DAILY- HOMILY

JUNE 8, 2011
WEDNESDAY 7TH WEEK OF EASTER – YEAR I

Acts 20:28-38 / Ps 68:29-30, 33-35, 35-36 / Jn 17:11-19

ACTS 20:28-38
Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock the Holy Spirit
has placed into your care. Shepherd the Church of the Lord that he has
won at the price of his own blood. I know that after I leave, ruthless
wolves will come among you and not spare the flock. And from among
you, some will arise corrupting the truth and inducing the disciples
to follow them. Be on the watch, therefore, remembering that for three
years, night and day, I did not cease to warn every one even with
tears. Now I commend you to God and to his grace-filled word, which is
able to make you grow and gain the inheritance that you shall share
with all the saints. I have not looked for anyone's silver, gold or
clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided
for both my needs and the needs of those who were with me. In every
way I have shown you that by working hard one must help the weak,
remembering the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, `Happiness
lies more in giving than in receiving.'" After this discourse, Paul
knelt down with them and prayed. Then they all began to weep and threw
their arms around him and kissed him. They were deeply distressed
because he had said that they would never see him again. And they went
with him even to the ship.

JOHN 17:11-19
Jesus prayed, "I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world
whereas I am going to you. Holy Father, keep them in your Name (that
you have given me,) so that they may be one, just as we are. When I
was with them, I kept them safe in your Name, and not one was lost
except the one who was already lost, and in this the Scripture was
fulfilled. But now I am coming to you and I leave these my words in
the world that my joy may be complete in them. I have given them your
word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world;
just as I am not of the world. I do not ask you to remove them from
the world but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the
world, just as I am not of the world; consecrate them in the truth—
your word is truth. I have sent them into the world as you sent me
into the world, and for their sake, I go to the sacrifice by which I
am consecrated, so that they too may be consecrated in truth."

REFLECTION
We know that there is evil in the world. Just look around and see the
state of our country. You won't miss the marks of poverty caused by
corruption and greed. There's desperation, lack of education and
extreme destitution. What makes this scenario even worse is the apathy
of those, including ourselves, who are too caught up in their/our own
lives. It seems the plight of the rest of the country is too much of a
burden for us to take on. Or is it because we couldn't care less
because it's not something that affects us directly?

An email was once circulated telling a story of how Satan found the
best way to infiltrate humanity. He gave up on blatant temptation
because that was passé (and way too obvious). Instead, he chose
something quite creative. Rather than leading humanity to apparent
evil, he decided to bring too much work into our lives, work that will
make us too busy to spend time with our loved ones, too busy to be of
help to others, too busy to live our own lives, and of course the
clincher, too busy to pray to the Lord.

The sad thing about this is that we do not recognize his evil plans
because we believe that we are busy for noble reasons. But what
happens is that we lose valuable time which we can never take back. We
also lose the all-important connection not just with our families but
especially with the Lord through people who need our help.

If we find ourselves in this trap, it isn't easy to bail out
especially when we have so many responsibilities riding on our
shoulders. If we take to heart, however, what Jesus has said, "It is
more blessed to give than to receive," we can channel our business
elsewhere. Think instead of what we can give to our family - time with
them might top their list. Think of what we can give to our neighbors.
Think of what we can give to our country. Then be happy that through
all this giving of ourselves, we have done something special for our
Lord.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Pat, Chuck, Maria, Ben, Pam
- Ditas dela Paz
- Jo Marcelo
- Jun Lee
… for the personal intentions of
- Josheil Dapo
- Pauline
- Mary T
- Nick
- Veronica Yap
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Leticia Timbol
- Birthday: Lourdes Hilario
… 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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