FRIDAY OF THE EIGHTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I chose you from the world

to go out and bear fruit,

fruit that will last,

says the Lord. JN15:16

Ecclesiasticus 44:1,9-13 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Today we are reminded that it is the righteous who are remembered, they leave behind a rich legacy as an inheritance to their descendants. While many successful men have left their mark and some are remembered from one generation to the next; many more have not left a lasting footprint and hence their memory is erased by the sands of time.

It is not so with the truly good, holy, and virtuous, who in imitation of You, spend their entire lives in reflecting You. They live only to glorify You and they are consumed with the desire to reflect You and You alone in all they do. These will never be forgotten. Their memory and their legacy are kept alive in the Church so we may learn from their example that it is possible to live an extraordinary life if we surrender our ordinary lives to the will of God and the Holy Spirit.

PSALM 149:1-6,9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The psalmist constantly urges us to sing a new song to the
Lord, and so we ought, for Your mercies and Your love are new every day. Each new dawn brings with it new hope, new possibilities, new insights into the unsearchable depths of the Father's love. All we need to do to prompt our spirit to praise You is to contemplate the work of the Creator in His creation, in the manner in which we are saved, and in the many gifts that He heaps on us. 

We are sinners, unworthy, weak, flawed, and prone to giving in repeatedly to temptations and yet You delight in us. How can we not rejoice in Your unwavering love and Your unflagging patience with us? All we need to do is step aside from the noise of the world and withdraw into the sanctuary of our soul and there we can contemplate You, our God, who makes His dwelling place in these frail bodies that You deign to make Your temple. We are saved because God condescended to become like us so and to die in order that we may be raised to life through Your resurrection. This is surely reason enough to celebrate, praise, and honor our God every day that we are alive. 

May all that is within me praise Your Holy Name for as long as I have breath in my body.

MARK 11:11-26 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The sole purpose for which I am created is to know You, love You, serve You, and be happy with You in this life, and eternally happy with You in the Kingdom of heaven. Nothing unclean can enter the presence of God and since I am the temple of God I must strive to keep God's dwelling place free from sin or I will be separated from You who are all good and worthy of all my love.

As we reflect on today's Gospel we understand that there is a connection between the two incidents - Your cursing the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple. The fig tree although full of leaves and seemingly very healthy, lacked fruit. The temple was a place of worship - a holy place, a place where God dwelt but it had become a place of commerce. Those who came to pray were distracted by the noise of buying, selling, and haggling; God's temple, a house of prayer, had become a marketplace.

The fig tree is a symbol of the Christian life that must bear good fruit in every season. The Temple is a symbol of our body which is the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit hence we must be always on our guard not to allow the spirit of the world to take up residence in us.  You are always hungry and thirsty for our love and for many souls to love You and come to know You and be saved. It is an insatiable hunger and thirst for very few love You as we ought.

But with You, there is always hope, once we repent You cleanse us from sin,. You return to us and feed us with Your Word, and Your Body. The more we allow ourselves to be nourished by You the less tempted we will be to turn Your dwelling place into a den of thieves.

Today, You teach us to be fruitful, to forgive from the heart, to have faith, and to keep ourselves free from sin so Your Spirit abiding in us will never leave us but remain with us always.