28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us. EPH 1:17, 18

ISAIAH 25:6-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Once again, as has happened so often in the past and will continue in cycles in the future until You return, we are living in an age darkened by grave sin, evil, violence, mayhem, murder, and death. The pandemic was the final straw that broke even further a world already broken.

It is so easy, Lord, to become dejected when we witness the depths of degradation to which the human soul can sink, and when we think this is the worst we are appalled to discover that people are capable of even greater depravity and evil. Hell has certainly been let loose and the victims of evil keep mounting.

As long as the world resolutely turns its back on the Truth that God revealed to us in You over 2000 years ago and unless every nation and all its peoples recognize that true peace and joy are impossible unless we bend the knee to You, our Sovereign Lord and confess to the glory of the Father that You O Lord are the only Way to the Kingdom of God we will continue headlong to our eternal destruction the very pit of hell.

Today, the prophet Isaiah foretells what the future holds for those who climb the Mountain of the Lord, to Mt. Zion, the place where You dwell in fullness, the Church You established on Peter and the rest of the Apostles, the Twelve. It is only when every man, woman, and child makes their home in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church that the world will come into our own as sons and daughters of the Most High and receive a share in Your inheritance.

Have mercy O Lord, have mercy on Your people and grant that we who are members of Your Mystical Body rise up with renewed courage and proclaim with the fire and zeal of the Holy Spirit that salvation can only be found where the fullness of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness makes its home -  in Holy Mother Church.

PSALM 22(23) ©

The Lord is my shepherd;

there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.

He guides me along the right path;

he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff;
with these you give me comfort.

You have prepared a banquet for me

in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.

Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me

all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
forever and ever.

In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell forever and ever.

PHILIPPIANS 4:12-14,19-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Raise up a new generation of disciples who model their lives on the life of St. Paul, the Apostles, and all the saints and martyrs through the ages. Most of us are ignorant of the power of the faith that we have received through baptism. Thus far we have lived selfish, mediocre lives but the time for living self-indulgent lives is over. Re-kindle apostolic fervor in our souls and filled with the Holy Spirit we may set the world on fire with the love of God made visible in You, our Lord.

We need to be in peak spiritual condition and that will be possible only when we too can say what St. Paul said of himself:

I know how to be poor and I know how to be rich too. I have been through my initiation and now I am ready for anything anywhere: full stomach or empty stomach, poverty or plenty. There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength. All the same, it was good of you to share with me in my hardships. In return my God will fulfill all your needs, in Christ Jesus, as lavishly as only God can. Glory to God, our Father, forever and ever. Amen.