THURSDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2022

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Accept God’s message for what it really is:
God’s message, and not some human thinking. 1 TH 2:13

JAMES 5:1-6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The world propagates a culture and values contrary to that which is given to us by You who is Truth incarnate and those who are ignorant of You are ignorant of Truth. The world preaches a gospel of amassing wealth for personal gain, for self-indulgence, for ostentatious living with no thought of those whom they cheat, exploit, swindle, terrorize, and victimize in order to heap for themselves things they will leave behind when they die. 

St. James' dire and stern warning to all who exploit the poor, the weak, the marginalized, the helpless should alert them of the righteous judgment that awaits them, and the terrible sentence they will receive and the punishment they will have to endure not for a day or a year but eternally.  

 ‘Start crying, weep for the miseries that are coming to you. Your wealth is all rotting, your clothes are all eaten up by moths. All your gold and your silver are corroding away, and the same corrosion will be your own sentence, and eat into your body. It was a burning fire that you stored up as your treasure for the last days.

MARK 9:41-50 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We are called to have great empathy and gratitude for those who have answered Your call to serve You exclusively in the world and have consecrated their lives to You in order to preach, teach, and live the Gospel, especially among the poor, the marginalized, the unseen. We are called to assist them in their work by providing whatever help we can and if our material resources are limited we can pray for them. As You said to Your disciples, ‘If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink just because you belong to Christ, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.’

However, it is also extremely clear that they ought to do nothing to cause scandal. ‘But anyone who is an obstacle to bring down one of these little ones who have faith, would be better thrown into the sea with a great millstone round his neck.’ Sadly, some in the hierarchy who ought to have been above reproach have failed the Church and her members miserably. Not only the hierarchy but generations of her members have failed to walk in the Way of Truth this is why chaos reigns in the world. We are reaping a harvest of iniquity caused not only by us who have been indifferent to God's Law and failed to hand it down to those whom You entrusted to us but by those before us who failed to do the same for us. 

Unless we are prepared to do rid ourselves of the evil festering in us we will find ourselves cast into hell where You warn us the  ‘worm does not die nor their fire go out.’

You tell us in no uncertain terms that there is a hell and we will go there if we choose the world, the flesh, and the devil over the right, the true, the good, and the beautiful. 

For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is a good thing, but if salt has become insipid, how can you season it again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.’