SATURDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The Lord, who hung for us upon the tree,
has risen from the tomb.

ACTS 18:23-28 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Apollos, a Jew who was baptized with the baptism of John, was an eloquent speaker. He had a sound knowledge of scriptures, and spoke boldly in the synagogues about You. These gifts made him a powerful preacher and he was able to draw people to know and believe in You. Yet, this was not enough. Priscilla and Aquila heard him with interest, they recognized his gifts but they also knew that there was something lacking so they gave him further instruction and baptized him.  

If Apollos was prideful and believed that because of his obvious gifts he needed nothing else, he would have not been a member of the early Church. He was humble and completely open to the whole truth. 

Too often we see and hear many Christians, as well as converts who after encountering You stop short of accepting the fullness of revealed doctrine. They miss the mark. Once are hearts and minds are closed to the great adventure of abandoning oneself to the Spirit of Truth the journey ends far short of the final and exciting triumph of discovering infinite truth and beauty.

Because Apollos yielded in humility to accepting further instruction his name and his work is remembered and recorded by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. While many Christians have courageously sought Truth despite every obstacle until they found themselves at last enraptured in the arms of Holy Mother Church, sadly many more stop short because prejudice has closed their hearts and their minds and they never make the final journey into the fullness of Beauty and Truth.

PSALM 47:2-3,8-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

If the people who are called by Your Name are aware at all times that God is king of all the earth we will not permit fear, anxiety, sadness, and despair overwhelm us when we look at the world. 

You are God and we belong to You. This is cause for celebration for You never forsake those who are Yours. Praise, joy, thanksgiving and worship are ways in which we open ourselves to the channels of Your love, goodness, mercy, compassion, tenderness, and grace. 

If we loved You as we ought we would be trembling with fear lest we offend You who are all good and deserving of all our love.

Your gaze is on us. You know the misery that so many are going through during this time of the pandemic - yet the hearts of the vast majority are still turned away from You. They desire the pandemic to end so they can go back to their old way of life. Sadly, they will never discover true joy and peace. 

You have given us this perfect time to become our sisters' and brothers' keepers - should we fail then You will not hesitate to give us further, tougher times in order to open our eyes to the truth that we were not created for this temporary world but for eternity. 

JOHN 16:23-28 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We ought to be completely amazed at the Father making Himself so vulnerable for love of us, His thankless, sinful, wayward creatures. Today, as we read the words You spoke to Your disciples we are overwhelmed by great the Father's love is for those who believe that He sent You into the world. 

It is in believing in this love that we are made aware of the extent of God's incomparable, incomprehensible love for His creatures, that He would You, His only Son into the world to die a cruel, ignominious, excruciatingly torturous and humiliating death because of the sins of the world, in order to raise us to new life in Your resurrection. 

But those who do, You assure us most solemnly that we will be given anything we ask Him in Your Name. Not a superficial belief in You but a deep, unchanging, irrevocable belief that You are the Son of God who was sent into the world to become the means by which He saves us. There is no other Way, there is no other Truth, there is no other Life by which we can be saved except through You who are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

‘I tell you most solemnly,
anything you ask for from the Father he will grant in my name.
Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete.'

'The Father himself loves you for loving me
and believing that I came from God.'