ST. IREANAEUS, BISHOP, DOCTOR & MARTYR - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Make your home in me, as I make mine in you,
says the Lord;
whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty. JN 15:4, 5

GENESIS 15:1-12,17-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

All that God said to Abram, He says to us, the new people of God and with whom He has made a New Covenant. You are God's Covenant with us and this is why all that God said to Abram finds its fulfillment in the Church, Your Body, Your Bride.  You O Lord are My shield and You are our great and everlasting reward for You are the Love of God that unites us irrevocably to the Father in the Holy Spirit.

What our eyes see and what our reason tells us means nothing for the hand of God remains upon us and the power of the Most High constantly overshadows us. Beloved, You are with us always this alone is enough to strengthen us and give us courage for no matter how terrifying the storms around us we can rest quietly in You knowing that with You and in You evil cannot lay hold of us. We are marked and sealed by God, for God.

PSALM 104(105):1-4,6-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We praise and thank our God, for You, O Lord, are the Everlasting Covenant that He has made with us forever. 

Be proud of his holy name,
let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face.

He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.

MATTHEW 7:15-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Thank You for revealing to us how to recognize false prophets and to beware of them. They can be found everywhere for Evil has made its way even into the highest echelons of the Church. There are respected people holding high office who are instruments of evil. Anyone who preaches a Gospel other than the one preached by You is a liar and a thief. St. Paul also warns us, But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!

The Church holds in her Treasury the Sacred Deposit of our Faith and on it she stands firm and invincible against the buffetting of the evil culture that is raging around us. You will preserve her from preaching a watered-down Gospel. You will guard her against those even within the Church who want to accommodate this degenerate and evil generation. Those with power, money, and possessing the influence to hoodwink the work with beguiling half-truths are crowing with delight under the misguided belief that they are winning. The Victory is already won. The Cross has triumphed. The King is Coming. Let us not be found napping but wide awake and ready, rooted firmly in Truth.

‘Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.’