FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Whoever serves me must follow me, says the Lord;
and where I am, there also will my servant be. JN 12:26

JEREMIAH 31:31-34 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We are so blessed that You, O Lord, are the Covenant that God has made with us. It is unlike every other Covenant ever made between God and His people for by it You seal us to God by the power of Your Blood. This Covenant is everlasting because the power of the Holy Spirit abiding in us draws us into the very life of God. 

The Law of Love is inscribed on our hearts - this Law is alive for it is the Eternal Word of God that is made one with us in the Holy Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit abiding in us makes it possible for us to live, move, and have our being in You and the Father. 

Beloved, we are grafted onto Your Body. Your life gives us life. We are animated by Your Holy Spirit. You are the visible image of the invisible God who has so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in You will not perish but have eternal life. 

Thank You, Lord, for the Sacraments especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation that makes it possible for us to rise to new life in You no matter how far we have strayed and how gravely we have sinned. 

Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I will be their God and they shall be my people. There will be no further need for neighbour to try to teach neighbour, or brother to say to brother, ‘Learn to know the Lord!’ No, they will all know me, the least no less than the greatest – it is the Lord who speaks – since I will forgive their iniquity and never call their sin to mind.

PSALM 50(51):3-4,12-15 ©

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.

In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

A pure heart create for me, O God,

put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

Give me again the joy of your help;

with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.

A pure heart create for me, O God.

HEBREWS 5:7-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

At the heart of every sin is pride, and You, our crucified Savior, nailed this besetting sin of the world to the Cross. Emptying Yourself completely of everything that was Yours as God and the Son of God, the Eternal Word of the Father in whom and through whom all things came out of nothing to be You showed us how much the Father loves us. But this is not everything, Lord, we are called to love God with all the fervor of our being. We are called to lay down our lives for You and for another for this is how we are loved by God. 

Every day that is given to us as a gift we are called to serve as You served. We are called to be humble and obedient. We are called to hold back the proud look, the haughty words, the sarcasm, the belittling, the putting down, and the casting out of each other by dying to ourselves constantly. To do this, Lord, we are called to keep our gaze on You crucified, only then can we hope, with grace, to empty ourselves of our pride, and our ego, and to be ready to be the last, the least, and the lowest. 

Thank You, Lord, for all You have won for us through Your life, passion, death, and glorious resurrection into Heaven. Thank You for not just showing us the Way to the Father but for being the only Way to Him.

During his life on earth, Christ offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard. Although he was Son, he learnt to obey through suffering; but having been made perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation.

JOHN 12:20-33 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Dying spiritually to ourselves is so much harder than actually dying. To die daily to our faults, weaknesses, our besetting sins is a moment-by-moment struggle. We fail often but we keep trying, and this is what is most pleasing to You, Lord. 

When people are seeking You, Lord, as those Greeks who approached Philip, let us bring them into the Church, introduce them to the other members in the family of God, and ultimately to faith in You.

Nothing that happened to You came as a surprise. This is why You came into the world - that dreaded yet long-awaited hour was always before You from the crib until the grave. You knew that the salvation of the entire human race was to be given a new beginning. Creation was groaning, as St. Paul writes, as with the pains of childbirth. You had to fall to the ground and die accepting our death so we could rise from death to share new life in You through Your resurrection. 

‘Now the hour has come
for the Son of Man to be glorified.
I tell you, most solemnly,
unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies,
it remains only a single grain;
but if it dies,
it yields a rich harvest.’

We live in an age where people chase the illusion of eternal youth. Many are so blind they cannot see that they are caricatures of what they once were. We cannot make an idol of this life that God has given us which is fleeting. We were created for eternity, eternal bliss with God in company with all the angels and saints in heaven. This life is fleeting the wisdom of God reminds us that we are like the flowers in the field here today and gone tomorrow.

Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world
will keep it for the eternal life.

You have given us Your Word and Your Church so we know the Way to the Father's house and to You. We have to become another Christ if we hope to have a share in Your glory.

If a man serves me, he must follow me,
wherever I am, my servant will be there too.
If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.

We thank You, Lord, for winning the price of our freedom for us all. Keep our gaze fixed on You raised between heaven and hell and know for certain that it is only through it that You will draw the whole world to Yourself and the Father through the Holy Spirit.

‘Now sentence is being passed on this world;

now the prince of this world is to be overthrown.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I shall draw all men to myself.’