Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Wednesday 12th Week in Ordinary Time
June 28, 2006
Wednesday 12th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
2 KINGS 22:8-13; 23:1-3
The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan, "I have found the
book of the law in the temple of the LORD." Hilkiah gave the book to
Shaphan, who read it. Then the scribe Shaphan went to the king and
reported, "Your servants have smelted down the metals available in the
temple and have consigned them to the master workmen in the temple of
the LORD." The scribe Shaphan also informed the king that the priest
Hilkiah had given him a book, and then read it aloud to the king. When
the king heard the contents of the book of the law, he tore his
garments and issued this command to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, son of
Shaphan, Achbor, son of Micaiah, the scribe Shaphan, and the king's
servant Asaiah: "Go, consult the LORD for me, for the people, for all
Judah, about the stipulations of this book that has been found, for the
anger of the LORD has been set furiously ablaze against us, because our
fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book, nor fulfill our
written obligations." The king then had all the elders of Judah and of
Jerusalem summoned together before him. The king went up to the temple
of the LORD with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem: priests, prophets, and all the people, small and great. He
had the entire contents of the book of the covenant that had been found
in the temple of the LORD, read out to them. Standing by the column,
the king made a covenant before the LORD that they would follow him and
observe his ordinances, statutes and decrees with their whole hearts
and souls, thus reviving the terms of the covenant which were written
in this book. And all the people stood as participants in the covenant.
MATTHEW 7:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you
in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their
fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or
figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a
rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can
a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit
will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will
know them."
REFLECTION
Jesus has been speaking in the Sermon on the Mount about values he's
proposing to his followers and about the practice of true religion. He
now speaks about prophets, those who will preach and teach these values
and practices that he's now proposing.
In the early Church prophets played a regular role. Some of them were
false prophets. These were more interested in gathering a personal
following, than in winning disciples for Christ. They succeeded in
attracting people to themselves by watering down the demands of
Christian discipleship. Christians had to know, therefore, how to
discern between true and false prophets.
This had been a problem also down through the ages of the Old
Testament. Undoubtedly Jesus expected that false prophets would
continue harming the Christian community after he would have left it.
In today's Gospel, therefore, he proposes to his disciples norms which
would help them to distinguish between true and false prophets.
Judge prophets by the fruit they produce, by their deeds, Jesus says,
and by the effect of their words on the lives of those to whom they
preach.
Does the prophet practice what he preaches? Does the word he preaches
resonate in his or her life? Do the prophet's words enhance our
spiritual lives? Do they draw us into deeper union with Jesus and his
Father? Do they create within us peace, do they encourage us to reach
outward, to bring Christ's peace and love to other men and women? Does
the prophet's message turn us to prayer, there to find and accept God's
will for us?
Questions such as these will enable us to recognize those prophets who
are of God and those who are not. If the tree that is the prophet bears
good fruit, eat of the fruit, otherwise reject it.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the continued recovery of Aida.
- for the speedy recovery of Cadio.
- for the speedy recovery of Beth.
- for the continued and complete recovery of Ding Vidanes.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Wedding Anniversary: Ricky & Lizanne Castillo
- Wedding Anniversary: Marcelo & Emily Lee
- 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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