20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of sickness among the people. MT 4:23

ISAIAH 56:1,6-7

My Soul's Beloved,

Even when You chose Abraham to be the father of Your chosen people, it was always Your intention to extend his fatherhood to all nations. You are God not only of the people of Israel, but You are the God of all the living, for we are all created by You for a glorious and eternal destiny.

Even when Adam and Eve sinned, You did not destroy them and begin again, although they deserved eternal separation from You. You loved them, and Your heart ached that they were so easily beguiled by the Enemy. You had pity on them, and although justice demanded that they be annihilated, Your mercy, tender compassion, and love won. Even then You revealed how You would heal the grave and incurable wound they had inflicted on themselves and on their seed. You would choose a Woman, and she would carry the Seed of the Father and You, O Lord, would be born of Woman whom God created immaculate from the moment of her conception.

Thank You, Lord Jesus, Son of the Living God and Son of Mary, for opening the gates of heaven so all who love You, believe in You, and hunger and thirst for You may enter and live in the presence of the all-holy and all-loving God for all eternity.

Thus says the Lord: Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity be manifest.
Foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love his name and be his servants – all who observe the sabbath, not profaning it, and cling to my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain. I will make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their holocausts and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.

PSALM 66(67):2-3,5-6,8

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

O God, be gracious and bless us
and let your face shed its light upon us.
So will your ways be known upon earth
and all nations learn your saving help.

Let the nations be glad and exult
for you rule the world with justice.
With fairness you rule the peoples,
you guide the nations on earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
May God still give us his blessing
till the ends of the earth revere him.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

ROMANS 11:13-15,29-32

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul's explanation of how the rejection of God's chosen people makes it possible for him whom You chose to be the Apostle to the Gentiles to now know You, love You, believe in You, and receive the salvation that is possible only through You. God desires that all be saved, and while not all may accept Your invitation to belong to You, many will. Many Jews who seek the Truth in its fullness will find You. Still, those whose hardness of heart and whose deliberate blindness keep them in stubborn denial will never experience the fullness of the Truth that is embodied in You, the Savior, Redeemer, and the Messiah of the world.

Thank You, Beloved, for seeking me out personally, ministering to me, healing all my wounds, and carrying me back to the sheepfold. Keep me and all those I love, those for whom I fast and pray for daily, may all be saved so we can all meet, "merrily in heaven."

Let me tell you pagans this: I have been sent to the pagans as their apostle, and I am proud of being sent, but the purpose of it is to make my own people envious of you, and in this way save some of them. Since their rejection meant the reconciliation of the world, do you know what their admission will mean? Nothing less than a resurrection from the dead! God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice.
Just as you changed from being disobedient to God, and now enjoy mercy because of their disobedience, so those who are disobedient now – and only because of the mercy shown to you – will also enjoy mercy eventually. God has imprisoned all men in their own disobedience only to show mercy to all mankind.

MATTHEW 15:21-28

ST. CLARE, VIRGIN, ON TUESDAY OF WEEK 19 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

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

EZEKIEL 2:8-3:4

My Soul's Beloved,

You speak to me all the time through Your Spirit, through my conscience, those around me, the Church, nature - if I am open and attuned to the sound of Your Voice, I will always hear You. Grant me the grace to be attentive, to listen, to discern which voice is Yours and which is not. Help me to be obedient as I humbly surrender and do all You ask of me. I am proud, haughty, self-righteous, easily moved to impatience, annoyance, and sometimes even anger. Lord, if I consider Your Word and I allow myself to be consumed in it and allow it to consume my spirit and direct my life and my will, then I will always remain in Your will. 

Your Word is sweet, O Lord, if we embrace it and allow it to direct and shape our whole lives, granting us direction and wisdom.

I, Ezekiel, heard a voice speaking. It said, ‘You, son of man, listen to the words I say; do not be a rebel like that rebellious set. Open your mouth and eat what I am about to give you.’ I looked. A hand was there, stretching out to me and holding a scroll. He unrolled it in front of me; it was written on back and front; on it was written ‘lamentations, wailings, moanings.’ He said, ‘Son of man, eat what is given to you; eat this scroll, then go and speak to the House of Israel.’ I opened my mouth; he gave me the scroll to eat and said, ‘Son of man, feed and be satisfied by the scroll I am giving you.’ I ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey.

Then he said, ‘Son of man, go to the House of Israel and tell them what I have said.’

PSALM 118(119):14,24,72,103,111,131

Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.

I rejoiced to do your will
as though all riches were mine.
Your will is my delight;
your statutes are my counsellors.

The law from your mouth means more to me
than silver and gold.
Your promise is sweeter to my taste
than honey in the mouth.

Your will is my heritage for ever,
the joy of my heart.
I open my mouth and I sigh
as I yearn for your commands.

Your promise is sweet to my taste, O Lord.

MATTHEW 18:1-5,10,12-14

My Soul's Beloved,

In a world where everyone is jostling for first place and to get ahead, uncaring of who is pushed aside and thrown down on the way to the top, You remind us to have the disposition of a child. The kingdom of God operates differently from the way the world and the worldly-wise operate. Everything about God and the way He works is contrary to the wisdom and the dictates of the world. The small are great, the weak are strong, the meek, the humble, and the obedient will be first, the poor are rich, and those who give up all for the sake of the kingdom will inherit everything. 

Only those who accept the wisdom of God and live it will experience the treasures that the Holy Spirit will dispense to those who bend their heart and will to Yours.

Thank You, Beloved, that even when I am an obstinate, disobedient child, You will not abandon me no matter how far I stray from the fold. You assure me that You will come to seek me, leaving the 99 sheep until You find me, and You will carry me back to the fold. Undeserving as I am of Your love, I am grateful that You love me anyway.

The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
‘See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.
‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’