Tuesday, February 16, 2010
ASH WEDNESDAY - C
ASH WEDNESDAY - C
JOEL 2:12-18
'But now -- declares Yahweh- come back to me with all your heart,
fasting, weeping, mourning.' Tear your hearts and not your clothes,
and come back to Yahweh your God, for he is gracious and
compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and he relents
about inflicting disaster. Who knows if he will not come back, relent
and leave a blessing behind him, a cereal offering and a libation to
be presented to Yahweh your God? Blow the ram's-horn in Zion! Order a
fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, call the people together, summon the
community, assemble the elders, gather the children, even infants at
the breast! Call the bridegroom from his bedroom and the bride from
her bower! Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, stand weeping
between portico and altar, saying, 'Spare your people, Yahweh! Do not
expose your heritage to the contempt, to the sarcasm of the nations!
Why give the peoples cause to say, "Where is their God?" ' Then,
becoming jealous over his country, Yahweh took pity on his people.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:20--6:2
So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were urging you
through us, and in the name of Christ we appeal to you to be
reconciled to God. For our sake he made the sinless one a victim for
sin, so that in him we might become the uprightness of God. As his
fellow-workers, we urge you not to let your acceptance of his grace
come to nothing. As he said, 'At the time of my favour I have answered
you; on the day of salvation I have helped you'; well, now is the real
time of favour, now the day of salvation is here.
MATTHEW 6:1-6, 16-18
'Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract
attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in
heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you;
this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to
win human admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward.
But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right
is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all
that is done in secret will reward you. 'And when you pray, do not
imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in
the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them. In
truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to
your private room, shut yourself in, and so pray to your Father who is
in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in
secret will reward you. 'When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy
look as the hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to let
people know they are fasting. In truth I tell you, they have had their
reward. But when you fast, put scent on your head and wash your face,
so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees
all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done
in secret will reward you.
REFLECTION
How of ten have we seen pictures in the newspapers of people making
donations and making a big thing about it? Today's Gospel teaches us
about humility. Which, today, being Ash Wednesday, is very
appropriate…"You are dust and unto dust you shall return."
Our focus in life should never be power or wealth. Material wealth
will not lead us to the gates of heaven. Spiritual wealth is what we
should all work for. But, how does one amass "spiritual" wealth?
Again, let us go back to today's Gospel: we can amass "spiritual"
wealth by helping the poor, praying to God in a very personal way,
never flaunting our good deeds but believing that God sees and hears
everything that we do. We must never lose focus of our motivation for
doing good, which is our intense love for God and our neighbor.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the strength and healing of:
- Brenda
- Walter Stamatelaky
- Don V.
- Francis Torres
- Mon Torres
- Jessy
- Jo Marcelo
- Filmore T.
- Dapo family
… for the personal intentions of
- Joel Dapo, Sheila Marie Y. Dapo, Josheil Dapo
- R.
- Abraham A.
… for the eternal repose of the soul of
- Maria Olbes Velasco
- Josie Lichauco
- Eugene Yang
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: Teodulo O. Santos
… 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!
**************************************************
These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only.
Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends,
colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the
following:
+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| http://www.marythequeen.org
| Distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
© 2010 Daily-Homily
