MONDAY OF WEEK 8 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Jesus Christ was rich,
but he became poor for your sake,
to make you rich out of his poverty. 2 COR 8:9

ECCLESIASTICUS 17:20-28

My Soul's Beloved,

As we stand on the threshold of the Lenten season, we are reminded that only for as long as we have life we can confess our sins, turn to You with humble and contrite hearts, repent and return to You like the prodigal son. Once we die and are judged, there is nothing we can do to help ourselves. The Church urges us to keep the three last things ever before us - death, judgment, and heaven or hell. If we do not turn away from grievous sin and die unrepentant, we condemn ourselves to eternal separation from You and cast ourselves into Gehenna, which is hell. There the worms do not die nor do the flames go out. If, however, we have not made a serious attempt, to conquer our inclinations and keep ourselves from even the slightest imperfection and have died without contrition or a chance to repent and make reparation, we need to be purified before we come into the beatific vision. Here, O Lord, in Sheol or purgatory, we can do nothing to help ourselves, we must rely on those still in the world to pray for the release of our souls from this place of purgation and be purified from every imperfection, for we are aware that nothing unclean can enter God's presence.  

Now is the time O Lord, when we turn back to You with all our hearts. Grant us all the graces we need to enter fully into the holy season and come to a deeper understanding of the price that God paid for our salvation and the salvation of the whole world. 

To those who repent, God permits return.

Return to the Lord and leave sin behind,
plead before his face and lessen your offence.
Come back to the Most High and turn away from iniquity,
and hold in abhorrence all that is foul.
Who will praise the Most High in Sheol,
if the living do not do so by giving glory to him?
To the dead, as to those who do not exist, praise is unknown,
only those with life and health can praise the Lord.
How great is the mercy of the Lord,
his pardon on all those who turn towards him!

PSALM 31(32):1-2,5-7

Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord, exult, you just!

Happy the man whose offence is forgiven,
whose sin is remitted.
O happy the man to whom the Lord
imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no guile.

But now I have acknowledged my sins;

my guilt I did not hide.
I said: ‘I will confess
my offence to the Lord.’
And you, Lord, have forgiven
the guilt of my sin.

So let every good man pray to you
in the time of need.
The floods of water may reach high
but him they shall not reach.

You are my hiding place, O Lord;
you save me from distress.
You surround me with cries of deliverance.

Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord, exult, you just!

MARK 10:17-27

My Soul's Beloved,

So many of us in the world are like the man in today's Gospel passage who ran up to You eagerly and put this question to You, ‘Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ You responded, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.’  You said this because the man saw You only as a wise rabbi and You wished to remind him that no man on earth is good, only God. You then told him that he needed to keep the commandments to receive eternal life. 'You must not kill; You must not commit adultery; You must not steal; You must not bring false witness; You must not defraud; Honour your father and mother.’ The man said,  ‘Master, I have kept all these from my earliest days.’ You knew this was true, he had been faithful in keeping the commandments and You lovingly acknowledged it. Spiritually, he was ready to go deeper and higher if he so desired, and You revealed the way to do this. ‘There is one thing you lack. Go and sell everything you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But his face fell at these words and he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

Lord Jesus, to those of us who follow the rituals of our faith, and fulfill all that is required of us as Catholics, You remind us that this is not enough, we need to have a self-emptying love that does not cling to anything or anyone. Possessing wealth is not wrong but being possessed by it makes us guilty of idolatry. It isn't easy to have the kind of love demanded of authentic disciples but anyone who truly hungers and thirsts after holiness can ask the Holy Spirit and He will provide the grace which allows ordinary people to live lives of heroic virtue.  

Jesus looked round and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!’ The disciples were astounded by these words, but Jesus insisted, ‘My children,’ he said to them ‘how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were more astonished than ever. ‘In that case’ they said to one another ‘who can be saved?’ Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he said ‘it is impossible, but not for God: because everything is possible for God.’