MEMORIAL OF ST. BONIFACE, BISHOP & MARTYR - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

How happy are the poor in spirit:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. MT5:3

TOBIT 12:1,5-15,20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

In this beautiful story of Tobit and Tobias, we learn the value of giving with a generous spirit. Prompted by his father Tobit, to pay what was due to his traveling companion, Tobias said to Raphael, ‘Take half of what you brought back, in payment for all you have done, and go in peace.’ We are so niggardly when it comes to sharing what You have so generously given us. Our hands are short. Our souls and spirit are cramped fearing to give with an open hand and open heart lest we find ourselves lacking what we may need tomorrow. We give less than we ought because we lack faith in Your providence to supply all our needs.

The reward granted to all who possess the generous spirit of Tobit and Tobias is the discovery that God walks with us, His angels accompany us, protect and help us. And God opens His treasuries of graces and blessings and heaps upon us all that we need in this life and everlasting joy in the life to come.

Let us pay heed and practice the advice Raphael gives to the friends of God. We are to be grateful for all God's favors and testify before all His generosity to us. We are to bless and proclaim the Name of God and offer tireless thanksgiving to Him. If we must boast, let us boast in the Lord as we count His innumerable blessings and favors. And may we never fail to take advantage of every opportunity presented to us to do good and not evil. 

Another not-so-secret weapon to obtain the powerful blessings and graces of God is to pray, fast, and give alms with the right spirit. The more we give away our spiritual and temporal wealth the greater will be our reward in this life and the life to come. If we desire to fly into Your arms after we die there is no better way to guarantee the fulfillment of this desire by generous almsgiving.

Here is another secret that we learn from this story, the Father has appointed to each of His children a guardian angel whose chief task as explained by the angel Raphael to receive all our prayers of supplications and present them to God. Our guardian angel records all the good we do and presents these too to our heavenly Father. All trials both great and small are meant to test our faith and if with the help of grace we bear them in the right spirit, offering up all for God's greater glory, we will be rewarded. 

TOBIT 13:2,6-8 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The greatest sorrow anyone can endure is to be ignorant of
You and Your love, to be ignorant of the purpose for which we were created, and hence to have no notion that we were created for an eternity of joy in the Kingdom of heaven. Sin is abhorrent to You and grave sins that are unpardoned because we are unrepentant and hence have not been forgiven, have grave, inescapable, and eternal consequences.

However, a truly repentant and contrite heart wipes away every blot and stain of sin and restores grace to our soul and You return to make it Your dwelling again. No matter the number or the gravity of our sins, if we turn to You and beg for forgiveness, You will not hide Your Face from us. 

When we were given over to sin, to the flesh, to the world, to evil, even then You did not reject us but continued to woo us back to You. We were not punished as we deserved because You love us and desired passionately that we return to You.

May I never forget how far and how often I strayed from the path of love, truth, goodness, and beauty, but every single time when I approached Your throne of grace in the confessional with humility, and a contrite heart and spirit, You forgave me generously and completely every single time. May I never cease to praise and glorify You for loving me as You do and for not keeping a record of my past sins and failings.

MARK 12:38-44 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The world abounds in the type of people that You warn us against in today's Gospel. To be honest, at times I too am guilty of this sin. We see ourselves better than others especially the poor, those with hideous wounds in body and spirit, those whom the world has pushed to the peripheries and out of sight to spare us the guilt, shame, and concern we ought rightly to feel for our neglected, forgotten, and suffering brothers and sisters. 

The world is chock full of people like the ones You describe in today's Gospel, and whom You warn us against: 

‘Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets; these are the men who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.’

After the warning of the severe consequences of our indifference, selfishness, and greed, You draw our attention to a concrete example of true giving. The widow offered two little copper coins but God looked at her heart and the spirit with which she gave all she had to live on and considered her gift far more priceless than the offerings of those who gave great amounts from their surplus. 

TRUE GIVING

When I’m called to be a giver,

Do I pause to count the cost?

Do I hesitate, procrastinate,

Until the moment’s lost?

When I’m called to be a giver,

Do I weigh the pros and cons,

Will I regret tomorrow,

Today’s benevolence?

When I’m called to be a giver,

Do I give of my excess?

Or like the poor widow,

Give all that I possess?

When I’m called to be a giver,

May I never count the cost

Of tender loving, giving,

Just as the Master taught.

Myra D’souza/1.12.1998

 ‘I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.’