Saints Andrew Dũng-Lạc and his Companions, Martyrs FRIDAY OF WEEK 33 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me. JN 10:27

1 MACCABEES 4:36-37,52-59 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

How good it is when God's people come together to celebrate Your goodness and Your love. How good it is when our hearts are filled with gladness and we worship and adore God as one Body in You and the life of the Holy Spirit flows through us and fills us with light, life, and grace. There is no greater joy than when we gather together as one community with one purpose to celebrate God and His covenantal love for His children - a covenant sealed in Your Blood and in Your Spirit.

We have allowed the world, the flesh, and the devil to rob us of the joy that is our inheritance through Your saving work on the Cross. By Your passion, death, and glorious resurrection You have granted us new life in You a life of abundant joy and peace and yet we are blind and deaf to the truth of the Good News. How much longer Beloved will the people of God, the members of Your mystical body, continue to live like pagans? How much longer are we going to deny the truth that we have been purchased by Your Blood, we have been ransomed by You and that we now owe a debt that is impossible for us to repay? Let us rejoice that we You have set us free and we are no longer slaves but children of God and co-heirs with You in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

1 CHRONICLES 29:10-12 ©

Blessed are you, O Lord,

the God of Israel our father,
for ever, for ages unending.

Yours, Lord, are greatness and power,

and splendour and triumph and glory.
All is yours, in heaven and on earth.

Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom,

you are supreme over all.
Both honour and riches come from you.

You are the ruler of all,

from your hand come strength and power,
from your hand come greatness and might.

We praise your glorious name, O Lord.

LUKE 19:45-48 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The House of God, the Temple of the Holy Spirit both within us and without are constantly being desecrated. The Holy of Holies within us being sullied by our sins and we constantly grieve the Holy Spirit. But our churches also have become commercial hubs where sacred things are sold and there are some who find it increasingly difficult to receive the Sacraments because of all the well-meaning perhaps, obstacles that clerics put in place. Many are so put off by all the hoops that they are made to jump through that they give up.

Corruption has spread all the way up the hierarchical chain and the faithful are either scandalized or confused. The Church ought to speak in one voice on matters of faith and morals but the constant divisive voices sow only discord. We need apostles who like You are unafraid to take the whip and drive out the buyers and sellers that have turned Your house of prayer into a den of thieves. The enemies of truth are baying for blood like the chief priests and the scribes along with powerful secular voices that are hell-bent on doing away with You and all that You represent - BEAUTY, TRUTH, AND GOODNESS. Hear the cries of Your faithful remnant O Lord and grant us speedy help, relief, and justice. Amen.