I chose you from the world
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will last,
says the Lord. JN 15:16
1 PETER 4:7-13
My Soul's Beloved,
There is so much great and practical spiritual advice in these verses from our first Vicar of Christ, St. Peter. Lord Jesus, grant me the grace to spend time pondering deeply all he says to the Church and to me today when we listen to this Reading at Holy Mass this day.
We are reminded that this earthly life is passing, and it is imperative that we are not tainted by the world and its sham glitter and glamor. Rather, we are to pray always, and in order to pray well, we are to keep a calm and sober mind. Not giddy-headed, not frivolous, not wavery-minded. True love, as he reminds us, covers a multitude of sins. It does not matter how smart, or capable, or how much I know or how well I know it, so long as all I do is prompted by authentic, gratuitous love, and not self-seeking in any way. Lord, how often I grumble internally even while carrying out my duties. You see. You know, even though the ones I serve do not. Forgive me, Lord. A wonderful way to do my duty cheerfully is, as St. Peter suggests, to consider it as a direct order from You, then it will remind me that ultimately, it is You I serve when I love and serve those nearest, dearest, closest to me, as well as those around me.
Another timely reminder is that we have all been given a gift or gifts to be used in the service of one another and to build up Your Body, the Church. I will be called to give an account of my stewardship when I stand before You to be judged. Help me not to forget or ignore what I have been given, which is to help and to serve above and before all else. And whatever suffering is allotted to me in this life, Lord, help me to unite it with Your great and incomprehensible suffering for me and my salvation, and to not complain, grumble, or grow bitter when I am called to pick up my cross daily and follow You. You will always provide the help and grace I need; I need to cooperate wholeheartedly. Help me, Lord.
Everything will soon come to an end, so, to pray better, keep a calm and sober mind. Above all, never let your love for each other grow insincere, since love covers over many a sin. Welcome each other into your houses without grumbling. Each one of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others. If you are a speaker, speak in words which seem to come from God; if you are a helper, help as though every action was done at God’s orders; so that in everything God may receive the glory, through Jesus Christ, since to him alone belong all glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
My dear people, you must not think it unaccountable that you should be tested by fire. There is nothing extraordinary in what has happened to you. If you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, because you will enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed.
PSALM 95(96):10-13
My Soul's Beloved,
After he had been acclaimed by the crowds, Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. He looked all round him, but as it was now late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Next day as they were leaving Bethany, he felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree in leaf some distance away, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it, but when he came up to it he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. And he addressed the fig tree. ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again’ he said. And his disciples heard him say this.
So they reached Jerusalem and he went into the Temple and began driving out those who were selling and buying there; he upset the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling pigeons. Nor would he allow anyone to carry anything through the Temple. And he taught them and said, ‘Does not scripture say: My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples? But you have turned it into a robbers’ den.’ This came to the ears of the chief priests and the scribes, and they tried to find some way of doing away with him; they were afraid of him because the people were carried away by his teaching. And when evening came he went out of the city.
Next morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered to the roots. Peter remembered. ‘Look, Rabbi,’ he said to Jesus, ‘the fig tree you cursed has withered away.’ Jesus answered, ‘Have faith in God. I tell you solemnly, if anyone says to this mountain, “Get up and throw yourself into the sea,” with no hesitation in his heart but believing that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. I tell you therefore: everything you ask and pray for, believe that you have it already, and it will be yours. And when you stand in prayer, forgive whatever you have against anybody, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your failings too. But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your failings either.’
Everything will soon come to an end, so, to pray better, keep a calm and sober mind. Above all, never let your love for each other grow insincere, since love covers over many a sin. Welcome each other into your houses without grumbling. Each one of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others. If you are a speaker, speak in words which seem to come from God; if you are a helper, help as though every action was done at God’s orders; so that in everything God may receive the glory, through Jesus Christ, since to him alone belong all glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
My dear people, you must not think it unaccountable that you should be tested by fire. There is nothing extraordinary in what has happened to you. If you can have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, because you will enjoy a much greater gladness when his glory is revealed.
PSALM 95(96):10-13
The Lord comes to rule the earth.
Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness.
Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad,
let the sea and all within it thunder praise,
let the land and all it bears rejoice,
all the trees of the wood shout for joy
at the presence of the Lord for he comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
With justice he will rule the world,
he will judge the peoples with his truth.
The Lord comes to rule the earth.
MARK 11:11-26
My Soul's Beloved,
Today, You warn us about the fame and adulation that the world gives, which lasts for less than a nanosecond, and the same people who praised us today can turn to rabid wolves the next. You, O Lord, are the only one we can count on and trust, for You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. You also remind us that while we may fool the whole world with a great outward show. Pretending to be who we are not. Giving of our surplus rather than until it hurts. To make a great show of being generous, pious, and devoted to God and neighbor, whereas we are hypocrites within, like the fig tree covered in bright foliage but with no fruit at all. The hungry who come to us return empty-handed just as the fig tree offered nothing to ease Your hunger that day, then we too will be cursed like it was.
You have no patience with those who deliberately lie and present themselves as genuine when in fact they are nothing but fake. Each time I pretend to be someone I know I am not, I call judgment on myself. No one can keep up a pretence forever; in the end, our real selves will become visible, and when our hypocrisy becomes public knowledge, people will wonder how they could be so wrong about us.
Unless we are able to live in the world but not become of the world, unless we are ready to stand out and be prepared to call out sin rather than be wishy washy about it. Unless we stand up for the Truth in every way and overturn tables, and call out the moneylenders and the buyers and sellers of human lives, then I will be just like the fig tree.
Just as the fig tree withered and died, so will we for our grave sins, be cut off from You, the true vine, and eventually we will shrivel, die, and be cast into the fire where the flames never go out.
Finally, Lord, we are given the blueprint if we are to receive an answer to our prayers. We must pray with faith, believing that all we ask for according to Your will, we will surely receive. We must be attentive to Your call always, ready to receive Your command and execute it immediately, cheerfully, and well. And above all we must forgive all who have done us injury, from the heart. The measure with which we receive will be the measure by which we have set our brothers and sisters free from the chains that have bound them and us in anger and unforgiveness.
After he had been acclaimed by the crowds, Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. He looked all round him, but as it was now late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Next day as they were leaving Bethany, he felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree in leaf some distance away, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it, but when he came up to it he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. And he addressed the fig tree. ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again’ he said. And his disciples heard him say this.
So they reached Jerusalem and he went into the Temple and began driving out those who were selling and buying there; he upset the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling pigeons. Nor would he allow anyone to carry anything through the Temple. And he taught them and said, ‘Does not scripture say: My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples? But you have turned it into a robbers’ den.’ This came to the ears of the chief priests and the scribes, and they tried to find some way of doing away with him; they were afraid of him because the people were carried away by his teaching. And when evening came he went out of the city.
Next morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered to the roots. Peter remembered. ‘Look, Rabbi,’ he said to Jesus, ‘the fig tree you cursed has withered away.’ Jesus answered, ‘Have faith in God. I tell you solemnly, if anyone says to this mountain, “Get up and throw yourself into the sea,” with no hesitation in his heart but believing that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. I tell you therefore: everything you ask and pray for, believe that you have it already, and it will be yours. And when you stand in prayer, forgive whatever you have against anybody, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your failings too. But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your failings either.’
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