Friday, August 11, 2006
Saturday 18th Week in Ordinary Time
August 12, 2006
Saturday 18th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
HABAKKUK 1:12-2:4
O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not
die. O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you
have ordained them to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous
than themselves? You have made men like fish in the sea, like sea
creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with
hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and
burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and
enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying
nations without mercy? I will stand at my watch and station myself on
the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what
answer I am to give to this complaint. Then the LORD replied: "Write
down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may
run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of
the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it
will certainly come and will not delay. "See, he is puffed up; his
desires are not upright-- but the righteous will live by his faith --
MATTHEW 17:14-20
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before
him. "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is
suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I
brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him." "O
unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I
stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to
me." Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was
healed from that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private
and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you
have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small
as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, `Move from here to
there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. "
REFLECTION
In today's first reading, the prophet Habakkuk complains to the Lord.
Habakkuk is seeking from the Lord the reasons why evil is overcoming
the just and the good. He questions God regarding the fairness of what
was happening during his time. He refers to the fishermen who, after
reaping a day's catch of fish, turn to worship and give thanks for
their catch. But God reminds Habakkuk about the faithlessness of the
people, for which they must suffer the consequences. However, God does
not forget all those who had put their trust in him, and whom he will
save in his own time.
In our personal experiences, how many times have we wondered why people
who do evil things reap rewards while those who perform good deeds
suffer? During these moments we need to be reminded that it is up to us
to put our trust in the Lord and believe that he will take charge of
everything - all in his own time.
In today's Gospel, Jesus cures a man suffering from demon possession.
The man relays to Jesus that the disciples were unable to drive the
demons from his body. When Jesus hears this, he rebukes him and reminds
him that it is because of his lack of faith and not the lack of ability
by the disciples that the demons remained in him. Jesus reminds us that
when we have enough faith, we can move mountains.
In our own lives, how often have we faced situations where we feel that
we are confronted with the work of demons through others or through the
tasks we do? In these situations, do we doubt that the Lord will come
and give us strength, hope and comfort? Perhaps the Lord would like to
remind us today that perhaps these "demons" are presented to us, not
because he tests our faith, but because he wants us to develop our
trust and faith in him.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
-for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
-for the early release of Andrew's car loan
-for the speedy recovery of Cynthia B. Repas
-for special intentions for Hans Ramos
-for special intentions for JR
-for discernment and stronger faith for TM
-for the continued recovery of Tito Cale
-for the complete healing of NM
-for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
-Birthday: Francisco Hing
-In Memoriam (+): Lorenzo Francisco Grey
-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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