TUESDAY OF WEEK 30 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children. MT 11:25

ROMANS 8:18-25 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We the people of God wait in the dark valley with great longing and hope for Your glorious return while we continue to live in a world filled with terror and gloom for it is a world dominated by sin, selfishness, violence, hatred, and greed. Each week on the glorious Day of the Lord Your people who are called by Your Name gather faithfully to offer to God the only wholly perfect and acceptable to God our Father in the Holy Spirit Your unrepeatable Sacrifice on Calvary. We pray, praise, worship, and hope offering to God the unworthy sacrifice of our own poverty-stricken lives in union with Yours while we wait with eager longing for the day of Your return. 

Everywhere we look we see the powerful crushing the poor under their heel, robbing the people of their legitimate lives, and promoting violence and war in order to bring about the reign of evil over a world they wish to subjugate and rule. The innocent are declared guilty, and the guilty are set free. Robbers and murderers have put puppets in place in order to wreak havoc and confusion so they can murder, steal, and destroy all that is good, true, beautiful, decent, praiseworthy, and Godly. 

How much longer O Lord will Your people and all creation groan for relief, for justice, for mercy, for release? 

Abba Father, the Blood of the Lamb has been spilled on the earth and consecrated it. His Sacrifice has purchased our salvation. How much longer O Lord will evil dominate the world that You have handed over to the rule and dominion of Your Son? Shorten the length of our tribulation O Lord and hasten His coming as we wait with eager longing for His return.

Maranatha! Lord Jesus, Maranatha!

PSALM 125(126) ©

When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage,

it seemed like a dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
on our lips there were songs.

The heathens themselves said: ‘What marvels

the Lord worked for them!’
What marvels the Lord worked for us!
Indeed we were glad.

Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage

as streams in dry land.
Those who are sowing in tears
will sing when they reap.

They go out, they go out, full of tears,

carrying seed for the sowing:
they come back, they come back, full of song,
carrying their sheaves.

What marvels the Lord worked for us.

LUKE 13:18-21 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Your Word O Lord is the mustard seed that possesses in itself the power and glory of God and His Kingdom planted in good soil and nurtured by Your Holy Spirit. Every Catholic is privileged to belong to the Church which contains in herself the fullness of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness for she is the sanctuary where the Holy Spirit makes His abode. Holy Mother Church is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit - it is the Spirit of God that animates her and fills her with the life and the power of the Son of God giving her and her children the ability to act in Your Name O Lord and to do all that You did while on earth and as You have assured us, even greater things since the Spirit now dwells in her and in us.

The Church is the home to which the people of every nation, language, and tribe are invited to enter and make their home. It is within the embrace of Holy Mother Church alone that the world will find the answer to which it is looking and longing for - You O Lord. You came into the world to take our death and pay our debt in order that we may receive Your life and freedom from slavery to sin. 

Jesus said, ‘What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with? It is like a mustard seed which a man took and threw into his garden: it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air sheltered in its branches.’

You instruct us - the people You have redeemed and called by Your Name, the people whom You have claimed for Yourself and imprinted on our hearts the Seal of the Holy Spirit to be leaven in the world. By the witness of our lives in close conformity to You and as children of the Father as well as children of Mary our Mother, we are to so mingle with the fallen world that the power of Your Love will be infused in every human heart and will hasten Your return in glory.  

Another thing he said, ‘What shall I compare the kingdom of God with? It is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.’

Until now Beloved, we have not fully accepted and embraced the great mission to which You have called us. The time is now, Lord, the time for sleeping and dragging our feet and for self-centredness is long past - we need to wake up and be vigilant in prayer as we undertake the great task of setting the whole world ablaze with the love and the power of the Gospel.

MONDAY OF WEEK 30 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth. JN 17:17

ROMANS 8:12-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul says that there is no necessity for us to sin by giving in to our baser nature rather, because we are children of God we have received the grace to choose to obey You and make those choices that give life rather than bring death to the soul. 

In baptism, we are made co-heirs with You the the Kingdom of God. Your Holy Spirit is poured into our souls and it is this Spirit within us that enables us to cry out to God, 'Abba, Father!' However, Beloved, so many of God's children who have been baptized have chosen to walk in ways that grieve the Holy Spirit. They have chosen to give in to concupiscence rather than to courageously will to live holy lives pleasing to God. Beloved, I implore You may my tears, my cries, my supplications not be in vain but grant O Lord that Wisdom will prevail and they will repent, receive forgiveness of all their sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that the Father may welcome them home to Himself. Amen.

PSALM 67(68):2,4,6-7,20-21 ©

Let God arise, let his foes be scattered.

Let those who hate him flee before him.
But the just shall rejoice at the presence of God,
they shall exult and dance for joy.

Father of the orphan, defender of the widow,

such is God in his holy place.
God gives the lonely a home to live in;
he leads the prisoners forth into freedom.

May the Lord be blessed day after day.
He bears our burdens, God our saviour.
This God of ours is a God who saves.

The Lord our God holds the keys of death.

This God of ours is a God who saves.

LUKE 13:10-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Through the power of Your Word and the power of Your touch, You set the woman who had been possessed by a spirit for eighteen years leaving her enfeebled and bent double.  All it took was a Word and a touch from You our Divine Physician and she was set free - she straightened up and immediately began to praise and glorify God.

This must be the immediate response for all of us who not only hear Your Word daily but consume You in the Holy Eucharist. There is no greater privilege than this, Beloved, to come to Daily Mass and participate in the celebration of Holy Mass - the Holy and Living Sacrifice and the only Sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God.

The world is full of petty, narrow-minded, bigots who are pigheaded with a narrow vision of God. The God of infinite goodness, mercy, compassion, tenderness, and love is alien and incomprehensible to them they are like the synagogue official who instead of rejoicing with the woman who was healed and glorifying God with her, became indignant because You healed her on the sabbath. He did not dare to look You in the eye and speak to You directly instead he raged against the people who were present. He was a cowardly little man. Turning to him in righteous indignation You addressed him and called him a hypocrite to his face. They cared for their animals on the sabbath but lacked sympathy and empathy for one of their own whose bonds You had just untied. 

‘Is there one of you who does not untie his ox or his donkey from the manger on the sabbath and take it out for watering? And this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has held bound these eighteen years – was it not right to untie her bonds on the sabbath day?’ When he said this, all his adversaries were covered with confusion, and all the people were overjoyed at all the wonders he worked.

30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him. JN 14:23

EXODUS 22:20-26 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Our God is a God of compassion, He is full of tender love, slow to anger, and rich in mercy. Whoever calls to You O Lord, will be saved. All who are unjust to the poor, the widow, the orphan, the helpless, the sick, the voiceless, the marginalized, those whom the world casts out of view and ignores, whose rights are trampled upon and upon their misery the ungodly grow fat and sleek. These O Lord You will strike down and punish severely. Not a tear, nor even a sigh of the widow and the orphan escapes Your notice and You O Lord will hasten to comfort for You are their champion, their shield, and their protector.  Migrants who escape persecution, poverty, war, and violence and seek refuge are to be treated kindly and generously.  This is the command of the Lord and cannot be taken lightly.

“You must not molest the stranger or oppress him, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare and I shall kill you with the sword, your own wives will be widows, your own children orphans.”

Beloved, let us never forget to show the poor and the disadvantaged the compassion that we ourselves have received from You. What is given to us is to be shared. We are only Your stewards of the gifts we have been given - may we not be put to shame when we stand before You to give an account of our stewardship. 

“If you lend money to any of my people, to any poor man among you, you must not play the usurer with him: you must not demand interest from him. If you take another’s cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him before sunset. It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else would he sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.”

PSALM 17(18):2-4,47,51 ©

I love you, Lord, my strength,

my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
My God is the rock where I take refuge;
my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise,
when I call I am saved from my foes.

Long life to the Lord, my rock!

Praised be the God who saves me,
He has given great victories to his king
and shown his love for his anointed.

I love you, Lord, my strength.

1 THESSALONIANS 1:5-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

There is nothing more powerful than the visible witness of the people of God who live the Gospel in sincerity and truth. When we put into practice Gospel values in all circumstances even when it is inconvenient or difficult placing all our faith, hope, and trust in You then our witness will edify those around and they too will desire to know You and love You.

St. Paul boldly tells those to whom he preaches the Good News to imitate him because he imitated You closely. His preaching was effective because the life and power of the Holy Spirit present in him opened the hearts of those who heard him to receive the Word of Truth and to believe. Which of us can say with the same conviction of St. Paul imitate me as I imitate Him. The churches that St. Paul and his companions founded wherever they went on their missionary journey we alive and vibrant with the life of the Holy Spirit.

If only we Christians in this day and age lived our faith boldly and visibly in the public square unafraid of the consequences and ready to shed our blood for Your sake and the sake of the Gospel those around us would also break with idolatry, be converted and become servants of the real, living God. Multitudes upon multitudes would wait for Your return and the conversion of the whole world to You would hasten Your coming again in glory. 

Eternal Father, for the sake of Jesus' sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world and renew once again the face of the earth.

MATTHEW 22:34-40 ©

The commandments of love

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’

SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE APOSTLES, 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

We praise you, O God,
we acknowledge you to be the Lord.
The glorious company of the apostles praise you, O Lord.

EPHESIANS 2:19-22 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Many of us have experienced what it means to be aliens in a foreign country Oftentimes times people are treated as second-class citizens even though they are natives of their country. Very often the culture creates boundaries between people that though invisible can seem unsurmountable. This is done either obliquely or openly with clear malicious intent where those who are born on the wrong side of the prevalent culture, the acceptable faith or sect, a different skin tone, and a hundred ways in which people are divided. Being citizens they are denied their rights and are pushed further and further into the periphery where their cries of distress can be unheard and unseen to trouble the conscience of those in power. 

Thanks be to You, Beloved, for revealing the Face of the one true God to us and for Your work of redemption that has made us citizens of heaven and members of the household of God. You O Lord have founded the Church which has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and You, Yourself as its main cornerstone. We are living stones built on You - we are a holy temple where the Holy Spirit of God makes His home. Thank You, Lord, for making us children of God through Baptism and for the hope we have of eternal joy as co-heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven.

PSALM 18(19):2-5 ©

The heavens proclaim the glory of God,

and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story
and night unto night makes known the message.

No speech, no word, no voice is heard

yet their span extends through all the earth,
their words to the utmost bounds of the world.

Their word goes forth through all the earth.

LUKE 6:12-19 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You teach us and show us by example that prayer is the very foundation of our lives. Prayer is the most effective means to be united to You, to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit. Prayer is the fuel that keeps the flame of love alive in us and it is the Holy Spirit living in us who helps us to pray. We often make grave mistakes and errors in judgment because we have not taken the time to pray and discern God's will and we end up being miserable and unhappy. 

We neglect prayer and sacrifice when we are more concerned with our personal well-being. You show us the way - before You chose the Twelve You spent the whole in prayer, attuned wholly to Your Father's will, waiting attentively for the Holy Spirit to reveal the ones that were to become the foundation stones of the Church. You then called all the disciples and from them, You hand-picked the ones who would be chosen to build Your Church. You called each of them by their name.

Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.

Together with the newly elected apostles as well as the disciples You descended to level ground where a great crowd waited for You from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. They represent the people of the whole world who are invited to come into the Church and receive life from her. In the Church You founded all find a home. In the Church, and through the Sacraments we receive supernatural life as well as nourishment and healing. The Church, our Mother, accompanies us from the moment we are born and until we die tenderly watching over us so we can make our journey in safety from this life to the next in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

May we O Lord, who are privileged to be Your disciples labor zealously and untiringly to spread the Good News so that all may come to the knowledge of Truth and be saved.

FRIDAY OF WEEK 29 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children. MT 11:25

ROMANS 7:18-25 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

How very good is our Father in heaven, how gracious loving, kind, and ever so generous. Original sin broke us and nothing good remains in us that does not come from God. Sin reigns in our flesh and unless we rely on Your merits and Your Holy Spirit we will always choose to sin rather than to turn away resolutely from temptation. Unless we determinedly deny our flesh and are vigilant in rooting out the evil that lurks in us which constantly beguiles us to choose the broad and easy way we will never grow in virtue and holiness.

How easy it is Beloved, to give in to the flesh, to give in to laziness, to allow ourselves a little leeway and fool ourselves that we deserve a little license now and then to take it easy. It is imperative that we keep a strict guard over our senses lest we lose our foothold and find ourselves slithering downwards on the slippery slope of sin.

Today O Lord let us pay heed to St. Paul who describes our concupiscence to sin so well for he knows the human spirit. It is so easy to become discouraged at the many times we fall each day but as we are reminded today that we are more than conquerors thanks be to God who through You, O Lord, have rescued us from this body that was doomed to death.

PSALM 118(119):66,68,76-77,93-94 ©

Teach me discernment and knowledge

for I trust in your commands.
You are good and your deeds are good;
teach me your statutes.

Let your love be ready to console me

by your promise to your servant.
Let your love come and I shall live
for your law is my delight.

I will never forget your precepts

for with them you give me life.
Save me, for I am yours
since I seek your precepts.

Lord, teach me your statutes.

LUKE 12:54-59 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We are so steeped in the things of the world that we are able to predict from the circumstances around us what might happen. We are so advanced in our learning and use of technology that we are able to foresee calamities before they happen. Yet when it comes to the spiritual realm and the salvation of our souls we are totally ignorant. We foolishly try to control the things that are temporal and obsess over accumulating more of the things that pass away, that rot, that can be stolen and we spend little or no time at all to hoard up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

What You say to the crowds You say to each of us today and may we wake up at last before it is too late and pay heed to Your warning:

‘When you see a cloud looming up in the west you say at once that rain is coming, and so it does. And when the wind is from the south you say it will be hot, and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the face of the earth and the sky. How is it you do not know how to interpret these times?’

Instead of wasting the gifts that You have given us on the pursuit of pleasure and one-upmanship over each other, instead of quarreling and bickering constantly and stirring up hatred and division between people, communities, and nations, we would do well to live in peace and help one another to grow in virtue and holiness. To seek the well-being of our neighbors rather than tearing them down lest we find ourselves before You the righteous Judge to whom we will have to render a strict account of the talents given to us. Now O Lord, before it is too late, let us reconcile with one another so that together we may all come home to You and rest in You, the Father and the Holy Spirit in love, peace, and joy eternally. 

‘Why not judge for yourselves what is right? For example: when you go to court with your opponent, try to settle with him on the way, or he may drag you before the judge and the judge hand you over to the bailiff and the bailiff have you thrown into prison. I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the very last penny.’

THURSDAY WEEK 29 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I have accepted the loss of everything
and I look on everything as so much rubbish
if only I can have Christ
and be given a place in him. PH 3:8-9

ROMANS 6:19-23 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We cannot praise and thank You enough for all that You accomplished for us in the mystery of Your Passion, Death, and glorious Resurrection. We who were once slaves to the desires of the flesh and sought to satisfy and satiate all its wanton passions, thanks be to God and the grace of the Holy Spirit have now been set free. Thank You for the free gift of our salvation, thank You for freely pouring the love of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Thank You for taking upon Yourself the punishment that was ours and for paying the price for our sins. It is a debt we can never repay except in a small measure, Beloved, we can offer our own lives to You completely so You can do with us what You will.  

May we never go back to being the slaves of concupiscence ever again but may we cling to You, Lord, keep our gaze fixed on You, and keep our hand locked in Yours lest in letting go of You, we stumble and fall. Keep us from grave sin Lord for the sake of Your sorrowful passion and bring us at last, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to the place that God has prepared for us in His Kingdom.

PSALM 1:1-4,6 ©

Happy indeed is the man

who follows not the counsel of the wicked;
nor lingers in the way of sinners
nor sits in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord
and who ponders his law day and night.

He is like a tree that is planted

beside the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit in due season
and whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper.

Not so are the wicked, not so!
For they like winnowed chaff
shall be driven away by the wind:
for the Lord guards the way of the just
but the way of the wicked leads to doom.

Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

LUKE 12:49-53 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Today we are reminded that from the moment of Your incarnation, You burned with zeal to fulfill the mission for which the Father sent You into the world. Our salvation cost the Father the life of His only, well-beloved Son. And not just the laying down of Your life, Lord, but the manner in which it was to be accomplished would have filled You with horror and dread. Yet, even though You knew exactly how it would come about, You were aware of how many strokes of the lash would bite into Your flesh and tear the skin off Your innocent Body, and rivulets of Your precious Blood would stream down it soaking the earth and consecrating it for all time, the murderous blows, the outrageous, blasphemous mockery, the many times You fell on the way to the place of Your crucifixion. The nailing of Your healing hands, and feet that went every way to bring glad tidings to the poor, the sinner, the outcast, the forgotten, to the Cross. Every cry and every shuddering sigh that issued forth from Your purpled lips until You cried out to Your Father with Your last breath - it is finished accomplished the salvation of the whole world. 

For thirty long hidden years both Your Mother Mary and Your foster father, St. Joseph were Your comfort and Your rest. Tenderly the ministered to You until the hour arrived for You to begin Your public ministry. You knew that the nation chosen by God, and its people from whom You came forth would reject You so completely that they would be the ones that put You to death. But it was not really they O Lord, it was my sins that crucified You, and in turn, Your death was offered in exchange for my death and I received Your life and hope of eternal joy in heaven.

The fire of Your love that You cast out of the depths of Your heart has set the world ablaze. Hatred, murder, vengeance, violence, and immorality, the work of the Enemy, has also set the world on fire - his works of death are the tares sowed among the wheat but in the end, O Lord, Satan has only won the hour - You our eternal day have won the day. Grant O Lord that the world and all its peoples will believe and may we all be saved.

‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

WEDNESDAY OF WEEK 29 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Stay awake and stand ready,
because you do not know the hour
when the Son of Man is coming. MK 24: 42, 44

ROMANS 6:12-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Life passes by swiftly and before we know it childhood, youth, and adulthood have sped by. We look in the mirror and wonder where the years have gone. If we had to do it all over again, we tell ourselves armed with hindsight we would do things differently. Make different choices. Savor the things that we were too busy to enjoy and appreciate. 

Yet You, O Lord were present with me through the years and You remain with me now. Yes, I have sinned often and gravely and it was grace that helped me repent and return to You and I have always found a loving welcome like the prodigal son. Coming home to You after falling often has given me finally taught me that sin separates me from You and cut off from You I will surely die. 

Finally, through grace alone, You now keep me on the path that leads to the Kingdom of God. The way is narrow, difficult, filled with much sorrow, many many sighs and tears, and often I stumble but You O Lord are with me and You steady me and hold me up.

Thank You, Lord, for not only saving me and for Your steadfast love but also for providing all the grace I need just to be a slave of righteousness.

You were once slaves of sin, but thank God you submitted without reservation to the creed you were taught. You may have been freed from the slavery of sin, but only to become ‘slaves’ of righteousness.

PSALM 123(124) ©

‘If the Lord had not been on our side,’

this is Israel’s song.
‘If the Lord had not been on our side
when men rose up against us,
then would they have swallowed us alive
when their anger was kindled.

‘Then would the waters have engulfed us,

the torrent gone over us;
over our head would have swept
the raging waters.’
Blessed be the Lord who did not give us
a prey to their teeth!

Our life, like a bird, has escaped

from the snare of the fowler.
Indeed the snare has been broken
and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

Our help is in the name of the Lord.

LUKE 12:39-48 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Many people die unexpectedly. Too often we only come to understand later in life that our life is a gift from God and that we will have to render a strict account of what we have done with this precious gift. Today's parable reminds us that we are only stewards of the gifts that have been lavished on us and are answerable to God for the way in which we have used them. Time slips by swiftly and before we know it we are old and have lost the physical vigor we once possessed. When that time is upon us may we not be filled with vain regret.

For as long as today lasts You give us time to repent and make amends for past, unrepented sins. As we wait in the evening years of our lives for the Bridegroom to come may we ready ourselves so we will not be taken by surprises no matter at what hour You arrive, Beloved.

O Lord my God, grant me this grace not to spend the time left to me either in vain regret or to worry uselessly about the things I do not have any control over. Rather, grant me the grace I need to trust You completely in all the circumstances of my life. Not to give in to needless worry, sadness, anxiety, fear, and gloom. May I remember always that I am a child of God, I dare to call Him Dad, the Son of God is my Brother, You loved me so much You laid down Your life for me so I could live with You forever. I am not left an orphan or widow to muddle along on my own but You have poured Your own Holy Spirit on me - He is the Comforter, the Helper, the Guide, the Love of God who helps me moment by moment, providing enough light to take one step at a time in faith, until You come for me and take me home to Yourself. 

‘You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

‘What sort of steward, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master’s arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns.’

My beloved St. Joseph, foster father of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and my spiritual father, God has made You master over his household and prince over all His possessions. Intercede for me and my family and obtain for us through your powerful intercession all that we need to be happy in this life and gloriously happy with God, with Mama Mary, You, and all the angels and saints forever.

TUESDAY OF WEEK 29 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Stay awake, praying at all times
for the strength to stand with confidence
before the Son of Man. LK 21:36

ROMANS 5:12,15,17-21 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

What a great debt of gratitude we owe You, my Lord and my God. Your merits far surpass the gravity of the original sin and death inherited through Adam. His disobedience cast us out of paradise and we were condemned to a life in the wilderness of sorrow and despair. Thanks be to Your Father, who sent You into the world to become like us in all things save sin to become the means by which we are all saved - not just a few but all humanity. All have sinned, all are born in sin, and without God's marvelous work of redemption wrought in and through You, we were condemned to eternal death. 

St. Paul tells us that the gift of redemption far outweighed the fall - for the love of God made visible and tangible in You covers a multitude of sins and redeems the whole human race. We sinned willfully and separated ourselves from You but You freed us freely taking upon Yourself the punishment that was ours. The wages of sin is death and You, my Lord and my God became the willing victim for our sins.

Beloved, it is most comforting to know that however great the number of sins committed, grace was even greater; and so, just as sin reigned wherever there was death, so grace will reign to bring eternal life thanks to the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I will continue to pray with even greater confidence that in the end You mighty hand and holy arm will save all those I love.

PSALM 39(40):7-10,17 ©

You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,

but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, here am I.

In the scroll of the book it stands written

that I should do your will.
My God, I delight in your law
in the depth of my heart.

Your justice I have proclaimed

in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed;
you know it, O Lord.

O let there be rejoicing and gladness

for all who seek you.
Let them ever say: ‘The Lord is great’,
who love your saving help.

Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.

LUKE 12:35-38 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The world we live in currently seems to be catapulting with increasing rapidity towards its annihilation. The deliberate and very conscious efforts made by the spawns of satan have weakened the very foundations of Christianity whose principles have undergirded most nations for centuries. A very meticulously thought out plan launched insidiously, silently, and with such great cunning and evil intent that most nations and their people were unaware of the great deception is finally upon us. Who is to blame? We are. We who made no effort to make our Christian faith our own, we who failed to study the Scriptures and make the Word of God our way of life, we who failed to take the teaching of Holy Mother Church seriously but instead selectively cherry-picked those teachings we would keep and those we would reject out of hand. We made no effort to live the faith of our fathers seriously by first making it our own and because of this, we failed our children miserably as well.  Our children are the victims of our spiritual neglect. And now the hour of retribution is on our doorstep and all have now to pay the price for our spiritual turpitude. 

We have long since soiled our wedding garments. We are too drunk with licentious living to pay heed to the hour of Your return and when You do return Beloved, will You find faith on earth?

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready.’

MONDAY OF WEEK 29 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

How happy are the poor in spirit:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. MT 5:3

ROMANS 4:20-25 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

God's promises are trustworthy all that I have said I will do. Have faith and draw strength from your faith. All your experiences of Me thus far - have they not taught you that I never disappoint. Look at the blessings that I have heaped on you and on every member of your family - so why are you discouraged, why do you go about with a long face, sighing and anxious all the time. You dishonor Me - You dishonor God the Father and the Holy Spirit when you act like you are an orphan. God is with you.

Look at Abraham - he had just one son, Isaac, the one promised to him by God. Isaac was born when his mother was 90 years of age and Abraham was one hundred years old what is impossible for men is possible for God. Abraham's faith was steadfast Sara wavered but not he. You share in that faith by virtue of your baptism. You believe that I AM the Son of the Living God who came down from heaven and that I who was put to death and I rose again and I did this for you. Justified through Me before My Father I have claimed you for Myself now and forever. 

PSALM LUKE 1:69-75 ©

He has raised up for us a mighty saviour

in the house of David his servant,
as he promised by the lips of holy men,
those who were his prophets from of old.

A saviour who would free us from our foes,

from the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our fathers is fulfilled
and his holy covenant remembered.

He swore to Abraham our father

to grant us that free from fear,
and saved from the hands of our foes,
we might serve him in holiness and justice
all the days of our life in his presence.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has visited his people.

LUKE 12:13-21 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Today You remind us that greed kills the soul. To the man who asked You to persuade his brother to give him a share of their inheritance, You said, ‘Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.’ When we are obsessed with the acquisition of the things of this world the emptier our lives become. Only You, O Lord, can fill the emptiness of our hearts and satisfy the deepest longings of our souls. 

We see how our world is spiraling out of control in every part of the globe because we have either forgotten You, are ignorant of You, or worship false gods. 

This parable of the rich man who put his confidence in his rich harvest and planned to build bigger barns and then believing he could live a happy life eating, drinking, and living it up, did not consider the possibility that he could die before he could enjoy the wealth he had amassed. The one thing that is certain Beloved is death - it will come to us all sooner or later and then we will judged on love and love alone. Grant us this grace, Beloved, today and every day to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven that thieves cannot steal or moths destroy.

29TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

You will shine in the world like bright stars
because you are offering it the word of life. PH2:15-16 

ISAIAH 45:1,4-6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

It is so easy to become discouraged and afraid when we look at the world today. War, terror, and mayhem are at our doorstep and we are living in uncertain times.  The godless and those who worship false gods seem to grow more powerful and they threaten to annihilate those who stand firmly opposed to their evil ideologies.

However, we can draw comfort from these verses taken from Isaiah - all kings no matter how great are subject to You whether they know it or not and You use them to bring about what You desire. You command and they obey Your Word just as Cyrus the most powerful ruler did at the time. He was a pagan king and yet he was inspired to set God's people free from slavery. He sent them back to their land and gave them all that was necessary for them to build the temple as well as to establish themselves once again in their land.

Why? Because God's choice of Abraham and his Covenant with him and his descendants is irrevocable. God binds Himself to the He has chosen but You O Lord intend that this Covenant reaches out from them to include the whole world. No one is excluded for we are all God's creatures and God desires that we all be saved in and through You, His only, well-beloved Son. We must, however, listen to You and keep the Commandments in order to receive a share in the inheritance that You have won for us.  

‘I am the Lord, unrivalled;
there is no other God besides me.
Though you do not know me, I arm you
that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
that, apart from me, all is nothing.’

PSALM 95(96):1,3-5,7-10 ©

O sing a new song to the Lord,

sing to the Lord all the earth.
Tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples.

The Lord is great and worthy of praise,

to be feared above all gods;
the gods of the heathens are naught.
It was the Lord who made the heavens,

Give the Lord, you families of peoples,

give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Bring an offering and enter his courts.

Worship the Lord in his temple.

O earth, tremble before him.
Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
He will judge the peoples in fairness.

Give the Lord glory and power.

1 THESSALONIANS 1:1-5 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Paul a fanatic Jew was chosen by God to become an apostle to the Gentiles. The same fervor that he showed in persecuting the Christians was now channeled with that same fervor and zeal in winning souls for You and for the Kingdom of God.

He worked tirelessly, faithfully, and passionately to preach and teach the Good News and to make You known until the day he was martyred. You call who You wish, You empower who You wish, You endow who You wish to do Your Work of preaching the Good News and establishing the Kingdom in the hearts of all mankind. How we respond though, is entirely up to us. But whoever believes and is baptized, no matter who he or she is, is granted the awesome grace of becoming a child of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, and an heir to the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us at least pray if nothing else to ensure that all come to know the truth and are saved.

We always mention you in our prayers and thank God for you all, and constantly remember before God our Father how you have shown your faith in action, worked for love and persevered through hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ.

We know, brothers, that God loves you and that you have been chosen, because when we brought the Good News to you, it came to you not only as words, but as power and as the Holy Spirit and as utter conviction.

MATTHEW 22:15-21 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Everything belongs to You there is nothing that exists in all the heavens and on earth, or under the earth over which You do not have complete authority and sovereignty for You, O Lord, are God, the Son of the Most High.  By the power of the Eternal Word God created all things and they were created to give You, the Son of the Father all glory for He has raised You up to the highest heavens. By Your victory, You have won for us as well victory over sin and death. By the power of Your Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we are more than conquerors.  Eternal life in glory is ours because You have made us co-heirs with You. The Triune God who created us and has commanded us to be holy and perfect enables us to grow more and more in the image and likeness of our Father in and through You and the Holy Spirit. 

Therefore nothing belongs to the Caesars of the world for the Caesars also belong to You. When we give You all, Beloved, for all that we have and are is Yours, we also fulfill our duties by giving what is due to civil authorities as well.

SATURDAY OF WEEK 28 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The Spirit of truth will be my witness;
and you too will be my witnesses. JN 15:26, 27

ROMANS 4:13,16-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

 

There is nothing greater, more sublime, more profitable, and more pleasing to God than to place all our hope and our trust in You, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. When I say with perfect confidence and childlike simplicity - Jesus, I believe in Your Word which assures me that in all things God works for my good, and through all the circumstances of my life, with no exceptions, God has the power to draw good for You, my Lord and my God, have overcome the world, crushed the head of Satan and set us free from slavery to sin. The Enemy has no power over those who have been grafted into Your Body unless we freely choose to believe his lies. 

Abraham believed God's mind-boggling promises to him to make him the father of many nations assuring him that his descendants would be as countless as the stars or the grains on the shore. His wife Sara was barren and he was an old man and yet he believed and he was not disappointed. When it seemed that Sara would remain childless, she conceived and their son Isaac was born when she was 90 years of age, and Abraham was 100 years old. 

With God nothing is impossible. All God's promises are yes and amen in You, my Lord. I believe and I ask for this gift of grace to believe even when the night is darkest for Your Word O Lord is true, it is eternal, and it is life.

PSALM  104(105):6-9,42-43 ©

O children of Abraham, his servant,
O sons of the Jacob he chose.
He, the Lord, is our God:
his judgments prevail in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant forever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.

For he remembered his holy word,
which he gave to Abraham his servant.
So he brought out his people with joy,
his chosen ones with shouts of rejoicing.

The Lord remembers his covenant forever.

LUKE 12:8-12 ©

My Soul's Beloved, 

Christianity once again faces opposition from the world. Evil forces from the deepest, darkest pit of hell have been unleashed with fury and malice and are spewing murderous rage and venom on all who believe, uphold, and proclaim the Good News that saves.  

The hour is finally upon us in this age when all Your disciples who are called by Your Name must pay attention to this passage in the Gospel that is being proclaimed to us in the Liturgy today. 

‘I tell you, if anyone openly declares himself for me in the presence of men, the Son of Man will declare himself for him in the presence of the angels. But the man who disowns me in the presence of men will be disowned in the presence of God’s angels.

‘Everyone who says a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

‘When they take you before synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you must say.’

It is time to put on the full armor of God. The time for sleeping is past. This is the time to rise up from our slumber and be ready for battle to the end. We have been equipped by the Holy Spirit and with power. Armed with the Word of God, the Cross, and the Holy Rosary the evil forces of darkness will be routed once again as in the past. Love conquers all. Love always prevails. When we are called to lay down our lives, Beloved, let us do so with great faith, hope, and joy for we know that it is in dying for Your Sake and for the Good news that we are born to eternal life. 

FRIDAY OF WEEK 28 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

May your love be upon us, O Lord,

as we place all our hope in you. PS 32:22

ROMANS 4:1-8 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Whatever I may think of myself whether good or evil, whether I am boastful or humble, whether I think I am of consequence or not is meaningless because what I think is immaterial what matters O Lord is what You think of me. If, despite all my sins, all my weaknesses, all the times I have been ensnared by the wiles of the Enemy, you still look on me with tenderness and lavish your love on me, it is not because of anything that I have done for all my deeds are as filthy rags before You.

I look at You O Lord and I am blown away by Your faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, forbearance, and patience. Even my faith in You Beloved is a gift that the Holy Spirit bestowed on me through baptism.  You O Lord have made me a child of the Father and have sent Your Holy Spirit to abide in me. Every breath I take, and every good act that the Holy Spirit inspired me to do is but a response to Your infinite, irrevocable, unfathomable love for me.

It is You who have pardoned my sins, You have wiped my soul clean of all my offences, You justify me by the power of Your sacrificial love that bore my sins, my iniquities and purchased my redemption. I owe You my life and I surrender my life to You do with me what you will.

David says the same: a man is happy if God considers him righteous, irrespective of good deeds:

Happy those whose crimes are forgiven,
whose sins are blotted out;
happy the man whom the Lord considers sinless.

PSALM 31(32):1-2,5,11 ©

Happy the man whose offence is forgiven,

whose sin is remitted.
O happy the man to whom the Lord
imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no guile.

But now I have acknowledged my sins;

my guilt I did not hide.
I said: ‘I will confess
my offence to the Lord.’
And you, Lord, have forgiven
the guilt of my sin.

Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord,

exult, you just!
O come, ring out your joy,
all you upright of heart.

You are my refuge, O Lord; you fill me with the joy of salvation.

LUKE 12:1-7 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Every sin can be forgiven except our denial of the fact that we are sinners. We are born in sin and can only be forgiven if we acknowledge that we are sinners and with humble and contrite hearts confess them and beg Your forgiveness and pardon. You assure us that no sin is greater than Your mercy.

In today's Gospel reflection, we read of the thousands who pressed around You hungry for Your word, yearning for Your healing touch, and the assurance and consolation that God had not forgotten them even though they were under the oppressive rule of the Roman empire. Even in the midst of being under foreign rule their own religious authorities also lorded it over them demanding that follow all the Mosaic laws.

You taught with authority and were not afraid to strip the veil of self-righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and expose their hypocrisy publicly. What You said then is relevant today and until time runs its course.  In the early days of Christianity they met in secret, prayed in secret, and offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in secret just as You said it would be:

Everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed on the housetops.

But that time has now passed. Now is the time of the proclamation of the Good News so that all may be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. The one thing that You forbid is to be cowed down with fear because God is our Father, we are covered by the Blood of the Lamb and we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. You call us friends and You reveal that we are precious in the Lord's sight. So precious that God sent You into the world to reveal the full extent of His love for us in Your humanity, in Your passion, in Your ignominious crucifixion, and in Your glorious resurrection from the dead. Let us prepare ourselves armed with Truth for the tribulation that seems imminent as we surrender our lives with complete confidence to You. 

‘To you my friends I say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.’