FRIDAY OF WEEK 26 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Harden not your hearts today,

but listen to the voice of the Lord. PS 94:8

BARUCH 1:15-22 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The lament of the prophet is our lament as well. We have all sinned, we have broken Your law of love over and over again. We have fallen over and over again and have relied on ourselves instead of crying out for mercy and reaching out to You for help. We have brought our misery on ourselves because we did not keep the commandments. We are broken. We are unable to help ourselves and sorrow overwhelms our soul. We are drowning in misery.

It is not just our own sins, O Lord, but the sins of those we love and the sins of the whole world that oppress us. We will never know joy again if we do not repent of our sins if we do not humble ourselves and present ourselves before You covered in sackcloth and ashes. To You, O Lord belongs glory and honour, praise, worship, thanksgiving and adoration. With every breath we breathe we must praise You O Lord for it is Your love that sustains us and enables us to live with integrity. You have raised us to the dignity of being children of God and You align Yourself with us as our Brother. You espouse Yourself to us and we are privileged to address God as our Father.

Help me, Lord. Help my family, Lord. How much longer Beloved, before the weight of sorrow crushing my soul is lifted? Uniting my prayer to Yours O Lord I cry out to God and say, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.’

PSALM 78(79):1-5,8-9 ©

O God, the nations have invaded your land,

they have profaned your holy temple.
They have made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
They have handed over the bodies of your servants
as food to feed the birds of heaven
and the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.

They have poured out blood like water in Jerusalem;

no one is left to bury the dead.
We have become the taunt of our neighbours,
the mockery and scorn of those who surround us.
How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever;
how long will your anger burn like fire?

Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us.

Let your compassion hasten to meet us;
we are left in the depths of distress.

O God our saviour, come to our help.

Come for the sake of the glory of your name.
O Lord our God, forgive us our sins;
rescue us for the sake of your name.

Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.

LUKE 10:13-16 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

If we suffer O Lord it is because we have not given to God the glory and honor that is due to You. We have deliberately and willfully walked in ways that You expressly forbid us to go. We have walked away from the grace that is always available to the children of God by choosing to ignore the commandments and living our lives on our own selfish terms. We have been selfish, self-indulgent, and lazy. We have never disciplined the flesh. We have not rejected the clamor of the senses and have chosen the broad path of death instead of the narrow way that leads to life. Who can we blame except ourselves if our lives have turned out to be the disaster that it presently is? 

There is no difference between the people in Chorazin and Bethsaida and us for we too have been indifferent to the mighty miracles that You have performed in our lives. Our hardened hearts took Your love and goodness for granted and today we are broken. Our sins have come home to roost and we are unable to free ourselves from the snares of the enemy. Who can save us Lord but You? I implore You, Beloved, to hear my prayers of supplication as I weep for those I love and beg for mighty intervention in their lives. Save them O Lord and pity me, my Beloved. For the sake of Your sorrowful passion have mercy on them and on the whole world.