THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

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

JEREMIAH 31:7-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Over and over again God's chosen people were attacked and taken into captivity, the Temple was destroyed, were exiled, and suffered for years. But each time, God brought them back home and they returned with great hope, great joy, and great plans to rebuild their nation and their Temple. In every instance, they gave God the glory for their liberation for they knew that it was their faithlessness that caused their captivity in the first place. Often it was generations later that they returned back to Israel and it was their children and children's children who came back with great excitement and many fervent promises to love and worship God faithfully.

God is always true to His promises. God always hears our cries of pain, He sees our tears, He is aware of our suffering and He hastens to console us.

We see how this applies to us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as well. We sin and exile ourselves from You. It is only when we realize how unhappy we are, how nothing satisfies, that no amount of pleasure or possessions can fill the yawning chasm of emptiness with us, that we remember You. We recall the joy of being loved by You and the sweet intimacy of being united with You. And we regret our sins, we regret the decisions we made that created a barrier between You and us and You, and we return each of us bearing different kinds of afflictions of heart, mind, body, and spirit.

And You hasten to meet us. You wipe away our tears. You comfort us. You wash and cleanse us. You restore all that we lost. You feed us, strengthen us, and we are made whole once again. Help us, Lord, to never stray again, and when we do never tire of wooing us back again into the fold because we are members of Your Body. You are our Good Shepherd and we are the sheep of Your flock.

PSALM 126 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Each time we go for Confession and we hear the blessed words of absolution, 'Go in peace, your sins are forgiven.' We are as joyful as the Israelites returning from exile.

You take away the taste of ashes from our spirit and You fill us anew with Your own Spirit of love. You deliver us from bondage and set us free again. 

How blessed we are that we have this wonderful remedy for sin. Not only are our sins washed away but You even wash away the memory of them. A truly humble and contrite sinner You never spurn.

Beloved, may we never take Your love and Your compassion for us miserable sinners for granted. Strengthen our resolve to sin no more and do nothing that will destroy our relationship with You. May we never lose the joy of the Holy Spirit.

HEBREWS 5:1-6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Every priest, every Bishop, every Pope that ever was and will be, receives a share in Your divine priesthood. They are another Christ in the world. They make You visible and tangible to us. It is a special calling made especially to those whom You have chosen to minister to Your faithful and to administer the Sacraments to the members of Your Body, the Church.

They are all sinners, just as we all are, but they are privileged to share in Your priestly ministry. Their personal sanctity or lack of it does not affect their administration of the Sacraments to us. Anointed and consecrated by the Holy Spirit they have the power, in Your Person, to change ordinary bread and wine into Your Body and Blood. They have the power, in Your Person, to forgive sins. 

You too, Beloved, as St. Paul phrases it, 'You are a priest of the order of Melchizedek, and forever.' were given the glory and privilege by Your Father, of being our eternal High Priest, 

MARK 10:46-52 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Unless we are aware of our sins, unless we are aware of our spiritual infirmities, we can never cry out with such abandonment as Bartimaeus did. He came to You. He placed himself on the path that ensured that he would meet You. Once he was aware that You had arrived and would be passing him by he shouted as loudly as he could, 'Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.’ He cried out repeatedly and even as the crowd tried to shut him up, he shouted louder. 'Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me.’ 

Compare his attitude to ours as we shuffle and mumble, and make excuses for our sins, and convince ourselves that we are not really sinners and we blame our predilection to grave sins as part of our DNA or our genetic makeup. The world today is hell-bent on convincing us all that there is no such thing as sin and hell rejoices at the many souls who are quite happy to believe this greatest of all lies.

It is only when we are convinced that we are sinners that we can jump up like Bartimaeus, when You say, 'Call him here' and we will leave all our iniquities behind as he left his cloak, and will approach You with confidence certain that You will not deny all we ask for. The words You spoke to him You speak to us, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ And like Bartimaeus, we will articulate clearly and succinctly, ‘Rabbuni, Master, let me see again.’ And then we will hear those wonderfully consolingly words that every penitent hears in Confession, ‘Go; your faith has saved you.’ 

May our response always be like his. Each time we leave the confessional may we resolve to follow You ever more closely on the Way that leads to life.