WEDNESDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die. JN 11:25, 26

ISAIAH 49:8-15 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Your promises are true and they are eternal. Sometimes it seems that You are long in answering us and while we wait we grow restless and despondent. Hope dims. But we must always remember that Your Word is true. You are God - the same yesterday, today, and forever. You always hear and at a time of Your choosing You will answer perhaps not quite in the way we asked for or expected but Your answer to all our prayers and petitions will always be far, far better than anything we could have hoped for or imagined.

So often we have no idea how You are constantly working in our lives. Grace upon grace is poured upon us and in all our struggles You are right behind us, above us, below us, around us, and above all, You are in us. Your Holy Spirit makes our body His dwelling place. God is always at hand and hears every prayer, and every sigh, He knows all. Through all our difficulties, sorrows, doubts, fears, anxieties, and grief, You not only care, You understand, and You are with us. You take us by the hand and walk with us. Even when we do not feel Your Presence You are there.

Only a God of love could inspire the prophet to speak such tender words of assurance to us who so often are hard-hearted, rebellious, lukewarm, and sinful. Like Zion I always complain that You do not hear me, You have abandoned and forgotten me, and You lovingly assure me:

Does a woman forget her baby at the breast,
or fail to cherish the son of her womb?
Yet even if these forget,
I will never forget you.

PSALM 144(145):8-9,13b-14,17-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Thank You for assuring me today, when my heart is heavy, sad, and lonely when my heart aches for the agony both physical, spiritual, and mental that those nearest and dearest to me are currently suffering that You speak to me reassuring and comforting me in the consoling words of the psalmist chosen for our reflection today.  

Even though I try Your patience a hundred times a day You are full of kindness and love. You are constantly at work to draw good out of all the difficult situations that my loved ones and I face daily.

You are faithful even when You seem distant the truth is that in moments like these, You are closer to us than ever. Thank You for walking beside me, for taking me by the hand when I struggle, and for carrying me when I no longer have any strength of my own.

Finally, my most beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for always dealing with me and those I love not as we deserve but with understanding compassion, and love. Thank You for assuring me once again that You are close to all who call on You - every desperate cry, every silent sigh, every troubled thought and fear You know and You are present encouraging, healing, assuring, comforting, and healing.

JOHN 5:17-30 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Your enemies hated You with a hatred that was palpable and murderous. They were enraged with You because they had no power against You. You exposed them as hypocrites who used the law as a weapon against the poor, the marginalized, and the outcast. They branded everyone who did not kowtow to them and their narrow interpretation of the law, as sinners and each time they did so in Your Presence, You did not hesitate to point out their own duplicity in interpreting the law. 

They were powerless against You because You spoke the Truth. You enraged them because You claimed God to be Your Father. You stirred up a murderous rage in their souls against You because You not only exposed their hypocrisies but they had no weapons to counter against You whose awesome powers pointed clearly to divine origins.  

They could not bully You, they could not shut You up, all that they could do was grumble loudly, threaten You publicly, and plot deviously against You behind Your back. They could not trap You because You knew exactly what was in their minds.

You did not back down for an instant but reiterated even more firmly and forcefully the truths that were vinegar and gall to them. The long-awaited Messiah was finally among them but because You did not fit the mold of their expectations they rejected You. They refused to accept that indeed the One that the chosen people of God had been waiting for centuries was in their midst. The works that You did clearly pointed out that You not only came from God but were God but they wanted a Messiah made in their own image and likeness and they were prepared to commit Deicide rather than accept that God chose to come to us in a way that was so much more incomprehensible and unimaginable that they could know or understand. 

For all the times that I too tried to domesticate You and tried to put You in a mold conceived in my own image and likeness, my Lord and my God, forgive me. Only by believing in You and Your Word O Lord can we be saved.