DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS
The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. JAS 1:18
The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. JAS 1:18
AMOS 5:14-15, 21-24
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
Unless we clothe ourselves in the garment of righteousness, and walk in the Way of Truth, we can have no part with You. Too long have we compromised with the world, we have lacked the courage to stand up and speak out against injustice. We deliberately closed our eyes and ears because it was convenient. All was well with us and it made no sense to jeopardize our way of life. This is the way of cowards.
Justice comes in many ways and all the upheavals in the world today is justice for our cold, stone-hearted indifference. The words of the prophet Amos could very easily be applied to us who have thus far been Christians only in name, I hate and despise your feasts, I take no pleasure in your solemn festivals. When you offer me holocausts, I reject your oblations, and refuse to look at your sacrifices of fattened cattle. Let me have no more of the din of your chanting, no more of your strumming on harps.What we see today is a clarion call to wake up from our apathy, indifference, and the sin of acedia so our ' justice flow like water, and integrity like an unfailing stream.'
PSALM 59:7-13, 16-17
Unless we clothe ourselves in the garment of righteousness, and walk in the Way of Truth, we can have no part with You. Too long have we compromised with the world, we have lacked the courage to stand up and speak out against injustice. We deliberately closed our eyes and ears because it was convenient. All was well with us and it made no sense to jeopardize our way of life. This is the way of cowards.
Justice comes in many ways and all the upheavals in the world today is justice for our cold, stone-hearted indifference. The words of the prophet Amos could very easily be applied to us who have thus far been Christians only in name, I hate and despise your feasts, I take no pleasure in your solemn festivals. When you offer me holocausts, I reject your oblations, and refuse to look at your sacrifices of fattened cattle. Let me have no more of the din of your chanting, no more of your strumming on harps.What we see today is a clarion call to wake up from our apathy, indifference, and the sin of acedia so our ' justice flow like water, and integrity like an unfailing stream.'
PSALM 59:7-13, 16-17
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
We know that You are a God of mercy, slow to anger and abounding in love. We have only to look at the Cross to see how much God loved the world when He gave You to us as our Redeemer and Savior.
But we cannot take this love and mercy for granted as we have been doing for eons. You are also a God of Justice and no one can presume on Your mercy and love. As children of God we have been called to be holy, upright, pure, meek, and humble. How far we have strayed from the Way that You have walked before us and called us to follow.
We are guilty. We confess all our sins. We repent and with the help You make available to us we will strive to do better. But we are weak, Beloved, without Your help and Your grace we can do nothing. Continue to fill us with Your Holy Spirit and remain with us as You have promised so we will remain steadfast in faith, joyful in hope, and untiring in love all the days of our life.
MATTHEW 8:28-34
My Beloved, Soul of my soul,
The inhabitants of Gadarenes were gentiles, Jews would have nothing to do with them for in addition to being pagans they kept swine which according to the law were unclean. They would have been despised by Jews living in the surrounding areas.
Too often we allow our own fears, insecurities, our lack of confidence, our preoccupation with what people will think of us that we miss the opportunity of new experiences, new possibilities, new relationships.
Matthew mentions two men possessed by demons so terrifying that they were outcasts and forced to live where the dead were buried. You passed that way and give them a new lease on life. From this miracle we know that there is hope for all. Even when the world rejects us, God never will.
The people of that town missed their opportunity to encounter God because they were too preoccupied with the things of the world, whereas the town rejects encountered Him, were set free, and given a new lease on life.
Beloved, may we never be so caught up in our own little world that we lose sight of why we were created and of our final destination.
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