TWENTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

You are Peter
and on this rock I will build my Church.
And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. MT 16:18

ISAIAH 22:19-23 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

All that You established in the New Covenant O Lord, our God, Son of David, Son of the Living God, Eternal Word of the Father is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant - all is consummated to perfection in the New. 

To the Church that You founded on Peter, the Rock, who together with the rest of the Apostles You have given Your authority to bind and to loose as well as the fullness of the Holy Spirit. In the fullness of the Holy Spirit, she possesses the fullness of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the fruits of the Holy Spirit are made manifest in abundance in her. 

The Church is our Mother - she nurtures all her children through the Holy Father, the Pope, Your Vicar on earth, the Bishops, and her consecrated ministers the priests in each of the Sacraments that You instituted. 

The Pope is given the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and together with the Bishops she shepherds Your flock, she leads them to green pastures to be fed and nourished on the Eucharist, and she leads them to lie beside the cool waters, the living streams of grace that lave and cleanses them and quenches their thirst.   

The Church is the House of Praise and from her altar where You O Lord are Altar, Priest, and Victim she offers to the Father the only and once-for- all holy, acceptable, and perfect Sacrifice that has redeemed the world. The Son glorifies the Father unceasingly from the rising of the sun to its setting in His mystical body, the Church. 

The Church is built on Rock whose Cornerstone is You O Lord - she stands firm against every attack of the Enemy. No plot against her will succeed for You have given us Your solemn word O Eternal Word of the Father that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her for You are with her until time shall cease.

PSALM 137(138):1-3,6,8 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
you have heard the words of my mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.

Thank You with all the fervor of my soul for hearing my prayers. Thank You for the intercession of our Blessed Mother, St. Joseph our spiritual father, and the saints and angels in heaven as well as all the holy souls in purgatory whose prayers on my behalf strengthen me and give me courage to carry my cross daily and follow You.

I thank you for your faithfulness and love,
which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul.

Thank You for Your faithfulness and love that is unceasing and immeasurable - I am able to put one foot before the other for I know that You have taken me firmly by the hand. You will not let me stumble or fall.

The Lord is high yet he looks on the lowly

and the haughty he knows from afar.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands.

Thank You, Lord, for Your tenderness toward me for You know that I am poor and needy. Confident of Your love for me I know You will lead me from this life to the next because I am the work of Your hands. 

ROMANS 11:33-36 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul asserts that no one can know Your mind O Lord, for the riches and depths of God's mind are unfathomable to the human intellect. But this we know, that we are created in God's image and likeness, each of us is willed by God into existence and we are so loved by Him that He gave You to us, His only Son, so whoever believes in You may not perish in our sins but have eternal life. 

Beloved, there is so much that happens in our lives that we cannot understand as we journey through this valley of tears. The horrific events that occur in every corner of the globe are many known, so many more unknown. Evil is plotted intermittently in secret and carried out with subterfuge in deadly secret. They believe that they are hidden and unseen - but You know them O Lord by name and they will pay the price for their infernal nefarious deeds.

Why do You permit all the evil, sickness, the attacks against the innocent even little babes? We do not know Beloved and we will never know in this life. As. St Paul tells us, 'How rich are depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods!'

My Lord, no mortal being no matter how wise and learned can ever know 'the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything? All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen.'

This we know and we know full well - that You are God, that You are Love, and that You can be trusted for You have the power and You use that power always and unfailingly to draw great good from the greatest and most deplorable acts of evil that the wicked are capable of.  All suffering has the power to strengthen, purify, to form us in the image and likeness of God and prepare us for the eternal beatific vision.

MATTHEW 16:13-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

In a world that sometimes feels like it has gone stark raving mad and this madness is apparent even among some in the hierarchy and schism seems imminent, Your little ones know that the Church is the bulwark and pillar of truth. To Peter and to his successors is given Your authority and guided by the Holy Spirit who abides in Holy Mother Church in fullness and in truth, the faithful can rest in her with complete confidence like a weaned child in its mother's arms. The Holy Spirit guarantees that she will never teach error and this is why we are bound to obey our Holy Father and the Bishops. This is possible if we are humble and obedient. 

God would not entrust His little ones to Peter and his successors without first ensuring, guaranteeing, and assuring us that God Himself revealed to Peter the proclamation that he made concerning You: Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,the Son of the living God.’ And You replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’ 

We believe in You, we believe in Your Word We believe that the Church is Your bride You are her Bridegroom and all who are born in her and grafted to her will be carried safely in the barque of St. Peter to the eternal shores.