SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me. JN 10:27

JEREMIAH 23:1-6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

As shepherds, each within our vocation as Catholic parents, teachers, bishops, priests, religious, and lay faithful have failed in caring for the sheep entrusted to us. Our world is in shambles because we failed to raise up spiritually and morally strong sons and daughters because those raising us failed as well and we continue the abysmal trend.

It is time for us to wake up. Warning signs have been given to us but we have chosen to neglect them and even now in the time of the pandemic we see how frivolous and careless many in the world choose to be.

If not now then when? There is so much bickering, self-righteousness, division, pride, dissension, all stemming from a lack of humility in everyone. We refuse to obey Your Word, we refuse to yield and submit to Your doctrines, and to Peter in Rome. 

All that the prophets have warned will take take place is now upon us. Every shepherd is strictly accountable to God and all who have misled their sheep in any way great or small will have to answer for the lost sheep entrusted to their care.

You will not deal lightly with those, despite knowing better pandered to the culture and submitted to the dictates of the world because going against the grain required courage they clearly lack.

Today You warn all who failed: Right, I will take care of you for your misdeeds – it is the Lord who speaks! 

But You also promise to send good and faithful shepherd who will seek and gather the lost sheep and bring them to safe pasture. I will raise up shepherds to look after them and pasture them; no fear, no terror for them anymore; not one shall be lost – it is the Lord who speaks!

You are a God who saves, You are the virtuous Branch for David, You are the true King wise and honest and You Word is true.

PSALM 23 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

This is not only my favorite psalm the first line in this psalm has wondrous consoling power to soothe all my fears and calm my spirit: 

The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.

In You alone is perfect rest. You alone have the power to save, to console, to heal, to revive, to refresh, to strengthen, and to make whole once more.

I fear nothing because I know that Your loving Presence imbues my soul and You encompass me. No harm will come to me none can snatch me from my place of rest within Your Sacred Heart.

Thank You for the Eucharistic table where there is always a place for me and where I am fed on Your Body and my thirst is quenched with Your most precious Blood.

You have blessed me, anointed me, consecrated me, and claimed me for Yourself. I want for nothing in this life for I have all I shall ever need or want because I am numbered among Your flock.

Death has no fear for me for it is only a doorway that opens to eternity with You, beloved Bridegroom of my soul. And for all the days that are left to me I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that:

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
forever and ever.

EPHESIANS 2:13-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul could see with such clarity what it meant to be a Jew and subject to the Law and to be Your disciple set free by the saving power of Your Blood. Many are privileged to have received the free gift of faith at Baptism as infants. Most of us have been nurtured in the faith and have grown to maturity knowing You, loving You, and ever-grateful for Your saving love for us. But we are unable to grasp as sublimely as Paul, who was once Saul and a  persecutor of Christians does, what it means to be set free from the shackles of a Law that makes one aware of one's sins but does not possess the power to break its chains. 

To Paul was given the grace to make known to the whole world what it meant to have a Savior who in Himself was able to reconcile the whole world through the power of Your Blood. There is no division in You, no contradiction in You, no barriers that keep those who are repentant and contrite of heart from being touched and made whole by You.

Through the Cross, You are our peace, the peace that makes whole, a peace that the whole world hungers for, thirsts for, and pants for but stubbornly refuses to embrace. The only peace that saves is the peace that You give. All who believe in the Good News receive this gift of peace and to us is given the mandate to bring that peace to all. Through You alone, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit who makes us one with You and our Father in heaven. Thank You!

MARK 6:30-34 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

To all who are called by Your Name, You extend this sweet and most loving invitation: ‘You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while.’ You know what we need, You see how exhausted we get from life's battles which are necessary, for they shape us, make and mold us in Your image, but You also know that all too often our strength fails; at moments like this You call us gently to come and rest in You and be refreshed and revived so we can begin anew.

Although Your disciples are always with You, You will never turn away the vast majority who are seeking the truth, seeking peace, seeking to fill that great vacuum in their lives that they cannot name because they do not know that it is You they desire. Anyone who comes to You, Beloved, will find all they need and for You heal the broken heart and satisfy the hungry soul.