ST. JOSAPHAT, BISHOP & MARTYR, ON TUESDAY OF WEEK 32 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him. JN 14:23

TITUS 2:1-8,11-14

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul's letter to Titus instructs us how to live as authentic Christians. Too many of us are anything but Christlike. We are Christians in name only and our behavior belies the name we bear, Christian. Freely we have received and we are called to give freely the free gift of faith that we have received. Our faith guarantees living a radically transformed life for the love of Christ has made us a new creation. Sadly, not only do we allow the pleasures and cares of the world to distract us we actively seek this distraction. We spend our lives in pursuit of things that bring death and we are surprised that our lives are meaningless.

Beloved, we are called to pursue holiness each according to our vocation. Men, women, children, husbands, fathers, mothers, wives, priests, and religious. Every Catholic and Christian must seek the truth, accept it, be transformed by it, and live it daily, hourly, every moment of every day until this life ends. 

St. Paul tells us how to be light and salt in the world but are we prepared to choose the narrow way, the difficult path, the Way of the Cross, and suffering? It is in giving that we receive, and in dying that we are born to eternal life.

You see, God’s grace has been revealed, and it has made salvation possible for the whole human race and taught us that what we have to do is to give up everything that does not lead to God, and all our worldly ambitions; we must be self-restrained and live good and religious lives here in this present world, while we are waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the Appearing of the glory of our great God and saviour Christ Jesus. He sacrificed himself for us in order to set us free from all wickedness and to purify a people so that it could be his very own and would have no ambition except to do good.

PSALM 36(37):3-4,18,23,27,29

The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

If you trust in the Lord and do good,
then you will live in the land and be secure.
If you find your delight in the Lord,
he will grant your heart’s desire.

He protects the lives of the upright,
their heritage will last for ever.
The Lord guides the steps of a man
and makes safe the path of one he loves.

Then turn away from evil and do good

and you shall have a home for ever;
The just shall inherit the land;
there they shall live for ever.

The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

LUKE 17:7-10

My Soul's Beloved,

You have said that the Son of Man came to serve not to be served and to give his life as a ransom for many. In today's Gospel, You remind us that as Your disciples we too are servants. For as long as we live, for as long as we have breath, for as long as we are able, we must seek only to lay down our lives for others just as our Master did. Unless a grain of seed falls and dies it cannot bear fruit. As a servant of God, I must always be willing and ready to be available to anyone in need.

You have said that when we are judged we will be judged on how well we have loved our neighbor and any good or evil done to a brother or sister You consider as being done to Yourself.

Thank You for the rich graces we receive when we receive the Sacraments worthily without these graces it would be impossible to live the Beatitudes, nor will we have the humility to consider all that we need to do without expecting to be noticed, applauded, or lauded for we are after all, laborers in Your vineyard.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal immediately”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper laid; make yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink yourself afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.”’