TUESDAY OF WEEK ELEVEN IN ORDINARY TIME - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord. JN 13:34

1 KINGS 21:17-29

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

We cannot sin with impunity and be foolish enough to believe there will be no consequences. As the darkness of sin spreads in our soul and blocks Your grace the more we become enmeshed in the traps that evil sets for us until we are unable to break free from its grip. 

The wages of sin is death as both Ahab and Jezebel found out. While You are merciful and You always show mercy when we repent, as Ahab did, and was spared punishment in his lifetime, the long shadow cast by his sins fell on his son. Entire families can be destroyed when evil practices are the norm. 

But with You there is always mercy and forgiveness 'As far as the east is from the west so far do You remove our transgressions' when we repent of our sins and return to You in contrition and humility. Thank You for Your assurance that the repentant sinner will always receive a joyous welcome home.

PSALM 51:3-6, 11, 16

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The psalmist's hymn of confession, repentance, expression of contrition, and the joy of forgiveness and reconciliation is the journey that every sinner must make. 

Unless we are aware that we have sinned we cannot repent, be contrite, beg for forgiveness, resolve to sin no more and be reconciled once again into the family of God. These are the steps to make good confession. Thank You for instituting the Sacrament of Reconciliation through which every sinner can find their way back into the fold. 

MATTHEW 5:43-48

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The Sermon on the Mount has the power to radically change the world if its principles are put into practice by all and the Kingdom of heaven would be realized on earth. However, to the worldly wise they are impractical and impossible. Only the pure in heart and poor in spirit have the faith, the courage, and the confidence to trust God's Word. 

The radical Christian is one who is humble, meek, obedient, compassionate, loving, charitable, generous and kind. Any Christian worthy of the Name puts all their confidence in Your Word and abides by it. They are the blessed ones who discover that every promise attached to the Beatitudes is true, life-giving, and has the power to transform lives and the world. Sadly, many of us will never know because we lack the courage to take You at Your Word. 

The call to holiness and perfection as children of the Father is one we cannot take lightly for we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.