THURSDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

You, O Christ, are the faithful witness,
the First-born from the dead,
you have loved us and have washed away our sins with your blood. REV 1:5

ACTS 13:13-25

My Soul's Beloved, 

In all the circumstances of our lives, we must be attuned to what the Holy Spirit within us is saying to us, but we know it is truly His voice only when we are certain that what He is saying to us does not contradict His Word in Sacred Scripture as well as the Sacred Teaching of the Magisterium. When we do, we can always be absolutely sure that it is God speaking to us and directing us. St. Paul, as well as all the Apostles, together with the early disciples, did this, and the Church continues to offer all her children this sure way to discern whether or not we are docile to the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, too often we do things to please ourselves or others, but not for Your glory alone. When we act in this way, our lives will be barren of good fruit. St. Paul shows us how to evangelise in different settings. Here he is speaking to Jews in the synagogue, and he proclaims the Good News of salvation by walking them through their own history of how God saved them with great signs and wonders, and leading up to You, whom God sent into the world, to the people He chose first and fulfilled every one of the promises He made to Abraham and his descendants. Yet they rejected You then, Lord, just as Christians in the past did who broke away from Your Body and who keep fragmenting to this day. 

To us who remain faithful and those to whom You continue to grant the grace to embrace the fullness of Truth after it was revealed to them by the Spirit, we thank You. We pray for all our brothers and sisters outside the Church to receive this same gift of faith and to return home. May Your prayer for unity, already answered by the Father, be visible in our time. May there soon be but one flock and one Shepherd. 

Paul and his friends went by sea from Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia where John left them to go back to Jerusalem. The others carried on from Perga till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went to synagogue on the sabbath and took their seats. After the lessons from the Law and the Prophets had been read, the presidents of the synagogue sent them a message: ‘Brothers, if you would like to address some words of encouragement to the congregation, please do so.’ Paul stood up, held up a hand for silence and began to speak:
‘Men of Israel, and fearers of God, listen! The God of our nation Israel chose our ancestors, and made our people great when they were living as foreigners in Egypt; then by divine power he led them out, and for about forty years took care of them in the wilderness. When he had destroyed seven nations in Canaan, he put them in possession of their land for about four hundred and fifty years. After this he gave them judges, down to the prophet Samuel. Then they demanded a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. After forty years, he deposed him and made David their king, of whom he approved in these words, “I have selected David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole purpose.” To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. Before John ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal.”’

PSALM 88(89):2-3,21,22,25,27

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.

I have found David my servant
and with my holy oil anointed him.
My hand shall always be with him
and my arm shall make him strong.

My truth and my love shall be with him;
by my name his might shall be exalted.
He will say to me: ‘You are my father,
my God, the rock who saves me.’

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

JOHN 13:16-20

My Soul's Beloved, 

Truly, Lord, 'hindsight is always 20/20 vision.' It is only after all our most painful experiences, and as we get older, looking back, we see clearly just as the Apostles did. You kept nothing secret from them but told them over and over again not just who You are but why You came into the world, and how the world would reject You, betray You, deny You, and murder You. You also told them repeatedly that death could not hold You and You would rise again on the 3rd day. Yet they did not understand, and because they could not make sense of what You were saying to them, it made no impact on them. Even the empty tomb did not jog their memory, for You told them about it, and yet they were bewildered and continued to mourn.

But they did believe, Lord, after the resurrection. They believed wholeheartedly. They carried out the mission entrusted to them, and almost all of them were martyred brutally for their fidelity in spreading the Good News to the ends of the earth. We, however, are privileged to have the whole Truth. The Church is alive. Her memory is alive.

After he had washed the feet of his disciples, Jesus said to them:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
no servant is greater than his master,
no messenger is greater than the man who sent him.
‘Now that you know this, happiness will be yours if you behave accordingly. I am not speaking about all of you: I know the ones I have chosen; but what scripture says must be fulfilled: Someone who shares my table rebels against me.
‘I tell you this now, before it happens,
so that when it does happen
you may believe that I am He.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever welcomes the one I send welcomes me,
and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.’

ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA, VIRGIN & DOCTOR, WEDNESDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;

anyone who follows me will have the light of life. JN 8:12

ACTS 12:24-13:5

My Soul's Beloved, 

We can be effective disciples only if we are attuned to the Holy Spirit and do nothing on our own strength and wisdom but on the Spirit of God in us. You have assured us that the Helper whom we have received at our baptism will lead us, guide us, direct us, speak to us, correct us, and will never leave us as long as we do nothing to grieve Him.

The disciples of the early Church always followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit. They prayed and fasted together as a community, and only after discerning God's will did they set out to do just as He asked. So it must be with us. Too often, we rush off madly in every direction, doing things the Lord never asked us to, and we wonder why we are spiritually barren.

Above all and before all, we are called to do our duty faithfully according to our vocation. God calls us to serve where we are, and this we are to do cheerfully, obediently, and always without resentment and without grumbling and impatience. I must love those who are with me first. There is no merit in Your sight if I rush off to serve the stranger while ignoring the real needs of those I live with and to whom I have a duty to love and care for first. Keep me attuned to the guidance and direction of Your Spirit living in me and the grace to do all He asks of me always in a manner that is always pleasing to Him. Thank You, Lord.

The word of God continued to spread and to gain followers. Barnabas and Saul completed their task and came back from Jerusalem, bringing John Mark with them.

In the church at Antioch the following were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. One day while they were offering worship to the Lord and keeping a fast, the Holy Spirit said, ‘I want Barnabas and Saul set apart for the work to which I have called them.’ So it was that after fasting and prayer they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
So these two, sent on their mission by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. They landed at Salamis and proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; John acted as their assistant.

PSALM 66(67):2-3,5-6,8

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
and all nations learn your saving help.

Let the nations be glad and exult
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
you guide the nations on earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
May God still give us his blessing
till the ends of the earth revere him.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

JOHN 12:44-50

My Soul's Beloved, 

Every word is the unvarnished truth - the Father will reject those who do not believe in You and those who reject You. The Father knows full well the price He asked You to pay to redeem us. It is mind-boggling that He asked it. You gladly said yes because You love Him, and for love of Him, You did just as He asked. We can never know the full extent of the life You lived, beginning from Your birth and until You breathed Your  Spirit into the hands of Your Father.

The Father has entrusted all to You because You willingly surrendered Your all to Him in redeeming us. We do not deserve such love either from the Father or You. Thank You, Lord. You are Light, and if anyone desires to walk in the Light of Life, we must give up all that we do in the dark. You came into the world so we could have life and have it in abundance. Only by embracing the fullness of Truth that You have revealed, just as the Father desired You to, can we hope to someday spend eternity with You. Anyone who rejects the Truth rejects You, and anyone who rejects You rejects the Father who sent You. Thank You, Lord, for the many Christians who are discovering that what they believed in so far was a lie, and we know who is the father of lies. We pray that many more will be moved by the Spirit and come home into the Church that You founded, and soon there will be but one flock and one Shepherd.

Jesus declared publicly:
‘Whoever believes in me
believes not in me
but in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me,
sees the one who sent me.
I, the light, have come into the world,
so that whoever believes in me
need not stay in the dark any more.
If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully,
it is not I who shall condemn him,
since I have come not to condemn the world,
but to save the world.
He who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already:
the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day.
For what I have spoken does not come from myself;
no, what I was to say,
what I had to speak,
was commanded by the Father who sent me,
and I know that his commands mean eternal life.
And therefore what the Father has told me
is what I speak.’

TUESDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me. JN 10:27

ACTS 11:19-26

My Soul's Beloved,

I know it is easy to say this sitting in my cool and comfortable living room, but we indeed tend to speak of those who are martyred, often in large numbers, by the enemies of Truth in our present day and age as if this were a great tragedy. Yet, Lord, I am quite certain, just like all the martyrs, You fill them with such grace that they go to their death joyfully or at least filled with peace, knowing that they will soon be with You and experience eternal joy in Your presence. What greater gift can we ever ask for or hope for than to die for You and for the Gospel? We are not born to live in this world; we are born to die to it and to receive the joy of the inheritance You won for us with You, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. We are to be one with all the saints in heaven, and as one, we will spend eternity beholding the glory of God and the beauty of God and live in love with God and with each other in perfect bliss.

The early Christians knew this. When they were persecuted in one place, they went to another carrying the great treasure, the pearl of great price, and spreading the Kingdom of God wherever they went. If they were tortured, persecuted, imprisoned, lashed, they rejoiced for they were considered worthy to suffer for Your Name.

Lord, we are living in times where the persecution of Christians is becoming the norm. Let us not shy from this truth. Let us not consider it sad and tragic when we are to suffer for the Truth; it isn't. Let us follow You sincerely, and, like the Apostles and the early Christians, go gladly to our death if required to do so. Only let us do so with courage and joyfully, with hymns of praise in our hearts and on our lips, for surely it is wonderfully true, 'that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.' May the lands that are soaked by the blood of Christians bear super-abundant fruit for the glory of Your Name.

Beloved, not all of us will receive the joy of actually laying down our lives as martyrs, but the greater challenge is to live out our lives moment by moment, exercising heroic virtue, crucifying our will, and embracing Yours always.

They started preaching to the Greeks, proclaiming the Lord Jesus

Those who had escaped during the persecution that happened because of Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, but they usually proclaimed the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, who came from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch where they started preaching to the Greeks, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord Jesus to them as well. The Lord helped them, and a great number believed and were converted to the Lord.
The church in Jerusalem heard about this and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. There he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord.
Barnabas then left for Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. As things turned out they were to live together in that church a whole year, instructing a large number of people. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’

PSALM 86(87)

O praise the Lord, all you nations!

On the holy mountain is his city
cherished by the Lord.
The Lord prefers the gates of Zion
to all Jacob’s dwellings.
Of you are told glorious things,
O city of God!

‘Babylon and Egypt I will count
among those who know me;
Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia,
these will be her children
and Zion shall be called “Mother”
for all shall be her children.’

It is he, the Lord Most High,
who gives each his place.
In his register of peoples he writes:
‘These are her children,’
and while they dance they will sing:
‘In you all find their home.’

O praise the Lord, all you nations!



My Soul's Beloved,

The world is full of people who know who You are, Lord, but refuse to admit it because it would mean that they believe, and if they believe, then they must turn their lives around and take a totally different direction, which they are not willing to do. They must walk away from their pet sins, from the fleeting attractions of the world, and direct their steps to the Kingdom of God.

Beloved, all we need to know that God is real and present is to look around us. Your imprint is everywhere, beginning with ourselves and those we love. How can we miss it? Goodness, Truth, and Beauty surround us and can be seen in all Your works. Lord, sadly, many who are baptized and have walked away from the fold are too in love with concupiscence and are unable to die to self and live, truly live for You.

You set before us eternal life and eternal death, and far too many of us prefer the darkness to light. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, grant that through the power of Your Name all who are grafted to You in the Sacrament of Baptism and who have lost their way for whatever reason, are given the gift and the grace to come home and be saved. Our inheritance, O Lord, is You. Our hope is in You. You alone are the source of life and joy, You alone. Hear our prayers for those we love and bring them home, Lord. Bring them home.

It was the time when the feast of Dedication was being celebrated in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon. The Jews gathered round him and said, ‘How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus replied:
‘I have told you, but you do not believe.
The works I do in my Father’s name are my witness;
but you do not believe,
because you are no sheep of mine.
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice;
I know them and they follow me.
I give them eternal life;
they will never be lost
and no one will ever steal them from me.
The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone,
and no one can steal from the Father.
The Father and I are one.’

MONDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my own sheep and my own know me. JN 10:14

ACTS 11:1-18

My Soul's Beloved, 

As said to us so often, Lord, we cannot take a text from Sacred Scripture in isolation and run with it and build up a whole sermon or teaching on it based on a false idea. Sacred Scripture must be taken as a whole, and everything must be in context, or else, as someone wisely said, it becomes a pretext to push one's own ideas or agendas, which many famously or infamously do.

Too many of us get on our high horse because we self-righteously do all that is required of us, like the Pharisee who prayed in the temple loudly so all could hear him praying to himself. Many too readily misjudge good, holy people, who act solely after being directed by the Holy Spirit to do things that are unexpected or perhaps wholly in contradiction to anything we are used to. But we have to always give room to the Holy Spirit to act freely, for He is God, and who can know the mind of God? Who can tell Him what He can and cannot do? God is so far above anything we can ever fully know, comprehend, or conceive of. The prophet Isaiah says it perfectly, 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'

The fullness of Truth is not contained in a Book; it is embodied in You, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. And St. John, the evangelist, has told us clearly, 'But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.' This is what everyone who professes to believe in You, whether Catholic or non-Catholic, must bear in mind always before we open our mouths to pontificate and use human reasoning to dictate to God what He can and cannot do. Who are we, but mere creatures, and sinful ones at that, to try and contain the God of all that there is, was, or ever shall be?

The Holy Spirit came down on the pagans just as powerfully as He did at Pentecost, and He continues to come down in the very same way and will do so until You return in glory. Thank You, Lord, for the powerful gift of Your Holy Spirit to all who believe in You, hope in You, and love You.

The apostles and the brothers in Judaea heard that the pagans too had accepted the word of God, and when Peter came up to Jerusalem the Jews criticised him and said, ‘So you have been visiting the uncircumcised and eating with them, have you?’ Peter in reply gave them the details point by point: ‘One day, when I was in the town of Jaffa,’ he began, ‘I fell into a trance as I was praying and had a vision of something like a big sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners. This sheet reached the ground quite close to me. I watched it intently and saw all sorts of animals and wild beasts – everything possible that could walk, crawl or fly. Then I heard a voice that said to me, “Now, Peter; kill and eat!” But I answered: Certainly not, Lord; nothing profane or unclean has ever crossed my lips. And a second time the voice spoke from heaven, “What God has made clean, you have no right to call profane.” This was repeated three times, before the whole of it was drawn up to heaven again.

‘Just at that moment, three men stopped outside the house where we were staying; they had been sent from Caesarea to fetch me, and the Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going back with them. The six brothers here came with me as well, and we entered the man’s house. He told us he had seen an angel standing in his house who said, “Send to Jaffa and fetch Simon known as Peter; he has a message for you that will save you and your entire household.”
‘I had scarcely begun to speak when the Holy Spirit came down on them in the same way as it came on us at the beginning, and I remembered that the Lord had said, “John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.” I realised then that God was giving them the identical thing he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; and who was I to stand in God’s way?’
This account satisfied them, and they gave glory to God. ‘God,’ they said, ‘can evidently grant even the pagans the repentance that leads to life.’

PSALM 41(42):2-3,42:3-4

My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life.

Like the deer that yearns
for running streams,
so my soul is yearning
for you, my God.

My soul is thirsting for God,
the God of my life;
when can I enter and see
the face of God?

O send forth your light and your truth;
let these be my guide.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.

And I will come to the altar of God,
the God of my joy.
My redeemer, I will thank you on the harp,
O God, my God.

My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life.

JOHN 10:11-18

My Soul's Beloved,

Harsh though it may be for non-Catholics to hear, every shepherd outside the Catholic Church who preaches the Word according to their own personal interpretation and understanding is a hireling. They will not lay down their life for their flock when the wolves appear, but will run away, and many of the sheep will perish. Every Bishop who is a shepherd in the Church can trace his roots to the time of the Apostles - they alone are the good shepherds who have been ordained, anointed, consecrated, and set apart to feed and tend Your flock. To provide them with rich pasture to feed on and rest, and to lead them to springs of clear water, to slake their thirst. In the Church alone is found Food and Drink that wells up to eternal life in us.

Beloved, You know Your sheep. You call us by name. You feed us with Your own Flesh, and we drink Your Blood, and we are given strength for the journey in this valley of tears. Were it not for the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and all the Sacraments You so graciously and wonderfully instituted, many of us would fall by the wayside and perish forever.

The Father loves You for freely laying down Your life for us, and You love Your brother bishops and priests, for they too freely lay down their lives for Your people, the members of Your Body, the Church. We are one with You, the Father and the Spirit, and we are one with each other as we remain closely united to the Vicar of Christ on earth, our Holy Father, and the hierarchy. Thank You, Lord, for making provision for Your holy people until You return to take us home to Yourself forever.

Jesus said:
‘I am the good shepherd:
the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep.
The hired man, since he is not the shepherd
and the sheep do not belong to him,
abandons the sheep and runs away
as soon as he sees a wolf coming,
and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep;
this is because he is only a hired man
and has no concern for the sheep.
‘I am the good shepherd;
I know my own
and my own know me,
just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father;
and I lay down my life for my sheep.
And there are other sheep I have
that are not of this fold,
and these I have to lead as well.
They too will listen to my voice,
and there will be only one flock,
and one shepherd.
‘The Father loves me,
because I lay down my life
in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me;
I lay it down of my own free will,
and as it is in my power to lay it down,
so it is in my power to take it up again;
and this is the command I have been given by my Father.’

4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my own sheep and my own know me. JN 10:14

ACTS 2:14,36-41

My Soul's Beloved, 

All things were created for the glory of God. After the fall, God sent You into the world, not to condemn the world but to redeem it. All who believe in You belong to You. We are Yours, Lord. The Father has given all things to You, for You laid down Your life in perfect obedience to His will. All whom You have saved are Yours in time and in eternity. This is why, Lord, we can come to You with all our troubles, especially for the salvation of our children from generation to generation, and the entire world. Because we are Yours, because we are grafted to Your Body, because You are the Rock on which we are built, we will survive every storm in our personal lives and the storms that threaten to destroy the Church and the world. You have given us Your assurance that the gates of hell shall not prevail against what is Yours.

All who believe, Lord, all who repent, all who are truly humble and contrite of heart, You will not spurn. This we know, Lord, and this is why You will hear my prayers. You will save my children. You will, at some point in their lives, reveal Yourself to them in a way that is irresistible to them, and they will fall in love with You and never depart from You again.

Thank You, Abba Father, for Jesus Your Son, our Redeemer, our Messiah, our Bridegroom. Thank You, Jesus, for sending Your Holy Spirit to be our Paraclete, our Helper, and our Guide who will love us into eternity.

On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed the crowd in a loud voice: ‘The whole House of Israel can be certain that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.’
Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, ‘What must we do, brothers?’ ‘You must repent,’ Peter answered ‘and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God will call to himself.’ He spoke to them for a long time using many arguments, and he urged them, ‘Save yourselves from this perverse generation.’ They were convinced by his arguments, and they accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.

PSALM 22(23)

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.

He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff;
with these you give me comfort.

You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.

The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.

1 PETER 2:20-25

My Soul's Beloved, 

In a world that desires to shun all suffering in all its forms and in every way it presents itself to us, physical, mental, and spiritual, St. Peter reminds us that suffering, when borne patiently, has infinite merit. Beginning with You, our Master, Teacher, and Lord, and through the lives of the Apostles, the first disciples, and through the ages to the present day, we know beyond the shadow of a doubt, 'that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.' 

Beloved, You were innocence itself. You are the sinless one, and because You are the Lamb of God without blemish or stain, You, in loving obedience to the will of Your Father, became the atoning sacrifice, once and for all, freeing us from the punishment and eternal death that was ours.

From the moment of Your arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane until You gave up Your Spirit to the Father, and even from the moment of Your incarnation, You experienced every facet of the human condition. There is nothing that we endure in our human existence that You did not endure, and You understand perfectly when we come to You, and we cry out to You. You hear us, You always hear us, and You know, Your Heart understands, Your love that bore our suffering and our shame will bring us relief when we have to endure our small, daily crosses.

May we keep our gaze fixed on You always and take heart when we are called to endure suffering for the sake of Your Name. There ought to be no greater satisfaction to us, Lord, when we are persecuted because we are Yours.

The merit, in the sight of God, is in bearing punishment patiently when you are punished after doing your duty.
This, in fact, is what you were called to do, because Christ suffered for you and left an example for you to follow the way he took. He had not done anything wrong, and there had been no perjury in his mouth. He was insulted and did not retaliate with insults; when he was tortured he made no threats but he put his trust in the righteous judge. He was bearing our faults in his own body on the cross, so that we might die to our faults and live for holiness; through his wounds you have been healed. You had gone astray like sheep but now you have come back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

JOHN 10:1-10

My Soul's Beloved,

The world is filled with false shepherds whose only goal is to steal, plunder, kill, and destroy what belongs to God alone. They come in through the back door, they come in through our weaknesses, our lack of faith, our lack of knowledge of the faith that the Catholic Church teaches. The fullness of the Truth, of Beauty, and Goodness is here in the Church You founded. You are its Good Shepherd. You are its Cornerstone. You are its Head. Only in her is salvation found. The world hates us for this. In fact, the enemies of the truth that abound in the world, practically froth at the mouth with demonic rage when the Church holds firm to Your teaching handed down from the Apostles and the rich deposit of Sacred Tradition that is handed down, without dilution or change. She will do so faithfully, until You return, to claim her as Your Bride.

In You, alone, my Lord, is found the fullness of life. In You, we receive life in its abundance through the Sacraments You instituted. These are the channels that keep us alive in You and ensure that in the end, Lord, when we breathe our last breath on earth, we will take first in Your Presence, and that Breath of the Spirit in us will remain with us eternally. Thank You, Lord, for the hope we have in You through the glorious power of Your resurrection that one day, we too will share. 

Jesus said:
‘I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They never follow a stranger but run away from him: they do not recognise the voice of strangers.’
Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them.
So Jesus spoke to them again:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
I am the gate of the sheepfold.
All others who have come
are thieves and brigands;
but the sheep took no notice of them.
I am the gate.
Anyone who enters through me will be safe:
he will go freely in and out
and be sure of finding pasture.
The thief comes
only to steal and kill and destroy.
I have come
so that they may have life and have it to the full.’

SAINT MARK EVANGELIST - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

We are preaching a crucified Christ,
who is the power and the wisdom of God. 1COR 1:23-24

1 PETER 5:5-14

My Soul's Beloved,

The one thing that is anathema to those who are of the world is submission in humility to those whom God has chosen to lead, teach, preach, and guide His Church in the Way of Truth. Everyone wants to be top dog. Everyone wants to listen to their own spirit, regardless of what the Spirit of God desires. It is You, O Lord, who instituted Your Church, and it is You who say that if we hear Your Vicar on earth and the elders, the Bishops, we hear You. There is no other way, beloved, to take You at Your Word and do just what You ask. Humility is a gift rare in those who are stubborn, arrogant, boastful, and filled with envy. It is these who fragment Your Body over and over again because of their blindness, like scales, that prevents them from recognizing the Truth, and even if they perceive dimly, they obstinately refuse to acknowledge it. If they did, they would have to change, and that would mean admitting that they were wrong, which, without grace, they are incapable of doing. 

“God opposes the proud,

    but gives grace to the humble.”

Thank You, Lord, for Your timely reminder today that satan never sleeps and we are to be awake and vigilant lest, while we are asleep, the sleep of the lazy and indifferent, we find ourselves lost forever. Rather, let us recognize that there is no way to eternal joy except the road of suffering, the narrow way of Calvary that will ultimately lead us to perfect union with You in heaven.

We thank You, Lord, for the evangelist Mark, who, as Peter's scribe, has recorded faithfully all that Peter has handed down to us through his Gospel and letters to the Church. 

The Church honors St. Mark today, and we join her in praising and thanking God for his faithfulness and the faithfulness of his family, who opened their hearts and home to You and the disciples. 

All wrap yourselves in humility to be servants of each other, because God refuses the proud and will always favour the humble. Bow down, then, before the power of God now, and he will raise you up on the appointed day; unload all your worries on to him, since he is looking after you. Be calm but vigilant, because your enemy the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to eat. Stand up to him, strong in faith and in the knowledge that your brothers all over the world are suffering the same things. You will have to suffer only for a little while: the God of all grace who called you to eternal glory in Christ will see that all is well again: he will confirm, strengthen and support you. His power lasts for ever and ever. Amen.

  I write these few words to you through Silvanus, who is a brother I know I can trust, to encourage you never to let go this true grace of God to which I bear witness.

  Your sister in Babylon, who is with you among the chosen, sends you greetings; so does my son, Mark.

  Greet one another with a kiss of love.

PSALM 88(89):2-3,6-7,16-17

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.

The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord;
the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth.
For who in the skies can compare with the Lord
or who is like the Lord among the sons of God?

Happy the people who acclaim such a king,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,
who find their joy every day in your name,
who make your justice the source of their bliss.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord.

MARK 16:15-20

THURSDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,
says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever. JN 6:51

ACTS 8:26-40

My Soul's Beloved,

Like Philip, we must always be attentive to the Holy Spirit in us who speaks, directs, and leads us in the way that we must live. It is not enough to just listen to Him but obey, follow His direction, and we will bear fruit for Your glory. If we are attentive, Lord, Your Spirit will speak. All too often, we allow our fears, our distractions, our self-absorption to drown out His gentle voice. Philip was attentive and, having heard he obeyed, and he was able, under the direction of the Holy Spirit's prompting, to lead the Ethiopian to understanding of God's Word, to baptism, and to making a disciple of the eunuch. He, in turn, carried the Good News of salvation to his home country, and to this day, Christianity flourishes in Ethiopia because Philip listened, heard, and obeyed.

Grant us all this wonderful grace that is freely given to us. Help us to discern the voice of the Spirit and then act on it, leaving the results to God. All that matters is that we are available, ready, and willing to do all that You ask of us.

The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Be ready to set out at noon along the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza, the desert road.’ So he set off on his journey. Now it happened that an Ethiopian had been on pilgrimage to Jerusalem; he was a eunuch and an officer at the court of the kandake, or queen, of Ethiopia, and was in fact her chief treasurer. He was now on his way home; and as he sat in his chariot he was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and meet that chariot.’ When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ ‘How can I’ he replied ‘unless I have someone to guide me?’ So he invited Philip to get in and sit by his side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this:
Like a sheep that is led to the slaughter-house,
like a lamb that is dumb in front of its shearers,
like these he never opens his mouth.
He has been humiliated and has no one to defend him.
Who will ever talk about his descendants,
since his life on earth has been cut short!
The eunuch turned to Philip and said, ‘Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?’ Starting, therefore, with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the Good News of Jesus to him.
Further along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘Look, there is some water here; is there anything to stop me being baptised?’ He ordered the chariot to stop, then Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip baptised him. But after they had come up out of the water again Philip was taken away by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Philip found that he had reached Azotus and continued his journey proclaiming the Good News in every town as far as Caesarea.

PSALM 65(66):8-9,16-17,20

Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

O peoples, bless our God,
let the voice of his praise resound,
of the God who gave life to our souls
and kept our feet from stumbling.

Come and hear, all who fear God.
I will tell what he did for my soul:
to him I cried aloud,
with high praise ready on my tongue.

Blessed be God
who did not reject my prayer
nor withhold his love from me.

Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

JOHN 6:44-51

My Soul's Beloved, 

'Unless the Lord builds the house in vain do the builders toil.' You remind us of this truth not only in the first reading but in this Gospel passage as well. The Ethiopian was chosen by the Father to be the first of his people to receive the Good News, accept it, be baptized, and in turn share it with his people. 

We who are Catholic are given this wonderful gift of being baptized into the fullness of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. It is a gift not to be taken lightly, and it is a gift to be shared. Hear our prayers for those we love and who are indifferent to the gift they have received from the Father. Grant O Lord that sooner rather than later they will become aware that the Way to the Father is only through You, and this You make possible through the Sacraments You have instituted. 

For those of us who believe, keep us faithful to the end. Thank You, Lord.

Jesus said to the crowd:
‘No one can come to me
unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me,
and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They will all be taught by God,
and to hear the teaching of the Father,
and learn from it,
is to come to me.
Not that anybody has seen the Father,
except the one who comes from God:
he has seen the Father.
I tell you most solemnly,
everybody who believes has eternal life.
‘I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the desert
and they are dead;
but this is the bread that comes down from heaven,
so that a man may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,
for the life of the world.’

WEDNESDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

It is my Father’s will, says the Lord,
that whoever believes in the Son shall have eternal life,
and that I shall raise him up on the last day. JN 6:40

ACTS 8:1-8

My Soul's Beloved, 

Persecutions will come in every age to Christians who live the Gospel and proclaim it boldly without compromise. To witness to You and to model our lives on Yours according to the blueprint of the Beatitudes is to invite the wrath not only of the ungodly but of those who recognize in it a polar opposite of what they believe in and pray to. There is one God and one alone - the Trinitarian God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You cannot believe in one and not in the other; we must believe in God in the way that He has revealed Himself to us, first as the Father and Creator, next as the Son and the Redeemer, and lastly as the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier who enables us to live the truth revealed by Father, Son, and Spirit.

When we believe and worship in Spirit and in Truth, then we can expect every enemy whose beliefs contradict the Gospel to rise up with murderous hate and jealousy, not just to destroy but to put to death those who courageously refuse to be silenced. To be a martyr in the present age is only possible when we are prepared to live boldly in contradiction to the world.

The believers prudently fled to safe places when the terrible persecution began, but they did not hide in fear; rather, they carried the Good News with them and continued to preach the Gospel wherever they went. Thus, the Church grew. 

So many Catholics have migrated to other places from their countries where they practiced their faith, but sadly, on going to these new places, they have assimilated the sinful cultures practiced there rather than being bold witnesses of the faith they received by Your gracious goodness. Hear the prayers of those who pray for them with broken hearts and many tears that they may return like the prodigal son, to their home and into the Father's embrace.

That day a bitter persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles fled to the country districts of Judaea and Samaria.
There were some devout people, however, who buried Stephen and made great mourning for him.
Saul then worked for the total destruction of the Church; he went from house to house arresting both men and women and sending them to prison.
Those who had escaped went from place to place preaching the Good News. One of them was Philip who went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them. The people united in welcoming the message Philip preached, either because they had heard of the miracles he worked or because they saw them for themselves. There were, for example, unclean spirits that came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured. As a result there was great rejoicing in that town.

PSALM 65(66):1-7

Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

Cry out with joy to God all the earth,
O sing to the glory of his name.
O render him glorious praise.
Say to God: ‘How tremendous your deeds!

Because of the greatness of your strength
your enemies cringe before you.
Before you all the earth shall bow;
shall sing to you, sing to your name!’

Come and see the works of God,
tremendous his deeds among men.
He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the river dry-shod.

Let our joy then be in him;
he rules for ever by his might.
His eyes keep watch over the nations:
let rebels not rise against him.

Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.

JOHN 6:35-40

My Soul's Beloved,

Today, I take heart from this Gospel passage. Those whom the Father has given You, will not be lost, even if, like the prodigal son, they left their Father's house deliberately, with intent to separate themselves from Him because they wanted to give in to their sinful desires. They went as far away as they could, away from their Father's sad countenance, and after living a debauched life coupled with reckless spending, until nothing was left, and he found himself looking after swine. While he starved, he finally remembered his identity. 

Grant that it be so for our children, my Lord, who have wandered far from their Father's house, even though they ate the Bread of Life, and they believed in You whom the Father sent into the world. They have embraced the things of the world and are now of the world. Hear our prayers, O Lord, look at our broken hearts and the tears that stream from our eyes as we beg You to grant them the grace to come back home to You and to the Father. 

I am comforted by Your words, O Lord, 

‘Yes, it is my Father’s will
that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life,
and that I shall raise him up on the last day.’

I will continue to pray with confidence, and one day I will rejoice as the Father seeing His wayward children from a far off and rushes down the road to embrace them and restore all that they had squandered so foolishly. Thank You, Lord, for answered prayers.

Jesus said to the crowd:
‘I am the bread of life.
He who comes to me will never be hungry;
he who believes in me will never thirst.
But, as I have told you,
you can see me and still you do not believe.
All that the Father gives me will come to me,
and whoever comes to me I shall not turn him away;
because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will,
but to do the will of the one who sent me.
Now the will of him who sent me
is that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to me,
and that I should raise it up on the last day.
Yes, it is my Father’s will
that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life,
and that I shall raise him up on the last day.’

TUESDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the bread of life, says the Lord.
He who comes to me will never be hungry;
he who believes in me will never thirst. JN 6:35

ACTS 7:51-8:1

My Soul's Beloved,

It is our evil deeds that condemn us. We know them all, and if we do not repent, it is these that will stand as evidence against us. Only true repentance and contrition will blot out our offences, and You will cast our sins behind You to be forgotten forever in the ocean of Your mercy.

Stephen stands up boldly and condemns the elders and the scribes who remained just as hardhearted and evil as when they condemned and murdered You. Once we have sold our souls to the devil for temporary gain, it is hard to get out of his clutches. In fact, we will only spiral downwards into even greater wickedness until we are in the bottomless pit of hell. Stephen repeated boldly exactly what You had said when addressing Your enemies in the Sanhedrin. You revealed their sins publicly, and instead of bringing them to repentance and contrition, they grew even more stubborn, resolving and plotting to destroy You until finally, they succeeded. Despite all that happened after You gave up Your Spirit to Your Father, they refused to see them as a sign of God's ultimate destruction of the old way of worship. News of Your resurrection only hardened their hearts even more against the Truth.

Now, as Stephen speaks the truth boldly, publicly shaming the rich and the powerful, the same murderous rage they had for You overpowers them, and they act on it with an immediacy that reveals how truly spiritually blind and deaf they are. They cannot bear the truth, which, if they accepted, they would also have to accept their guilt in killing the Messiah they were waiting for. Even had they known, Lord, they would still have killed You because they were in love with power and status.

Nothing has changed in 2000-plus years, Lord. You know this. But we continue to pray, to hope, and to have faith that, slowly but surely, You are building the Kingdom of God in the hearts of those who never thought they would enter the Catholic Church. She will continue to grow, O Lord, for this prayer that You made to the Father that we may all be one as You and He are one. He answered the instant that You made it. Perhaps there have to be many more Stephens, even as people hear the truth and are converted, and if we are to be counted among the martyrs, may we go to our death as joyfully as he did.

Stephen said to the people, the elders and the scribes: ‘You stubborn people, with your pagan hearts and pagan ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted? In the past they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, and now you have become his betrayers, his murderers. You who had the Law brought to you by angels are the very ones who have not kept it.’
They were infuriated when they heard this, and ground their teeth at him.
But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. ‘I can see heaven thrown open’ he said ‘and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and said aloud, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’; and with these words he fell asleep. Saul entirely approved of the killing.

PSALM 30(31):3-4,6,8,17,21

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mighty stronghold to save me,
for you are my rock, my stronghold.
For your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.

Into your hands I commend my spirit.
It is you who will redeem me, Lord.
As for me, I trust in the Lord:
let me be glad and rejoice in your love.

Let your face shine on your servant.
Save me in your love.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plotting of men.

Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.

JOHN 6:30-35

MONDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. MT 4:4

ACTS 6:8-15

My Soul's Beloved,

Why are we unable to work miracles and great signs like Stephen? It is because we are not filled with grace that we do not possess the power of the Holy Spirit. As long as we are in love with our sins, our weaknesses, our habitual giving in to our pet temptations, we will remain weak and powerless to choose what is right, true, good, and beautiful. Stephen loved You very much. He believed. He acted on what he believed with faith and conviction that You will do what You said You would. He worked miracles by the power of Your Name. Your Name, O Lord, causes demons and hell to tremble, and unleashes the power of the Holy Spirit to do whatever we ask. You assured us that we would do even greater things than You, for You were going to the Father and You would send us the Holy Spirit. 

All who are baptized have received the Holy Spirit and power. We live such ineffectual spiritual lives because we are in love with our sins. We do not take the Commandments seriously. We make excuses for ourselves. 

Stephen believed and, believing he acted. He taught and preached with conviction, and when he worked miracles and great signs, he did so by the power of Your Name. This is why the enemies of the Church, who are no different in nature from Your enemies in the Sanhedrin, impelled by greed and love for power and position, hold the poor in slavery and bondage and use and discard them at will, without compunction. The vast majority of people are at the mercy of a few, and they impose draconian laws to crush the little ones. Anyone who dares to question the status quo has false accusations brought against them; the pet accusation used to destroy, imprison, and murder is one that has always been used to great effect - blasphemy. A whole lot of false witnesses come forward, a judgment is passed in favor of the ruling powers, and the sentence is carried out.

The early martyrs of the Church gladly went to their death, knowing that they would see You and remain with You forever. Grant us the courage, O Lord, to live our own faith boldly, and in our own little way die to ourselves daily.

Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. So they procured some men to say, ‘We heard him using blasphemous language against Moses and against God.’ Having in this way turned the people against him as well as the elders and scribes, they took Stephen by surprise, and arrested him and brought him before the Sanhedrin. There they put up false witnesses to say, ‘This man is always making speeches against this Holy Place and the Law. We have heard him say that Jesus the Nazarene is going to destroy this Place and alter the traditions that Moses handed down to us.’ The members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.

PSALM 118(119):23-24,26-27,29-30

They are happy whose life is blameless.

Though princes sit plotting against me
I ponder on your statutes.
Your will is my delight;
your statutes are my counsellors.

I declared my ways and you answered;
teach me your statutes.
Make me grasp the way of your precepts
and I will muse on your wonders.

Keep me from the way of error
and teach me your law.
I have chosen the way of truth
with your decrees before me.

They are happy whose life is blameless.

JOHN 6:22-29

My Soul's Beloved,

I receive You daily in the Holy Eucharist. Do I come from habit? What do I ask of You when I seek You daily in the Holy Mass? Is it for selfish gain or for something more - to receive Your life of grace, which will help me to live in freedom that You give to all the children of God who are grafted to You and are privileged to call You Brother. 

The 5000 had their fill of bread, and they came looking for You in droves the next day, hoping for more of the same. You had spent 3 days teaching and preaching to them. You broke the Word to them, but that was not why they now seek You. Their desire is to satisfy their physical hunger without having to labor for it. Their desire for hearing the Word and being fed by it did not figure into their seeking for You at all. Too many of us today are just like them; we clamor for healing, for spiritual consolation, for the removal of our cross, we ask for temporal favors constantly, and forget that we are both flesh and spirit. The flesh will die, the spirit will live eternally. How I live today will determine where my spirit will be sent by You tomorrow. 

Beloved, grant me the grace not to be so caught up in the temporal that I forget the divine and the eternal. 

After Jesus had fed the five thousand, his disciples saw him walking on the water. Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by themselves. Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place where the bread had been eaten. When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’
Jesus answered:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs
but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.
Do not work for food that cannot last,
but work for food that endures to eternal life,
the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you,
for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’
Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.’

3RD SUNDAY OF EASTER - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Lord Jesus, explain the Scriptures to us.
Make our hearts burn within us as you talk to us. LK 24:32

ACTS 2:14,22-33

My Soul's Beloved,

God, our Father, placed You in our midst. Incarnate in the womb of Your Blessed Mother and ours, He sent You, His only Son, among us to prepare us to enter into eternal life with Him. For He so loved us that He sent You into the world not to condemn but to redeem our fallen race. It was not only the men of Israel whom St. Peter addressed, saying:  

‘Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades.’

All of us are culpable for the murder of the Son of God. We are sinners, every one of us, in need of redemption. We must know this, and we must receive salvation through Baptism for the forgiveness of our sins, so that we may receive the new life that You give us. Having died to sin, Beloved, we must be alive in You. Salvation is not a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, but every day we are invited to pick up our cross anew and follow the narrow way that leads to life. Concupiscence is the inheritance we received from our first parents. The gift of life offered by Your Resurrection, we inherit from You, Lord. You are the Father's gift to us, and the Holy Spirit is Your gift to us. 

Thank You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for not abandoning us after the sin of Adam and Eve, even though we deserved it. You do not treat us as our sins deserve, or treat us according to our iniquities, but You heal and save us and lead us on the way to eternal life. Thank You. 

On the day of Pentecost Peter stood up with the Eleven and addressed the crowd in a loud voice: ‘Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him to be held in its power since, as David says of him:
I saw the Lord before me always,
for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me.
So my heart was glad
and my tongue cried out with joy;
my body, too, will rest in the hope
that you will not abandon my soul to Hades
nor allow your holy one to experience corruption.
You have made known the way of life to me,
you will fill me with gladness through your presence.
‘Brothers, no one can deny that the patriarch David himself is dead and buried: his tomb is still with us. But since he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn him an oath to make one of his descendants succeed him on the throne, what he foresaw and spoke about was the resurrection of the Christ: he is the one who was not abandoned to Hades, and whose body did not experience corruption. God raised this man Jesus to life, and all of us are witnesses to that. Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit.’

PSALM 15(16):1-2,5,7-11

Show us, Lord, the path of life.

Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: ‘You are my God.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;
it is you yourself who are my prize.’

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.

And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead,
nor let your beloved know decay.

You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness for ever.

Show us, Lord, the path of life.

1 PETER 1:17-21

My Soul's Beloved, 

Peter, the Vicar of Christ on earth, teaches and preaches the Good News. We are reminded that God has no favorites and we are all judged according to what we have done. No indication in this exhortation that we are judged on faith alone. This is a lie trumpeted by spiritually lazy and ignorant preachers and teachers who vociferously and insistently teach this abomination to the detriment of the souls that listen to them and believe them. 

For as long as today lasts, my Lord and my God, grant me the grace to persevere in the way that leads from this life to eternity. You bore my cross, and you entered into my death, true. Still, unless I drink from the cup you drank and die to myself as You did, I will never share the prize of eternal life nor understand what You endured so I may receive the inheritance that God through You has so graciously prepared for me. Thank You, Lord.

If you are acknowledging as your Father one who has no favourites and judges everyone according to what he has done, you must be scrupulously careful as long as you are living away from your home. Remember, the ransom that was paid to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors handed down was not paid in anything corruptible, neither in silver nor gold, but in the precious blood of a lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ; who, though known since before the world was made, has been revealed only in our time, the end of the ages, for your sake. Through him you now have faith in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory for that very reason – so that you would have faith and hope in God.

LUKE 24:13-35

My Soul's Beloved,

We have this assurance from You that where two or three are gathered in Your Name, You are there in our midst. You proved this when the two disheartened disciples walked disconsolately on the road to Emmaus. All they could focus on was the recent event leading up to Your crucifixion, death, and burial, so lost were they in their grief and disappointment of shattered hopes, it wiped out from their memory all that You had taught them about the necessity of Your dying so that we may live. 

One of the reasons they did not recognize You was because they least expected to see You again this side of heaven. You looked at their wobegone faces and inquired what was wrong. You notice how we feel. You understand. You console. And You encourage us and open our minds to comprehend truths that may sometimes be bitter, which are necessary for us to accept and act upon. They explained why they were sad. The narrated the recent events to You and commented,  ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ You must have smiled inwardly as You responded, ‘What things?’ No one can say You do not have a sense of humor, my Lord, when the go on to tell You all about Yourself, saying, ‘All about Jesus of Nazareth who proved he was a great prophet by the things he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people; and how our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and had him crucified. Our own hope had been that he would be the one to set Israel free.’ They even go on to tell You that this Jesus, they were told, had risen from the dead, as witnesses said the tomb was empty, but they still did not believe. 

You then begin to break the Bread of the Word to them. Tenderly scolding them, calling them foolish men, You gently and patiently explained all that Scripture had foretold about You and how every one of those texts was fulfilled perfectly by You. By the end of the journey, they invited You to spend the night with them since it was late. You agreed, and while You all sat down at the table to eat, something wonderful happened, and this happens at every Eucharistic celebration: he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’

Thank You, Beloved, for the Gospels, for Sacred Tradition, for Sacred Scripture, for Your Church, for the Vicar of Christ and the Bishops and priests and all men and women of goodwill who teach, preach, and spread the Good News. Grant me the grace to be numbered among those who do their part in carrying out the mission entrusted to all the faithful.

Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself came up and walked by their side; but something prevented them from recognising him. He said to them, ‘What matters are you discussing as you walk along?’ They stopped short, their faces downcast.

Then one of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘You must be the only person staying in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have been happening there these last few days.’ ‘What things?’ he asked.  And this is not all: two whole days have gone by since it all happened; and some women from our group have astounded us: they went to the tomb in the early morning, and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us they had seen a vision of angels who declared he was alive. Some of our friends went to the tomb and found everything exactly as the women had reported, but of him they saw nothing.’
Then he said to them, ‘You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?’ Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself.
When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them. ‘It is nearly evening’ they said ‘and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’
They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, ‘Yes, it is true. The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised him at the breaking of bread.