MEMORIAL OF ST. PHILIP NERI, PRIEST - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Remain in my love, says the Lord;
whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty. JN 15:9, 5

PHILIPPIANS 4:4-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Most of us are suspicious of those who are truly joyous always no matter what their circumstances. But joy is the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who abandon themselves to the love of God. Joy teaches us to look to the Father with confidence and trust knowing that He never fails to provide everything we need. The love of God satisfies us in our innermost being and we are content and at peace.

The world is just as intolerant today as it ever was only the subjects of contention are different. We live in a society that refuses to accept either commonsense or divine wisdom. Those who wish to disregard every moral principle are hell-bent on persecuting and punishing those who stand firmly on the side of truth. In a world that constantly pushes the narrative that everyone has a right to believe in their own version of the truth, they desire to annihilate the fact that truth is immutable. No matter how hard the world tries to obfuscate it, it cannot be done for the darkness cannot overcome its light.

Thank You, Lord, for Your constant consolation that there is always hope. That God is always on the side of truth. That all we ask for in prayer with thanksgiving will be given to us. Heaven is Your throne and the world is but Your footstool. We might give ourselves delusions of grandeur but You know how to manage the children that You created and redeemed with inexpressible and boundless love.

Thank You, O Prince of Peace, for the peace You give all who believe in You. Thank You, for Your Holy Spirit who helps us in our weakness and encourages and enables us to be holy and perfect as our heavenly Father is holy and perfect.

May we become imitators of our heavenly Father so our minds and hearts are always occupied with holy and honorable thoughts and the peace that passeth all human understanding will be ours and our lives will be serene no matter how narrow the road or difficult the path.

PSALM 34:2-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We taste You in Your Word, and in the Eucharist, we taste You in the Sacred Apostolic traditions and we receive even now a taste of immortality.

The one sure way to experience Your abiding presence is to be filled with thoughts of You always, if we think of You praise will well up in our hearts and will overflow from our whole being. We will be glad always and always we will experience Your peace.

Praise is never far from the hearts and lips of those who are intrinsically bound to You. Even as they walk in the valley of darkness, even as arrows fly by day, they walk serenely for You set them free from fear, sadness, anxiety, and terror. No one who has placed themselves in Your hands, as a weaned child on its mother's breast, will ever be afraid or troubled.

Thank You for Your abiding Presence in the Holy Eucharist, in our Adoration Chapels around the world. The world is blessed because Your choose in sublime humility to be wholly and substantially present to us in the little white host. Gracious and glorious God, it is the Eucharist that will be the answer to Your prayer to the Father, in the Eucharist will all our separated brethren become united. 

Thank You for hearing our sighs and answering our prayers. The greater our spiritual poverty the greater will we have access to the treasures of heaven. Thank You for appointing every man, woman, and child with a guardian angel who will never leave us, who prays for us constantly, who receives our prayers, and brings us Your blessings. 

Thank You for the Church and for all her members whom You satisfy with every good and perfect gift. The world may go in want but those who are Yours lack nothing. 

JOHN 17:20-26 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We long for the day when Your prayer to the Father at the Last Supper, will be answered and we may be completely one as You and Your Father are one.

You prayed not only for us to be kept safe from evil but for unity with our separated brethren, Christian and Jew, as well as all people of goodwill of every other faith.

We are impatient for Your prayer to be answered and for the era of peace that will prevail when we are all united to the Father through You. The great Sacrifice You made for the salvation of the whole world will bear the fruit that the Father intended. I long for the day when every man, woman, and child will praise and thank God, our Father and bless His holy Name for the unfathomable expression of His love when He sent You into the world to be the means by which we are saved.

We would never have touched the face of God had He not sent You into the world - as St. John the evangelist says, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

Thank You Father for the wonderful gift of Your Son as our Savior and Redeemer, thank You, Beloved, for saving us and opening the gates of heaven to us, thank You Holy Spirit for helping us daily in our journey from this life to the next.

Hasten Your return in glory Lord. Hurry.