FRIDAY OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2020

 DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
MT 11:25

1 CORINTHIANS 15:12-20

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

All that the Father willed You accomplished in perfect humility and obedience. To do the will of Your Father was food and drink to You nothing gave You greater joy than to always say to Your Abba, "Not my will but Thine."

And this was the Father's will who loved the world so much that He gave us His only Son so that everyone who believes in You may not perish but may have eternal life. You came into the world in obedience to the Father's will and gave up Your life as a ransom for many. You entered into our death in order to destroy it forever and through Your glorious Resurrection we who believe receive the promise of entering into Your life eternally. 

This is our faith that we have been saved in love. St. Paul tells us if there was no resurrection then we are all doomed to eternal death. But You have been raised to life and this is our hope that we who die will also be raised to eternal life with You.

PSALM 17:1, 6-8, 15

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

On the Cross at Calvary You were raised high above the earth and on that throne, that Altar of Sacrifice, where You were the Victim that was slain for the sins of the world as the Lamb of God, the spotless lamb without stain or blemish. You won for the Father all the children of Adam who were lost forever by his willful disobedience to His command. Your perfect act of obedience paid a debt that we never could. 

The prayer of the psalmist is a prayer that You alone can prayer with justification for You alone are one with no deceit on Your lips. You alone rose in glory and majesty to take Your place at the right hand of the Father. 

Because of Your Sacrifice, Beloved, all who call on Your Name will be heard and You will answer every cry that rises up in supplication. You alone can save and You will save by the power of Your Name.

Thank You for loving us. Thank You for sealing us in Your Blood. Thank You for the Gift of Your Spirit and thank You for our adoption through Your favor as children of God. Thank You for Your mighty protection, for guarding us, and keeping us safe as the apple of Your eye from the wiles of the devil. Thank You for granting us refuge in the shadow of Your wings. Thank You for Your assurance that after we close our eyes in death we will awake to behold Your glorious Face for ever.

LUKE 8:1-3

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

You came into the world and among a people whose culture has always looked at women as means to an end. As property who could be used and abused without compunction. This has been so since the time of Eve and even though, in this so-called enlightened 21st-century many women continue to be used overtly and covertly as things, as objects, as less than their male counterparts even though God created us equal. 

Sin, suffering, and death are the effects of the original sin of our first parent's disobedience and often the woman pays the heavier price. Thank You for showing the world that women no less than men have a part to play in the mission of spreading the Good News to the ends of the earth. That they are just as necessary, and important in playing a vital role in building the Kingdom of God on earth.

Luke tells us that along with the twelve certain women who were cured of evil spirits and ailments also followed You. He mentions some by name, some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources. How refreshing and heartening it must have been for them to be recognized as having value. To be seen and appreciated for who they were. How gladly they followed You and how privileged they must have felt in being able to provide for and serve You and the disciples.  

Thank You for the Church You founded that has always elevated, reverenced, and upheld women beginning with Your Mother Mary. Holy Mother Church has always been faithful in imitating You closely and obeying all that You taught and did and she teaches her children to do the same.