Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life. JN 6:63, 68
ACTS 9:31-42
My Soul's Beloved,
With the election of our new Pope, Leo XVI, there is an air of excitement in the Church. The Holy Spirit is breathing new life into her like a cleansing wind, sweeping through all its dark and dusty corners, and refreshing her. Shame no longer has her retreating as the most grievous and heinous sins of her pastors brought her to her knees, and both good and bad priests and religious were looked at with suspicion and hate.
The Church stands once again as the shining light on the hill that You always intended bringing to her all the people of the world who climb up Mt. Zion and find hope, a home, and refuge in her. You, my Beloved, are granting Your Bride a period of respite so she can grow in confidence, grace, wisdom, and be filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit. You have given us a successor to St. Peter who is serene, calm, quiet, joyful, filled with steady and firm confidence in You and the work that You have called him to do.
We are ready, Lord, to listen to the voice of Peter and follow him just as he and the Apostles followed You. It's been a while since the members of Your Body, the Church have felt this excited and alive. Pour rich graces on our Holy Father, Pope Leo XVI, the hierarchy, and the faithful, may this be a time when each of us hears and responds to his call to go out to all nations and bring the Good News of salvation to all.
Peter visited one place after another and eventually came to the saints living down in Lydda. There he found a man called Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. Peter said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you: get up and fold up your sleeping mat.’ Aeneas got up immediately; everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they were all converted to the Lord.
At Jaffa there was a woman disciple called Tabitha, or Dorcas in Greek, who never tired of doing good or giving in charity. But the time came when she got ill and died, and they washed her and laid her out in a room upstairs. Lydda is not far from Jaffa, so when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men with an urgent message for him, ‘Come and visit us as soon as possible.’
Peter turned to the dead woman and said, ‘Tabitha, stand up.’ She opened her eyes, looked at Peter and sat up. Peter helped her to her feet, then he called in the saints and widows and showed them she was alive. The whole of Jaffa heard about it and many believed in the Lord.
PSALM 115(116):12-17
How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
Peter visited one place after another and eventually came to the saints living down in Lydda. There he found a man called Aeneas, a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years. Peter said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ cures you: get up and fold up your sleeping mat.’ Aeneas got up immediately; everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they were all converted to the Lord.
At Jaffa there was a woman disciple called Tabitha, or Dorcas in Greek, who never tired of doing good or giving in charity. But the time came when she got ill and died, and they washed her and laid her out in a room upstairs. Lydda is not far from Jaffa, so when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men with an urgent message for him, ‘Come and visit us as soon as possible.’
Peter turned to the dead woman and said, ‘Tabitha, stand up.’ She opened her eyes, looked at Peter and sat up. Peter helped her to her feet, then he called in the saints and widows and showed them she was alive. The whole of Jaffa heard about it and many believed in the Lord.
PSALM 115(116):12-17
How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?
How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
before all his people.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
you have loosened my bonds.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?
JOHN 6:60-69
JOHN 6:60-69
My Soul's Beloved,
Every Catholic echoes St. Peter's declaration of faith in You and in the Holy Eucharist. We cling to You, we cleave to You, and we say with him, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’ Beloved, when we confess with our lips and believe in our heart that You are indeed the Messiah, the first-born, only begotten Son of the Living God, then we will accept everything You say, not just with faith but with supernatural faith. We will hear You as the Holy Spirit desires us to hear and understand what the flesh and natural inclinations will find difficult and even impossible to comprehend. This is the sad truth of our Protestant brothers and sisters. There is a veil that keeps them from plumbing, understanding, and believing divine mysteries that You have revealed to those who have ears to hear.
We hear them echo the words of those followers who left You, saying, ‘This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?’ You respond, saying, ‘It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life. ‘But there are some of you who do not believe.’
Beloved, now as the Holy Spirit ushers the Church into a new era under the Pontificate of Pope Leo XVI we humbly beg You to open the hearts and minds of those who hearts are hardened because they cannot understand divine truths because their carnal and natural instincts prevent them from seeing what is so clear to the Church wherein the fullness of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness makes its home.
For Jesus knew from the outset those who did not believe, and who it was that would betray him. He went on, ‘This is why I told you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him.’ After this, many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him.
Then Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’
Then Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘What about you, do you want to go away too?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.’
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