MONDAY OF WEEK 32 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. PH 2:15-16

WISDOM 1:1-7 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

It is only those with childlike simplicity who will truly bask in the sweetness, goodness, and joy of the Holy Spirit. Innocence and purity of heart is the joy of the Lord and in such a heart will You make your home.

Lord Jesus, the world and all that it offers are transient and can never satisfy the deepest needs and longings of our souls. You alone, my Lord and my God can satisfy the aching loneliness in my heart and fill the emptiness within.  We spend our whole lives trying to find happiness and often in sinful pleasures and pastimes and we find that nothing satisfies and we find ourselves even more lonely and empty. 

Wisdom teaches us that only in God for whom we were created and who is our final end can we find meaning and purpose in our lives. God our Father and Creator, our Redeemer and Sanctifier has willed us into being, redeemed us by His Blood, and sanctifies us so that we may image You daily more and more and hope to someday be united with You forever in heaven.

Help me Lord with the power of Your love and grace desire You above and before all things with all the fervor of my soul. Cover me with Your precious Blood and grant that with Your help I never grieve the Holy Spirit in me. Hear my prayers not only for myself but all those I love so dearly and someday, Beloved, we will all be together in heaven praising you in perfect bliss eternally. Stay with us Lord and lead us from this valley of tears to the place where You dwell, the Kingdom of  God.

PSALM 138(139):1-10 ©

O Lord, you search me and you know me,

you know my resting and my rising,
you discern my purpose from afar.
You mark when I walk or lie down,
all my ways lie open to you.

Before ever a word is on my tongue

you know it, O Lord, through and through.
Behind and before you besiege me,
your hand ever laid upon me.
Too wonderful for me this knowledge,
too high, beyond my reach.

O where can I go from your spirit,

or where can I flee from your face?
If I climb the heavens, you are there.
If I lie in the grave, you are there.

If I take the wings of the dawn

and dwell at the sea’s furthest end,
even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.

Lead me, O Lord, in the path of life eternal.

LUKE 17:1-6 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Today You remind us, Your disciples, Your little ones who cling to You, that in this world obstacles are sure to come.  No one can escape the sufferings and trials, of this life because we live in a fallen, broken world that is steeped in sin. But it is a world where hope reigns supreme for You, O Lamb of God, have redeemed it by Your bloody sacrifice on Calvary. We who were doomed to die have been snatched from the jaws of death. You took our place, paid the price for our sins, took upon Yourself our death, and in exchange You have given us Your life. You have made us daughters and sons of the Father and co-heirs with You to the Kingdom of God.

However, Lord, we have to battle constantly against our natural proclivity to sin due to the fall of our first parents. Our world today is one that has lost its moral compass. Goodness, beauty, and truth have fled, and in its stead lies, death, violence, sexual depravity, and evil in all its forms have found a home in the hearts of so many who are godless. Let us heed Your dire warning to the world today, ‘Obstacles are sure to come, but alas for the one who provides them! It would be better for him to be thrown into the Sea with a millstone put round his neck than that he should lead astray a single one of these little ones. Watch yourselves!’

You charge us with the duty of being our brother's and sister's keeper and we are called to call out sin where we find it. ‘If your brother does something wrong, reprove him and, if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, “I am sorry,” you must forgive him.’

Faith is Your gift to us, all we need to do is exercise it. You assure us even faith the size of a mustard seed has the potential to work mighty miracles. Let us take You at Your Word from this day forth and put our tiny mustard seed of faith to work trusting You to move the mountains that rise up against us as we labor for souls in Your vineyard. Stay with us Lord, now and forever.