1 Peter 1:18-25, Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20, Mark 10:32-45

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

1 Peter 1:18-25, Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20, Mark 10:32-45

1 Peter 1:18-25

My soul’s beloved, life without You is without meaning or purpose, but a life redeemed by You, and lived for Your glory will be rewarded with eternal life with You, the Father and the Holy Spirit. Love for God and for neighbor must prompt all our words and our actions. We no longer belong to ourselves but to You because we have been ransomed by our blood and have been born again with the fire of the Holy Spirit. The Word of God who is the Son of God  is a double edged sword that is able to penetrate the heart and guide the spirit. It endures forever and whoever lives by the Word of the Lord will live forever.

Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20

My soul’s beloved, all who belong to You through the waters of Baptism receive the life of Your Holy Spirit. You pour grace into our hearts and the presence of God within us as our Helper and Comforter, is able to help us navigate through the many ways and choices that are presented to us each day. He prompts us to walk in the way of love and integrity. Your blessings are granted to us and to our children and fear need never paralyse us because You are always with us.

 Mark 10:32-45

My soul’s beloved, anxiety and fear are the two emotions that can turn us into a pillar of salt. It hinders us and we make no progress toward the Kingdom of God. Our entire life is a journeying up to Jerusalem, and as we live each day we can choose to walk beside You in confidence or we can allow our fears to overwhelm us. Death must come to us all, this is certain. We must choose the paths we take to our final destination aware that whoever is Your disciple can expect to receive the same treatment that was meted out to You.  The world hated You and still does and consequently we too are hated and persecuted some far more than others. But we have Your assurance that our suffering will not go unrewarded. We will share in Your resurrection. But first we have to model our lives on Yours. We must walk in humility before God and the world and we must never compromise the truth. If we suffer for Your sake and the sake of the Gospel then the enemies of the world may destroy our bodies but after that can do nothing else. Death for us who belong to You is only a gateway through which we enter into a perfect and eternal union of bliss with You.