FRIDAY OF THE THIRTY-THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2020

 DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me. JN 10:27

REVELATION 10:8-11

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

John, the beloved disciple, Apostle and evangelist, was an old man in exile and sentenced to hard labor but the mission to preach the Good News, and to make it known to the ends of the earth was the greater labor that was laid upon him. 

The Good News is sweeter than honey in the mouth of the one who preaches it for it brings about the conversion and salvation of souls. But every disciple must be prepared for suffering, for persecution, and death for if they persecuted You they will persecute us as well for the servant is not greater than the Master. 

A time will come, however, and we pray that it comes soon when all will hear the Word of God, from the greatest to the least, and all hear, believe, and be saved.

PSALM 119:14, 24,72, 103, 111, 131

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

All who believe in You and in Your Word abide in Truth and all who abide in Truth abide in You for You are the Truth. 

You said that doing the will of Your Father was food and drink to You and so it must be for us who love You, follow You, belong to You, and are called by Your Name. There is no greater joy or peace than in aligning our will to You in all things. 

You came to fulfill the law and the prophets - You summed up the whole law in one great commandment - to love God and to love our neighbor - all who keep it will live in Your love forever. 

There is no greater joy than to know Your Word, to live by it, and to make it the rule of our life. Your Word is full of promise and all who believe in it are made sons and daughters of God.

In this land of exile, those who hear the Word of God and keep it by Your graciousness and grace are destined for adoption as God's children through You, Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,

LUKE 19:45-48

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

This incident of the cleansing of the Temple illustrates Your righteous anger. Buyers and sellers had converted the courts of the Temple to a place of commerce in collusion with the chief priests and the authorities. The cleansing of the Temple also symbolizes the way we have allowed our soul, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, to be desecrated and polluted by sin. Our soul was made for You and You alone.

Thank You for instituting the Sacrament of Reconciliation and for the power You bestowed on Your priests to forgive every sin in Your Name no matter how grave the sin is and no matter how often, in our weakness, we commit them. 

As long as we hold Your Word in our hearts, as long as it is alive and active in us, as long as we make it the rule by which we are guided in all things, as long as Your Word is food and drink to us, evil cannot approach us. No harm will come to those, who like the Virgin Mary, conceive the Word in their hearts and bring You forth in the witness of their lives. 

May we also, like Mary, Martha's sister, sit at Your feet absorbed by You and Your words which are spirit and life all the days of our life.