Amos 5:14-15, 21-24, Psalm 50:7-13, 16-17, Matthew 8:28-34

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Amos 5:14-15, 21-24, Psalm 50:7-13, 16-17, Matthew 8:28-34

Amos 5:14-15, 21-24

My Beloved, Your word is clear.  We are free to make our choices You force no one but You let us know in no uncertain terms what the consequences will be if we make the wrong ones.

Seek good and shun evil.  This is not a suggestion.  In actively seeking the true, good and beautiful, I choose life.  When I choose evil, the consequence is the death of joy, peace and love.  When I choose good, You become Emmanuel  in spirit and in truth.

We live in a world redeemed by You and yet it appears to be a fallen world.  it is under the rule of evil by the choices we have made individually or we have evil thrust upon us in the name of the law.  From the remnant justice and righteousness will flow - You will not forsake those who choose You as their King and Friend.

Psalm 50:7-13, 16-17

My Beloved, You remind us that You are God and we dare not take Your love for granted by sinning with impunity.  Just as You said and redeemed, so too have You been appointed by the Father as the only Judge.  When You convict us of sin grant us the grace to repent, beg for forgiveness and resolve to sin no more.

Hypocrites have no place at Your table.  You will not tolerate duplicity.  You want no part of a divided heart.  Those who love You keep Your word and those who honor and obey it will be invited to the banquet.

Matthew 8:28-34

My Beloved, the demons know who You are.  They know that You have won the victory over them, they also know that they have only a time to wreak havoc on souls before You come again to claim all men and all creation under Your Lordship.  The face of evil can be terrifying but it masks itself and so lays snares to trap souls.  We allow ourselves to be tricked and deceived by lies.  We call evil by name that are deceitful for they give a lie to the true nature of the sin.

Verse 33 says that the men in charge of the herd ran back to the town and narrated the whole story of what they had witnessed. What kind of testimony did these men give?  It would seem that their primary focus was on the material loss of the large herd and not on the amazing miracle You had just performed. It did not matter to them that You had delivered two men who had suffered terribly from demonic possession restoring them to perfect health.  Instead verse 34 says that the whole town went out to meet You and when they saw You they begged You to leave their area. 

This is so unlike the dynamic testimony of the Samaritan woman at the well who had encountered You.  Everyone in that Samaritan town believed first on account of what the woman had to say and finally on their own personal encounter with You.   

What kind of testimony do we give Lord?  Are we like the herdsmen or the Woman at the Well?