MEMORIAL OF ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA, RELIGIOUS - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The word of God is something alive and active:
it can judge secret emotions and thoughts. HEB 4:12

GENESIS 12:1-9 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You are true to all Your promises. You are faithful to Your Word. Never has it been known that God has said a Word and it was not fulfilled. From the laying of the foundations of the world to its redemption by the Blood of the Lamb, and the final victory when You will come again to claim all that You won on the Cross on Calvary.

The people called by Your Name are a blessing to the whole world. It is Your Name that sustains it. It is You, O Eternal Word of the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit that is reconciling the whole world to God. One day this promise will also be fulfilled - every knee will bow and every tongue will confess to the glory of God, that You indeed are Lord.

You accompany us just as God accompanied Abraham. You are Emmanuel, God with us. We praise and thank You for every young man and woman who hears Your Voice, and responds to Your glorious invitation:

‘Leave your country, your family, and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.

Bless us with good, holy priests and religious and together with all the people who are called by Your Name may we hasten the glorious coming of Your Kingdom on earth.

PSALM 33:12-13,18-20,22 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The tragedy of the age we live in is that so many people were baptized into the Truth, into Your Body, into the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church and they wandered away from home to a far away land. There among strangers, they adopt their sinful ways, culture, and habits. Having rejected their true family they discard every tie that linked them to their divine heritage. 

But all is not lost - those who live in the house of God shine bright. They live in the city high on the hill and their light illumines the world. God looks down on them, He delights in them for they are His faithful children.

Your faithful remnant O Lord, love You, revere You, and are grateful to You for rescuing us from the jaws of death. You keep us safe from hunger, thirst, for we are fed and sustained on Manna from heaven.

We long for Your coming O Lord. We long for the day when all will know and love You, honor and worship You in spirit and in truth. Hasten the day when all will believe that the Father sent You not to condemn the world but to redeem and save it. The battle is won but the war for souls continues to rage all around us. Be merciful O Lord and grant that all may believe in You and be saved.

MATTHEW 7:1-5 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

This passage in sacred scripture has been quoted ad infinitum ad nauseam to condone the evil actions of the world and those in it who are given over to evil.

Sin is sin - it is vile in all its varied forms and separates us from God. What You warn us to guard against is the condemnation of the sinner. What You despise is the hypocrisy of whited sepulchers who make a pretense of holiness and goodness while sanctimoniously pointing out the errors of others.

So let us not make light of the terrible sins that we commit. Some of us are habitual sinners and our conscience no longer troubles us because it is dead. There is a judgment seat on which You are enthroned and to You is given the authority to judge us all. Let us take today's warning to heart and not make light of sin both venial and mortal. If we are guilty let us hasten to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and be cleansed and forgiven rather than concealing our sins while readily and freely judging and condemning others. 

TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people. LK 7:16

JOB 38:1,8-11 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

You always answer whether in the calm of a normal day or in the eye of the storm for You are always with us. You never leave us nor do You abandon those who know You, those who are called by Your Name, those who recognize the sound of Your voice and follow it even in the midst of thick fog or in the night that is darker than night.

Lord God, Almighty Father, Lord God, Redeemer of the world, Lord God, the Breath of Life, You created all, You sustain all, and those redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb exult and give thanks to our God who saves.

No matter how terrifying life may get, no matter how deep the waters, or how mighty the tempest that swirls around us and threatens to annihilate us, You, O Lord, are in control. Your Word has the power to change the course of the storm, to calm the angry wind, and lead us gently to shore.

I shall fear nothing for You are my God whom I love. I believe in You, hope in You, and trust You always.

PSALM 107:23-26,28-32 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Every psalm exhorts us to praise and thank You, to worship and adore You, to sing songs of gladness, and to exult in Your goodness, kindness, mercy, and love because He discovered that You dwell in the praises of Your people.

From the moment we are conceived we experience the turbulence of life and some more than others. It is no wonder then that the psalmist speaks about ships on the sea and those who sail in them. A storm rises from nowhere and suddenly they are tossed about by gale-force winds and mighty waves that threaten to smash their boats and cast them into the dark, swirling ocean perhaps to their death.

Life can be like that too. There are times when we experience years of calm. One ordinary day runs into another for long stretches of time then suddenly from nowhere we are rammed on every side with calamity. Anxiety, fear, terror, pain, suffering, and uncertainty threaten to drown us - today we are reminded that it is precisely in these times that we are to lift our gaze to You unwaveringly and trust You to keep every one of Your promises and You will. You are God and we are yours. 

2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The more we contemplate and meditate on Your Word as Mary did, the more we will be transfixed by the overwhelming love that God has for us. Who are we that You love us in the way that You do? We have done nothing to merit this love. Truth be told we are quite undeserving and most unworthy of it.

St. Paul gives us a clue in today's First Reading - You died for us so we could receive Your life in us and in grateful response to Your love we are to love one another with the same self-sacrificial love. 

God created us for eternity and while our flesh will perish our souls will live forever. The things of the earth are passing and we were not created for that which is temporal. We are baptized into Your Body, we are members of the family of God, and we are heirs to the Kingdom of heaven. Let us not get caught up in the frivolities of the flesh that will eventually die, decay, and turn to dust rather, let us as St. Paul urges us, remember that we no longer ought to live by the standards of the world but by the standards of God who is holy and perfect. Since we are now a new creation in You we must put to death our old sinful ways and become more and more like You.

MARK 4:35-41 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

I never tire of reading, meditating, and imagining what it would have been like to have been in the boat with You and Your disciples when that storm suddenly whipped the waves into a frenzy. The boat was tossed about by the wind, the waves crashed into it filling the boat and terrifying the disciples some of whom were seasoned fishermen and no strangers to such storms. 

Through it all, You were fast asleep with Your dear head lying on a cushion. I love that little detail. You knew no fear because You are God. One can imagine the poor nonplussed disciples wondering whether or not to wake You up when they could stand it no longer they woke You up saying: Master, do you not care? We are going down!’  When we are filled with terror we are unable to think straight. Of course You care, You care more than we can ever comprehend.

You woke up and St. Mark tells us You rebuked the wind and said to the sea, saying, ‘Quiet now! Be calm!’ Immediately the wind dropped, and all was calm again. Then turning to Your disciples You rebuked them gently too, ‘Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?’ This is what You say to us too when we allow our fears to overwhelm us. You are God whom even the wind and the sea obey and we can always trust You for we are Yours.