the people of Israel that it was by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the one you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other than this man is able to stand up perfectly healthy, here in your presence, today. 

Peter tells the religious authorities that the stone they rejected is the keystone and Your Name is the only Name by which the whole world can be saved.

The tragedy of our times is that despite all we know many in the world, including Christians, continue to reject You, the Cornerstone, by rejecting some part of Your teaching and most especially by their rejection of Your unambiguous doctrine on the Holy Eucharist. It is the Eucharist alone that is the answer to Your prayer to the Father that we may be one as You and the Father are one.

PSALM 118:1,8-9,21-23,26,28-29 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The more we come to understand and recognize that those elected to govern us are not to be trusted the more we will lean on You, take refuge in You, and realize that in You alone we must place all our faith, hope, and confidence. In our alarmingly polarized and divided world where confusion, violence, and evil are the order of the day You alone are our safe harbor and anchor. The world fails us but Your Word never fails.

Thank You for being the answer to every prayer. Thank You for being our Savior. Thank You for redeeming us. Thank You for grafting us to Your Body and for providing all we need in this life and in the life to come by Your life, passion, death, and resurrection. Thank You for the work of salvation wrought for the whole world on the Cross.

Your Name is higher than any other name in the world or in the heavens - it is the only Name by which we are saved - there is no other. Thank You for instituting the Church, thank You for providing us with a visible head in Peter who rules and governs in Your Name. You guarantee all who are born in her that she can never teach error on matters concerning faith and morals, hence we can trust her to bring all her children to safe harbor in the Kingdom of God. 

1JOHN 3:1-2 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The disciple You loved, the one who leaned on Your breast lived a long and fruitful life. Filled with the light and wisdom of the Holy Spirit he was granted a glimpse into heavenly things that are beyond the description of human language. He asks us to contemplate the magnanimity of God's love in embracing us as His children which we are in truth because of what You have done for us.

We could have been numbered among those in the world who refuse to acknowledge Him and hence reject all who are called by Your Name, especially those in Your Church. But that it does not change who we are -  children of God and heirs to the Kingdom.

Keep us safe in Your love. Keep us safe in Your Church from the enemies of Truth within and without until You come again to claim Your Bride.

JOHN 10:11-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The Church celebrates today as Good Shepherd Sunday to remind us that we are the sheep of Your flock. Listing the many admirable qualities of a shepherd who faithfully tends his sheep You call Yourself the Good Shepherd and we who are baptized are the sheep who belong to Your fold.

Every bishop, priest, deacon, religious men and women, and religious leaders are to emulate You and heed Your warning against hired hands who will desert the flock at the first sign of danger. 

We pray for all who have received the mantle of a shepherd that they fulfill the vows they have made to lay down their life for their sheep in imitation of You, the Good Shepherd. We pray for those who are tempted by the world, the flesh, and the devil to remain faithful and not abandon their sheep. 

Thank You for Your intimate knowledge of Your sheep. We are comforted to know that no matter who fails us You never will. 

‘I am the good shepherd;

I know my own
and my own know me,
just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father;
and I lay down my life for my sheep.'

We also pray for all Christian denominations that their leaders serve at the Altar of Truth and be conformed to Truth by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every true seeker of Truth, like Saul, will encounter it as he did on the road to Damascus. May they have the courage that he had in embracing it.

'And there are other sheep I have
that are not of this fold,
and these I have to lead as well.
They too will listen to my voice,
and there will be only one flock,
and one shepherd.'

Thank You for the irrefutable proof of the Father's love for You and for us and the honor You receive from Him by freely obeying His command to lay down Your life for us sinners in order that we might share in the glory of Your resurrection. 

SATURDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life. JN 6:63,68

ACTS 9:31-42 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Peter and the Apostles performed mighty miracles in YourName as we see from the account in today's first reading. Peter healed a paralytic who was bedridden for eight years and raised Tabitha to life and many came to believe in You and the power of Your Name. 

After the paralytic's cure, we are told that everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they were all converted to the Lord. Whereas in the case of the raising of Tabitha to life in Joppa we are told that the whole of Jaffa heard about it and many believed in the Lord. It does not say that all believed.

It is so to this day. We hear of so many conversions of those whose lives You have touched and instantaneously their lives are transformed whereas others remain unmoved. We have the greatest miracle of all in our churches - the Holy Eucharist that has the power to transform the whole world and while it does transform the lives of many there are still many many more who choose to refuse this Gift of Yourself given wholly to all who desire to receive You.

PSALM 116:12-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Every day is a gift, every breath we breathe is a gift, the beauty of the world around us and the people we love that surround us are likewise Your gifts to us. How can we repay You for so much goodness? We do so by receiving every one of Your gifts with a grateful heart. 

And what is the praise and thanksgiving that is most pleasing to You and to God, our Father, and the Holy Spirit? It is the one, holy, unique, and unrepeatable Sacrifice of Thanksgiving offered for us on Calvary. 

The joy of celebrating Eucharist daily is temporarily withdrawn from us, Your faithful, the members of Your Body. We wait eagerly for the day when the doors of our churches will be flung wide open and we can all stream into Mout Zion and offer You the just praise that is fitting for every heart.

Death no longer holds us in fear for You have destroyed the sting of death and we know that life never ends. We pass from death to eternal life with You in the Kingdom of God.

Reduce the number of days of our exile from the Eucharist so we may not perish by the wayside.

JOHN 6:60-69 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Many, many Christians who follow You, my Lord and my God, in about 40,000 denominations and still counting, continue to echo the language of the many followers who deserted You on that day when You preached the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist. To this day they say, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?’ And yet neither You nor Your Church dilutes the truth of the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist. She receives her life from it and knows that without it she would perish.

You were aware that this would be the moment of truth and that many would choose to depart from You when You taught the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist and yet You did not water it down. You knew exactly who would walk away and You also knew that Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve would betray You. It is the Father who chooses who will be Your disciples - those who reject You reject the Father as well. It is something our protestant sisters and brothers could do well to ponder.

Turning to Your Apostles You said, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ You were prepared to risk everything rather than water down the truth that unless we eat Your Body and drink Your Blood we cannot have life in You. And with Simon Peter the Catholic Church, Your Bride, proclaims to the end of time, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’

FRIDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me, and I live in him, says the Lord. JN 6:56

ACTS 9:1-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The world is full of men and women like Saul before his Damascus experience. Ignorant of You but on fire with a cause that they deem is worth living and dying for and once, like Saul they encounter You there are no better disciples than they, on fire with the Holy Spirit and fearless in preaching the Good News.

All of us ought to have a powerful and personal conversion experience recognizing the person we were and the person we have become as a result of encountering You. 

Just as there are people like Saul to whom You reveal Yourself in mysterious and powerful ways there as godly people like Ananias who must trust You and Your Word and allow themselves to be led by the Holy Spirit even though conventional wisdom and prudence may discourage it. Despite his misgivings about Saul whose bloodthirsty reputation preceded him, he obeyed Your command.  

You reveal Your plans to Your friends as You did to Ananias concerning Saul, 'This man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name.'

You can make saints of anyone even those we deem unredeemable. Your Blood covers all and with You, all things are possible. May we never forget that by virtue of our baptism, we are Your chosen instruments with a mission to make known to an unbelieving world that You are indeed the Son of God. 

PSALM 117 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The shortest of all the psalms contains in it all that is necessary to testify to the world who You are by the witness of our lives. 

All we do must praise and glorify You. We must shed the light of Your Word in the world by the way we live from moment to moment. This is possible only if Your Word is a light to our feet and a lamp to our path. 

What is the Good News - it is this that the love of God for us is strong, unshakeable, invincible, unchanging and that You are faithful forever. The Cross is firmly planted between heaven and earth and is a witness for all time, of Your triumph and victory over sin and death to all who believe.

JOHN 6:52-59 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Can anything be less unambiguous than this, 'My flesh is real food and my blood real drink?' For 1500 years every Christian believed in this life-giving truth until the seeds of division were sown by the Father of Lies leading many to fall by the wayside. They drifted from the doctrine preached faithfully by the apostles, the early church fathers, and their successors ever since You instituted this Sacrament. 

The argument started by the Jews continues to this day, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ And the Church speaking faithfully in Your Name for over 2000 years responds with Your words, 

‘I tell you most solemnly,

if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.

All who do not believe in Your real presence in the Holy Eucharist are prepared to risk eternal salvation because of pride, spiritual blindness, sheer bigotry against the Church, and hardheartedness. 

As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live forever.’

These verses conclude with this verse:

He taught this doctrine at Capernaum, in the synagogue.

You taught this doctrine - it was not fabricated by the Church yet they refuse to believe. Unity will come only when we are united as one Body through the Eucharist and the peace that You came to give will be realized.

THURSDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,
says the Lord. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. JN 6:51

ACTS 8:26-40 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

These verses from Acts 8 reveals that God is constantly speaking to us all we need to do is listen, discern, and obey. If we are sincere about being authentic witnesses to the Truth of the Gospel we will not let anything distract us. The more focused we are on the Spirit of God the more clearly will we be able to discern His Voice, His prompting, His nudging, all we need to do is follow His direction nothing more and nothing less - He will inspire, He will provide the words, He will do the work of transformation in the listener - we do just as He says leaving the outcome to Him.

Philip heard the voice of the Spirit giving him clear directions of what he was to do and he did it. If today, Ethiopia worships the one, true, God and You whom He sent, it is because Philip obeyed the Holy Spirit. Another most important lesson we learn is that God makes no distinction between His children. All are invited to the Banquet Feast of the Lamb. We do not know whether the eunuch was a Jew or a Gentile, we do know that his faith led him to make the pilgrimage from Ethiopia to Jerusalem. On the way back home he was reading a text from Scripture that he could not understand and wished he did. The Holy Spirit honors every impulse, every desire to know God, and will ensure that the deepest desires of our heart as we seek the truth will be satisfied.

Once Philip opened the Scriptures to him, he understood and he believed and expressed a desire to be baptized. Is our witness of You so powerful that it creates in others a desire to be grafted to Your Body in Baptism? 

After Philip baptized him the eunuch the Spirit took him away teaching us too that once we have done as God asks we ought not to linger but go where He leads as Philip did. He continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as Caesarea.

PSALM 66:8-9,16-17,20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

In the midst of this pandemic and the isolation forced upon us, You continue to be faithful to each of Your promises and for this, we praise and bless You. The Church and the great company of believers bless You, praise You, and trust that You are in control. We know that You will not lay on us a burden too great for us to shoulder and when we feel its weight, You will help us for we are yoked to You. 

We who are beholden to You for every breath we breathe must testify to Your goodness to us. Unless we open our mouths and tell of all the blessings You continually shower on those who trust You, how will the world know You and come to love You as well? May we never withhold the praise due to You and we never cease to be grateful for Your kindness and mercy to us.

Thank You, Lord, for always hearing every prayer and for answering us, not in the way we would like but in the manner You know is best for us. Thank You, for Your love that surrounds us and makes life worth living. 

JOHN 6:44-51 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The evangelist John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, has laid down for the Church the unequivocal truth and which every Christian who confesses to believe in You must embrace which is: 'I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’

Anyone who rejects the Gift of gifts - Your Body and Your Blood in the Holy Eucharist, a Sacrament instituted by You at the behest of the Father, rejects You. All who broke away from Your Body, the Church, and led others astray  are far more culpable than those who continue to teach and preach the colossal and life-threatening error that the Eucharist is merely symbolic. Many of Your disciples walked away when You emphasized even more strongly, ‘I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat it and not die. As long as Christians set their faces like flint against You on this they will never have the fullness of the Holy Spirit nor the fullness of Truth - You.

However, the Church You founded will not die because she is fed on the Bread that comes from heaven which abounds to eternal life in all her members who eat and drink You worthily.

'I tell you most solemnly,
everybody who believes has eternal life.'

WEDNESDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

It is my Father’s will, says the Lord,
that whoever believes in the Son shall have eternal life,
and that I shall raise him up on the last day. JN 6:40

ACTS 8:1-8 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You have the power to draw great good from great evil. This has always been God's modus operandi beginning with the fall. Each time we smite God by our sins He receives the wound and from it permits grace, mercy, and forgiveness to pour out us.

Where there is great good there is also great evil. Many were coming to believe in You through the power of the preaching of the apostles and disciples and the great signs and wonders being done in Your Name. Thus the first great persecution began in the nascent Church and all the believers fled except the apostles. Wherever the believers went they carried the Good News with them and witnessed to it by their lives thus adding to their numbers. 

You turn every cross into a crown if we accept it in the right spirit. The blood of the martyred Stephen seeped into the earth and from it sprung many souls who came to believe in You. All through the history of the Church, we have seen how her greatest enemies who worked ceaselessly and maliciously to destroy her were brought to their knees by the power of Your love. The greatest example was the conversion of Saul who was the Church's most bitter and powerful enemy. 

But no one is more powerful than the Holy Spirit who is at work in the Church, in her members, and in all who believe in the Good News. The Church will triumph because You have triumphed. The Church is victorious because You have won the victory. The Church reigns gloriously and will do so eternally because You live and reign in her.

PSALM 66:1-7 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The powers of evil have been unleashed once again on the
earth - this time through the pandemic that has shut the doors of our churches to us. The stringent laws implemented against her with unflinching and blatant bias by world leaders and governments is unparalleled proof of their fear of the awesome, divine power at work in her, and it has been so all through the history of the world.

Nothing can stem the cries of joy and praise that resound through all the earth from the mouths of all God's faithful. She never ceases to sing of Your goodness, mercy, love, and grace from the rising of the sun to its setting. 

The enemies of the Church are powerless against her because no one can douse the Spirit that animates her and keeps her alive. The Good News has spread to the farthest corners of the world offering our God unceasing praise and thanksgiving to the power and the beauty of Your Name.

We remember Your goodness of old and we experience Your power daily. You watch over us as a mother watches over the baby at her breast. You will carry us and will help us overcome every trial. Victory belongs to us.

The world may do its worst but the Church and all who believe in You will emerge stronger, her members will increase and all the efforts of evil powers will disappear like a little puff of wind. May You be praised, O Lord, now and forever.

JOHN 6:35-40 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

A day will come when every Christian will understand John 6 in the same way the Church understands it and when that day dawns Your prayer to the Father for unity will be seen in the world. Sincere, well-meaning, men and women who broke away from her because their voices were were not heard when they pointed out her errors have done a disservice to all followed them. 

Without the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the voice of the magisterium, it is impossible to interpret the Truth of Sacred Scripture according to the heart and mind of God. They will have eyes but will not see, ears but will not hear the marvellous, wondrous grace of the Holy Eucharist.

Your words in this Chapter are uncompromisingly clear - these words must be taken at their word. This is why You came into the world to forgive sins and to become our food and drink. We will not have life in us if we do not eat Your Flesh and drink Your Blood.

You say,  'It is my Father’s will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him up on the last day.’ Unless we see we will be able to believe and if we do not believe we cannot expect to receive eternal life or be raised up by You on the last day. 

Many heard You and saw You and they still could not believe that You meant that they had to literally gnaw on Your Flesh in order to receive You and become like You and so they left.

Only grace can shred the veil and when that happens and when understanding of the Truth of Your words dawns, they too will fall on their knees humbled and awed by the power of Your love.

TUESDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the bread of life, says the Lord.
He who comes to me will never be hungry;
he who believes in me will never thirst. JN 6:35

ACTS 7:51-8:1 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Where are the people in Your Church, the Church You founded, and of which You are the Cornerstone, who will preach the Truth as Peter and Stephen did after Pentecost? What are we afraid of? Why do we cower and tremble in fear and are so easily intimidated? We are like a blade of grass that is tossed around in every direction by the wind. In Your Church alone is the fullness of Truth and the fullness of the Holy Spirit but looking at us from the outside no one would believe it. 

Where are the Peters, the Pauls, and the Stephens in the Church who will stand up unflinchingly to the bullying of the world no matter the cost? Who will wear the mantle of Stephen and preach the truth? Sadly, there is no one. The doors of churches all over the world are slammed shut to the faithful and its shepherds are behind them while the sheep are neglected and left to fend for themselves.

Unless the Church begins to infuriate the world by boldly speaking the Truth, unafraid of the consequences, and the blood of martyrs once again soaks the earth, there will be no seeds sown and no harvest.  

The heroes of the faith are spread scantily all over the world but they are not found where they ought to be. Until there is a clarion call from those on the heights to the shepherds in the fields the sheep will scatter, dwindle, and be lost. 

Send forth Your Spirit anew, O Lord, and renew the face of the Church and the world. 

PSALM 31:3-4,6,8,17,21 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

In these difficult and unusual times O Lord, You are our rock and our refuge. You alone are a mighty stronghold to whom we cling for You alone can save those who are called by Your Name. Lead and guide us until our shepherds finally arise and take up the mantle of good shepherds once again.

You will never leave us, You will not abandon those who belong to You and whose names are carved on Your hands. You have redeemed us as too great a price to stand by while those who have been entrusted with looking after Your sheep continue to carelessly disregard their duties, 'Feed my flock. Feed my sheep.' However, we place our trust in You and we rejoice and are glad of Your love that seeks, consoles, and comforts us. 

Grant that Your Face continues to shine on us O Lord and keep us safe in Your love. Hide us from the Enemy and from those who plot evil against us until the time when those You have chosen and appointed to watch over over Your flock wake up from their slumber.

The Church needs the same fire of the Holy Spirit that burned in the Apostles and their early successors to vanquish the spirit of the world. 

JOHN:30-35 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We are a post-resurrection Church. We need no sign. We ask for none for the greatest sign is already given to us - the Sign of the Cross, the power of the Resurrection, and the might and strength of the Holy Spirit. The greatest work of all - the work of our salvation and redemption has been accomplished. The Kingdom of God has come into the world and is already among us.

To the Church is given the Bread of Life and the Cup of
Salvation. We receive the true bread, the true manna from heaven given to us by the Father who sent You down from heaven to be our food and drink that wells up to eternal life in us.  

Right now, Beloved, in many parts of the world, because of the pandemic our churches have shut their doors to us and we cry in vain, 'Give us the Bread of Life that we may live.' We are hungry and we are thirsty. You have given us our food and drink but it is being withheld from us. But we believe in Your Word:

'He who comes to me will never be hungry;

he who believes in me will never thirst.’

Until those to whom You have given all authority take a stand for the faithful, You see the hunger in our hearts, You collect our tears of longing and You will nourish us spiritually and provide us with all we need for You will never forsake Your own.

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Lord Jesus, explain the Scriptures to us.
Make our hearts burn within us as you talk to us. LK 24:32

ACTS 3:13-15,17-19 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Peter stands before the crowd and reveals to his hearers the difference between God's way and our way. He points out to them and to us the reason why most of us refuse to see or accept the undeniable evidence before us. 

The Jews had the Scriptures, they knew the prophecies, they were familiar with the psalms. They were aware that everything that happened in their salvation history from the very first words in written in the Scripture and right to the present time when You revealed Yourself as the Messiah and the fulfillment of the Covenant of God to the people He chose for His own.

But they rejected You and what is so terrible is that they put You to death in the worst possible way imaginable A death that no human being ought to be made to suffer. Why? Because You did not fit their idea of a Messiah. One conceived in their own imagination and patterned after their own desire to fulfill their human expectations. They lacked the division vision to see as God sees The absurdity of God's love was beyond their capacity to conceive because of our common downfall, pride, and because we see with the eyes of the world and not the Spirit.

But Peter comforts and encourages them not to be too dismayed because they acted out of ignorance and in doing so all that was foretold in Scripture about You, the Christ, the Anointed One of God, was fulfilled. The beauty of our faith is that we know You are a God of second chances. The door to Your mercy and grace is always open to all who repent and turn to You. You wash away our iniquity, You cleanse us of our sins, and You take away our guilt. Thank You! 

PSALM 4:2,4,7,9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You are the Light of the world, You are the Savior of the world. When we call, You answer, when we sigh, You hear. When we are in anguish You console us when we are wounded You heal us. When we plead for mercy You do not deny Your mercy to us.

You are the God of love, the God of hope, the God of tender mercy and compassion - we need never fear the wrath of Your justice when we are repentant and contrite. You came for sinners and heaven rejoices over the return of every sinner into the sheepfold.

‘What can bring us happiness?’ Lift up the light of your face on us, O Lord, and we will lie down in peace. Sleep and rest will come to us at once because You O Lord make us dwell in safety in Your Sacred Heart which is our home.

1 JOHN 2:1-5 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Faith in You is the way to perfect peace in a world that is drowning in evil, malice, and mayhem. But many in the world refuse to believe in You despite the undeniable and undisputed evidence that You, the Son of God came into the world and redeemed us. 

We can choose to be happy. We can choose to live in peace with one another. We can put an end to all division, hatred, violence, and fear that is ripping the world apart but we refuse to do so because we love sin. We prefer the temporary pleasures of this life to the eternal treasures of God's Kingdom. 

John, the beloved disciples, says all we need to do is stop sinning but even when we do sin because we are weak, we have God the Father, and You, His Son, and Your Sacrifice that takes away not only our sins but the sins of the whole world. God's mercies never cease.

All who know You love You and will keep Your commandments - no one who disobeys Your commands can claim to love. We may be stubborn and our flesh will often lead us astray but when we repent and return to You and follow the Way of Truth Your love will be perfected in us. Life can be so easy, so simple, so joyous if we believe and obey Your commandment to love as You love.

LUKE 24:35-48 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

To be born a cradle Catholic is a privilege and a gift not given to all the tragedy though is that we fail to recognize this pearl of great price that was freely given to us through no merit of our own but by the sheer mercy and grace of God.

Who can question God why He has bestowed this wondrous gift of grace to us but the truth of the matter is that because this great treasure was given to us, we must understand its worth and that our accountability to Him is far greater than those who had to seek the Truth. 

Many of us were baptized as infants and were fed the truth at the breast. We were weaned on God's Word and we heard Your Name and were encourage to lisp it even as we learned to speak. We received the Sacraments, and the Eucharist was our daily Food. We participated in the rich life of the Church and the Good News was inscribed in our hearts.

The disciples returning from Emmaus were filled with excitement as they testified to the rest all that they had experienced and how they recognized You in the breaking of the bread. Where is our excitement? Our testimony? Our unrestrained joy at what we have personally experienced of Your divine life in us?

The evangelist tells us that while they were still talking about all they experienced You Yourself stood among them and gave them Your blessing of peace. It is Your gift to us and to an unbelieving world. But they were afraid, they doubted, despite the many occasions when You had said to them that You would be put to death but would rise again on the third day.

All You said to them then You say to us who believe in You now, 'Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ 

All who have eyes to see will see You plainly revealed in Scripture and will recognize that 'everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms has to be fulfilled.’ This is the Good News that we are commissioned to preach by the witness of our lives. ‘So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.’