DAILY- HOMILY

November 10, 2013

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - C

Memorial, Saint Leo the Great, pope and doctor

2 Mac 7:1-2,9-14 / Ps 17: 1. 5-6. 8. 15 / 2 Thes 2:16—3:5 / Lk 20:27-38

2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14

It happened also that seven brothers were arrested with their mother. The king had them scourged and flogged to force them to eat the flesh of a pig which was prohibited by the Law. One of them, speaking in behalf of all, said, "What do you want to find out from us? We are prepared to die right now rather than break the law of our ancestors." At the moment of his last breath, he said, "Murderer, you now dismiss us from life, but the King of the world will raise us up. He will give us eternal life since we die for his laws." After this, they punished the third. He stuck his tongue out when asked to, bravely stretched forth his hands, and even had the courage to say: "I have received these limbs from God, but for love of his laws I now consider them as nothing. For I hope to recover them from God." The king and his court were touched by the courage of this young man, so unconcerned about his own sufferings. When this one was dead, they subjected the fourth to the same torture. At the point of death, he cried out, "I would rather die at the hands of mortals, and wait for the promises of God who will raise us up; you, however, shall have no part in the resurrection of life."

2 Thessalonians 2:16—3:5

May Christ Jesus our Lord who has loved us, may God our Father, who in his mercy gives us everlasting comfort and true hope, strengthen you. May he encourage your hearts and make you steadfast in every good work and word. Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the Word of God may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere as it was with you. May God guard us from wicked and evil people, since not everyone has faith. The Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and keep you safe from the Evil One. Besides, we have in the Lord this confidence that you are doing and will continue to do what we order you. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Luke 20:27-38

Then some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection, and they asked Jesus this question, "Master, in the Law Moses told us, 'If anyone dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife, and any child born to them will be regarded as the child of the deceased.' Now, there were seven brothers; the first married a wife, but he died without children; and the second and the third took the wife; in fact, all seven died leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. On the day of the resurrection, to which of them will the woman be a wife? For all seven had her as a wife." And Jesus replied, "Taking a husband or a wife is proper to people of this world, but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come, and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage. Besides, they cannot die, for they are like the angels. They are sons and daughters of God, because they are born of the resurrection. Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revealed at the burning bush, where he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob'. For God is God of the living, and not of the dead, for to him everyone is alive."

Reflection

Every time we make our profession of faith we proclaim that we "look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come," or we simply say in the words of the Apostles' Creed that we believe in "the resurrection of the body and life everlasting." Our belief in our resurrection is a belief that just as Jesus rose from the dead and entered into that new life which has no end, we too will follow.

For some this may be an "unbelievable belief" because it cannot be proven by any of our scientific tools. For others, it may seem that after death we simply cease to exist. Such was the mind of the Sadducees of today's gospel reading. Not accepting resurrection from the dead, they did not only reject the possibility of any life after death for us, but they also would not accept the resurrection of the Messiah. Maybe we cannot blame them for this because as they were arguing with Jesus about the then current beliefs of the Jews, Christ had not yet himself been raised from the dead. For us, however, it is the resurrection of the Lord that is the support for our belief in our own resurrection. After raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus assured Martha and Mary when he said to them, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." (John 11: 23-27).

What a wonderful assurance! It is this belief in a resurrection that we share with the Lord that ultimately defines true Christianity as a religion of optimism. That is not to deny that there are so many problems that cause us sorrow and grief in our present life. That is not to deny that the evil of sin is a cause for deep regret. Belief in the resurrection is never an excuse for us not to try to make our world a world of peace, justice, and love that the Lord intends it to be. On the contrary our belief in the resurrection can give meaning to all of our efforts to fight against all that is evil in our world. It can give meaning to the difficult work of our scientists, doctors, educators, legislators, and all men and women who work to eradicate sickness, poverty, wars, social discrimination, and so many other causes of human misery.

Our belief in the life after death is, therefore, not a cause for any fatalistic passivity in the face of the world's evils. Rather, it is an assurance that our struggles in this life are worthwhile. It is an assurance that there is a victory that helps us to realize that our battles we fight now are not without meaning. Yes, our religion is not a religion of not caring, not a religion of pessimistic surrender to evil. It is a religion of hope and optimism, encouraging us not to give in to the forces of defeat.

Prayer Requests

We pray …

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

… for the speedy recovery and healing of

Lorenzo Meoli

Zenofina A. Reyes

… for the personal intentions of Kudzai and Paida

… for the eternal repose of the souls of Jesus Paul Yan. 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: Carolyn Yao

Birthday: Barbara Lam Lim

Birthday: Virginia Co

Birthday: Fr. Peter Chung, 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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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. 

  +================================================+

November 9, 2013

Saturday 31st Week in Ordinary Time - Year I

Feast, Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Rom 16:3-9,16,22-27 / Ps 46: 2-3. 5-6. 8-9/ Lk 16:9-15

Romans 16:3-9,16,22-27

Greetings to Prisca and Aquilas, my helpers in Christ Jesus. To save my life, they risked theirs; I am very grateful to them, as are all the churches of the pagan nations. Greetings also to the church that meets in their house. Greetings to my dear Epaenetus, the first in the province of Asia to believe in Christ. Greet Mary, who worked so much for you. Greetings to Andronicus and Junias, my relatives and companions in prison; they are well known apostles and served Christ before I did. Give greetings to Ampliatus, whom I love so much in the Lord. 9 Greetings to Urbanus, our fellow worker, and to my dear Stachys. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send their greetings. I, Tertius, the writer of this letter, send you greetings in the Lord. Greetings from Gaius, who has given me lodging and in whose house the church meets. Greetings from Erastus, treasurer of the city, and from our brother Quartus. Glory be to God! He is able to give you strength, according to the Good News I proclaim, announcing Christ Jesus. Now is revealed the mysterious plan kept hidden for long ages in the past. By the will of the eternal God it is brought to light, through the prophetic books, and all nations shall believe the faith proclaimed to them. Glory to God, who alone is wise, through Christ Jesus, forever! Amen.

Luke 16:9-15

And so I tell you: use filthy money to make friends for yourselves, so that, when it fails, these people may welcome you into the eternal homes. Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones. So if you have been dishonest in handling filthy money, who would entrust you with true wealth? And if you have been dishonest with things that are not really yours, who will give you that wealth which is truly your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he regards one highly and the other with contempt. You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and sneered at Jesus. He said to them, "You do your best to be considered righteous by people. But God knows the heart, and what is highly esteemed by human beings is loathed by God.

Reflection

The First Reading serves as an excellent preparation for today's concise and meaningful gospel passage. In it Tertius proclaims: "Glory to God, who alone is wise, through Christ Jesus, forever! Amen."

Wise indeed was Jesus in Luke's gospel when, in simple terms, he declares inviolable truths on important matters pertaining to money, trust, honesty and focus in worship life.

Our priorities define what type of persons we are. Do we desire wealth above all else? Can others rely on us to live up to our commitments? Are we fair in our dealings? Do we perform kind acts just to be seen and be praised? Do we worship many others apart from the one true God?

All that Jesus wants is to help us live to the best of our potentials, and to do what we can do in the service of others in humility.

In this complicated world, let us pray to the Lord for wisdom to know right from wrong, and for strength to implement the choices we make.

Prayer Requests

We pray …

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

… for the speedy recovery and healing of

Bud Finley, James Kinney

Lorenzo Meoli

… for the personal intentions of Kudzai and Paida

… In Thanksgiving: Carol

… for the eternal repose of the souls of Jesus Paul Yan. 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: Lorenzo Panganiban

Presbyterial Ordination: Salvador Nocomora

In Memoriam (+): Helen Ong

… 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. 

  +================================================+