Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
June 4, 2024

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060424.cfm

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Therefore, beloved, since you are forewarned,
be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled
and to fall from your own stability.
But grow in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
To him be glory now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
2 Peter 17-18

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Peter tells his listeners that ” …we await new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells.” But in the meantime, we must be alert for all that would distract us from Gospel truth and practice.

Peter’s world opposed the message of the Gospel. So does our world, filled now with unprincipled politics, economics, communication, and even “religious” propaganda. These forces fall against the believer like so many dominoes deconstructing the pattern of our faith.

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy:

Once again we ask for strength and insight to see the Gospel clearly and to stay aligned to its beauty and truth. This can be accomplished only by prayer, and developing a reverent familiarity with the Gospel. Further, reading reputable spiritual guides is important to enrich our understanding of the sacred word.

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Poetry: Am I True to Myself? – Edgar A. Guest

I have to live with myself and so
I want to be fit for myself to know.
I want to be able as days go by,
always to look myself straight in the eye;

I don’t want to stand with the setting sun
and hate myself for the things I have done.
I don’t want to keep on a closet shelf
a lot of secrets about myself

and fool myself as I come and go
into thinking no one else will ever know
the kind of person I really am,
I don’t want to dress up myself in sham.

I want to go out with my head erect
I want to deserve all men’s respect;
but here in the struggle for fame and wealth
I want to be able to like myself.

I don’t want to look at myself and know that
I am bluster and bluff and empty show.
I never can hide myself from me;
I see what others may never see;

I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself and so,
whatever happens I want to be
self respecting and conscience free.

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Music: Keep Me Faithful – written by James Montgomery (1771-1854); adapted by Cornerstone Collective