Tuesday, October 5, 2021

TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTY WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Happy are those
who hear the word of God
and keep it. LK 11:28

JONAH 3:1-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Jonah preached repentance to the people of Nineveh and they believed in God's word and repented. So effective was his preaching that even the king of Nineveh on hearing the news ordered that his entire kingdom fast, pray, and repent for their sins so that God would relent and not destroy their city. 

You do not destroy us sinful as we are because You are a merciful God and desire that all Your people be saved. Too often we get caught up in the passing pleasures of the world forgetting that we were created for You and for eternity. If we live in the flesh we will reap the fruits of the flesh which is decay and death. If however, we live in the Spirit, we will have an abundant harvest of the fruits of the Spirit.

It is good for us to periodically take stock of our lives and see where we are headed - to eternal death or eternal life. It is important to get away from the world every now and then to contemplate the Word of God and build our lives on the sure foundation of Truth. When we do You will relent, You will bless us and shelter us so no disaster will plague our footsteps, overtake us, overcome us, and destroy us.  

PSALM 130:1-4,7-8 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I have sinned and I keep sinning. I am guilty and I deserve Your punishment. But You know my weaknesses, You are aware of how frail I am, how easily I stumble and fall even. If You did not hold my hand and steady me I would not rise again for I have no strength of my own. 

You are always near when I call for help and for mercy. When I beg You to pity me and save me You hasten to pick me up, strengthen me and help me. You never tire of forgiving me when I approach You with a repentant and contrite heart. 

We live in a fallen world and we are a fallen people but You O Lord have redeemed us with Your Blood. You wash away our iniquities, You cleanse us from all our sins, and You O Lord will take us by the hand and lead us to the Father's house because You paid the price for our redemption. The world and its people will not perish because You have vanquished death and crushed the head of the Enemy.  

LUKE 10:38-42 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Two millennia have gone by since the evangelists recorded this incident of the two sisters Martha and Mary and all who contemplate it, pray on it, reflect on it will never exhaust the inspirations of the Holy Spirit even until the end of time.

You came as a guest to the house of Your friends and it is Martha who opens the door and welcomes You in. She is immediately caught up and absorbed with the preparations for the meal she wishes to serve You. When she realizes that her sister, Mary, is not lifting a finger to help her but is sitting at Your feet is absolutely enthralled by You and Your teaching resentment fills her heart and she complains, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ 

Did You smile a little as You gently admonished Martha? You knew she loved You and wanted to lay before You a meal fit for a beloved friend, but in her busyness, she had forgotten what is truly important and You loved her enough to point it out to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’ 

What You say to Martha You say to each of us who are Your disciples, work and prayer are both important but we must recognize when it is appropriate and imperative for us to drop everything so we can contemplate God and do so. 

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