Thursday, June 30, 2011

 

SOLEMNITY, SACRED HEART OF JESUS

JULY 1, 2011
SOLEMNITY, SACRED HEART OF JESUS
FRIDAY 13TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

Dt 7:6-11 / Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 10 / 1 Jn 4:7-16 / Mt 11:25-30

DEUTERONOMY 7:6-11
You are a people consecrated to Yahweh, your God. Yahweh has chosen
you from among all the peoples on the face of the earth, that you may
be his own people. Yahweh has bound himself to you and has chosen you,
not because you are the most numerous among all the peoples (on the
contrary, you are the least). Rather, he has chosen you because of his
love for you and to fulfill the oath he made to your fathers.
Therefore, with a firm hand Yahweh brought you out from slavery in
Egypt, from the power of Pharaoh. So know that Yahweh, your God, is
the true and faithful God. He keeps his covenant, and his love reaches
to the thousandth generation for those who love him and fulfill his
commandments, but he punishes in their own persons those who hate him
and he repays them without delay. So keep the commandments, the norms
and the laws that today I command you to practice.

1 JOHN 4:7-16
My dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Those who do not love
have not known God, for God is love. How did the love of God appear
among us? God sent his only Son into this world that we might have
life through him. This is love: not that we loved God but that he
first loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, if such has been the love of God, we, too, must love one
another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God
lives in us, and his love comes to its perfection in us. How may we
know that we live in God and he in us? Because God has given us his
Spirit. We ourselves have seen and declare that the Father sent his
Son to save the world. Those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in them and they in God. We have known the love of God and
have believed in it. God is love. The one who lives in love, lives in
God and God in him.

MATTHEW 11:25-30
On one occasion Jesus said, "Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I
praise you, because you have hidden these things from the wise and
learned and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this is what
pleased you. "Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father. No one
knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except
the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. "Come to me,
all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh
you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and
humble of heart; and you will find rest. For my yoke is good and my
burden is light."

REFLECTION
Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. What is
meant by Sacred Heart of Jesus? We can be sure that the heart of
Jesus, the son of God, possesses the same love for men as the heart of
his Father. In the second reading, St. John says that God's love for
us was manifested when he sent Jesus to save the world. He gave us the
best gift of all – His son. When Jesus loves us, he always gives us
the best of himself, never holding back anything for himself. Why?
Because the nature of God is love, is self-giving, is always thinking
of the other. This is an attitude very different from ours. By nature,
man is selfish, or if he gives of himself, he tends to hold back
something for himself. God, on the other hand, gives wholeheartedly
and totally. Jesus freely and willingly gave up his life to show us
the love of the Father. With this we can now understand a bit what
Sacred Heart of Jesus means.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us to "shoulder his yoke." What is this
yoke of Christ which he says is easy and light? It is to do the will
of God in our lives. And what is God's will for us? It is basically to
love God first and foremost, and to love our neighbors as we love
ourselves. Concretely, God invites us to be like Him, to be unselfish,
to give our best to others without reserve. We can do this if we
realize how much God has loved us in Jesus Christ and how much He
continues to love us every day. Happiness is in doing things for God,
for Jesus, because we love him. This is our vocation as Christians –
to love as Jesus has loved us. Brothers, truly his yoke is easy and
his burden light.

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
- Bert Monay and Rorie Monay
- Rolando Madrona
- Julie Manzon
- Estelita Escamilla
- Ditas dela Paz
- Jo Marcelo
- Wally Torres
… for the personal intentions of
- Pauline
- Julie and Glenn Manzon
- Glenn Bisco
- Estelita Escamilla
- Ma. Fe De Castro
- Mary Ann Castro
- Domingo Barayoga Jr.
- Churchill Barayoga
- Edwin and Jeremy Victorino
- Marites Pinon
…In Thanksgiving: Manzon and Barayoga Family
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Domingo Barayoga Sr., Lourdes Barayoga, Charlie Castro, Ms. Fely
Dumaran
- Aladino Dasas, Jr.
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: Chito Gomez
… 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


 

THURSDAY 13TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

JUNE 30, 2011
MEMORIAL, FIRST MARTYRS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME
THURSDAY 13TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR I

Gn 22:1-19 / Ps 115:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 / Mt 9:1-8

GENESIS 22:1-19
Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he
answered, "Here I am." Then God said, "Take your son, your only son,
Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there
as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I shall point out to you."
Abraham rose early next morning and saddled his donkey and took with
him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He chopped wood for the
burnt offering and set out for the place to which God had directed
him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the
distance, and he said to the young men, "Stay here with the donkey.
The boy and I will go over there to worship and then we will come back
to you." Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on
Isaac his son. He carried in his hand the fire and the knife. As the
two of them went on together, Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father,
"Father!" And Abraham replied, "Yes, my son?" Isaac said, "The fire
and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?"
Abraham replied, "God himself will provide the lamb for the
sacrifice." They went on, the two of them together, until they came to
the place to which God had directed them. When Abraham had built the
altar and set the wood on it, he bound his son Isaac and laid him on
the wood placed on the altar. He then stretched out his hand to seize
the knife and slay his son. But the Angel of Yahweh called to him from
heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." "Do not lay your
hand on the boy; do not harm him, for now I know that you fear God,
and you have not held back from me your only son." Abraham looked
around and saw behind him a ram caught by its horns in a bush. He
offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the
place `The Lord will provide.' And the saying has lasted to this day.
And the Angel of Yahweh called from heaven a second time, "By myself I
have sworn, it is Yahweh who speaks, because you have done this and
not held back your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and
make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand
on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the lands of
their enemies. All the nations of the earth will be blessed through
your descendants because you have obeyed me." So Abraham returned to
his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba and it was there
that Abraham stayed.

MATTHEW 9:1-8
Jesus got back into the boat, crossed the lake again, and came to his
hometown. Here they brought a paralyzed man to him, lying on a bed.
Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic, "Courage, my son!
Your sins are forgiven." Then some teachers of the Law said to
themselves, "This man insults God." Jesus was aware of what they were
thinking, and said, "Why have you such evil thoughts? Which is easier
to say: `Your sins are forgiven' or `Stand up and walk'? You must know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." He then
said to the paralyzed man, "Stand up! Take your stretcher and go
home." The man got up, and went home.

REFLECTION
We may not realize or admit it, but we continue to associate faith
with logic. When science tells us that stage four cancer is terminal
or abortion is necessary to save a mother, we approach prayer with
more skepticism because we sense that the outcome we want is unlikely
to happen. Or perhaps more commonly, we pray only for the "harder
things"; that is, we implore God's help only when we feel that the
task is beyond our capability. If we can still manage on our own, we
try not to bother God with trivial requests.

However, God does not work based on priority or degree of difficulty.
Indeed, human time and purpose are different from God's; therefore, it
is not up to us to decide which petition to bring forward first or
more intensely. Our faith should be constant, just as God's power and
authority are constant. Sometimes, we require "big miracles" in order
to believe, and we take for granted "small, everyday miracles." We
associate God only with major events and forget that all is gift; as a
result, we also forget to thank Him for the common and the mundane.

Both the first reading and the Gospel illustrate faith being tested.
Does Abraham trust God enough so as not to question the command to
kill his beloved son Isaac? Can Jesus forgive sins just as he per
forms more obvious miracles?

How is our own faith? Do we need to get answers to our questions, see
effects and proof, or undergo great trials before we believe?

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
- Ely Lara
- Eden Batuto
- Rita P. Cuerva
- Bert Monay and Rorie Monay
- Rolando Madrona
- Julie Manzon
- Estelita Escamilla
- Ditas dela Paz
- Jo Marcelo
- Wally Torres
… for the personal intentions of
- Titong Villacorta
- Pauline
- Julie and Glenn Manzon
- Glenn Bisco
- Estelita Escamilla
- Ma. Fe De Castro
- Mary Ann Castro
- Domingo Barayoga Jr.
- Churchill Barayoga
- Edwin and Jeremy Victorino
- Marites Pinon
…In Thanksgiving: Manzon and Barayoga Family
… for the eternal repose of the souls of Domingo Barayoga Sr., Lourdes
Barayoga, Charlie Castro, Ms. Fely Dumaran. Eternal rest grant unto
them and may perpetual light shine upon them. May they and all the
dearly departed rest in peace.
… 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


This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?