Sunday, August 20, 2006
Memorial, St. Pius X, pope
August 21, 2006
Memorial, St. Pius X, pope
Monday 20th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
EZEKIEL 43:1-7AB
The angel led me to the gate which faces the east, and there I saw the
glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. I heard a sound like
the roaring of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory. The
vision was like that which I had seen when he came to destroy the city,
and like that which I had seen by the river Chebar. I fell prone as the
glory of the LORD entered the temple by way of the gate which faces the
east, but spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court. And I
saw that the temple was filled with the glory of the LORD. Then I heard
someone speaking to me from the temple, while the man stood beside me.
The voice said to me: Son of man, this is where my throne shall be,
this is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I will dwell among
the children of Israel forever.
MATTHEW 23:1-12
Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, "The scribes
and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do
not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's
shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their
works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and
lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of
honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation
'Rabbi.' As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.' You have but one
teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called 'Master'; you have
but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your
servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles
himself will be exalted."
REFLECTION
According to the Acts of the Apostles, the early Christians sold
everything they did not need for their daily living. The income was
given to the Apostles who distributed it to the poor. They did this
because Jesus constantly taught material possessions were one of the
primary obstacles keeping people out of the kingdom. The pursuit of
wealth, he taught, was diametrically opposed to the pursuit of the
kingdom. No one can serve both these masters.
Jesus promised that the kingdom would be the kingdom of the poor.
"Blessed are you poor," he said, "yours is the kingdom of heaven." He
also said, "Alas for you rich, you are having your consolation now."
Recall that in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the only reason
why the rich man was excluded from the kingdom was that he did not
share his wealth with Lazarus. And so, Jesus taught, it would be harder
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass
through the eye of a needle. Of course, nothing is impossible to God;
he can work miracles. Yet, often, as in today's Gospel story, even God
may be unable to perform the required miracle. In spite of the
spiritual blessings discipleship with Jesus would bring to the rich
man, in spite of his ardent desire to follow Jesus, the miracle Jesus
tried to perform, separating him from his wealth, failed. God was
powerless to work a miracle in the rich man's heart.
Who are the rich in our society? In a society in which the vast
majority of the people live in penury, those are rich who have more
than they need to live on. Like the early Christians we are asked to
sell what we do not need. Like all Christians we're not to let our
wealth possess us, lest we be blocked from entering the kingdom of the
poor.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
-for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
-for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary
-Birthday: Hilda T. So
-Birthday: Felipe Santos
-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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