MONDAY OF WEEK 23 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2026

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

1 CORINTHIANS 5:1-8

My Soul's Beloved,

Sexual immorality appears to have reached the pinnacle in our day and age. The level of depravity among men, women, young people, and even children is incomprehensible; all logic, common sense, and wisdom have disappeared. People actually defend evil behaviour and justify the most horrific sins, the worst of them being abortion even up to the time of birth.

Is it any wonder, Beloved, that nature rises up against us in an attempt to wash us off her bosom in the frightening natural disasters that are taking place the world over? Nations play their part in warring against each other, using their people as pawns in a game. No one cares how many innocent people lose their lives and their livelihoods as they desperately try to survive.

What is even more incomprehensible is that You have not waved Your hand across the world and annihilated us in Your just anger. We deserve punishment, O Lord, and yet You are merciful. You look on the few who are faithful, and You have compassion on the many. How much longer will we live in a world gone insane, and when, O Lord, will wisdom prevail, and the love of the Lord prevail?

I have been told as an undoubted fact that one of you is living with his father’s wife. This is a case of sexual immorality among you that must be unparalleled even among pagans. How can you be so proud of yourselves? You should be in mourning. A man who does a thing like that ought to have been expelled from the community. Though I am far away in body, I am with you in spirit, and have already condemned the man who did this thing as if I were actually present. When you are assembled together in the name of the Lord Jesus, and I am spiritually present with you, then with the power of our Lord Jesus he is to be handed over to Satan so that his sensual body may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
The pride that you take in yourselves is hardly to your credit. You must know how even a small amount of yeast is enough to leaven all the dough, so get rid of all the old yeast, and make yourselves into a completely new batch of bread, unleavened as you are meant to be. Christ, our passover, has been sacrificed; let us celebrate the feast, then, by getting rid of all the old yeast of evil and wickedness, having only the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

PSALM 5:5-7,12

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

You are no God who loves evil;
no sinner is your guest.
The boastful shall not stand their ground
before your face.

You hate all who do evil;
you destroy all who lie.
The deceitful and bloodthirsty man
the Lord detests.

All those you protect shall be glad
and ring out their joy.
You shelter them; in you they rejoice,
those who love your name.

Lead me, Lord, in your justice.

LUKE 6:6-11

23RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. 2COR 5:19

EZEKIEL 33:7-9

My Soul's Beloved,

Today we are reminded that we must be bold and courageous in calling out evil when we witness it. All too often we keep silent in the face of injustice, or when people sin gravely, especially those we love, family members or friends, out of fear of upsetting them. Correction in love, so that a soul is saved, is always better than having that soul lost forever.

The whole purpose of our life, our final goal, is to be received by You and live with You in glory forever. We must not only correct others when they sin, but we too must gladly receive correction when we stray from the path of goodness, beauty, and truth. We can only repent when we are aware of our sin. True contrition involves humility and a firm resolve, with the help of grace, to sin no more. 

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like Yours.

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them in my name. If I say to a wicked man: Wicked wretch, you are to die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his ways, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent, and he does not repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your life.’

PSALM 94(95):1-2,6-9

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come before him, giving thanks,
with songs let us hail the Lord.

Come in; let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us:
for he is our God and we
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice!
‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert
when your fathers put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.’

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

ROMANS 13:8-10

My Soul's Beloved,

True love, the kind of love that does not count the cost, which is sacrificial, and readily pours itself out for the good of the other, is the kind of love with which You have first loved us. As Your disciples, we are commanded to love one another with that self-same love.  We need only to look at the cross to see what authentic love looks like. It is a self-donation that does not stop to count the cost. How little there is of this kind of love in the world, although we do see it. The truth is that this kind of love is the exception, not the rule, but as Christians it ought to be so commonplace that just as it was said of early Christians, 'See how they love one another.' So it should be true of us.

Grant me this grace, O Lord, that every moment of every day I love as You invite me to. It is hard because I am selfish, impatient, and wicked, but with You providing the help I need, I can conquer my sinful nature and try to do better.

Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligations. All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbour as yourself. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.

MATTHEW 18:15-20

My Soul's Beloved,

We, in the Church, are past masters at discussing people's faults, failings, weaknesses, sins, behind their backs. We shred their reputations, we cover our mouths as we whisper slander to one another, and we take devilish delight in making known to all in our close cliques the latest gossip that knows no boundaries as we allow our imagination to gleefully and maliciously embellish the facts. We talk freely about the Pope, Bishops, Priests, and everyone who has a leadership role in the Church. We criticize freely all and sundry without lifting a hand to volunteer and do our part. We gossip about our neighbors and relatives. We shred reputations to ribbons based on hearsay. Today, Your Word reminds us where our real duty lies. 

If someone is doing wrong, we must have the courage to go to them and speak the truth in love, one-on-one. Not behind their back, not spread salacious gossip, but go to the person and make it known that they are committing sin. All too often, that is all it takes when we gently and lovingly correct someone. If he listens, we have won a soul back to You; if not, we are told what the next should be and the next. After doing all that we could possibly have done, we leave the outcome to You.

It is not only the Church that has a role in reconciling sinners; we too can play a part in leading our fellow sinners back to Confession and to restoration to the life of the Church. The most important thing that we can do is to always pray for one another. Pray for the Church, her leaders, and her people that we might not be a source of scandal but that our lives edify those around us and lead them also to come to know You, love You, and be saved by You, so they too can live with You forever.

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.
‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.
‘I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’