THURSDAY OF THE 5TH WEEK OF LENT - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord. PS 94:8

GENESIS 17:3-9

My Soul's Beloved, 

Just as You made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants forever, so too, my Lord, has God made a holy and irrevocable covenant with all who are grafted to You through Baptism. You are the Covenant of Love that unites us in the Holy Spirit with the Father. Beloved, God is faithful and will never go back on His promises. His covenant is eternal; however, we, sinners, both the descendants of the Old Covenant and the New, either individually or as nations, turn our backs on it, and thus we sever the sacred bond of love that makes us one with You.

All God's promises to His people are fulfilled in You, Lord, and this is why whoever rejects You rejects His Covenant. You, O Lord, the Eternal, firstborn, beloved Son of the Father, unite us to Him, and if we refuse a relationship with You, then we have no relationship with the Father. All the divisions, wars, the greed, the power structures set up by the spawns of Satan to devour, steal, and kill the vast majority of people for their own selfish and personal gain are because we have forgotten that we are one family. We are brothers and sisters, and we have a sacred duty to be our sisters' and brothers' keepers.

Our world is in shambles, and there is greater calamity, disasters, and wars that will visit us and annihilate us if we do not repent humbly and return to our Father's house. Have mercy on us, O Lord, and grant that by the power of Your precious blood and the merits of Your passion, we will reclaim our heritage and be saved.

Abram bowed to the ground and God said this to him, ‘Here now is my covenant with you: you shall become the father of a multitude of nations. You shall no longer be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I make you father of a multitude of nations. I will make you most fruitful. I will make you into nations, and your issue shall be kings. I will establish my Covenant between myself and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, a Covenant in perpetuity, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land you are living in, the whole land of Canaan, to own in perpetuity, and I will be your God.
‘You on your part shall maintain my Covenant, yourself and your descendants after you, generation after generation.’

PSALM 104(105):4-9

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever. 

Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, the judgements he spoke.

O children of Abraham, his servant,
O sons of the Jacob he chose.
He, the Lord, is our God:
his judgements prevail in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

JOHN 8:51-59

My Soul's Beloved, 

The sheer audacity of those of us who would seek to contain and confine You, Your power, and Your identity in their own tiny, hide-bound minds, and reduce You to a manageable size according to their own lopsided and narrow vision and their own human wisdom and intellect. These are the ones who are most vociferous and diabolical in their strident, raucous denunciation of the Church and its doctrines, both oral and written. They refuse to accept and embrace the entirety of divine revelation, resulting in the hatred, often murderous rage, and division rampant among us.  

The most important thing to keep in mind, always, is that God is a mystery, a transcendent mystery, all-powerful, all-good, all-holy; we are but His insignificant creatures, dependent on You for our every breath. Take Your breath away, Lord, and we cease to exist.

Another aspect of You, Lord, in Your humanity, is that You did not back down from speaking truth to the powerful of Your day. You were fully aware that this very Truth that they refused to acknowledge and therefore rejected would bring about Your death by crucifixion. Yet, You did not back down. Truth remains the truth, even if the whole world rejects it, and a lie remains a lie even if the whole world embraces it.

Lord Jesus, give us the courage to be bold when boldness is required. To face the enemies of the Truth with quiet courage. To speak when words are necessary and to be silent when silence will be more powerful than any words we speak.

Your time had not yet arrived, and so when Your enemies picked up stones to kill You, You hid Yourself and left. However, when the hour of the redemption of the world would arrive, You would voluntarily give Yourself up and offer Yourself as the only and eternal Sacrifice acceptable to the Father for the salvation of the world.

Jesus said to the Jews:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
whoever keeps my word
will never see death.’
The Jews said, ‘Now we know for certain that you are possessed. Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and yet you say, “Whoever keeps my word will never know the taste of death.” Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? The prophets are dead too. Who are you claiming to be?’ Jesus answered:
‘If I were to seek my own glory
that would be no glory at all;
my glory is conferred by the Father,
by the one of whom you say, “He is our God”
although you do not know him.
But I know him,
and if I were to say: I do not know him,
I should be a liar, as you are liars yourselves.
But I do know him, and I faithfully keep his word.
Your father Abraham rejoiced
to think that he would see my Day;
he saw it and was glad.’
The Jews then said, ‘You are not fifty yet, and you have seen Abraham!’ Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
before Abraham ever was,
I Am.’
At this they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple.