DAILY- HOMILY

OCTOBER 15, 2009
MEMORIAL, TERESA OF AVILA, VIRGIN AND DOCTOR
THURSDAY 28TH WEEK ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

ROMANS 3:21-30
Brothers and sisters: Now the righteousness of God has been manifested
apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets,
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who
believe. For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived
of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through
the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation,
through faith, by his Blood, to prove his righteousness because of the
forgiveness of sins previously committed, through the forbearance of
God– to prove his righteousness in the present time, that he might be
righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus. What occasion is
there then for boasting? It is ruled out. On what principle, that of
works? No, rather on the principle of faith. For we consider that a
person is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Does God
belong to Jews alone? Does he not belong to Gentiles, too? Yes, also
to Gentiles, for God is one and will justify the circumcised on the
basis of faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

LUKE 11:47-54
The Lord said: "Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets
whom your fathers killed. Consequently, you bear witness and give
consent to the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them and you
do the building. Therefore, the wisdom of God said, `I will send to
them prophets and Apostles; some of them they will kill and persecute'
in order that this generation might be charged with the blood of all
the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of
Abel to the blood of Zechariah who died between the altar and the
temple building. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with
their blood! Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the
key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those
trying to enter." When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees began to
act with hostility toward him and to interrogate him about many
things, for they were plotting to catch him at something he might
say.

REFLECTION
People assume that showing up in church on Sundays is all they have to
do. Lots of Catholics attend Mass without being changed by their
encounter with Christ in the Eucharist, because they are only using
the Mass as an insurance policy. We can sit in church and even sound
like Christians outside of church, but we only become free of the
hellish forces of sin by wanting to receive the grace of Christ's
redemption. We can only become Christ-like by wanting to be changed in
our encounter with the Eucharist.

Trying to work our way into heaven by what we do without first having
faith in Christ makes us like the scribes and Pharisees in today's
Gospel reading to whom Jesus said, "Woe!" We could make a large
donation to build statues of the saints as decorations in the church,
but if we are not learning from those very same saints, following
their example of holiness, we are condemning ourselves by the contrast
between our lives and theirs.

True faith motivates us to do good works, not because we want to get
into heaven but because we appreciate the sacrifice Jesus made for us
on the cross. And we know that with this faith we are already
receiving heaven. We want to do good works because we want to be like
Jesus.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the strength and healing of:
- Brenda Domingo-Solis
- Francis Torres
- Shiappee
- Richy Ozoa
- Mon Torres
- Lisa
… for the victims of natural disasters
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Atty. Aurelia G. Galarrita
- Birthday: Rosie M. Papa
- Birthday: Yu Kuan
- In Memoriam (+): Felix A. Estrada
… 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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