DAILY- HOMILY

September 21, 2013

Saturday 24^th Week in Ordinary Time

Feast, Saint Matthew the Evangelist, Apostle

Eph 4: 1-7. 11-13 / Ps 19: 2-3. 4-5 / 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 pre- pared 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

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew, a tax collector who left his old way of life to follow Jesus. His response to our Lord's invitation later bore fruit in the gospel of the New Testament which tradition attributed to him. How do we respond to our Lord's invitation to follow him? Would we be too concerned with worries and things of this world to respond to the call of the Lord? Or have we already responded favorably but after a while, gave up when faced with trials or adversity? Finally, would we respond like Matthew, very much aware of our brokenness and sinfulness but also confident that as we receive and keep the word or call of the Lord in a gentle and generous heart, we can, by persevering patiently, also bear fruit?

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, Toots Monfort, Virginia Hernandez, and Fleur Torres

Benny, Herb, Nick (MD), Ed, Bob M, Randy, Denise (TX), Debbie (AZ), Mrs D

Brenda

Joy Droke

… for the personal intentions of

Mary Wong

Ben, Nancy, Rita P, Netta, Mary Ann M, Joan's son, Bob F & Fr Larry

… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.

Birthday: Alexandra Andrea T. Cheng

Birthday: Fr. Victor Helly, S.J.

Birthday: Fr. Johnny Go, S.J.

… 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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