MONDAY OF WEEK 19 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2TH 2:14

EZEKIEL 1:2-5,24-28

My Soul's Belove,d

You are the Light of heaven and earth. You are fire and Your fiery love emanates from You and pours itself out on those who are called by Your Name. It is a fire that does not consume but draws into and absorbs into Your own glory. Such is the love of God for His children who are born of His Spirit that He makes us brothers and sisters of His First Born. In You, He makes us co-heirs. Such is the love of God that neither Father, Son, nor Spirit holds anything back but pours out on us, who are called by Your Name all that is pure, good, holy, true, noble, and beautiful. 

How can I repay such love O Lord weak, unworthy, sinful, willfully disobedient as I am? I choose my will instead of Yours, I choose to be self-indulgent instead of selfless. I choose ease instead of sacrifice. I choose comfort instead of challenge. Yet, You love me. You will not let go of me. You will hedge me around with Your powerful Spirit, and You will take me by the hand and lead me every step of the way until the hour, the moment when You will receive my last breath on earth and give it back to me anew in heaven where I will be truly yours as I desire to be even here on earth. But weak as I am, I cannot do so without the gracious help You give me through Your Holy Spirit. Thank You, Lord, for loving me despite my shortcomings and concupiscence.

Ezekiel's vision of the glory of the Lord

There the hand of the Lord came on me. I looked; a stormy wind blew from the north, a great cloud with light around it, a fire from which flashes of lightning darted, and in the centre a sheen like bronze at the heart of the fire. 

I saw him shine like bronze, and close to and all around him from what seemed his loins upwards was what looked like fire; and from what seemed his loins downwards I saw what looked like fire, and a light all round like a bow in the clouds on rainy days; that is how the surrounding light appeared. It was something that looked like the glory of the Lord. I looked, and prostrated myself.

PSALM 148:1-2,11-14

Your glory fills all heaven and earth.

Praise the Lord from the heavens,

  praise him in the heights.

Praise him, all his angels,

  praise him, all his host.

All earth’s kings and peoples,

  earth’s princes and rulers,

young men and maidens,

  old men together with children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord

  for he alone is exalted.

The splendour of his name

  reaches beyond heaven and earth.

He exalts the strength of his people.

  He is the praise of all his saints,

of the sons of Israel,

  of the people to whom he comes close.

Your glory fills all heaven and earth.

MATTHEW 17:22-27

My Soul's Beloved,

Once again the disciples then and in every age are reminded that unless we suffer, unless we give ourselves up, unless we hand ourselves over for the sake of the Kingdom of God we will not be raised to life again. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains but a grain of wheat. Only by dying to ourselves can we be fruitful. There is a death that is eternal when we refuse to conform to the great commandment - Love of God followed by love of neighbor as ourselves. Like the disciples and the rich young man, we become greatly sad when we are unwilling to grasp the wondrous truth that unless we free our hearts from all attachments we cannot experience the freedom that comes from cutting ourselves loose from the things and from the people who detract from our desire to live the Gospel despite the cost.

Who pays taxes? Foreigners do, not citizens. While we are on earth we are exiles and foreigners and hence we are obliged to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's while rendering to God the things that are His. As long as we are on earth we live as sheep among wolves and are called to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. The Kingdom of God belongs to the little ones, the childlike, the humble, those with simplicity of heart. This is difficult Beloved, because our default setting because of original sin is arrogance, strife, anger, selfishness, and self-centredness, but because You came into the world as one like us in all things save sin, we now have access to Your merits and to the abundant graces granted to us by Your Holy Spirit through the Sacraments that You instituted. 

One day when they were together in Galilee, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men; they will put him to death, and on the third day he will be raised to life again.’ And a great sadness came over them.
When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel came to Peter and said, ‘Does your master not pay the half-shekel?’ ‘Oh yes’ he replied, and went into the house. But before he could speak, Jesus said, ‘Simon, what is your opinion? From whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their sons or from foreigners?’ And when he replied, ‘From foreigners’, Jesus said, ‘Well then, the sons are exempt. However, so as not to offend these people, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that bites, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for you.’