Monday, August 14, 2023

ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, PRIEST & MARTYR, MONDAY OF WEEK NINETEEN IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 TH 2:14


DEUTERONOMY 10:12-22 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

A holy fear of You O Lord our God is the beginning of Wisdom. If only all those who call themselves by Your Name believed this then our world would not be hurtling to hell in a handbasket. The world has made for itself a tame God that it can manipulate and make in any image and likeness that it desires. This is not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, this is not the only Son of the Living God, this is not the Holy Spirit but an idol, and the worship of such a god is idolatry. 

You O Lord are holy. There is no god like You O God. You alone, we are commanded to love with our whole heart, soul, whole mind, and all our strength. We must obey all Your commands - they are not a list of suggestions from which we decide which we will keep and which we will discard. They are God's law and God's law is holy and immutable - we keep them or we die. 

Thank You, O Lord, for instituting the life-giving Sacraments.  Without them, we would have no access to the grace of the Holy Spirit and we would slowly wither and die on the vine and be cut off and cast into the eternal fires of hell.

What Moses said to Your people is applicable to us too, 'It is the Lord your God you must fear and serve; you must cling to him; in his name take your oaths. He it is you must praise, he is your God: for you he has done these great and terrible things you have seen with your own eyes; and though your fathers numbered only seventy when they went down to Egypt, the Lord your God has made you as many as the stars of heaven.' Grant us a new Pentecost, cast a fire upon the earth, and renew the face of the whole world with Your love.

PSALM 147:12-15,19-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We were created for praise. We praise God from the rising of the sun to its setting for we keep ever before us God's goodness and graciousness in creating us, in calling us by name, in redeeming us, and abiding with us. 

Your law is written on our hearts and Your Word sustains us. We are nourished not just by Your Word but by Your Flesh and Blood. One day our mortal bodies will die and decay but our souls, nourished by Your Word and Your Sacraments will rise up and be united to You for all eternity. 

He established peace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command.

He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his decrees.

Thank You for giving us Your peace in the midst of the turmoil and chaos in the world. We are Yours, keep us safe in Your love. 

MATTHEW 17:22-27 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The thought of the death of a loved one always causes great sadness. We want to hold on to life and to the people we love. But because of original sin, everything in this world is subject to decay and death, nothing in the created world lasts. Mortal life ends. Created things eventually die and turns into dust. We were created from dust and we return to it.

For non-Christians, death is distressing because they do not have hope of eternal joy and union with God and with their dead loved ones. The disciples too were downcast when You spoke of Your death. ‘The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men; they will put him to death, and on the third day he will be raised to life again.’ They were filled with great sadness. We want to cling to the people we love. But thanks be to God, Beloved, because You conquered death and crushed the head of the Serpent, we who believe and are baptized and grafted into Your Body have hope of eternal life. Dying Your destroyed our death and rising You restored our life - now O Lord we wait with eager anticipation for Your return in glory to claim the living and the dead. 

Death is real. We have to face it one day and while we wait we must live honorably as children of God and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are to keep the laws of the land in which we live so long as they do not contradict God's laws and while we wait until our time on earth comes to a close we are called to be salt and light in the world. Keep us faithful to You O Lord to the end. Thank You for paying the price and making us citizens of heaven.

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