Monday, June 30, 2025

MONDAY OF WEEK 13 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord. PS 94:8


GENESIS 18:16-33

My Soul's Beloved,

When we pray for the salvation of those we love with a loving burden on our hearts as Abraham did, You will hear and You will answer for You, O Lord, do not desire the death of the sinner but that all be saved and come to the knowledge of Truth.

Abraham could not bear the thought of entire cities and all who were in them to be destroyed and reduced to rubble and ashes, and so he pleaded boldly despite his fear that God would spare them. You, O Lord, our faithful, and nothing delights You more than when we persevere in prayer and ask boldly for what we know to be right, true, and good, for You will never refuse what You ardently desire as well.

From 50 just men, he pleaded that perhaps there would be only 45 and then pleaded further that perhaps only 40 would be found, then 30, and 20, and finally 10, and You assured him that for the sake of the 10 just men, You would not command the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sadly, not even 10 just men could be found, and these two places and all those in them were incinerated by the wrath of God.

When, with deliberate intent, knowing full well the gravity of our sins, we continue to commit them with impunity, then it is our lack of remorse and contrition that condemns us. God always desires that His children be saved and return to Him. He did not spare You, His only Son, to bear the punishment, suffering, and death that was ours, and if we continue to reject the salvation that is freely offered to us we consign our souls to eternal separation and damnation from the Source of all that is true, good, and beautiful. Have mercy, O Lord, for the sake of the faithful few, show mercy and save the many.

From Mamre the men set out and arrived within sight of Sodom, with Abraham accompanying them to show them the way. Now the Lord had wondered, ‘Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am going to do, seeing that Abraham will become a great nation with all the nations of the earth blessing themselves by him? For I have singled him out to command his sons and his household after him to maintain the way of the Lord by just and uprig
ht living. In this way the Lord will carry out for Abraham what he has promised him.’
Then the Lord said, ‘How great an outcry there is against Sodom and Gomorrah! How grievous is their sin! I propose to go down and see whether or not they have done all that is alleged in the outcry against them that has come up to me. I am determined to know.’
The men left there and went to Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Approaching him he said, ‘Are you really going to destroy the just man with the sinner? Perhaps there are fifty just men in the town. Will you really overwhelm them, will you not spare the place for the fifty just men in it? Do not think of doing such a thing: to kill the just man with the sinner, treating just and sinner alike! Do not think of it! Will the judge of the whole earth not administer justice?’ The Lord replied, ‘If at Sodom I find fifty just men in the town, I will spare the whole place because of them.’
Abraham replied, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this to my Lord, I who am dust and ashes. But perhaps the fifty just men lack five: will you destroy the whole city for five?’ ‘No,’ he replied ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five just men there.’ Again Abraham said to him, ‘Perhaps there will only be forty there.’ ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the forty.’
Abraham said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry, but give me leave to speak: perhaps there will only be thirty there.’ ‘I will not do it’ he replied ‘if I find thirty there.’ He said, ‘I am bold indeed to speak like this, but perhaps there will only be twenty there.’ ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the twenty.’ He said, ‘I trust my Lord will not be angry if I speak once more: perhaps there will only be ten.’ ‘I will not destroy it’ he replied ‘for the sake of the ten.’
When he had finished talking to Abraham the Lord went away, and Abraham returned home.


PSALM 102(103):1-4,8-11


The Lord is compassion and love.


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.

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

The Lord is compassion and love.

MATTHEW 8:18-22


My Soul's Beloved,

There are two kinds of people, as we see in this Gospel passage, those who, without proper reflection and discernment, rashly commit themselves to follow You, whether or not it is God's will for them, or take into consideration whether or not they are prepared to pay the price of discipleship. Then there is the other kind who know full well what God's will is for their lives, but are looking for excuses to either delay following the Lord or find a way to not do it all. 

To the first, You warn that those who follow You must be prepared to empty themselves, totally expecting nothing but suffering and hardship for the Kingdom of God. The Way of the Cross is the way of self-emptying suffering. And to the second, You say that no excuse is good enough to put off doing what God is clearly demanding of His disciples. Following You, Lord, we receive the fullness of life, but if we look to the world, all we will find is decay and death. It is up to us to decide whether or not we will discern Your will for us and do it, keeping in mind that our choices have eternal consequences. 

When Jesus saw the great crowds all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side. One of the scribes then came up and said to him, ‘Master, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’
Another man, one of his disciples, said to him, ‘Sir, let me go and bury my father first.’ But Jesus replied, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.’

Sunday, June 29, 2025

SOLEMNITY STS. PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.
And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. MT 16:18


ACTS 12:1-11

My Soul's Beloved,

When we seek to please people rather than You because of hidden wounds in us that we desire to heal without You, our feet are on a slippery slope that leads only to the darkest pit of hell. King Herod's evil action brought him the praise of the enemies of Truth, certain members of the Jewish community who successfully committed Deicide. Now, having discovered that the beheading of James, the brother of John and the first of the apostles to be martyred, pleased them, he decided to continue to seek out and do the same with Peter, the Head of the Apostles as well. He, as well as those he sought to please, soon discovered that You alone decide whether or not we will be given into the hands of the Enemy and to draw a greater victory and a greater good from any evil the Enemy has planned to do.  

In a spectacular miracle of deliverance from prison, Peter, who was arrested, was fastened with double chains between two guards, had four squads of four soldiers each to keep guard in turns, and even more were stationed at the main entrance to the prison, God with His mighty hand and holy arm sent an angel to unloose his chains, open the prison doors and gate, and accompany him out of the prison without a hair of his head being harmed. Such is our God in whom we can place all our faith, hope, and trust, in perfect confidence that He can and will deliver us from every situation we deem hopeless and impossible.

The angel instructed Peter to put on his belt (the belt of truth) and his sandals (fitted with readiness which comes from the gospel of peace) and to wrap his cloak (which is the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one ) around him. Nothing was done in haste but calmly, for when God commands His angels to watch over and protect us, we need never be afraid. 

We thank You for the Church whose prayers rise up from all over the world in hymns of praise, thanksgiving and prayers of deliverance as we offer the one, holy, and perfect praise in the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass from the rising of the sun to its setting which guarantees the world the peace which You came into the world to give. The prayers of the Church saved Peter, and the prayers of the Church continue to protect and keep safe his successor and every member of Your Body.

Grant us the grace, O Lord, to be unafraid in carrying out the mission entrusted us, which is to make You known and loved by the witness of our daily lives.

King Herod started persecuting certain members of the Church. He beheaded James the brother of John, and when he saw that this pleased the Jews he decided to arrest Peter as well. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread, and he put Peter in prison, assigning four squads of four soldiers each to guard him in turns. Herod meant to try Peter in public after the end of Passover week. All the time Peter was under guard the Church prayed to God for him unremittingly.
On the night before Herod was to try him, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, fastened with double chains, while guards kept watch at the main entrance to the prison. Then suddenly the angel of the Lord stood there, and the cell was filled with light. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him. ‘Get up!’ he said ‘Hurry!’ – and the chains fell from his hands. The angel then said, ‘Put on your belt and sandals.’ After he had done this, the angel next said, ‘Wrap your cloak round you and follow me.’ Peter followed him, but had no idea that what the angel did was all happening in reality; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed through two guard posts one after the other, and reached the iron gate leading to the city. This opened of its own accord; they went through it and had walked the whole length of one street when suddenly the angel left him. It was only then that Peter came to himself. ‘Now I know it is all true’ he said. ‘The Lord really did send his angel and has saved me from Herod and from all that the Jewish people were so certain would happen to me.’

PSALM 33(34):2-9

The angel of the Lord rescues those who revere him.

The angel of the Lord rescues those who revere him.
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 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.

The angel of the Lord rescues those who revere him.

2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8,17-18

My Soul's Beloved,

Some souls are created and empowered for a divine purpose, to carry out a great mission, to reflect You in Your humanity, as closely and as nearly as is possible for a mortal. It is not given to all to be an Apostle like Peter and Paul, not all are given the grace to be a martyr, and to shed our blood in martyrdom for the sake of the Gospel; it is not given to all to be a martyr, or a Doctor of the Church, or a great theologian, or like the great Saints who embellish the great Hall of Saints in the Catholic Church. But this does not excuse us from fulfilling our mission, for we are all called to be saints. We become saints by cooperating with the graces given to us in abundance each day and striving heroically, moment by moment, to conquer our weaknesses. 

To seek Your will in all things, live out our vocation faithfully, and live in Your Presence. Aware of Your Holy Presence, we must seek to do all things, accept all things, and suffer all things for love of You. We are called to be saints, every one of us, but we do not wish to be one. We prefer to be slaves of the world and the flesh, and become easy prey for the Enemy. If only we understood our great calling and the ultimate destiny of our lives, we would strive relentlessly to please You in all things and be prepared to endure all for love of You, just as the great St. Paul did.

My life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to be gone. I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day; and not only to me but to all those who have longed for his Appearing.
The Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear; and so I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

MATTHEW 16:13-19

My Soul's Beloved,

We all agree that the Gospels are the inspired word of God, whose divine Author is the Holy Spirit. Millions of Christians have decided to interpret God's Word apart from the inspiration and understanding of divine and eternal truths that the Divine Author has entrusted to the Church, You instituted and whose keys You have entrusted for safekeeping to Peter alone. He and his successors alone are given the power to bind and to lose - this power is given to no other. Men and women who broke away from Holy Mother Church to found their own little churches based on false interpretations of Truth, going so far as to deny certain doctrines, and doing so with hubris, pride, and a desire to cling to their personal sins and hide their spiritual wounds by claiming a power they do not possess. They are false teachers and blind guides who lead millions to perdition.

Through no merit of our own, Beloved, You chose us to be members of the Catholic Church. Grace alone has given us this wondrous gift. So many Catholics have apostacized, there are millions of fallen away Catholics, lukewarm Catholics, indifferent Catholics, Catholics who hate the Church with a vicious and vitriolic hatred because they were wounded grievously by members of the hierarchy. The Church prays for their return. In Holy Mother Church alone can all souls find their home, healing, peace, food and drink, succor, and rest, and ultimately eternal life in the Kingdom of God. 

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Then Simon Peter spoke up, ‘You are the Christ,’ he said ‘the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.’

Saturday, June 28, 2025

SATURDAY OF WEEK 12 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2-25

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Remain in my love, says the Lord;
whoever remains in me, with me in him,
bears fruit in plenty. JN 15:9, 5


2 TIMOTHY 2:22-26

My Soul's Beloved,

St. Paul's spiritual advice to Timothy is also advice for every believer, every disciple who ardently desires to follow You more closely with every passing day. Each day, we begin anew to strive for holiness and perfection. It does not matter how badly we failed the previous day; what pleases You is that we desire to do better, rely on Your grace, and pick up our cross once more and follow You.

It is not easy, Lord, when our natural inclination is to be selfish, self-serving, lazy, self-willed, seeking ease rather than to mortify the flesh and the senses, and to discipline ourselves that seeks to pander to our desires and seek ease rather than the cross. But once we make a firm resolution to cooperate with the graces that You freely give us through Your Holy Spirit, and we set out each day to conquer the present moment,t then moment by moment we will be sanctified because You will be with us to help us gain victory and mastery over our baser instincts.

Let me not focus on my inadequacies, which are legion, but on Your goodness instead and lean on You and trust You to do for me what I am incapable of doing myself. Thank You, Lord.

Fasten your attention on holiness, faith, love and peace, in union with all those who call on the Lord with pure minds. Avoid these futile and silly speculations, understanding that they only give rise to quarrels; and a servant of the Lord is not to engage in quarrels, but has to be kind to everyone, a good teacher, and patient. He has to be gentle when he corrects people who dispute what he says, never forgetting that God may give them a change of mind so that they recognise the truth and come to their senses, once out of the trap where the devil caught them and kept them enslaved.


PSALM 36(37):3-6,30-31

The just man’s mouth utters wisdom.

If you trust in the Lord and do good,
then you will live in the land and be secure.
If you find your delight in the Lord,
he will grant your heart’s desire.

Commit your life to the Lord,
trust in him and he will act,
so that your justice breaks forth like the light,
your cause like the noon-day sun.

The just man’s mouth utters wisdom
and his lips speak what is right;
the law of his God is in his heart,
his steps shall be saved from stumbling.

The just man’s mouth utters wisdom.

JOHN 17:20-26

My Soul's Beloved,

It is impossible for us, finite creatures, to understand the infinite heights, depths, breadth, and width of Your love us. You do not love by degrees with all consuming love. We are loved with the same love with which the Father loves You, and You love the Father, and the wonder of it all is, Lord, that You love us with that same love. You love us wholly, not in part. 

Thank You, Lord, for praying for all Your sheep. I take comfort from Your prayer for all those I know and love and are far away from You and from the Church. You desire their conversion as salvation with a greater intensity than I ever could and so, my Lord, I will entrust their salvation to Your tender mercy.

Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said:
‘Holy Father,
I pray not only for these,
but for those also
who through their words will believe in me.
May they all be one.
Father, may they be one in us,
as you are in me and I am in you,
so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.
I have given them the glory you gave to me,
that they may be one as we are one.
With me in them and you in me,
may they be so completely one
that the world will realise that it was you who sent me
and that I have loved them as much as you loved me.
Father, I want those you have given me
to be with me where I am,
so that they may always see the glory you have given me
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Father, Righteous One,
the world has not known you,
but I have known you,
and these have known that you have sent me.
I have made your name known to them
and will continue to make it known,
so that the love with which you loved me may be in them,
and so that I may be in them.’

Thursday, June 26, 2025

THURSDAY OF WEEK 12 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 16:1-12,15-16

My Soul's Beloved,

Waiting patiently and with faith that You will do just what You say is not my strong suit, nor is it for many. I pray, I ask, and I expect an immediate answer to my prayers, even though I know quite well that that is not how prayers are answered. I am fully aware that You always know best how and when to answer my prayers, yet, foolishly, like Sarai, I become impatient with waiting. Sarai lacked the faith of her husband and, taking matters into her own hands, urged her husband to take her slave girl Hagar so she could conceive a child and thus assist God in fulfilling the oath He swore to him. Her lack of faith in God caused great suffering to her, Hagar, and Abram, and also had eternal negative consequences. 

A lack of faith in God - our Creator, and Father, our Savior and Redeemer, our Helper, and Sanctifier, is the root cause of the horrific state in which the world is today. Yet, Beloved, we cannot lay the blame wholly on Sarai and her foolish intervention, even though her actions did great harm and brought a great deal of future suffering on the world, we as members of Your Body could have been the leaven with which to negate them had we lived our faith as the Apostles and early disciples did. Even now, Lord, if we model our lives on You, Mother Mary, St. Joseph, the Apostles, and all the great saints and martyrs of the Church, we can still bring about, with the Help of the Holy Spirit, a new age of discipleship and stewardship of the Gift of God. May this Jubilee Year 2025 be the age when the powers of evil are vanquished and the Spirit of Love, Life, and Truth are rekindled, setting the whole world on fire with zeal for the love of God and for one another.

Abram’s wife Sarai had borne him no child, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, ‘Listen, now! Since the Lord has kept me from having children, go to my slave-girl. Perhaps I shall get children through her.’ Abram agreed to what Sarai had said.

And once she (Hagar) knew she had conceived, her mistress counted for nothing in her eyes. Then Sarai said to Abram, ‘May this insult to me come home to you! It was I who put my slave-girl into your arms but now she knows that she has conceived, I count for nothing in her eyes. Let the Lord judge between me and you.’ ‘Very well,’ Abram said to Sarai ‘your slave-girl is at your disposal. Treat her as you think fit.’ Sarai accordingly treated her so badly that she ran away from her.

The angel of the Lord met her near a spring in the wilderness, the spring that is on the road to Shur.

‘Now you have conceived, and you will bear a son,
and you shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard your cries of distress.
A wild-ass of a man he will be,
against every man, and every man against him,
setting himself to defy all his brothers.’
Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave to the son that Hagar bore the name Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.


PSALM 105(106):1-5

O give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

O give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love endures for ever.
Who can tell the Lord’s mighty deeds?
Who can recount all his praise?

They are happy who do what is right,
who at all times do what is just.
O Lord, remember me
out of the love you have for your people.

Come to me, Lord, with your help
that I may see the joy of your chosen ones
and may rejoice in the gladness of your nation
and share the glory of your people.

O give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

MATTHEW 7:21-29

My Soul's Beloved,

When we like Sarai, take matters into our own hands, interpret God's Word and promises according to our fleshly desires, and refuse to take God at His Word in humble obedience, we risk everything and lose it all because of haughty, prideful disdain of God's will. 

We have only to look at the 40,000 and ever-growing fragmentations of those who first broke away from Holy Mother Church 1500 years ago. Unholy, prideful, obstinate men unwilling to pray, fast, and suffer for the sins committed by high-ranking members of the Church and also trusting in their own human wisdom have done grave harm not to the Church but to themselves and have placed in eternal peril their immortal souls.

Thank You, Beloved, for reminding us in Your Church that when we fail to love God and our neighbor as we are commanded to do, then no matter what we do will be like the offering of Cain. When we fail in self-sacrificial love, we fail in the demands that such love makes of us. The Church built on the Rock of Peter is indestructible since we have this assurance from God Himself, the Eternal Word, that the gates of hell will never prevail against her.

The Catholic Church is the only Church that teaches with authority because she is taught by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Truth, who dwells in fullness in her. 

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?” Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!
‘Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!’

Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people because he taught them with authority, and not like their own scribes.

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

WEDNESDAY OF WEEK 12 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Make your home in me, as I make mine in you,
says the Lord;
whoever remains in me bears fruit in plenty. JN 15:4, 5


GENESIS 15:1-12,17-18

My Soul's Beloved,

We are not to fear - this You say to us over and over again. Fear destroys whatever faith we have if we give in to it. Rather, we are to trust in Your Word, no matter how impossible it may seem; You have the power to do the impossible, for You are God of the impossible. From the very beginning, when You laid the foundations of the world, and created all that is, we know that You are a God and at Your Word all things come to exist. 

So it is with Abram. He was childless, his wife had passed her childbearing years, and yet You assured him that he would have descendants as many as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the shore. You made a Covenant with him and his descendants, and it is one that will never pass away but will be handed down from one generation to the next until time will cease. 

We panic. We are unable to wait patiently. We want to hurry things along and we decide to do things our way to make Your promises come true, but when we do, as Abraham did at Sara's bidding, the result is the progeny of Ishmael, the results of which are not just visible but detrimental to the progeny of Isaac. Yet, O Lord, we need not despair, nor ought we to be discouraged, even though the results of the fruit of Hagar's womb appear to destroy all semblance of the peace that You came to give the world.

Yet, O Lord, the darker our world gets with the spread of violence, evil, murder, and death, we will not be afraid, for we have the Eternal Word who has conquered all and is victorious. 

It happened that the word of the Lord was spoken to Abram in a vision, ‘Have no fear, Abram, I am your shield; your reward will be very great.’

‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if you can. Such will be your descendants’ he told him. Abram put his faith in the Lord, who counted this as making him justified.
‘I am the Lord’ he said to him ‘who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to make you heir to this land.’ ‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘how am I to know that I shall inherit it?’ He said to him, ‘Get me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.’ He brought him all these, cut them in half and put half on one side and half facing it on the other; but the birds he did not cut in half. Birds of prey came down on the carcases but Abram drove them off.
Now as the sun was setting Abram fell into a deep sleep, and terror seized him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, there appeared a smoking furnace and a firebrand that went between the halves. That day the Lord made a Covenant with Abram in these terms:
‘To your descendants I give this land,
from the wadi of Egypt to the Great River,
the river Euphrates.’


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.

MATTHEW 7:15-20

My Soul's Beloved,

Your advice to Your followers, the sheep of Your sheepfold, is unambiguous and succinct. The easiest way to tell if someone is a false prophet and teacher is by the fruit they produce. Division, lies, and anything that goes against the Commandments of God are all the work of those who are in league with the prince of darkness to a greater or lesser degree. While many would froth at the mouth at this observance, denying that they are agents of evil, we can judge by their fruits that they are liars. You have said that anyone who lives by the sword will die by the sword, and we can see this unfold constantly when we declare war on each other, whether literal or spiritual.

The one, shining beacon of light on Mount Zion, the City on the Hill, where You have laid the foundations of Your Church on Peter, the Rock, and whose Cornerstone You are, is the only safe refuge for all of mankind. The Enemy, try as he may, will never prevail against her. The Church is the only institution founded by God Himself that bears good fruit in every season. All the rest may possess the truth to some degree, by the fullness of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness is to be found in Your Bride alone. This is why, Lord, You have given us this mission, to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth so many may believe and be saved.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.’

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, Solemnity - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

As for you, little child, you shall be called
a prophet of God, the Most High.
You shall go ahead of the Lord
to prepare his ways before him. LK 1:76


ISAIAH 49:1-6

My Soul's Beloved,

Those who have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that are humble, obedient, and conformed to the Holy Spirit will recognize that God has revealed His plan of salvation from the moment He laid the foundations of the earth. Slowly but surely, in the measure that we could receive and understand, God has made known to us that He created us for a glorious destiny with Him. Sharing His very life, we were to be like Him. Sadly, Adam and Eve chose to be beguiled by Satan rather than to believe in God and thus we were separated forever from our Creator.

Our Heavenly Father loved the human race too much to be separated from us eternally, and from the very first, He promised that He would give the world the Fruit of the womb of the Woman clothed with the Sun, You, my Beloved,  to save and redeem the world. 

Here in the verses from Isaiah, as the Church celebrates the nativity of St. John the Baptist, Your cousin, we read of the prophecies that will be fulfilled eventually. All the marvels that God has done and continues to do in the lives of those who are members of Your Body, Your Church.

We thank our Heavenly Father for His faithfulness and His mercies which are renewed each morning.

Islands, listen to me,
pay attention, remotest peoples.
The Lord called me before I was born,
from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.
He made my mouth a sharp sword,
and hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me into a sharpened arrow,
and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel)
in whom I shall be glorified’;
while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain,
I have exhausted myself for nothing’;
and all the while my cause was with the Lord,
my reward with my God.
I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord,
my God was my strength.
And now the Lord has spoken,
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
to gather Israel to him:
‘It is not enough for you to be my servant,
to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I will make you the light of the nations
so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’


PSALM 138(139):1-3,13-15

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

O Lord, you search me and you know me,
you know my resting and my rising,
you discern my purpose from afar.
You mark when I walk or lie down,
all my ways lie open to you.

For it was you who created my being,
knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I thank you for the wonder of my being,
for the wonders of all your creation.

Already you knew my soul,
my body held no secret from you
when I was being fashioned in secret
and moulded in the depths of the earth.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

ACTS 13:22-26

LUKE 1:57-66,80


Monday, June 23, 2025

MONDAY OF WEEK 12 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The word of God is something alive and active:
it can judge secret emotions and thoughts. HEB 4:12


GENESIS 12:1-9

My Soul's Beloved,

I know how easy it is to make excuses, especially if one is ripe in years, not as strong as one used to be, and settled in one's ways. It was not so with Abraham. You called him. You invited him to take a leap of faith. You asked him to leave everything that was dear and familiar to him all his life. He had to say goodbye to his friends and relatives and step out in faith on the word of God and the promise of God. He believed that everything God said to him would be fulfilled. And his wife, Sarah, accompanied him, going where her husband was going and making just as great a sacrifice as he was in leaving her home and all that was dear and familiar to her.

How hard it is, Lord, to give up people, places, and things that have grown dear and familiar to us over time. And when the hour arrives to make painful decisions for different reasons, perhaps the decision is made even without our consent, and we are made to go where we do not wish to go. This can cause great suffering. But we must know this, Beloved, that You are present in all circumstances, and You can and will draw good from it all. The greater the surrender to Your will, the greater the blessings and peace we will enjoy.

The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.
‘I will bless those who bless you:
I will curse those who slight you.
All the tribes of the earth
shall bless themselves by you.’
So Abram went as the Lord told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had amassed and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set off for the land of Canaan, and arrived there.
Abram passed through the land as far as Shechem’s holy place, the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘It is to your descendants that I will give this land.’ So Abram built there an altar for the Lord who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the mountainous district east of Bethel, where he pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. Then Abram made his way stage by stage to the Negeb.


PSALM 32(33):12-13,18-20,22

Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as his own.
From the heavens the Lord looks forth,
he sees all the children of men.

The Lord looks on those who revere him,
on those who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls from death,
to keep them alive in famine.

Our soul is waiting for the Lord.
The Lord is our help and our shield.
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in you.

Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

MATTHEW 7:1-5

My Soul's Beloved,

Most of us are so critical of everyone, especially those close to us. We want them to think as we do, act as we desire, and respond to circumstances as we would like them to. We have this overwhelming desire for control, but this is not love. Love allows the loved ones the freedom to be who they are, even if we do not agree with them, or it is the complete opposite of what we want or think is best for them. 

Judging and criticizing come easily to us all; what is hard is to turn the light of truth on ourselves and discover that everything we want to change about others are the very faults we need to overcome in ourselves. The more self-aware I am, the less judgmental and critical I will be of others. The more I recognize my own flaws and imperfections, the more humble I will be. The more sincere I am in overcoming my own weaknesses, the more understanding, compassionate, and gentle I will be when I recognize these same weaknesses in others.

Help me, Lord, to never forget how much I have been forgiven, how gentle You are with me despite my many, many flaws and sins, and I will cease to be fault-finding and get busy about ridding myself of my weaknesses and imperfections, which are legion. 

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How dare you say to your brother, “Let me take the splinter out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye.’

Sunday, June 22, 2025

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Solemnity 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,
says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever. JN 6:51

Our present food, our future rest, Come, make us each thy chosen guest, Co-heirs of thine, and comrades blest With saints whose dwelling is with thee. Amen. Alleluia.

GENESIS 14:18-20

My Soul's Beloved,

You are the mysterious High Priest, Melchizedek, King of Salem, King of Peace, and ruler of all, both visible and invisible. You are the Rock, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. By the Breath of the Holy Spirit, God uttered His only Word, His Eternal Word, God-breathed, and all that is came to be. 

You are the fullness of all we need. You come to us humbly in the guise of bread and wine, and by the power of the Holy Spirit and the divine will of the Father, what looks like bread, smells like bread, and tastes like bread is no longer what it appears to be. By the miracle of transubstantiation, the bread and wine become Your Body and Your Blood, and all who eat and drink worthily are transformed into what we receive.

Lord Jesus Christ, Eternal Son of the Living God, grant us the grace to return to God all that He desires from us - our will and our whole lives, which in truth is a poor exchange for this most precious of all Gifts, Yourself, in the Holy Eucharist.

Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. He pronounced this blessing:
‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, creator of heaven and earth,
and blessed be God Most High for handing over your enemies to you.’
And Abram gave him a tithe of everything.


PSALM 109(110):1-4

You are a priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.


The Lord’s revelation to my Master:
Sit on my right:
your foes I will put beneath your feet.’

The Lord will wield from Zion
your sceptre of power:
rule in the midst of all your foes.

A prince from the day of your birth
on the holy mountains;
from the womb before the dawn I begot you.

The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change.
‘You are a priest for ever,
a priest like Melchizedek of old.’

You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

1 CORINTHIANS 11:23-26

My Soul's Beloved,

Thank You for the undeserved gift of being a cradle Catholic. Sadly, unless we are well catechised and well formed in the faith, we can never fully appreciate what this wondrous gift truly means. This is true of millions of Catholics who, like me, are cradle Catholics, but because of one reason or another, the main reason being ignorance of the treasure they have received, they do not practice the faith.

While the above is true of lapsed or non-practicing Catholics, the sad truth for protestants is their spiritual blindness, which is often a result of their inability to go beyond their prejudices and their false perceptions of what they deem the Catholic faith to be. Grace alone can penetrate through the thick veil of pride, stubbornness, and refusal to even try to understand sacred mysteries with an open mind. If only they did, Beloved, the Holy Spirit would lead them into the fullness of eternal Beauty, Goodness, and Truth, which is nothing other than You, O Lord.

This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.

LUKE 9:11-17

My Soul's Beloved,

All are invited to come to You and to receive all You have to give. You turn no one away, the most vulnerable among us, the greatest sinner, the one most sick, most helpless, the one suffering and in dire poverty, the one who has nothing, and even those who lack the strength to approach You, and ask You to come to them instead will not be rejected. All are welcome. We just need to desire You, to call out to You, to implore You, and You are there. Even if others approach You on our behalf, You will gladly hear their plea and answer. 

You reject no one. You turn no one away. You assure us that the greater our sickness, wretchedness, and our sins, the greater our right to Your mercy, compassion, tenderness, kindness, and love.

Today, as the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, we are reminded about the great, mysterious, unfathomable, and infinite love of the Father in giving us His only Son as our food and drink. Without it, we would lack the strength to make this pilgrimage from earth to heaven, and we would fall by the wayside and perish. We are grateful to the Holy Spirit who makes this miracle of love possible by taking the gifts of bread and wine that we offer and transforming them into Your precious Body and Blood. We thank You also for instituting the gift of the priesthood, for without this Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have access to this wondrous gift. 

This is the only food that does not perish, is available to all who are in a state of grace, and has the power to make us ordinary mortals like You, sons and daughters of the Father and co-heirs with You to the Kingdom of God.

Jesus made the crowds welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing.
It was late afternoon when the Twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the people away, and they can go to the villages and farms round about to find lodging and food; for we are in a lonely place here.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go ourselves and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. But he said to his disciples, ‘Get them to sit down in parties of about fifty.’ They did so and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets.

Saturday, June 21, 2025

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, June 20, 2025

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, June 19, 2025

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.’