FRIDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father. JN 15:15

ACTS 15:22-31 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I thank You once again for the Church You founded and for the authority that You gave Peter and the Apostles and which is being handed down faithfully through the ages and until time shall cease. We lean confidently on her firm foundation for we have Your assurance that the gates of hell shall never prevail against her. 

From the nascent Church, we learn how she governs her member and continues to do so to this day so error will never be taught since her teaching and guidance come directly from the Holy Spirit who dwells in His fullness in her. 

The Church rejoices just as the Christian communities in Antioch did when the letter written by Peter and the elders was read by their delegates as well as its message was communicated by word of mouth. 

The instructions given by the Church then are doctrinal instructions and must be observed by all her members until You return in glory to claim Your Bride: ‘It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.’

PSALM 56(57):8-12 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The psalmist reminds us, Your people, that praise and thanksgiving must rise up to You from the moment we rise at dawn until we lie down to sleep at night. Praise and thanksgiving is the language with which we speak to You with gratitude for all that God has done for us beginning with the gift of creating us. We are created to give You glory and honor for all that You have done for us. 

Without Your redeeming love, without Your incarnation, without Your Sacrifice on Calvary without the unbelievable exchange You made by taking upon Yourself our sins, our death, our punishment, the judgment of condemnation that we deserve, and giving us Your life and giving us a life of grace through the Holy Spirit we were doomed to die an eternal death. Thank You.

You are great, You are glorious, You are wonderful, You are deserving of all our love, all our thanksgiving, all our gratitude and praise for as long as we are alive and until our last breath. Grant us this glorious grace O Lord to offer You unceasing praise and thanksgiving every moment for as long as we live. Amen.

I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples,
among the nations I will praise you
for your love reaches to the heavens
and your truth to the skies.
O God, arise above the heavens;
may your glory shine on earth!

JOHN 15:12-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Loving my neighbor is not an option - it is a command given to us by You. We are liars if we say we love You but have no thought or concern or love for those in our own homes, in our neighborhood, in the Church, and in the world. You loved us and You demonstrated that love to us not only by word but in deed. 

This is the kind of love that Christians from the dawn of Christianity have demonstrated because they took this mandate seriously and in imitation of You laid down their lives for You and for the Gospel. It is worth dying for in order that others may live. There is no more powerful witness to love, to sacrifice to generosity of heart and spirit than the Crucifix. If we wish to know what love is and the price that love demands we only need to raise our eyes to You crucified on the Cross.

You call us Your friends and we are, Beloved, but our friendship needs to be proved and it can be proved only if we follow Your commandments. You have kept nothing secret but have revealed all that the Father has asked You to so we, His beloved children can receive the salvation and redemption that You won for us by Your life, passion, death, and glorious resurrection.

We are not to live isolated selfish lives but lives of service to one another. You chose us and You commission us to step out of our narrow lives and expand our vision to embrace Your vision only then will we bear the kind of fruit that You desire. Thank You for Your wonderful assurance that if we live as good and faithful servants, in close friendship with You and with each other the Father will give us anything we ask him for in Your Name. But first, we must keep Your command which is that we love one another as You have loved us.