Acts.4:13-21, Psalm 118:1,14-21 Mark 16:9-15

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Acts.4:13-21, Psalm 118:1,14-21 Mark 16:9-15

Acts.4:13-21

My Beloved, do people recognize that I have been with You and having being with You am I different from the person I used to be? Have I become more like You filled with Your grace and power and doing mighty deeds in Your Name so that many may come to believe in You and in the truth? How willing am I to testify before all, even if I will be exposed to danger? My Beloved give me the heart of a true missionary. May the Good News I carry in my heart create a burning desire to express itself so others too may come to know and believe in You.

Psalm 118:1, 14-21

My Beloved, I rejoice for You are raised from the dead and are seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. I thank the Lord for He is good and in sending You into the world He has revealed that His loving kindness endures forever. I am not alone for You my Redeemer lives and You are my strength and my song for You have saved me. Death no longer has power over me You have given me life so I may proclaim Your goodness to the ends of the earth. I thank You for always answering my prayers and for saving me. Each time I called You stretched out Your hand and grasping my own You have shown me the way  I should go. Thank You for Your loving kindness and Your faithfulness which endures forever.

Mark 16:9-15

My Beloved, You rose from the dead on the first day of the week making it forever the Lord’s Day. You chose to appear first to a woman Mary of Magdala she was once so great a sinner that she was possessed of seven demons which You drove away from her. She was privileged to carry the Good News to the disciples who instead of believing and rejoicing continued to mourn and weep. Sometimes my Beloved we too are like those followers who because they discriminate against the messenger they refuse to accept the message. It is clear that because she was not only a woman but one they perhaps still looked at askance despite the fact that she was more faithful in following You than they were. At the first sign of danger they had scattered to the four winds but she stayed by You and by Your Mother until the very end.

You then appeared to the two disheartened disciples who were going back away from Jerusalem because they too had not understood the Scriptures concerning You. They recognized You only at the breaking of bread and hurried back to tell the rest that they had seen You and yet the others did not believe. Perhaps they believed that it was to them who were closest to You that You would first appear rather than to the others. Your ways are certainly not our ways and You choose whoever You will to do Your work. You scolded them for being hard of heart and for their stubbornness in being slow to believe.

You then gave them their mission which was to Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all nations. This is my mission as well. Help me not be lazy and self-indulgent but to do my part in carrying the Good News with me wherever I go.