FRIDAY OF WEEK 31 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2025

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Whenever anyone obeys what Christ has said,
God’s love comes to perfection in him. 1JN 2:5

ROMANS 15:14-21

My Soul's Beloved, 

All of us who are members of Your Body have received the same mandate that St. Paul and the Apostles did: it is to spread the Good News so all may come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved. Our goal is to make You known to those who are in ignorance of You - how do we do that, especially in places where Christians are a persecuted minority? We do it by using every opportunity given to us by the Holy Spirit to witness to Your love, the power of the Gospel, and by testifying boldly what You and the Holy Spirit have done in our lives. The love of God and the goodness of God are our ever-present experience of You, Lord. Yes, we live by faith, and because we live by faith, we see the power of God at work. Those who once walked in darkness and were touched by the power of the love of God made tangible in You, experience for the first time what it means to encounter the love of the risen Lord. Their lives are transformed, and their spiritual awareness of the reality of the Living God is what makes them embrace You and declare You as their Lord and Savior.

All we need to do, Beloved, is to be authentic witnesses to the power of the Gospel, and the Holy Spirit will do the rest. Our lives have to be a visible expression of what we believe. All that is necessary to attract others to desire what we have is to practice what we believe and live our faith with conviction. But this requires us to be always vigilant, depending on the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us to shine Your light that will draw everyone to know, love You, believe in You, and be saved.

My brothers, I am quite certain that you are full of good intentions, perfectly well instructed and able to advise each other. The reason why I have written to you, and put some things rather strongly, is to refresh your memories, since God has given me this special position. He has appointed me as a priest of Jesus Christ, and I am to carry out my priestly duty by bringing the Good News from God to the pagans, and so make them acceptable as an offering, made holy by the Holy Spirit.
I think I have some reason to be proud of what I, in union with Christ Jesus, have been able to do for God. What I am presuming to speak of, of course, is only what Christ himself has done to win the allegiance of the pagans, using what I have said and done by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus all the way along, from Jerusalem to Illyricum, I have preached Christ’s Good News to the utmost of my capacity. I have always, however, made it an unbroken rule never to preach where Christ’s name has already been heard. The reason for that was that I had no wish to build on other men’s foundations; on the contrary, my chief concern has been to fulfil the text: Those who have never been told about him will see him, and those who have never heard about him will understand.

PSALM 97(98):1-4

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.

The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations.

LUKE 16:1-8

My Soul's Beloved, 

The tragedy of most of us who believe is that we are all too often less zealous in storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven that neither moths nor rust can ruin than those who work tirelessly to build up vast storehouses of earthly possessions. Most people run themselves ragged working for the things that perish, but are lackadaisical when it comes to the things of heaven. Our faith is small, and this is why we are powerless in attracting non-believers to the Truth that saves. 

We are envious of the gifts given to others. We are selfish. We gossip. We tear one another down. We give God out of our surplus, but not if it will hurt. When we give, we allow fear and anxiety to dictate the measure in which we give, worried lest we will not have enough for ourselves tomorrow. But that is not true giving. We have to use Your life as a springboard through which we live ours. You are the blueprint. True love does not count the cost but pours itself in sacrifice. It is a love that empties itself for the sake of the beloved. Few of us, Lord, truly model ourselves on You, Your life, and Your way of loving; if we did, the Kingdom of God would already be among us. Grant us this grace, O Lord, to become shrewd stewards of heavenly things and less astute of wordly things.

Jesus said to his disciples:
‘There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.” Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”
Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?” “One hundred measures of oil” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty.” To another he said, “And you, sir, how much do you owe?” “One hundred measures of wheat” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond and write eighty.”
‘The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.’