WEDNESDAY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Whenever anyone obeys what Christ has said,
God’s love comes to perfection in him. 1 JN 2:5

1THESSALONIANS 2:9-13

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul's transformation after his encounter with You, the risen Lord, was so powerful that nothing mattered to him except to make disciples for You. The Good News is not a fairy tale, it is not a myth, nor is it the stuff of legends, it is the Truth that reveals the unfathomable love of God for us. 

A disciple is one who is prepared to follow You wherever You lead. A disciple is one who allows the Word to find a home in the heart and gives the Word the freedom to imbue our every thought, word, and deed with the power of divine love. When our heart lingers on the wonder of the incarnation of the Word of God, and the impaling of the Word of God on the Tree of Life, we will be transformed by the God of love who desires that all His children become like His Son, His first-born. 

Nothing mattered to Paul except to be led by the Holy Spirit to preach the Good News anywhere and everywhere the Spirit led him. The problem with us Christians today and has been for a while now is that we have not encountered You, the Living God. This is why we find it so difficult to discipline our flesh and why we are easy prey to the transient pleasures of the world.

Generations of milksop Christians who preferred the things of the world to the things of heaven have begotten and raised sons and daughters unworthy of Name. Unless the Holy Spirit raises disciples like Paul and the Apostles the Enemy will continue to find easy prey among nominal and ignorant Christians who have never encountered You. Unless we who call ourselves Your disciples are prepared to lay down our lives for the sake of the Gospel evil will have its day.

PSALM 139:7-12 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I exult in Your intimate knowledge of me. I am yours and weak and unworthy as I am, frail and easily tempted I may be, I fall a hundred times a day, yet You never weary of encouraging me, raising me up, washing me clean, and helping me start over again.

I do not wish to flee from You no matter how far I have fallen from grace. I do not wish to hide from You. I cannot hide the truth of my unworthiness for You know everything. I am a sinner. I acknowledge my sins. Even as I confess them, repent of them, and resolve to never sin again, I fall. Thank You for the rich graces You make available to me in the Sacraments.

Thank You for never leaving my side and for keeping Your gaze always on me. Let me never be ashamed of running to You no matter how gravely and often I have sinned. Keep me safe in Your love and for eternal life with You. 

MATTHEW 23:27-32 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The endless cycle of violence against Your disciples, those who keep Your Law of love towards God and neighbor, and who will not compromise with the evil promoted by the powerful continues to this day.

The world hates good people, those who live the beatitudes, those who promote justice, unity, peace, and equity for the last, the least, the forgotten, the marginalized. Those who are used and abused and then pushed beyond the peripheries so they remain unseen.

Evil men and women hate those who do good because it shows them up for the hypocrites they are and they will not rest until they are silenced but You continue to raise modern-day saints who live the Gospel and shed Your light and love as they work tirelessly to bring hope and comfort to those whom the world renders invisible. Let us not be afraid to do all the good we can while we can.