WEDNESDAY OF WEEK 24 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life. JN 6:63, 68

1 TIMOTHY 3:14-16

My Soul's Beloved,

The essence of our faith, hope, and joy in this life is that the Son of God became the Son of Man. You endured all that we endure in the flesh, taking upon Yourself the human condition in all its weakness, misery, suffering, and death, and in exchange giving us eternal life. This is the truth that God so loved the world that He made Himself visible and tangible to us in You so we could know God as He truly is,  in His essence and in His being, GOD IS LOVE. This is indeed the Good News of our faith, faith that saves, faith that gives life, faith that endures under all circumstances, and triumphs.

We are chosen, blessed, and privileged to be Catholic, to be born into the faith of our fathers, and because to us, to whom much has been given, much is demanded, and the greater our accountability for our stewardship of the riches entrusted to us. Beloved, a stricter judgment will be ours if we have taken the blessings freely bestowed on us, lightly squandering the wealth of God's mercies in ways displeasing to Him and to You. Grant us wisdom, Lord, to be good stewards of the great riches given to us, so that when we stand before You, we will be confident of hearing You call us good and faithful servants and invite us to receive our inheritance in the Kingdom of God.

At the moment of writing to you, I am hoping that I may be with you soon; but in case I should be delayed, I wanted you to know how people ought to behave in God’s family – that is, in the Church of the living God, which upholds the truth and keeps it safe. Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is very deep indeed:
He was made visible in the flesh,
attested by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed to the pagans,
believed in by the world,
taken up in glory.

PSALM 110(111):1-6

Great are the works of the Lord.

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 for ever.
He makes us remember his wonders.
The Lord is compassion and love.

He gives food to those who fear him;
keeps his covenant ever in mind.
He has shown his might to his people
by giving them the lands of the nations.

Great are the works of the Lord.

LUKE 7:31-35

My Soul's Beloved,

We are truly a perverse generation; we happily follow blind, ignorant leaders, the popular mantra of the day, and the latest fads, but there are few true followers of the way of suffering. We are like the people You describe in Your time, but it applies to all times. We laugh when we should weep, we cry when we ought to rejoice, we mourn when we should be dancing. 

Like the people of Your day, we too readily criticize those who stir our conscience, causing real discomfort. We prefer living life on our terms rather than being reminded that sacrifice, suffering, and self-mastery are an integral part of growth in the spiritual realm. They were angry, and they raged, and acted like ignorant children because of their lack of wisdom, just as we do today when we try to drown out every sane voice that calls us to wake up to the spiritual battle that is taking place all around us.

Intervene on our behalf, Lord, and for the sake of the faithful few, have compassion and save the many.

Jesus said to the people:
‘What description can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children shouting to one another while they sit in the market-place:
‘“We played the pipes for you,
and you wouldn’t dance;
we sang dirges,
and you wouldn’t cry.”
‘For John the Baptist comes, not eating bread, not drinking wine, and you say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man comes, eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet Wisdom has been proved right by all her children.’