MONDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Seek good and not evil so that you may live,
and that the Lord God of hosts may really be with you. AMOS 5:14

ISAIAH 65:17-21 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We are in the fourth week of Lent and in a couple of weeks we will celebrate the glorious feast of Easter. But for now we continue to wear the sackcloth and ashes of penitence and make reparation for our sins and the sins of the whole world. 

Thank You for the promises that God has made through the prophet Isaiah. It is this prophet who foretold Your terrible sufferings and how You would be made a thing of horror and shame which it would be difficult for us to look upon. But it was our sins, our faults, our iniquities that brought about Your brutal and inhuman death at the hands of cruel, barbaric men. Let us never forget that while they were the ones who struct the blows, who spat on You, mocked You, derided and cursed You, buffeted You about so You stumbled and fell over and over again, who pressed the crown of needle sharp thorns on Your Sacred Head, those who scourged You until the skin on Your Sacred Body was torn to purple ribbons and Your Precious Blood ran down into the earth as You obtained the remission of the sins of the whole world, it was my sins that contributed to Your suffering and death. It was my hand that struck the blows, that nailed You to the Cross. I, a miserable sinner who brought about the death of the Son of God. 

I could not pay the debt I owed for my life and so You paid it for me. And not just that, my Lord and my God You paid it possible for me to make the triumphant hymn of Isaiah my own because of what You did for me and for us all by creating a new heaven and a new earth. You have reconciled us to the Father and filled with Your Holy Spirit we are now God's own cherished people. We have hope for we are saved. 

PSALM 29(30):2,4-6,11-13 ©

I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me

and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, you have raised my soul from the dead,
restored me to life from those who sink into the grave.

Sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him,

give thanks to his holy name.
His anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life.
At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn.

The Lord listened and had pity.

The Lord came to my help.
For me you have changed my mourning into dancing:
O Lord my God, I will thank you for ever.

I will praise you, Lord, you have rescued me.

JOHN 4:43-54 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You were rejected in Nazareth by the people who knew You but were welcomed by the Galileans. They had heard and seen all that You had done and they believed. All too often my Lord, we too who know You intimately in the Sacraments, reject You. We take the bountiful Gifts and the riches of graces received in the Church becoming indifferent and taking for granted the treasures that are lavished on us without measure. 

Fools that we are we forget that we will be called to stricter account when we stand before You as our Judge. You warn us clearly that since we have received more than those outside the Church our accountability is greater and our judgement more severe. We are witnesses to the greatest and unceasing signs and wonders in the Sacraments and still we ask for signs and miracles. How tired You must be of us, Lord.

Yet You are patient, tender, compassionate and kind. When the official pleads with You to heal his son who was on the point of death, You said a little wearily,

 ‘So you will not believe unless you see signs and portents!’ 

But the grief-stricken dad pleaded, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’ And as always my Lord, moved with compassion You did as he asked saying, ‘Go home,’ said Jesus ‘your son will live.’ The man's faith was so great he believed what You had said and started on his way. The story of this miraculous healing does not end here. We learn that while he was still on the journey back his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy had begun to recover. ‘The fever left him yesterday’ they said ‘at the seventh hour.’ The father realised that this was exactly the time when Jesus had said, ‘Your son will live’. 

The grace of faith is so rich and powerful it had the power to cause his entire household to believe in You and they were all saved. 

Grant us O Lord a vibrant faith. A faith that moves mountains. A faith that causes others who witness it in us to believe as well and to come to the knowledge and the fullness of Truth and believing in it they too will live.