DAILY- HOMILY

AUGUST 2, 2010
MONDAY 18TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II

JEREMIAH 28:1-17
That same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of
Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son
of Azzur, a Gibeonite, spoke as follows to Jeremiah in the Temple of
Yahweh in the presence of the priests and of all the people, 'Yahweh
Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this, "I have broken the yoke of the
king of Babylon. In exactly two years' time I shall bring back all the
vessels of the Temple of Yahweh which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
took away from here and carried off to Babylon. And I shall also bring
back Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah and all the exiles of
Judah who have gone to Babylon, Yahweh declares, for I shall break the
yoke of the king of Babylon." ' The prophet Jeremiah then replied to
the prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people
present in the Temple of Yahweh. 'So be it!' the prophet Jeremiah
said, 'May Yahweh do so! May he fulfil the words that you have
prophesied and bring all the vessels of the Temple of Yahweh and all
the exiles back to this place from Babylon. Listen carefully, however,
to this word that I am now going to say for you and all the people to
hear: From remote times, the prophets who preceded you and me
prophesied war, disaster and plague for many countries and for great
kingdoms; the prophet who prophesies peace can be recognised as one
truly sent by Yahweh only when his word comes true.' The prophet
Hananiah then snatched the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah
and broke it. In front of all the people Hananiah then said, 'Yahweh
says this, "This is how, in exactly two years' time, I shall break the
yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and take it off the necks of
all the nations." ' At this, the prophet Jeremiah went away. After the
prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke he had snatched off the prophet
Jeremiah's neck, the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, 'Go to Hananiah
and tell him this, "Yahweh says this: You have broken the wooden yokes
only to make iron yokes to replace them! For Yahweh Sabaoth, the God
of Israel, says this: An iron yoke is what I now lay on the necks of
all these nations to enslave them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
(They will be enslaved to him; I have even given him the wild
animals.)" ' The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah,
'Listen carefully, Hananiah: Yahweh has not sent you; and thanks to
you this people is now relying on what is false. And so, Yahweh says
this, "I am going to send you off the face of the earth: you will die
this year (since you have preached rebellion against Yahweh)." ' The
prophet Hananiah died the same year, in the seventh month.

MATTHEW 14:13-21
When Jesus received this news he withdrew by boat to a lonely place
where they could be by themselves. But the crowds heard of this and,
leaving the towns, went after him on foot. So as he stepped ashore he
saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick.
When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, 'This is a
lonely place, and time has slipped by; so send the people away, and
they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food.' Jesus
replied, 'There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat
yourselves.' But they answered, 'All we have with us is five loaves
and two fish.' So he said, 'Bring them here to me.' He gave orders
that the people were to sit down on the grass; then he took the five
loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the
blessing. And breaking the loaves he handed them to his disciples, who
gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they
collected the scraps left over, twelve baskets full. Now about five
thousand men had eaten, to say nothing of women and children.

REFLECTION
In the first reading, Jeremiah rebukes the false prophet Hananiah for
prophesying a falsehood. Hananiah dies in that same year as punishment
for his deception. How do we recognize a true prophet from a false
one?

When someone preaches about sensational cures, make-easy-money schemes
and tells us that things are going well when they are not, we must not
listen to them. He most probably is a false prophet. The true prophet
always puts us in front of our reality, puts us face to face with our
crosses and invites us not to be afraid of suffering. He does not
promise us a life without hardship, but tells us that Jesus will be
with us in times of trouble. He proclaims the love of God for sinners
and invites us to reconcile with Him. The physical miracles that
accompany the true prophet are merely signs which God gives so that we
may have faith. But once we start to believe in Him, the succeeding
miracles that He does in us are usually spiritual ones. We see
ourselves being freed from longtime vices, coming to terms with our
enemies, our families rebuilt, becoming more generous with our money
and time, etc. The true prophet always brings out fruits of conversion
in his followers because he leads them to Jesus. On the other hand,
the false prophet and his followers are often after some kind of
earthly gain, be it financial or otherwise.

Beware of false prophets because they are ravenous wolves underneath
sheep's clothing, says the gospel. One day they will devour their prey
and leave them destroyed.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- See Yung Hui
- Jo Marcelo
- Jun Lee
- Mon Torres
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of
- J.E.S.
- Patrick and Mary Ann
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Apolonio Lugsanay and Sepa Lugsanay
- Miguel Fabie
- William Guanzon and Asilda Guanzon
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: Angel Salvador
… 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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