Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold. The queen takes her place at your right hand in gold of Ophir.  The queen stands at your right hand, arrayed in gold. Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house.

As Christians, we are called to forget our worldly lives and take our place among the saints. We cannot do that if we are constantly turning back to our earthly desires or dwelling upon our past mistakes. We must let go of these things and trust in God, who is our Heavenly Father and Mary, who is our Spiritual Mother. If we do this, then God will array us in gold and give us a seat at His Heavenly Banquet, where we will enjoy His Presence for the rest of time and beyond.

What do we need to forget in our lives? What do we need to leave behind? How can we cast these things away from us and not look back?

O Lord, grant us the grace to forget our worldliness and become one with you.

Amen.

The Fifth Thursday of Lent

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”  So the Jews said to him, “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’

Jesus makes a promise to everyone who listens to his Good News. If we keep his word, we will not see death. He does not mean physical death, but rather the spiritual death that comes from denying him and choosing to follow our own paths to destruction. We all are tempted in various ways to deny Christ. Sometimes in mind, other times in body, and even in spirit. We can put our own desires above God's Will and seek only to glorify ourselves and not our Heavenly Father. When this happens, we choose to live our lives for nothing, for empty pleasures. This is why it is so important to keep God's commandments in spirit and truth. They help us to remain in God's glorifying grace and help us to resist making ourselves into judges, like Adam and Eve did so long ago.

Are we keeping the Word of God? If not, how can we cast aside those things that are keeping us from following the Way of Christ? What can we do to lead others along with us to God's Grace?

O Lord, we wish only to keep your word and never see death.

Amen.

Fifth Thursday of Easter

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.

Love one another as I love you. What a commandment we have been given by Christ! Jesus loves us with his whole body, blood, soul, and divinity. He loves us perfectly with total desire for us, friendship towards us, and self-gift for us. The mere thought of trying to match his true love with our human and imperfect love is a challenge beyond our own abilities. However, God gives us the graces we need to love others with a pure desire, to befriend them, and to become living sacrifices of love for others. We have only to let go and let God love through us, imperfect though we made be. If we do that, then we can love perfectly by allowing God’s love to flow through us without alteration or resistance. When we do this, then we truly lay down our lives for our friends.

How do we live out this commandment to love one another as Jesus loves us? What things do we do to prepare our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies to love as they ought to love? What truly loving sacrifices do we make for others?

O Lord, show us how to love more perfectly.

Amen.