Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS


I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me. Jn 14:6

JAMES 1:1-11
PSALM 119:67-68, 71-72, 75-76
MARK 8:11-13


JAMES 1:1-11

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The secret to living a stress-free life is to live as James exhorts us to in today's Reading.  "Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." To be joyful no matter what life throws at us is difficult when we forget that we are children of God whom He has ransomed with the life of His beloved Son. We are loved by the Father with a love that is beyond all telling and this is why we need never be anxious or afraid. And if we are, then all we need to do is cry out, "Abba" and He will send us all the help we need.

Thank You, Beloved, for the Gift of Your Holy Spirit who lives in us and is the bearer of all the gifts we need to persevere in holiness.


PSALM 119:67-68, 71-72, 75-76

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

I thank You for the psalms that have sustained and comforted the pilgrim for they are cries from the heart. Each one is a heartfelt experience of the goodness, kindness, mercy, love, and power of a God who never fails to strengthen, comfort, and console the weary and afflicted of soul.

Thank You, Holy Spirit for inspiring these beautiful prayers that express so beautifully what we experience but find no words of our own.

Thank You, Father, for the power of Your Word made flesh that came to dwell among us and is still present with us.


MARK 8:11-13

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The hypocrite, the ditherer, the coward, continues to ask for signs even though countless irrefutable signs have already been given. It is a way of procrastinating, it looks for lame excuses, it is a refusal to make a commitment while knowing the truth.

The Pharisees in every age are the self-righteous, pompous, fatuous fools who make a great pretense of compassion and inclusion but are so blinded and twisted by their own prejudices that refuse to recognize or acknowledge the truth.

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Incline my heart, O God, to your decrees;
and favor me with your law. PS 119:36, 29B

1 KINGS 8:22-23, 27-30
PSALM 84:3, 4, 5 AND 10, 11
MARK 7:1-13



1 KINGS 8:22-23, 27-30

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

The prayer that Solomon made in the presence of the people of Israel as he stood at the altar of the grand temple he built, and where God deigned to dwell, is our prayer too, today and always. We pray Beloved, that the Church You founded with Peter as its rock will love You and serve You wholeheartedly.


You choose to remain in our tabernacles in every Catholic church. You choose to make Your dwelling place among us. Can it indeed be that God dwells on earth? You whom the heavens cannot contain and the world which is Your footstool deign to come into our hearts when we receive You in the Holy Eucharist. We become one with You in an intimacy that will only be surpassed in heaven.
Thank You!


PSALM 84:3, 4, 5 AND 10, 11

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

All the yearning and pining of our soul for You is realized when we receive You in the Holy Eucharist. We are privileged to visit You in adoration chapels everywhere where You are truly present. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.

Thank You, Beloved, that You are only as distant from us as our breath. Thank You for the intimacy of Your beloved Presence in Holy Communion where we become united with You and with one another, truly becoming One Body with You as the Head.

Thank You for a taste of heaven and of eternity when we receive You and for all the graces You pour into our soul at every worthy reception of the Eucharist.



MARK 7:1-13

My Beloved, Soul of my soul,

In every religion and culture, there are rituals that very often become more important than the faith professed - a faith that demands that we treat one another as brothers and sisters.  We share a common humanity yet so often we forget that it is more important to respect one another, celebrate the good focusing on what unites us rather than that which divides.

In today's Gospel, we have the Pharisees looking down and sneering at the disciples because they did not follow the ritual of washing their hands before they sat to eat their meals. Too often we criticize one another on inconsequential things, we hurt one another, we disparage each other, ostracise people, causing division and hate because they are different. You remind us that we are hypocrites when we only pay lip service to our faith and our worship is false when we fail to love one another.