MONDAY OF WEEK 33 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of life. JN 8:12

APOCALYPSE 1:1-4,2:1-5

My Soul's Beloved,

Every day of our lives we come closer to the end of our days on earth. Time moves on inexorably and all things as we know them will be a memory until even that fades away and there will be none alive who once knew us. We will all eventually be forgotten as if we had never been. Yet, O Lord, we will never be forgotten by You, and those we once knew here on earth will hopefully be reunited in heaven as we share in Your glory never to be separated again. This is our faith.

As the liturgical year comes to a close the Church urges us to remember that our time on earth is short, we are not citizens of the world but of heaven. We are here only for a while as pilgrims, as strangers, as wanderers as we press on, facing every challenge with patience, faith, grace, hope, and mercy confident that You will take us by the hand as You did the Israelites, and lead us to the Promised Land, the Kingdom of God.

Lord, as we grow old and our bodies and spirits grow weary with sickness, loneliness, and age there is a danger of closing in ourselves. It is easy to forget that the older we get the more time we have to unite our whole being to You and Your Spirit. It would be more profitable, healthier, and wiser to spend the time we have left by drawing closer to You, instead of spending it complaining, whining, and focusing on our ailments and other worries. 

Beloved, how blessed we are to be children of God and heirs to His Kingdom. Help us keep the goal of our lives, heaven, ever before us, and with all the graces You grant us fix our eyes on winning the prize.

PSALM 1:1-4,6

Those who prove victorious I will feed from the tree of life.

Happy indeed is the man
who follows not the counsel of the wicked;
nor lingers in the way of sinners
nor sits in the company of scorners,
but whose delight is the law of the Lord
and who ponders his law day and night.

He is like a tree that is planted

beside the flowing waters,
that yields its fruit in due season
and whose leaves shall never fade;
and all that he does shall prosper.

Not so are the wicked, not so!
For they like winnowed chaff
shall be driven away by the wind:
for the Lord guards the way of the just
but the way of the wicked leads to doom.

Those who prove victorious I will feed from the tree of life.

LUKE 18:35-43

My Soul's Beloved,

Am I like those in the crowd who rebuked and scolded the blind man who cried out to You as You passed by? Am I a hindrance to those who seek You? Having found You and knowing that I belong to the household of God do I seek to draw others to belong to God's family or am I selfishly content with no thought of the salvation of those less fortunate than I? 

On the other hand, am I like the blind beggar at the side of the road who knows of You, is aware that You are passing by, and is prepared to risk the scorn of the crowd, make a fool of myself, not allowing the crowd to intimidate me but rather aware that this is perhaps my only chance of meeting You, I am prepared to do all in my power to call out to You until You hear me and answer me? 

Every day I am challenged to be like the blind man who actively desires to seek You and have his transformed by You or to be like those in the crowd who, are aware that You desire all who seek You to find You, and thus do everything in my power to encourage and make a way for them to also meet You. Grant me this grace O Lord, to hinder no one who desires to come to You, know You, give their lives to You, and be saved.

As Jesus drew near to Jericho there was a blind man sitting at the side of the road begging. When he heard the crowd going past he asked what it was all about, and they told him that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by. So he called out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.’ The people in front scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he shouted all the louder, ‘Son of David, have pity on me.’ Jesus stopped and ordered them to bring the man to him, and when he came up, asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Sir,’ he replied ‘let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.’ And instantly his sight returned and he followed him praising God, and all the people who saw it gave praise to God for what had happened.