DAILY- HOMILY

August 20, 2007
Memorial, St. Bernard, abbot & doctor
Monday 20th Week in Ordinary Time - Year I

JUDGES 2:11-19
The children of Israel offended the LORD by serving the Baals.
Abandoning the LORD, the God of their fathers, who led them out of the
land of Egypt, they followed the other gods of the various nations
around them, and by their worship of these gods provoked the LORD.
Because they had thus abandoned him and served Baal and the Ashtaroth,
the anger of the LORD flared up against Israel, and he delivered them
over to plunderers who despoiled them. He allowed them to fall into
the power of their enemies round about whom they were no longer able
to withstand. Whatever they undertook, the LORD turned into disaster
for them, as in his warning he had sworn he would do, till they were
in great distress. Even when the LORD raised up judges to deliver them
from the power of their despoilers, they did not listen to their
judges, but abandoned themselves to the worship of other gods. They
were quick to stray from the way their fathers had taken, and did not
follow their example of obedience to the commandments of the LORD.
Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, he would be with the
judge and save them from the power of their enemies as long as the
judge lived; it was thus the LORD took pity on their distressful cries
of affliction under their oppressors. But when the judge died, they
would relapse and do worse than their ancestors, following other gods
in service and worship, relinquishing none of their evil practices or
stubborn conduct.

MATTHEW 19:16-22
A young man approached Jesus and said, "Teacher, what good must I do
to gain eternal life?" He answered him, "Why do you ask me about the
good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life,
keep the commandments." He asked him, "Which ones?" And Jesus replied,
"You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not
steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your
mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man
said to him, "All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?"
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have
and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,
follow me." When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.

REFLECTION
The Acts of the Apostles tells us that the early Christians sold their
possessions and presented the money to the apostles who then
distributed it to the needy in the community.

The possessions they sold, of course, were not what they needed for
their daily living. For we know from Acts that the Eucharist was
celebrated by turns in their various homes. So they would have had to
retain also household necessities, such as furniture, kitchen
utensils, etc. When Acts says they sold their land and their homes, it
must refer to the lands and homes they did not actually inhabit. These
early Christians, therefore, sold all they did not need for their
daily living. The money from these sales they gave to the apostles for
distribution to those in want.

They lived this way 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. Both the kingdom and money are
absolute masters. If a person serves one of these masters, he must
reject the other. He cannot serve both. No compromise is possible.

Who are the rich in our society? We are, all of us, for surely, 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're 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 the strength, healing and speedy recovery of:
- Damaso Guevara
- Dodo
- Tom Diokno
... for the personal intentions of:
- Jasmin
- Pauline
- Guevara Family
- San Juan de Dios Hospital
... for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Lilia
- Ernesto Guevara
- Remberto Gascon, Estrella Gascon, Danilo Gascon, Florence Gascon
Eternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them.
May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Francesca Jhian
- Birthday: Luisa R. Opelanio
- Birthday: Ma. Consuelo F. Bate
... 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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(c) 2007 Daily-Homily
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