THE MOST OF THE SACRED OF JESUS - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Shoulder my yoke and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart. MT 11:29

DEUTERONOMY 7:6-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You are the new Moses, You are the fulfillment of every prophecy and every Covenant that God made with His chosen people. We are the new people of God consecrated to God by the Blood of the Lamb. You have formed for Yourself a people who have come to know You through Your life, death, and glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven. We know You through the life and the blood of the Apostles and martyrs who having received the mandate given to them to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations, did so. We believe in You, we hope in You, we love You because they risked everything to fulfill Your command. 

We did not choose You, Beloved, You chose us, You called us by name, You appointed us to go and bear fruit that will last and You assure us that whatever we ask the Father in Your Name, He will give us. Thank You, Lord, for breaking the chains of our slavery to the world, the flesh, and the devil. Thank You for setting us free to know You, to love You, and to belong to You not just in time but in eternity.

‘You are therefore to keep and observe the commandments and statutes and ordinances that I lay down for you today.’

Keep us safe in Your love until You call us to Yourself to remain with You forever.

1 JOHN 4:7-16 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Our love for You is only a response to Your love for us. You first loved us. You called us. You pursued us relentlessly doing whatever it took to gain our attention and revealing to us patiently, the unfathomable mystery of God's great love for us that He sent You, His only Son into the world, not to condemn it but to redeem it.

We who are called by Your Name O Lord, are called to love each other with the love that comes from You. So few O Lord are prepared to heed Your call. It is often those who call themselves Catholic and Christian who live scandalously. We ignore the Ten Commandments as for the Beatitudes we read them and think they are nice but impractical and inapplicable in the dog-eat-dog world we live in today.

We live in an age where we have not experienced the love of God and this is why we have turned on one another like rabid animals.

Today's 2nd Reading is an ode to Love - but it seems only a beautiful dream one that we will never live to see come to reality in our lifetime.

The writer of this Letter says that although we have never seen God if we love Him then He is alive and present in us. How much longer O Lord, are we to live in this godless age where there are no boundaries to licentious living and where innocence especially of children is no longer guarded and protected but is being systematically targeted to be desecrated, ravaged, and destroyed.  

O Eternal Word of the Father, be merciful to Your faithful remnant and put an end to the toxic sludge of evil that is slowly but surely choking the life of the Spirit in the world.

MATTHEW 11:25-30 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Let our cry rise up to the highest heavens, to the throne of the Living God, whom You taught us to address as Abba, and have mercy on us O Lord, have mercy on Your people. How much longer O Lord will we be exposed to the toxic, malodorous evil in the world that is destroying us.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Your Most Sacred Heart, Beloved, the heart that was pierced for love of sinful men and obtained for us from the loving heart of our Father reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness of all our sins. Let this be the day that brings an end to the reign of evil. 

As we, the people of God chosen by Him before the foundation of the world, and are sealed in Your Blood and in the Holy Spirit You say cry out to You for mercy, You speak to us and say, ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

Come, Lord Jesus, hasten the day of Your return and put an end to the reign of evil that is hellbent on unabashedly destroying all that is good, noble, true, and beautiful in the world.   May Your Sacred Heart re-establish Your sovereign rule in the world once more.

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord. JN 13:34

2 CORINTHIANS 3:15-4:1,3-6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Authentic freedom is possible when we are docile in spirit, and are prepared to set aside our human wisdom and human understanding. St. Paul exhorts us to: "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross."

Obedience to You, Beloved, is impossible if we lack humility. To be truly free is to set aside our personal freedom and submit to the will of God revealed by You, His Son. You founded the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church on Peter. The fullness of Truth is found not only in Sacred Scripture but also in Apostolic Teaching which is Sacred Tradition. We need both or else we open ourselves to division which is the work of the evil one. Union is found only when we belong to the one Body with You as its Head.

Every Christian denomination no matter how strongly they protest and how vigorously they defend their position is in the unenviable position of the Jews in St. Paul's day and to this day who read Moses with a veil over their minds. How can this veil be torn asunder Only when they turn is humility and obedience to You and are docile to the Holy Spirit.

The Church is the beacon of light set high on Mt. Zion and it is to her that all nations and all peoples shall stream in order to receive eternal life. So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.

The Church prays faithfully for our separated brothers and sisters to come home for we know that Your prayer for unity will be answered by the Father for this is His will for the Bride of the Bridegroom - that we may all be one just as You are one with Father in the Holy Spirit. Hasten this glorious day Lord and we will be invincible and we will destroy the evil culture of our world.

For it is not ourselves that we are preaching, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. It is the same God that said, ‘Let there be light shining out of darkness’, who has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ.

MATTHEW 5:20-26 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

To the question posed to You by the lawyer, 'Who is my neighbor?' You narrate the parable of the Good Samaritan. As Catholics and Christians we must recognize that as Your disciples, ‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.’ When there is such animosity between us how can we ever hope to draw others to the truth and light of the Gospels? If it is not said of us as it was said of the early Christians, 'See how they love one another' denominations will continue to fracture more and more into splinter groups. We have to cease our uncharitable discourse when we speak to each other. We must have the humility to set aside our differences. We must submit ourselves to the will of God revealed in You and by You. We must rely on the Holy Spirit and not on our understanding of how the Holy Spirit inspires, teaches, reveals, leads, and guides all people of goodwill. 

We have only to look at our world to see how evil seems to be winning the hearts and minds of those who are without rudder or anchor and are drifting along in the current of foul-smelling, murky waters of the corrupt culture ruling the world.

Let us reconcile with each other and humbly place ourselves at the disposal of God so that the Prince of Peace can heal all our divisions and unite us in His Body, the Church. Hasten, Father, and hear the prayers of Your Son for unity so we may be one just as You Father and He are one so He, the Bridegroom can present us, His bride, to You without wrinkle or stain. If not we will face the wrath of Your justice.

‘Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.’