ST. LEO THE GREAT, POPE, DOCTOR - ON FRIDAY OF WEEK 31 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2023

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Whenever anyone obeys what Christ has said,
God’s love comes to perfection in him. 1JN 2:5

ROMANS 15:14-21 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The foundation of St. Paul's whole life from the moment of his conversion was built on You and Your Word. Filled with the Holy Spirit and with power just as You promised before You ascended into heaven, he embraced his mission wholeheartedly and preached the Gospel faithfully. Anointed by You and commissioned by You to preach the Good News to the Gentiles, he did so faithfully until his martyrdom.

Every single one of us Catholics is baptized into the fullness of grace and truth sadly many of us are so poorly formed in the faith that they live their entire life not knowing that the pearl of great price and the treasure in the field is theirs. O my Lord, if every Catholic understood how great the privilege conferred on us by the grace of almighty God in You, His Beloved Son, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, totally unmerited but wholly grace and favor, we would be apostles after the heart and mind of St. Paul and all the great saints who walked the earth since the dawn of Christianity. 

How spiritually satisfying and how glorious to say with the conviction of St. Paul, 

I think I have some reason to be proud of what I, in union with Christ Jesus, have been able to do for God. What I am presuming to speak of, of course, is only what Christ himself has done to win the allegiance of the pagans, using what I have said and done by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus all the way along, from Jerusalem to Illyricum, I have preached Christ’s Good News to the utmost of my capacity. 

PSALM 97(98):1-4 ©

Sing a new song to the Lord

for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.

The Lord has made known his salvation;

has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.

The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.

LUKE 16:1-8 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

This parable is not so much about the dishonest steward and the fact that he was shrewd, corrupt, self-centered, and greedy, but about him being crafty in the ways of the world. After losing his stewardship and his master's trust he comes up with an astute strategy to ensure that he would still be welcome in the homes of some of his master's debtors by canceling part of what they owed. Rather it is about us who are called to be disciples, workers, and stewards of the Lord, our God, and our naivete when it comes to dealing with the shrewd and corrupt of this world. It is about our inability and ignorance to handle the challenges that we encounter when dealing with the obstacles that we face in our mission of living, preaching, and spreading the Good News. 

Armed by the Holy Spirit, strengthened by prayer, nourished by the Word of God, and the Eucharist, and armed with the knowledge of the strategies of our opponents we can better combat the forces of evil arraigned against Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. Help us Lord not to be weak, pusillanimous disciples who are unworthy of our calling but rather Your indefatigable warriors bold, unafraid, and prepared to meet the enemy and withstand and conquer by the power of Your Blood and Your Holy Spirit.