MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH ON MONDAY WEEK 8 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Happy are you, holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise,
for from you arose the sun of justice, Christ our God.

GENESIS 3:9-15,20

My Soul's Beloved, 

After his deliberate act of disobedience, God came looking for Adam. All he needed to do was run to Him, fall at his feet, confess his sin, and beg pardon. Instead, when God came looking for him, and called to him saying, 'Where are you?' Adam, discovering his nakedness, hid from Him. Sin made him conscious of himself because it took his gaze away from God and His creation, and turned that gaze onto himself. His focus had shifted with that first sin; he saw himself differently. 

God asked him directly, ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ he immediately understood the horror of what he had done, and instead of acknowledging his sin, shifted the blame to Eve. This is the woman of whom her had first said to God, our Father, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man".But now he turns against her and blames her for his sin. He made no attempt to resist, put up a fight, or stop her from breaking God's command; instead, he allowed himself to be beguiled by her. In fact, it was he who had failed miserably in being her protector and leader, and having failed her and himself, he also failed every generation that was to follow. After each had found someone to blame, Adam blaming Eve, and Eve blaming the serpent rather than themselves, until God would provide a Lamb, in time, to become the scapegoat for all the sins of the sons of Adam,  God said:

Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,

‘Be accursed beyond all cattle,

all wild beasts.

You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust

every day of your life.

I will make you enemies of each other:

you and the woman,

your offspring and her offspring.

It will crush your head

and you will strike its heel.’

God sent the world a Woman clothed with the Sun, for she bore the Son of God, who is brighter than a thousand suns, in her womb through her fiat.

Thank You, Father. Thank You, Mary, and thank You, Jesus, and thank You, Holy Spirit, who made it all possible.

After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’

Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,
‘Be accursed beyond all cattle,
all wild beasts.
You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust
every day of your life.
I will make you enemies of each other:
you and the woman,
your offspring and her offspring.
It will crush your head
and you will strike its heel.’
The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.

PSALM 86(87)

Of you are told glorious things, O city of God!

On the holy mountain is his city

  cherished by the Lord.

The Lord prefers the gates of Zion

  to all Jacob’s dwellings.

Of you are told glorious things,

  O city of God!

‘Zion shall be called “Mother”

  for all shall be her children.’

It is he, the Lord Most High,

  who gives each his place.

In his register of peoples he writes:

  ‘These are her children,’

and while they dance they will sing:

  ‘In you all find their home.’

Of you are told glorious things, O city of God!

JOHN 19:25-34

My Soul's Beloved, 

May I always be found standing at the foot of the Cross with Mother Mary, the faithful, beloved disciple, Mary of Magdala, and the other Mary. If I am found always beneath Your gaze, my Lord, I will always have the love, tenderness, and intercession of a most loving Mother. You entrust her to me and me to her. She will lovingly bring all my prayers and needs to you. I will place all my prayers and needs in her Immaculate Heart, and through her chaste lips, she will reveal them to You.

Thank You, Lord, for drinking the Cup of Suffering to its bitter dregs. Thank You, for oftentimes raising that cup to my lips so I may have a little taste of it so I can better appreciate the love the Father bore for me and the love you bear the Father and me. Thank You for Your continual and unquenched thirst for souls. It is this thirst that gives me hope for the salvation of those I love. They will be saved by the power of Your Sacrifice. I trust in Your passion and Your Blood. 

Thank You for the Holy Eucharist that sustains the Church, and I pray that soon I will celebrate with joy, along with heaven, as the rest of my family partakes of the heavenly manna.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, ‘Woman, this is your son.’ Then to the disciple he said, ‘This is your mother.’ And from that moment the disciple made a place for her in his home.
After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed, and to fulfil the scripture perfectly he said, ‘I am thirsty.’
A jar full of vinegar stood there, so putting a sponge soaked in the vinegar on a hyssop stick they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the vinegar he said, ‘It is accomplished’; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.
It was Preparation Day, and to prevent the bodies remaining on the cross during the sabbath – since that sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away. Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. When they came to Jesus, they found he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance; and immediately there came out blood and water.