TUESDAY OF WEEK 34 IN ORDINARY TIME

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Even if you have to die, says the Lord,
keep faithful, and I will give you
the crown of life. REV 2:10

APOCALYPSE 14:14-19

My Soul's Beloved,

The Church reminds us that time will eventually run out for each of us and the world. In the end, there will be judgment, conviction, and the carrying out of the sentence that we deserve. No one can escape the justice, the wrath of God, and divine retribution for all the ways in which we have neglected to walk in the path of righteousness and truth.

The world is ripe with sin and that ripeness gives off a foul stench of decay and death. While You O Lord are a God of mercy, and full of love and tender compassion for the sinner, and while there is yet time You will pursue the sinner relentlessly to save him, in the end,d it is up to us whether or not we desire to be saved. You will always respect our freedom for it is Your great gift to us. There is nothing more pleasing to You, Beloved when we freely choose to live according to the divine plan, in the presence and shadow of the Most High God.

The day of judgment is almost here Lord grant us wisdom before it is too late and before the cup of Your wrath sweeps over the earth.

Another angel, who also carried a sharp sickle, came out of the temple in heaven, and the angel in charge of the fire left the altar and shouted aloud to the one with the sharp sickle, ‘Put your sickle in and cut all the bunches off the vine of the earth; all its grapes are ripe.’ So the angel set his sickle to work on the earth and harvested the whole vintage of the earth and put it into a huge winepress, the winepress of God’s anger.

PSALM 95(96):10-13

The Lord comes to rule the earth.

Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad,
let the sea and all within it thunder praise,
let the land and all it bears rejoice,
all the trees of the wood shout for joy
at the presence of the Lord for he comes,
he comes to rule the earth.

With justice he will rule the world,

he will judge the peoples with his truth.

The Lord comes to rule the earth.

LUKE 21:5-11

My Soul's Beloved,

There has never been a dearth of doomsday prophets among Catholics, Christians, and others. Fearmongering is their goal. We all have a morbid desire to know how the world will end and You remind us not to get sucked into the vortex of the doom and gloom. Yes, time will eventually run out for the Temple in Jerusalem and the Jews of that time and their way of worship will come to an end just as You foretold. You also foretold the destruction of the Temple when not one stone will be found on another. It will be ransacked, pillaged, burned, and brought to the ground and it will never be rebuilt again for the New Temple is here, the New Jerusalem has arrived and the only worship that God desires and is pleasing and acceptable to Him is the one that You instituted at the Last Supper, consummated on the Altar of the Cross at Golgotha and which You commanded be offered until You return as a thanksgiving memorial. From the rising of the sun to its setting the Church offers to God our Father the one, holy, pleasing, and perfect Sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

From the moment of its creation the world has been drawing nearer and nearer to its end. The cycle of birth, death, and life continues. Generation after generation will come and go until the time will finally arrive and You will return in glory and majesty to take to Yourself all who have been faithful to the Lamb of God.

All that You predicted when the disciples marveled at the beauty of the Temple happened in their lifetime and they were witnesses to it. But as for the end of time, it is still not here and we are not to be taken in by those who spend their entire lives spreading darkness instead of the life, joy, and hope of the Gospel. We were created for You Lord and what does it matter when and how it happens as long as we are ready to meet You when that time arrives. 

‘Take care not to be deceived,’ he said ‘because many will come using my name and saying, “I am he” and, “The time is near at hand.” Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened, for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon.’ Then he said to them, ‘Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.’