The light to enlighten the Gentiles
and give glory to Israel, your people. LK 2:32
MALACHI 3:1-4
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
God sent You into the world not to condemn it but to redeem it. We are children of God saved by Your Blood. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God so many in the world do not know You, many who do are indifferent mistakenly thinking that faith in You is an option among many. God did not give Himself into the hands of evil to be one option among many this is a lie and many believe it. It is easier to live a life of ease and self-indulgence rather than choose to walk in purity, holiness, goodness, and truth. To those Catholics and Christians who are lukewarm, and indifferent, those who blow hot and cold according to their feelings, will discover to their eternal sorrow that having been lackadaisical in life of the fact that God emptied Himself and took on our human condition to save us they are now condemned to an eternal death where the fire does not go out or the worms die.
Yet, Lord, we know that as long as we have breath we have hope and You will hear and answer the prayers of those who cry out to You day and night. You are powerful and can break into the darkness of any heart with the light of Your Spirit and save and You do. May Your faithful remnant plead tirelessly before the mercy throne to save all souls for too great a price was paid for our redemption for a single soul to be lost.
And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made.
PSALM 23(24):7-10
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for human sins. That is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted.
LUKE 2:22-40
My Soul's Beloved,
Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘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.’
As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘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.’
There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like the refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made.
PSALM 23(24):7-10
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,
the Lord, the valiant in war.
the Lord, the valiant in war.
O gates, lift high your heads;
grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Let him enter, the king of glory!
Who is he, the king of glory?
He, the Lord of armies,
he is the king of glory.
He, the Lord of armies,
he is the king of glory.
Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory.
HEBREWS 2:14-18
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
There is nothing about the human condition that You are unfamiliar with. You became one like us in all things save sin. You became one like us so we can approach You certain that You will listen, understand, empathize, have compassion, and come to our help. We are children of Adam tainted by original sin and even though it is washed away in Baptism its effects have weakened us making us vulnerable to temptation. We are most susceptible to the temptations of the flesh this is why You gave Yourself up to the forces of darkness. You permitted Your flesh to be torn to purple ribbons by the lash of the Roman scourging, You permitted Your Sacred Heard to be crowned by cruel thorns that dug into Your skull in atonement for our shameless thoughts for sin is born in the mind before it takes root in our heart and we act on it. You permitted Your Sacred Heart to be pierced so that life-giving blood and water could flow from You until the end of time to take away the sins of the whole world and finally, the horrific and barbarous death by crucifixion to which You subjected Yourself to also put to death the sinful cravings of the flesh. By the Blood of the Lamb, we are washed clean, saved, made whole - we are redeemed.
May we, who unite the poor sacrifice of our lives with the one, holy, perfect, and only truly acceptable Sacrifice of the Son of God, at every Holy Mass we are privileged to celebrate, save all whom we lay before Your Altar. This is our hope. This is our prayer. This is our belief. Thank You, Lord.
It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for human sins. That is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted.
LUKE 2:22-40
My Soul's Beloved,
Mary, the sinless creature of God, the fairest and peerless daughter of the Most High, chosen by God to be the Mother of His Son, in humility and perfect obedience to the Law, together with Joseph her most chaste spouse, came into the Temple of Jerusalem to be purified and to offer to present to God His first-born Son. To all who saw this couple bringing their baby to fulfill the Law of Moses saw an ordinary event but heaven was present when Mary, the Mother of God, offered back to God the Gift He had given her. Mary was readily and whole-heartedly presenting to the Father the Son He sent because He so loved the world that He would not condemn it but redeem is and save the world. There was no way she could know the significance of what was happening but she was aware that God's coming into the world meant something that no human heart could fully comprehend, she also knew it would cost her dearly, how she had no way of knowing but she knew it would.
They accepted their poverty and humbly offered the sacrifice of the poor, two turtledoves. Prompted by the Holy Spirit Simeon came into the temple and prophesied about the Babe in the arms of the young Mother, things that would surely set her heart and pulses racing and which Joseph heard with a little trepidation as well at what lay in store for his family.
Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘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.’
As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘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.’
The prophetess and widow Anna, teaches us how we are to live in submission to God and in the presence of God. Widowed as a young woman and now in her eighty-fourth year she spent all the years left to her in the temple fasting and praying. We can learn from her how not to live a life of dissipation and frivolity when we are alone but to keep company with You and rejoice in knowing that nothing is more fruitful and delightful than constant and total union with You.
There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
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