20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

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

JEREMIAH 38:4-6,8-10

My Soul's Beloved,

When we abdicate our authority, our rule, over those areas that are under our jurisdiction and give in to the clamor of the world, the flesh, and the devil, we hand over autonomy to that which will not rest until it has destroyed al,l and we are left destitute and ruined.

All too often, we see how evil rich and powerful people usurp power and make puppets of those who have allowed themselves to be coerced and bribed. No thought is given to the poor, the weak, the marginalised, those whom the powerful do not wish to see as equal to them before God. They sweep them aside like so much rubbish so they can grow their empires and increase their already obscene wealth. The weak fawn on them and flatter them, and those who cannot be bought, who will now bow down in the face of tyranny and abuse, who speak the truth regardless of the cost, as the prophet Jeremiah did, are made to pay dearly and sometimes even with their lives.

But we must never forget, Beloved, that while the good suffer, You are always in control and no harm will come to those who are Yours. However, if you do permit suffering it is because, from it, You can draw a far greater good.

The king’s leading men spoke to the king. ‘Let Jeremiah be put to death: he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and all the people too, by talking like this. The fellow does not have the welfare of this people at heart so much as its ruin.’ ‘He is in your hands as you know,’ King Zedekiah answered ‘for the king is powerless against you.’ So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the well of Prince Malchiah in the Court of the Guard, letting him down with ropes. There was no water in the well, only mud, and into the mud Jeremiah sank.
Ebed-melech came out from the palace and spoke to the king. ‘My lord king,’ he said ‘these men have done a wicked thing by treating the prophet Jeremiah like this: they have thrown him into the well, where he will die.’ At this the king gave Ebed-melech the Cushite the following order: ‘Take three men with you from here and pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the well before he dies.’

PSALM 39(40):2-4,18

Lord, come to my aid!

I waited, I waited for the Lord
and he stooped down to me;
he heard my cry.

He drew me from the deadly pit,
from the miry clay.
He set my feet upon a rock
and made my footsteps firm.

He put a new song into my mouth,
praise of our God.
Many shall see and fear
and shall trust in the Lord.

As for me, wretched and poor,
the Lord thinks of me.
You are my rescuer, my help,
O God, do not delay.

Lord, come to my aid!

HEBREWS 12:1-4

My Soul's Beloved,

The reason we fail so often against concupiscence is because we put up such a poor, lethargic fight against the desires of our flesh. We give in to our baser nature with such great alacrity that we no longer possess the will to fight, overcome, and prevail. We have such a great cloud of witnesses, as St. Paul reminds us, who have gone before us, holy men and women who have modeled their lives on You, their Savior, on Mother Mary, St. Joseph, and so many more, and have lived lives of heroic virtue. 

Thank You, Lord, that every day is a new day. We need not be discouraged for having fallen, for we are so weak; the tragedy does not lie in having failed innumerable times, but in failing to rise up and try tirelessly over and over again. It is in the courageous struggles that we are most pleasing to You.

Today and every day, Lord, You provide all the graces and help necessary to live holy lives through the Sacraments You instituted. May we take full advantage of them and trust the Holy Spirit, whom You have given us as our Helper and Advocate, to do for us what we are unable to do for ourselves. Help us never to lose heart and give up, but to rise up each time we fall and lean not on our own strength, but on Yours.

With so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future, he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on has taken his place at the right of God’s throne. Think of the way he stood such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage. In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.

LUKE 12:49-53

My Soul's Beloved,

We belong to Your army. You have provided us with Your armor. So let us clothe ourselves in the garment of righteousness, be cleansed by Your Blood, strengthened with the Eucharist, and be filled with Your Holy Spirit daily. From the rising of the sun to its setting, You O Lord, are praised by all that lives on earth and in heaven. May our voices join with those of all creation and, daily, hourly, moment by moment, fight against those who seek to destroy Your Body, Your Temple, the Church. 

Grant us the grace not to lose heart when those we love so dearly deny You, betray You, and run after false religions and false gods. While our hearts are fearful that their souls may be damned forever, may we not lose hope, for You will surely hear our prayers as we beg and plead with You with sorrowful, broken hearts to grant them wisdom before it is too late. 

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over!
‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’