DAILY- HOMILY

October 21, 2013

Monday 29^th Week in Ordinary Time - Year I

Rom 4:20-25 / Lk 1: 69-70. 71-72. 73-75 / Lk 12:13-21

Romans 4:20-25

He did not doubt nor did he distrust the promise of God, and by being strong in faith, he gave glory to God: he was convinced that He who had given the promise had power to fulfill it. This was taken into account for him to attain righteousness. This was taken into account: these words of Scripture are not only for him, but for us, too, because we believe in Him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from among the dead, he who was delivered for our sins and raised to life for us to receive true righteousness.

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd spoke to Jesus, "Master, tell my brother to share with me the family inheritance." He replied, "My friend, who has appointed me as your judge or your attorney?" Then Jesus said to the people, "Be on your guard and avoid every kind of greed, for even though you have many possessions, it is not that which gives you life." And Jesus continued with this story, "There was a rich man, and his land had produced a good harvest. He thought, 'What shall I do, for I am short of room to store my harvest? Alright, I know what I shall do: I will pull down my barns and I will build bigger ones, to store all this grain, which is my wealth. Then I will say to myself: My friend, you have a lot of good things put by for many years. Rest, eat, drink and enjoy yourself.' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be taken from you. Tell me who shall get all you have put aside?' This is the lot of the one who stores up riches for himself and is not wealthy in the eyes of God."

REFLECTION

Everyone needs provisions – call it a salary, a home, presentable clothes, health insurance, etc. God knows we need these things while we live here on earth; in fact, He promised us that He would take care of all our needs if we seek His righteousness first (Luke 12:31). The Lord is not teaching us to shun working for a good living in this parable.

What He is concerned about is the disposition of our hearts regarding wealth. What is truly valuable to us? And how do we relate our wealth to God?

From the parable we can see that the rich man's every waking moment revolved around amassing wealth. It defined him as a person, and governed the way he planned his life. He even came to the conclusion that life was "good" because he was very rich. But he was wrong - the moment he died, all the wealth he had accumulated was given to someone else. His life's work came to nothing, making him a fool in God's eyes.

We have to look at ourselves soberly, and identify those things that we treasure. Have these things become our standard, our reason for being? Could we live without them? Remember, you can't take them with you when you leave this world.

Let us make sure that when we stand before the Lord, we do not bog down our relationship with Him by just talking about money, the way the man in the crowd was doing. He is telling us, "Watch out!" to make sure that our need for provision does not turn into a love for provision. Let us instead be rich toward God, treasuring our closeness to Him most of all.

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

Cecille Tagle

Joy Droke

… May the Lord keep us safe during natural disasters and calamities

… for the eternal repose of the soul of

 Niña L. Nava

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: Connie M. Paraan

Birthday: Nathan W. Lim

Birthday: Larry Uy

In Memoriam (+): Sio Kong Chong & Lim Sy

… 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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