FRIDAY OF THE ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

How happy are the poor in spirit:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. MT 5:3

 

2 CORINTHIANS 11:18,21-30 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Let us not whine when we are persecuted for being Christians, You never promised Your disciples a comfortable life on earth rather You assured us that if they persecuted You they would persecute us as well for the servant is not greater than the Master.

Tertullian said, "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church."  And this is proved to be true from the moment You laid down Your life for us.  You have given us the greatest example of self-giving, agape love, and it is only when we too are prepared to lay down our lives for Your sake and the sake of the Gospel that we witness and proclaim the Good News most faithfully and effectively.

The world and the worldly boast of things that are temporal but Your Apostles and disciples, boast as St. Paul does, of all they so gladly suffered and continue to do so in order to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth. No hardship is too great, no persecution too painful. Imprisonment, torture, even death are endured gladly for Your sake and the sake of the Gospel as they fix their gaze on the eternal reward that awaits them in Your Kingdom.

If not now then when are we going to follow in Your footsteps, pick up our cross daily and cheerfully, and choose to walk the narrow and difficult way that leads to life? When as Christians we suffer for Your sake let us pray not so much for release from our sufferings but rather for grace to endure faithfully to the end. 

PSALM 34:2-7 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The more self-centered we are the more difficult it is for us to be humble. We all desire to be filled with joy always but we are not ready to practice the virtues that guarantee joy - they are the humility and obedience to God's will always. 

Mary is the disciple par excellence who from the moment God's plan was revealed to her, said, 'Yes, may it be done to me according to Your word.' If like her, we made You our only boast we too would rejoice always.

Every hardship is endurable when we unite our sufferings with the Cross and offer it to the Father. All fear, all sorrow, all doubt, flee when we find our answer in You. 

Grant us this grace, Beloved, that all who are called by Your Name, keep our gaze fixed on You. May we never take our eyes away from You and we will not sink but walk on the water into Your outstretched arms.

MATTHEW 6:19-23 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Material things can get lost, stolen, moth-eaten, moldy, stained, and broken. Some earthly treasures can even, over time, become invaluable and useless and fit only to be thrown away. Too often we slave our entire lives over things that cannot in and of themselves give us anything worth having or lasting. 

It is wise for every disciple in every age to reflect on and heed the advice You give in today's gospel passage:

‘Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The more we allow ourselves to get lost in the frivolities of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, the more darkened and diseased will our bodies become. We were created for divine love, life, light, and truth - let us pursue these, and we will live.