TUESDAY OF WEEK 14 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my own sheep and my own know me. JN 10:14

HOSEA 8:4-7,11-13

My Soul's Beloved,

 We have always been miserable sinners. Salvation history points out our unfaithfulness time and time again and You annihilate Your people in Your righteous indignation and yet not completely. You withhold our complete destruction. You keep a remnant and from this remnant, You bring forth a new people who remain faithful for a while. But we are fickle, Lord. Once we enjoy Your favor and things go well with us we forget the days of sorrow and want as we grow fat and sleek on Your benevolence and bounty forgetting that You never ceased caring for us and keeping us safe through the storms and the bleak winters that assailed us.

In the days of plenty we became reckless, we forgot Your mercy and compassion, Your goodness and Your kindness and we made idols of people, material possessions, and the desires of the flesh. None of these things satisfy and in the end, they bring us to ruin but worse than anything we lose sight of You, we lose You, and we suffer the just punishments resulting from our folly.

Thank You, Beloved, for giving us a remedy for sin. The Sacrament of Reconciliation. Here O Lord, we confess our sins in humility and sorrow before Your consecrated and anointed priest, and from his lips, we hear You speak the glorious words of forgiveness, 'I forgive you, go in peace and sin no more.' And the weight of our iniquity is lifted from our soul and we are free to love You as You ought to be loved. Thank You, Lord.

PSALM 113B(115):3-10

Our God, he is in the heavens;
he does whatever he wills.
The idols of the heathen are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.

They have mouths but they cannot speak;
they have eyes but they cannot see;
they have ears but they cannot hear;
they have nostrils but they cannot smell.

With their hands they cannot feel;
with their feet they cannot walk.
Their makers will come to be like them
and so will all who trust in them. 

Sons of Israel, trust in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
Sons of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.

Sons of Israel, trust in the Lord.

MATTHEW 9:32-37

My Soul's Beloved,

When the good that holy men and women do is attributed to wrong motives or they are mocked and belittled or their goodness and holiness are deliberately and maliciously misconstrued then we know that the powers of darkness have taken possession of the souls of these ungodly men and women. 

How much more, diabolical it is my Beloved, when You who are all-holy, all-good, all-pure, all-love, are accused of performing the works of God by the power of Satan. There is no greater sin than this - to attribute the works of the Holy Spirit to the spirit of darkness. When people are in awe of the power of God we can be certain that the powers of darkness will try its utmost to denigrate what is clearly good, holy, and worthy of praise. 

You were accused by the Pharisees that it was through the prince of the devils that You cast out demons. You ignored them and continued to do good everywhere You went. You sought the most wretched, the sinner, the outcast, the leper, those possessed by evil spirit, and You spent Your life preaching, teaching, healing, and casting out demons.  

You remind us today not to be concerned about those who hinder us from doing the work of God but to work tirelessly regardless of criticism and hinderances placed in our way to deter us from laboring in Your vineyard. Thank You, Lord, for Your care of us. Your love for sinners and Your desire to save all God's children. Today, let us take to heart Your words to Your disciples and to us: 

 ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’ 

Keep us faithful as we do all that we can for as long as we live.