MONDAY OF THE FOURTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News. 2 TIM 1:10

GENESIS 28:10-22 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

If we carry nothing with us except Your Covenant of Love we will have all we will ever need and more as we learn from the experiences of Jacob. He fled his country after cheating him of his birthright as well as his father's blessing. Jacob did wrong and paid dearly for it, God, in turn, did not withdraw His favor from him. In fact, God was with Him, his angels accompanied him, and God reminded him constantly of the Covenant He had made with Abraham and his descendants.

God, our Father, has made an eternal covenant with all who are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This Covenant is sealed in Your Blood and we are marked by the Holy Spirit as St. Paul reminds us:  "He anointed us, placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come. "

What He said to Jacob, ‘Be sure that I am with you; I will keep you safe wherever you go, and bring you back to this land, for I will not desert you before I have done all that I have promised you,’ came to pass when He sent the Angel to Mary and said to her, "You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus." Which means, 'God with us'. 

True to every one of His promises fulfilled in You, Beloved, 'We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.' We do not need monuments of stone to build a house of God but we, the Church You founded, are living stones where You dwell in fullness and in truth.

PSALM 91:1-4,14-15 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

This psalm has brought healing, comfort, strength, and courage to millions who pray it today and to those who prayed it through the ages.  How wonderfully reassuring is Your pledge to all who shelter under Your wings and are under Your mighty protection. They are a reservoir of hope for those who believe in You and Your word. No power can steal what is Yours.

You steady us when we stumble. You pick us up when we fall. You heal our wounds. You pour the balm of Your love as oil over our soul and we are strengthened by the multitude of graces You heap on us.

All who trust in You, believe in You and are called by Your Name, walk in the freedom that belongs to the children of God baptized into Your Body.

Before a sigh leaves my lips You answer and say always, ‘I am with you,’ You keep us safe from the Enemy. Thank You, Lord.

MATTHEW 9:18-26 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Miracles occur when faith is present. It isn't the amount of
faith but the quality of our faith that moves God to stoop low from heaven and act in ways that are impossible for us to even imagine or think of.

In today's Gospel passage speaks of two miracles, the healing of Jairus' 12-year-old daughter who died before You could come to his house, and the unnamed woman who suffered from a hemorrhage for 12 years. According to the Law of Moses, both were unclean the little girl who had just died and the woman with the bleeding illness.

Both believed that You had the power to heal. Both approached You in humility, the official took the direct approach coming before You he bowed low, while the woman came furtively and unobtrusively from behind. The fact that she wished to reach for the fringe of Your cloak reveals that she too was bowed low to the ground. Both desired Your touch - one for his daughter, she for herself. Both were healed - the little girl was raised from death to life when You took her by the hand and she stood up. The woman was healed the moment she touched Your garment.  

When we receive the blessings we desire we are called to give witness and to testify to the wonderful things that You have done for us. This is one way to make You known and to witness to the Gospel. This is why when the faith of the woman who touched You caused power to go out from You, You demanded that she identify herself and when she did You said, "Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health." Her ailment would never return, she could resume her place in the community and become part of it again.

To the people already weeping, wailing, and causing a commotion when You reached Jairus' house as the little girl had died, You said, ‘Get out of here; the little girl is not dead, she is asleep.’ Those without faith are only a hindrance. They responded by laughing at You. When You, the little girl's parents, and Your disciples went into the house, You took her by the hand and she received life once more.

Thank You for the gift of faith given freely to anyone to whom You choose to give it.