Thursday, August 04, 2005
FRIDAY 18TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
AUGUST 5, 2005
FRIDAY 18TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR I
DEUTERONOMY 4:32-40
Moses said to the people: "Ask now of the days of old, before your
time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of
the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it
ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from
the midst of fire, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go
and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by
testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and
outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the LORD, your
God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? All this you were
allowed to see that you might know the LORD is God and there is no
other. Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you;
on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard him speaking out
of the fire. For love of your fathers he chose their descendants and
personally led you out of Egypt by his great power, driving out of your
way nations greater and mightier than you, so as to bring you in and to
make their land your heritage, as it is today. This is why you must now
know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above
and on earth below, and that there is no other. You must keep his
statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today, that you and
your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on
the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever."
MATTHEW 16:24-28
Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny
himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save
his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find
it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and
forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For
the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and
then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you,
there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see
the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom."
REFLECTION
In today's Gospel, Jesus spells out the demands of discipleship.
Anyone who wishes to follow Jesus must "renounce himself and take up
his cross." Jesus continues, "For anyone who wants to save his life
will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his
soul?"
Those words of Jesus encapsulate the central paradox of Christianity.
To lose one's life-for the sake of Jesus- is to gain it. And to
gain the whole world at the expense of losing one's soul is, to put it
quite simply, nothing. To use another translation, what does it profit
a man to gain the whole world but to lose his soul in the process?
This is the question that St. Ignatius Loyola quoted to St. Francis
Xavier at the University of Paris, and it ultimately led to the
conversion of St. Francis from a man of the world to a man of God.
If we reflect on the life of a priest or a nun or any person that gave
his or her life to the service of Our Lord, we find plenty of rewards
... spiritual rewards. Some of these individuals may have made their
commitments very early in their lives or some later in their lives. At
what point in life the commitment was made does not matter; it is the
wholeheartedness of that commitment that matters.
Even today, we can find many role models ... priests, nuns, lay
religious, some people as common as you and me. Their genuine care for
the well being of other people drives them to dedicate their time and
talent to help others and their communities. In fulfilling their tasks,
in a way, they deny their own freedoms, their free time, but in doing
so they welcome Our Lord into their lives and allow Him to freely
direct their ideas and actions.
Perhaps what Our Lord is reminding us today through the Gospel is that
"sacrifice and service for others" need not be negative. Rather, if we
give our time and ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord's will, to serve
others, we can find fulfillment, happiness and peace in our lives.
Are we ready to rise to God's challenge?
PRAYER
"Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my
understanding, and all my will, all that I have and possess. You have
given them to me; to you, O Lord, I restore them; all things are yours,
dispose of them according to your will. Give me your love and your
grace, for this is enough for me." (Prayer of Ignatius of Loyola,
1491-1556)
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the speedy recovery and good health of Rolly Detaro
- for the personal intentions of Demetria M. Guevarra
- good health of Papa Raul, Papa Fabio, Mama Teresa, Mama Baby, Daddy
Junior and Fredo Oljol.
- For the soul of a dear and holy lady: Willy Panyik who died through a
tragic road accident.
- for the personal intentions of Smyd.
- In thanksgiving for the birthday of Camille Bianca
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Elena U. Ngo
- For the personal intention of Erlinda Cortez
- For the personal intention of Demetria M. Guevarra
- Birthday: Margarita Tan
- In Memoriam: Theresa Yang
- 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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© 2005 Daily-Homily
CORRECTED - THURSDAY 18TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
AUGUST 4, 2005
MEMORIAL, ST. JOHN MARIE VIANNEY, PRIEST
THURSDAY 18TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR I
NUMBERS 20:1-13
The whole congregation of the children of Israel arrived in the desert
of Zin in the first month, and the people settled at Kadesh. It was
here that Miriam died, and here that she was buried. As the community
had no water, they held a council against Moses and Aaron. The people
contended with Moses, exclaiming, "Would that we too had perished with
our kinsmen in the LORD's presence! Why have you brought the LORD's
assembly into this desert where we and our livestock are dying? Why did
you lead us out of Egypt, only to bring us to this wretched place which
has neither grain nor figs nor vines nor pomegranates? Here there is
not even water to drink!" But Moses and Aaron went away from the
assembly to the entrance of the meeting tent, where they fell
prostrate. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them, and the LORD
said to oses, "Take your staff and assemble the community, you and your
brother Aaron, and in their presence order the rock to yield its
waters. From the rock you shall bring forth water for the congregation
and their livestock to drink." So Moses took his staff from its place
before the LORD, as he was ordered. He and Aaron assembled the
community in front of the rock, where he said to them, "Listen to me,
you rebels! Are we to bring water for you out of this rock?" Then,
raising his hand,
Moses struck the rock twice with his staff, and water gushed out in
abundance for the people and their livestock to drink. But the LORD
said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you were not faithful to me in
showing forth my sanctity before the children of Israel, you shall not
lead this community into the land I will give them." These are the
waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel contended against the
LORD, and where the LORD revealed his sanctity among them.
MATTHEW 16:13-23
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his
disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied,
"Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one
of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly
Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail
against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on
earth shall be loosed in
heaven." Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he
was the Christ. From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the
chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be
raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, "God
forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and
said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You
are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
REFLECTION
Why did Jesus choose Peter to be the keystone of His church on earth?
Jesus knew that the time was nearing for him to suffer and die on the
cross. He had to choose someone. But why Peter?
Could Jesus have chosen any of his other disciples? Were any of them
more qualified than Peter? What were Peter's qualifications? The
normal human problems we all have: character deficiencies and inner
conflicts. We all know that later on Peter would deny Jesus three times
because he would be afraid for his life. Peter was not perfect.
Perhaps this is why Peter was chosen, because he was not perfect,
because of his imperfections and his flawed humanity; perhaps Jesus
chose him to remind us that we need not be perfect in order to be good
Christians and to practice God's teachings.
God trusted Peter. Why is it so difficult for us to trust one
another?
Perhaps most of us will never become great leaders or famous people,
nor will we be called on to die for our beliefs. We may never be in a
situation in which fidelity will demand the ultimate sacrifice. What
is important is for us to do our best in all our actions, to practice
love for our fellow men during the routines of our daily living, and to
love our God with our whole body, our whole mind and with our whole
soul.
Wouldn't the world be a much better place if every one of us practiced
our Christian teaching and did God's work while we are able?
PRAYER
"Lord Jesus, I profess and believe that you are the Christ, the Son of
the living God. You are my Lord and my Savior. Make my faith strong
like Peter's and give me boldness to speak of you to others that they
may come to know you personally as Lord and Savior and grow in the
knowledge of your love".
***************************************************************
Welcome to DAILY-HOMILY, a Catholic-based Scripture and Homily
Reflection. It is a great source for scripture reading and
reflectionfor Weekdays, Sundays and Holydays of Obligation.
Subscribe to this list and you will receive a free, informed,
down to earth and illustrated homily. It's a FREE service.
***************************************************************
To subscribe or unsubscribe, tell friends about Daily-Homily,
read past reflection and feedbacks, give donation or submit a
prayer request please go to:
Webpage: http://homily.dailyfoodforthought.org/
Group Email: dailyhomily@gmail.com
To subscribe: subscribe_dh@dailyfoodforthought.org
To Unsubscribe: unsubscribe_dh@dailyfoodforthought.org
To post a Prayer Request: prayer_request@dailyfoodforthought.org
PRAYER FOR ENLIGHTENMENT BEFORE MEDITATING ON GOD'S WORD:
http://www.marythequeen.org/
Feel free to forward this to your friends, family and associates!
© 2005 Daily-Homily
