Amos 8:4-6, 9-12, Psalm 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40 & 131, Matthew 9:9-13

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Amos 8:4-6, 9-12, Psalm 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40 & 131, Matthew 9:9-13

Amos 8:4-6, 9-12

My Beloved, You remind us again that we must have a preferential love for the poor, the marginalized, the victims of greed and power. So many are held hostage by the indifference or the whims of those who have sold their souls for the lust of the temporal

These verses apply to the age we live in and Your response to those who work painstakingly to wipe Your Name from the collective consciousness of the world.  To these You offer a stern rebuke and warning, "Days are coming when I will send famine upon the land, not hunger for bread or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of  the Lord.  Men will stagger from sea to sea, wander to and fro, from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it."

Have mercy on the remnant faithful Lord and for their sake spare the world that You have redeemed at so great a cost.

Psalm 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40 & 131

2 Blessed are they who treasure his word and seek him with all their heart.

10 I seek you with my whole heart; let me not stray from your commands.

20 My soul is consumed with desire for your ordinances at all times.

30 I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart upon your laws.

40 Oh, how I long for your precepts! Renew my life in your righteousness..

131 I gasp in ardent yearning for your commandments that I love.

Each one of these verses speak of my love for Your Word.  My desire to obey Your commands always.  My soul's hunger and thirst to be filled with the beauty, wisdom and truth of Your teachings.  I wish to walk in Your way for Your way is the way that leads to life.  Thank You for renewing, refreshing and restoring my spirit through the Sacraments You have instituted.

I know my Beloved, all this is too extravagant and ambitious for one like me for I am just Your poor little nothing.  But if You take me into Yourself then lost in You, I am all things that You are.  So let it be my Lord.  Amen!

Matthew 9:9-13

These verses speak of Matthew the tax collector who is also the writer of this Gospel.  This is his experience with regard to Your invitation to him and his response to be Your disciple.  It is a call that all who are baptized receive.

Matthew was busy with temporal things.  He made a good living by using both fair means and foul.  Tax collectors were tainted by their profession. The Pharisees labelled them as sinners because they not only worked for the enemy but they they took more than was due. You however love the sinner even though You abhor the sin.

Matthew who was looked down upon by the elite among his fellow Jews, the Pharisees, would have been astonished and overwhelmed when You looked at him and said, "Follow Me!" 

There are so many people in the world who are absolutely alone.  Some are miserable because they are enslaved by their sins and cannot rid themselves of their weakness to the various ways in which they are tempted.  Some are ostracised because their sins are public knowledge and the the whiplash of cruel glances and ostracism cause them great anguish. One kind word would perhaps win them over and they would gladly give up their sinful life in exchange for kindness, affection and acceptance.  This is why You remind the Pharisees who took offence because You surrounded Yourself with sinners that those who show mercy will be the first to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

The haughty, cold and self-righteous will find themselves on the outside while those on whom we have looked at with disdain will enter heaven.