Wednesday, February 15, 2006
THURSDAY 6TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FEBRUARY 16, 2006
THURSDAY 6TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR II
JAMES 2:1-9
My brothers and sisters, show no partiality as you adhere to the
faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold
rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person
with shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one
wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here, please," while you say
to the poor one, "Stand there," or "Sit at my feet," have you not
made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil
designs? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God
choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs
of the Kingdom that he promised to those who love him? But you
dishonored the poor. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they
themselves not haul you off to court? Is it not they who blaspheme
the noble name that was invoked over you? However, if you fulfill
the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your
neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. But if you show
partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as
transgressors.
MARK 8:27-33
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea
Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say
that I am?" They said in reply, "John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do
you say that I am?" Peter said to him in reply, "You are the
Christ." Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began
to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be
rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be
killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter
took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around
and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind
me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
REFLECTION
Peter is an immensely likable sort of a character. He is so human.
One moment he is all inspired and makes a wonderful profession of
faith, but in today's Gospel, he is told by Jesus that he thinks
like Satan. It should give us comfort to know that we are not the
only ones who can go from a shining moment to a humbling situation
in a short space of time.
What can we learn from Peter? Peter is a fervent follower of Jesus,
yet he does not fully understand the meaning of Jesus' mission. He
knows that Jesus' mission is important, but he is not quite sure
what it entails. It is as though he has this hunch about Jesus and
this is what is driving him to persevere in being a disciple.
Sometimes our faith may be only a hunch of what we are supposed to
do in a particular situation. If we stand around waiting for our
hunch to become a certainty, we will probably end up doing nothing.
Unless we step out in faith and test our hunch, we will never know
whether it was right or wrong. Peter steps out twice in today's
Gospel reading. In one of his hunches he was right and in the other
he was wrong. If Peter had not taken the risk, he would not have
learned anything. As it is, he now has a much better idea of who
Jesus really is and what his mission entails. Peter does not know
everything, but he is taking risks and learning.
One of the best practical methods of discernment in the spiritual
life is to keep walking through the doors as they open before us. If
they do not, then perhaps God is saying that this is not the way for
us. If we do not try the door handle to see if it will open, we
might never know if that was the way for us or not. Many people fail
to discern God's will for them because they wait for absolute
certainty before moving forward. Life is about taking risks and
learning as we go. Peter was not afraid to speak up and see if he
was right or not. He is a good example of moving forward in faith.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the spiritual and physical healing of Virginia Cruz.
- for the eternal repose of the soul of Augusto E. Ocampo. Eternal
rest grant unto him and may perpetual light shine upon him. May he
and all the souls of the dearly departed rest in peace.
- for the speedy recovery of Gil Calimon.
- for the spiritual and physical healing of Beth.
- for an increase in faith and perseverance in living a good life for
Christ for Corie.
- for the spiritual, sound mind and physical healing of Michael O.
Logatoc.
- for the personal intentions of Archelle.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Prayer Intention: Aida Tiomico
- Prayer Intention: Nañagas Family
- In Memoriam (+): Lim Siok Tuan Ang (1927-2005)
- In Memoriam (+): Felisa Go
- 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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