DAILY- HOMILY

October 7, 2013

Monday 27^th Week in Ordinary Time - Year I

Memorial, Our Lady of the Rosary

Jon 1:1—2:1,11 / Ps 2:2-5, 8 / Lk 10:25-37

Jonah 1:1—2:1,11

The word of Yahweh came to Jonah, son of Amittai, "Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach against it, because I have known its wickedness." But Jonah decided to flee from Yahweh and go to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, and paid the fare. Then he boarded it and went into the hold of the ship, journeying with them to Tarshish, far away from Yahweh. Yahweh stirred up a storm wind on the sea, so there was a sea tempest, which threatened to destroy the ship. The sailors took fright, and each cried out to his own god. To lighten the ship, they threw its cargo into the sea. Meanwhile Jonah had gone into the hold of the ship, where he lay fast asleep. The captain came upon him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god. Perhaps he will be mindful of us and will not allow us to die here." The sailors said to each other, "Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this disaster." So they did, and the lot fell on Jonah. They questioned him, "So you are responsible for this evil that has come upon us? Tell us where you are from. What is your country, your nationality?" And Jonah told them his story, "I am a Hebrew and I worship Yahweh, God of heaven who made the sea and the land…." As they knew that he was fleeing from Yahweh, the sailors were seized with great fear and said to him, "What a terrible thing have you done!" "What shall we do with you now to make the sea calm down?" The sea was growing more and more agitated. He said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. It will quiet down, for I know it is because of me that this storm has come." The sailors, however, still did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea had grown much rougher than before. Then they called on Yahweh, "O Yahweh, do not let us perish for taking this man's life. Do not hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. For you, Yahweh, have done this as you have thought right." They took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm again. At this the men were seized with great fear of Yahweh. They offered a sacrifice to Yahweh and made vows to him. Yahweh provided a large fish which swallowed Jonah. He remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Then Yahweh gave his command to the fish, and it belched out Jonah onto dry land.

Luke 10:25-37

Then a teacher of the Law came and began putting Jesus to the test. And he said, "Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?" Jesus replied, "What is written in the Scripture? How do you understand it?" The man answered, "It is written: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus replied, "What a good answer! Do this and you shall live." The man wanted to justify his question, so he asked, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus then said, "There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead. It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man, but passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite saw the man, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan also was going that way, and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion. He went over to him, and cleaned his wounds with oil and wine, and wrapped them in bandages. Then he put him on his own mount, and brought him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he had to set off; but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him, and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I return.'" Jesus then asked, "Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The teacher of the Law answered, "the one who had mercy on him." And Jesus said, "Then go and do the same."

REFLECTION

It was a matter of religious zeal for Jews to shun Samaritans whose ancestors practiced a religion that was opposed to Jewish law. So for Jesus, himself a teacher of Jewish law, to make a Samaritan the hero of a parable on helping one's neighbor must have been a great shock to the people gathered around him! Here was Jesus telling the Jews that their religious duty should not take precedence over God's commandment which is to love our neighbors as ourselves. Two thousand years later, are there still people who value religious duty over loving our neighbors?

As a people with a long Christian tradition, we Filipinos take pride in our Catholic devotion. As a result, we have developed a strong moral culture that knows right from wrong. But such devoutness can also create in us an unforgiving spirit.

It's time to ask ourselves: do we value condemnation over compassion? Do we seek punishment instead of mercy? Let us look for those people we despise, those we hate, those whom we feel deserve to be punished, and let us love them as much as we love ourselves.

Prayer Requests

We pray …

… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.

… for the speedy recovery and healing of

Ernesto, Angelina

NIck Lucena

Enrique Navarro and Eufrocina Navarro

Joy Droke

… for the personal intentions of

Ma. Fatima Nona

Jose Rigor

Ma. Theresa P. Guevarra

… for the eternal repose of the soul of Toto Besana. 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: Cesar Buhay

… 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.