MEMORIAL OF ST. BONAVENTURE - BISHOP & DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord. MT 11:28

EXODUS 3:13-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We know that You are the new Moses. We know that all the mighty works that God did in delivering His people from the hands of slavery with mighty deeds and wonders, You have done for us, freeing us from greater slavery and bondage to sin by Your passion, death, and glorious resurrection.

You are God who is with us always. The God who revealed His Name to Moses as I AM WHO AM, came to us incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and is Emmanuel, GOD WITH US. You are the Son of the Most High God who is the Lord and God of Abraham, Isaac, and Moses and You are God from God, light from light, true God from true God.

Your Name is revealed to the new people of God, the Gentiles who have come to believe in You and this is the Name by which all who speak it will be saved - JESUS.  This is  the will of Your Father, that by this Name You to be invoked for all generations to come, for there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven  given among mortals by which we must be saved. 

Moses was instructed to go along with the elders of Israel to approach Pharoah - the Pope who is Your representative on earth together with the college of Bishops approach the rulers of this world and speak for Your people in Your Name. They speak for the voiceless, the marginalized, those on the peripheries to whom the world's powerful use, abuse, and ignore at will. You address all those who are crushed and ground under the weight of oppression saying,  I have visited you and seen all that the Egyptians are doing to you. And so I have resolved to bring you up out of Egypt where you are oppressed. No man or woman, no nation, no king, prince, ruler, tyrant, dictatory is so powerful that they can go against You and emerge victorious. In the end they will listen and bow down and  yield or be annihilated. 

We, the faithful, on our part must stay close to You. Find time to journey into the wilderness and be along with You just as You often went on Your own to be alone with Your Father. It is only when we live by faith and shelter in the shadow of Your wings that we will discover for ourselves the mighty power with which You will strike all those who are called by Your Name.

PSALM 105:1,5,8-9,24-27 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

In every psalm we are exhorted to thank God for all He has done for us. Praise and thanksgiving ought to be present in our very breath. We must at all times and in every place recall Your goodness, Your mercy, Your compassion, Your kindness to us and witness to all Your goodness to us. The love of God, our Father, is ibreath-taking and mind-boggling for our liberation cost the life of His only, well-beloved Son. Your death O Lord, gained us freedom from sin and eternal life. 

How often we could have died in our sins but You have been charitable and have given us every opportunity to be reconciled anew with You every time. God, our Father, made an eternal Covenant with all who believe in You. It is sealed in Your Blood and in the Holy Spirit and because of it we have hope of eternal joy. 

Let us not lose heart when we look at the sinful members with the Church, at the many luke-warm Christians, at the ever-growing number of lapsed Catholics, at the many who do not know You because they have never heard of You. This is the mission You have given us the be the salt and light of the world. Grant us the grace to be faithful disciples so many may come to know You by the witness of our lives. 

MATTHEW 11:28-30 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

My heart is presently burdened and troubled and I thank You most humbly and gratefully for You invitation to me today to come to You with my sorrow that threatens to drown me in grief. I need the rest that only You can give. 

Thank You for reminding me anew that yoked to You I will draw my strength from You. You will teach me how to bear the burden of the cross that is presently laid upon me. You have blessed me more than I deserve and I have gladly received them all, in the time of suffering help me to continue to be grateful for the weight of my cross not just because You are with me to help me carry it but because all suffering when united with Your passion has the power to make us more like You. Thank You for the invitation that is always extended to us, in accepting it we find real and lasting peace.

‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’