Monday, May 8, 2023

MONDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The Holy Spirit will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you. JN 14:26

ACTS 14:5-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We are sinners, we are broken, original sin has left us weak and prone to give in when we are tempted, and yet because we are baptized and are grafted to You and redeemed by You, we are adopted children of the Father. We carry the treasure of our faith and knowledge of God which You have revealed to us, as St. Paul tells us, in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 

Sometimes when we receive the praise and adulation of people for spiritual gifts that are given by the Holy Spirit we fail to give glory to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. St. Paul and Barnabas were in a similar situation. When through the power of his preaching faith in You came alive in the cripple the miracle of healing was possible. Paul said in a loud voice, ‘Get to your feet – stand up’, and the cripple jumped up and began to walk. Immediately the people got excited and credited them with being gods.  


Eventually, with the connivance of the authorities, a move was made by pagans as well as Jews to make attacks on the apostles and to stone them. When the apostles came to hear of this, they went off for safety to Lycaonia where, in the towns of Lystra and Derbe and in the surrounding country, they preached the Good News.
A man sat there who had never walked in his life, because his feet were crippled from birth; and as he listened to Paul preaching, he managed to catch his eye. Seeing that the man had the faith to be cured, Paul said in a loud voice, ‘Get to your feet – stand up’, and the cripple jumped up and began to walk.

Paul corrected their faulty understanding saying,  ‘Friends, what do you think you are doing? We are only human beings like you,  and he used the opportunity to announce and proclaim the Good News of salvation, We have come with good news to make you turn from these empty idols to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that these hold. In the past he allowed each nation to go its own way, but even then he did not leave you without evidence of himself in the good things he does for you: he sends you rain from heaven, he makes your crops grow when they should, he gives you food and makes you happy.’ 

May we always praise You O Lord for Your marvelous work of salvation and the power of preaching the Good News in Your Name.

PSALM 113B(115):1-4,15-16 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

All glory, honor, and all praise are due to You and belong to You and You alone. Anyone You use to do Your mighty works are only instruments in Your hand and they must always make it crystal clear and it is You and You only who are the miracle worker. When we are constantly pointing to You as Mother Mary did, the world will come to know and acknowledge how good and great You are.

You O Lord are seated at the right hand of God the Father and from this place of glory, power, and might You do wondrous things for those who love You, believe in You, and belong to You.

Grant O my Beloved Lord that I bless You with every breath I breathe until the day when You call me home to Yourself. Amen.

JOHN 14:21-26 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You have made it known that if we who are Your disciples desire to live in close intimacy with You we must keep Your commandments.  By striving to keep them in season and out of season we declare and witness to the world that we love You and You assure us that anyone who loves You will be loved by Your Father as well. You will love us and You will show Yourself to us. The Catholic Hall of Saints models this truth to us.  The lives of Saints recognized and honored by the Church give us an example of the heights of holiness that are possible if we are willing to consider the world well lost in order to possess You and be possessed by You.

Today it is Judas' turn to inquire what You mean when You say that You intend to show Yourself to them and not to the world. You say to him and to us who are also Your disciples, that You will make Your home with us and we can make our home with You even while we sojourn in this valley of tears of we keep Your Word. Considering that we are sinners and readily give in to temptations this is not easy for us Lord. This is why You sent Your Holy Spirit to make His home in us and with His help, if we are the least bit sincere in our desire to take You at Your Word Your Spirit will honor our desire and will bless us magnificently.

As we approach the feast of Pentecost, Beloved, grant us the grace to prepare ourselves well so that we too will experience a second Pentecost in our lives. We need the fire of the Holy Spirit today to assist us to stand firmly against this sinful and wicked age.

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