Saturday, June 18, 2005
MONDAY 12TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
MONDAY 12TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YR I
JUNE 20, 2005
GENESIS 12:1-9
The LORD said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and
from your father's house to a land that I will show you. "I will
make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your
name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who
bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the
earth shall find blessing in you." Abram went as the LORD directed
him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he
left Haran. Abram took his wife, Sarai, his brother's son Lot, all
the possessions that they had accumulated, and the persons they had
acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they
came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land as far as
the sacred place at Shechem, by the terebinth of Moreh. (The
Canaanites were then in the land.) The LORD appeared to Abram and
said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So Abram built an
altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. From there he moved
on to the hill country east of Bethel, pitching his tent with Bethel
to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there to the LORD
and invoked the LORD by name. Then Abram journeyed on by stages to
the Negeb.
MATTHEW 7:1-5
Jesus said to his disciples: "Stop judging, that you may not be
judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with
which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the
splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam
in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, `Let me remove that
splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You
hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will
see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
REFLECTION
How difficult it is to judge the guilt of those accused of crime in
our courts. How often mistakes are made. The innocent are condemned
and the guilty go free. Yet somehow we find it so easy to pass
judgment on those around us. And we judge them with a very demanding
standard, not to mention quickly and with little deliberation. Worse
still, we pretend to know their intentions and innermost
dispositions. How little we know of their past lives, the real
condition of their hearts. What we do know is just how guilty we are
of so many sins and faults in our life. How can we beg mercy from God
if we continue to see and treat others from a judging heart? While
our judgments are always limited and flawed, God's judgment will be
perfectly precise, complete and just. Judging gets us nowhere but
condemned. Let us fill our heart with mercy, so as at least to
say, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do."
Why do we judge others? The answer lies in how we see others. Jesus
was able to forgive even his most cruel and merciless enemies because
of how he looked at them. His eyes having gazed so often upon the
face of his merciful Father and upon the good and loving face of his
mother, knew only how to seek goodness in others. The love in his
heart colors what he sees. Beyond the horror of a penitent's sins in
confession, Jesus' eyes rest only upon the humble and contrite heart
that opens itself in trust to him. We then must learn to look with
love in prayer. If we have a humble heart, aware of my own
weaknesses, yet not obsessed by them, then we can focus on God and
his goodness.
If we have trained our heart to seek and recognize God's goodness in
others, then what we say about others will follow. Why, though, are
we so easily bothered by their defects? We want them to be perfect.
We have high expectations, especially for those we love. Yet
underneath it all, if our expectations are unreal and unforgiving,
should we not consider the source? The source is our own heart. Are
we so unaware of our own weaknesses and failings that we expect
perfection of others? Or do we seek out and examine the defects of
others so as to escape our own? Do we feel righteous by seeing the
moral misery of others? Who are we to seek out imperfections in
others. If we truly care about helping others with our words, we will
begin by correcting the pride in our own life first.
We should judge only our own misery and sin. We should fill our heart
and mind with the vision of God's mercy and love. Let us open our
eyes to God's goodness hidden in our wounded and suffering brothers
and sisters. Let us not crucify God's hope and love for them with our
thoughts or words.
PRAYER
O Father, give us the humility which realizes its ignorance, admits
its mistakes, recognizes its need, welcomes advice, accepts rebuke.
Help us always to praise rather than to criticize, to sympathize
rather than to discourage, to build rather than to destroy, and to
think of people at their best rather than at their worst. This we ask
for thy name's sake. (Prayer of William Barclay, 20th century)
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for Pacita Lo, who is in coma and for the strength and comfort
needed by her husband, children and her entire family at this time.
- for better health and healing of Maribeth Malvar.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Cecilia J. Chua
- In Memoriam:Chester Gotiong
- for world peace and reconciliation.
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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