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The joy of celebrating Eucharist daily is temporarily withdrawn from us, Your faithful, the members of Your Body.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.’