DAILY- HOMILY

JUNE 21, 2011
MEMORIAL, ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA, RELIGIOUS
TUESDAY 12TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

Gn 13:2, 5-18 / Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 5 / Mt 7:6, 12-14

GENESIS 13:2, 5-18
Now Abram was very rich in flocks, silver and gold. Lot who went with
Abram also had flocks, cattle and tents. The land was not sufficient
to allow them to stay together, for their possessions were too great
for them to live together. A quarrel arose between the herds men of
Abram's flock and those of Lot. (The Canaanites and the Perizzites
were living in the land at the time.) Abram said to Lot, "Don't let
there be a dispute between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and
yours, since we are brothers! Isn't the whole land there before you?
Let us part company. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if
you go to the right, I will go to the left." Lot looked up and saw the
whole valley of the Jordan: how well it was watered! Before Yahweh
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, this was like one of Yahweh's gardens,
like the country of Egypt, on coming to Zoar. Lot chose for himself
all the Jordan valley and journeyed eastward. In this way they
separated from each other. Abram settled in the country of Canaan
while Lot lived among the towns of the plain and moved his tent as far
as Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against
Yahweh. Yahweh said to Abram after Lot had left him, "Raise your eyes
and look from where you are, towards the north, the south, the east
and the west; all the land you see I will give to you and your
descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the
earth; if the grains of the dust can be counted, then your descendants
may be counted. Come, travel through the length and breadth of the
land, for it is to you that I am giving it." So Abram moved his tent
and came to live by the oak of Mamre at Hebron. There he built an
altar to Yahweh.

MATTHEW 7:6, 12-14
Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs,
or throw your pearls to the pigs: they might trample on them and even
turn on you and tear you to pieces. So, do to others whatever you
would that others do to you: there you have the Law and the Prophets.
Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the
road that leads to destruction, and many go that way. How narrow is
the gate that leads to life and how rough the road; few there are who
find it."

REFLECTION
Towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in today's
Gospel, Jesus gives some general advice about how to approach what he
has been saying. He has made some very radical statements. The
beatitudes, for instance, if lived fully, would radically alter our
style of living. Later in the Sermon you find, "love your enemy, do
good to those who persecute you. If a man strikes you on the right
cheek, offer him the other. If someone wants to take your shirt, give
him also your coat. Don't turn your back on the borrower." The Sermon
on the Mount is radical stuff.

These "rules for radical Christianity" are the holy things that Christ
says in today's Gospel "are not to be given to dogs," as they are
pearls "not to be thrown to swine." People who can see the world only
in terms of material values, people with peso or dollar signs in their
eyes who are blinded to any meaning beyond or beneath the material –
they will not be able to appreciate, much less understand, Jesus'
value system. They will laugh at, mock and ridicule these Christian
values and those who live by them.

"Do not give holy things to dogs, not pearls to swine." Rather, live
your new life without comment in their presence. Live the golden rule:
treat others, not as they treat you, but as you would like them to
treat you. Be a living witness to Christ's values. This, the Christian
way, will be, of course, a hard road to travel, a painful road to
follow, a lonely road. But it will lead to the narrow gate that opens
to life.

This is the sort of life Jesus is calling us to in the Sermon on the
Mount. A rough road, a road less traveled, a lonely, hard journey, but
at the end there's the narrow gate that opens to life, to a joy and a
peace that neither the world nor any one commit ted to the world's
value system, can give. Jesus will be there at the end of the journey.
He will be our joy, our peace, our life.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Fr. Luis Sierra, OP
- Ditas dela Paz
- Jo Marcelo
- Jun Lee
… for the personal intentions of Josheil Dapo
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Bishop Luis Antonio "Chito" Tagle, DD
- Wedding Anniversary: Bernard & Tammy Ngo
- In Memoriam (+): Cardinal Jaime L. Sin, DD
… 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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