MONDAY OF WEEK 13 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord. PS 94:8

AMOS 2:6-10,13-16

My Soul's Beloved,

Every evil deed committed against the righteous, the anawim of the Lord, the outcast, the poor, those who are persecuted because they belong to You, Your faithful ones who refuse to lie down with the Enemy but are at constant war with him refusing to be beguiled by the father of lies as so many in the world have done, these are known by God and every one of them will be punished and shamed. Let us never worry that the wicked flourish for a while. Their day of reckoning will come. When You O Lord, come to vindicate Your little ones, when You, O Lord, the righteous judge, come to save Your faithful who are called by Your Name, nothing will save the wicked from the wrath of the Almighty.

Beloved, let us never forget the price that You paid for our redemption. It was no small thing for God to ask You to come into the world as one of us, born a little babe, born of a woman and like us in all things save sin. It was no small thing that You said yes to His wondrous plan of salvation. It was everything that the Son of God willingly laid down Your life in a death so horrific, so cruel, so inhuman, that for any of us to take it for granted and to continue to sin with impunity despite the fact that we are set free from death precisely because You paid the debt that sets us free, is inconceivable and unthinkable. Sadly, Lord, we do.

Now is the time of our salvation, Lord, let us not delay our return to the Father's house lest time runs out and we will be lost eternally.

The Lord says this:
See then how I am going to crush you into the ground
as the threshing-sledge crushes when clogged by straw;
flight will not save even the swift,
the strong man will find his strength useless,
the mighty man will be powerless to save himself.
The bowman will not stand his ground,
the fast runner will not escape,
the horseman will not save himself,
the bravest warriors will run away naked that day.
It is the Lord who speaks.

PSALM 49(50):16-23

‘How can you recite my commandments

and take my covenant on your lips,
you who despise my law
and throw my words to the winds?

‘You who see a thief and go with him;

who throw in your lot with adulterers,
who unbridle your mouth for evil
and whose tongue is plotting crime.

‘You who sit and malign your brother

and slander your own mother’s son.
You do this, and should I keep silence?
Do you think that I am like you?

‘Mark this, you who never think of God,
lest I seize you and you cannot escape;
a sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me
and I will show God’s salvation to the upright.’

Mark this, you who never think of God.

MATTHEW 8:18-22

My Soul's Beloved,

Every one of us has a mission and we are to have no illusions about what it costs to follow You faithfully, closely, and until the end. 

Are we part of the crowd that You leave behind because many of them are only there for what they can receive from You without any personal commitment? Is my heart stirred with excitement when I hear Your Word like the scribe who came up to You and said, ‘Master, I will follow you wherever you go.’ And You give me a reality check that forces me to see that following You will not be easy. Your response to the scribe is, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ If I am looking for comfort as a disciple then I am unworthy of being one.

One of the disciples whom You invited to follow You excused himself saying, ‘Sir, let me go and bury my father first.’ And You replied, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.’ It is possible to find a hundred legitimate reasons and make plausible excuses for not leaving behind everything when we hear Your invitation, 'Follow me!' But in the end, Lord, when we reject Your call to discipleship and to a personal, close and intimate relationship with You, the Son of God, the Lord of Lord, the King of Kings, we do so at our own peril. We do so at the risk of our salvation.

Grant us the courage we need to always say 'yes' each time You invite us to a deeper relationship with You. Thank You, Lord.