DAILY- HOMILY

JUNE 23, 2011
THURSDAY 12TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

Gn 16:1-12, 15-16 or 16:6-12, 15-16 / Ps 106:1-2, 3-4, 4-5 / Mt
7:21-29

GENESIS 16:1-12
Sarai, Abram's wife had not borne him a child, but she had an Egyptian
servant named Hagar, and she said to Abram, "Now, since Yahweh has
kept me from having children, go to my servant; perhaps I shall have a
child by her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said. Abram had been in the
land of Canaan ten years when Sarai, his wife, took Hagar, her
Egyptian maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as wife. He went in
to Hagar and she became pregnant. When she was aware of this, she
began to despise her mistress. Sarai said to Abram, "May this injury
done to me be yours. I put my servant in your arms and now that she
knows she is pregnant, I count for nothing in her eyes. Let Yahweh
judge between me and you." Abram said to Sarai, "Your servant is in
your power; do with her as you please." Then Sarai treated her so
badly that she ran away. The angel of Yahweh found her near a spring
in the wilderness and said to her, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where
have you come from and where are you going?" She said, "I'm running
away from Sarai, my mistress." The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Go
back to your mistress and humbly submit yourself to her." The angel of
Yahweh said to her, "I will so increase your descendants, that they
will be too numerous to be counted." Then the angel of Yahweh said to
her, "Now you are with child and you will have a son, and you shall
name him Ishmael, for Yahweh has heard your distress. He shall be a
wild ass of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand
against him, defiant towards all his brothers."

MATTHEW 7:21-29
Jesus said to his disciples, "Not everyone who says to me: Lord! Lord!
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my
heavenly Father. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we
not speak in your name? Did we not cast out devils and perform many
miracles in your name?' Then I will tell them openly: I have never
known you; away from me, you evil people! "So, then, anyone who hears
these words of mine and acts accordingly is like a wise man, who built
his house on rock. The rain poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind
blew and struck that house, but it did not collapse because it was
built on rock. But anyone who hears these words of mine and does not
act accordingly, is like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain
poured, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house;
it collapsed, and what a terrible fall that was!" When Jesus had
finished this discourse, the crowds were struck by the way he taught,
because he taught with authority unlike their teachers of the Law.

REFLECTION
In this era of instant gratification and technological advancement, it
is very easy to get discouraged when things do not go our way. Pope
John Paul II called it "cafeteria Catholicism," where we choose only
the principles and values that are convenient to us and ignore other
issues. How many of us today would scoff at Job for enduring so much
hardship and say he's not being practical? Or interpret the Church's
teachings according to our preferences and rationalize or justify what
we intrinsically know as wrong in order to make it seem right?

God is our example of faithfulness. He loves us not "because of" but
"in spite of." As illustrated in the parables of the prodigal son (Lk
15:11-32) and the workers in the vineyard (Mt 20:1-16), his love and
generosity ex tends equally to all. He does not favor those who are
"more obedient," "more loyal," or "more hardworking." His faith and
love are constant.

Faith is not the result of fulfilled petitions. It is not affected by
circumstances. It is established like any relationship with time and
effort. Constant communication (prayer), receiving sacraments, seeking
to hear the Word of God – these help keep our faith strong, so that
when difficulties arise, we are not quick to complain and run away but
rather face our troubles and see God's hand molding us into
perfection. When we view the world with faith, we do not simply see
good and bad; instead, we see God revealing Himself to us.

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
- Pauline
- Zaida Diaz
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Lovelene Wendy I. Semanero
- Birthday: Cresencio Tan Jao
- Birthday: Alexis Reyes
… 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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