THE HOLY FAMILY - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

At various times in the past

and in various different ways,

God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;

but in our own time, the last days,

he has spoken to us through his Son. HEB 1:1-2

GENESIS 15:1-6,21:1-3 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We are impatient, we want what we want when we want it but You are God and You are our Father and You know when, where, and how to bless Your children or withhold the blessing until the time is right. I know that I have wanted You to answer my prayers immediately but You have made me wait even though I pleaded, and cajoled and I wept bitter tears with a broken heart and outstretched hands. But Your answer has been silence and in that silence, I have been taught to wait with faith, hope, and trust. 

The Covenant You made with Abraham was fulfilled when he was an old man. The son of his flesh was born when Sara was 90 and Abraham was 100 years old and in the waiting, he continued to believe. He is our father in faith and he teaches us how to wait patiently, confident that in due course, God will do all that He has promised and more. 

This is the Covenant that God made with Abraham:

‘Have no fear, Abram, I am your shield; your reward will be very great.’
‘Your heir shall be of your own flesh and blood.’ 

‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants’ he told him. Abram put his faith in the Lord, who counted this as making him justified.

Abraham waited 25 years before God's promises were fulfilled:

The Lord dealt kindly with Sarah as he had said, and did what he had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the time God had promised. Abraham named the son born to him Isaac, the son to whom Sarah had given birth.

Teach me to wait with childlike confidence in You, my Lord certain that You always hear me and when You deem the time to be right You will grant all all that You have promised. 

PSALM 104(105):1-6,8-9 ©

Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name,

  make known his deeds among the peoples.

O sing to him, sing his praise;

  tell all his wonderful works!

Be proud of his holy name,

  let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.

Consider the Lord and his strength;

  constantly seek his face.

Remember the wonders he has done,

  his miracles, the judgements he spoke.

O children of Abraham, his servant,

  O sons of the Jacob he chose.

He remembers his covenant for ever,

  his promise for a thousand generations,

the covenant he made with Abraham,

  the oath he swore to Isaac.

He, the Lord, is our God. He remembers his covenant for ever.

HEBREWS 11:8,11-12,17-19 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I believe Your Word - it is powerful, it is eternal, it is true. Abraham believed. When God called he obeyed. Leaving everything that was familiar behind he set out for a place he did not know. Both Sara and he were well past having children and yet he believed that God would keep His promise to give him an heir. He was promised heirs more numerous than the stars at night and grains of sand on the seashore and yet when he was asked to sacrifice his son he obeyed confident that God would keep His promise.

Today we look at the Church and we see that God has been true to His Covenant with Abraham. Isaac was spared death at the hands of his father. You, O Lord were sent by Your Father to die so that all God's wayward, fallen, broken children could be saved. As the writer of this Letter to the Hebrews states:
...  figuratively speaking, Abraham was given back Isaac from the dead. Whereas You O Lord, entered the very jaws of death and restored life for all God's children by the power of Your glorious and triumphant resurrection from the dead. 

LUKE 2:22-40 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Salvation history teaches us that when we have a childlike faith in God's promises we will witness great miracles. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, believed, as well as Mary and Joseph, and because they believed they were privileged to see the mighty hand of God at work. 

Mary and Joseph are the greatest models that the Church holds up for us to emulate and reverence for their obedience, humility, and total submission to the will of God and plan. Mary and Joseph knew that You were God, the Son of God, and Mary's Son, but they did not think that this put them above the Law of Moses. In fact, they fulfilled all that the Law commanded always. Mary, the sinless one, came to the temple to be purified. They offered You, the First-born Son of the Father, You who are God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, to God Your Father.

We also are introduced to Simeon and Anna. Simeon, we are told was an upright and devout man and the Holy Spirit rested on him. He believed what the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen You, the Christ. We do not know when this was made known to him but he was now an old man and he was unwavering in his confidence in the revelation made to him which was going to be fulfilled. Prompted by the Holy Spirit he comes to the Temple and meets the Holy Family - Mary, Joseph, and You. He takes You in his arms - what a glorious privilege - and then filled with the Holy Spirit he praises and glorifies God and reveals what will come to pass concerning You and Your Mother Mary.

‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.’

As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’

God is faithful as we see from the lives of Simeon and the prophetess Anna and we can trust You, Lord to be faithful to all Your promises to us. 

SIXTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

A hallowed day has dawned upon us.
Come, you nations, worship the Lord,
for today a great light has shone down upon the earth.

1 JOHN 2:12-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The disciple who leaned on Your Heart knows Your Heart - it beats with a passionate love for all God's children. These are Your Words inspired by Your Spirit that speak to us through this letter that is addressed to us by John. All who are born of fire and the Holy Spirit are cleansed from all sin each time we approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Yes, we are broken, yes, we sin over and over again often it is the same weaknesses that we give in to and that cause us to fall but Your hand is always extended to us in mercy. You wait with longing for us to return to You and when we confess our sins to the priest and You absolve us of all our sins and transgressions we are forgiven, strengthened, and made new. 

Let us pay particular attention to his warning about the world and its transient pleasures. This fallen world has nothing to offer us that can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts. To love the world is to invite sin into our lives. All that God created is good but anything without God leaves nothing but ashes and the taste of gall. When we give You primacy of place in our lives then everything else finds its proper place and we discover that all things work for good for those who love You.

The love of the Father cannot be
in any man who loves the world,
because nothing the world has to offer
– the sensual body,
the lustful eye,
pride in possessions –
could ever come from the Father
but only from the world;
and the world, with all it craves for,
is coming to an end;
but anyone who does the will of God
remains for ever.

PSALM 95(96):7-10 ©

Give the Lord, you families of peoples,

give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.

Bring an offering and enter his courts,

worship the Lord in his temple.
O earth, tremble before him.

Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’

The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

LUKE 2:36-40 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The prophetess, Anna was probably still in her twenties when her husband died after seven years of marriage. She is not eighty-four years old and has been widowed for a long time. We get a glimpse of the kind of woman she was from what Luke has to say about her: She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. 

She was a holy woman, a saintly woman, a woman who rested in God and for whom God was everything. The Lord was her hope, her joy, and her consolation - it is not surprising then that she too was given the privilege of coming into the temple on the day of Mary's purification. She was a witness to all that Simeon, inspired by the Holy Spirit, prophesied concerning both You, the divine child, and Your Mother, the Virgin Mary. She believed and she promptly witnessed to all looked forward to the coming of the Messiah and God's deliverance of His people.

St. Luke tells us that when all was done according to the requirements of the Law of the Lord, Mary, You, and Joseph returned to Your hometown of Nazareth. A little town unknown to most was the place where God deigned to dwell. We know nothing about the hidden domestic life of the home of the Holy Family because it seemed so unremarkable and ordinary from the outside. Like the rest of the people in this sleepy town Mary and Joseph lived a quiet life with Mary caring for You and Joseph and Joseph working hard to provide for the daily needs of the daughter of God and the Son of God. Heaven had come down to earth - God lived in obscurity among His people. Except that the Child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.

5TH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

A light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.

JOHN 2:3-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

God created us to be children of the light - You are the light of the world and anyone who is in You is in the light. Sadly too often we prefer sin and the darkness of sin which brings night to the soul. To walk in the light is to keep the commandments that God has given us. We are not given an option whether or not we will obey this is why they are called commandments. The God of love who created us in love knows that we can only be completely happy and fulfilled when we follow His instruction manual for our lives. The minute we follow our own wayward will we malfunction and the longer we take to return to the Way of Truth the harder it is to return home to You.

The lives of all the great saints beginning with the greatest of them all Mary and  Joseph are exemplary models of humility and obedience - there is no other way by which we can be saved except by humbly submitting our lives to the will of God and keeping all His commandments. You summed the 10 into  2 for as You have taught -  the greatest of all of them is love - the first is love of God and the second is love of neighbor. We are called to a life of service, not of selfishness. Closed hearts result in clenched fists and such lives are bereft of hope, peace, and joy.

Beloved Lord, as I approach the evening of my life let me always be aware that the night is fast approaching and before long I will stand before You to give an account of my stewardship. For as long as the light lasts for me O Lord, grant that I may live in love with God and neighbor for when I live in love, I live in You.

PSALM 95(96):1-3,5-6 ©

O sing a new song to the Lord,

sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name.

Proclaim his help day by day,

tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples.

It was the Lord who made the heavens,

his are majesty and state and power
and splendour in his holy place.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad.

LUKE 2:22-35 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The purest, holiest family of God humbly submit to the Law of God and come to the temple of Jerusalem to be purified. They bring a pair of turtledoves according to their humble means to offer in sacrifice. You are God incarnate and You, the eternal First-born Son of God is presented to God and consecrated for the great mission for which You have been sent into the world by Your Father.

Simeon, led by the Holy Spirit also comes into the temple for he has been assured by Him that he will not die until his eyes have seen the Savior of the world. Taking You in his arms he makes some startling prophecies which both Mary and Joseph listen to him in wonder and awe.

‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,

just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.’

Simeon blessed Your Mother and said to her:

‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’

Both Mary and Joseph must have felt their very souls tremble as they heard what Simeon had to say concerning both Child and Mother. 

Mary must have recalled these words verbatim often as she watched over You and raised You for as the Word of God tells us she kept all these things in her heart and pondered on them. May we too O Lord, like Mary, keep You - the Word of Life in our hearts and ponder on You, Eternal Word of the Father, always as she did

THE HOLY INNOCENTS, MARTYRS - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

We praise you, O God,
we acknowledge you to be the Lord;
the noble army of martyrs praise you, O Lord.

1 JOHN 1:5-2:2 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We know that nothing unclean can come before God's presence this is why we must always ask for forgiveness, mercy, and pardon for all our offenses against God and neighbor every day. As the evangelist tells us God is light and in Him there in no darkness and if are His children then there must be no darkness in us as well. But You know, my Lord and my God that I am constantly stumbling. Thank You for readily forgiving all my sins each time I come to You with a repentant and contrite heart. I am so grateful for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, thank You, Lord, for instituting this Sacrament of healing and restoration. Thank You for Your generosity in forgiving me every time I turn to You in humility and sincere contrition. Nothing delights You more than to restore Your friendship with me and with the Father.

But if we live our lives in the light,
as he is in the light,
we are in union with one another,
and the blood of Jesus, his Son,
purifies us from all sin.

Thank You for sending us the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, and the Helper who remains with us and enables us to receive all that we need not only to desire to be holy and pure but to strive with His help to live as children of the light. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your unceasing intercession with the Father for us whom Your Blood has saved. Your sacrifice has the power to take away our sins and the sins of the whole world. 

PSALM 123(124):2-5,7-8 ©

If the Lord had not been on our side

when men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive
when their anger was kindled.

Then would the waters have engulfed us,

the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept
the raging waters.

Indeed the snare has been broken

and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

MATTHEW 2:13-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You identified so closely with the sufferings of the least, the last, and the lowest in the world that no one can ever say that You do not understand their suffering, sorrows, and fears. You O Lord are God and it beggars the mind to wrap our heads around the fact that God made Himself so vulnerable for us. You became a little beggar, born in poverty, born in a stable, unknown, and unrecognized by the world except by the wise men who traveled vast distances to pay You homage and by Herod who when told a new King was born desired to see You so he could destroy you. He saw You, the Son of David, the legitimate heir as a threat to his throne. He did not know that You did not come to establish and rule a kingdom on earth that would pass away but to establish the eternal Kingdom of God.

If only we could all be like Joseph - attentive to the Lord awake or asleep, and ready to do His bidding no matter how inconvenient or difficult it may be. Joseph was a servant of God, ready to obey no matter what was asked of him. He was completely surrendered to God. When the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.’  That's what Joseph did. No questions asked. His response was immediate. So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. 

Only by pondering, meditating on, and contemplating these events prayerfully can we grasp the full extent of what it meant to travel in haste in dangerous conditions to an unknown country as a refugee. The world is filled with people who have been displaced from their land for one reason or another and they can take comfort in this truth - God knows because He too was once a refugee, a stranger in a strange land. God understands. But God has the power to free us, to break every chain, and to restore all we have lost when we accept Your invitation to reject our slavery to sin and receive the freedom that comes from faith in You.

The world is filled with cruel, barbaric, power-hungry, people like  Herod in every age who will stop at nothing to keep their temporal power no matter the cost in human life and suffering.  Herod ordered the slaughter of innocent baby boys aged two and under. 

The words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah are heard to this day and will be heard as long as there are cruel despots in this sin-ridden world.  

A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loudly lamenting:
it was Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted because they were no more.

ST. JOHN, APOSTLE, EVANGELIST - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

We praise you, O God,
we acknowledge you to be the Lord.
The glorious company of the apostles praise you, O Lord.

1 JOHN 1:1-4 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

How blessed we are to have been chosen by God and to be given the gift of faith in You whom the Father sent into the world to reveal Himself to us. You came into the world to show us the Face of the Father, to know that He is Love and You became Love in Incarnate in the Flesh. You came to show us the Way back to the Father's house after our first parents sinned and lost paradise.

The Apostles You chose lived with You, walked with You, were taught by You, they ate, drank, and spent time with the Word of Life made Flesh. This is the Flesh that You received from Your Virgin Mother and this is the same Flesh that we eat every time we receive You in the Holy Eucharist. You O Lord are our food and drink and we receive food and drink for our journey. We are exiles in the world and we long for the day, Lord, when You will return in glory and take us to that place of rest in the Father's bosom.  Just as the beloved disciple, whose feast day the Church celebrates today, rested on Your Heart so too Lord we who now rest on Your Heart will rest in the Father as well. Hasten the day of Your return, Beloved, life is weary and dreary and we hunger and thirst to come home to You and live with You eternally.

PSALM 96(97):1-2,5-6,11-12 ©

The Lord is king, let earth rejoice,

let all the coastlands be glad.
Cloud and darkness are his raiment;
his throne, justice and right.

The mountains melt like wax

before the Lord of all the earth.
The skies proclaim his justice;
all peoples see his glory.

Light shines forth for the just

and joy for the upright of heart.
Rejoice, you just, in the Lord;
give glory to his holy name.

Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.

JOHN 20:2-8 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The feet of one who bears Good News are swift just as the feet of Mary of Magdala were swift as she went running to Simon Peter to tell him that the tomb was empty. She came to Peter, the one whom You appointed as Head of Your Church and the keeper of the keys of the Kingdom. All Mary knew was that the tomb was empty and this she revealed to Peter and the disciple You loved.

Peter's response was to set out immediately with John and together they ran to the tomb with the beloved disciple reaching first. He didn't enter but waited in deference for the first of the Apostles to enter but he did bend down to look and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground. Peter entered first and also saw what John had seen, 'the linen cloths on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself.'  

John concludes saying, 'he saw and he believed.'

What he saw, my Lord, and believed, was that everything You said about being raised up on the third day had come to pass. You had indeed risen from the dead and in Your rising is our hope. 

Grant that we too may be swift of foot my Lord, as we hasten to carry the Good News of our salvation to all we meet by the witness of our lives. May Your holy presence in us emanate from us and may we strive to be like You - gentle, humble, compassionate, giving, generous, selfless, eager to listen rather than speak, and allow Your Presence in us to touch and heal, bring comfort and hope, to everyone we meet. 

ST. STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord:
the Lord God is our light. PS 117:26, 27

ACTS 6:8-10,7:54-59 ©

The devil is relentless and tireless in his efforts to destroy all that is good, true, and beautiful because these are avenues to the heart of God. Stephen filled with the Holy Spirit was a good man who performed mighty signs and worked miracles in Your Name clearly indicating that the grace of God and the power of God were in him. Evil hates all that is good with murderous hate because it knows that they are powerless against that which is good for all that is good is true and all that is true is beautiful. Just as You were hounded and persecuted so too will Your disciples be just as You said and it was no different for the early Christians. 

We see fundamentalist bigots everywhere - their intent is not to appreciate the good but they see it as a direct attack against their narrowminded beliefs. They have no defense against signs and wonders that are clearly performed by the hand of God. Their only response is to strike, maim, destroy, crush, and kill and they do so with maniacal and satanic relish. Unable to get the better of Stephen in debate, 'because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.'

In our own world, we see how lies dominate the narrative of our present demonic culture. Truth is punished and silenced and depraved lies are celebrated in the highest echelons of power and many foolish people who because of their empty lives and abysmal ignorance buy into this evil rhetoric. Let us vow to be fearless like Stephen for when we stand firmly on the truth, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit like he was and we will be given words of wisdom with which to refute the liars and the enemies of truth. Truth can be silenced and suppressed for a while but it is timeless and can never be destroyed. Truth always rises stronger and brighter than ever before - 'Your Word O Lord is truth, consecrate us in the truth.'

PSALM 30(31):3-4,6,8,16-17 ©

Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mighty stronghold to save me,
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.

Into your hands I commend my spirit.

It is you who will redeem me, Lord.
As for me, I trust in the Lord:
let me be glad and rejoice in your love.

My life is in your hands, deliver me

from the hands of those who hate me.
Let your face shine on your servant.
Save me in your love.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

MATTHEW 10:17-22 ©

The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.

‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.

4TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the handmaid of the Lord:
let what you have said be done to me. LK 1:38

2 SAMUEL 7:1-5,8-12,14,16 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Like David of old, we too may have many plans O Lord but in the end, Your plans prevail. It is always good to let go of what we want and embrace what You desire to give us. What David wanted was good and the prophet Nathan saw it was good but we must be prepared to give up what we believe is good so we can receive from You what is far better.   

In these verses, we see how active God has been in David's life even when he was unaware of it. It is He who is the principal mover in our lives. It is God who acts, God who inspires, God who gives, God who sends, God who abides, God who preserves, all we need to do is to trust and obey You confident that in the end, all will be well.

You O Lord are called the Son of David, You are the shoot of Jesse, You came to establish a Kingdom that will never end but before the triumph and the victory You will receive the punishment that was ours. We will strike You with the rod and put You to death and the justice of God for the sins of all mankind will be served and through You, O Lord, God will redeem His people.

'Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established forever.'

PSALM 88(89):2-5,27,29 ©

I will sing forever of your love, O Lord;

through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts forever,
that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.

‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one;

I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your dynasty forever
and set up your throne through all ages.

‘He will say to me: “You are my father,

my God, the rock who saves me.”
I will keep my love for him always;
with him my covenant shall last.’

I will sing forever of your love, O Lord.

ROMANS 16:25-27 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We can never thank God our Father enough for His plan of salvation. Doomed to eternal death the Father's heart full of compassion and tender love for His creatures would not give up on us even when we rejected His Covenant love with us. Embracing the Good News of our salvation and living it in faith moment by moment with the help and grace we receive from the Holy Spirit, is the only way to live a life pleasing to God. 

All our good works are as filthy rages before God and yet You desire that we offer to You and to the Father our broken lives, our sins, as well as our feeble attempts at being holy and perfect for this is pleasing to our Father who is all holy and all perfect. 

We thank You, Lord, for not leaving us orphans when You left us but have made us sons and daughters of Your Father and ours by adoption and You have sent Your Holy Spirit to live in us. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, we cannot say that You are Lord. Thank You, Beloved, for emptying Yourself from the moment of Your conception in the womb of the most pure Virgin Mary, until Your death and burial in the tomb. You took on Yourself the punishment and death that was ours and in exchange, You redeemed us and have given us a share in Your glorious resurrection making us co-heirs with You to the Kingdom of Heaven. This was the Father's will and this You have done. Now, may we cooperate fully with the Holy Spirit so that when our pilgrim journey here is done You, along with Mary and Joseph will welcome us home.

LUKE 1:26-38 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

May I never presume that any action I do on my own has any merit but may I always wait in humble submission for Your inspiration, for the movement of the Holy Spirit and the power of God to impel me and send me to do what He commands.

Mary was always in God's presence from the instant of her immaculate conception. She is the fragrant, pure white lily whom the Holy Spirit fashioned according to the heart, mind, and will of Father and Son. She is the Woman clothed with the Sun and on her head is a crown of 12 stars. She is the New Eve, she is the Queen Mother who is seated at Your right hand and You defer to her will. When she asks You give all that she requests and more for You O Lord are flesh of her flesh, Son of God and Son of Mary.

To this pure virgin, the Angel Gabriel was sent with a message from God that would forever change the course of mankind and history. On Mary's fiat heaven and earth waiting in trembling and awe for the salvation of the world stood in the balance of this young girl's response to the will of God. God's highly favored daughter said 'yes' for her there could be no other response but yes because her whole life was 'yes' to all that God desired of her.

Thank you, sweetest, dearest, and best of all mothers for your yes to God that gave us such a glorious Father, Brother, and Helper. Heaven is ours if we only, like you, always say 'yes' to God's will for our lives.

God can take our barren lives and make them fruitful if we let Him. Take my own barrenness, Beloved, and make it something beautiful for God no matter how small it may be. May my response always be modeled on that of Mary's, Your Mother and mine, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ 

SATURDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

King of the peoples
and cornerstone of the Church,
come and save man,
whom you made from the dust of the earth.

MALACHI 3:1-4,23-24 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Every prophecy ever made in the Old Testament has been fulfilled by You in the New. Every promise ever made by God has been answered in You. You O Lord, our God, our King, and our Redeemer are the final and most glorious Covenant made by God with His people. Thank You, Lord, for sending Your Holy Spirit to abide in the Church, Your mystical body, and in each of us who are members of that Body. The Holy Spirit makes actual all that You O Lord have made possible by Your Incarnation, Your Life, Your Passion, Your Death, and Your glorious Resurrection. We who once had no hope are now alive with hope and it is a hope that will never be dimmed for we know that in the end our faith and our hope in You will be rewarded in the eternal beatific vision.

John the Baptist was the first witness to the truth, he prepared the way, and he announced that the One who coming after him was the real life-giver. He met You while You were both in the womb of your mothers. By the power of the Holy Spirit, he recognized You and leaped with joy in his mother's womb.

Beloved, You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life - there is no other. Today, Lord, as we prepare to celebrate the day of Your birth let us contemplate the humility of God, and be struck anew by the wondrous love of God that gave us His only Son to redeem the world.

Grant us the grace to be uncompromising witnesses to the truth like John the Baptist and let us be unafraid of those who can kill the body but after that are powerless to do anything else. We entrust both our bodies and our souls in Your care in complete confidence that You O Lord will save Your people. 

PSALM 24(25):4-5,8-9,10,14 ©

Lord, make me know your ways.

Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me:
for you are God my saviour.

The Lord is good and upright.

He shows the path to those who stray,
He guides the humble in the right path,
He teaches his way to the poor.

His ways are faithfulness and love

for those who keep his covenant and law.
The Lord’s friendship is for those who revere him;
to them he reveals his covenant.

Stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.

LUKE 1:57-66 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Names are important - Zechariah and Elizabeth both knew that the baby she had conceived was by a miracle of God. Zechariah was struck dumb because of his disbelief and had nine months to contemplate what all this meant and from his beautiful canticle of praise when his tongue was loosed we see its fruit. On the eighth day of her son's birth, the child was to be circumcised and given a name. When asked what they were going to call him she said, 'John', they questioned her judgment and referred to the child's father who wrote on a tablet, 'His name is John', it was the name given by God for it was God who gave the child his identity. The moment he conferred on the child the name God had chosen for him he was able to speak again. 

Every child who is baptized is given the name of Christian, the name of Christ making us adopted children of the Father and co-heirs with You to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the will of God for us in You by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is our identity before God as members of Your Body, the Church which You founded, and of which John was the first witness.

‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.

FRIDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

King of the peoples
and cornerstone of the Church,
come and save man,
whom you made from the dust of the earth.

1 SAMUEL 1:24-28 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

What a consolation it is to know that our children are Yours as well - in truth they are Yours first.

Hannah shed many bitter tears and prayed with longing that God would open her womb and bless her. He heard her prayers and gave her a son who was her delight but she did not cling to him. Having received him with joy she gave him back to God. She teaches us that children are God's gifts to us and are ours only for a season. We are charged with the responsibility to nurture them not only physically but spiritually as well and then entrust them to the Father.

Lord, God, look with pity and compassion on parents who have received the great gift of a child or children from You but have failed in raising them up as well as we ought to have done. We hand them over to You today, in Your great kindness O Lord,  receive them and do for them what we neglected to do. Fill them with grace, grant them the gift of conversion and repentance, and restore them once again as fruitful members in the mystical body of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM - 1 SAMUEL 2:1,4-8 ©

My heart exults in the Lord.

I find my strength in my God;
my mouth laughs at my enemies
as I rejoice in your saving help.

The bows of the mighty are broken,

but the weak are clothed with strength.
Those with plenty must labour for bread,
but the hungry need work no more.
The childless wife has children now
but the fruitful wife bears no more.

It is the Lord who gives life and death,

he brings men to the grave and back;
it is the Lord who gives poverty and riches.
He brings men low and raises them on high.

He lifts up the lowly from the dust,

from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes
to give him a glorious throne.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
on them he has set the world.

My heart exults in the Lord my Saviour.

LUKE 1:46-56 ©

My Soul's Beloved, 

The Church recalls Mary's hymn of praise constantly in her liturgy - it reveals the beauty of her soul and her receptivity to God's Word in Sacred Scripture. From the Magnificat, it is clear that the Word of God formed the woof and weave of her life. She lived the Word, she breathed the Word, she contemplated the Word from the moment of her conception. Filled with every grace and virtue of the Holy Spirit she mirrored perfectly the God whom she loved and adored with passion. 

She lived under the gaze of the Almighty who fashioned her with exceeding care. Conceived free from original sin and never desiring anything but the will of God in all things, she remains the Woman par excellence. The New Eve. Mary acknowledged that God is her Savior for she, like the rest of mankind, was redeemed, before the work of salvation wrought by her Son that would save all mankind, (for with God who is outside time, all things are possible). She is the template for all of us who are God's children. She is what we can and must aspire to be however imperfectly, when we allow God complete autonomy over our lives. 

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for teaching us to call Your Father our Abba as well. Thank You for giving us Your Mother to be ours as well. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit that makes a life of grace and virtue possible - for on our own we can do nothing and remain miserable, sinful wretches. Thank You for redeeming us and making us adopted children of God. Keep us safe from the enemy until we are home with You eternally. 

ST. PETER CANISIUS, PRIEST & DOCTOR - THURSDAY OF THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Emmanuel,
our king and lawgiver,
come and save us,
Lord our God.

SONG OF SONGS 2:8-14 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Thank You for loving me as extravagantly as You do. I know I am undeserving of such glorious and passionate love - so great is Your love for me that You lay down Your life so I may live with You forever. How good You are, O Lord, my God, even when I turn away from You, hide from You, forget You, sin against You, You still pursue me. You are ready to forgive me and to restore our friendship.

You see me as Your sister, Your spouse, a daughter of the Father and You keep me as the apple of Your eye. Thank You for Your constant assurance in Your Word that You will never leave me, never forsake me, even when I run away from You to seek happiness apart from You.

Thank You for seeing me as I am and loving me anyway. Thank You for desiring my love. Thank You for keeping Your gaze on me constantly and thank You for Your faithfulness in loving me. Your love does not depend on anything I can give You for You need nothing from me - You are complete in Yourself and yet You desire my poor, unworthy love. 

In response to Your loving invitation to me, I come to You and I wish to confess my love for You. Lord, I give You my whole being freely and unconditionally. I give You my will and I ask You here and now to come and take possession of me. Take all of me, my Lord and in return give me all of Yourself. I worship and adore You. Grant that I may never separate myself from You through sin. I am yours and all I have and am are Yours forever.

‘Come then, my love,
my lovely one, come.
My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock,
in the coverts of the cliff,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet
and your face is beautiful.’

PSALM 32(33):2-3,11-12,20-21 ©

Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,

with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
O sing him a song that is new,
play loudly, with all your skill.

His own designs shall stand forever,

the plans of his heart from age to age.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.

Our soul is waiting for the Lord.

The Lord is our help and our shield.
In him do our hearts find joy.
We trust in his holy name.

Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just; O sing him a song that is new.

LUKE 1:39-45 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

With You O Lord, in Mary's womb, Pope Benedict tells us that Your Holy Spirit was already directing her in a new way. His exact words are: 'The Holy Spirit who makes the Son of God present in Mary's flesh, enlarged her heart to God's dimensions and urged her along the way of charity.' 

Judah means praise, and Mary set out quickly to visit her cousin Elizabeth so together they could praise God for the marvels that He had done in both their lives. Grant us this grace O Lord that when we come together as a family or a group of friends we may use every opportunity to give You praise. As soon as Elizabeth heard the sound of Mary's voice the baby in her womb leaped for joy and both she and her infant were filled with the Holy Spirit. At the Spirit's prompting, we are told:

She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

For the duration of Mary's visit, the Kingdom of God was present in Zechariah's home. One can only imagine the conversations that the two cousins had as they praised God present in the flesh in Mary's womb. They spent those three months in perpetual adoration of God in Mary, God's living tabernacle. 

Lord Jesus, I too wish to be Your living sanctuary. Come into my heart and remain with me not just when I receive You in Holy Communion but until I draw my last breath and I am truly one with You eternally.

WEDNESDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT- 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Key of David, who open the gates of the eternal kingdom,
come to liberate from prison
the captive who lives in darkness.

ISAIAH 7:10-14 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Very often, Lord, we are like Ahaz, the prophet himself says to him, ask the Lord your God for a sign, and with a display of sham humility he replies that he says no, I will not put the Lord to the test. The prophet goes on to reveal the prophecy, whether or not Ahaz was ready to hear it:

‘Listen now, House of David:
are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men
without trying the patience of my God, too?
The Lord himself, therefore,
will give you a sign.
It is this: the maiden is with child
and will soon give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel,
a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’

Beloved, we have not only heard the prophecy but it has been fulfilled over 2000 years. We are living in the age of the Holy Spirit. For over 2000 years we have celebrated Your Nativity with great joy. We gaze wonderstruck as we contemplate the divine infant in our cribs and we are humbled by the love of God who became incarnate by the will of God and the fiat of the young virgin, Mary.  

We rejoice O Lord at Your birth, we rejoice that You are Immanuel - God with us. We are grateful, Lord, that You are now inseparably one with us as You are inseparably one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. It is the love of God in the Holy Spirit that draws us into the life of the Holy Trinity. It is a terrible thing to contemplate, Beloved, that You will never ever leave us but we, sinful, weak, creatures can choose to turn away from You through grave sin. Never permit us O Lord to refuse to return to You in humility and contrition, begging Your forgiveness each time we fall no matter how many times a day. Your love is unconditional and You will always, always, welcome us back. Thank You, Lord.

PSALM 23(24):1-6 ©

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,

the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas;
on the waters he made it firm.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?

Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless things.

He shall receive blessings from the Lord

and reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Let the Lord enter! He is the king of glory.

LUKE 1:26-38 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

A few days from now we will celebrate Your birthday - the day when heaven having already descended into the womb of Mary becomes visible and tangible to the world at Your birth.

In a few brief words, the greatest event in human history is made manifest by God through His messenger, the angel Gabriel sent by God to a virgin. She was betrothed to Joseph of the House of David. The angel appears to her and greets her saying, 

‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ 

Mary deeply aware of her littleness before God was understandably disturbed by this extravagant greeting and the angel perceiving this says gently, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob forever and his reign will have no end.’ 

This revelation did not take her by surprise - the whole of Israel was waiting for the fulfillment of this prophecy. Like every maiden in Israel at the time, Mary would surely have wondered who would be chosen to bring it about but never for an instant would she have presumed that it could be her. Having processed what the angel said she responds with a very practical question, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’

Mary was already betrothed to Joseph, she understood that no human person could be the father of the Son of God and since she was a virgin she wondered how this could come about. She was not denying that God could do it she just wondered how He would do it. And she gets her answer, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God.’ 

At Mary's fiat, the Triune God overshadowed her, the Holy Spirit came upon her and the Son of God became incarnate in her womb. This moment changed the course of history forever. The unhappy past by the sin of disobedience of Adam and Eve was forever wiped out and God began a new chapter in human history with Mary's sweet, gentle, tender 'yes' to God to do with her just as He willed.

The angel also gave her another piece of wonderful and miraculous news: ‘Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ 

We thank You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that we can always trust You even when we do not understand. You can and will draw good out of every situation when we humble ourselves and give You permission to do with us what You will. May our response to all You ask of us be an echo of Mary's yes. 

‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.

TUESDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF ADVENT - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Root of Jesse, set up as a sign to the peoples,
come to save us,
and delay no more.

JUDGES 13:2-7,24-25 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You can cause abundance from barren places just as You cause life to bloom from barren wombs and barren lives. All life flows from You and we are to live this gift of life in obedience and humility before the God of all creation. We are to safeguard what we have been given, we are to nurture it, and we are to live it always in the way that gives glory to God. 

Each of us is given an angel of God to guard, guide, and protect us. We are never alone. God's messenger who is appointed by God exclusively for us remains with us and before God and makes our prayers known to Him even as we pray and we receive God's response through our angel. Sadly we are unaware of this amazing gift God has given us. We neglect to appreciate and give thanks to God for our guardian angel and to make use of this ever-present help that is available to us.

Grant us this grace O Lord to be sensitive to the stirrings of grace in us and to cooperate always with this grace. May we allow God to allow the barren places in our hearts and lives to bloom as we remain always docile to the work of God in us. 

Today as we reflect on the birth of Samson who was conceived by the power of God in the wife of Manoah who was barren let us also ask You to touch our lives with Your Presence and with Your grace so our lives bear fruit in abundance for Your glory.

PSALM 70(71):3-6,16-17 ©

Be a rock where I can take refuge,
a mighty stronghold to save me;
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
Free me from the hand of the wicked.

It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,

my trust, O Lord, since my youth.
On you I have leaned from my birth,
from my mother’s womb you have been my help.

I will declare the Lord’s mighty deeds

proclaiming your justice, yours alone.
O God, you have taught me from my youth
and I proclaim your wonders still.

My lips are filled with your praise, with your glory all the day long.

LUKE 1:5-25 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

In today's Gospel, we reflect on the visitation of the angel to Zechariah and his response to the astounding good news that he received concerning both him and his wife Elizabeth. We are told by the evangelist Luke that both he and his wife were worthy in God's sight and they observed all commandments and observance of the Lord scrupulously all their lives and yet their prayer for a child remained unanswered. Elizabeth we are told was barren and by this time both she and Zechariah were getting old. She was now past her child-bearing years. But with God time means nothing. You O Lord are the God of time and space and You are the God of the impossible. You make a way when there is seemingly no way.

The angel visited Zechariah when he was in the Lord's sanctuary. We read that he was disturbed and overcome with fear and the angel reassured him saying:  ‘Zechariah, do not be afraid, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth is to bear you a son and you must name him John. He will be your joy and delight and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord; he must drink no wine, no strong drink. Even from his mother’s womb he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah, he will go before him to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the disobedient back to the wisdom that the virtuous have, preparing for the Lord a people fit for him.’ One would suppose that Zechariah, a man of God, familiar with salvation history and God's ability to do the impossible, would be delirious with joy and yet he says: ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is getting on in years.’ 

And the angel responds:  ‘I am Gabriel who stands in God’s presence, and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news. Listen! Since you have not believed my words, which will come true at their appointed time, you will be silenced and have no power of speech until this has happened.’ As a consequence of his lack of faith and disbelief in the message his power of speech was removed until the birth of his son, John. 

His wife Elizabeth on the other hand rejoiced because of what God had done for her:

Some time later his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept to herself. ‘The Lord has done this for me’ she said ‘now that it has pleased him to take away the humiliation I suffered among men.’

My Beloved, let us never lose faith, hope, and courage, but wait patiently on Your time, and Your will, and never doubt that all things are possible for those who believe. If we we do not receive what we ask then let us be confident that You desire to give us something far better. May I always, 'Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.'