MONDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT MARCH 15, 2021

MASS READINGS:

A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 65:17-21

Thus says the LORD: Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create; For I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight; I will rejoice in Jerusalem and exult in my people. No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there, or the sound of crying; No longer shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not round out his full lifetime; He dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years, and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed. They shall live in the houses they build, and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.

REFLECTION: "No longer will the sound of weeping be heard, things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead there will be rejoicing and happiness."

Do we understand the cross? Do we understand illness and death? Do we understand Jesus, the Christ, crucified?

We all have suffered: some through our children, some through the world and some through our choices. But we have been given the best gifts ever. The love of God for His children is immeasurable and incomprehensible. The other is the gift of hope. Hope heals the wounds of life with the expectation that something good will be.

With Jesus as our center and prayer our companion, our Shepherd takes our lives and grief and will unburden us when we reach our destiny. "No longer will the sound of weeping be heard, things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead there will be rejoicing and happiness."(Isaiah 65:17-21)

We see a glimpse of heaven when we witness a miracle, when through misery we turn to God and receive grace, and through our suffering and pain we return to the Eucharistic Jesus, becoming members of His mystical body.

Always remembering Psalm 30, "You changed my mourning into dancing; O Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks."

Today make a good confession, receive the Eucharist, and be transformed into the mystical body of Christ.

God Bless You.