DAILY- HOMILY

July 29, 2007
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C

GENESIS 18:20-32
In those days, the LORD said: "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah
is so great, and their sin so grave, that I must go down and see
whether or not their actions fully correspond to the cry against them
that comes to me. I mean to find out." While Abraham's visitors walked
on farther toward Sodom, the LORD remained standing before Abraham.
Then Abraham drew nearer and said: "Will you sweep away the innocent
with the guilty? Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city;
would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it for the sake of the
fifty innocent people within it? Far be it from you to do such a
thing, to make the innocent die with the guilty so that the innocent
and the guilty would be treated alike! Should not the judge of all the
world act with justice?" The LORD replied, "If I find fifty innocent
people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their
sake." Abraham spoke up again: "See how I am presuming to speak to my
Lord, though I am but dust and ashes! What if there are five less than
fifty innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city because of
those five?" He answered, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five
there." But Abraham persisted, saying "What if only forty are found
there?" He replied, "I will forbear doing it for the sake of the
forty." Then Abraham said, "Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on.
What if only thirty are found there?" He replied, "I will forbear
doing it if I can find but thirty there." Still Abraham went on,
"Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord, what if there are no
more than twenty?" The LORD answered, "I will not destroy it, for the
sake of the twenty." But he still persisted: "Please, let not my Lord
grow angry if I speak up this last time. What if there are at least
ten there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy
it."

COLOSSIANS 2:12-14
Brothers and sisters: You were buried with him in baptism, in which
you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who
raised him from the dead. And even when you were dead in
transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to
life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions;
obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was
opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the
cross.

LUKE 11:1-13
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of
his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught
his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed
be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and
forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test." And he said to them,
"Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says,
'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has
arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,'
and he says in reply from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has
already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot
get up to give you anything.' I tell you, if he does not get up to
give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get
up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. "And I
tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and
the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and
the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be
opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks
for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you
then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those
who ask him?"

REFLECTION
Jesus, who knew the heart of man so well, knew how difficult it is for
us to abandon ourselves into the hands of God. He does not deny the
importance of loving God. But he knows how easily all sorts of
illusions can hide behind the so abused word "love." And so he prefers
giving to the love of God a criterion of authenticity, which will
preserve it from illusion - and that is trust.

When the man in this parable runs to wake up his neighbor in the
middle of the night, he does more than giving in to a passing whim. He
has a pressing need and expects that his request will be favorably
received. He is not merely going through the motion of asking, doing
it in a halfhearted way; he is asking seriously with his whole being.
For after all, his honor as host is at stake. The whole village's good
name is also at stake.

With God our prayer must also be wholehearted. But very often we ask
in a halfhearted way, at the very moment, when we formulate our
request. St. Augustine, referring back to the period of his life, when
he was struggling with his desire for conversion admits: "I used to
pray to God, 'Lord, grant me the gift of chastity ... but not now.'"

We often pray in the same way. We ask to be delivered of this vice,
that inordinate inclination, that harmful habit - but at the same time
we do not really want our prayer to be answered. We ask to be more
charitable, more open to others, more patient - but we are not willing
to let ourselves be stripped of our selfishness for that. Our prayer
is not whole.

How can we remedy this? The only sure cure for a faulty prayer is -
prayer. We must then humbly confess to God that we are not completely
sincere, and ask Him to make us sincere. Since "we do not know how we
ought to pray," we ask the Spirit to come and pray in us so as to
correct our prayer and make it truly sincere.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
... for the strength, healing and speedy recovery of:
- Dodo
- Ely
- Tolentino A. Sandoval
- Bro. Nanding
- Maria Alyssa Martina
- Barney
- Theresa, Kathy, Gabrelle, David and Martin
... Thanksgiving for: Jane Guillermo
... for the personal intentions of:
- Jasmin
- Charisse Gascon
- Guevara Family
- San Juan de Dios Hospital
... for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Geronimo Z. Velasco.
- Engracia and Angel
- Remberto, Estrella, Florence & Danilo
Eternal rest grant unto then and 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: Celso S. Bate
- Birthday: Geraldine S. Lim
- Birthday: Henry Dee
- Birthday: Sr. Elizabeth Wang
- Birthday: Elena Villanera
- In Memoriam (+): Dr. Amparo Navarrete Nañagas
... 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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