Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Wednesday 2nd week of Lent
March 15, 2006
Wednesday 2nd week of Lent - Yr II
JEREMIAH 18:18-20
The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem said, "Come, let us
contrive a plot against Jeremiah. It will not mean the loss of
instruction from the priests, nor of counsel from the wise, nor of
messages from the prophets. And so, let us destroy him by his own
tongue; let us carefully note his every word." Heed me, O LORD, and
listen to what my adversaries say. Must good be repaid with evil that
they should dig a pit to take my life? Remember that I stood before you
to speak in their behalf, to turn away your wrath from them.
MATTHEW 20:17-28
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside
by themselves, and said to them on the way, "Behold, we are going up to
Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over
to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be
raised on the third day." Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee
approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him
for something. He said to her, "What do you wish?" She answered him,
"Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the
other at your left, in your kingdom." Jesus said in reply, "You do not
know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to
drink?" They said to him, "We can." He replied, "My chalice you will
indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine
to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father."
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But
Jesus summoned them and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them
felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be
great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among
you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be
served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
REFLECTION
We react to stimulus by accepting those that are pleasant and rejecting
those that are unpleasant. So when we get reprimanded for certain
actions, our usual tendency is to defend our position and to justify
our hurt pride. This stubbornness is oftentimes the root cause of many
hostilities. The people during Jeremiah's time reacted similarly to
Jeremiah's warnings. Instead of heeding his prophetic counsel, they
plotted to do him away. The same thing happened to Jesus. If unchecked,
this behavior will run wild in a vicious cycle seeking only to destroy
rather than to build. That is why in building God's kingdom, Jesus
warned his disciples about seeking power wherein the rulers lord it
over the pagans, and their great men make their authority felt with the
use of force and intimidation. Jesus was teaching them a greater, more
effective and empowering approach. The way of God's love is not just
mysterious; it is mind-boggling as well. Since God's ways are not man's
ways, it would be wise to examine ourselves to conform to his ways. We
could never go wrong by doing this because it is written that against
love among other virtues, there is no law against it.
Jesus gave us God's love and now that we have received this freely as a
gift, we should also give it to others as a gesture of our gratitude
and love for him.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the healing and speedy recovery of Leoncio Chua.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Wedding Anniversary: Dionisio & Teresa Lim Tan
- for the safe travel Isabel & Abigail Malinis.
- for the personal intentions of Archelle
- Birthday: Arnold Cabote on March 22
- 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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� 2006 Daily-Homily
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