TWENTY SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

By his own choice the Father made us his children
by the message of the truth,
so that we should be a sort of first-fruits
of all that he created. JM 1:18

DEUTERONOMY 4:1-2,6-8 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Historically there have been great civilizations in some parts of the world - the people were not so barbaric, they had great laws, the people of that land lived in relative peace, they were leagues ahead of people in other, far away lands. But they needed more to fill the spiritual vacuum within them. The need to worship someone or something greater than themselves led them to worship the elements and things they did not understand then. They made gods of wood, gold, silver, and others materials and they bowed to them and worshipped them. 

But all that was to change - God chose the smallest, the least, as is God's wont, and from among them chose one man, Abraham, and from then on began a revelation, and a revolution of perfect, incomprehensible, incomparable love. Had God not done this, Beloved, no matter what advances humankind makes we would live in a world without light as can be seen in no many places where God is rejected.

It is through Israel that the world was given a new world-view which is in fact a view of God's Kingdom. Through Abraham, and his descendants He began the work of preparing the world for the Kingdom of God on earth. And when the time had come He sent You, His Son, into the world to make that Kingdom visible. As the new Adam, the Church was formed from Your pierced side on Calvary and entrusted to establish Your Kingdom on earth. 

The hour will come when every non-believer will exclaim that “No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation.” And indeed, what great nation is there that has its gods so near as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? And what great nation is there that has laws and customs to match this whole Law that I put before you today?’

PSALM 15:2-5 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

This Psalm reveals the characteristics of true disciples who are
called by Your Name and walk in Your Presence. To these is promised the reward of eternal joy in the Kingdom of God.

If we desire to live forever in perfect ecstasy then this is how every man, woman, and child must live: 

Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain?

He who walks without fault;
he who acts with justice
and speaks the truth from his heart;
he who does not slander with his tongue.

He who does no wrong to his brother,

who casts no slur on his neighbour,
who holds the godless in disdain,
but honours those who fear the Lord.

He who keeps his pledge, come what may;

who takes no interest on a loan
and accepts no bribes against the innocent.
Such a man will stand firm forever.

JAMES 1:17-18,21-22,27 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Every baptized Catholic must weep at the wondrous bounty of God for this wonderful privilege of being Catholic, and this ought to be especially true of cradle Catholics. From Your pierced side God formed the Church - to her You gave Your Mother to be her Mother as well, it is a home for both sinner and saint. She is imperfect but through Your merits, as St. James so wonderfully elucidates in his letter, that to her the Father of all light has given her all that is good, all that is perfect, all that is true. She is eternal because her Bridegroom is eternal. In her, there is no shadow of alteration or change, because her Spouse is changeless. And because of You, we are now His children, co-heirs with You to the Kingdom. You are His firstborn and we are the first fruits of Your salvific work through Your life, passion, death, and resurrection.

We are the fruit of Your Word and we must accept and submit to it always if we are to save our souls. We must resolve to be like You and we must strive all the days of our life, with the help of Your Holy Spirit, to embrace Your will for our lives in all things. We are commanded not just to listen to the Word but to conform our lives to it else we will be deceiving ourselves. St. James also tells us what true religion is: Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.

MARK 7:1-8,14-15,21-23 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

So many of us who are Your disciples are often hypercritical of
those who are different from us. We are clueless about who they are, their background, their culture, and we judge them superficially and condemn them and are just as deserving of the tongue-lashing You gave to the Pharisees and scribes. I am guilty for I too, on occasion, have judged unfairly those who do not fit my preconceived ideas.

There are traditions that vary from nation to nation, city to city, town to town, village to village, and even from one home to the next and too many of us are focused on these differences rather than what unites us and makes us family. Let us who are guilty take a moment to reflect on Your response to them. Also, may we not be found be guilty of rejecting Apostolic Tradition which is unchanging and confuse it with mere human traditions.

You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.’ He called the people to him again and said, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean. For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’