MONDAY OF THE EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. MT 4:4

NUMBERS 11:4-15 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

There are whiners in every age among the children of God. Nothing is just right. It is either too hot or too cold, too sweet or too bitter, too soft or too hard, too much or too little - we are never content for long. As soon as one need is satisfied a thousand more spring up. As soon as one prayer is answered we wish for something else. 

You prayed the ideal prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, it is one that we must make our own in every situation, 'Not my will but yours be done.' It is only when we crucify our will and embrace the will of our Father in heaven that we will experience lasting peace and joy in our lives. But it takes courage to pray it, courage we all too often lack because we are afraid that yielding to God's will means giving up the things we find pleasurable. However, when we do, we will discover that great joy and peace are ours when we deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow You. 

PSALM 81:12-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The effects of disobedience to Your will are clearly evident in
all the nations of the world and in every corner of the globe. There is a deliberate, concerted effort on the part of the world to not know You, and those who do know You have decided that they can ignore You and Your commandments with impunity. 

We live in a world that is being torn by war, division, ignorance, hate, suspicion, lack of charity, lack of respect for one another, as well as a whole host of evils. This is because the world, its leaders, and its people have turned their back on You, Your will, and Your commands. There is a remedy - You. If only we turned back to You peace would reign in our lives and in our world.

You can subdue all our enemies, You can crush and destroy all that threatens to kill us, and You can set us free from all the demons that gnaw us. We are hungry, You can feed us. We are thirsty, You can give us living water, we are empty, You can fill us with Your Spirit. We are dying, You can revive us if only we turn to You, acknowledge You, and give our lives to You. Help us, Lord. Give us the grace we need to cry out to You to save us and we will be saved.

MATTHEW 14:13 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Having heard of the beheading of John the Baptist, You desired to go away by Yourself to a lonely place not only to grieve his death in private but also to reflect on the next phase of Your mission. It was clear that the fate awaiting You would be no less brutal than that of John's but seeing the crowds who had followed You, You put their needs before Your own. 

Too often, we all too readily give way to the demands of our own needs, instead of trying to rise above them and putting the needs of others before our own. You saw the people, took pity on them, set Your own plans aside, and gave them what they hungered and thirsted for - God's word.

When evening came Your disciples asked You to send the crowds away as it was late and they could buy food for themselves on their way back home. But You did not want to send them away hungry so You asked Your disciples to arrange to give them something to eat. All they had was five loaves and two fish insufficient to satisfy their own hunger much less that of the crowd.

You asked them to bring what they had to You. You ordered them to seat the crowds on the grass, and taking what they had and raising Your eyes to heaven You prayed a blessing over the food and asked the disciples to give it to the crowds.

All ate as much as they wanted and the leftover scraps were collected which filled twelve baskets. Over five thousand were fed that day.

The Church You established will never run out out of manna from heaven until You return.