DAILY- HOMILY

AUGUST 11, 2011
MEMORIAL, ST CLARE, VIRGIN
THURSDAY 19TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

Jos 3:7-10, 11, 13-17 / Ps 114:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 / Mt 18:21—19:1

JOSHUA 3:7-10, 11, 13-17
Then Yahweh said to Joshua: "Today I will begin to make you great in
the eyes of Israel and they shall know that I am with you as I was
with Moses. Give this order to the priests who carry the Ark of the
Covenant: As soon as you come to the banks of the Jordan, stand still
in the river." And Joshua said to the Israelites: "Come nearer and
listen to the words of Yahweh, our God. Do you want a sign that
Yahweh, the living God, is in your midst, he who drives away before
you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, as well as the
Girgashites, Jebusites and Amorites? See, the Ark of the Covenant of
the Lord of all the earth is going to cross the Jordan before you.
When the priests who carry the Ark of the Lord of all the earth put
their feet into the water of the Jordan, the water coming from
upstream shall stop flowing and stand in one single mass." When the
people set out from their camp to cross the Jordan, the priests who
carried the Ark of the Covenant went before them. There was much water
in the Jordan, for it was overflowing its banks at this time of the
barley harvest. Nevertheless, when those who carried the Ark went down
to the river and their feet touched the edge of the water, the water
from upstream stopped flowing. The water stood still, forming
something like a dam very far from that place, near Adam, the
neighboring city of Zarethan. The water flowing down to the Dead Sea
was completely cut off, and so the people could cross opposite
Jericho. The priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant remained in
the middle of the river which dried up, until all the Israelites had
crossed the Jordan.

MATTHEW 18:21—19:1
Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, how many times must I forgive the offenses
of my brother or sister? Seven times?" Jesus answered, "No, not seven
times, but seventy-seven times. This story throws light on the kingdom
of heaven. A king decided to settle the accounts of his servants.
Among the first was one who owed him ten thousand gold ingots. The
official threw himself at the feet of the king and said, `Give me
time, and I will pay you back everything.' The king took pit y on him
and not only set him free but even canceled his debt. This official
then left the king's presence and he met one of his companions who
owed him a hundred pieces of silver. He grabbed him by the neck and
almost strangled him, shouting, `Pay me what you owe!' His companion
threw himself at his feet and asked him, `Give me time, and I will pay
everything.' The other did not agree, but sent him to prison until he
had paid all his debt. His companions saw what happened. They were
indignant and so they went and reported everything to their lord. Then
the lord summoned his official and said, `Wicked servant, I forgave
you all that you owed when you begged me to do so. Weren't you bound
to have pity on your companion as I had pity on you?' The lord was now
angry, so he handed his servant over to be punished, until he had paid
his whole debt."

REFLECTION
In the first reading God shows us how powerful He is as He walks with
Joshua and His people. When He marches ahead of them in their almost
impossible and difficult journey, the God of Heaven and earth, the God
of Moses and of Joshua, shows that indeed He is the Mighty God, and
His Presence alone brings tremendous miracles. The forces of nature
stop and are filled with fright!! They lose their power in His
presence!

In the Gospel, this Mighty God teaches us and gives us the picture of
what happens when we do not forgive others their faults. Jesus tells
us that everything we have and everything we are, we owe to God, and
that at every moment we need His mercy. We breath His air, we eat His
food, we live because He shares His life with us. But why are we so
unforgiving and exacting when it comes to the faults and debts others
owe us? The mighty God of heaven and earth tells us that in order to
"stop the forces of nature and travel safely along the mighty seas of
our life, we must have the power of God. His presence always works in
us by being forgiving, by forgiving not only seven times, but seventy
times seven, in other words, always.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Aling Summing
- Linda O
- Ben
- Kristin
- Maria
- Eugene R
- Gene
- Frank
- G
- Jo Marcelo
- Jun Lee
- Jonathan Salazar
- Wally Torres
- Mon Torres
…In Thanksgiving: Antonio Evangelista
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Ulysses Yap
- Sean Ong Co
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 G. Cunanan
- Birthday: Betty L. Gan
- Birthday: Iluminada Mapa
- Birthday: Francisco Hing
- In Memoriam (+): Rudy T. Bermejo
- In Memoriam (+): Sis. Imelda Paredes
… for families who are in need of healing
… 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!

**************************************************

These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only.
Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends,
colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the
following:

+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| http://www.marythequeen.org
| Distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

© 2011 Daily-Homily