HOLY THURSDAY - 2022

TRIDUUM 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord. JN 13:34

EXODUS 12:1-8,11-14 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The Paschal Triduum begins today - these are the holiest days of the year when the Church refreshes our memory and takes us back in time to contemplate what God has done for us and how He saved us - beginning with His chosen people.

The slavery of the Jews in the land of Egypt is a symbol of our own slavery to sin and to the tyranny of the flesh by which we are ruled all our lives. We cannot liberate ourselves we need a Savior. 

Each of the plagues that the Egyptians suffered was a plague that represented the false gods that they worshipped. We too a plagued by the worship of a myriad of false gods in our lives - wealth, power, status, lust, greed, anger, selfishness, unforgiveness, pride, and so many more. We worship these idols spending the better part of our time on earth being enslaved to them. 

But You never abandon those whom You have chosen for Yourself even though we abandon You over and over again. You came into the world to liberate us from ourselves for we are our own worst enemy.

You are the Lamb of Sacrifice, and You allowed Yourself to be plunged into the hellfire of our sins, and the travesty that we make of our lives, taking all upon Yourself and in the crucible of suffering in Your agonizing passion and crucifixion You absorb all into Your sacred Body and in turn, we receive the imperishable food of the Flesh and Blood of the Lamb without stain or blemish which wells up to eternal life in us. 

Thank You, Lord, for the heavenly food and drink that unites us with You, the Father, and the Holy Spirit and with one another. We receive a foretaste of heaven while still on earth. Thank You!

PSALM 116:12-13,15-18 ©

A celebration of the Holy Eucharist long before You instituted it my Soul's Beloved,

How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.

O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.

A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.

1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul was converted soon after Your death and resurrection and we can see that the Eucharist was celebrated from the very beginning. He received this Sacred Tradition from the Apostles and he, in turn, celebrated it and taught those whom he laid hands on and anointed as presbyters to do the same.

The Church, from its inception, has taught that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life and without it, no church will survive. We see this over and over again as protestant denominations keep fragmenting and will do so until they respond to Your prayer in humility and obedience that all Your followers be one as You and the Father are one. 

You commanded Your Apostles, and their successors to do what You did at the Last Supper as a memorial of You until You return to us again in glory. 

JOHN 13:1-15 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The drama and the pathos of the Liturgy chosen by the Church in the celebration of the Triduum resonate powerfully with the faithful. Year after year at this time we walk through salvation history and the past comes alive. We are invigorated, refreshed, renewed anew as we contemplate the love of God made visible in You, His only and Eternal Son. 

Today, Maundy Thursday, the Church contemplates the sacred moment when You instituted the Holy Eucharist at the last Passover meal that You ate with Your disciples. We enact the washing of the feet to remind us of the power of service and humility. God came in humility to serve and we in turn are called to serve God and each other. Perfect love, agape love, is the emptying of self for the good of the other.

This is what the Apostle of Love says, that during Your last hours You showed the Church and the world the meaning of authentic, perfect love in the washing of the feet of Your disciples including that of Judas who You knew was about to betray You. 

Simon recoiled from having You touch and wash his feet for it was the work of slaves, and we have this dramatic exchange between You and him,  he said, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’ And You replied, ‘At the moment you do not know what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ‘Never!’ said Peter ‘You shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus replied, ‘If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.’

Anyone who wishes to be Your disciple must heed what You say next to the Apostles after You washed their feet:

 ‘Do you understand’ he said ‘what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you should wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.’

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like Yours. Amen.

WEDNESDAY OF HOLY WEEK - 2022

PASSION WEEK 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Hail to you, our King!
You alone have had compassion on our sins.

ISAIAH 50:4-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You came into the world as the Lamb of Sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. You came as one of us in all things save sin. You experienced everything that we experience so no one can ever say that their suffering is beyond the realm of Your experience or Your ability to understand. You went through every indignity, humiliation, suffering, rejection, violence, and so much more that we in our human condition suffer.

The poor, the marginalized, the rejected, the forgotten, the one who knows only violence since they first draw breath, those who are so sick, so weak they can barely whimper in pain - You understand it all for You suffered it all.

No one can dare to say that God cannot understand - no one. This is why Beloved, we can approach the throne of grace and mercy confident that if we put our faith in You we will receive all the help we need to see us through.

So, Beloved, let us draw close to You, for You are the Eternal Word of God and let us learn from You to be meek and humble of heart. To love with the same love that You love us - the love that pours itself out for the other. Love is the only remedy that can heal our benighted world that is overtaken by darkness.

MATTHEW 26:14-25 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Judas Iscariot was one of the Twelve. He was chosen by You. He was Your companion and Your friend. He broke bread with You and You gave him charge of the money even though You knew he was a thief. He was offered redemption constantly. He knew You, he loved You but he loved himself and his ideas more.

Are we not like him, Beloved? Do we not barter You constantly when we choose anyone or anything over You? He betrayed You for thirty silver pieces. What is my price for my constant betrayal of You over the course of my life?

The Gospel of today goes over the Passover meal that You celebrated with Your disciples the night of Your betrayal into the hands of Your enemies. The disciples made all the preparations just as You asked them to and in the evening You and Your disciples were around the table to eat the Passover meal. If only they knew the significance of what was about to take place at that table that memorable evening. They would have not understood very much, it was only later contemplating the event from the time of Your Resurrection, even to this day and until the end of time that we will continue to unpack the treasures of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist that You instituted that day.

As they are eating the meal You reveal to the Twelve that one of them would betray You aghast they all wanted to know who would dare to do so. And as each one protested loudly even the one who knew it was he dared to say, ‘Not I, Rabbi, surely?’ And by Your response let him know that You knew, ‘They are your own words,’ but his conscience remained dead.

My Lord, for all the times when I betrayed You I ask for mercy and pardon. Help me O Lord never to sin again.

TUESDAY OF HOLY WEEK - 2022

PASSION WEEK 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Hail to you, our King!
Obedient to the Father, you were led to your crucifixion
as a meek lamb is led to the slaughter.

ISAIAH 49:1-6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Before the dawn of creation the Creator knew that the crown of His creation would reject Him and even then He made provision to redeem the world through His Son. 

God created Adam and Eve, they sinned, they rejected God, and were banished from paradise but God sought a way to restore what His creatures had so callously rejected. 

Beloved, we must always be alert and awake to God's call - He called Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Samuel and a host of others from the Old Testament to the New and He continues to do until the end of time.

With God, nothing is lost and He can redeem all things by the power of His Word, His Eternal Word, the Incarnate Word who lived among us and was like us in all things save sin.

Israel rejected You just as our first parents rejected God and the world continues to reject You, Beloved. But all is not lost. You are the Light of the World and Your Light has gone out to all the nations and through the power of Your Holy Spirit the world is slowly but surely being reconciled to through the lives of all who believe in You, hope in You, and shine Your Light in the world. 

JOHN 13:21-33,36-38 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

There is much we can learn about You and ourselves as we contemplate this passage. The fact that You were troubled in spirit reveals that You were fully human. When we know that we have to face difficult, even painful times we too become troubled, and worse we stress, we are fearful, anxious, and lose our peace. 

But despite the fact that You knew exactly what was ahead of You there were things You had to say and do and You did so resolutely. You revealed to them that one of Your closest friends seated at the table eating bread with You and the rest was to betray You. At once all wondered who among them was the guilty one. To John, who asked You directly, 'Who is it, Lord!' You responded, ‘It is the one’ replied Jesus ‘to whom I give the piece of bread that I shall dip in the dish.’ He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. 

The evangelist says,  At that instant, after Judas had taken the bread, Satan entered him. And addressing him You said,  ‘What you are going to do, do quickly.’ So many of us partake of the Holy Eucharist with unclean lips and unclean hearts and it does us no good but renders us even more unclean. If only we knew how we, like Judas, betray the Son of Man and the Son of God when we approach the Eucharist without first going to Confession to be absolved of grave sins, we would die rather than eat Your Body and drink Your Blood.

As soon as Judas had partaken of the Eucharist he had eaten condemnation to himself, Satan entered him and he rose up to do his dastardly deed, and John tells us, 'Night had fallen.'

Every grievous sin results in night falling on our soul.

You continue to talk to and encourage the rest of Your friends around the table. Soon they would be scattered by fear and You would be bereft of all companionship except that of Your Mother, the faithful women, and the disciple You loved - they alone remained steadfast to the end. 

When You announced to the group that the hour for Your departure was drawing near and they could not follow where You were going, Simon Peter said, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus replied, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now; you will follow me later.’ Peter said to him, ‘Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ ‘Lay down your life for me?’ answered Jesus. ‘I tell you most solemnly before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times.’

Beloved, keep us humble, keep us aware of how much we need grace, and let us cling to You lest in our pride and our self-confidence we lose our soul.

Only in humility and obedience can we hope to be glorified with You as You are glorified by Your Father.

MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK - 2022

PASSION WEEK 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Hail to you, our King!
You alone have had compassion on our sins.

ISAIAH 42:1-7 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

When we study Scripture with the lens of faith the whole of salvation history comes alive and we see how from the very first God has taken us by the hand and has led us gently as a shepherd leads his flock.

The prophecies of Isaiah are crystal clear to those who are blessed with eyes to see. Faith in You is a gift that is bestowed by God to whomever He wills. This is why those of us who are cradle Catholics will be judged more severely than the rest. 

In Holy Mother Church resides the fullness of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness and all her naysayers can shout from the rooftops that she is corrupt and the whore of Babylon who is leading all her faithful to hell until they are blue in the face but that does not change who she is - the Church You founded on the Rock of Peter is a hospital for sinners. Many great sinners can be found among those in her hierarchy but it is not her members who make perfect but her Head. Love, mercy, grace, compassion, tenderness, forgiveness of all sins, and restoration to spiritual beauty of soul is granted to her alone. 

Why?

Because You, O Lord, are her Cornerstone, her Bridegroom, her Spouse, her Good Shepherd - all her members are grafted to Your Body and You feed us all with Your Flesh and quench our thirst with Your Blood which wells up to eternal life in us.

You purchased each of us at a great price and Your Blood pleads for us at the right hand of the Father night and day and by Your sacred wounds, Beloved, we are healed and saved. You have restored our inheritance. We are sealed in You who are God's eternal Covenant of Love with the children of the New Jerusalem.

‘I, the Lord, have called you to serve the cause of right;
I have taken you by the hand and formed you;
I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light of the nations,

‘to open the eyes of the blind,
to free captives from prison,
and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.’

JOHN 12:1-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Today we appreciate the gift of true friendship. Your heart is sore, You know what lies before You and for a brief moment, You seek out and rest in the company of a family who has always been close to You. Have provided hospitality and love. They know who You are and they also know how great is Your need as a Man to enjoy a brief respite from the oppression of those who choose to misunderstand, hound You, and vilify You at every turn.

Lazarus is a dear friend and so are his sisters Martha and Mary. Their hospitality is well known and the house is full not only with Your disciples but also those who have heard the miracle of how You raised Lazarus to life who had been dead and buried for three days. They believed that You were from God for no one but God can raise the dead to life. While the Chief Priests and the Jews plotted and planned to destroy You in this house of friendship You were esteemed and honored for who You truly were - the Son of God.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there; Martha waited on them and Lazarus was among those at table. Mary brought in a pound of very costly ointment, pure nard, and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair; the house was full of the scent of the ointment. Then Judas Iscariot – one of his disciples, the man who was to betray him – said, ‘Why wasn’t this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor?’ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he was in charge of the common fund and used to help himself to the contributions. So Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial. You have the poor with you always, you will not always have me.’

May the love, the faithfulness of the members of the Church You established be like the fragrance that fills the world O Lord. The enemies of the Church plot night and day to destroy her but just as the Sanhedrin could not destroy You so too will Your Church stand unmolested until You return. We have Your assurance that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Your Bride.

PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD'S PASSION - 2022

 

PALM SUNDAY 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Christ was humbler yet,
even to accepting death, death on a cross.
But God raised him high
and gave him the name which is above all names. PH 2:8-9

ISAIAH 50:4-7 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Every Christian martyr was and is a disciple par excellence. The prophet gives us a detailed description of one who has imbibed the teachings of the Lord and allows God's Word to shape every aspect of their lives.

A true disciple is one who walks the Way of the Cross every moment of every day. Every word that is uttered is one that brings healing, comfort, solace, and peace. A disciple is one who wakes up with Your Name, does everything in Your Name, and lies down to rest at night with Your Name. If we desire to be Your true disciples, Beloved, we must be wrapped up in Your Name and allow its power to imbue every cell in our body.

A disciple learns obedience and humility from close proximity to You, Your Word, and Your Church. He or she is sensitive to every nudge of the Holy Spirit and responds in a manner that is always pleasing to You.

Too often our pride, our ego, and our self-love get in the way of humility and when we are unable to stoop low we are unable to obey.

However, when we are yoked to You, Lord, then we are united with You and we will find the strength with gentleness just as You did. We will find the courage to offer no resistance to those who oppose the Gospel for our gaze will be fixed on the You and we will be able to imitate You even to our last breath.

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:6-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Self-emptying is something we must do often. Our sins, weaknesses, and frailties are constantly jogging each other for pride of place. Unless we come face to face with our brokenness we will never be able to follow You with the singleness of purpose to which we, as Your disciples are called. 

As God, the only Son of the Father, You emptied Yourself for the sake of love. Love for Your Father and love for us. Love alone makes all things possible but the kind of love that we are required to possess is the kind that makes humility and obedience a joy. It is the love that the Triune God shares - agape love.

If we never forget especially when it is most difficult, that God became Man for our sakes in order to take restore all that we had lost and to take us back to the Father, then we will exercise the twin virtues of humility and obedience for without them it is impossible to please God.

Thank You, Father, for giving us Jesus as our Model. With Him, no matter how narrow the way or how difficult the path we will find the strength to endure all for His sake. 

THURSDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF LENT - 2022

LENT 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord. PS 94:8

GENESIS 17:3-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The most wondrous assurance that God gives Abraham is not just the glorious Covenant He makes with him which is awesome but it is God saying to him, 'I will be your God.' 

Every other promise is fulfilled because God has not only chosen Abraham but assures him that He will be not only his God forever but He will be the God of all the generations that will follow until time shall cease.

To be chosen by You, to be called by Your Name, to be baptized into Your Body, to be fed on the Holy Eucharist, to abide in You as You abide in us - and to have this hope that when this life has ended all who have walked in the Way that You have directed will be united with You in glory forever. 

Who could ask for more? There isn't any more, having You Lord, we possess everything in this life and we will possess life in superabundance when we share the glory of Your resurrection in the life to come.

JOHN 8:51-59 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Nothing is more repugnant to the wicked than the Truth. It haunts them awake or asleep and they find no rest because they ceaselessly and feverishly look for ways to destroy Truth. 

In the last days before You handed Yourself over to those who were baying for Your Blood, You spoke the Truth unwaveringly, uncompromisingly, and constantly even though You knew that the more clearly You spoke revealing who You truly were and are the greater would be the desire to destroy You and not only destroy You but actually kill You. In doing so they believed they would be rid of You and their precarious but tenacious hold on power and their insular way of life could be prolonged. 

There is a palpable sense of urgency as You speak to the crowds:

‘I tell you most solemnly,
whoever keeps my word
will never see death.’

For those with no faith or those with hardened hearts, everything You say is a direct threat to them. It makes them uncomfortable because they enjoy the status quo. They enjoy their place of privilege, pomp, and circumstance among the people. But You continue, unaffected by the growing wrath of the crowd, they must know the Truth even though it will take You to Your passion and death for only dying our death can we be raised to new life through Your resurrection. And so You reveal the Truth to them once again using words that cannot be misconstrued by Your hearers. 

‘I tell you most solemnly,
before Abraham ever was,
I Am.’

It is no wonder that they wished to rip You apart with their bare hands because they understood clearly what You had just said - I AM. But Your hour had not yet arrived and they had no power over You until it did. So You hid and left the Temple unharmed.

WEDNESDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME - 2022

LENT 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance. LK 8:15

DANIEL 3:14-20,24-25,28 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Over and over again we read in the Word of God and even our own experiences confirm that we can trust You. You never fail those who are called by Your Name. 

King Nebuchadnezzar believed that his word of law and the people he ruled had to submit to his decrees but Daniel and his companions knew that there was only one God, the God they served and worshipped, and whether or not they would be killed they would not succumb to fear for life and death are in God's hands.

You come to the help of all who call on You - even if it is only a sigh or a whisper. You are a God who saves. Sometimes, Beloved, I allow my fears, my worries, to cloud my faith and trust in You. I am sorry, Lord. Once more today, I resolve to offer You all my anxieties and in return, I resolve to believe every one of Your promises. You will not fail me nor will You forsake me because I am Yours in this life and forever. 

JOHN 8:31-42 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

All that we read in today's Gospel passage is so comforting. Anyone who is Your disciple has God for their Father for we belong to You, His Son. You are the Eternal Word of God we desire to embrace Your Word and allow it to rule our every thought, word, and action. Perfect peace and serenity belong to those who are ruled by Your Word.

Your Word, O Lord, is Truth and we who are baptized into Your Body are consecrated in the Truth and are one with You just as You are one with the Father.

The world today is propagating the most hideous and evil lies that lead to violence, vile thoughts, and actions, leading to the death of the body and the death of the soul. It has rejected the Truth that is embodied in You - You alone O Lord can set the world free. You have set it free but for a brief while, the world is given up to the Enemy. Keep Your faithful remnant strong and safe in the power of the Truth.

The world, like the Jews You address in the Gospel, is unaware that they are slaves to the dictates of the flesh. Their shrill cries of freedom to live unchaste lives come at the cost of Wisdom and Truth. Shackled by lies they believe are truths they are doomed to fall headlong into the pit of eternal death.

Let us pay particular attention to Your Word to us today:

‘I tell you most solemnly,
everyone who commits sin is a slave.
Now the slave’s place in the house is not assured,
but the son’s place is assured.
So if the Son makes you free,
you will be free indeed.’

You have come into the world to save us. All who choose to walk on the side of Truth are loved by God. May we have the courage of Daniel and his companions as well as all the martyrs who have gone before us for the days are coming when we will be put to the test. In those days, grant us the grace O Lord, to remain steadfast in faith, joyful in hope, and enduring in love. Amen.

MONDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF LENT - 2022

LENT 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man
– it is the Lord who speaks –
but in the turning back of a wicked man
who changes his ways to win life. EZ 33:11

DANIEL 13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

This lovely little story in the book of Daniel reminds us that the innocent need fear nothing and that the wicked no matter how powerful they believe they are will be brought to justice.

We are told that Susanna was God-fearing because her parents had instructed her in the Law of Moses. Too few Christian parents can make this claim and this is why we see our world in shambles. 

The wicked abound in the highest places. They are found everywhere and they prey on the innocent and rob them of their virtue. They are so vile and so confident that they will not be discovered that they go from evil to evil believing that they are invincible.

But every cry, every sigh, every whimper of those who are violated is heard by God. Every tear is gathered up and vindication will come in Your perfect time. No one escapes God's wrath. Just as God heard Susanna's cry.

The innocent, the poor, the helpless are violated constantly and are easy prey for the powerful but they will receive justice those who sinned against them will be called to account and they will pay, 'the mills of God may grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine.'

JOHN 8:12-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You are Light and anyone who follows You will neither stumble nor go astray but will walk with confidence on the Way that leads to eternal life. Not only will we walk in the Light, Beloved, but Your Light in us will illumine our whole being, and we will abide in the Truth that sets us free.

The Triune God is One God - Father, Son, and Spirit - Three in One and One in Three because the nature of each Person in the Trinity is the same - divine.

The Father and the Spirit were with You always even when You left Your glory behind in Your incarnation. This is why we can believe everything You said, everything You did. Every sign and wonder that You performed testified that God was with You and in You for You are God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God.

The skeptics of this world like the Pharisees will never believe because they refuse to believe. They would rather die in their stubbornness because they are clinging to an idea of God that they are unwilling to relinquish because it is inconceivable to them that God can walk among men as one of us, and that God came for sinners, for the poor, for the outcast, for those whom the world refuses to see let alone acknowledge. And that God would take upon Himself all our human misery and sin in His Flesh and crucify it to the Cross so we can receive Your glorious life and share in Your resurrection.

These are the last day of Your life on earth and John recounts them as they occurred - You were inexorably moving to that dreaded, wondrous hour but until then no one could lay a hand on You. You lay down Your life at a time of Your choosing and You will take it up again gloriously in three days. You O Lord, are God.

SATURDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT - 2022

 

LENT 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance. LK 8:15

JEREMIAH 11:18-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The prophets of old and all holy men and women are fully aware of the cost of being obedient to You. They speak Your words when Your people stray. They warn, they cajole, they lament, they plead, and finally, when hearts refuse to listen, to repent, to humble themselves, they prophesy the dire punishments that will rain on them if they refuse to change their ways.  A few may listen but those who are steeped in evil are aroused to destroy those who disturb their conscience and hold up as a mirror before them their wickedness. 

Every martyr has Your image before their eyes. They are fully aware of the cost of speaking the truth boldly but they are prepared to die rather than coddle sinners. Your Word O Lord teaches us that the salvation of one soul from eternal damnation is worth the cost. 

Today, as in every age, Christians continue to be persecuted and what is worse they are persecuted by nations that were once Christian. Lawmakers plot constantly and feverishly to enact laws that kill the soul.

You were fully aware of the plots against You. The scheming that went on between the chief priests, the temple authorities, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herod's minions. They all saw You as a grave threat to the status quo who had to be destroyed no matter the cost. When the hour for which the Father had sent You had arrived, You gave Yourself up as 'a trustful lamb being led to the slaughter-house.' You knew full well what You would have to suffer until You finally gave up Your Spirit but You endured all for my sake and for the sake of the whole world.

All who pitch themselves against Truth thinking, ‘Let us destroy the tree in its strength, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten!’ Have discovered to their dismay that Truth cannot be destroyed as You proved by Your glorious resurrection from the dead.

The foe is routed, death is destroyed, and Truth prevails.

JOHN 7:40-52 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You will always be a Sign of Contradiction to the world even to the end of time. People always listen to You, are in awe of You, but are unable to accept that God would become man much less suffer and die an ignominious, scandalous death to rise again from the dead after three days. 

These are questions that all who come to know You have to grapple with, 'Are You the prophet, the Christ?' And they will argue with themselves that this cannot be because You do not fit their preconceived notions of God. ‘Would the Christ be from Galilee? Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from the town of Bethlehem?’

To the extent that people grapple sincerely with the questions to which they seek answers, You will reveal Yourself.  

Those sent to arrest You came back without You. The Pharisees questioned them, 'Why haven't you brought him?' And they replied, ‘There has never been anybody who has spoken like him.’ 

Even among the enemies of Truth, there will be secret friends like Nicodemus but in the end, the fear of the loss of reputation and standing among their peers often proves to be too much. Sadly, good people will continue to die as long as those with a conscience refuse to speak up and align themselves on the side of Truth.

FRIDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT - 2022

LENT 2022

 DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. MT 4:4

WISDOM 2:1,12-22 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The upright, the godly, those who walk on the side of Truth and refuse to compromise with the prevalent culture are hated with a hatred that is from hell. It has always been so. Those who dance with the devil find no rest until they do all in their power to crush those who are a living testament to the reality of God. The lies they tell themselves rise up to torment them in the face of those who stand resolute, steadfast, and uncompromisingly on the side of Truth. This is why they are restless, constantly plotting new and devious ways to persecute the righteous. 

All the prophets of old were put to death because they were relentless in preaching the truth. It was to be expected that when the Father sent You into the world, the wicked would do exactly what they did in the past. You were a constant reproach to the religious hierarchy of the day and You were fearless. They hated You and began plotting Your death from the moment You revealed their hypocrisy to the people.  

He claims to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a son of the Lord.
Before us he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking,
the very sight of him weighs our spirits down;
his way of life is not like other men’s,
the paths he treads are unfamiliar.
In his opinion we are counterfeit;
he holds aloof from our doings as though from filth;
he proclaims the final end of the virtuous as happy
and boasts of having God for his father.

They constantly sought to trap You. They were relentless in their pursuit of You hoping that they would find an 'ah ha' moment when they would finally have You in their power. In the end, they fabricated lies so as to condemn You to death.

Let us test him with cruelty and with torture,
and thus explore this gentleness of his
and put his endurance to the proof.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death
since he will be looked after – we have his word for it.’

But finally, they were routed. They put to death the Son of God and condemned themselves to sorrow, alienation, and exile and so it will be until the time when they find the humility to acknowledge and profess with their hearts, mind, and lips that You are Lord. 

JOHN 7:1-2,10,25-30 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You teach us to be unafraid to witness to Truth. You warn us that if they persecuted You they will persecute us as well. If they imprisoned You, we can expect nothing less, if they scourged You and put You to death we can count it all joy for death does not have the last word.

During these last days of Lent, we continue to accompany You as we reach the end of Your sojourn on earth. We reflect and meditate on all You said and did in these last days - it is Your testament to us. You teach us how to live and to die.  

You spoke openly even knowing full well that Your enemies were everywhere and soon You would give Yourself up into their power. But it would be at a time and at a place of Your choosing. When the hour finally arrives You will allow Yourself to be led as a lamb to the slaughter. 

‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.’

Too often, Beloved, we know You, we experience Your love, we are aware of Your Presence in and around us but we refuse to acknowledge that You are God and that You were sent by God to reveal the Father's love to us. It is only when we embrace the Truth in its fullness, we will discover that Truth in all its beauty and goodness has always embraced us.