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.