WEDNESDAY OF WEEK 27 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The spirit you received is the spirit of sons,
and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ ROM 8:15

JONAH 4:1-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

So many of us are like Jonah, including myself, childish, petulant, selfish, self-absorbed, and easily irritated when things do not go our way. It is easy to laugh with scorn at Jonah's behavior and yet, if we are honest, we will see ourselves reflected clearly in him.

The people of Nineveh were the enemies of the Jews who had suffered greatly at their hands and yet God cared for them too. They did not know Him as God's chosen people did and so He had compassion on them and gave them an opportunity to repent and turn away from their evil ways. And they did and they were spared the disaster and destruction that would have fallen on them if they remained stubbornly in their sins.

Today, on the world stage, as the atrocities of war, madness, and mayhem envelop the world many of us, like Jonah, want the enemy to be pulverized and annihilated from the face of the earth. We believe that if they were obliterated peace would reign in our world. Yet, this is not true, like Jonah, the enemy has full sway over our own hearts and we have no compassion, no empathy, and no desire to lay down our own lives for the sake of those who reject You. 

The fierce anger that is raging in the hearts of so many people right now is a clear indication of how wicked we ourselves are. War is never the answer - love is. It is easier to hate than to love - to love we must be willing to lay down our lives as You did. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, take pity on us as God took pity on the people of Nineveh and grant us the graces we need to overcome our prejudices and our lack of love for our neighbor.

‘And am I not to feel sorry for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, to say nothing of all the animals?’

PSALM 85(86):3-6,9-10 ©

You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,

for I cry to you all the day long.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord,
for to you I lift up my soul.

O Lord, you are good and forgiving,

full of love to all who call.
Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my voice.

All the nations shall come to adore you

and glorify your name, O Lord:
for you are great and do marvellous deeds,
you who alone are God.

You, O Lord, have mercy and compassion.

LUKE 11:1-4 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You are the Son of God and while on earth You and He felt the separation keenly when You became like one us, clothed in flesh, and lived among us. Yes, the Father and the Holy Spirit were always with You - for the Triune God is One and inseparable, and yet, in Your humanity, there was a difference in the quality of Your union. This is why You sought often to slip away from the clamoring crowds who would devour You with their need so You could go away to some solitary place and be absorbed in His Presence. So You could just rest awhile in the bosom of Your Father and allow Your mutual love for each other to refresh You, to revitalize You, reenergize You so You could return to Your public ministry ready once again to accomplish all that Your Father had entrusted to You. 

This is the relationship You desire us to have with Your Father as well. You love us so well that You want to share with us all that is Yours. When the disciples asked You to teach them to pray You were delighted to do so. You taught us that there has to be an order to our prayer. We must understand who it is that we are approaching and the relationship that we must have with the all-powerful God. 

‘Say this when you pray:

‘“Father, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come;
give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test.”’

In no other religion is God addressed as Father, Abba, Dad, Dada, Papa, Pa. Yes God is holy and we ought never to forget that He is God before Him we tremble in awe and yet, You say to us, "Call Him Dad but recognize that the One You address as Father is God, is Holy, who desires to give His children all that is good to help us, to sustain us as we journey from this life to the life that He has in store for us in eternity. Every good and perfect gift that we receive is because the Father desires that we have it. Every Sacrament is the thought of the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit You have instituted the Sacraments - these channels of grace will bring us safely through the turbulent waters to safe harbor.

Thank You, Lord.