MONDAY OF WEEK FOUR IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people. LK 7:16

2 SAMUEL 15:13-14,30,16:5-13 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Within Your will is our peace O Lord. Once we accept this divine truth then we will be able to quell the storms within us, the fears that assail us. We can meet the difficulties of life with calm and patience. In this life, we will have trouble and tribulation because we are sinners living in a sinful and broken world. But You O Lord have triumphed. You have won the victory. But we can only cross from this life to the next with equanimity when we rest in Your will trusting You to take us by the hand and not to be distracted by the storm, the winds, and the waves no matter how ferocious each is.

David, Your servant, trusted You his own son was hounding him with the intent of murdering him what can be more heartbreaking for a father than to know this. He was more pained by his son Absalom who sought to kill him than by the curses of Shimei. He had it in his power to snuff out Shimei's life and yet he spared it believing that if God had permitted his insolence towards him who was he to stop him.

Too often, Beloved, we spoil our children, we do not correct them when we should have done so, and then when they stray from the path of truth we have no one but ourselves to blame.

Thank You, Lord, that we can always trust You to write straight on the broken and crooked lines of our lives. 

PSALM 3:2-8 ©

How many are my foes, O Lord!

How many are rising up against me!
How many are saying about me:
‘There is no help for him in God.’

But you, Lord, are a shield about me,

my glory, who lift up my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord.
He answers from his holy mountain.

I lie down to rest and I sleep.

I wake, for the Lord upholds me.
I will not fear even thousands of people
who are ranged on every side against me.
Arise, Lord; save me, my God.

Arise, Lord; save me, my God.

MARK 5:1-20 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

When we allow evil to make a home in us pretty soon we are overwhelmed by its power, its stranglehold over our lives. While it is we who freely give in to our evil inclinations without putting up any resistance, once they are firmly entrenched in us it is almost impossible to get rid of their shackles without divine intervention. 

You deliberately went out of Your way to meet and heal the man possessed by an unclean spirit in Gerasenes which was a pagan territory. You always seek the sinner even when the sinner has no intention of seeking You. Thank You, Lord, for Your great love that seeks the sinner tirelessly and relentlessly so we can be saved. 

After commanding the Legion of evil spirits to leave the man he, having been restored to his senses and made whole again desired to follow You but You had a different mission for him. Let us always remember that it is more important to do Your will instead of our own even when what we desire is good. 

The people of that town implored You to leave their neighborhood and You did. The people rejected You but You did not reject them - the man who was healed became a disciple and a witness. He wanted to remain with You and begged to be allowed to follow You and it was a wonderful desire but You had other plans for him, greater ones so You said to him, ‘Go home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in his mercy has done for you.’ So the man went off and proceeded to spread throughout the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.

Grant O Lord that I who have been repeatedly touched by Your grace, Your goodness, and Your mercies gladly testify to everyone all that You have done for me and how immeasurably You have blessed me so that everyone who hears me will be amazed.