ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM, BISHOP & DOCTOR, FRIDAY OF WEEK 23 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth. JN 17:17

1 CORINTHIANS 9:16-19,22-27

My Soul's Beloved,

Preaching the Gospel is not optional it is the whole purpose of my life. How do I preach it? By the life I lead. I am called to be light and salt in the world. My mission is to draw everyone I encounter each day into the Light which is Your light. I am to flavor the world with Beauty, Truth, and Goodness which is Your Word, the Word of the Father, the Incarnate Word, the Eternal Word which is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

St. Paul, the most exemplary of all the Apostles, who was once the greatest enemy of the Church became one of its greatest saints. He truly became alter Christus and this is what we must be as well. Another Christ in the world. 

Beloved, discipline of the will, discipline of the flesh, discipline of the spirit, and total surrender to the will of the Father is the only way in which I can be assured of living joyfully and peacefully in this life with an untroubled conscience and receive the prize of life at the end of my earthly journey.

Thank You, Lord, that I do not have to figure it out on my own, You make available the help I need through the rich graces I receive in the Sacraments. Stay with me, Lord, to the end, lest I fall by the wayside and am trampled and destroyed. I trust in You.

All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one of them gets the prize. You must run in the same way, meaning to win. All the fighters at the games go into strict training; they do this just to win a wreath that will wither away, but we do it for a wreath that will never wither. That is how I run, intent on winning; that is how I fight, not beating the air. I treat my body hard and make it obey me, for, having been an announcer myself, I should not want to be disqualified.

PSALM 83(84):3-6,12

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

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 are happy, whose strength is in you,

  in whose hearts are the roads to Zion.

For the Lord God is a rampart, a shield;

  he will give us his favour and glory.

The Lord will not refuse any good

  to those who walk without blame.

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

LUKE 6:39-42

My Soul's Beloved,

Every day our world appears to be teetering on the brink of absolute chaos. It is mind-boggling how every sane voice is being silenced and only those voices that distort the truth and promote and celebrate every kind of debauchery are preached ruthlessly and endlessly until the ignorant believe it. Even children are not spared by those whom You have entrusted to safeguard against the Enemy and to nurture in grace and truth.

We are lied to constantly by those who have surrendered their lives to the powers of darkness where the blind are leading the blind, the lame are leading the lame, and the ignorant fool is leading another ignorant fool. In this world of utter chaos, violence, and diabolic madness we are told that unless we submit we have no place in the new world order. Anyone who dares to announce publicly that the emperor is naked is destroyed.

It is time for heroes and martyrs to rise up and You O Lord will raise them up for this world is Yours. It is purchased, redeemed, and sanctified by Your Blood and Your Holy Spirit. Raise up an army O Lord willing to lay down their lives for the truth. Thank You.

Jesus told a parable to the disciples: ‘Can one blind man guide another? Surely both will fall into a pit? The disciple is not superior to his teacher; the fully trained disciple will always be like his teacher. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,” when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye.’