Wednesday, January 16, 2008

 

THURSDAY 1ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

JANUARY 17, 2008
MEMORIAL, ST. ANTHONY, ABBOT
THURSDAY 1ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR II

1 SAMUEL 4:1-11
The Philistines gathered for an attack on Israel. Israel went out to
engage them in battle and camped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines
camped at Aphek. The Philistines then drew up in battle formation
against Israel. After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the
Philistines, who slew about four thousand men on the battlefield.
When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why
has the LORD permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines?
Let us fetch the ark of the LORD from Shiloh that it may go into
battle among us and save us from the grasp of our enemies." So the
people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the LORD of
hosts, who is enthroned upon the cherubim. The two sons of Eli,
Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of God. When the ark of the
LORD arrived in the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth
resounded. The Philistines, hearing the noise of shouting,
asked, "What can this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?"
On learning that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp, the
Philistines were frightened. They said, "Gods have come to their
camp." They said also, "Woe to us! This has never happened before.
Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods?
These are the gods that struck the Egyptians with various plagues and
with pestilence. Take courage and be manly, Philistines; otherwise
you will become slaves to the Hebrews, as they were your slaves. So
fight manfully!" The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated;
every man fled to his own tent. It was a disastrous defeat, in which
Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was
captured, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the
dead.

MARK 1:40-45
A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, "If you
wish, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his
hand, touched the leper, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made
clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to
him, "See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the
priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will
be proof for them." The man went away and began to publicize the
whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible
for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted
places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

REFLECTION
How much do we love God? Can we say we love Him enough? In the first
reading, the Israelites are defeated soundly in battle by their
enemies. The Ark of the Covenant is even captured by the Philistines.

Sometimes in our lives, things go wrong, very wrong, and we ask God
why. We question the justice of God if a loved one gets cancer or
someone is hurt seriously in an accident. This is when we must ask
ourselves - how much do we love God?

It is easy to give thanks and praise to God when everything is well.
But when troubles and tribulations come to us, we must go deep inside
ourselves and pray. Then we learn to love God seriously and trust in
Him deeply.

A Christian is not made during the good times but during the bad
times. God has a wisdom far beyond our understanding and if we
experience problems in our lives, they are meant to bring us closer
to Him. When we have experienced this closeness, then we can, like
the leper cured by Jesus in the Gospel, thank and praise God more
than before because he has deemed us worthy to participate in a
little suffering just as His Son had suffered for us.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
... for the strength, healing and speedy recovery of:
- Herminia Guiden
- Russell P. Cuenca
- George Tio
... In Thanksgiving: Carlo Florentino and Jehovah Raffa
... for the eternal repose of the souls of Maria, Candido, Isidora,
Alfonso, Alfonsa, Jovita, Modesta, Alipio. 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: Buddy Taylor
- Wedding Anniversary: Darryl & Jenny Valencia
- In Memoriam(+): Tong Hun
... 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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