DAILY- HOMILY

SEPTEMBER 21, 2009
FEAST, MATTHEW, APOSTLE, EVANGELIST
MONDAY 25TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

EPHESIANS 4:1-7, 11-13
Brothers and sisters: I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in
a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and
gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of
peace: one Body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one
hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and
Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace
was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. And
he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists,
others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of
ministry, for building up the Body of Christ, until we all attain to
the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,
to the extent of the full stature of Christ.

MATTHEW 9:9-13
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs
post. He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners
came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and
said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors
and sinners?" He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need
a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I
desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but
sinners."

REFLECTION
Matthew's story is an unlikely vocation story with an unlikely
candidate called by Jesus to be a disciple. The story simply tells us
that Jesus is walking by, sees Matthew at his tax collector's table
and says: "Follow me." Matthew stops business at once, closes his
books and goes off behind Jesus. Matthew follows the call from Jesus
immediately, in the same manner as the fishermen Andrew, Simon, James
and John followed Jesus' call immediately. After calling four
fishermen to follow him, Jesus now calls a cheat, an extortionist of
his own people to also follow him. None of these first five disciples
come with high-class resumes that would qualify them in the eyes of
the world to be apostles and to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Later at
Matthew's house, during a meal with sinners and other tax collectors,
Jesus strikes out at the criticism the Pharisees directed towards his
dining companions.

Jesus tells them that he came to call, not the self-righteous, but
sinners. No one can approach or follow Jesus unless he or she
confesses that sinfulness and repents. Matthew was called; he was
responsive to the call and was a repentant sinner. If Jesus could do
amazing deeds in, with, and through Matthew, he can do the same in,
with and through each one of us. This is a story about Gospel
reversals, about the ways of God being different from the ways of the
world, about God turning sinners into saints. It is the story of every
single vocation, the story of every single saint. Each and every one
of us is basically unqualified. Each one of us is a sinner. Yet, the
call of Jesus, the grace of God and the love of the Holy Spirit can do
marvelous things. Holiness is never about our talents, our heroic
deeds, or our amazing accomplishments in life. We are called by Jesus
to walk with him, to be formed by him, to allow him to perform wonders
in and through us. That is why we need to listen each day so that, we,
too, will hear the words: "Follow me."

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the strength and healing of:
- Devon Kirvin, Sandy Mardesich, Rosemarie, Jeffers, Larry Brown, Yvie
Livernois, Ramond Cippoletti, Jeannie Goodgion, Dick Ames, Virginia
Sailor, Manny Vargas, Maryellen Henderson, Nancy McCook, Joanne Van
Wormer
- Brenda Domingo-Solis
- Lisa
- Inday Tan
… for the personal intentions of
- Dapo family
- Med Villanueva
- Sridhar Raj
- Edu and Minette
… Thanksgiving: Germain Button, Jim Surtees
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Raul Ylaya and Epifania Ylaya
- Doug Jones, Br. Frank Bracchi, Elanor Faber, Gertrude Dolan, Skip
Miller, Patrick S., Debbie
- Lourdes Ignacio de David
- Lourdes Antonio
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: Fr. Victor Helly, S.J.
- Birthday: Ethan Rosca
… 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!

**************************************************
Parish Priests' e-mail:
Fr. J. Cesar R. Marin, S. J. parishpriest@marythequeen.org

Assistant Parish Priests' e-mails:
Fr. R. Hart, S. J. rodneyhart@marythequeen.org
Fr. Thomas O'Gorman, S. J. thogorman@marythequeen.org
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