Numbers 21:4-9, Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21, John 8:21-30

DAILY HOLY MASS READNGS

Numbers 21:4-9, Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21, John 8:21-30

Numbers 21:4-9

My Beloved, our lives are a journey and we are travellers on our way to the place that God has prepared for us.  It took the Israelites 40 years of preparation in the wilderness before they were ready to enter the promised land.  They sinned, grumbled, whined and complained just as we do. We are never satisfied. We sin with impunity and we grumble when things do not go our way. When You are slow in answering our prayers we give up. We We erect false gods and we worship before them. We ought to know better for we have so much more than the Israelites had. We have no excuses but that does not stop us from being discontented and dissatisfied.

Our sins kill us and had You not taken upon Yourself our sins and punishment as You paid for our iniquities on the Cross we would have no hope of eternal life.

We now lift up our eyes to You hung between heaven and earth supplying the means for us to return home to Your Father and ours.

Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21 

My Beloved, while we live in exile we have recourse to You.  Hear us my Lord as we lift up our voices to You. Hear our cries, wipe away our tears. There is none but You O Lord who will hasten to help us and so we cry to You all day long. At night we remember You, we recall all Your kindness to us in the past and we look to You to save us again. Who do we have in heaven or on earth bu You Lord. 

Yes, we are needy we are weak, we are helpless and so we lift our trembling hands and broken hearts certain that You will not ignore our pitiful cries.  Have mercy on us O Lord, have mercy.

John 8:21-30

My Beloved, here in this 29th verse "He who sent me is with me and has not left me alone; because I always do what pleases him." You hand us a key truth that will enable us to live a life of grace We have assurance of God's presence with us when we seek always to do that which is pleasing to Him. What was true for You holds true for us as well. 

Unless we believe that You are the great I AM, one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, we will have no life in us and sin will destroy us. You came into the world in obedience to the will of the Father in order to lay down Your life for us. You paid the ransom that would set us free and to redeem us at the cost of Your own life.  You came into the world to make known to us the Father who created us in love and whose love we had forfeited through disobedience. You came into the world to bridge the chasm between God and man and to restore to us all that we had lost.  We believe Lord and in believing we live.