SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Jesus said: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.’ JN 14:23

ACTS 10:25-26,34-35,44-48 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Unlike Peter, there are many prominent men and women in the Church who accept the adulation and gratitude of people as if it is rightfully theirs instead of pointing them to the true source of every good and perfect gift. 

You choose whom You will to perform astounding miracles by the power of Your Name hence all glory belongs to You alone. 

You desire that all be saved and come to the knowledge of truth through the Good News that saves. We have only to look at our broken, hate-filled, evil world to know how miserably we have failed thus far in carrying out Your mandate to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Whole nations that were once proud of their Catholic and Christian roots have allowed these roots to rot. They now wither and are on the brink of total destruction by the Enemy who spreads error like wildfire. But there is hope, there is always hope. The Holy Spirit is constantly at work and You will not hesitate to use any means to bring us back to our senses.

Give us once again the courage of the apostles and Christians of the early church so armed with the Spirit of God who is the Spirit of Truth, Peace, Love, we may once again set the world on fire with the love of God in and through You, His only beloved Son and our Love and Savior.

Love alone will conquer.

PSALM 98:1-4 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Yes, Lord, You have shown Your salvation to the nations when
You were lifted high on the Cross to redeem a fallen world. We have forgotten how to sing, how to recognize the wonders You have done and continue to do. We have allowed the thick miasma of fear to enter our beings and fill us with darkness. We are afraid because we have taken our gaze from You.

The great lie that the deceiver has managed to spread across the world is that we can save ourselves. We can attain peace on our own terms. We do not need You. People have bought into this lie and they are too blind to see how we, like cannibals, are turning on one another like mad dogs and ravenous wolves, tearing each other apart.

Grant O Lord, Beloved of my soul, that the faithful remnant whom You have chosen do not lose heart. Keep our gaze fixed on You and hold on to Your promises which are true and eternal. Someday, we pray sooner than later: 

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.

1 JOHN 4:7-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

There is no other truth than the truth that You came to reveal which is that it is Your love alone which is poured into the heart of every believer is the only way by which we and the world can be saved.

Not the wishy-washy love that the world celebrates and is based on feelings and emotional thrills but the love that You manifested to the world - a self-giving, self-sacrificial love that lays down his life for the beloved.

Love made the Word of God incarnate. Love sent His only Son into the world not to condemn the world but to redeem it. Love brought You into the world leaving Your glory behind to enter the chaste womb of Your Virgin Mother. Love saved us on the Cross. The longer the world denies the truth of the love of God for the world the longer will death, darkness, and chaos reign.

The world no longer loves You because the world does not know You. We have failed in every way as parents, teachers, laypeople, priests, and bishops on every possible level. Ours has not been a self-sacrificial love. We ran after strange gods and neglected our most sacred duty, that of handing down the faith in its entirety, in the fullness and beauty of Truth and now we find ourselves at the very gates of hell. 

Have mercy on us O Father of mercy and compassion and for the sake of the sorrowful passion of Your Most Beloved Son, have mercy on us. Relent, we beg You and save us by the power of His Blood for we can only have life through Him.

JOHN 15:9-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Obedience to Your commands is something that the world believes is either optional or unnecessary. Yet, Your Word is clear - we can only be Your friends if we obey Your command. And what is Your command?

Jesus said to his disciples:
‘As the Father has loved me,
so I have loved you.
Remain in my love.'

To our question, how can we remain in Your love? You say:

 
If you keep my commandments
you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.

How easy it is to live in perpetual joy and peace but we refuse the way that You have shown us. How much longer can the world survive if we do not obey Your command? Fear has gripped nations and they continue to look for solutions in every possible place but You. The truth is not hidden from us. We can begin a new era of joy and perfect harmony if only we listen to You and obey Your command:

This is my commandment:

love one another, as I have loved you.
A man can have no greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.

We need to become responsible for one another. To uphold the good of the other at all cost. To be prepared to serve rather than be served and to love as You taught us to.

To us whom You have chosen to be baptized and grafted into Your Body, You say:

I call you friends,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
You did not choose me:
no, I chose you.

We have been given a mission:

I commissioned you
to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last.

And You have assured us that You will equip us for this mission:

The Father will give you
anything you ask him in my name.

But first, we must obey Your command:

What I command you
is to love one another.