DAILY- HOMILY

MARCH 13, 2009
MEMORIAL, ST RODERICK, MARTYR
FRIDAY 2ND WEEK OF LENT – YEAR I

GENESIS 37:3-4, 12-13A, 17B-28A
Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his
old age; and he had made him a long tunic. When his brothers saw that
their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much
that they would not even greet him. One day, when his brothers had
gone to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem, Israel said to
Joseph, "Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem.
Get ready; I will send you to them." So Joseph went after his brothers
and caught up with them in Dothan. They noticed him from a distance,
and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him. They said to
one another: "Here comes that master dreamer! Come on, let us kill him
and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild
beast devoured him. We shall then see what comes of his dreams." When
Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying, "We
must not take his life. Instead of shedding blood," he continued,
"just throw him into that cistern there in the desert; but do not kill
him outright." His purpose was to rescue him from their hands and
return him to his father. So when Joseph came up to them, they
stripped him of the long tunic he had on; then they took him and threw
him into the cistern, which was empty and dry. They then sat down to
their meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from
Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm and resin to be taken down
to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers: "What is to be gained by killing
our brother and concealing his blood? Rather, let us sell him to these
Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he
is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers agreed. They sold Joseph
to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

MATTHEW 21:33-43, 45-46
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: "Hear
another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a
hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he
leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew
near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But
the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they
killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more
numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, `They will respect my
son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
`This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What
will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes? They
answered him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and
lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at
the proper times." Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the
Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the
cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in
our eyes? Therefore, I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken
away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit." When
the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that
he was speaking about them. And although they were attempting to
arrest him, they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a
prophet.

REFLECTION
Time and time again, many prophets and scribes have appealed to us to
mend our past discretions and to deviate from too much self-
involvement. But, time and time again, we choose to go about our
business as if nothing different has happened. Even after countless
warnings, we see no problem in dismissing these as hearsay and
poppycock. But, when we are called to take account of our actions in
front of our Creator, it'll probably be too late. Why did we not heed
those earlier guidelines that were for our benefit?

Sometimes we're just too stubborn. We think that "it's my life and I
want to do with it as I see fit". We don't see the good it would do to
follow the recommendations of elders and wiser, more experienced
individuals. After all, in the end, it's all about "me". With that
attitude, we probably won't get too far. It takes a humble spirit to
accept our shortcomings. We do not know everything. So, when spiritual
masters share their knowledge and wisdom that will help us grow, we
should listen to them instead of dismissing their advice as
unimportant. Why not learn from the learned instead of tackling things
ignorantly on our own?

Let us pray for the grace of enlightenment. Let us be reminded that we
are workers in the vineyard and when our master advises us, may we
always be open to Him.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the healing and strength of:
- Sophia Gonzalez
- Ester Marcelo
- Lisa
- Jason Paul
- Christy Chin
- Elena
… for the personal intentions of:
- Nitz Carvajal
- Pauline
- Vijayakumar
… for the safety of Johnson Cuiting
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Robert Salvador
… for the healing and peace of all families

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!

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To subscribe email: dailyhomily@gmail.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to:
daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

© 2009 Daily-Homily
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---