THE MOST HOLY NAME OF JESUS - 2024

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

1 JOHN  2:29-3:6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Holiness and righteousness are attributes of God and we whom You have made sons and daughters of God by adoption are commanded to be holy and righteous as well.

Ignorance of You O Lord, refusal to desire to know the Truth, and to hunger and thirst for the Truth is the reason why the world is still in darkness and seemingly in its death throes. Only when members of our non-Catholic family, as so many who cross the Tiber and come home after sincerely seeking the Truth and humbly asking the Holy Spirit to lead them into all Truth will they receive the grace to embrace the fullness of Truth and come home to the Church You founded on the Rock of Peter. 

Only those who are humble and truly hunger and thirst for the Truth with honesty, integrity, and the courage to go where it leads, it is impossible. It is pitiful to see what so many different faiths in the world uphold and worship. Amazing structures are built, and appropriate words only for the worship of the Triune God like consecrated, sanctum sanctorum, etc. are used with such seriousness one can only look on with deep sorrow at the mass delusion. What they desire with great hunger is to worship and because their hearts and minds are closed they are doomed to empty worship directed to false gods. 

Beloved, St. John writes so eloquently of the Father's love for us but what good does it do the world if I do not desire to make His love known to the whole world so all can come to the knowledge of Truth and be saved. God is the Father of us all. He has loved us so passionately that He sent You, His only Son into the world to empty Yourself so we could be filled with You and with the love of God.

Through our lives, we are to be beacons of hope to the world. We are given a mission. We are called to make disciples and we can do this only by being salt and light in the world. Sadly, we are no different from the rest of the world because sin still rules us. We do know You, Lord, help us to be a sign of contradiction in the world like You only then can we draw the world to You and hasten Your coming again in glory.

PSALM 97(98):1,3-6 ©

Sing a new song to the Lord

for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.

Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp

with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

JOHN 1:29-34 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You have baptized us with the Holy Spirit and with Fire. We are a new creation - set free from enslavement to the world, the flesh, and the devil. You O Lord, the Lamb of God have made an atoning Sacrifice to the Father pleasing and acceptable in His sight and by Your wounds, Your stripes, Your Blood, we are healed.

John the Baptist testified to Your coming. He prepared the way for You. He recognized You for it was revealed to him that he would know You when he saw the Spirit come down from heaven and rest on You. You came to receive a baptism that would make it possible for the whole world to be redeemed and sanctified. You entered into our death, destroyed it, rose triumphant from the tomb in glory and majesty, and You have restored to the Father all that the old Adam had so carelessly lost.

Just as John the Baptist had seen and witnessed that You are the Chosen One of God, so too Beloved, do we not only see but taste You in the Holy Eucharist. Thank You, Lord, for the Gift of Yourself to us. Help us not to keep You to ourselves but to proclaim You to the world by the witness of our lives.