Romans 16:3-9, 16, 22-27, Psalm 145:2-5, 10-11, Luke 16:9-15

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich,
so that by his poverty you might become rich. 2 Cor 8:9

Romans 16:3-9, 16, 22-27, Psalm 145:2-5, 10-11, 
Luke 16:9-15


Romans 16:3-9, 16, 22-27

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

As we see from this part of Paul's letter to the Romans there are many disciples who worked before him to bring the Good News to the people of Rome and he acknowledges their work. There are many laborers in Your Vineyard and all toil for the glory of God and to establish His Kingdom in the world.

We are all brothers and sister and there is no question of one lording it over the other for all serve the One God, all serve their neighbor, and all serve each other in humility and love. Acknowledging that the work they do must give You all the glory and honor.

The foundation for the faith the world would eventually have in You was laid long before You came into the world. Beginning with Abraham our father in faith, and through the patriarchs and prophets that followed him, preparing the way for the Father to finally reveal to the world His love for us by sending You into the world to restore what had been irrevocably lost by our first parents. To the Father, to You and the Holy Spirit be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 145:2-5, 10-11

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

Ever since the Father revealed You, His Son to the world, generation after generation has acknowledged the unfathomable act of the Father's love in sending You to redeem what was irredeemable except through You.  Our songs of praise, adoration, worship, and thanksgiving rise up as a pleasing fragrance to the highest heavens as we offer to Him the sacrifice of our lives in union with the one, holy, and perfect Sacrifice that You made for us. In obedience with Your command we do this in memory of You, recalling to mind what You have done for us. How You saved us, and how You made it possible for us to return to our Father's House after the fall.

Thank You Beloved for restoring order and harmony in all that God our Father created and which was so wantonly destroyed by one selfish, prideful act of disobedience. May every voice join with that of all creation and all in heaven to sing Your praise forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 16:9-15

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

Often we miss the point of money, it has its purpose, it can be used for good rather than evil even though it certainly can be used for evil. 

You are very clear here, You have shown us in the parable of the dishonest servant how he made friends with those who owed his master money in order to keep their friendship when he had lost favor with his master.  But we who are Your disciples are foolishly naive when it comes to using the power of God available to us from working in our favor; to bring many to the knowledge of truth and faith in You. That faith which alone can save.

There is a very simple way to judge people including ourselves, are we scrupulously trustworthy with the things entrusted to us? We have been given such great spiritual wealth and we squander it by our indifference, our lack of zeal, our ignorance of how powerfully we can use what God has so graciously and generously entrusted to us. We cannot serve both God and the world we will do justice to neither. We must make a choice and having chosen to be Your disciples then we must do so with single-minded devotion.

The Pharisees knew that this parable was directed at them and the Evangelist of this Gospel tells us that they sneered at what You said because they loved money. So does the world today sneer at Christians, Christian values,  the Christian faith, as well as all things genuinely Christian. The whole world today is hell bent in bending over backwards to justify every aberration that the human mind can conceive of, every one of our abomination makes our holy God shudder in sadness and grief at the depths of depravity to which the crown of His creation has sunk; it should make men and women of good conscience everywhere weep just as You did when You looked at Jerusalem. 

Thank You Beloved that nothing is lost. We are still redeemed and You have won the victory despite all the lies of the devil.

Romans 15:14-21, Psalm 98:1-4, Luke 16:1-8

DAILY HOLY MASS READING

SOLEMNITY OF SAINT LEO THE GREAT
 - POPE & DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH


Whoever keeps the word of Christ,
the love of God is truly perfected in him. 1 Jn 2:5


Romans 15:14-21, Psalm 98:1-4, Luke 16:1-8 

Romans 15:14-21

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

If we desire to be like You then what was said of You by the prophets will be true of us as well as it was also for St. Paul, and all the disciples and saints who have gone before us. "Zeal for your house consumes me." My Beloved, You have hidden nothing from us. You have taught us the value of the Kingdom of Heaven. You have shown us the way to be holy, pure, righteous in order to be filled with joy always no matter what our circumstances may be. In sickness and health, in time of sorrow and joy, in want or in plenty we will always believe that having You we possess all.

The faith that I have Beloved I am called to share with others. I am called to tell my own personal story not anyone else's. This is me, a child of the Father, a member of Your Body the Church, known by God before He laid the foundations of the world. He created me to know Him, to love Him, and to be blissfully happy with Him in this life and eternally with Him in heaven. This is the joy and the confidence that I ought to share with others.

Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, thank You for the Sacraments, thank You that You are always with me encouraging me even though I often take only baby steps and make such slow progress on the path to holiness.  Thank You for protecting me as the apple of Your eye. Help me to fulfill the purpose for which You created me. Amen.

Psalm 98:1-4

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

Although we live in an age where sin abounds, we know that Your grace abounds even more. We can see this in the lives of the so many of the faithful who witness so powerfully to the love of the Father made manifest in You. We have been made sharers of the divine life. As St. John Paul II said so eloquently, "We are an Easter people and our song is Alleluia!" 

This is the new song that has been given to us because of all that You have done in perfect obedience to the Father's will. You have won the victory for the whole world. You message has gone to the ends of the earth and it is up to us who believe to live the message boldly in the world so that all who already know but have a weak faith may be encouraged to shine Your light without fear.

Stay with us Beloved that we may remain faithful to the end.

Luke 16:1-8 

Dear Love, Beloved of my soul,

We are always complaining that the people of the world are more crafty, more successful, and are able to live in comfort in the world because they are not too particular about how they handle their affairs. They are in good books with everyone and have influence with those who have power. 

Two thousand years ago You knew the ways of the people of the age who are no different from those today, they are crafty and are not ashamed of making a profit through any means. You were not praising them as it might appear in today's Gospel, You are just saying that they who are of the world are able to use they ways of the world to succeed unlike us who are timid, shy, awkward, ignorant and clueless how to use the mighty power of God available to us set the world on fire with the love of God. Is it timidity of indifference Lord that makes us so ineffective? 

Today You challenge us to take a leaf out of the children of the world and to be able to match them in shrewdness so the world will take us more seriously and pay attention to us as children of the Light and the Truth.