DAILY- HOMILY

JULY 18, 2010
16TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – C

GENESIS 18:1-10
Yahweh appeared to him at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting by the
entrance of the tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up,
and there he saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them
he ran from the entrance of the tent to greet them, and bowed to the
ground. 'My lord,' he said, 'if I find favour with you, please do not
pass your servant by. Let me have a little water brought, and you can
wash your feet and have a rest under the tree. Let me fetch a little
bread and you can refresh yourselves before going further, now that
you have come in your servant's direction.' They replied, 'Do as you
say.' Abraham hurried to the tent and said to Sarah, 'Quick, knead
three measures of best flour and make loaves.' Then, running to the
herd, Abraham took a fine and tender calf and gave it to the servant,
who hurried to prepare it. Then taking curds, milk and the calf which
had been prepared, he laid all before them, and they ate while he
remained standing near them under the tree. 'Where is your wife
Sarah?' they asked him. 'She is in the tent,' he replied. Then his
guest said, 'I shall come back to you next year, and then your wife
Sarah will have a son.' Sarah was listening at the entrance of the
tent behind him.

COLOSSIANS 1:24-28
It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to
make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ
for the sake of his body, the Church, of which I was made a servant
with the responsibility towards you that God gave to me, that of
completing God's message, the message which was a mystery hidden for
generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his holy
people. It was God's purpose to reveal to them how rich is the glory
of this mystery among the gentiles; it is Christ among you, your hope
of glory: this is the Christ we are proclaiming, admonishing and
instructing everyone in all wisdom, to make everyone perfect in
Christ.

LUKE 10:38-42
In the course of their journey he came to a village, and a woman named
Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who
sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha,
who was distracted with all the serving, came to him and said, 'Lord,
do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by
myself? Please tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered, 'Martha,
Martha,' he said, 'you worry and fret about so many things, and yet
few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better
part, and it is not to be taken from her.'

REFLECTION
The more correct lesson which the story of Martha and Mary, in today's
gospel, seems to have is that we must not let the affairs of this
life, innocent though they be in themselves, pr event us from at
tending primarily to the one affair that really matters, our future
life. The emphasis, then, is on Martha rather than on Mary, the
contemplative life over the active, pastoral form of life.

In her overexcitement to prove herself a kind and true hostess, Martha
bent all her energies to preparing an excellent meal. She had no time
to listen to Jesus' words of divine wisdom. The work she was doing was
excellent and faultless in itself. She need not and should not have
excluded learning from Christ's teaching while doing that good work.

Like Martha many good Christians are anxious and upset about many
earthly concerns. These concerns are necessary. This we know. A man
must earn his daily bread. A wife must cook and wash and labor for her
husband and family. This is what God expects us to do. What we need
not and must not do, however, is to forget or exclude God in the
process.

The evangelist says that we are to pray always. It is impossible to
pray formally all day long, but we can keep constantly directing our
thoughts to God and making little acts of love. All well-meaning
Christians can learn from today's gospel scene. We work very hard, yet
in doing so, the spiritual side of life is often neglected. In the
end, the Lord's blessing is not fully on our work. Sometimes we can be
more intent on personal success in work than in advancing God's
kingdom.

St. Thomas More as Grand Chancellor of England spent many hours of the
day in carrying out the work that King Henry VIII had assigned to him.
But before he began his day's work, he had already spent several hours
with the Lord in quiet prayer in the early hours of the morning. From
prayer come strength, correct decisions and perseverance, as well as
calm control of our energies and stability in our under takings. No
one would consider it proper for a mother to neglect the family's need
just to at tend daily morning Mass, or for a father to neglect his
work in favor of spending time at prayer. But it is always possible to
find time for quiet prayer, as St. Thomas More did, no matter how
hectic one's work schedule may be. Such prayer always brings abundant
blessings on the family.

What balance do we try to keep between work and prayer? St. Francis de
Sales has this to say about work and prayer: "Every Christian needs
half an hour of prayer each day except when busy. Then we need an hour
of prayer."

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Rita P. Cuerva
- Ely Lara
- Lachi Aviles
- Susan
… for good health: Bernard Baui, Remee R. Veloso, Diane Luna, Cynthia
Solidum, Juanito V. Jutare, Toshio Akaba
… for the personal intentions of
- Josheil Dapo
- Titong V.
- J.E.S.
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Antonio Melliza and Susima Melliza
- Florisa Liwanag
- Gerarld Falguerra
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: Boogie Rodrigo
- Birthday: Dr. Salud Balgalso
- In Memoriam (+): Lorena P. de Uy
… 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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