TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTY WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Happy are those
who hear the word of God
and keep it. LK 11:28

JONAH 3:1-10 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Jonah preached repentance to the people of Nineveh and they believed in God's word and repented. So effective was his preaching that even the king of Nineveh on hearing the news ordered that his entire kingdom fast, pray, and repent for their sins so that God would relent and not destroy their city. 

You do not destroy us sinful as we are because You are a merciful God and desire that all Your people be saved. Too often we get caught up in the passing pleasures of the world forgetting that we were created for You and for eternity. If we live in the flesh we will reap the fruits of the flesh which is decay and death. If however, we live in the Spirit, we will have an abundant harvest of the fruits of the Spirit.

It is good for us to periodically take stock of our lives and see where we are headed - to eternal death or eternal life. It is important to get away from the world every now and then to contemplate the Word of God and build our lives on the sure foundation of Truth. When we do You will relent, You will bless us and shelter us so no disaster will plague our footsteps, overtake us, overcome us, and destroy us.  

PSALM 130:1-4,7-8 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I have sinned and I keep sinning. I am guilty and I deserve Your punishment. But You know my weaknesses, You are aware of how frail I am, how easily I stumble and fall even. If You did not hold my hand and steady me I would not rise again for I have no strength of my own. 

You are always near when I call for help and for mercy. When I beg You to pity me and save me You hasten to pick me up, strengthen me and help me. You never tire of forgiving me when I approach You with a repentant and contrite heart. 

We live in a fallen world and we are a fallen people but You O Lord have redeemed us with Your Blood. You wash away our iniquities, You cleanse us from all our sins, and You O Lord will take us by the hand and lead us to the Father's house because You paid the price for our redemption. The world and its people will not perish because You have vanquished death and crushed the head of the Enemy.  

LUKE 10:38-42 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Two millennia have gone by since the evangelists recorded this incident of the two sisters Martha and Mary and all who contemplate it, pray on it, reflect on it will never exhaust the inspirations of the Holy Spirit even until the end of time.

You came as a guest to the house of Your friends and it is Martha who opens the door and welcomes You in. She is immediately caught up and absorbed with the preparations for the meal she wishes to serve You. When she realizes that her sister, Mary, is not lifting a finger to help her but is sitting at Your feet is absolutely enthralled by You and Your teaching resentment fills her heart and she complains, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ 

Did You smile a little as You gently admonished Martha? You knew she loved You and wanted to lay before You a meal fit for a beloved friend, but in her busyness, she had forgotten what is truly important and You loved her enough to point it out to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.’ 

What You say to Martha You say to each of us who are Your disciples, work and prayer are both important but we must recognize when it is appropriate and imperative for us to drop everything so we can contemplate God and do so. 

MEMORIAL OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I give you a new commandment:
love one another just as I have loved you,
says the Lord. JN 13:34

JONAH 1:1-2:1,11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Many of us who identify ourselves as Your followers resemble Jonah. When we find the call to holiness too difficult, the labor in the vineyard too arduous, the mission field fraught with obstacles we think we are unable to overcome, we run in the opposite direction. When we do, we soon discover like Jonah, that we are restless and joyless. Jonah knew the reason for his troubles that dogged his footsteps and yet he made futile attempts to escape.

No matter what our vocation in life is we are called to be missionaries. Like Jonah, we may ignore it, bury it, run away from it, but the nagging voice of conscience will not let us rest. The Good News is not to be kept to ourselves but is to be shared with the whole world beginning with those nearest and dearest to us.

You never tire of urging and cajoling us to remain in Your love and do whatever You ask us to, if we are faithful, You are even more faithful. If we listen and obey, You will bless us and those we love far more than we can ever hope for or imagine. May we never tire of doing all that You command. 

LUKE 10:25-37 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Today's parable, the Good Samaritan, teaches us how to live in a world that is often cold, heartless, indifferent to the pain of others, and where most people are selfish and self-absorbed. The lawyer in the Gospel passage taken from Luke resembles those who look for plausible excuses not to do what is right, true, and good. The world despises the qualities that are upheld by God - simplicity, humility, and a childlike spirit. The values of the world are contrary to the ways of God. 

Who is my neighbor? is a great question for us to reflect and ponder on and the answer will most probably make us squirm uncomfortably. Our neighbor is the one who we often and perhaps deliberately overlook or ignore in our own homes, in our neighborhood, or in our place of work.  

Like the Samaritan traveler we too will meet people in our pilgrim journey from this life the to next, how many will we notice who need help, how many of us will be so moved by compassion that we are willing to stop even though it messes up our schedule and our plans and offer aid? How many of us will go the extra mile and pay all the expenses with no hope of reward or recognition?

Today we are reminded to care for one another and do all we can to lighten the burden of those who journey with us.