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.