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