SATURDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,
you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. COL 3:1

ACTS 16:1-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

If every member of the Church was as reliant on the Holy Spirit as the members of the early Church were we would be vibrant, joyous, and we would save ourselves much grief and disappointment. 

Paul and his companions were attuned to every impulse of the Holy Spirit because they prayed and submitted in all humility to His promptings.

We also see that the early Church could be flexible in matters concerning the greater good. We know that Paul was against circumcising gentiles who embraced You but in this case, he took into account the cultural sensibilities of those he would be preaching to and had him circumcised. In matters that do not concern faith and morals, the Church gladly permits her children to embrace and incorporate their cultural practices. The Church belongs to the people of God and the people of God belong to her. 

May we learn from today's reading that we must be welcoming, understanding, and sensitive to the cultural differences between brothers and sisters who speak different languages and have cultural practices that are quite different from our own and to all the Church is home. 

PSALM 100:1-3,5 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We are living at a time when the whole world is turned inside out. In times like these, it is difficult to be joyful and yet we must never lose sight of the truth that You are always in control. You will not permit such great suffering if it was not in Your power and Your desire to draw great good from it,

Yes, all that was once familiar and all we once took for granted is changed. The world is different and people are having a very difficult time adjusting to the new normal. Many are resistant to the curbs being imposed even when it is clear that the health and safety of all, especially those who are most vulnerable depends on individuals following the rules for the safety of all. Some liberties are being curbed temporarily so that the lives of many can be safeguarded and we can emerge from these dark times stronger, more empathetic, and with a greater understanding of how we are dependant on one another for the safety and well-being of all. 

The good of all can only be attained when every individual stands up and assumes responsibility for his or her actions. We belong to one family - the human race. Perhaps this is the great lesson we must learn - we are brothers and sisters. Thus far the poorest and the most unfortunate of our family have been ignored, unseen, forgotten and they are the ones who are suffering the most. Perhaps as this unforeseen human tragedy unfolds before the eyes of a bewildered world our collective conscience will awaken and we will become our sisters' and brothers' keepers.

Know that he, the Lord, is God.
He made us, we belong to him,
we are his people, the sheep of his flock.

When we do the earth will ring out with news songs of joy and gladness as we begin to experience anew God's merciful love and faithfulness. 

JOHN 15:18-21 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Let us beware if we are the darlings of the world for then we will know that we do not belong to You. As long as the world rejects us, persecutes us, seeks to destroy us, maligns us, imprisons and tortures us, and even puts us to death for Your sake and the sake of the Gospel, we can rejoice. 

You never at any time sugar-coated the cost of following You. We have to give up our idols, the things that we have been clinging to for comfort, the seeking of worldly pleasures, and the whiling away of hours, days, weeks, and years on mindless pastimes that do not benefit either the soul or the body. Unless we do violence to ourselves we will not be equipped to follow You singlemindedly, nor will we have the spiritual and mental strength to face the rejection of the world. 

You have shown us the way to the Kingdom of heaven - it is by way of the Cross, by way of suffering, by way of total surrender to the divine will in all things. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a grain of wheat. Unless we die to self we remain children of the world.

If we call You Master, Teacher, Lord, and God, then we must imitate You in every way - there are no shortcuts to heaven. The way of love is the way of dying to self which is contrary to the way of the world. The enemies of Truth hate those who embrace Truth and today we are reminded of Your stark warning as we listen to the Gospel:

‘If the world hates you,
remember that it hated me before you.
If you belonged to the world,
the world would love you as its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
because my choice withdrew you from the world,
therefore the world hates you.'

However, a day will come, when all will hear the Good News and believe in it and in You but until then, grant Your Church the grace and the strength to persevere faithfully to the end.