ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA, RELIGIOUS - SATURDAY OF WEEK 11 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

2 CORINTHIANS 12:1-10

My Soul's Beloved,

Any pride we have in our talents, our gifts, our physical attributes, or mental and spiritual ones is misplaced, for these are gifts given to us to glorify You and in the service of others. The moment we boast about them, we are noisy gongs. We become self-serving when we believe that we have acquired these gifts by our own efforts or have been given to us because we deserve them. This is a lie, and the devil encourages us in this deceit. Rather, St. Paul reminds us that if we must boast, then let us boast of our weaknesses and praise God for any good gift we have, for it is given to us by Him to be used in the service of God and neighbor.

Even though St. Paul received revelations equal to the evangelist St. John, the beloved disciple, yet he does not claim it was he who received them, but rather that he knows a man in Christ who was taken up to the third heavens and was shown things that cannot be expressed or uttered by human lips or in human language for they are too magnificent and glorious for human utterance.

When You give us great gifts, Lord, You also give us great suffering - they are two sides of a coin. Suffering and weakness keep us humble and remind us that without You we are nothing and can do nothing. The greater the suffering endured for Your sake and the sake of the Gospel, the greater the gifts You endow, as You did St. Paul and so many great saints.

The greatest saints, beginning with Your Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph, Your foster father and most chaste spouse of Mary, were models of humility. Called by God, their whole lives were of total surrender to the will of God. All that God asked of them they did despite the cost in suffering, despite not always understanding, yet no human creatures were happier than they for Mary was privileged to give You a Body, and St. Joseph was privileged to care for You, teach You, love and protect You and Mary and bother have received an everlasting crown of glory in heaven at Your right and at Your left.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Yours. 

Must I go on boasting, though there is nothing to be gained by it? But I will move on to the visions and revelations I have had from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who, fourteen years ago, was caught up – whether still in the body or out of the body, I do not know; God knows – right into the third heaven. I do know, however, that this same person – whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know; God knows – was caught up into paradise and heard things which must not and cannot be put into human language. I will boast about a man like that, but not about anything of my own except my weaknesses. If I should decide to boast, I should not be made to look foolish, because I should only be speaking the truth; but I am not going to, in case anyone should begin to think I am better than he can actually see and hear me to be.
In view of the extraordinary nature of these revelations, to stop me from getting too proud I was given a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan to beat me and stop me from getting too proud! About this thing, I have pleaded with the Lord three times for it to leave me, but he has said, ‘My grace is enough for you: my power is at its best in weakness.’ So I shall be very happy to make my weaknesses my special boast so that the power of Christ may stay over me, and that is why I am quite content with my weaknesses, and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and the agonies I go through for Christ’s sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.

PSALM 33(34):8-13

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

The angel of the Lord is encamped
around those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.

He is happy who seeks refuge in him.

Revere the Lord, you his saints.
They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong lions suffer want and go hungry
but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.

Come, children, and hear me

that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is he who longs for life
and many days, to enjoy his prosperity?

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

MATTHEW 6:24-34

My Soul's Beloved,

The lie with which we feed our souls is that we can indeed love God and money, and therein lies our downfall. We are unwilling to commit totally to Your providence because our faith is a puny little thing that hedges its bets, just in case one fails, we will be secure in the other. Money usually wins. We trust in the security of the money we have saved, the interest it earns, in the property we have, in the wealth we have acquired, and these give us a false sense of well-being, when in fact, all these can be lost in the twinkling of an eye. If our faith is a puny little thing, we will have lost everything, for faith will not be able to sustain us because we have not fostered it, and helped it to grow, and thrive. 

We acknowledge the truth of Your teaching in the Gospel today. ‘No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.’

To have childlike faith and trust in God's providence is the surest way to live our lives in peace and tranquility worrying about nothing but confident that we whom God created in love, redeemed in love, and sanctifies us in love will accompany us every step of the way no matter how narrow and difficult the way, or how heavy cross for You O Lord have the power and will work all things for good for our salvation. 

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and how you are to clothe it. Surely life means more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, for all his worrying, add one single cubit to his span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the grass in the field which is there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you men of little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?” It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’

FRIDAY OF WEEK 11 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

How happy are the poor in spirit:
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. MT 5:3

2 CORINTHIANS 11:18,21-30

My Soul's Beloved,

In our daily walk with You as Your disciples, we are people of very little faith, at least I am. We complain about everything and balk at the least difficulty. We look for excuses not to do what we are called to do. We criticise others who are actually putting themselves out there and living the Gospel. We are not willing to make the necessary sacrifices to live out our faith with boldness because we allow doubts to stifle whatever zeal we may have. If we encounter the smallest of obstacles, we see it as a sign to step back rather than to step out boldly, confident that You will provide us with all we need to carry out the mission entrusted to us.

St. Paul puts us to shame. He was willing to endure anything just as long as he fulfilled the great work of evangelization that You entrusted to him. He took it seriously, and he was prepared to face every hardship and endure any suffering to do it. Nothing deterred him, not the fear of persecution, imprisonment, torture, deprivation, the weather, storms, hunger, and thirst - all of it was as nothing to him so long as he was able to do Your will. Because he willingly emptied himself, giving his all for the sake of the Gospel and to make You known wherever the Holy Spirit sent him to preach and to teach. And he did it all with great love.

Beloved, I am not called to do great things but to do little things faithfully, sincerely, with great compassion and love, and I fail in this daily. Help me, Lord. Without You, I can do nothing pleasing to You because I am constantly at work pleasing and indulging myself. Help me!

So many others have been boasting of their worldly achievements, that I will boast myself. But if anyone wants some brazen speaking – I am still talking as a fool – then I can be as brazen as any of them, and about the same things. Hebrews, are they? So am I. Israelites? So am I. Descendants of Abraham? So am I. The servants of Christ? I must be mad to say this, but so am I, and more than they: more, because I have worked harder, I have been sent to prison more often, and whipped many times more, often almost to death. Five times I had the thirty-nine lashes from the Jews; three times I have been beaten with sticks; once I was stoned; three times I have been shipwrecked and once adrift in the open sea for a night and a day. Constantly travelling, I have been in danger from rivers and in danger from brigands, in danger from my own people and in danger from pagans; in danger in the towns, in danger in the open country, danger at sea and danger from so-called brothers. I have worked and laboured, often without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty and often starving; I have been in the cold without clothes. And, to leave out much more, there is my daily preoccupation: my anxiety for all the churches. When any man has had scruples, I have had scruples with him; when any man is made to fall, I am tortured.
If I am to boast, then let me boast of my own feebleness.

PSALM 33(34):2-7

The Lord rescues the just in all their distress.

I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.

Glorify the Lord with me.

Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.

Look towards him and be radiant;

let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called, the Lord heard him
and rescued him from all his distress.

The Lord rescues the just in all their distress.

MATTHEW 6:19-23

My Soul's Beloved,

Looking at our world today, at nations that were built on Christian principles, at nations that worship a panoply of idols, false gods, and above all, people of pomp and circumstance, wealth, and power who worship themselves with no inhibitions and demand that their sycophants do so as well, it is no wonder that our world has lost all sense of sin. Having declared that sin does not exist, they sink to levels of wickedness, depravity, debauchery, and readily kill, murder, and destroy with glee the most vulnerable of all God's children - the little ones in the womb of their mothers, which is supposed to be the safest place after heaven.

Today, the Gospel gives us a reality check. Our final destiny depends on whether or not we heed Your teaching or shut our eyes, stop our ears, and harden our hearts to the Truth. 

Where is my treasure? Who is my treasure? What am I willing to do to safeguard my treasure? Am I working and slaving to store up material things? Am I wasting the precious years given to me to amass things that I cannot take with me when I die? Today is my wake-up call. The years are passing swiftly, and before long, I will stand before You to be judged, and my eternal destiny I will know which will be either joy or terrible and painful loss.

Merciful Lord, for as long as today lasts grant me the grace and the wisdom to store up for myself treasures in heaven. Help me walk the way of the cross and suffering with patience, always surrendered to Your holy will for my life without murmur or complaint. Stay with me Lord until the end when at last You will come to me and I will close my eyes and open them either to behold Your glorious face or to be bitter pangs of everlasting fire.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
‘The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be all darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkness, what darkness that will be!’

THURSDAY OF WEEK 11 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The spirit you received is the spirit of sons,
and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ ROM 8:15

2 CORINTHIANS 11:1-11

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul is the model for what all Bishops and priests ought to be as they pastor their flock, leading them with cords of love, and tenderly shepherding them into the Kingdom of God. We, on our part, must be grateful, for their sacrificial love as they spend their lives for us. How easily we criticize them, gossip about them, and wound them down with uncharitable talk. 

St. Paul experienced it all - the love of the people in the different churches he established in various places during his missionary journey, as well as the jealousy and hatred of rival false preachers, as well as from Jews who were also jealous of the large numbers that came to believe in the Good News and were baptized. 

Today, as I read this passage, it was as if for the first time, and I was struck by the wonder and sublime work of God's mercy through His anointed and consecrated priests who arrange and prepare the faithful under their care to become Your Bride. Eager as we may be, Beloved, to be espoused to You, the sinister serpent is even more eagerly luring us away from the bridal chamber with his deceit and lies. Foolishly, many of us, like Eve, are tempted, and we fall. But even if we do, Lord, grant us the grace to return swiftly, repenting and making a good Confession so we can be grafted back into Your Body.

Give us the grace to be obedient and humble and allow ourselves to be guided in all things by Holy Mother Church, and we will never stray from the Truth that will keep us on the Way that leads to eternal Life with You.

I only wish you were able to tolerate a little foolishness from me. But of course: you are tolerant towards me. You see, the jealousy that I feel for you is God’s own jealousy: I arranged for you to marry Christ so that I might give you away as a chaste virgin to this one husband. But the serpent, with his cunning, seduced Eve, and I am afraid that in the same way your ideas may get corrupted and turned away from simple devotion to Christ. Because any new-comer has only to proclaim a new Jesus, different from the one that we preached, or you have only to receive a new spirit, different from the one you have already received, or a new gospel, different from the one you have already accepted – and you welcome it with open arms. As far as I can tell, these arch-apostles have nothing more than I have. I may not be a polished speechmaker, but as for knowledge, that is a different matter; surely we have made this plain, speaking on every subject in front of all of you.
Or was I wrong, lowering myself so as to lift you high, by preaching the gospel of God to you and taking no fee for it? I was robbing other churches, living on them so that I could serve you. When I was with you and ran out of money, I was no burden to anyone; the brothers who came from Macedonia provided me with everything I wanted. I was very careful, and I always shall be, not to be a burden to you in any way, and by Christ’s truth in me, this cause of boasting will never be taken from me in the regions of Achaia. Would I do that if I did not love you? God knows I do.

PSALM 110(111):1-4,7-8

Your works, Lord, are justice and truth.

I will thank the Lord with all my heart
in the meeting of the just and their assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord,
to be pondered by all who love them.

Majestic and glorious his work,
his justice stands firm forever.
He makes us remember his wonders.
The Lord is compassion and love.

His works are justice and truth,
his precepts are all of them sure,
standing firm for ever and ever;
they are made in uprightness and truth.

Your works, Lord, are justice and truth.

MATTHEW 6:7-15

My Soul's Beloved,

The prayer that You taught Your disciples to pray when they asked You to teach them how to, You taught them this God-breathed prayer. 

Lord, both Your Mother Mary and Your foster father, St. Joseph, would have taught You to pray from Your infant years. They would have listened to You delightedly as You lisped the prayers they taught You to Your Father. Surely these holy sentiments in prayer, they taught, would have been incorporated into the prayer that You taught Your disciples, which they, in turn, have handed down to us. 

You draw us with You into the loving relationship. You instruct us to address Him as our Father, since this is His desire. As our heavenly Father, He will give us all that we need in this life, both temporal and spiritual. We just need to approach Him with the faith of a child and to persevere in prayer, imploring Him to supply all our needs. We must do so with confidence knowing that even if we have to wait, at an hour known to Him, He will give us all that we have asked for according to His most perfect will if not, He will give us something even better for He is the most loving of Fathers.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this:
‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the evil one.
‘Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.’

WEDNESDAY OF WEEK 11 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

2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-11

My Soul's Beloved,

You are the Supreme Model, the Ideal, and in whose image and likeness we are created. You became like us so we could become like You in every way. Our whole life, day by day and moment by moment, we must strive to become like You, follow in Your footsteps, and live the Beatitudes. The greater our striving, the more pleasing we will be to God, our Father, who invites us to grow in holiness and perfection more and more every day, for He created us to be His sons and daughters and co-heirs with You to the Kingdom of Heaven. 

You taught us by example that true love wills the good of the one loved. You held nothing back, but poured Yourself out for us and in doing so, You won for the Father the salvation of the whole world. Now, commanded by You, we are to go out into the world and sow the good seed of Your Word generously by the witness of our lives. The more we give of ourselves to others, the greater will be the reward, which is a fruitful and abundant harvest.  We are called to give all as You did. You praised the widow who put two little copper coins in the temple treasury - it was all she had to live on, but she did not count the cost. Love prompted her to give all she had. So must true love expand our hearts, and we too will give without worrying whether or not we will have something left over for tomorrow. You assure us that God, our Father, who looks after the birds in the air and the lilies in the field,d will surely give His little ones all they need.

Every good deed we do is prompted by the Holy Spirit, so we must be attuned to His voice and open to His guidance. The more we empty ourselves, the more room there will be for the gifts with which God our Father desires to fill our lives. 

Do not forget: thin sowing means thin reaping; the more you sow, the more you reap. Each one should give what he has decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God loves a cheerful giver. And there is no limit to the blessings which God can send you – he will make sure that you will always have all you need for yourselves in every possible circumstance, and still have something to spare for all sorts of good works. As scripture says: He was free in almsgiving, and gave to the poor: his good deeds will never be forgotten.
The one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide you with all the seed you want and make the harvest of your good deeds a larger one, and, made richer in every way, you will be able to do all the generous things which, through us, are the cause of thanksgiving to God.

PSALM 111(112):1-4,9

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

Happy the man who fears the Lord,
who takes delight in all his commands.
His sons will be powerful on earth;
the children of the upright are blessed.

Riches and wealth are in his house;
his justice stands firm for ever.
He is a light in the darkness for the upright:
he is generous, merciful and just.

Open-handed, he gives to the poor;
his justice stands firm for ever.
His head will be raised in glory.

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

MATTHEW 6:1-6,16-18

My Soul's Beloved,

We are called to be givers, sharers of all that we have received and most especially sharers of the Good News of our salvation, which we have received freely and freely we are expected to give. We are called to be disciples who live in the shadow of God, becoming another Christ in the world. We are invited to be light and salt - living the life of the Gospel purposefully and always, so that the power of its light, which illuminates our life, we will lead those we encounter to walk in Your Light, which is Life. And as salt, we must flavor the world with the goodness and sweetness of Your Word. 

However, none of this will have any merit if we blow our trumpet like the Pharisees who parade their good deeds so they will be admired by men. All our good deeds must be done in secret; our prayers and our fasting also must be done in secret, so only God sees and rewards us. Far, far better to be seen, known, acknowledged, and rewarded by God than by men and the world.

Help me, Lord, to always look for opportunities to love, to give, and to serve. Help me to be open to the promptings of Your Spirit so I will always be attuned to His will and desire to be used for Your glory. 

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be careful not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
‘And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them; I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
‘When you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.’

TUESDAY OF WEEK 11 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord. JN 13:34

2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-9

My Soul's Beloved,

When we embrace the Gospel and the grace that is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, our hearts and our whole beings expand with the riches that He pours into us. We desire to imitate You and to lay down our lives as You did, prepared to give all, holding nothing back in the service of God and neighbor. This was the experience of the churches in Macedonia, and St. Paul urges the Corinthians to match the loving, spontaneous generosity of their brothers and sisters in Macedonia.  

Lord Jesus, all of us as members of the Church are required to spend our lives for others. All we have received has been a gift of God, not for ourselves but for others, and we will be called to give an account of our stewardship. The beauty of a life lived for others is that we never run out, just as the widow of Zarephath found out when she shared the little she had with the prophet Elijah - the jar of meal and the jug of oil did not run out until the drought ended.

Increase our faith and expand our hearts, Beloved, You have taught that it is better to give than to receive. Grant us this great grace, Lord, to give and not to count the cost, for You love the generous giver.

Now here, brothers, is the news of the grace of God which was given in the churches in Macedonia; and of how, throughout great trials by suffering, their constant cheerfulness and their intense poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity. I can swear that they gave not only as much as they could afford, but far more, and quite spontaneously, begging and begging us for the favour of sharing in this service to the saints and, what was quite unexpected, they offered their own selves first to God and, under God, to us.
Because of this, we have asked Titus, since he has already made a beginning, to bring this work of mercy to the same point of success among you. You always have the most of everything – of faith, of eloquence, of understanding, of keenness for any cause, and the biggest share of our affection – so we expect you to put the most into this work of mercy too. It is not an order that I am giving you; I am just testing the genuineness of your love against the keenness of others. Remember how generous the Lord Jesus was: he was rich, but he became poor for your sake, to make you rich out of his poverty.

PSALM 145(146):2,5-9

My soul, give praise to the Lord.

I will praise the Lord all my days,
make music to my God while I live.

He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth,
the seas and all they contain.

It is he who keeps faith forever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free.

It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and orphan.

My soul, give praise to the Lord.

MATTHEW 5:43-48

My Soul's Beloved,

If we lived the radical love of the Gospel, the whole world would be transformed by its power. We know that acts of kindness, gentleness, and compassion can move the most stubborn and hardened hearts. Radical love is the love of the Cross. Radical love walks the extra mile. Radical love consistently turns the other cheek until the perpetrator of violence is disarmed by its power. 

We look at our world that is being consumed by hatred, bigotry, violence, sexual aberrations, killing, murder, and all kinds of evil. Nations are at war with nations, people of different races, languages, and cultural backgrounds filled with almost demonic hatred of each other. Those in power are prepared to squash their enemies with no thought of how many innocent lives are destroyed in the process. This is the way of the world that has lost its way because many nations have forgotten their Christian heritage.

Beloved, grant that reason prevails before it is too late, and we acknowledge that love alone and respect for one another will help us build bridges instead of engulfing the whole world in a fire that cannot be put out until all is destroyed.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’

MONDAY OF WEEK 11 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Your word is a lamp for my steps
and a light for my path. PS 118:105

2 CORINTHIANS 6:1-10

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul elaborates clearly what it means to labor in Your vineyard. We are called to be a sign of contradiction in the world; it identifies us as members of Your Body working tirelessly in every season to make You known and beloved by all. Nothing ought to give us greater joy than to proclaim with our lives that we are Yours not in part but wholly. No matter the trial, the cross, the suffering, the persecution, joy must emanate from us because we love having been first loved by You. Love and joy go together; nothing and no one has the power to steal these from us as long as we are united with You and with one another.

Grace is channeled into our hearts through the Sacraments. We are grafted into Your Body through Baptism. We are cleansed from sin each time we approach You in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are strengthened in every way each time we receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion worthily. We are confirmed and made strong in the Sacrament of Confirmation. For those who are married, the Sacrament of Matrimony makes two one, and in this Sacrament we strengthen and support each other in good times and in bad, in sickness and health, we pour our lives out as an oblation in sacrificial love for each other. Procreators with God, we receive children with joy and spend our lives raising them and fitting them for the Kingdom. And finally, when the time comes and life on earth is ending, we are prepared for this final journey by the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. Thank You, Lord, for giving us such remedies that assist us in every way all our lives. 

We do nothing that people might object to, so as not to bring discredit on our function as God’s servants. Instead, we prove we are servants of God by great fortitude in times of suffering: in times of hardship and distress; when we are flogged, or sent to prison, or mobbed; labouring, sleepless, starving. We prove we are God’s servants by our purity, knowledge, patience and kindness; by a spirit of holiness, by a love free from affectation; by the word of truth and by the power of God; by being armed with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, prepared for honour or disgrace, for blame or praise; taken for impostors while we are genuine; obscure yet famous; said to be dying and here are we alive; rumoured to be executed before we are sentenced; thought most miserable and yet we are always rejoicing; taken for paupers though we make others rich, for people having nothing though we have everything.

PSALM 97(98):1-4

The Lord has made known his salvation.

Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.

The Lord has made known his salvation;

has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.

The Lord has made known his salvation.

MATTHEW 5:38-42

My Soul's Beloved,

As Your beloved disciples, we are called to disarm the enemy with love. Love is the power by which we can sail through life and attract even the greatest sinner to repent and believe in the Gospel. It is hard, Lord, to exercise self-control when provoked. The natural reaction is to lash out and to give as good as we get. We confuse the enemy when we offer love for hate, when we give without thought of receiving, when anything is taken from us by force to give more than is demanded. To offer no resistance even if we are falsely accused as witnesses to Love and to the Good News.

Every one of the Apostles, and the martyrs all through salvation history, has shed their blood and embraced suffering in imitation of You. We live in a world that promotes violence and vengeance, but You show is a different way. When we turn the other cheek, the momentum slows down, and makes peace a possibility. Violence only begets violence. You said to Peter, 'Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.' This is true of the world in which we find ourselves today. You have shown us the way, Lord, grant us the wisdom to walk in it. 

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.’

MOST HOLY TRINITY - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
the God who is, who was, and who is to come. REV 1:8

PROVERBS 8:22-31

My Soul's Beloved,

Wisdom is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and without it, it would be impossible to understand the Word of God. Wisdom guides us, inspires us, opens our minds to divine mysteries, and helps us penetrate to the extent that finite human beings can the heart, mind, and will of God, and impels us to obey joyfully and promptly. 

Without Wisdom, Beloved, we would be at the mercy of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Following and gratifying our senses, worshipping false gods, making false gods in our image and likeness, we would squander our lives and ignorant of the lavish and splendid gifts of God we would spend our short lives on earth on unworthy and sinful pursuits that would damn our immortal souls to hell eternally.

But thanks be to God and His everlasting mercies, Lord, we belong to You. Baptized into Your Body and as members of Your Church, Your life courses through us. Filled with Your Holy Spirit, we are united in love to the Triune God. Your Blood was shed for the whole world in remission for all our sins, and You make a Covenant of Blood with all who believe in the Good News and belong to You, co-heirs to the Kingdom of God. 

Wisdom reveals the heart, mind, and will of God and opens our whole being to the wonder of the love of God, who lavishes on His children all His wonderful gifts so we can delight in His love made visible and tangible to us in You and who keeps You alive in us through Your Spirit.

The Wisdom of God cries aloud:
The Lord created me when his purpose first unfolded,
before the oldest of his works.
From everlasting I was firmly set,
from the beginning, before earth came into being.
The deep was not, when I was born,
there were no springs to gush with water.
Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills, I came to birth;
before he made the earth, the countryside,
or the first grains of the world’s dust.
When he fixed the heavens firm, I was there,
when he drew a ring on the surface of the deep,
when he thickened the clouds above,
when he fixed fast the springs of the deep,
when he assigned the sea its boundaries
– and the waters will not invade the shore –
when he laid down the foundations of the earth,
I was by his side, a master craftsman,
delighting him day after day,
ever at play in his presence,
at play everywhere in his world,
delighting to be with the sons of men.

PSALM 8:4-9

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

When I see the heavens, the work of your hands,
the moon and the stars which you arranged,
what is man that you should keep him in mind,
Mortal man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him little less than a god;

with glory and honour you crowned him,
gave him power over the works of your hand,
put all things under his feet.

All of them, sheep and cattle,

yes, even the savage beasts,
birds of the air, and fish
that make their way through the waters.

How great is your name, O Lord our God, through all the earth!

ROMANS 5:1-5

My Soul's Beloved,

I struggle with exercising the virtue of patience during trials and suffering. I often betray that I am upset and sometimes short-tempered, because I am not mastered by love, even though I do love. 

Today's second reading not only convicts me, Lord, but reminds me that if I am a true disciple, I must pray and ask unceasingly that You bless me with the gift of perseverance, especially during trying times which I will receive only if I consciously and purposefully exercise the virtue of patience until it becomes second nature to me. Help me, Lord!

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith we are judged righteous and at peace with God, since it is by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God’s glory. But that is not all we can boast about; we can boast about our sufferings. These sufferings bring patience, as we know, and patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope, and this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us.

JOHN 16:12-15

My Soul's Beloved,

Today, the Church celebrates the glorious mystery of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is a divine Truth that the millions in the world do not understand - the mystery of Three in One and One in Three. This is because the world desires to limit God according to their finite and puny understanding. You are incomprehensible, limitless, and beyond anything the human mind can fathom. Your mysteries are impenetrable to the mind and heart that is closed to the supreme power of God, for we are only creatures created by Him. 

From the beginning, the God who is One and the God who is Three laid the foundations and created the world for His glory. The Creator, by the power of Breath and the power of His Word, His Eternal Word, and all that God intended from all eternity, came to be.

The invisible God made Himself known first to our first parents, Adam and Eve, and after the fall, certain people chosen by Him throughout salvation history until the time when He chose Abraham, our father in faith, and through Him, His plan for all people in every nation begins to unfold.

He then sent You, my Lord, into the world through the virginal womb of Mary, Your Mother, the new Eve to undo the disobedience of that first woman, and You made the invisible God visible to us. After Your mission was completed - Your life, passion, death, and glorious resurrection and ascension into Heaven, as promised, You sent the Holy Spirit on Your Church and He abides in her and in each of us leading us into the Truth that sets us free and leads us to Heaven, our eternal home.

Thank You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - may You be known and loved by the whole world and so hasten the second coming of our Lord. Maranatha! Lord Jesus, maranatha!

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘I still have many things to say to you
but they would be too much for you now.
But when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking as from himself
but will say only what he has learnt;
and he will tell you of the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine;
that is why I said:
All he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.’

SATURDAY OF WEEK 10 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Bend my heart to your will, O Lord,
and teach me your law. PS 118:36, 29

2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-21

My Soul's Beloved,

So many of us are so unaware of what God has done for us through You. We go through life clueless of the power that is ours if we only tap into the Holy Spirit who is poured into our hearts at our baptism. We are such sad Catholics going through the motions of life without the slightest interest or awareness of the wonder of God's love for us and how His plan of salvation long before He laid the foundations of the earth had you and me in His mind and heart for we were conceived in God from all eternity.

My Soul's Beloved, I have lived decades of my life in partial blindness. I have had the great treasures of the faith within my grasp. But I chose to spend most of my years preoccupied with fruitless, frivolous pastimes and entertainments, choosing ease and pleasure before sacrifice. Suffering made me despondent. I was unwilling to take up my daily cross cheerfully and follow you. I shirked my responsibilities when I could do so, and now, finally, I begin to understand how I have wasted my life instead of making it something beautiful for You. 

But I also know this, my Lord, that You have been exceedingly patient with me all the while drawing me slowly but surely ever closer to Yourself. You have brought me to this time in my life where I am finally beginning to understand the wonder of being loved by You. Gently, tenderly, with great compassion, pity, and understanding for my many lapses, I now desire to belong to You wholly, unconditionally, and unreservedly. Thank You, for not giving up on me, for not losing patience with me, Lord, but staying with me, encouraging me, and providing all the grace I needed. 

From now onwards, therefore, we do not judge anyone by the standards of the flesh. Even if we did once know Christ in the flesh, that is not how we know him now. And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God’s work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation. In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men’s faults against them, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God.

PSALM 102(103):1-4,9-12

The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord
all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his blessings.

It is he who forgives all your guilt,
who heals every one of your ills,
who redeems your life from the grave,
who crowns you with love and compassion.

His wrath will come to an end;

he will not be angry for ever.
He does not treat us according to our sins
nor repay us according to our faults.

For as the heavens are high above the earth

so strong is his love for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west
so far does he remove our sins.

The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.

MATTHEW 5:33-37

My Soul's Beloved,

You are the embodiment of Truth. Your Name is Truth. You are Truth, and in You, there is no darkness. And because You are the very personification of Truth, Lord, we can trust You completely. Were it not so, we would be miserable creatures indeed, for when we approached You, we would be uncertain whether or not we could trust You. But because You are Truth, Lord, we know that we can. 

In our world, ignorance is bliss. We see this in all its ugliness in the attacks amounting to blasphemies by Christians against Catholic beliefs. Their profound lack of desire to seek the Truth, because it goes against their pet beliefs of what they think the Church believes and teaches, and their insurmountable pride and hauteur as they condemn the Church and Catholics willy-nilly, is comical. Many Catholics challenge them, but often it is quite clear that they are not seeking to understand but desire only to attack the Church; however, some are genuinely taken aback and begin to be challenged to study Church history with an open mind.

Thank You, Lord, that the Church remains firm and unshakeable on divine truths and revealed doctrine that has developed over the centuries. Everyone desirous of knowing the Truth can be confident that they will find it here. The Church does not change Sacred Tradition or Scripture according the latest fad or fashion of the culture. Truth remains Truth regardless of who is asking the questions.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you: do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne; or by the earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great king. Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.’

Saint Antony of Padua, Priest, Doctor on Friday of week 10 in Ordinary Time (2025)

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

You will shine in the world like bright stars
because you are offering it the word of life. PH 2:15-16

2 CORINTHIANS 4:7-15

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul and every saint understood that faith in action can turn the world upside down. Looking at the 12 men You chose out of the many that followed You, and by worldly standards, they would not exactly be thought qualified for the great mission that was to be entrusted to them. They were not very educated; one among them was a tax collector, and some were fishermen. They were rough men. You had just three short years in which to teach them. They would walk with You, live with You, hear You speak to large crowds and to them personally in private. They would witness spectacular miracles, perhaps many of which are not recorded. In the end, when it seemed dangerous and they could possibly lose their lives, they deserted You. Only one would return to stand at the foot of the Cross. Peter, the chief of the Apostles, denied You not once but three times, and he did so with oaths. One betrayed You and committed suicide, for he truly did not know You at all. All he needed to do was repent, and You would have forgiven him, and today he would be venerated and elevated as one of the princes of the Church, just as we venerate the others.

Every baptized Catholic carries this treasure that St. Paul speaks of within us. We were created for greatness as children of the Most High God, sisters and brothers of the Son of God, empowered and sanctified by the Holy Spirit to live the Gospel with power. To be light and salt in the world that illumines and savors everyone we encounter every day of our lives. Sadly, this is not true. Although we have Your life in us and are empowered by the same Holy Spirit that has the potential to make great saints of us if we only desire and will it, we allow fear, the culture, and a lackluster faith to penetrate our lives and our souls. We live mediocre lives when in truth we could be like the Apostles, like St. Paul, and every saint that illumines and adorns the Church by the witness of their lives.

We are only the earthenware jars that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us. We are in difficulties on all sides, but never cornered; we see no answer to our problems, but never despair; we have been persecuted, but never deserted; knocked down, but never killed; always, wherever we may be, we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may always be seen in our body. Indeed, while we are still alive, we are consigned to our death every day, for the sake of Jesus, so that in our mortal flesh the life of Jesus, too, may be openly shown. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

But as we have the same spirit of faith that is mentioned in scripture – I believed, and therefore I spoke – we too believe and therefore we too speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life will raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side and you with us. You see, all this is for your benefit, so that the more grace is multiplied among people, the more thanksgiving there will be, to the glory of God.

PSALM 115(116):10-11,15-18

A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.

I trusted, even when I said:
‘I am sorely afflicted,’
and when I said in my alarm:
‘No man can be trusted.’

O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosened my bonds.

A thanksgiving sacrifice I make;
I will call on the Lord’s name.
My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.

A thanksgiving sacrifice I make to you, O Lord.

MATTHEW 5:27-32

THURSDAY OF WEEK 10 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord. JN 13:34

2 CORINTHIANS 3:15-4:1,3-6

My Soul's Beloved,

Only those who belong to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church can gaze on You and enter the glorious mysteries of our faith with unveiled minds. This is not to say that all do so, but those who like St. Paul, the Apostles, the disciples, and every baptized Catholic who hungers and thirsts for the Truth will, by the power of the Holy Spirit, be led into all Truth. In the Church alone has God deposited in its fullness, the rich treasures of Goodness, Beauty, and Truth and the greatest intellects beginning with the Church Father, the Doctors of the Church, and every grace-filled, Spirit-filled theologian, and teacher of the faith, every authentic witness, led by the Spirit of God, is given the grace and the gift to have their hearts, minds, and spirit pervaded by the power of God and the Spirit of God. In the measure that we desire it, pursue it, and persevere with faith and hope, an understanding of the Beauty, Goodness, and Truth of the glory of God in You will be given to us. 

Prejudice, ignorance, refusal to be open-minded, and in many cases, a real bigoted hate create an insurmountable barrier that veils the heart and mind of many Protestant denominations against the Church You founded. This veil will not be removed until they break down the walls of their prejudice and ignorance and turn to You with childlike faith.

To be an authentic disciple like St. Paul and the rest of the Apostles and disciples, we must surrender all to You, holding nothing back. We must take You at Your Word and walk by faith, not sight. We must be prepared to suffer and to embrace the cross. Yoked to You, we will be filled with joy even though the narrow way is filled with sorrow and pain. Even when the light turns to darkness, even when it seems that You are absent, even when we seem to be groping in the dark, still, Beloved, our faith must not waver for we know that in all things, in every circumstance, You are with us. There will be moments, Lord, when with flashes of glorious Light You will illumine us, and it will give us strength to persevere until You come to take us home to Yourself and crown our lives with Your glory.

Even today, whenever Moses is read, the veil is over their minds. It will not be removed until they turn to the Lord. Now this Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord who is Spirit.
Since we have by an act of mercy been entrusted with this work of administration, there is no weakening on our part. If our gospel does not penetrate the veil, then the veil is on those who are not on the way to salvation; the unbelievers whose minds the god of this world has blinded, to stop them seeing the light shed by the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For it is not ourselves that we are preaching, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. It is the same God that said, ‘Let there be light shining out of darkness’, who has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God’s glory, the glory on the face of Christ.

PSALM 84(85):9-14

The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.

I will hear what the Lord God has to say,
a voice that speaks of peace.
His help is near for those who fear him, 
and his glory will dwell in our land.

Mercy and faithfulness have met;

justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.

The Lord will make us prosper

and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.

The glory of the Lord will dwell in our land.

MATTHEW 5:20-26

My Soul's Beloved,

The scribes and Pharisees in our day are the many splintered Christian denominations who can agree about nothing doctrinal but are united in their pride, hatred, and prejudice against the Church You founded. These are baseless lies, but they lack the humility to seek the Truth, which alone can set them free. One has only to see the venom spewed against Catholics on social media to understand how successful the devil is in sowing seeds of dissension and division. It is the only way for Satan to succeed, and they play right into his hands. Unaware of it, they are willing pawns in his deadly game. 

But it is also heartening to see that in this Jubilee Year 2025, having been blessed with a new Pontiff, Leo XIV, the Catholic Church is renergised. There is a palpable joy in the Church. A fresh breeze of the Holy Spirit is sweeping the Church, and many are attracted to the sheer affability, joy, and generous spirit that are so visible in our Holy Father.

I pray, Beloved, that all divisions beginning with the Catholic Church will heal. Let us live our Catholic faith with joyful obedience. Let us share what we believe with gentleness. But before we do so, we need to learn and understand for ourselves what the Church's teachings are, so many of us are ignorant, poorly catechised, but this is no excuse to remain in ignorance. Let us cease the name-calling and come together with love and share the joy of the Good News that must first be visible in our own lives.

May this Jubilee Year be a time of great rejoicing so all may believe before it is too late, and be saved.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.’

Saint Barnabas, Apostle on Wednesday of week 10 in Ordinary Time (2025)

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Go, make disciples of all the nations.
I am with you always; yes, to the end of time. MT 28:19, 20

ACTS 11:21-26,13:1-3

My Soul's Beloved,

Grace is given to us all. The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us at our Baptism. At every worthy reception of the Sacraments, we are filled anew with this Power of God, the Holy Spirit, who is the love between You and the Father. The Holy Spirit who came upon Mary and made it possible for her to conceive You in her virginal womb, and who rested on each of the Apostles at Pentecost as flames of fire, is the same Holy Spirit that we also receive. We are made children of God and heirs to the Kingdom. Filled with power and zeal, St. Barnabas evangelized, and many came to believe in the Good News and were baptized.

These same gifts are ours as well, except we are timid, our faith is weak and shallow, we choose creature comforts over missionary zeal, and this is why the Church is half dead. We greatly admire those who, like Paul and Barnabas, as well as all the Apostles and disciples, were tireless in spreading the Gospel, but we make lame excuses for ourselves, convincing ourselves that not all are called to go out into the world and set it on fire as they did. But this is a lie that the great deceiver wants us to believe. 

Every baptized Catholic is filled with the Holy Spirit, and if we so desire we can also be numbered among the great cloud of witnesses who lived the Gospel with passion, with unflinching faith, making You alive and present in us as we carried out the mission entrusted to us all to go out into the world and make disciples in every nation. It takes courage, it takes faith, it takes love, it takes passion, to live as You have commanded us to, but the reward is nothing less than to be seated with You and receive a share in Your inheritance in share in Your Kingdom.

The church in Jerusalem heard about this and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. There he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him, and he urged them all to remain faithful to the Lord with heartfelt devotion; for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. And a large number of people were won over to the Lord.
Barnabas then left for Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. As things turned out they were to live together in that church a whole year, instructing a large number of people. It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’
In the church at Antioch the following were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. One day while they were offering worship to the Lord and keeping a fast, the Holy Spirit said, ‘I want Barnabas and Saul set apart for the work to which I have called them.’ So it was that after fasting and prayer they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

PSALM 97(98):1-6

The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.

Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.

The Lord has made known his salvation;

has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.

Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp

with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.

The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.

MATTHEW 10:7-13