2 Timothy 1:1-8, Psalm 96:1-3, 7-8, 10, Mark 3:22-30

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

2 Timothy 1:1-8, Psalm 96:1-3, 7-8, 10, Mark 3:22-30

2 Timothy 1:1-8

My Beloved, grace mercy and peace cannot be obtained through any means but as gifts from God. They are poured upon us freely according to the infinite merits You won for us on the Cross.

All of us are called like Paul to be Your apostles and ambassadors. We do not call ourselves, nor do we commission ourselves, hands are laid on Your anointed and sent forth in Your Name to bring the Good News of the Gospel to the poor  The Gospel of love and liberation, and freedom from the oppression of sin.

Although faith is a gift we cannot take it for granted but have to nurture it and exercise it in order that it may grow in authenticity and power. Once called by God we must forget ourselves, we do not look on our weaknesses, we cannot shrink because we think we are inadequate. Of course we are  if we look to ourselves for strength; but we don't have to, we just throw ourselves with full confidence into the mission, trusting God to grant us all we need to accomplish the work that is His.

Lord God my Beloved help me to take my gaze away from my limitations and focus on You, trusting that You will provide everything I need to labor for Your kingdom and Your glory.

Psalm 96:1-3, 7-8 & 10

My Beloved, we are a people of praise because we are a resurrection people and alleluia is our song as St. John Paul II rightly said,  We are redeemed, we are saved, no longer in captivity we have received kinship through You and we now dare to call Your Father our Father.  This is the Good News that must be always on our lips as we recall the wonders that You have done for us.  We each have  a compelling story that is uniquely our own and we must tell it so that the faith of our hearers will increase. We must give God all the glory for every good thought, word, deed and inspiration because they all originate in You and are granted to us through  Your Spirit. The Father desires that His children live in the fullness of Joy. You are the only King and Your everlasting rule has been established in the hearts of all who believe.

Mark 3:22-30

My Beloved, what unnerved the teachers of the law was the power You had over demons.  All the other miracles of healing of the body they could accept but nothing states more clearly that You had authority when at Your Word people enslaved by the evil one for years were finally set free.  They had to acknowledge that there was something great at work here but being hypocrites and knowing that if they said out loud what they believed in secret, they would have to concede that You indeed came from God because all that You did provide it.  The preaching and teaching with authority and the power to heal heart, mind, soul, body and spirit all said that You were indeed the Son of God and the longed for Messiah that the people of Israel had waited for.

But all they could think about was themselves and their fear that in affirming and acknowledging You they would be diminished - pride,and self centeredness kept them from declaring the truth.  You knew their weaknesses, You were prepared to overlook and forget their insults directed at You. You even went so far as to say the even insults to Your Father could be forgiven but to deliberately and knowingly attribute the work of God as that of Satan the father of lies was a sin so heinous against the Holy Spirit that You called it the unpardonable sin the consequences of which is eternal damnation.