Philippians 3:7-8, 2 Corinthians 4:7-15, Matthew 20:20-28, Psalm 126:1-6

Daily Meditation:  Philippians 3:7-8, 

Philippians 3:7-8

7 But once I found Christ, all those things that I might have considered as profit, I reckoned as loss. 8 Still more, everything seems to me as nothing compared with the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake I have let everything fall away and I now consider all as garbage, if instead I may gain Christ.

Beloved, what a great writer St. Paul is.  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, he is able to express himself so well and in doing so, he articulates exactly how it is with those who have found You, after foraging in the dustbins and ash heaps looking for crumbs. Discovering You we look back and realize how pitiful our lives were before we permitted You to come and take possession of us.  

Thank You Beloved for the generosity and sheer magnitude of Your love for me.  A love that took You to the Cross.  There is no love more sublime and powerful than this - that You took upon Yourself my shame and my sins.  I deserved the death You died for me.   Thank You Beloved for revealing to me through experience, that if I lose all I possess but have You, I will have more than everything for I have You who are all things.

Daily Mass Readings:  2 Corinthians 4:7-15, Matthew 20:20-28,  

                                       Psalm 126:1-6

2 Corinthians 4:7-15

Father, Your whole plan of salvation boggles the mind.  From creation, to the fall, to the preparation of a people to receive the Savior of the world, Your only Beloved Son.  He became a slave, a Servant and bore upon Himself the sin, the guilt and the punishments of every human being ever created.  All our miseries, our sufferings, our persecutions, our sickness, the horror of lives lived in squalor due to abject poverty, loneliness, rejection, cruelty, all the soul crushing ways in which man de-humanizes man, You took upon Yourself, in order that in dying, death would be destroyed and in rising we could share in the promise of the Resurrection and a life of bliss eternally with You.

How then Beloved, can we not imitate You in loving those You send into our lives and witnessing to Your love, and being ready to accept persecution in perfect imitation of You?  Help me Lord to follow Your example in every way.  Grant me the necessary grace I need each day when I receive You in the Eucharist to be all that You call me to be.  Amen.

Matthew 20:20-28

Beloved, today the Church celebrates the feast of St. James, the first Apostle who was martyred for the faith we profess.  He indeed did drink from Your cup of suffering in imitation of You.  

A disciple is recognized by his close resemblance to the master.  The world tempts us to desire and possess the cheap, tawdry, gaudy, worthless baubles it displays, deceiving us into believing that they are desirable and necessary to be happy and fulfilled.  It is no wonder that You taught us to pray to the Father, "Lead us not into temptation."  May everyone of Your disciples in the Church and all true Christians, be prepared to follow Your example in life and in death.  Teach us to serve as You served, to love as You loved - grant us a sacrificial love that takes us to the Cross and there let us immolate self in the service of our neighbor for love of You.

Psalm 126:3, 6

3 The Lord had done great things for us,

and we were glad indeed.

6 They went forth weeping,

bearing the seeds for sowing,

they will come home with joyful shouts,

bringing their harvested sheaves.