2 Maccabees 1:2-3, 1 Corinthians 9:16-18, 22-27, Luke 6:39-42, Psalm 84:3-6,12

2 Maccabees 1:2-3

2 May God fill you with every good and remember his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants. 3 May he give you all a heart to worship him and to fulfill his will with generosity and a well-disposed spirit.

This is such a beautiful blessing my Beloved. 

May God fill me with every good and remember His covent with me  sealed with Your Blood.  May He give me a heart to worship Him and to fulfill all He requires of me.  May He give me a loving heart and a well disposed spirit in order that may return  measure for measure, His glorious love for me.

1 Corinthians 9:16-18, 22-27

16 Because I cannot boast of announcing the Gospel: I am bound to do it. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! 17 If I preached voluntarily, I could expect my reward, but I have been trusted this office against my will. 18 How can I, then, deserve a reward? In announcing the Gospel, I will do it freely without making use of the rights given to me by the Gospel.

22 To the weak I made myself weak, to win the weak. So I made myself all things to all people in order to save, by all possible means, some of them. 23 This I do for the Gospel, so that I too have a share of it.

• 24 Have you not learned anything from the stadium? Many run, but only one gets the prize. Run, therefore, intending to win it, 25 as athletes who impose upon themselves a rigorous discipline.

26 So, then, I run knowing where I go. I box but not aimlessly in the air. 27 I punish my body and control it, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be rejected.

Beloved, I have been given a sacred stewardship.  What I have received freely, I in turn must give freely.  Just as You became one like us to save us, so too must I be prepared to identify completely with those whom I wish to share the Gospel.  Discpline, self-sacrifice, giving-up, denial of empty pleasure and self-indulgence, these are all opposed to the gospel of self, preached by the culture of the day.  However, if we wish to win the prize, then it is imperative to curb the flesh and refuse the lure of material excess that the world uses to tempt and distract us from the goal.

Luke 6:39-42

39 And Jesus offered this example, “Can a blind person lead another blind person? Surely both will fall into a ditch. 40 A disciple is not above the master; but when fully trained, he will be like the master. 41 So why do you pay attention to the speck in your brother’s eye while you have a log in your eye and are not conscious of it? 42 How can you say to your neighbor: ‘Friend, let me take this speck out of your eye,’ when you can’t remove the log in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the log from your own eye and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbor’s eye.

Unless I myself have grasped the whole truth I cannot hope to lead anyone as both he/she and I will fall..  Fully trained though I will be like the Master.  What a beautiful truth my Lord, the more I allow myself to be moulded and shaped by You, the better will I image You.  Thank You for reminding me to weed out my faults and wean myself off my bad habits.

Psalm 84:3-6,12
3 My soul yearns, pines,
for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God.
4 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God!
5 Happy are those who live in your house,
continually singing your praise!
6 Happy the pilgrims whom you strengthen,
to make the ascent to you.
12 For the Lord God is a sun and a shield;
he bestows favor and glory.
The Lord withholds no good thing
from those who walk in uprightness.

Beloved, do not let me get side-tracked with foolishness.  May I dwell in Your house because in You alone is perfect peace and joy.  Like the sparrow may I nest in You and sing Your praise the live long day in my thoughts, words and actions. Bathed in the sunshine of Your love  may I reflect Your light wherever I go. Amen.

Matthew 1:16, 18, 1 Corinthians 8:3

Matthew 1:16, 18

16 Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus who is called the Christ – the Messiah.•18 This is how Jesus Christ was born. Mary his mother had been given to Joseph in marriage but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Mary - a beautiful name for our beautiful Lady.  The sound of this name is sweet, soft, tender and loving. 


In these very, very brief sentences revealed in the above Gospel verses, our destiny, destroyed by our first parents, was to be restored with Mary's yes.  Thank You Father, who by Your mighty power overshadowed her, thank You Holy Spirit for coming upon her so that Jesus our Savior could be conceived in the womb of the new Arc of the Covenant.

1 Corinthians 8:3
3 but if someone loves (God), he has been known (by God).

Beloved, if we obey You and live as You ask us to, there will be an end to all wars and conflict and the peace that only You can give, would reign in this world making it paradise.

Luke 2:34-35

Luke 2:34-35

34 Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “See him; he will be for the rise or fall of the multitudes of Israel. He shall stand as a sign of contradiction, 35 while a sword will pierce your own soul. Then the secret thoughts of many may be brought to light.”

Simeon was one of the faithful few who seek God all the time.  They are conduits of His grace because they make themselves available.  God speaks through them.  Those whom God has chosen, as He chose Mary, (His favor rested on her as it rested on His Son), are destined to fulfill His purpose.  Total surrender will not only lead you to the Cross but will inevitably nail you to it.  God often seems to ask the impossible (or so it may seem to the casual observer), of those who are prepared to love Him without barriers.  True Love does not stop to count the cost in imitation of Divine Love.

Proverbs 3:5-6, 1 Corinthians 6:1-11, Luke 6:12-19, Psalm 149:1-6 & 9

Proverbs:3:5-6

Trust in Yahweh with all your heart; do not rely on your own insight. Let His Presence pervade all your ways and He will protect your foot from the snare.

My Beloved, thank You from the depths of my heart for this timely piece of advice. This is the second time You have spoken to me through this verse.  Each time I needed to be reminded that I need to rely on You and trust You, lest, relying on my own wisdom, I stumble on my own stupidity.

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

1 When you have a complaint against a brother, how dare you bring it before pagan judges instead of bringing it before God’s people? 2 Do you not know that you shall one day judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you incapable of judging such simple problems?
3 Do you not know that we will even judge the angels? And could you not decide every day affairs? 4 But when you have ordinary cases to be judged, you bring them before those who are of no account in the Church! 5 Shame on you! Is there not even one among you wise enough to be the arbiter among believers?  But no. One of you brings a suit against another one, and files that suit before unbelievers. 7 It is already a failure that you have suits against each other. Why do you not rather suffer wrong and receive some damage? 8 But no. You wrong and injure others, and those are your brothers and sisters. 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Make no mistake about it: those who lead sexually immoral lives, or worship idols, or who are adulterers, perverts, sodomites, 10 or thieves, exploiters, drunkards, gossips or embezzlers will not inherit the kingdom of heav¬en. 11 Some of you were like that, but you have been cleansed and consecrated to God and have been set right with God by the Name of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of our God. 

St. Paul is very, very clear about how Christians must live with each other. We are called to live in harmony and filial love for each other.  He reminds us that we are all sinners who have been saved and set right with God by Jesus and His Holy Spirit. 

Luke 6:12-19

12 At this time Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God. 13 When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them whom he called apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; 15 Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor.17 Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood on a level place. Many of his disciples were there and a large crowd of people who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They gathered to hear him and be healed of their diseases; likewise people troubled by evil spirits were healed. 19 The entire crowd tried to touch him because of the power that went out from him and healed them all.

Beloved, here is a blueprint for living - we pray, uniting our will with Yours and then, filled with Your Holy Spirit, we must plunge into our daily activities and spread the fragrance of Your love wherever we go.  Our presence must be a blessing to each life we touch.

Psalm 149:1-6

1 Alleluia!

Sing to the Lord a new song,

sing his praise in the assembly of his saints.

2 Let Israel rejoice in his Maker,

let the people of Zion glory in their King!

3 Let them dance in praise of his name

and make music for him with harp and timbrel.

4 For the Lord delights in his people;

he crowns the lowly with victory.

5 The saints will exult in triumph;

even at night on their couches.

6 Let the praise of God be on their lips,

and in their hands two-edged swords,

9 to execute on them the written sentence:

this is the glory of all his saints. Alleluia!

 The Psalmist reminds us that we must love with a song on our lips and praise in our hearts.  We are called to be joyful in the Lord and our mouths must be filled with the weapon of His Word in order to refute the worldly wise and encourage the little ones.  We are called to be Your glory and Your light in the dark places.

Sirach 51:13-22, 1Corinthians 5:6-8, Luke 6:6-11

Sirach 51:13-22

13 I openly sought wisdom in prayer; 14 before the Temple I asked for her and I will pursue her to the end of my days.
15 While she blossomed like a ripening cluster, my heart was delighted in her; my feet followed the right path, because from my youth I searched for her.

16 As soon as I began listening to her she was given to me, and with her, much instruction.
17 With her help I made progress and I will glorify him who gives me wisdom, 18 for I decided to put it into practice and ardently seek what is good. I shall not regret it.
19 My soul has struggled to possess her. I have been attentive to observe the Law, and after my faults I have stretched out my hands to heaven and lamented my ignorance of her.
20 My love of her increased and I found her in repentance. It was through her from the beginning that I learned to possess my heart. She will not forsake me.
21 With my whole being I sought her; that is why I won what is best.
22 In return for this, the Lord has given me words to praise him.

I do believe Beloved, that You have prepared my heart from my earliest years and though in my youth I did go astray, You were always at hand and in the end Wisdom prevailed and You brought me home to Yourself.

1Corinthians 5:6-8

6 This is not the time to praise yourselves. Do you not know that a little yeast makes the whole mass of dough rise? 7 Throw out, then, the old yeast and be new dough. If Christ became our Passover, you should be unleavened bread. 8 Let us celebrate, therefore, the Passover, no longer with old yeast, which is sin and perversity; let us have unleavened bread, that is purity and sincerity.

How true Beloved, a little laziness, a little self-indulgence, a little lethargy both physical and spiritual, a little folding of the hands and everything becomes tainted.  If I belong to You then I must actively participate in Your saving work in me.  I must be wide awake and alert.  The time is indeed short and the way I live now will have eternal consequences.

Luke 6:6-11

6 On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and began teaching. There was a man with a paralyzed right hand 7 and the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees watched him: Would Jesus heal the man on the Sabbath? If he did, they could accuse him.

8 But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man, “Get up and stand in the middle.” 9 Then he spoke to them, “I want to ask you: what is allowed by the Law on the Sabbath, to do good or to do harm, to save life or destroy it?” 10 And Jesus looked around at them all.
Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored, becoming as whole as the other. 11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another how they could deal with Jesus.

My Beloved, we have no excuse to refrain from doing what is good.  Often fear holds us back or the desire for human respect and approval.  We prefer to be quiet doing nothing rather than stir up a hornet's nest of stinging animosity.

What a shining example You give us in today's Gospel.  You stood there in the midst of those long-nosed, disapproving, jealous, wicked Pharisees and did what had to be done knowing very well that it would bring You ever closer to the Cross.