DAILY- HOMILY

JULY 6, 2009
MEMORIAL, MARIA GORETTI, VIRGIN, MARTYR
MONDAY 14TH WEEK ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

GENESIS 28:10-22A
Jacob departed from Beer-sheba and proceeded toward Haran. When he
came upon a certain shrine, as the sun had already set, he stopped
there for the night. Taking one of the stones at the shrine, he put it
under his head and lay down to sleep at that spot. Then he had a
dream: a stairway rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the
heavens; and God's messengers were going up and down on it. And there
was the LORD standing beside him and saying: "I, the LORD, am the God
of your forefather Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you
are lying I will give to you and your descendants. These shall be as
plentiful as the dust of the earth, and through them you shall spread
out east and west, north and south. In you and your descendants all
the nations of the earth shall find blessing. Know that I am with you;
I will protect you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land. I
will never leave you until I have done what I promised you." When
Jacob awoke from his sleep, he exclaimed, "Truly, the LORD is in this
spot, although I did not know it!" In solemn wonder he cried out: "How
awesome is this shrine! This is nothing else but an abode of God, and
that is the gateway to heaven!" Early the next morning Jacob took the
stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a memorial stone,
and poured oil on top of it. He called the site Bethel, whereas the
former name of the town had been Luz. Jacob then made this vow: "If
God remains with me, to protect me on this journey I am making and to
give me enough bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I come back safe
to my father's house, the LORD shall be my God. This stone that I have
set up as a memorial stone shall be God's abode."

MATTHEW 9:18-26
While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before
him, and said, "My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on
her, and she will live." Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his
disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up
behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself,
"If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured." Jesus turned around
and saw her, and said, "Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you."
And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the
official's house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were
making a commotion, he said, "Go away! The girl is not dead but
sleeping." And they ridiculed him. When the crowd was put out, he came
and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this
spread throughout all that land.

REFLECTION
In today's Gospel reading, we see that it is the official's faith in
Jesus that moves Jesus to raise to life his daughter who had just
died. It is indeed a remarkable feature. Jesus, the Son of God,
accommodates a mere individual, due to a show of faith. So often we
see problems around us and expect God to solve them without any effort
on our part. God knows our problems better than we do. Yet, he
sometimes does not act until he sees an act of faith on our par t.

The official showed such faith. It was extraordinary, after all, for
him to approach Jesus in front of other people and ask point-blank for
a miracle. Do we have such confidence when we approach Jesus in
prayer? Is our faith strong enough to ask him for something
extraordinary? The woman suffering hemorrhages had also great faith in
Jesus. In her case, she did not express it in words. Rather, she
expressed it in a deed, by discreetly touching Jesus' cloak.

The official and the suffering woman showed an admirable faith. We
should desire to have that same kind of faith. Sometimes we feel
paralyzed by our problems, so much so, that we find it hard to
approach Jesus with confidence. Let us ask Jesus today to increase our
faith and sense of hope and to live with the firm conviction that he
truly rules the world.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Lisa
- Fr. Peter Chuang, SJ
- Eva
- Doug Jones
- Candice Rice
- Kitty
- Herman
- Elizabeth Mah
… for the special intentions: San Juan de Dios Hospital
… for the personal intentions:
- Charmaine
- Med Villanueva
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Ms. Lolly Chua
- Alexis Arguello, Shannon Brand, Michael, Farrah, Karen Brown, Ed,
Catherine Appell
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: Conrado F. Bate
- Wedding Anniversary: Lucia & Rolan Ong
- Wedding Anniversary: Susana & Jose Lorenzo
- Wedding Anniversary: Carlos & Tessie Yam
… 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
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---