DAILY- HOMILY

JUNE 14, 2010
MONDAY 11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II

FIRST KINGS 21:1-16
This is what happened next: Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard close by
the palace of Ahab king of Samaria, and Ahab said to Naboth, 'Give me
your vineyard to be my vegetable garden, since it adjoins my palace; I
will give you a better vineyard for it or, if you prefer, I will give
you its value in money.' Naboth, however, said to Ahab, 'Yahweh forbid
that I should give you my ancestral heritage!' Ahab went home gloomy
and out of temper at the words of Naboth of Jezreel, 'I will not give
you my heritage from my ancestors.' He lay down on his bed and turned
his face away and refused to eat. His wife Jezebel came to him. 'Why
are you so dispirited,' she said, 'that you refuse to eat?' He said,
'I have been talking to Naboth of Jezreel. I said, "Give me your
vineyard either for money or, if you prefer, for another vineyard in
exchange." But he said, "I will not give you my vineyard." ' Then his
wife Jezebel said, 'Some king of Israel you make! Get up, eat and take
heart; I myself shall get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.'
So she wrote a letter in Ahab's name and sealed it with his seal,
sending the letter to the elders and notables of the city where Naboth
lived. In the letter, she wrote, 'Proclaim a fast, and put Naboth in a
prominent place among the people. There confront him with a couple of
scoundrels who will accuse him as follows, "You have cursed God and
the king." Then take him outside and stone him to death.' The men of
Naboth's city, the elders and notables living in his city, did what
Jezebel ordered, as was written in the letter which she had sent him.
They proclaimed a fast and put Naboth in a prominent place among the
people. The two scoundrels then came and confronted him, and the
scoundrels then publicly accused Naboth as follows, 'Naboth has cursed
God and the king.' He was then taken outside the city and stoned to
death. They then sent word to Jezebel, 'Naboth has been stoned to
death.' When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she
said to Ahab, 'Get up! Take possession of the vineyard which Naboth of
Jezreel refused to sell you, for Naboth is no longer alive, he is
dead.' When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up to go down to
the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel and take possession of it.

MATTHEW 5:38-42
'You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But
I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary,
if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if
someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have
your cloak as well. And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two
miles with him. Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to
borrow, do not turn away.

REFLECTION
The nature of a Christian is to love the enemy. This Gospel summarizes
this love in so many ways that there is no doubt that this is what God
wants us to do. In many other passages in the Gospels, Christ invites
us to offer the wicked man no resistance. During those times, hitting
you on the right cheek was an insult to one's dignity and honor.
Requiring one to go one mile was a form of injustice and yet Christ
invites us to go two miles!

Christ invites us to love those who do injustice to us. The enemy here
may be living under our house. When our husband or wife goes against
our will, he or she becomes our "enemy". When our children disobey or
disrespect us, they become our enemy. Anyone who destroys our plans or
our projections becomes our enemy. And Christ invites us to love them
as they are, especially when they are unlovable.

And how is this possible? Humanly speaking it is not. But with the
Holy Spirit, Christ gives us His spirit that it may be possible.
Because this is what Christ did with us. Christ loved us when we were
His enemies. When we killed him with our sins, Christ answered with
the other cheek, Christ also gave us his cloak, his life and walked
two miles for us. Christ never took account of our sins, but paid for
them with his blood. Believe it or not- we can only be truly happy
when we can possess this special divine love for the enemy. This is
the true love that saves the world!

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
… for the personal intentions of
- Josheil Dapo
- Jessy
- Jo Marcelo
- Jun Lee
- Cesar Galang
- Josheil Dapo
… for the guidance and enlightenment of R
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Jun Taguibao
- Birthday: Anton Sanchez
- Birthday: Gertrudes S. Del Carmen
- Birthday: Lisa de los Angeles
- Wedding Anniversary: Yiu-Wah/Susie Tsoi
- Wedding Anniversary: Jose Alphonso & Shyrene Sala
- Wedding Anniversary: Jenny & Joseph Bendicion
- In Memoriam (+): Antonio S.J. Cabrera
- In Memoriam (+): Rodolfo Esquillo
… 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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