Monday, June 19, 2006
Tuesday 11th Week in Ordinary Time
June 20, 2006
Tuesday 11th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
1 KINGS 21:17-29
After the death of Naboth the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite: "Start
down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He will be in
the vineyard of Naboth, of which he has come to take possession. This
is what you shall tell him, 'The LORD says: After murdering, do you
also take possession? For this, the LORD says: In the place where the
dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick up your blood,
too.'" Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me out, my enemy?" "Yes,"
he answered. "Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the
LORD's sight, I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you and will
cut off every male in Ahab's line, whether slave or freeman, in Israel.
I will make your house like that of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and like
that of Baasha, son of Ahijah, because of how you have provoked me by
leading Israel into sin." (Against Jezebel, too, the LORD declared,
"The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.") "When one
of Ahab's line dies in the city, dogs will devour him; when one of them
dies in the field, the birds of the sky will devour him." Indeed, no
one gave himself up to the doing of evil in the sight of the LORD as
did Ahab, urged on by his wife Jezebel. He became completely abominable
by following idols, just as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD drove
out before the children of Israel. When Ahab heard these words, he tore
his garments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh. He fasted, slept
in the sackcloth, and went about subdued. Then the LORD said to Elijah
the Tishbite, "Have you seen that Ahab has humbled himself before me?
Since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in
his time. I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his
son."
MATTHEW 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You
shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love
your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be
children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad
and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For
if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not
the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be
perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
REFLECTION
In Naboth's vineyard Elijah confronts Ahab with the enormity of his
crime, the murder of Naboth. Ever since the days of Exodus, the poor
were considered Yahweh's cause. Therefore it was Ahab's duty, since he
was king of Israel, to defend the rights of the poor. Yet Ahab, at the
very least, approved of Jezebel's decision to kill Naboth. He then
claimed for himself the dead man's vineyard, the heritage that this
poor man was to leave to his children. Ahab was guilty of deceit,
theft, and the murder of one whom it was his duty to protect.
The enormity of the Ahab's crime and guilt, as Yahweh saw it, is
reflected in the truly horrible punishment that God lay on him and
Jezebel. It's true that Ahab repented his sin and Yahweh, through his
prophet, shifts the punishment to the king's posterity. Nevertheless
the dreadful sentence would be accomplished, though not in Ahab's day.
Whether the brutish sentence is to be executed on Ahab or on his
descendants does not lessen the startling contrast between Yahweh's
reaction to an enemy's hostile behavior in the days of the Old
Testament and in the days of the New Testament, in the person of Jesus.
In today's Gospel Jesus makes a bold statement. He advocates and
imposes on Christians the obligation to love their enemies, to pray for
their persecutors. Behavior of this sort, of course, contradicts
everything the world affirms about what our reaction to evil done to us
should be.
It's clear that God and Christ are asking us to make of grudges things
of the past. Self-love is to have no place in the Christian life. "Pray
for your enemies." There is place in Christian life only for love, even
in the face of enemies who do us harm.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
- for the personal intentions of Jose Rigor.
- for the speedy recovery of Ding Vidanes.
- for the personal intentions of Gini Hernandez.
- for the personal intentions of the Delos Reyes Family.
- for the good health of the parents of J. San Juan.
- for the speedy recovery of Antonio O. Tansingco.
- for the eternal repose of the soul of Gerry Kamus. 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 personal intentions of Jose Rigor.
- for the speedy recovery of Bongbong Aguado.
- for the personal intentions of Lito and his family.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Carlos Gabriel Chuaunsu
- Prayer Intention:Emelinda Teck Yu
- In Memoriam (+): Teresa Tan Le King
- Birthday: Mavis Molina Sacal
- for the success of the CFC's 50th Anniversary
- for the speedy recovery of Sister Maryanne Terrenal, RGS
- prayers for good and & abundant blessings to Richie & Joain
Magallanes &
family
- 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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