ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA, PRIEST ON WEDNESDAY OF WEEK 17 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father. JN 15:15

JEREMIAH 15:10,16-21

My Soul's Beloved,

I thank You for the Holy Mass readings selected by the Church which help us recall that You O Lord are faithful and it is Your Word O Lord that sustains us in a world that is growing darker and darker as sin pollutes the hearts of men and women in every nation. Thank You for the Church that stands as a beacon shedding Your light. Set high on the hilltop is sheds light to all who climb Your holy mountain, the place where You have chosen to dwell. Thank You for Your Presence in tabernacles across the globe and for the celebration of Holy Mass, the only Sacrifice of Thanksgiving, praise, and worship acceptable in the sight of the Father, there is no other. It is this glorious celebration of the mysteries of Clvary that prevents the world from being swallowed up and erased from memory.

Thank You, O Lord, for showing us that it is possible to live lives of heroic virtues as we look at all the great saints that shine like jewels beginning with the Apostles, and all the holy men, women, and even children who desired nothing more than to be pleasing to You in all things and to spend their lives for others in imitation of You, O Lord, our God, the Lamb without stain or blemish who takes away the sins of the world.

This is Your abiding promise O Lord, to all who fight the good fight and remain faithful to the end:

‘I will make you
a bronze wall fortified against this people.
They will fight against you
but they will not overcome you,
because I am with you
to save you and to deliver you
– it is the Lord who speaks.
I mean to deliver you from the hands of the wicked
and redeem you from the clutches of the violent.’

PSALM 58(59):2-5,10-11,17-18

Rescue me, God, from my foes;

  protect me from those who attack me.

O rescue me from those who do evil

  and save me from blood-thirsty men.

See, they lie in wait for my life;

  powerful men band together against me.

For no offence, no sin of mine, Lord,

  for no guilt of mine they rush to take their stand.

O my Strength, it is you to whom I turn,

  for you, O God, are my stronghold,

  the God who shows me love.

As for me, I will sing of your strength

  and each morning acclaim your love

for you have been my stronghold,

  a refuge in the day of my distress.

O my Strength, it is you to whom I turn,

  for you, O God, are my stronghold,

  the God who shows me love.

O God, you have been a refuge in the day of my distress.

MATTHEW 13:44-46

My Soul's Beloved,

Nothing in this world nor people no matter how beloved, can offer us the joy, peace, and serenity of soul that comes from living to love You no matter the cost. You have shown us what true love means, and what it looks like. You have shown us how to love first and above all God and then our neighbor as ourselves. Authentic love wills the good of the beloved in all things. You O Lord are our Beloved and in willing the good of our neighbor we will Your good for You have said, 'Whatsoever you do to the least of your brothers and sisters, you do unto Me.'

You O Lord, are the treasure hidden in the field, and all we possess including our very lives is well lost in finding You and keeping You. If all we have is You O Lord we have all we need and will need nothing more.

There is nothing that this world can offer, there is nothing that the people of this world can offer that is equal in value to knowing You, loving You, and serving You for as long as we have breath in our mortal bodies.

Thank You, Lord, for the gift of being Catholic. I know that I will be judged more strictly because of it for You have said, 'To whom much is given much is expected.' Thank You for the Sacraments that make living a life of grace possible. I do not have to struggle on my own, I have the Holy Spirit abiding in me, You as my perfect mediator between God and me, and the intercession of Mother Mary, and all the holy angels and saints, as well as the prayers of my brothers and sisters in the Church.

Jesus said to the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.’

TUESDAY OF WEEK 17 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this seed will remain for ever.

JEREMIAH 14:17-22

My Soul's Beloved,

What are we without You O Lord? We are nothing, worthless, the further we depart from You the greater we sink into the miry pit of despair, gloom, anxiety, and sadness. What are we without You O Lord, without Your help, without Your abiding Presence in us? Pity us, Lord. For the sake of the remnant who remain faithful and keep their gaze fixed on You. For the sake of the few have pity on the many, I beg You. 

I know that we try Your patience unceasingly and You would be right to just annihilate us as You wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah for we deserve Your just wrath and any punishment that You visit on us. But You know that we are weak. We have done our best O Lord but that best was not good enough to keep our children on the path of righteousness. You are a God of love, compassion, and mercy, and are quick to forgive those who come before You with a humble and contrite heart. 

Lord, we do confess our wickedness
and our fathers’ guilt:
we have indeed sinned against you.
For your name’s sake do not reject us,
do not dishonour the throne of your glory.
Remember us; do not break your covenant with us.
O our God, you are our hope.

PSALM 78(79):8-9,11,13

Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us.

  Let your compassion hasten to meet us;

  we are left in the depths of distress.

O God our saviour, come to our help.

  Come for the sake of the glory of your name.

O Lord our God, forgive us our sins;

  rescue us for the sake of your name.

Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;

  let your strong arm reprieve those condemned to die.

But we, your people, the flock of your pasture,

  will give you thanks for ever and ever.

  We will tell your praise from age to age.

Rescue us, O Lord, for the glory of your name.

MATTHEW 13:36-43

My Soul's Beloved,

The world is indeed careening headlong into the very depths of hell because it is ignorant of God. Entire nations worship false gods having been deceived by those who distorted the truth. They claimed that their false teaching was divinely revealed and they so tickled the ears and the senses of the weak and the ignorant that they soon gained many followers. The Evil One having lost paradise eternally will not rest until he destroys and takes to hell those whom God has saved and destined for eternal joy in heaven. 

Beloved, original sin has weakened us, and concupiscence is the legacy handed down to us by our first parents. Ignorance, spiritual sloth, and betrayal by those responsible for providing them with nurturing love have resulted in a world being bogged down by very conceivable evil in thought, word, and deed. At first glance, one might believe that the number of the faithful is outweighed in number by those who have embraced the present evil culture that celebrates the sensual, selfish, worship of the world and the flesh. It would appear that the devil has succeeded in sowing darnel among the good seed but that is a lie promoted by the Father of Lies and his followers. The Truth is that victory belongs to You. The devil may have won the hour but You O Lord have won the day. We long for Your return O Lord at the end of the age when the wicked will be separated from the virtuous and be thrown into the blazing furnace while ‘the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!’

SAINTS MARTHA, MARY & LAZARUS ON MONDAY OF WEEK 17 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of life. JN 8:12

JEREMIAH 13:1-11

My Soul's Beloved,

When we look at the evil that flourishes in the world we are tempted to be scandalized and appalled believing that never in the history of the world have humans sunk to such levels of depravity and debauchery. But if we did so we would only showcase our ignorance of salvation history. The writer of Ecclesiastes says, ‘What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.’ 

Since the fall of our first parents the children of the world have willfully chosen to forsake all that is true, good, and beautiful. They are like the loincloth that God commanded the prophet Jeremiah to purchase and wear round his waist. The Lord spoke again and told him to take off the cloth and bury it in the ground. He did as God asked. After many days, the Lord told him to fetch the loincloth he was ordered to hide and when he went to look for it and found it, he saw it was soiled and unfit for use.

The soiled loincloth is an allegory of the people of God who had sinned grievously against Him and which the Lord will discard as they are filthy and useless. Let us not fool ourselves that we can sin with impunity and try God's patience because You O Lord are silent. Sooner or later the whole world will feel God's wrath, especially those nations that were founded on Christian values and principles. Like the people at the time of Noah and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, retribution will come and we will be destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth. 

Grant us the grace O Lord, to wake up before it is too late. May the few who are faithful offer ceaseless prayers and sacrifices in reparation for the profanities and blasphemies of all that is sacred that routinely take place all over the world. 

For the sake of His sorrowful passion, beloved Father, have mercy on us and the whole world.

‘Thus says the Lord: In the same way I will spoil the arrogance of Judah and Jerusalem. This evil people who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the dictates of their own hard hearts, who have followed alien gods, and served them and worshipped them, let them become like this loincloth, good for nothing. For just as a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I had intended the whole House of Judah to cling to me – it is the Lord who speaks – to be my people, my glory, my honour and my boast. But they have not listened.’

PSALM - DEUTERONOMY 32:18-21

You forget the Rock who begot you,

  unmindful now of the God who fathered you.

The Lord has seen this, and in his anger

  cast off his sons and his daughters.

‘I shall hide my face from them,’ he says

  ‘and see what becomes of them.

For they are a deceitful brood,

  children with no loyalty in them.

‘They have roused me to jealousy with what is no god,

  they have angered me with their beings of nothing;

I, then, will rouse them to jealousy with what is no people,

  I will anger them with an empty-headed nation.’

You forget the God who fathered you.

JOHN 11:19-27

My Soul's Beloved,

It is so easy to get discouraged when we are faced with sorrow, filled with anxiety, and engulfed in grief. Despair threatens to take possession of our whole being and our lives are filled with darkness as gloom shrouds our soul. 

It is so hard to shake off the dullness lying heavy on our spirit when we allow ourselves to focus on our sorrows and grief rather than lifting our gaze from ourselves to You and in faith to find in Your Word consolation, comfort, and strength. 

Today the Church celebrates the famous siblings Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, whom You loved, and whose hospitality You enjoyed often. We contemplate the passage in the Gospel of John that narrates the death of Lazarus. Their house, once a place of joy is now in mourning. Word has been sent to You that Your friend Lazarus is dead. You come four days after receiving the news and Martha, the active disciple on hearing that You are approaching hastens to meet You. Mary the contemplative disciple remains at home. As soon as Martha sees You she says, 

‘If you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that, even now, whatever you ask of God, he will grant you.’ 

Beloved, in our deepest grief may we never forget to ask in faith for whatever we need convinced as Martha was that whatever You ask the Father on our behalf He will always grant You, for You O Lord are the perfect mediator between God and man.

You assure Martha that her brother will rise again for You are the God of miracles and Lord over life and death. Martha thinks You are speaking of the resurrection on the last day but You remind her that You are Lord and that nothing is impossible for You. 

‘I am the resurrection and the life.

If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’

Yes, Lord, I too believe that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that salvation is found in no other but You. Keep me and my loved ones safe in Your love until You O Lord, in Your goodness, compassion, tender mercy and love bring us home at last to share in Your glory in heaven forever.

17TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

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

2 KINGS 4:42-44

My Soul's Beloved,

My Lord and my God, my God and my all. You O Lord are our plenty. You O Lord satisfy the deepest hunger of our soul. You O Lord are enough. When we offer You the little that we have, You receive it, bless it, multiply it, and give it back to us so we may share the abundance generously with everyone around us.

You want us to trust in You and not in what we possess. You ask us to have faith and to act in confidence knowing that You will supply us with everything we need when we need it. Nothing offered to You is in vain, You return generously, in full measure, shaken together and overflowing. Our faith is small. Our fear and anxiety keep us from being as generous as we ought. Our selfishness and our self-centredness cramps us and makes us close in on ourselves as we shrivel and die. But when we are magnanimous and give freely just as we freely have received the jar of flour will never be empty and the jar of oil will never run dry.  

A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing Elisha, the man of God, bread from the first-fruits, twenty barley loaves and fresh grain in the ear.’ ‘Give it to the people to eat’, Elisha said. But his servant replied, ‘How can I serve this to a hundred men?’ ‘Give it to the people to eat’ he insisted ‘for the Lord says this, “They will eat and have some left over.”’ He served them; they ate and had some left over, as the Lord had said.

PSALM 144(145):10-11,15-18

All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord,

  and your friends shall repeat their blessing.

They shall speak of the glory of your reign

  and declare your might, O God.

The eyes of all creatures look to you

  and you give them their food in due time.

You open wide your hand,

  grant the desires of all who live.

The Lord is just in all his ways

  and loving in all his deeds.

He is close to all who call him,

  who call on him from their hearts.

You open wide your hand, O Lord, and grant our desires.

EPHESIANS 4:1-6

My Soul's Beloved,

You do not make impossible demands of us. You have loved us with an everlasting love. You poured Your life and Your love for us on Calvary and You have shown us what authentic love is - it is willing the good of the beloved. Following Your example, the Apostles and all holy men and women have shown us that even though many of them were once great sinners and have lived lives that were in contradiction to God's law, after their conversion, with the help of God's grace and the Holy Spirit, they lived lives of heroic virtue. 

We cannot be holy or perfect without Your help but we need to desire to be holy and perfect before the Holy Spirit can make us what God always intended us to be when He first created the human race.

Today, in his epistle, St. Paul teaches us what is pleasing in Your sight. Give us O Lord all we need today to delight You by being selfless, gentle, and patient with everyone we meet today. Fill us with Your peace and help us never to forget that we are members of Your Body. The health of each member affects the entire body so Lord, keep us holy and enkindle in us the fire of Your love.

There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all.

JOHN 6:1-15

My Soul's Beloved,

The Eucharist is the supersubstantial bread that we ask for when we pray the prayer that You taught Your Apostles and disciples - the Our Father. This miracle of the multiplication of the 5 loaves and 2 fish is a foreshadowing of the true miracle that occurs from the rising of the sun to its setting all over the world - at the Holy Mass when the priest takes the host in his hands and says the prayer that You prayed at the Last Supper and the host is transformed in Your Body and the wine into Your Blood. This is the food that wells up to eternal life in us.

In today's Gospel, St. John gives us a detailed account of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. Large crowds followed You seeking to touch You, be touched by Your, and be healed of all that ailed them in heart, mind, soul, body, and spirit. It was near the feast of Passover. Around this time You would soon institute the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper when the Sacrifice of Your Life would be consummated on the Cross at Calvary.

Looking at Philip You said, ‘Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?’ Philip focusing on the vast crowd before him and forgetting who it was that asked him the question, gave the practical response, ‘Two hundred denarii would only buy enough to give them a small piece each.’ Andrew on the other hand, revealed that there was a boy present who had five barley loaves and two fish - but he too, focused on the meagre quantity of food and the impossible task before them. He too overlooked that You were in their midst despite witnessing all the signs and wonders You had worked.

You asked both of them to get the people to sit on the grass, the Shepherd was about to lead His sheep to green pastures where He would feed them. Taking the five loaves and two fish You gave thanks to Your Father in heaven and asked the disciples to distribute it to the crowds. They did. Five thousand people not counting women and children ate until they were satisfied. Having eaten enough, You instructed the disciples, ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted.’ So they picked them up, and filled twelve hampers with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves. 

Lord Jesus, we thank You for the gift of the Holy Mass and the Holy Eucharist - Your precious Body with which You feed Your people, nourish us, and give us strength for the journey from this life to the life that is to come. 

Thank You, Lord Jesus, thank You Father for the gift of Your Son in the Holy Eucharist, thank You Holy Spirit for Your power that makes the miracle a reality. Thank You for Your Church and for Your priests and grant us many more vocations that we may always have holy men consecrated as priests to minister to us until You return in glory. Maranatha! Lord Jesus, Maranatha!

Blessed Rudolph Acquaviva and Companions, Priests, Martyrs on Saturday of week 16 in Ordinary Time, 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Accept and submit to the word

which has been planted in you

and can save your souls. JM 1:21

JEREMIAH 7:1-11

My Soul's Beloved,

All too often, we Catholics are just like the faithless people of God that Jeremiah is prophesying against. We delude ourselves that because we are in the Church You founded, where Your Holy Spirit abides, and in where the fullness of beauty, truth, and goodness are found, we are saved. All that God says through the lips of the prophet is directed to us who falsely believe that we are saved because we are privileged to be Catholics. This is false. We cannot sin with impunity and not suffer the dreadful consequences of sin.

Unless we reject sin and live virtuous lives pleasing to God He will reject us.

“Amend your behaviour and your actions and I will stay with you here in this place. 

But if you do amend your behaviour and your actions, if you treat each other fairly, if you do not exploit the stranger, the orphan and the widow (if you do not shed innocent blood in this place), and if you do not follow alien gods, to your own ruin, then here in this place I will stay with you, in the land that long ago I gave to your fathers forever.” 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, be merciful to me a sinner. Stay with me Lord and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me for without You I am sure to fail, to fall, and be lost forever. Take pity on me, Beloved, and remain with me now and always.

PSALM 83(84):3-6,8,11

My soul is longing and yearning,

  is yearning for the courts of the Lord.

My heart and my soul ring out their joy

  to God, the living God.

The sparrow herself finds a home

  and the swallow a nest for her brood;

she lays her young by your altars,

  Lord of hosts, my king and my God.

They are happy, who dwell in your house,

  for ever singing your praise.

They walk with ever-growing strength,

  they will see the God of gods in Zion.

One day within your courts

  is better than a thousand elsewhere.

The threshold of the house of God

   I prefer to the dwellings of the wicked.

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, God of hosts.

MATTHEW 13:24-30

My Soul's Beloved,

We are all created good because all that God has created is good. Satan, who lost forever his place in heaven and the glory he once enjoyed in Your Presence due to the sin of pride and disobedience hates us with a vicious and all-consuming hatred. He is tireless in stealing souls that belong to God for he and his minion will do all in their limited capacity to rob us of our inheritance. 

We are warned to remain vigilant for the Enemy never sleeps but prowls around the world night and day to steal, plunder, and destroy souls. The hour of victory is drawing near. The wondrous fruit of Your triumph over death by Your passion and glorious resurrection is almost upon us. While it is true that we do not know that day or the hour when You will return, we know You will at a time we least expect. But we are warned that while we wait we must be vigilant lest we fall asleep, become spiritually lazy and indifferent, falling into the snares that the Enemy carefully lays for us, and thus, lose the inheritance God has prepared for His children since the foundations of the world.

While there is yet time, Lord, grant us the grace to use all the help You have made available to us - the Sacraments. You have given us Your Mother, the saints, and the angels to pray for us and intercede for us before Your throne. May we use their power to help us and may we also pray for one another so we may all be saved and spend eternity in the company of Mama Mary, and all the angels and saints praising and glorifying You forever and ever.

On the day of judgment, Lord, may we be the wheat that the angels gather and place in Your barn not the chaff that is burned in the fiery furnace where the flames will never go out.

The servants said, “Do you want us to go and weed it out?” But he said, “No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn.”’

Sts. Joachim & Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

They looked forward to Israel’s comforting
and the Holy Spirit rested upon them. LK 2:25

ECCLESIASTICUS 44:1,10-15

My Soul's Beloved,

Godfearing families can and will save the world but we see so few of them. Families are generally indifferent to the spiritual education of their children. They are steeped in the ways of the world teetering on the edge of a precipice that will keel over any moment into total destruction. It is easy to be pessimistic about the hedonistic culture that prevails in the world. The young have no direction and sadly and heartbreakingly although some of them have been raised in the bosom of Holy Mother Church the ways of the world proved stronger than their love for God and their faith in Him.

While it may be easy to wring our hands in despair we know Lord that You always raise holy men and women in every generation who by their example influence the culture and the people with their tremendous love for God and their lives of heroic virtue. They shine Your light in a world that is becoming increasingly dark and void of hope. One little light that shines bravely and faithfully can dispel the darkness and this is why we must never lose hope.

Today, as the Church celebrates the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the parents of our Blessed Mother, Mary, we ask for their powerful intercession as Your grandparents, to obtain from You the graces we need to become more receptive to living a life of faith in the face of opposition, persecution, and discrimination. The lives of saints remind us that it is possible with Your help to be holy and perfect as Your Father is holy and perfect. You do not ask us to do what we cannot but what we can. Every day in little ways, help us live the Gospel values and we will overcome the world.

PSALM 131(132):11,13-14,17-18

The Lord swore an oath to David;

  he will not go back on this word:

‘A son, the fruit of your body,

  will I set upon your throne.’

For the Lord has chosen Zion;

  he has desired it for his dwelling:

‘This is my resting-place for ever;

  here have I chosen to live.

‘There David’s stock will flower;

  I will prepare a lamp for my anointed.

I will cover his enemies with shame

  but on him my crown shall shine.’

The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

MATTHEW 13:16-17

My Soul's Beloved,

You caution us that to those to whom much is given much will be asked. As Catholics much has been given to us. The vast majority of us are privileged to be born of Catholic parents, raised in the faith of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, and have had the benefits of the wondrous Sacraments to help us nurture our faith and be strengthened by it. Even after we have sinned greatly, and grievously, and were separated from You and the Church, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we find the healing remedy for the greatest contrite and repentant sinner. Here we are reborn again and again and are restored to perfect health in mind, heart, soul, body, and spirit. 

Your words today are spoken to us directly and it is up to us to take note of what You say and live accordingly. For in the end, O Lord, You who are the righteous judge appointed by Your Father will judge us more strictly because of the wondrous gifts we have received as Catholics.

‘Happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.’

ST. JAMES, APOSTLE - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I chose you from the world

to go out and bear fruit,

fruit that will last,

says the Lord. JN 15:16

2 CORINTHIANS 4:7-15

My Soul's Beloved,

You took Twelve ordinary men with nothing to qualify them for the great mission that You would entrust to them. They were mostly illiterate fishermen, one we know was a tax collector and was despised by the Jewish community. There was absolutely nothing outstanding about any of them but when You had finished with them, You fitted them to be the 12 princes in Your Church, the first bishops with Peter at the Head holding the Keys of the Kingdom. They were the fulfillment of the 12 Tribes of Jacob. 

They lived with You for three years. You formed them, instructed them, taught them, and made them witnesses to all the marvels and signs that You worked, while Peter, James, and John were chosen to be even closer to You and the only witnesses to certain events in Your earthly life. 

They image for us perfectly what being an apostle and a disciple entails. They, as St. Paul puts it, were mere humans, subject to all the frailties that our fallen race is subject to, and yet after Pentecost, filled with Your Holy Spirit, they set the world on fire with the love of God and they laid down their lives, like their Master, for Your Sake and for the sake of the Gospel. 

Every good and perfect gift comes from above and is given to all the baptized without distinction, what we do with them is our responsibility. But let us never forget that as Catholics, we belong to those to whom much is given, and hence much more will be demanded from us.  Where the Head is there must the members of the body be for apart from You, we can do nothing. You are the Vine and we the branches. As long as we remain in You, Lord, we can fear nothing. 

Your life is the blueprint on which we must model our lives just as the Twelve did. We are not left to muddle along on our own strength. The Holy Spirit is given to us and with Him and the Sacraments that the Church administers to us, we can boldly carry out the mandate given to every disciple to go out into the world and preach the Good News to all nations.

As St. Paul reminds us today, we share the same faith as the Apostles and because we do we will preach and teach the Gospel through our lives:

But as we have the same spirit of faith that is mentioned in scripture – I believed, and therefore I spoke – we too believe and therefore we too speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life will raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side and you with us. You see, all this is for your benefit, so that the more grace is multiplied among people, the more thanksgiving there will be, to the glory of God.

PSALM 125(126:1-6

When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage,

  it seemed like a dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

  on our lips there were songs.

The heathens themselves said: ‘What marvels

  the Lord worked for them!’

What marvels the Lord worked for us!

  Indeed we were glad.

Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage

  as streams in dry land.

Those who are sowing in tears

  will sing when they reap.

They go out, they go out, full of tears,

  carrying seed for the sowing:

they come back, they come back, full of song,

  carrying their sheaves.

Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

MATTHEW 20:20-28

My Soul's Beloved,

Humility is the hallmark of God who lovingly stoops low over His weak, sinful, frail, children. If God is humble how much more must we recognize our nothingness before You, O Lord. You are equal to God and yet in perfect obedience to Your Father's will and in humility You left Your glory behind to become like us, clothed in human flesh and subject to all the frailites of the human condition except You did not sin. 

We, however, like the Mother of James and John as well as like her sons, vie for a place of prominence and importance. We desire to be recognized and celebrated. We are easily hurt and discouraged if we are not taken notice of. But You have shown us the right way to live, the acceptable Way, the Way that the Father desires. Mary, Your Mother, St. Joseph, St. John the Baptist, and every great saint in the Church have emulated Your Way of humility, obedience, and servant leadership. There is no other way to the Kingdom of God except that we become like little children desiring nothing more than that which is given to us and being content with what we receive. 

When the others heard of the request that the mother of James and John made they were indignant because they too misunderstood that Kingdom that You came to bring about on earth - a Kingdom of peace, justice, and above all love. This is what You said to them then and to us today:

 ‘You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

You came not to be served but to serve and give Your life as a ransom for many - may we too desire nothing more than this - to be servants and to desire nothing more than to be of service to all for Your Sake and for the glory of God.

TUESDAY OF WEEK 16 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him. JN 14:23

MICAH 7:14-15,18-20

My Soul's Beloved,

You know that I am like a sheep, foolish, silly, lacking in wisdom, and wandering in places where I ought not to. Throughout my life, I got into all kinds of trouble willfully, stupidly, and stubbornly because I did not stay close to the flock and the Shepherd. You never tired of seeking me. You did not abandon me but sought and found me tirelessly every time and brought me home. In You, O Lord, there is no condemnation only love, compassion, and forgiveness of sins. Thank You.

My Soul's Beloved, You have made the Way to the Father's House easy if we only allow You to take us by the hand and lead us. You have provided abundant ways and means by which all those who belong to the sheepfold are helped, strengthened, cleansed, nourished, refreshed, replenished, and renewed. No matter how often we fail, fall, and sin grievously You will never spurn the humble and contrite heart. Thank You, Lord.

Lord Jesus, grant that I never take Your love for granted but also may I never let shame keep me from acknowledging that I have sinned and running into Your arms like a child and begging to be forgiven no matter how low I have sunk in sin.

What god can compare with you: taking fault away,
pardoning crime,
not cherishing anger for ever
but delighting in showing mercy?
Once more have pity on us,
tread down our faults,
to the bottom of the sea
throw all our sins.
Grant Jacob your faithfulness,
and Abraham your mercy,
as you swore to our fathers
from the days of long ago.

PSALM 84(85):2-8

O Lord, you once favoured your land

  and revived the fortunes of Jacob,

you forgave the guilt of your people

  and covered all their sins.

You averted all your rage,

  you calmed the heat of your anger.

Revive us now, God, our helper!

  Put an end to your grievance against us.

Will you be angry with us for ever,

  will your anger never cease?

Will you not restore again our life

  that your people may rejoice in you?

Let us see, O Lord, your mercy

  and give us your saving help.

Let us see, O Lord, your mercy.

MATTHEW 12:46-50

My Soul's Beloved,

You kept nothing hidden but made known to us the Way to the Father's House. All who desire to share in the riches of Your glory and Your inheritance may do so for You delight in sharing all with those who dare to love and to serve like You. You have given us an example of how to live and how to die and You have given us Your Holy Spirit so what is impossible for us to do without help and grace, He makes possible with His gifts. All we need to do is receive these gifts and use them and we will bud, blossom, bloom, and flourish as we bring forth an abundance of good fruit for the glory of God. 

How do we know that we belong to the family of God? We know it because You tell us in this Gospel passage - ‘Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.’

The evangelist, Matthew, says, that Your Mother and Your brothers were standing outside as the crowds prevented them from entering and someone brought word to You saying that they were anxious to speak with You. This is when You say this oft-quoted verse which the Catholic Church recognizes as the greatest compliment of all paid to Your Mother and which many use to denigrate and malign the Holy Virgin, the Mother of God, and the Mother of us all. ‘Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.’

From the moment of her conception, Mary's whole life was surrendered to the will of God. No woman born of woman ever has or will reach the heights of sublime goodness, purity, and holiness and possess the fullness of every grace and virtue than Mary, the Holy Mother of God. She alone is Queen above every creature, above all the angels, lower only than God. None is her equal for no one that ever lived has embraced the will of God more fully than Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother. Thank You, Lord, for giving her to us. We in the Catholic Church have taken her home with us and she will bring us home to You.

ST. MARY MAGDALENE - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Tell us, Mary: say

what thou didst see upon the way.

– The tomb the Living did enclose;

I saw Christ’s glory as he rose!

SONG OF SONGS 3:1-4

My Soul's Beloved,

Not in the world, nor the flesh, nor the devil will we find our deepest needs met but only in You O Lord. God has created within our finite bodies our eternal souls which reach out, hunger, and thirst for the infinite. It is only when we withdraw into the silence away from the garish sounds, distractions, and discordant noise of the world and enter into that haven of peace in our soul that we can encounter You, O Lord, our Spouse, our Lover, our Beloved, the Bridegroom of our soul.

O Lord, my God, this is a journey that every soul must make once it is awakened by the hunger, the earning, the unassailable need for more than what the world around us and our senses demand. We cannot find anything outside ourselves to feed our hunger and assuage our thirst, but You Lord, who tabernacle within us, who desire to make Your sanctuary in our sinful and unworthy souls and desire our love even though You are God and need nothing, yet You pursue us relentlessly, lovingly, patiently, You woo us more tenderly than anything that our human imagining can hope or long for. You are all we ever need. You O Lord are enough and more than enough for You alone O lord can satisfy our need for all that is true, good, holy, perfect, and beautiful.

O Lord, my God, I find You whom my heart loves each time I receive You in Holy Communion and each time I come before You in the Blessed Sacrament. Thank You Lord, for filling and satisfying my hungry heart always.

PSALM 62(63):2-6,8-9

O God, you are my God, for you I long;

  for you my soul is thirsting.

My body pines for you

  like a dry, weary land without water.

So I gaze on you in the sanctuary

  to see your strength and your glory.

For your love is better than life,

  my lips will speak your praise.

So I will bless you all my life,

  in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,

  my mouth shall praise you with joy.

For you have been my help;

  in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.

My soul clings to you;

For you my soul is thirsting, O Lord my God.

JOHN 20:1-2,11-18

My Soul's Beloved,

Often in our lives, we will have to suffer painful loss when those we have loved well in this life are no longer with us. Losing a spouse, a parent, and most especially a child can be devastating and we are often mad with grief for a while. As long as we live in the darkness of our overwhelming sorrow, as long as we are weighed down with it we are deaf and blind to light and to hope. Our grief is wound around us, and our hearts and souls are smothered. Much like Mary of Magdala that Easter dawn. She who sat at Your feet and listened to You. She who had witnessed the raising from the dead of her brother, Lazarus, she who had heard You speak of Your death and Your resurrection often, could recall none of this so wrapped up was she in her own sorrow and loss. 

We are so like her. Too often we permit the terrible tragedies in our lives to permeate every cell of our being that we forget who we are, children of God, redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The tomb is empty - this is the Truth, and because of the empty tomb we have hope despite all the terrible things that we experience in this broken world and because of our broken, sinful lives. THE TOMB IS EMPTY.

Mary ran to Simon Peter and John and conveyed her fears to them. She saw the empty tomb but she didn't understand its significance despite knowing what You so often assured Your disciples - YOU WOULD RISE AGAIN on the third day. Death could not hold You. Mary returned to the tomb to continue to weep and grieve for she could think of nothing else but her loss of her Beloved Friend, Master, Brother, and Teacher. Not even when the angels dialogue with her does she understand,   ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away’ she replied ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’

Even when she turns around  and sees You standing there she does not recognise You. You ask her the same question the angels did, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ Supposing You to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’ It is only until You say her name, ‘Mary!’ that she knows and recognises You and gladly and eagerly responds, ‘Rabbuni!’

She wanted to cling on to You, hold on to You but that way of knowing You before Your resurrection has ended. A new era begins. We are reminded of the urgency of the mission, we are commanded and we must act. Now is the time while today lasts to do what we were created to do - know You, love You, serve You, and make You known to all so that one day we will all belong to You and reign with You in the new heavens and the new earth that You will bring about at Your glorious second coming. Maranatha! Lord Jesus! Maranatha!

‘Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and find the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.