Friday, September 22, 2006
Memorial, St. Pius of Pietrelcina, priest
September 23, 2006
Memorial, St. Pius of Pietrelcina, priest
Saturday 24th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-37, 42-49
But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body
will they come?" How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless
it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just
a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. So will it be with the
resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is
raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it
is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body,
it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is
also a spiritual body. So it is written: "The first man Adam became a
living being" ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did
not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The
first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As
was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the
man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we
have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the
likeness of the man from heaven.
LUKE 8:4-15
While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from
town after town, he told this parable: "A farmer went out to sow his
seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was
trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and
when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the
plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a
crop, a hundred times more than was sown." When he said this, he called
out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." His disciples asked him
what this parable meant. He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the
kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in
parables, so that, "`though seeing, they may not see; though hearing,
they may not understand.' "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed
is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and
then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that
they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who
receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.
They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they
go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and
pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for
those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by
persevering produce a crop.
REFLECTION
The early Church found great comfort in this parable. The first
Christians were hard put to understand why their preaching of the
Gospel was not universally accepted. And why some people who
enthusiastically embraced the word when they first heard it, later
dropped away from the Word and the community? All this puzzled the
early church. They thought perhaps that they themselves were at fault,
that they were not preaching the word with sufficient conviction.
Luke reported this parable of the Lord for the sake of these
discouraged early Christians. Jesus' own words put them at ease. The
word, like the seed, was broadcast over the land. Growth of the word,
therefore, depended on the dispositions of the recipients. Was the
recipient open to the word; had he sufficient maturity, depth, and
sincerity?
So also today we can't expect our preaching, whether we preach by
homilies and sermons or by our lives, to produce always a hundredfold.
The parable is presented to us by Luke to encourage us today to preach
and to live our faith enthusiastically even though we don't see a
hundredfold harvest.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
- for the eternal repose of the soul of Justice Eduardo Caguioa
(Ret). 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 all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Filmore Andrew G. Tiu
- Birthday: Micah Del Carmen
- 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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