THURSDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK IN LENT - 2022

LENT 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

A pure heart create for me, O God,
and give me again the joy of your help. PS 50:12, 14

ESTHER 4:17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Esther is an archetype of our Blessed Mother as all the holy and remarkable women in the Old Testament are. They each displace some facet of Your Mother and ours.

Esther is well aware that God has chosen her to be Queen in order to plead and win deliverance for His people who are in exile with her in a foreign land. She is filled with terror to go into the King's presence without being invited to do so but she must. She knows she could lose her life. In her overwhelming terror, she cries out to God who alone can save her. She knows she is doing what is right but that does not make it easy as so many of us find out in our own lives. 

In times like these, Beloved, let us pray as Esther  May we have the wisdom to cling to You and beg You to save us and free us from all that troubles us grievously.

You always hear. You always answer the cry of the heart. You will come to our aid and You will give us all we need and more to fight victoriously against our assailants.

Give us the courage of Esther to approach You with boldness, faith, and trust, confident that when we do Your will, You will provide everything we need to conquer our deepest fears and win.

‘As for ourselves, save us by your hand,

and come to my help, for I am alone
and have no one but you, Lord.’

MATTHEW 7:7-12 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

More often than not when we approach You, the Father, or the Holy Spirit in prayer we are constantly asking for this that, and the other. Frequently that is all we do, neglecting praise, thanksgiving, and worship. They are always prayers of petition, constantly and repetitively all we say is give me, give me, give me.

Yet in today's Gospel text You encourage Your disciples, and us, to ask, to seek, to knock. You say that God, our Father who is perfect, delights more than earthly fathers who are not, to give us all we ask for. But no good dad will give his children things that are obviously not good for them no matter how piteously they beg him to. So what are You really saying to us today, Beloved?

We must ask the Father for the things that are good for us. Things that will help us to reach our journey's end with gifts that will help us reach our final destination. We must ask for the grace to grow in virtue and for the gifts of the Holy Spirit without which there is every danger of getting lost.

You assure us that when we ask for all the good things the Father longs to give us so we can arrive at last to the Kingdom and to the place reserved for us from eternity, we will discover that the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. 

To this You also add the caveat, ‘So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.’

Every day, in every way, grant us heavenly Father the grace to grow more and more in the image and likeness of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.