Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13, Psalm 115:3-10, Matthew 9:32-38
My Beloved, apart from Your bride, the Church, all the spiritual leaders in various Christian denominations have not been appointed through Apostolic succession - which is how You ordained that Your authority be handed on. There are so many outrageous and completely alien doctrines that are being embraced in the name of liberty, brotherly love and being inclusive of all. They no longer distinguish the truth from lies. Some of these evil ideas have even infiltrated the Church and are trying their uttermost to spread their poison here as well.
The material world and all it has to offer in order to distract us from the truth are praised and recommended as highly desirable and necessary for fulfillment and happiness. There is a feverish desire to possess people as well as things and once they are attained boredom sets in. There is restless restless craving for more worthless idols made by human hands, to bow down and worship. We are sowing death and we are surprised at the stench of decay we reap. We are proud and in our empty pride we refuse to bend. Only when we are filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit can we expect to be bowed down with the weight of the fruits of love, humility and service. We may make a great outward show of our piety and virtue but none of it is pleasing or acceptable to God for He sees the heart.
We have rejected Your commandment of love because we have rejected You. We would rather run after the false prophets of the day who preach the worship of the body and lure the foolish and the vain to seek only to indulge the fleeting passions of the senses. We pretend to offer You sacrifice yet all we do is steal what rightfully belongs to You - Love, Worship and Adoration which is due to God alone. As long as we do this we will be exactly like the chosen people who were enslaved in Egypt for 40 years, like them, we too will possessed and bound as slaves of sin unless we repent and return to You with all our hearts.
My Beloved, You plead with us to trust You and to place all our faith and hope in You alone. You alone can protect us and keep us safe from the enemy whose only objective is the eternal ruin and destruction of our souls. No earthly possession fashioned by human hands can provide lasting happiness only the true worship of God can draw us into His life, joy and peace. Only You can save. No love but Yours my Lord can satisfy.
Too often my Beloved we see good called evil and evil good. If we recognize good then we are bound to emulate it but we are too stubborn, too lazy, too lacking in discipline to deny ourselves daily and pick up the cross and follow You. The narrow gate and the rough road are too daunting to our spirit and it is something we would rather avoid. We attribute evil motives to what is chaste, generous and good as it allows us to willfully deceive ourselves. Yet my Beloved You do not abandon us. You know we are weak and You actively seek the sinner and invite everyone to be touched and healed by You.
There is so much to be done Lord to bring about Your Kingdom on earth but there are too few willing hands and generous hearts to accept Your invitation. The harvest which is plentiful is ready but it will rot if no one is available to bring it in. Open our ears to hear Your invitation to serve and to spread the Good News of salvation that You are a God of love and that we are saved by You alone.
