Wednesday, June 15, 2005
THURSDAY 11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
JUNE 16, 2005
THURSDAY 11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR I
2 CORINTHIANS 11:1-11
Brothers and sisters: If only you would put up with a little
foolishness from me! Please put up with me. For I am jealous of you
with the jealousy of God, since I betrothed you to one husband to
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that, as
the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be
corrupted from a sincere and pure commitment to Christ. For if
someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or
if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a
different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it well
enough. For I think that I am not in any way inferior to
these "superapostles." Even if I am untrained in speaking, I am not
so in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all
things. Did I make a mistake when I humbled myself so that you might
be exalted, because I preached the Gospel of God to you without
charge? I plundered other churches by accepting from them in order to
minister to you. And when I was with you and in need, I did not
burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my
needs. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.
By the truth of Christ in me, this boast of mine shall not be
silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love
you? God knows I do!
MATTHEW 6:7-15
Jesus said to his disciples: "In praying, do not babble like the
pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many
words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before
you ask him. "This is how you are to pray: `Our Father who art in
heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against
us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." "If
you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will
forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your
Father forgive your transgressions."
REFLECTION
How may of us wish to have a dynamic fulfilling prayer life? Then
listen to what Jesus has to say in today's gospel reading and take it
to heart. Jesus warns us not to pray like the gentiles who use
meaningless repetition when we pray. We should pray neither like the
Pharisees, for public recognition. It does not mean that we are not
to be persistent in our prayers. Meaningless repetition seems to
indicate reciting memorized prayers without thinking about what you
are saying, or multiplying words, not for the sake of communicating
anything thoughtful, but for lengthening the prayer in an attempt to
gain God's attention. Pagan incantations, for example, often used
every imaginable name for the god they were invoking, hoping at least
one of them would "stick." This kind of flowery rhetoric, or even
nonsense syllables, common in pagan magical incantations, does not
impress God. Jesus does not want heartless prayers. Jesus tells us
that meaningless repetition does not catch God's attention because He
already knows what you need before you ask.
That begs the question, "Why pray?" if God knows our needs. We are to
pray so as to genuinely communicate with God and to lay our needs
before him. When Jesus formulated for us the "Our Father", he did not
say: "Pray this prayer." What Jesus actually said was: "Pray then in
this way." In other words Jesus is giving us a pattern to follow, not
necessarily words to repeat. Jesus is not giving us a magic formula
that will solve all of our woes if we repeat the prayer enough.
One of the first elements of a fulfilling prayer life is
understanding who God is. Jesus says that God is our Father and as a
Father, he wants only the best for us. Now if God our Father is holy,
it is only becoming that we also be holy. As the saying goes, "Like
Father, like son."
When we pray this prayer, we are not only expressing our hope that
God's will be done, but that we will be active participants in the
ushering in of His will upon earth. We understand that God is the
best thing for a person and we want God to be a part of all of our
lives. When we understand whom we are praying to, it can add
excitement to our prayer lives. Can you imagine being able to go to
the most powerful person in the world with your needs?
In prayer Jesus would also like us to acknowledge our sinfulness and
our need for forgiveness. Our God is a God of forgiveness. When we
realize how much God has forgiven us, then we cannot help but forgive
other people.
Jesus gives us a wonderful model of prayer to follow. Jesus did not
give us a magic formula to recite. He wants us to pray from the
heart. Do not neglect the great gift that God has given to us. Pray
daily, pray all the time.
PRAYER
"Father in heaven, you have given me a mind to know you, a will to
serve you, and a heart to love you. Give me today the grace and
strength to embrace your holy will and fill my heart with your love
that all my intentions and actions may be pleasing to you. Give me
the grace to be charitable in thought, kind in deed, and forgiving
towards my neighbor as you have been towards me".
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the personal intentions of Mary Wong and Lawrence.
- for thanksgiving and special intentions of Ma. Eufrocenri Navarro.
- For the safe travel of Cherie Torres.
- For the personal intentions of Particia M.
- For the safe travel of Jesus L. Ventura, for the constant safety
and good health of his family and for his other intentions.
- Birthday: Cecille T. Cheng.
- In Memoriam: Teofilo V. Mendoza. Eternal rest grant unto him
and may perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Wedding Anniversary: Jeanette & Atty. Biddy Tan
- Wedding Anniversary: James & Josie T. Gotamco
- Wedding Anniversary: Cresencio & Celia C. Jao
- In Memoriam: Yu Leng Tiu (1907-1994)
- In Memoriam: Dr. Antonio de Ocampo (1925-2004)
- for world peace and reconciliation.
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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