WEDNESDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;

whoever finds this seed will remain forever.

HEBREWS 10:11-18

My Soul's Beloved,

Today we are reminded of the inability of the sacrifices offered in the Old Testament to take away sins. Every day animals were slaughtered and their blood sprinkled on the altar to take away the sins of the priest offering the sacrifice, as well as the people, but these sacrifices were only symbolic, in truth they had no power to do so. They were only a foreshadowing of the one, holy, and perfect sacrifice offered by the Son of God whom the Father would send into the world to be our High Priest. 

You were sent to be the Lamb of Sacrifice, spotless, without blemish, with no stain of sin. You would give up Your life to preserve ours. You would permit Your immolation on the Wood of the Cross, You would shed Your Blood taking upon Yourself our sins, our shame, our punishment, our debt, by dying in order that we may receive Your Life. 

This once-for-all time sacrifice is wholly pleasing to the Father. The Sacrifice on Calvary is ever before Him. You are seated at His right-hand pleading for us constantly by the merits You have won for us.  

You fulfilled the covenant that God made with humankind by becoming Yourself the Covenant of Love ratified in Your Blood. You are the Eternal Word of God, You are the Law of Love that is now etched on every human heart. We are empty, and restless until we allow Your Spirit to come into our hearts filling us with Your Life and granting us rest in You.

Until You return in glory, Your Sacrifice will obtain for us mercy and pardon for all our sins. New life will be given to us every time we confess our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and each time we will be given another opportunity to begin anew.  Thank You.

PSALM 110:1-4

My Soul's Beloved,

When Abraham returned victorious from battle, he met the mysterious King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who gave him bread and wine and blessed him. In turn, Abraham gave him a tenth of everything.

You are the fulfillment of Melchizedek, whose name means righteousness. He is also King of Salem which is King of peace. You are our peace and our righteousness. Having made perfect expiation for the sins of the world, You have now taken Your place at the right hand of the Father where You may constant intercession on our behalf. You will do so until the final Enemy, Death, is routed and You will come again in glory to judge both the living and the dead.

To You, the Father has given the scepter of power, dominion, and authority for You have won the victory and triumphed over Satan.

Born of the Father from all eternity You are God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, and You Beloved, are also our Brother and Friend, faithful and changeless. In You, we can safely place all our hope and trust.

MARK 4:1-20

My Soul's Beloved,

In today's Gospel passage we hear Mark's account of the Parable of the Seed, the Sower, and the Soil. We have heard sermons on it, read it ourselves, pondered and reflected on it often, and will no doubt continue to do so many times in the course of our life when we read the Gospels, attend Holy Mass, and hear God's word preached and proclaimed.

Mark's words always paint a brilliant visual of the scenes he describes. You are by the lakeside, a huge crowd is pressing all around You so You get into a boat on the lake, a little away from the crowd, so they can see and hear You better, You sit down, and begin to teach. Your parables are always about things that people around You can relate to. Today it is about seed, sowing, and soil and You invite us to use our imagination and picture the sower going out to sow, the manner in which the seed is scattered, the different kinds of soil on which the seeds fall, and the fate of the seeds.

The sower scatters the seed generously as he walks along, as it happens the soil on which they fall is not all the same. Some fall on the edge of the path only to be eaten up by birds.  Some fall on rocky ground, unable to put down roots they are scorched by the sun and wither and die. Some fell on thorns choked and died producing nothing. While some fell on rich, fertile soil, grew tall and strong, yielding a rich harvest that produced thirty, sixty, and even a mindblowing hundredfold for in actual fact no crop ever yields such a bountiful harvest. 

To the crowds, no explanation is offered except the exhortation, 'Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!' However, when Your Apostles were alone with You they asked what the parable meant. You responded that only those who are receptive to God can hear His Word, can understand it, and respond to it. Those who prefer the world, despite the Word that is sown in their heart, it is ineffective for the things of the world either crowd it out, choke it or kill it. 

Our hearts are as responsive as the different types of soil in which the Seed of the Word is sown. You are a generous sower of the Seed it is we who either reject it, or respond to it carelessly, or only momentarily so the good effects do not last, but sometimes when grace and mercy meet and we receive Your Word joyfully and act on it, You can make something truly beautiful with our lives.