DAILY- HOMILY

AUGUST 8, 2010
19TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – C

WISDOM 18:6-9
That night had been known in advance to our ancestors, so that, well
knowing him in whom they had put their trust, they would be sure of
his promises. Your people thus were waiting both for the rescue of the
upright and for the ruin of the enemy; for by the very vengeance that
you exacted on our adversaries, you glorified us by calling us to you.
So the holy children of the good offered sacrifice in secret and with
one accord enacted this holy law: that the holy ones should share good
things and dangers alike; and forthwith they chanted the hymns of the
ancestors.

HEBREWS 11:1-2, 8-12
Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the
existence of realities that are unseen. It is for their faith that our
ancestors are acknowledged. It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the
call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him
and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was
going. By faith he sojourned in the Promised Land as though it were
not his, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him
of the same promise. He looked forward to the well-founded city,
designed and built by God. It was equally by faith that Sarah, in
spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she
believed that he who had made the promise was faithful to it. Because
of this, there came from one man, and one who already had the mark of
death on him, descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the
grains of sand on the seashore which cannot be counted.

LUKE 12:35-40
'See that you have your belts done up and your lamps lit. Be like
people waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast,
ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed those
servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. In truth I tell
you, he will do up his belt, sit them down at table and wait on them.
It may be in the second watch that he comes, or in the third, but
blessed are those servants if he finds them ready. You may be quite
sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time the
burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the
wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of man is
coming at an hour you do not expect.'

REFLECTION
Jesus has taken us into his household. We are invited guests in his
home rather than mere servants. He warns us today that we must always
be busy about our vocation, about the reason why he invited us into
his home. If we grasped clearly what that call of Christ means, what
our Christian vocation is, we would hardly need today's warning. God
has put us on the road to heaven. He is always helping us on the way.
Could we be so blind to our own welfare that we would risk losing the
eternal life that Jesus has in store for us and for which he went to
the extreme lengths of love by dying for us on the cross? In our saner
moments we would give an emphatic no to this question. Yet we must
look the real facts of life in the face.

We Christians are destined for heaven. But there are many who in their
foolishness have left the only road which leads there, and are now
travelling in the opposite direction, away from the heavenly home.
Some of us, may be among these foolish ones. We may have allowed this
world to have such a hold on us that we have no time or thought for
the world that is to come. For such foolish people and indeed for all
of us, today's warning is our call to judgment, that will come on us
like a thief in the night, at a moment when we least expect it.
However, death, which is sure to come our way, sooner or later, need
not worry the ordinary good Christian. It is the unprepared, the
unprovided-for death which must cause us anxiety. When it comes, it
should find us living in God's grace, living the ordinary Christian
life, doing our daily tasks but doing them as part of our duty to God.
We have to take an interest in the affairs of this world. But the
interest must never exclude our eternal interest. Instead it can and
must help us toward the one real interest that matters in life, that
is to win our eternal reward.

Take a good look at our way of living, today. Is our behavior in the
home, in our place of work, in our recreation, in our relations with
God and with our neighbor, is it such that we would change nothing in
it, if we were told by God that we were to die tonight? If it is, then
thank God for it and keep on going. We are on the right track. If it
is not, don't wait for God to tell us when our time is up. God will
not tell us. Put things right today, and then we need not worry when
our call to judgment comes.

Death will be graduation day for the good Christian, not examination
day. That day which we fear as being the end of all things will be the
birthday of our eternity in the loving embrace of God or an eternity
of pain and torment away from the God who created us to be with him
forever in heaven. The choice is ours. If we make the right choice,
then God will be with us all the way, walking hand in hand with us,
down the rocky road of life, leading us across all obstacles to the
Promised Land of heaven.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Becca Monis
- JR Dolor, Adyn Bolos, Dolores Segui
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of
- Trinna
- Sue and Andy
- Nikolai, Aydin, Karl, Maureen Cortez
- Elmo Estinos
- Jazmine and Brenda
… for good health: Atty. Jose O. Cortez
… in Memoriam:
- Lutgarda S. Cortez
- Candelaria S. Ventura
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Deling Cortez
- Ulysses Antonio Yap
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: Enrique-Alfonso Castillo
- Birthday: Edgar V. Morabe
- Birthday: Francesca Andrea Ching
- Thanksgiving: Dennis, Wendy, Gabe, Aleks & Moi
- Wedding Anniversary: Michael & Grace Agbayani
- In Memoriam (+): Gloria Del Carmen
- In Memoriam (+): Corazon S. Ong
… 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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