TUESDAY OF WEEK 11 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord. JN 13:34

1 KINGS 21:17-29

The wages of sin is death - may we never forget it, Lord. Jezebel was evil and her husband was a weak man with a covetous spirit. He was king and possessed much yet he envied the little that Naboth had so greatly the desire for it made him ill. Jezebel though was far worse than he. A wicked idolater, she plotted to kill Naboth so her husband could have what his heart desired. 

You, O Lord, see all, and know all. Your punishments are just and fitting. You sent the prophet to Ahab to make known to him just what to expect for the wicked and murderous deed his wife and he had done. His name was to be blotted out as his male descendants would be destroyed. As for his wife, she too would die a horrible death. Ahab repented and humbled himself before You and You lifted the hand of judgment from him. The disaster that was to be his would fall on his descendants instead.   

God is pleased when we humbly recognize and confess that we are sinners. Any punishment meted to us is well-deserved when we break the commandments of God. But a humble contrite heart O Lord, You will not spurn. You are good, kind, tender-hearted, and full of mercy and love. I sin a hundred times a day but each time I come to You O Lord with a repentant heart and a humble spirit, pleading for forgiveness, You will always forgive and bless, renew, and restore. Thank You, Lord, for loving me.

PSALM 50(51):3-6,11,16

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

My offences truly I know them;
my sin is always before me
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.

From my sins turn away your face
and blot out all my guilt.
O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.

Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.

MATTHEW 5:43-48

My Soul’s Beloved, 

God, our Father, has made Himself visible in You. You are the image of the invisible God. If we want to know what God is like and how great His love is for His creatures, all we need to do is look at a Crucifix. There we understand the true meaning of love. Love is sacrificial. It pours itself out for another so that the other may receive all that is good and necessary for life. A life of grace is possible only when we follow the Way of the Cross, the Way of the Cross is the Way to the Father’s house. 

Original sin has weakened us so greatly that our fallen nature makes it difficult for us to resist the easy road. But You warn us that broad is the road and easy that leads to perdition. In the world we see that the wicked flourish like the cedars of Lebanon and the good suffer great trials often their whole life. What does this mean, Lord? Today’s Gospel reveals the heart of God to us and gives us the answer: 

‘…….. I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ 

I am invited today to be like our heavenly Father. To be perfect just as He is perfect. Help me, Lord, for without the help of Your Spirit I will fall by the wayside and be trampled into the ground and die.