ST. THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS, VIRGIN & DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, ON TUESDAY OF WEEK 26 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The Son of Man came to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many. MK 10:25

JOB 3:1-3,11-17,20-23

My Soul's Beloved,

When we are engulfed with grief, when trouble abounds on every side, when those we love the most are in agony and we have to stand by helplessly as they suffer we long for life to end just as Job did. Sometimes life on earth can become unbearable and too much for our human strength and spirit to endure. In times like these, we wish for death so the pain will stop. Yet O Lord, we know that everything will pass and once the storm has passed all we can see is the wreckage it leaves behind. But it is only after the storm that we can rebuild anew. Something better, stronger, and more resilient and beautiful can emerge from the ashes. 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, I trust You. I believe in You. I love You. You will give me all the help and strength I need to endure the storms that regularly sweep over my life. I cling to You, I rest serenely at Your side with my hand securely in Yours. In the end, my loved ones and I will live because we are Yours in time and eternally. 

PSALM 87(88):2-8

Let my prayer come into your presence, O Lord.

Lord my God, I call for help by day;
I cry at night before you.
Let my prayer come into your presence.
O turn your ear to my cry.

For my soul is filled with evils;

my life is on the brink of the grave.
I am reckoned as one in the tomb:
I have reached the end of my strength.

Like one alone among the dead;

like the slain lying in their graves;
like those you remember no more,
cut off, as they are, from your hand.

You have laid me in the depths of the tomb,

in places that are dark, in the depths.
Your anger weighs down upon me:
I am drowned beneath your waves.

Let my prayer come into your presence, O Lord.

LUKE 9:51-56

My Soul's Beloved,

You knew what awaited You in Jerusalem. You were coming nearer to the end of Your journey on earth and to fulfilling the purpose for which the Father sent You. The prophets revealed clearly all that would happen to You. You were the Suffering Servant that Isaiah spoke of. He prophesied with remarkable accuracy all that the Son of Man would undergo. You knew how many strokes of the whip would lash Your Body, You knew You would be crowned with thorns, the blows that would rain down on Your face. They would pull out Your beard. They would spit on You, mock You, swear at You. Your blood would stream from Your Body. Your whole Body would be one open wound and while the physical pain would be excruciating the spiritual sorrow and horror that flooded Your soul was far greater for You knew that many would remain indifferent and cold to the one, holy, and perfect sacrifice that You offered to the Father in reparation for the sins of the whole world. 

A foretaste of that rejection was experienced when the people in the Samaritan village did not receive You and Your disciples. James and John were so indignant they wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy that village just as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. But You show us another way, a way that is sneered at by those who take by force from those who are weak and vulnerable. You teach us that we gain nothing by butting heads with the stubborn and hard-hearted rather it is to accept the rejection and go away quietly and humbly.