MONDAY OF WEEK EIGHTEEN IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. MT 4:4

NUMBERS 11:4-15 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Without complete surrender to Your will the cross that we are called to pick up daily and follow You is too hard, in fact, it is impossible. Like the people of Israel, we will grumble, complain, and whine constantly as we look back with longing for a life of self-indulgence while ignoring the deep unhappiness and lack of peace we experienced because of our sins.

Having made the life-changing decision to choose the narrow and difficult way that leads to life, having put our hands on the plow there is no turning back. To go back is to distance ourselves from You completely and having tasted the sweetness of freedom of being a child of God and an heir to the Kingdom we can never be happy again among the flesh-pots of Egypt.

The manna given to the Israelites to satisfy their physical hunger is a foreshadowing of the Bread of Angels which You will give us as food for our soul. They ate the manna and died - we eat and drink the Flesh and Blood of the Son of Man and we live.

Moses approached God angrily because the burden of leading His people who grumbled incessantly against him was more than he could bear. Without God's abiding presence and the miracles that God worked to provide for His people, his mission would have been impossible. The same holds true for us as well. Often in life, our cross gets heavier than we can bear. Life is wearisome. We are tired and we long to just lie down and give up. Joy has fled. Peace is absent. Worry, anxiety, and numbing fear are our constant companions. This occurs when we shift our gaze from You to the storm raging around us. 

Thank You, Beloved, for the grace to surrender to You completely. Nothing has changed but now I rest serenely with childlike trust in You. I know that You who love me and those I love with a love far greater than I can ever fathom will take care of take care of everything. 

PSALM 80(81):12-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The psalmist reveals that we can be filled with Your joy and strength all the days of our lives if we listen to Your voice and obey Your commandments. If we permit You to take away our hearts of stone and give us a heart of flesh. If we follow in the Way that You have shown us then it will lead us to the heart of God and to His Kingdom.

Obedience is impossible if we lack the virtue of humility. Because You were humble and obedient even unto death, You were able to reverse the scandal of the Cross and change it to one of glorious and triumphant victory. Crushing the head of Satan and evil You purchased for us at the cost of Your own life the destruction of death and eternal life for the whole world. 

MATTHEW 14:13-21 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

What were Your thoughts and feelings when You received the news of  John the Baptist's death? The evangelist Matthew tells us that You withdrew by boat to a lonely place where You could be alone with Your disciples. When we are suffering we need to be surrounded by the people we love and who love us so we can share our grief. Now that John, Your cousin was dead, You were aware that soon it would be Your turn and there was so much You had to do, to accomplish before that hour arrived. But the crowd followed You and instead of turning them away and following Your own plans You were filled with compassion for them. They needed healing, they needed the comfort and strength that Your preaching and teaching gave them. They needed to be made whole physically and spiritually. They reached out to You and You in turn touched them and gave them all that they needed.

You teach us Lord how to pour ourselves out as a libation for others. It is not easy. We want to withdraw, to be alone, to take care of our needs, and follow our plans. We reason with ourselves that we ought to put our needs before the needs of others sometimes. But agape love makes no excuses. Your Love O Lord took You all the way to the Cross and because You submitted to the will of Your Father You have saved the world.

We too, in our own small way, can change the lives of those around us if we are willing to set our own needs and wants aside to lovingly and compassionately minister to those who approach us. 

Our first instinct is to send them away as the disciples wanted to do but You say to us as You said to them, ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.’ And to our response, ‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.’ You say, ‘Bring them here to me.’ If we are willing to give You the little we have, You will take it, bless it, and give it back to us and we too will be able to feed those who come to us and both they and we will be satisfied.