Monday, May 31, 2010
TUESDAY 9TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II
MEMORIAL, ST JUSTIN, MARTYR
TUESDAY 9TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II
SECOND PETER 3:12-15, 17-18
While you wait for the Day of God to come, and try to hasten its
coming: on that Day the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements
melt in the heat. What we are waiting for, relying on his promises, is
the new heavens and new earth, where uprightness will be at home. So
then, my dear friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live
blameless and unsullied lives so that he will find you at peace. Think
of our Lord's patience as your opportunity to be saved; our brother
Paul, who is so dear to us, told you this when he wrote to you with
the wisdom that he was given. Since you have been forewarned about
this, my dear friends, be careful that you do not come to the point of
losing the firm ground that you are standing on, carried away by the
errors of unprincipled people. Instead, continue to grow in the grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be
glory, in time and eternity. Amen.
MARK 12:13-17
Next they sent to him some Pharisees and some Herodians to catch him
out in what he said. These came and said to him, 'Master, we know that
you are an honest man, that you are not afraid of anyone, because
human rank means nothing to you, and that you teach the way of God in
all honesty. Is it permissible to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should
we pay or not?' Recognizing their hypocrisy he said to them, 'Why are
you putting me to the test? Hand me a denarius and let me see it.'
They handed him one and he said to them, 'Whose portrait is this?
Whose title?' They said to him, 'Caesar's.' Jesus said to them, 'Pay
Caesar what belongs to Caesar -- and God what belongs to God.' And
they were amazed at him.
REFLECTION
The first reading continues to talk about Tobit who lived in difficult
times for the Israelites. He and his relatives were in exile in
Nineveh, the capital of the great Assyrian empire. The king did not
allow the Israelites to bury their dead, but Tobit would bury them
secretly, even though he was in danger of death himself for doing so.
He invited his son to bring a poor man to share their meal with them.
From all this we can see that Tobit was a just and upright man, who
had faith in God in spite of the sufferings that had come upon him and
his people. Yet, just after he had buried the body of another
Israelite, he was blinded by bird droppings that fell on his eyes.
This does not seem very fair after he had carried out so many
charitable works.
We all have our own trials in this world and they may be great or
small. When we are in the midst of pain and suffering, it is hard for
us to have faith in God and his plan for us. We are likely to complain
and ask why this should happen to us. In such situations, we can
remember the example of Tobit, whose faith in God was not weakened by
suffering.
God does not promise to shield us from trouble, but he is always there
and we can find strength in turning to him. If we persevere in faith
and seek to do God's will even in difficult situations, we will one
day be able to see how God has brought good out of our suffering ,
although it was hard to accept at that time. Our faith tells us that
God is righteous and faithful and that he has a plan for every one of
us. Let us ask Him to give us the faith to trust Him even in the midst
of sufferings, so that we may find new strength and comfort.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the personal intentions of Josheil Dapo
… In Memoriam: Asilda Guanzon
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Wedding Anniversary: Gene & Cielo Salgado
- Wedding Anniversary: Isabel & Engr. Joseph Limchutick
- In Memoriam (+): Juanita S. Bate
- In Memoriam (+): Paulino Lim Yu (Jun 17, 1968-Jun 1,1991)+
- In Memoriam (+): Chua Tam+
… 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!
**************************************************
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
