Thursday, September 20, 2012

 

FEAST, ST. MATTHEW

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012
FEAST, ST. MATTHEW
FRIDAY 24TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR II

Eph 4:1-7, 11-13 / Mt 9:9-13

EPHESIANS 4:1-7, 11-13
Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace. Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all. But to each of us divine grace is given according to the measure of Christ's gift. As for his gifts, to some he gave to be apostles, to others prophets, or even evangelists, or pastors and teachers. So he prepared those who belong to him for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ, until we are all united in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity and sharing the fullness of Christ.

MATTHEW 9:9-13
As Jesus moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom-house, and he said to him, "Follow me!" And Matthew got up and followed him. Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners joined Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why is it that your master eats with sinners and tax collectors?" When Jesus heard this, he said, "Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

REFLECTION
St. Matthew was a tax collector, one among a group hated by the Jews because they worked for the Romans. Perhaps St. Matthew heard Jesus speak on some occasions and had been touched by his words, drawn to a period of soul-searching. Then Jesus appears and tells him to follow him: "And he got up and followed Jesus."

This is the calling of every Christian – to follow Jesus and leave behind his sinful life. At some point in our lives, many of us have encountered challenges and may have reflected on our lives, finding that it lacked meaning and purpose. Then we heard Jesus calling us to follow him. How did we respond? Did we believe that Jesus is the only one who can give us true meaning in life? Were we willing to give up our sinful life and enter into a new adventure of faith?

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. May we be generous to say `yes' to the Lord when he calls us to follow him.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Fr. Ismael Zuloaga, SJ
- Mon Torres
- Fleur Torres
- Ditas dela Paz
… for the personal intentions of Beny Chua
… In Memoriam: Eriberta C. Calvario
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Kaye Factoran
- Bernardo Santiago Jr
Eternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them. May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
.. Birthday: Jeffrey Go
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Alexandra T. Cheng
- Birthday: Victor Helly, SJ
- Birthday: Ethan Rosca
- In Memoriam (+): Augurio Paguntalan
… 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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