THURSDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK OF ADVENT - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Seek the Lord while he is still to be found,
call to him while he is still near. IS 55:6

ISAIAH 26:1-6

My Soul's Beloved,

The Church You founded is Your Bride, she is Your body, and she is guided by You, her head. She is fed by You, nourished by You, she receives the fullness of all that is good, holy, and beautiful from Your Holy Spirit who dwells in her and fills her with Your life. My Lord and My God, how good it is to know without a shadow of a doubt that God is truly present among us and that You will remain with us until time shall cease.

It is in this Church O Lord, that all who desire to take shelter may do so. All are welcome. Her gates are always open and the poor, the humble, the childlike, are received with open arms and looked on more favorably and tenderly than the vain, the haughty, and the proud. Around Your Church O Lord is a wall that no evil can penetrate. You are its only gate and all who wish to enter can do so only through You there is no other way to enter the City of God built on Mt. Zion, the New Jerusalem.

You are the everlasting, invisible Rock while Peter is the visible Rock on which she stands and she can never be moved, she will not be overcome, nothing can prevail over her for she has God as her protector, shield, guard, and warrior.  

We have a strong city;
to guard us he has set
wall and rampart about us.
Open the gates! Let the upright nation come in,
she, the faithful one
whose mind is steadfast, who keeps the peace,
because she trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord for ever,
for the Lord is the everlasting Rock;
he has brought low those who lived high up
in the steep citadel;
he brings it down, brings it down to the ground,
flings it down in the dust:
the feet of the lowly, the footsteps of the poor
trample on it.

PSALM 117(118):1,8-9,19-21,25-27

Blessed in the name of the Lord is he who comes.

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love has no end.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in men;
it is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.

Open to me the gates of holiness:

I will enter and give thanks.
This is the Lord’s own gate
where the just may enter.
I will thank you for you have answered
and you are my saviour.

O Lord, grant us salvation;
O Lord, grant success.
Blessed in the name of the Lord
is he who comes.
We bless you from the house of the Lord;
the Lord God is our light.

Blessed in the name of the Lord is he who comes.

MATTHEW 7:21,24-27

My Soul's Beloved,

The greatest of all sins is pride it cost Lucifer paradise and it will cost us the beatific vision and eternal joy in God's presence if we choose our will over Yours. Too often men and women who have never known the Truth or have known it partially, refuse to have an open mind and a willingness and humility to explore, study, discover, and contemplate whether or not there is more than what they believe in offers. Pride, their culture, or fear keeps them from seeking answers that will open their eyes to the Truth that sets us free.

To belong to the Catholic Church is to be a member of the household of God built on the everlasting Rock that is Christ. You are the Son of the Living God, the Redeemer, and the Savior of the world. You came into the world to make visible the invisible God. You came into the world as one like us in all things save sin. You came into the womb of the Virgin Mary when the Holy Spirit came on her, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. This is the Way God chose to come to us through the Woman clothed with the Son of God. The moment You were conceived in her womb was the instant when her heel crushed the head of the Serpent.

Hear the prayers of Your Church who does not cease to unite her prayer for unity with Yours. It is a prayer that is already heard for the Father desires it too. May all Catholics O Lord live their faith boldly and become effective witnesses that draw the whole world to worship You in spirit and in truth.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock.’