TUESDAY OF WEEK 6 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

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

GENESIS 6:5-8,7:1-5,10

My Soul's Beloved,

Where sin abounds grace abounds the more St. Paul assures us. This is why O Lord we must never despair, never lose hope. The greater the sin the more readily the sinner has access to Your Heart which abounds in mercy and compassion. A humble contrite heart O Lord, You will not spurn. The faith of family and friends has the power to move You and will obtain forgiveness of sins and healing of those for whom they pray and plead and bring before You confident that You will touch, heal, and restore the whole person.

Wickedness in every age abounds and this age is no different. It beggars the mind to witness the levels of decadence, debauchery, and evil humans have sunk to. Who would fault God if He were to just sweep us off the face of the earth as He was tempted to do in the day of Noah? Yet, O Lord, angry as You were, grieved as You were, You had compassion on their human frailty. This is why O Lord, You destroyed the whole earth in the flood but saved the man who had found favor with You and his family.

Noah and his family were saved because they obeyed Your command despite being ridiculed. So it is for those who live upright and holy lives even though the world hates, mocks, and persecutes them.

Thank You, Lord, for establishing the Ark of the Church, thank You for Peter and the Apostles who like Noah and his family are appointed to take into the Church all who are baptized by the waters of baptism. Thank You for Your assurance that the Ark will navigate all the perils of life in safety and all who are in her will not perish but receive eternal life. 

PSALM 28(29):1-4,9-10

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

O give the Lord, you sons of God,
give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Adore the Lord in his holy court.

The Lord’s voice resounding on the waters,
the Lord on the immensity of waters;
the voice of the Lord, full of power,
the voice of the Lord, full of splendour.

The God of glory thunders.
In his temple they all cry: ‘Glory!’
The Lord sat enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits as king for ever.

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

MARK 8:14-21

My Soul's Beloved,

God's frustration with us is palpable. The opening verses in the first reading tell us clearly how much God regrets creating man:

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that the thoughts in his heart fashioned nothing but wickedness all day long. The Lord regretted having made man on the earth, and his heart grieved. ‘I will rid the earth’s face of man, my own creation,’ the Lord said ‘and of animals also, reptiles too, and the birds of heaven; for I regret having made them.’ 

The disciples, preoccupied with the fact that they had forgotten to carry bread,  actually thought their concern was Yours as well. Despite witnessing so many marvelous miraculous signs and wonders culminating in the final one of the multiplication of loaves and fish, they are still carnal in their thinking and fail to comprehend what You are talking about when You warn them against the duplicity and hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Herod. 

 ‘Keep your eyes open; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ 

Revealing Your frustration You asked them to recollect all that had happened during the recent miracle they witnessed: 

‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not yet understand? Have you no perception? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear? Or do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ They answered, ‘Twelve.’ ‘And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of scraps did you collect?’ And they answered, ‘Seven.’ 

You scolded them gently: ‘Are you still without perception?’

I am no better, Lord, I too get preoccupied with carnal matters and sometimes these take precedence over my spiritual well-being. All my experience of You teaches me that I can trust You implicitly and yet I allow myself to become worried and anxious about irrelevant things despite knowing You are with me always, I can rest in You in peace for You care for me.