2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31, Psalm 1, 5-6, 8, 15, Luke 19:11-28

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31, Psalm 1, 5-6, 8, 15, Luke 19:11-28

2 Maccabees 7:1, 20-31

My Beloved, this mother represents brave mothers all over the world and in every age who have brought up their sons to be men of honor; preferring death rather than disobedience to God's law.  Today most women raise boys who remain boys, selfish, self-centered, self-absorbed and self-indulgent.  If men are not taught to be noble, to have lofty ideals and a sense of honor and loyalty how can they grow up to be dependable, self-sacrificing, honorable, truthful?

This mother was right to be proud of her seven sons whom she raised to be godly, God-fearing men.  She is a foreshadow of that perfect Mother chosen by God to incarnate His Son.  She co-operated perfectly in God's divine plan and from His earliest years she prepared Him to become the Lamb of Sacrifice who takes away the sins of the world.

Psalm 1, 5-6, 8, 15

My Beloved, this could well have been Your constant prayer to the Father.  It is also the prayer of all who seek to do God's will in a sinful world.

I can come to You as boldly and confidently as the psalmist certain that every prayer I pray You answer.  You are our Father, Abouna, who stoops low over His own constantly guarding them and providing all that is necessary to keep them safe from the Enemy.

Thank You for the faith and hope I have in Your love which will lead me in this life and carry me safely home to the next.

Luke 19:11-28

My Beloved, no one knows when You will return again to establish Your reign on earth but this we do know, You have equipped us with every grace and gift.  You did not leave us to battle on our own with the world, the flesh and the Devil.  

While it is true that You have been rejected by Your own, we are the blessed ones who have benefited from their rejection because You called the rest of us from darkness into Your Own glorious light.

How are we using the talents that You have given us?  A day of reckoning will surely come as You assure us it will and when it does my Lord may we not be found neglectful in keeping Your commandment to Love God and neighbor.  It is on these that we will be judged.