DAILY- HOMILY

AUGUST 27, 2010
MEMORIAL, ST. MONICA
FRIDAY 21ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:17-25
After all, Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel;
and not by means of wisdom of language, wise words which would make
the cross of Christ pointless. The message of the cross is folly for
those who are on the way to ruin, but for those of us who are on the
road to salvation it is the power of God. As scripture says: I am
going to destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the
understanding of any who understand. Where are the philosophers? Where
are the experts? And where are the debaters of this age? Do you not
see how God has shown up human wisdom as folly? Since in the wisdom of
God the world was unable to recognise God through wisdom, it was God's
own pleasure to save believers through the folly of the gospel. While
the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, we are
preaching a crucified Christ: to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get
over, to the gentiles foolishness, but to those who have been called,
whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is both the power of God
and the wisdom of God. God's folly is wiser than human wisdom, and
God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

MATTHEW 25:1-13
'Then the kingdom of Heaven will be like this: Ten wedding attendants
took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were
foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones, though they took
their lamps, took no oil with them, whereas the sensible ones took
flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and
they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry,
"Look! The bridegroom! Go out and meet him." Then all those wedding
attendants woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said
to the sensible ones, "Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going
out." But they replied, "There may not be enough for us and for you;
you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves."
They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who
were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was
closed. The other attendants arrived later. "Lord, Lord," they said,
"open the door for us." But he replied, "In truth I tell you, I do not
know you." So stay awake, because you do not know either the day or
the hour.

REFLECTION
The foolish bridesmaids in today's parable have a two-fold
foolishness: they were overconfident about themselves and under-
confident about God's mercy. They came to the wedding feast, all too
sure about their estimation that their oil would last the long wait.
When their oil ran out, they panicked and ran off to get some more,
risking the probability of missing the bridegroom's arrival, if only
to avoid embarrassment and shame.

Wisdom here is as much to be prepared as to have the right amount of
confidence in ourselves and in God's mercy. When we are not too sure
of ourselves, we always come prepared to meet whatever contingency.
Chances are, however, we will, at one point or another, run out of our
own "oil" in our spiritual lives, no matter how much we have in store.
In this certain eventuality, the warning of the Gospel is not to be
overcome by hysteria and run away in fear. Instead, we must rely on
the mercy of God who is always ready to supply what remains lacking,
if we have already done our part.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Jo Marcelo, Jun Lee, Mon Torres, Francis Torres, Luis Torres
- See Yung Hui
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of
- Mark Mallett, Fr. Daniel Dubroy, Alexander Chung
- Vince and Cecile
- Patrick and Mary Ann
- J.E.S.
- Josheil Dapo
- Jazmine and Brenda
- Cherie Torres
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Avelina Sesaldo, William Guanzon, Asilda Guanzon
- Raul, Epifania, Leoncio, Josefina, Lumeng, Juan Sr.
- Rosario Cadag Malagueno & Regina Malagueno Lopez
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: Marilyn Thai
- Birthday: Sheldon Villanueva
… 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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