Obedient to the Father, you were led to your crucifixion
as a meek lamb is led to the slaughter.
ISAIAH 49:1-6
My Soul's Beloved,
All we need is Your Word in Sacred Scripture and Your Church to know You, love You, and adore and worship You. We need to pay close attention, O Lord, and when we do, we will encounter You. Nothing is hidden, but only those who hunger and thirst for You will recognize You. But our eyes and ears need to be open, O Lord, only then will we see and hear, and rejoice in God's goodness and faithfulness.
Lord, many times in Your public ministry, You, in Your humanity, would have been frustrated at the inability of Your chosen 12 to grasp all that You were saying to them. Over and over again, You revealed who You are, and even though they were witnesses of the great signs and wonders You performed in the physical, spiritual, and natural realm, they failed to understand. But You were patient with them just as You are patient with us. Understandably, they had difficulty in processing all that was unfolding before their eyes; we, however, have 2000 years of the Church studying, pondering, and being enlightened by the Holy Spirit. We have the holy lives of men and women, great teachers filled with wisdom, who unpack and reveal divine truths. Still, we remain indifferent, unmoved, uninterested in hungering and thirsting to come to the knowledge of Truth and in doing so encounter You, and be transformed by that ongoing encounter.
Beloved, open our hearts and minds to really meet You during the last days as we reflect on the price that God paid to save us and rejoice and exult in God's unfathomable love for us sinners. Thank You, Lord, for revealing to us that You are the Light of the world in whom there is no darkness.
Islands, listen to me,
pay attention, remotest peoples.
The Lord called me before I was born,
from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.
He made my mouth a sharp sword,
and hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me into a sharpened arrow,
and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel)
in whom I shall be glorified’;
while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain,
I have exhausted myself for nothing’;
and all the while my cause was with the Lord,
my reward with my God.
I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord,
my God was my strength.
And now the Lord has spoken,
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
to gather Israel to him:
‘It is not enough for you to be my servant,
to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I will make you the light of the nations
so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’
PSALM 70(71):1-6,15,17
My lips will tell of your help.
pay attention, remotest peoples.
The Lord called me before I was born,
from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.
He made my mouth a sharp sword,
and hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me into a sharpened arrow,
and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel)
in whom I shall be glorified’;
while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain,
I have exhausted myself for nothing’;
and all the while my cause was with the Lord,
my reward with my God.
I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord,
my God was my strength.
And now the Lord has spoken,
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
to gather Israel to him:
‘It is not enough for you to be my servant,
to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I will make you the light of the nations
so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’
PSALM 70(71):1-6,15,17
My lips will tell of your help.
In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, free me:
pay heed to me and save me.
Be a rock where I can take refuge,
a mighty stronghold to save me;
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
Free me from the hand of the wicked.
It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, since my youth.
On you I have leaned from my birth,
from my mother’s womb you have been my help.
My lips will tell of your justice
and day by day of your help.
O God, you have taught me from my youth
and I proclaim your wonders still.
let me never be put to shame.
In your justice rescue me, free me:
pay heed to me and save me.
Be a rock where I can take refuge,
a mighty stronghold to save me;
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
Free me from the hand of the wicked.
It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, since my youth.
On you I have leaned from my birth,
from my mother’s womb you have been my help.
My lips will tell of your justice
and day by day of your help.
O God, you have taught me from my youth
and I proclaim your wonders still.
My lips will tell of your help.
JOHN 13:21-33,36-38
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