Sunday, October 02, 2005
MONDAY 27TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
OCTOBER 3, 2005
MONDAY 27TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR I
JONAH 1:1-2:1-2, 11
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai: "Set
out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; their
wickedness has come up before me." But Jonah made ready to flee to
Tarshish away from the LORD. He went down to Joppa, found a ship going
to Tarshish, paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to
Tarshish, away from the LORD. The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind
upon the sea, and in the furious tempest that arose the ship was on the
point of breaking up. Then the mariners became frightened and each one
cried to his god. To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its
cargo into the sea. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the
ship, and lay there fast asleep. The captain came to him and said,
"What are you doing asleep? Rise up, call upon your God! Perhaps God
will be mindful of us so that we may not perish." Then they said to
one another, "Come, let us cast lots to find out on whose account we
have met with this misfortune." So they cast lots, and thus singled out
Jonah. "Tell us," they said, "what is your business? Where do you come
from? What is your country, and to what people do you belong?" Jonah
answered them, "I am a Hebrew, I worship the LORD, the God of heaven,
who made the sea and the dry land." Now the men were seized with great
fear and said to him, "How could you do such a thing!- They knew
that he was fleeing from the LORD, because he had told them.- They
asked, "What shall we do with you, that the sea may quiet down for us?"
For the sea was growing more and more turbulent. Jonah said to them,
"Pick me up and throw me into the sea, that it may quiet down for you;
since I know it is because of me that this violent storm has come upon
you." Still the men rowed hard to regain the land, but they could not,
for the sea grew ever more turbulent. Then they cried to the LORD: "We
beseech you, O LORD, let us not perish for taking this man's life; do
not charge us with shedding innocent blood, for you, LORD, have done as
you saw fit." Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the
sea's raging abated. Struck with great fear of the LORD, the men
offered sacrifice and made vows to him. But the LORD sent a large
fish, that swallowed Jonah; and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights. From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to
the LORD, his God. Then the LORD commanded the fish to spew Jonah upon
the shore.
LUKE 10:25-37
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him,
"What is written in the law? How do you read it?" He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your
being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your
neighbor as yourself." He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live." But because he wished to justify himself,
he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man
fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They
stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest
happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by
on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he
saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler
who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached
the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then
he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for
him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the
innkeeper with the instruction, `Take care of him. If you spend more
than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.' Which of
these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?" He
answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go
and do likewise."
REFLECTION
The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was often referred to as the "red or
bloody way." It was and still is a happy hunting ground for seasoned
thieves. Perhaps this traveler on his way to Jericho was taking a
somewhat imprudent risk in taking this road alone. We can be tempted to
easily write him off as someone who got what was to be expected. What
are our excuses for not helping those in need? A lack of time? A lack
of money? Have we written others off as moral degenerates undeserving
and unworthy of our time, contributions or
efforts?.
When the Pharisee quoted these words of scripture to Jesus: "You shall
love your neighbor as yourself", the word neighbor was confined only to
his fellow Jews. Samuel Johnson once said: "The measure of a man is how
he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." Maybe he was
inspired to write that after reading Jesus' parable of the Good
Samaritan. Anyone who is in need is our neighbor, regardless of race or
creed. If we consider ourselves to be Christ's disciples, then others
should find in us a helper and healer, someone who sincerely cares for
his or her well-being, because this is Gospel charity.
Thieves can use decoys. Perhaps the priest and Levite who passed by
were thinking there were thieves in waiting around the wounded man
ready to jump and overpower an unsuspecting curious traveler. Without
being fools of the obvious con man, we should not fear "being taken" or
become jaded by some insincere and deceiving beggar on the street. If
we allow them to, such disgraceful deceivers may make us close our
hearts and deeds to those truly in need. In today's dangerous world we
can easily justify ourselves in "walking on the other side of the
road". The priest and the Levite no doubt felt some pity for the
wounded man, but the fact remained that they did nothing. Jesus makes
it very clear that the help we give must be practical and not consist
merely in feeling sorry for others. Sterile lamentation should be far
from the true disciples of Jesus. Our faith clearly says to us that we
must "Go and do the same," for a faith without deeds is dead.
Love of neighbor has to be above all a positive and practical service
to everyone. Our support for others must overflow with true, fraternal
esteem that looks to serve our neighbor in every way possible. We
should learn to carry our neighbor's load; pray that their errors will
be revealed to them; ponder their qualities and virtues; and share
their successes and failures. Good and evil spring from the heart. So
we should make an effort to foster the kindness of heart that makes us
think and speak well of others always. Let us ask Jesus today to make
us instruments of his peace grounded in authentic Gospel charity.
PRAYER
"Lord, may your love always be the foundation of my life. Free me from
every fear and selfish-concern that I may freely give myself in loving
service to others, even to the point of laying my life down for their
sake."
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the speedy recovery of Annika Nadine Uy.
- for the speedy recovery and well-being of Vanessa Nicole Lee Lim.
- for the speedy recovery of Mike Torres.
- for the speedy recovery of Jose L. Carpio.
- for the speedy recovery of Oca Oblefias.
- for the special intentions of Liza Carpio & family.
- for the special intentions of Beny Chua.
- for the well-being of Grace Morales.
- for the speedy recovery of Alice.
-- for good health of my wife Mona and our baby inside her..
- for the special intentions of Raymond & Chorel de Veas
- for Gladys who will undergo a major surgery on 7th October
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Rosita A. Ong
- 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!
***************************************************************
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
