DAILY- HOMILY

OCTOBER 23, 2011
30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – A

Ex 22:20-26 / Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 / 1 Thes 1:5-10 / Mt 22:34-40

EXODUS 22:20-26
Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell the people of Israel this: You shall not
wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of
Egypt. "You shall not harm the widow or the orphan. If you do harm
them and they cry out to me, I will hear them and my anger will blaze
and I will kill you with the sword, and your own wives will be widows
and your own children orphans. "If you lend money to any of my people
who are poor, do not act like a moneylender and do not charge him
interest. "If ever you take a person's cloak as a pledge, you must
give it back to him by sunset, for it is all the covering he has for
his body. In what else will he sleep? And when he cries to me I will
hear him, for I am full of pity."

1 THESSALONIANS 1:5-10
Brothers and sisters, you know how we dealt with you for your sake. In
return, you became followers of us and of the Lord when, on receiving
the word, you experienced the joy of the Holy Spirit in the midst of
great opposition. And you became a model for the faithful of Macedonia
and Achaia, since from you the word of the Lord spread to Macedonia
and Achaia, and still farther. The faith you have in God has become
news in so many places that we need say no more about it. Others tell
of how you responded to us and turned from idols to the Lord. For you
serve the living and true God, and you wait for his Son from heaven
whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who frees us from impending
trial.

MATTHEW 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard how Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they
came together. One of them, a teacher of the Law, tried to test him
with this question, "Teacher, which is the most important commandment
in the Law?" Jesus answered, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with
all your hear t, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is
the first and the most important of the commandments. But after this
there is another one very similar to it: You shall love your neighbor
as yourself. The whole Law and the Prophets are founded on these two
commandments."

REFLECTION
The Gospel reading spells out the two greatest commandments. Love God.
Love neighbor as oneself. So simple, direct, and straight forward but
we know that this is very difficult to apply in our lives. Despite our
earnest and deep desires to carry them out and be as faithful as
possible to such commandments, we find ourselves constantly falling
short and thereby feel discouraged at times. Yet, we know too that it
is only through actually loving that life becomes meaningful and
worthwhile. Without love, our existence becomes miserable and empty.

But what does it mean to love God? Allow me then to just quote a
reflection of Anthony de Mello in his book "Song of the Bird."

"One does not love Him the way one loves the persons one sees and
hears and touches. For God is not a person in our sense of the word.
He is the Unknown. He is the wholly Other. He is above terms like he
and she; person and thing."

When we say an audience fills the hall and a singer's voice fills the
hall, we use the same word to refer to two totally different
realities. When we say we love God with our whole heart and we love
our friend with our whole heart, we also use the same words to express
two totally different realities. For the singer's voice does not
really fill the hall. And we cannot really love God in the usual sense
of the word.

To love God with one's whole hear t means to give our wholehearted yes
to life and all that life brings with it. It means to accept, without
reservations, all that God has ordained for one's life. It means to
have the attitude that Jesus had when he said, "Not my will, but Yours
be done." To love God with one's whole heart is to make one's own the
words made famous by Dag Hammarsjold:

For all that has been, Thanks. To all that we shall be, Yes.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Ditas dela Paz
- Eden Batuto
- Rita P. Cuerva
- Ely Lara
- Candido
- Susan
… for the personal intentions of
- Andrew G
- Titong Villacorta
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- In Memoriam (+): Mercedes Sy
- In Memoriam (+): Crescencia D. Lao
- In Memoriam (+): Aurelia C. Santos
… 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!

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