28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

How happy are the poor in spirit:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. MT 5:3

WISDOM 7:7-11

My Soul's Beloved,

You said, 'Ask you will receive, seek you will find, knock and the door will be opened.' Your Word O Lord is truth. You are Truth. When I ask I must ask honestly for what I desire and not lightly and foolhardily for it will be imprudent of me to ask for the things that God will wholeheartedly give me if I ask without real understanding and wisdom. Once You bless me with what I ask then I must be a wise steward and use what is given with prudence and sincerity. The things of heaven, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not to be taken lightly, and before I ask I must discern that what I ask for I will use in the manner that You desire me to and not allow it to lie unused and dormant.

I must seek to do God's will sincerely and having discerned it I must embrace it no matter what the cost. What good will it do me if after seeking Your will and discerning it, I fail to do what You ask? I will be like the son who when his father asked him to go out and labor in the field said yes and failed to do what his father asked. 

I am called to knock persistently and loudly until you answer. I must not give up when You delay opening the door. I must not lose heart no matter how long I have to knock until You respond. I give up too easily, get discouraged too easily, and lose heart too easily, I expect You to answer me promptly, and give me all that I ask exactly as I ask for it. But You know what is best for me and the people I pray for. Give me the wisdom my Lord, after I ask seek and knock to receive what You give in response to my supplications, gladly just as You have deemed fit to give according to Your will and not mine. For You are God and I can trust that You always give what is right, true, good, holy, and beautiful for my salvation and for the salvation of those I love.

I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I entreated, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.
I esteemed her more than sceptres and thrones;
compared with her, I held riches as nothing.
I reckoned no priceless stone to be her peer,
for compared with her, all gold is a pinch of sand,
and beside her silver ranks as mud.
I loved her more than health or beauty,
preferred her to the light,
since her radiance never sleeps.
In her company all good things came to me,
at her hands riches not to be numbered.

PSALM 89(90):12-17

Fill us with your love so that we may rejoice.

Make us know the shortness of our life
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger forever?
Show pity to your servants.

In the morning, fill us with your love;
we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Give us joy to balance our affliction
for the years when we knew misfortune.

Show forth your work to your servants;
let your glory shine on their children.
Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:
give success to the work of our hands.

Fill us with your love so that we may rejoice.

HEBREWS 4:12-13

My Soul's Beloved,

Even if I have to wait with no answer in sight to my prayers of supplication I can take heart because I know that God always hears and answers every prayer no matter how imperfect the words we use as long as it is sincere. God has only One Word, His Eternal Word which He spoke once, that is all that was needful. Having uttered it Beloved, at the dawn of creation when He made the heavens and the earth, it contained all that is needful. This Word of the Father will not return to Him without fulfilling all that God sent it out to accomplish.

The verses from this passage in Hebrews remind us about the power and effectiveness of the Eternal Word of God that was sent out in the power of the Spirit of God. Beloved, I can trust in the power of the Word of God to accomplish perfect all that I ask for in prayer, in supplication, in intercession, not only for me and those I love but for the Church and the whole world. May all I ask for O Eternal Word of the Father be aligned to the perfect will of God.

The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts. No created thing can hide from him; everything is uncovered and open to the eyes of the one to whom we must give account of ourselves.

MARK 10:17-30

My Soul's Beloved,

Reflecting on the Gospel passage we know from Mark that a man ran up and knelt before You. Matthew says a young man approached You whereas Luke says a ruler came up and spoke to You. Each of these synoptic gospel writers tells us something about this man - he was young, he was rich and he held a position of authority but we do not know his name. 

What we can gauge is that he was sincere in his love for God and desired more. He heard of You, perhaps witnessed some miracles You performed. He may have heard You preaching and what You said stirred his heart and he became aware that he wanted a deeper more meaningful relationship with God. But the man did not really know You - He didn't know who You were. This is why when he addressed You as 'good master' You corrected him for as You rightly pointed out to him, if he only saw You as a man and not the Son of Man then he could not call You good for there is only one who is good - God. 

Had he recognized who You truly were from all that he had seen and heard for himself he would have made a different choice and his name would have been written down not only in the Gospels but in heaven as well. Who knows what he could have become if he did as You asked sold everything he had, gave it to the poor, and became one of Your disciples - perhaps another St. Paul? 

He kept all the commandments from his youth and You loved him for it but there is more than just keeping the law for the law has no power to save. You wanted to give him so much more, eternal life - life, and love in abundance. Sadly his attachment for temporal riches caused him to lose the great treasure that robbers cannot steal nor rust destroy. All three writers note the man's countenance after he rejected Your invitation. Matthew says: the young man went away sad for he was a man of great wealth. Mark says: On hearing these words his face fell and he went away sorrowful for he was a man of great wealth. Luke says: When he heard these words, the man became sad for he was very rich. That poor young ruler kept his riches but he lost the pearl of great price, the treasure in the field. For the rest of his life, he would wonder what his life could have been had he dared to accept Your invitation and follow You. 

What am I ready to give up, Lord, for Your sake and the sake of the Gospel? Am I prepared to deny myself pick up my cross daily and follow You? Am I prepared to give up at any moment my creature comforts to be of service to another? Can I make it a habit, a way of life to deny myself, exercise discipline and mastery over my will, and instead lay down my life for others? The answer is no Lord, not always. But with Your help, Lord, I can for with You everything is possible.

Jesus looked round and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!’ The disciples were astounded by these words, but Jesus insisted, ‘My children,’ he said to them ‘how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were more astonished than ever. ‘In that case’ they said to one another ‘who can be saved?’ Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he said ‘it is impossible, but not for God: because everything is possible for God.’

Loving Lord, You are exceedingly generous. You multiply any little good we do and You reward us more richly than our little acts of kindness and goodness warrant. Let us do all the good we can while we can Beloved for Your sake and You will reward us far more than we deserve. 

Peter took this up. ‘What about us?’ he asked him. ‘We have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, father, children or land for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not be repaid a hundred times over, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land – not without persecutions – now in this present time and, in the world to come, eternal life.’