WEDNESDAY OF WEEK 1 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me. JN 10:27

HEBREWS 2:14-18

My Soul's Beloved,

Yes, You are God, You are the Son of God, You are the Second Person of the Holy Trinity and You are also Man, the Son of Man, the Son of Mary. You came into the world clothed in human flesh. You became incarnate of the Virgin Mary. As the hymn says so powerfully, 

'When in the manger Thou wert laid
Immensity made small
And lowly shepherds round Thee prayed
Thou wert our Lord and King and all.

You humbly and obediently submitted to the will of Your Father. You stripped Yourself of all glory and You came to walk among us and to share in our humanity and all that goes with being human - our suffering, our struggles, our temptation. Truly You became one like us in all things save sin. You whom the heavens cannot contain and for whom the world is a mere footstool became little for our sakes. You walked among us and shared our nature, and our struggles and this is why we have in heaven before the throne of Power, Mercy, and Grace an Intercessor who understands and pleads for us and will be heard for this was the purpose of God when He sent You into the world. He wanted to be merciful, He wants to be compassionate and He will because we who are members of Your body are daughters and sons of God.

Beloved, thank You. Let every breath I breathe until the last one thank God and praise

Since all the children share the same blood and flesh, Christ too shared equally in it, so that by his death he could take away all the power of the devil, who had power over death, and set free all those who had been held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. For it was not the angels that he took to himself; he took to himself descent from Abraham. It was essential that he should in this way become completely like his brothers so that he could be a compassionate and trustworthy high priest of God’s religion, able to atone for human sins. That is, because he has himself been through temptation he is able to help others who are tempted.

PSALM 104(105):1-4,6-9

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

Give thanks to the Lord, tell his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
O sing to him, sing his praise;
tell all his wonderful works!

Be proud of his holy name,
let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength;
constantly seek his face.

O children of Abraham, his servant,

O sons of the Jacob he chose.
He, the Lord, is our God:
his judgements prevail in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant for ever,
his promise for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.

The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

MARK 1:29-39

My Soul's Beloved, 

In today's Gospel passage, we reflect on all that happened after You left the synagogue. 

• You went straight to the house of Simon and Andrew
• Immediately upon Your arrival, You were told that Simon's mother-in-law was ill in bed with a fever.
• You went to her, took her by the hand, and lifted her up.
• Your touch healed her instantaneously and the fever left her.
• As soon as she was healed she began to serve You and those who were with You.

Beloved, You visit us. You pay attention to those who intercede on our behalf especially when we are too ill to make our needs known to You. You respond immediately. You take us by the hand and lift us up since we lack the strength to raise ourselves up. When You touch us, healing is instantaneous. Once healed we rise up from our sick bed and begin to serve.  

This is the kind of faith we must have. We must surround ourselves with people who intercede on our behalf with expectant faith. You will always hear, You will always come to us, You will touch us and healing in every way we need it will be given to us. Once we are made whole we must get up and serve. We must do for others what our friends have done for us and bring You to them as well. 

After You spent the whole day ministering to the people of that town and healing all their sicknesses, past sunset, and many hours through the night You got up, leaving the comfort of Simon's hospitality You went by Yourself to a deserted place to pray and to rest in Your Father's love.  So lost were You in union with Your Father, Your disciples came looking for You. The people of the town wanted to hold on to You but You kept Your mission always before You. The Good News was to be preached to many before Your final hour arrived and You did this faithfully to the end. 

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36 And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37 When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38 He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39 And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.