Friday, February 03, 2006
SATURDAY 4TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FEBRUARY 4, 2006
SATURDAY 4TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR II
1 KINGS 3:4-13
The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most
important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings
on that altar. At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the
night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to
give you." Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your
servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and
righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great
kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this
very day. "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in
place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not
know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the
people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or
number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your
people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able
to govern this great people of yours?" The Lord was pleased that
Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, "Since you have
asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor
have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in
administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give
you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been
anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you
what you have not asked for--both riches and honor--so that in your
lifetime you will have no equal among kings.
MARK 6:30-34
The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had
done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going
that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come
with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they
went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who
saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns
and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large
crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep
without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
REFLECTION
God communicated with Solomon through a dream and asked what he
needed to become a better leader. Wise Solomon asked for a
discerning heart, better understood as a sense of wisdom. God not
only granted his request but also told him that from this wisdom
will also come merit of honor, riches and long life, but only as
long as he used his wisdom wisely.
Have you ever sensed God's will in any form? Perhaps God would
better communicate with us, whenever our minds are open and our
hearts listen for his message.
In today's Gospel, Jesus and his disciples are overwhelmed by the
big crowd and decide to rest. How can we relate this incident to
something similar in our lives? Do we also sometimes feel so
exhausted and overwhelmed that we need a vacation or perhaps a break
from our present situation? But then again, maybe we notice that
there are important matters waiting for our attention - in Jesus'
case, the crowd surged towards them with their requests, not
allowing them to rest.
During such demanding times, we need to reflect and discern our
priorities. Are we following the right path? Or have we veered off
course because of the chaos around us? Then again, perhaps we need
to assess ourselves- it may not be the right time to withdraw from
responsibilities just because of the problems we are currently
facing.
Jesus' action in today's Gospel reminds us that it may be in the
rhythm of our Christian life that we can find an alternate meeting
place with God. It is this private place in our hearts that have
been serving multitudes of men and women in the Christian world.
Maybe it is time to look deeper into our Christian lives through the
rhythm of work and prayer.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- In thanksgiving for the healing and improvement of the injury of
Mike Torres.
- for the personal intentions of Cha and her family.
- for the personal intentions and success of Antoniette Lao,
Catherine Librando, Alimar Nassaei, Joel Salahudin and the rest of
the examinees of the SWU-College of Medicine. May the Holy Spirit
guide them in their endeavors.
- for the Heartman family
- for the eternal repose of our friend's soul, Darlene dela Pena.
- for the full recovery of Rodolfo Manguino who suffered a stroke.
- for the healing of Judy's back.
- for the intentions of Stev and Kathy.
- for the intentions for Natasha, her brother and sisters.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- In Memoriam (+): Sotico Sun
- In Memoriam (+): Bobby Yu
- 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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