MONDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The Spirit of truth will be my witness;
and you too will be my witnesses. JN15:26,27

ACTS 16:11-15 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We ought not to get impatient or frustrated when despite our best efforts at evangelizing some do are not open to the Good News - these we leave to Your mercy and pray that the seeds sown will someday bear fruit. Conversion of hearts and lives is the work of the Holy Spirit and we can safely entrust those we love and pray for, those we evangelize, to the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

Paul is a perfect example of an apostle who was completely and perfectly in tune with the Holy Spirit. He did nothing before he and companions prayed, fasted, and discerned what God wanted them to do, and once they knew God's will and plans they did not deviate from it and followed them faithfully. This is why Paul recognized that Lydia's heart was open to the Word of God. She received it joyfully and was baptized.

Filled with the joy of the Spirit she opened her home generously to Paul and insisted that he stay with her. We may not be able to go to distant lands to preach and teach the Good News but what we can do is to support generously the ministry of those who are called to do so just as Lydia did. In this, we too will have a share in their work and a share in their reward. 

PSALM 149:1-6,9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

How thrilling it is to know that You delight in us. You love us
with a love that is beyond words and this should be the reason for our joy in You. Your love for us - incomparable, incomprehensible, immeasurable love must prompt us to love You with all the fervor of our being. It must prompt new songs of praise, worship, and adoration to fill our hearts, and overflow from our lips.

Thank You, Beloved, for the time of the pandemic while it is true that we are living in a period of unimaginable horror, sorrow, grief, helplessness, fear, anxiety, and anger, it is also a time when we are beginning to realize our sinfulness and how we turned away from You. We believed we did not need You. Now, we know we do. Here we are Lord, broken, grief-stricken, unable to see how we can overcome the power of this invisible evil that has spread a cloud of death over our nation.

We need You. We now return to You in sackcloth and ashes and we ask for forgiveness with humble and contrite hearts. Lift this blanket of death from our nation and all the nations of the world and by the power of Your Holy Spirit re-ignite in us a true spirit of love for You and for one another.

Grant us a new heart and a new spirit that we may experience true joy and true peace knowing that we can only be happy if we are one with You and we recognize that we are all brothers and sisters with God as our Father, You as our Brother, and the Holy Spirit as our Guide and Helper. May we never again stray from the path of Truth and Love. 

JOHN 15:26-16:4 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

As we await the Feast of Pentecost, as we prepare ourselves anew for His coming grant O Lord that this may be a time of genuine renewal in Your Church and among all Christians in the world.

Enough of hate, division, fear, evil, and violence - we need the Spirit of Truth, of gentleness, kindness, understanding, compassion, and love. We need the healing only He can give us. Lord, You know all, You see all, You know what we need and You will provide all that is necessary. Send us Your Holy Spirit once again and renew the face of the earth.

We are living in a time of fear and darkness, loneliness and anxiety, death surrounds us and we have forgotten how to live. Father of all the living, look with pity on us, behold the wounds of Your Son who redeemed us and have mercy and compassion on us all.

We need our faith to be strengthened in order to face what is to come with courage. Help us, Lord, so armed with the Holy Spirit we will live the gospel and by our lives let the light of truth shine so all may know the truth that sets us free.