Jeremiah 26:1-9, Psalm 69:5, 8, 10 & 14, Matthew 13:54-58

FEAST OF ST. ALPHONSUS LIGOURI

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Jeremiah 26:1-9, Psalm 69:5, 8, 10 & 14, Matthew 13:54-58

Jeremiah 26:1-9

My Beloved, when we love our sins we shut our ears to the truth.  We know it for we have been taught it but we prefer to believe the lies because the truth makes us uneasy.  It makes demands on us.  It demands conversion.  It demands a total turning away from sin and a turning towards You.  So what do we do, we become self-righteous, obstinate and angry.  We stop our ears and we fill our minds and our days with the trivial and the banal in order to avoid facing the truth.

Count me O Lord among Your faithful remnant no matter what the cost.  Let me walk in Your ways and in the Light of Your Truth.  May Your light shine through me small though it be and perhaps someone will see it and find their way home to You.

Psalm 69:5, 8, 10 & 14

My Beloved, we live in terrible times and those who are called by Your Name are hounded, persecuted, tormented, tortured and even killed.  They are treated as outcasts.  They are shamed and stripped of all human dignity.  They walk in fear but they continue to remain faithful despite all the horror the witness and all the threats they face.  They love You and will not deny You even in the face of death. 

But You are not deaf to the sound of their cries and You tell all that they suffer because they are Your people, the sheep of Your flock and You will rescue them at a time of Your choosing.  You can and will draw immense good from immense evil.

Matthew 13:54-58

My Beloved, just as You were rejected by the people of Your hometown because they thought they knew You and where You came from, Your humble beginnings, they refused to accept You even though they acknowledged and were amazed at Your wisdom and had heard of the many miracles You had performed.  Everything that You said and did pointed out to the fact that You were from God but they could not get past their prejudices.  

How often we too are guilty of rejecting people although they are capable and gifted because they come from the wrong place, the wrong county, the wrong ethnic background, the wrong country.  They are the wrong color have the wrong accent - the list goes on and on ad infinity ad nauseam.  We would rather reject the truth than overcome our narrow minded prejudices.