TUESDAY OF THE ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord. JN 13:34

2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

It is the poorest of the poor that are the most generous. They are so empathetic that they will give away all they have to live gladly and paradoxically they are the richer for it. This was St. Paul's experience with the churches in Macedonia. He said that the Christians there suffered intense poverty and yet they pressed Paul to take what little they had and they gave it joyfully. They did not have to be persuaded, they did not have to be prodded gently into being generous, they were no subtle hints to spur their conscience. They not only gave spontaneously and thought it a privilege to be able to share what they had received little though it was. The secret I believe was the fact that they belonged wholly to God.

Most of us belong to the second category of people to whom Paul is addressing this letter. He first makes them aware of the poor who do not have to be prodded to be generous, he then lists the many wonderful gifts God has given them, and then he asks them to give not because they are being ordered to, but because of love and gratitude. He asks them to model themselves on You who possessing all things embraced poverty for our sakes so that we might be rich with Your abundance which You desire to give us.

PSALM 146:2,5-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We were created to adore You, love You, worship You, and give you thanks all the days we live on earth and to continue our hymns of praise in the company of all the angels and saints in eternity. Praise of You fuels joy in us Fills us with wonder and delight as we contemplate Your goodness, greatness, mercy, and above all unfathomable love for us who are not worthy of your love.

You are infinitely perfect and complete within the Trinity and we are neither necessary to You nor do we add or take away anything from You. Yet You created us and You are faithful despite our unfaithfulness. You care for us and You provide all we need materially and spiritually to sustain us in this life. You have set us free from the snares and wiles of the enemy and because of it, we are truly free. 

Thank You for heaping grace upon grace on us. For walking with us. For yoking Yourself to us. For sharing our burdens. Thank You for giving us sight and for opening our ears to see You and to hear You, in our neighbor. Thank You for revealing Your Face in the stranger, the widow, and the orphan. Thank You for giving us hearts to love You and for Your sake to love our brothers and sisters. May we never cease to be our brothers' and sisters' keeper.

MATTHEW 5:43-48 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You do not give us an option whether or not to love our neighbor. There are no exceptions. There is no acceptable reason where we can fool ourselves into believing that it is ok not to love the selfish, hardhearted, cold-hearted, deliberately cruel, and unlovable people that very often live among us and could be members of our family. 

It is easier to be kind, understanding, compassionate, loving, and generous to the stranger whom we may never see again than to be unfailingly kind to those we see every day and who are so unbelievably annoying and irritating, they are like sandpaper on our nerves.  Heaven does not come easy. The road to Calvary was no cakewalk and if we are to be authentic disciples then we are invited to take up our cross daily, moment by difficult moment, beg for the grace, courage, and strength we need, and follow You. 

The watermark for perfection and holiness is the Father and if we are the adopted children of God then we must strive to be holy and perfect as He is holy and perfect. There is no option to loving. There is no option except to will the good of the other always even if all we honestly desire to do is to take them by the scruff of the neck and give them a good shaking.  

You sometimes got impatient with Your disciples because they were so hard to teach, You must often feel the same way with me. Be patient with me, Lord, and help me to love those I find hardest to love not so much for Your sake but for mine. As You have rightly said, there is no merit in loving only those who love me in return. I am called to love those hardest to love and to be unfailingly kind to those who are anything but kind to me. I am a daughter of God and therefore I must strive to be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect.