DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls. Jas 1:21BC
1 Kings 11:4-13, Psalm 106:3-5, 35-37 & 40,
Mark 7:24-30
1 Kings 11:4-13
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
One would think that Solomon having been so highly favored by God, would remain faithful all the days of his life. Yet, as he grew older he grew weak and allowed himself to be manipulated by the many foreign wives he had married. Instead he leading them to the one, true God he wanted to please them by building temples to the idols they worshiped and what is worse he too worshiped these idols.
It is easy to criticize Solomon, but am I any different? I know You, I love You, I have experienced Your great love for me. I have encountered You over and over again and despite all of this how easily I fall when tempted. But You are always faithful Beloved. Even more so now than at the time of Solomon because You have given us the Sacraments and through them You make it possible to restore all I had lost through sin. Not only do You forgive all my sins, You forget them, they are lost in the ocean of Your great mercy.
Psalm 106:3-5, 35-37 & 40
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people;
visit us with your saving help.
You call us to be in the world but not of it. We are called to perfection and holiness always for we are called to image our Father in heaven. It is only when we strive diligently to observe with glad heart and obedient spirit the will of God in all things that we will indeed be blessed with Your favor.
But they mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
How often Beloved, I have become ensnared in the culture of the world which preaches a gospel of self indulgence. But the call to every disciple is clear, I must take up my cross each day and follow You. I make it difficult for myself to heed Your call because I deliberately and constantly dabble in the things of the world and I expose myself to its siren call.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
And the LORD grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
The blood of the innocents soak our earth, crying out to God incessantly because they have been denied their right to fulfill the destiny that God ordained for them. Their lives are snuffed out by abortion to satisfy the insatiable gods of greed and selfishness. The more the world turns away from You Beloved, the more resistant we become to grace and the further away we distance ourselves from our divine destiny.
Mark 7:24-30
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
We read in the Gospels that crowds followed You wherever You went. They clamored around You, pressed against You, reached out to touch Your garments, the experienced power going out of You and healing them. We are told that You ministered to the sick because Your heart was moved with compassion. But today we read that You entered the district of Tyre and went into a house, we do not know to whom the house belonged. It must have been a good friend. You wanted no one to know of Your presence. Perhaps You were tired and needed to rest quietly for once being with people who asked nothing of You, wanted nothing from You but to give You what You most needed, quiet and rest.
It was not to be. We are told that a Greek woman, a Syrophoenician by birth, heard where You were and came to plead for healing for her daughter who was possessed by a demon. A desperate mother with a gravely sick child will go to any lengths for help, this mother was no different. We now have a most interesting dialogue between You and the woman, Your response to her pleading is totally out of character. You appear totally indifferent to her plight and to her plea,
“Let the children be fed first.
For it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
Instead of taking offence she says,
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Of course You would have heard her prayer and healed her daughter but You never let go of a teaching moment. Her faith was to be an example to the world. She will forever be remembered as the mother who would not take no for an answer.
So it must be with us. When we come to You in prayer, when we bring our needs before You or intercede for others, we must have the attitude of this woman whose faith You praised. No matter how insurmountable the difficulty might be we must always remember that God hears and answers every prayer just as this mother knew. When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. We are to believe that all that we ask for in faith will be given to us. Lord I believe, help my unbelief.
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls. Jas 1:21BC
1 Kings 11:4-13, Psalm 106:3-5, 35-37 & 40,
Mark 7:24-30
1 Kings 11:4-13
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
One would think that Solomon having been so highly favored by God, would remain faithful all the days of his life. Yet, as he grew older he grew weak and allowed himself to be manipulated by the many foreign wives he had married. Instead he leading them to the one, true God he wanted to please them by building temples to the idols they worshiped and what is worse he too worshiped these idols.
It is easy to criticize Solomon, but am I any different? I know You, I love You, I have experienced Your great love for me. I have encountered You over and over again and despite all of this how easily I fall when tempted. But You are always faithful Beloved. Even more so now than at the time of Solomon because You have given us the Sacraments and through them You make it possible to restore all I had lost through sin. Not only do You forgive all my sins, You forget them, they are lost in the ocean of Your great mercy.
Psalm 106:3-5, 35-37 & 40
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people;
visit us with your saving help.
You call us to be in the world but not of it. We are called to perfection and holiness always for we are called to image our Father in heaven. It is only when we strive diligently to observe with glad heart and obedient spirit the will of God in all things that we will indeed be blessed with Your favor.
But they mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
How often Beloved, I have become ensnared in the culture of the world which preaches a gospel of self indulgence. But the call to every disciple is clear, I must take up my cross each day and follow You. I make it difficult for myself to heed Your call because I deliberately and constantly dabble in the things of the world and I expose myself to its siren call.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
And the LORD grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
The blood of the innocents soak our earth, crying out to God incessantly because they have been denied their right to fulfill the destiny that God ordained for them. Their lives are snuffed out by abortion to satisfy the insatiable gods of greed and selfishness. The more the world turns away from You Beloved, the more resistant we become to grace and the further away we distance ourselves from our divine destiny.
Mark 7:24-30
Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,
We read in the Gospels that crowds followed You wherever You went. They clamored around You, pressed against You, reached out to touch Your garments, the experienced power going out of You and healing them. We are told that You ministered to the sick because Your heart was moved with compassion. But today we read that You entered the district of Tyre and went into a house, we do not know to whom the house belonged. It must have been a good friend. You wanted no one to know of Your presence. Perhaps You were tired and needed to rest quietly for once being with people who asked nothing of You, wanted nothing from You but to give You what You most needed, quiet and rest.
It was not to be. We are told that a Greek woman, a Syrophoenician by birth, heard where You were and came to plead for healing for her daughter who was possessed by a demon. A desperate mother with a gravely sick child will go to any lengths for help, this mother was no different. We now have a most interesting dialogue between You and the woman, Your response to her pleading is totally out of character. You appear totally indifferent to her plight and to her plea,
“Let the children be fed first.
For it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
Instead of taking offence she says,
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Of course You would have heard her prayer and healed her daughter but You never let go of a teaching moment. Her faith was to be an example to the world. She will forever be remembered as the mother who would not take no for an answer.
So it must be with us. When we come to You in prayer, when we bring our needs before You or intercede for others, we must have the attitude of this woman whose faith You praised. No matter how insurmountable the difficulty might be we must always remember that God hears and answers every prayer just as this mother knew. When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. We are to believe that all that we ask for in faith will be given to us. Lord I believe, help my unbelief.
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