WEDNESDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I shall ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate
to be with you for ever. JN 14:16

ACTS 17:15,22-18:1 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Paul teaches us how to evangelize in today's first reading. We need to prepare ourselves - he first familiarized himself with the place to find points of interest and establish some common ground between himself and his hearers. He stood boldly before the Council to speak to them without worrying about who would accept his teaching. He began by telling them how much he admired their sacred monuments and their religious beliefs. We ought not to alienate our listeners by putting down or belittling their beliefs. There is always a spark of truth. We must find it and build on it as Paul did. He noticed an altar erected to 'An Unknown God' and from this vantage point he began to preach the Good News. The God they worshipped and could not be known had in fact made Himself known in the incarnation. 

Using their own philosophy and thirst for discussing new thoughts and ideas he spoke of God, the Creator of the world and Father of us all. When we tend to become despondent, it is good for us to recall that God is always in control and nothing, nothing, happens without His express will to allow even that which seems arbitrary or contrary to what we desire.

He decreed how long each nation should flourish and what the boundaries of its territory should be. And he did this so that all nations might seek the deity and, by feeling their way towards him, succeed in finding him. Yet in fact, he is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live, and move, and exist, as indeed some of your own writers have said: “We are all his children.”

God chose one people, and one nation to be His own and they were charged with the responsibility of spreading the Good News to the ends of the earth. Sadly, only a few accepted You, the Son of God and the Son of Man, but through them, God and the Good News have been preached to the farthest ends of the world.

Now that we know we are the children of God and heirs to the Kingdom, we can no longer be idolators. What could be excused once because of ignorance is no longer acceptable. Judgment is almost upon us and the Son of Man who was raised from the dead will judge those of us who despite knowing the Truth did not abide by it nor did they teach others to do so as well.

Too often we are silent because we are afraid of being laughed at and ridiculed but like Paul, we must persevere. For it is God who chooses who will believe in You. Of the entire crowd who were present that day we are told that only a few believed and only two are mentioned by name. All that matters is that we do God's will and leave the results to the Holy Spirit. 

PSALM 148:1-2,11-14 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We must be a people of praise. When our praises to God
overflow from grateful hearts no matter our circumstances we experience Your love, joy, and peace. We have to begin on earth what will consume our entire being in heaven - we will desire to outdo each other in our praises of our God who is love.

Praise the Lord from the heavens,
praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all his angels,
praise him, all his host.

It is easy to praise You Beloved in the good times it is extremely difficult to do so when things are bad and most especially in these trying times that the entire world and our own nation, in particular, is going through.

Despite all the sadness, terror, fear, evil, darkness, and death that surrounds us there are also rays of light of hope that shine bright through the goodness of so many. Death and evil can never have the last word and this is why we can find reasons to praise and exalt Your Name.

JOHN 16:12-15 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

It is difficult for us to fully grasp the magnanimity of God's love for us. We are finite and hence can never grasp wholly, the infinite. The glory of the saints is that they understood this and were consumed by their desire to be drawn into the blazing furnace of a love that they knew their own souls could not contain, but they yearned to become a holocaust to divine love.

To love with divine madness is to care nothing for the world, for human accolades and praise, for punishment or ridicule, all suffering for Your sake is joy beyond all imagining and it is welcomed.

The disciples barely grasped all that You said to them, all that You taught them, all that they witnessed. In Your farewell discourse, You touched on everything that they experienced while they were with You, You disclosed what was to happen presently, and You also told them about the joy of Your resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit. But they would remember nothing of what You said and what they did remember they could not make sense of. 

But it really did not matter because, in the end, they would remember all of it. They would finally understand. The fire of God's love would be enkindled in their hearts through the Holy Spirit and all that God had planned for the children He loved since the creation would be accomplished according to His will.

Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit whom we ignore more often than not,  whom we grieve so often, who we silence and suffocate by our sins and our disobedience, by refusing to do what He prompts us to, by stifling His voice and dismissing Him cavalierly, yet He remains with us - gentle, kind, loving, patient. He never tires of wooing us slowly but surely and confirming us in the Truth that saves. 

Triune God, thank You for the hope we have of eternal happiness because this is what God has destined for all His children who believe and are called by Your Name.