TUESDAY OF WEEK FOURTEEN IN ORDINARY TIME - 2020

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me. JN 10:14

HOSEA 8:4-7, 11-13

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Hosea once again laments the faithlessness of the people God chose for His own. Idolatry is a heinous offence against God who created us for Himself. God has no need of us, He is complete in Himself and yet, He chose to fashion us in His image and likeness, giving us life, a future, and the hope of a glorious destiny. Time and time again the world has rejected Him, rejected You, worshipped the false idols that Satan is constantly dangling before us and distracting us from our purpose, mission, and goal.

God is constantly wooing us back, He sent You into the world to make known His love for us and to reveal the Kingdom of God to us. All the world's miseries at different stages of its  history are a consequence of our disobedience. Nothing will go right until we return to our Father, our Creator, our Lord and our God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. If not, we willfully bring about our destruction.

PSALM 115:3-10

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Unless all God's people realize that we belong to Him and that we were redeemed for Him at a price we can never repay, we will never be happy. We have only to look around us and see what enamors most people - the worship of the body, the worship of wealth, the worship of false gods who encourage self-indulgence, self-made gods who approve of sin. 

To many in the world purity, self-discipline, holiness, humility and obedience to the commandments is anathema. They prefer gurus who stroke their egos and tell them they are gods. 

Today the psalmist reminds us that there is only one God and it is He who we must trust. We are created to know the Living God who is revealed to us in You, and who dwells in us through His Spirit.

My Beloved Jesus, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, grant us wisdom and humility before we bring about our own destruction. Our help is in Your Name O Lord, who made the heavens and the earth.

MATTHEW 9:32-37

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

Today's Gospel speaks of Your power over evil spirits, over demons and their minions who roam the world freely, seeking souls to devour, and kill. The people who witnessed the miracle were awestruck at the authority of Your Word which caused demons to flee. But there are always the naysayers, like the Pharisees, those whose hearts are so heard, whose spirits are so warped, they are unable to comprehend let alone consent to the divine.

The Pharisees actually attributed Your divine power to demons and in doing so they revealed the evil in their hearts.  That did not stop You from going around doing good, healing, preaching, teaching, reaching out and touching all who came to You and transforming their lives. Crowds followed You wherever You went because they had never seen or heard anyone like You. 

To this day, Beloved, anyone who speaks of You with conviction, boldness, and power continues to attract crowds. The spiritual hunger in the world has reached epic proportions and this is why many become gullible targets for false prophets. Never before has Your call been more relevant as in our times. We too are, harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Today, You say to every faithful disciple, 'The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.'