THURSDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance. LK 8:15

JEREMIAH 17:5-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Nothing is more pleasing to you than a childlike spirit. Humility and trust in Your goodness, mercy, and love will always move Your Sacred Heart to grant us all that we need to navigate the troubles and trials of this life. These are necessary I know for they strengthen our faith, increase our hope, and deepen our love for You. 

Grant me this grace O Lord, when trials come to throw myself into Your loving arms and remain there content like a weaned child on its mother's breast. I have experienced the foolishness of looking for human help that often never comes and if it does it is inadequate and disappoints.

Keep my gaze ever on You, Beloved. In times of distress and suffering may I take Your hand which is always extended to help me. Thank You for assuring me that You are my ever-present help in times of trouble.

PSALM 1:1-4,6 ©

Happy indeed is the man

who follows not the counsel of the wicked;
nor lingers in the way of sinners
nor sits in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord
and who ponders his law day and night.

He is like a tree that is planted

beside the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit in due season
and whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper.

Not so are the wicked, not so!

For they like winnowed chaff
shall be driven away by the wind:
for the Lord guards the way of the just
but the way of the wicked leads to doom.

Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

LUKE 16:19-31 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

This parable of Dives and Lazarus reveals how selfish and self-absorbed we can become when we have all the things that make life easy and comfortable. Our senses are insatiable. The more we indulge them the more they demand until they overwhelm, blind, and destroy us.

So it was with the rich man. He was blind to the plight of the poor man at his gate. He went in and out several times a day and yet his gaze never once rested on Lazarus. We too can become so self-absorbed with our needs, our wants, and our desires that we spend all our time tirelessly catering to them. We can become so obsessed with self-indulgence and self-pandering that we could easily die without ever noticing those whose lives are torment and misery to them that they long for death to release them from their suffering.

Beloved, You teach us that we are only stewards of all we have received and we will have to give a strict account of our stewardship. Whether the gifts are material or spiritual they are meant to be used generously to ensure that those who have more have nothing left over and those who have little will lack nothing. This is the world that You desire, this is what is expected of us who are called by Your Name. When we recognize that we are all members of Your mystical body and work towards ensuring the good of all only then will we experience the peace that You came to give. Your peace O Lord is a gift that surpasses all human understanding and when we all possess it the Kingdom of God will come among us.

‘The rich man replied, “Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father’s house, since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too.” “They have Moses and the prophets,” said Abraham “let them listen to them.” “Ah no, father Abraham,” said the rich man “but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent.” Then Abraham said to him, “If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.”’