Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24, Psalm 69:15-16, 30-31, 33-34, Matthew 14:1-12

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. -Matthew 5:10

Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24, Psalm 69:15-16, 30-31, 33-34, Matthew 14:1-12

Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24

My soul's beloved, if there is one thing that is anathema to the world we live in it is to give sin its proper name. The world prefers to couch sin in words that appease our disordered desires giving them a legitimacy that is false. More often than not people whose conscience is ill formed accept these lies and live the lie and whether they are aware of it or not they are affected by it.

Jeremiah and many of the prophets of old were rejected, persecuted, hounded and often put to death because the kings and people of the day preferred to live in sin. The chosen people of God did not hesitate to kill You in the most atrocious, horrific, and barbaric way even though they knew You were innocent that is how much the hated You. It was a hate that was so fiendish and demonic in its intensity that they refused to listen to the few voices of reason that tried to stay their hand.

Jeremiah was saved for a while because the voice of the few managed to prevail over those who desired his life, “This man does not deserve death; it is in the name of the LORD, our God, that he speaks to us.” 

Look upon this world and have mercy on us Lord. We have spilled Your Blood upon us and upon our earth O Lord and in the spilling we are redeemed. Look with pity upon us who are weak, selfish, and prone to sin because of the frailty of our flesh and help us for we have no one who can save us but You.

Psalm 69:15-16, 30-31, 33-34

Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Rescue me out of the mire; may I not sink!

may I be rescued from my foes,

and from the watery depths.

Let not the flood-waters overwhelm me,

nor the abyss swallow me up,

nor the pit close its mouth over me.

But I am afflicted and in pain;

let your saving help, O God, protect me.

I will praise the name of God in song,

and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.

“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;

you who seek God, may your hearts revive!

For the LORD hears the poor,

and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”

My soul's beloved, I make the cry and the prayer of the psalmist my own this day. Be merciful O Lord and lift me from the miry depths of sin, help me! Save me!

Matthew 14:1-12

My soul's beloved, once again we see in today's Scripture reading that  evil finds no rest unless is destroys the good. All that is good silently condemns the ways of the wicked.

John the baptist was unafraid to tell king Herod that he had sinned in taking his brother's wife and he was breaking the law of God in having her. Bother Herod and Herodias were furious that he dared to question them. Unlike John the who are in authority and power and who condone evil going so far as to legitimize it. Herod in drunken folly, entranced by Salome as she danced before his guests,  promised her all that she asked for, at her mother's instigation she asked for the head of John the Baptist.

Thus evil won the day but only momentarily.

We ought not to be disheartened - You have redeemed the world. You have purchased it at the cost of Your Life and Your Blood. You have triumphed and are victorious - like the weed and the wheat the good and the bad are permitted to grow side by side because God is a God of mercy and tender compassion. All are given an opportunity to choose You as their Savior and Redeemer. The Cross has won and we are saved.