FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives. LK 4:18

EZEKIEL 2:2-5 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The warning words that God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel to His rebellious people are as relevant for us who profess to be Christians. 

There is no dearth of anointed and consecrated priests and religious as well as holy men and women from all walks of life who are raising the alarm bells to a godless, obstinate world that refuses to open its eyes and ears to the truth that we were created for God and our lives on earth will determine our final, eternal destiny and destination. 

Have mercy on us O Lord, save us before Your wrath descends on a witless world as it spirals into the place possessed by the doomed and the damned. 

'Whether they listen or not, this set of rebels shall know there is a prophet among them.’

PSALM 123: 1-4 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The inextinguishable light of Truth shines bright always, it
is the world that chooses deliberately to be blind, surrendering future eternal joy for temporary, fleeting, carnal pleasure that fizzles out the moment it is satisfied.

As long as we are slaves of the flesh we will be insensate to the delights of spiritual joy. We can be slaves of the world or the slaves of Eternal Truth, Wisdom, and Beauty. Grant us this grace O Lord, today and every day of our lives to keep our gaze fixed on You and on the things of heaven just as the gaze of slaves of old were fixed on their masters, ready at every moment to do as they were bid.

Mother dearest, You who are the handmaid of the Lord, I desire to be the handmaid of the Handmaid. May I keep my gaze fixed on You sweet Mother of God and my Mother, so You will direct my way and my will in the way and will of Your dearly beloved Son.

May we not be intimidated by the world. Let our souls and our spirits not be crushed by the scorn and contempt of the world because we are Your disciples. Have mercy on Your faithful people, Lord, and keep us safe for eternal life. Amen.

2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul constantly teaches us how to trust You completely always and to see a blessing in everything. If You permit it, You grant the necessary grace to endure it. You will turn the loss to gain, the defeat to triumph, and victory - as You did on the Cross.

We are unaware of what this particular thorn was that plagued St. Paul, we do not know whether it was of a physical or spiritual nature, but he learned in time to accept it since it was from You and through grace to turn it into a blessing.

Perhaps because of the daily chafing of this particular cross, he was able to endure all that he would suffer submitting with grace and joy so he counted everything, good and bad as blessings. He learned the crucial lesson by yielding and submitting totally to Your will because He took You at Your word and believed it. ‘My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness,' and was able to encourage all Your disciples in every age when he said, 'For it is when I am weak that I am strong.'

MARK 6:1-6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Wonder and awe are not sufficient to make disciples because they fade. Faith is a gift and has its foundation in a Person, not a feeling.

The people of Your home town assumed they knew You because You lived among them in obscurity for 30 years. They put You in a box, labeled You, and cast You aside. It is when we think we know that we are most ignorant. When we label people, stifle and stunt their growth in our minds by our own lack of imagination, it is our loss. We miss out on the Truth and the moment of encounter with God passes us by because we are imprisoned by our inability to look with fresh eyes and a childlike spirit.

You came to Your own and Your own rejected You because of their preconceived ideas of the Messiah. After their initial astonishment, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him?' They immediately cast You aside saying, 'This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ 

Sadly, the kind of people who lived in Your hometown can be found everywhere in the world and the worst kind is found among those who refuse to look further than the end of their nose. They refuse to accept Mary's perpetual virginity, they prefer their own narrow interpretation because the common sense, logical, cultural interpretation of the term sisters and brothers in an oriental context means that they must make radical changes to their lives. They do so to their own loss. We cannot honor, love, reverence, and praise the Mother of God more than You, the Father, and the Holy Spirit does.

Sadly too there is a distinct lack of joy, peace, hope, and miracles where faith in You is lacking.