DAILY- HOMILY

July 24, 2014
Thursday 16th Week in Ordinary Time
[St. Sharbel Makhluf]

Jer 2: 1-3, 7-8, 12-13 / Ps 36: 6-7ab, 8-9, 10-11/ Mt 13: 10-17

Reading: Jer 2: 1-3, 7-8, 12-13
A word of Yahweh came to me, "Go and shout this in the hearing of Jerusalem. This is Yahweh's word: I remember your kindness as a youth, the love of your bridal days, when you followed me in the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was holy to Yahweh, the first-fruits of his harvest. All who ate of it had to pay and misfortune fell on them - it is Yahweh who speaks. I brought you to a fertile land to eat of the choicest fruit. As soon as you came you defiled my land and dishonored my heritage! The priests did not ask, 'Where is Yahweh?' The masters of my teaching did not know me; the pastors of my people betrayed me; the prophets followed worthless idols and spoke in the name of Baal. Be aghast at that, O heavens! Shudder, be utterly appalled - it is Yahweh who speaks - for my people have done two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, to dig for themselves leaking cisterns that hold no water!   

Gospel: Mt 13: 10-17
Then his disciples came to him with the question, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people. For the one who has will be given more and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived of even what he has. That is why I speak to them in parables, because they look and do not see; they hear, but they do not listen or understand. In them the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled:  Much as you hear, you do not understand; much as you see, you do not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears hardly hear and their eyes dare not see. If they were to see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their heart, they would turn back and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear. For I tell you that many prophets and upright people would have longed to see the things you see, but they did not, and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear it.
 
Reflection:
If we are serving the Lord, people may assume that we have already grown spiritually. But actually when we are faced with difficult problems, our faith is challenged and we fail to understand God's plan for us. During these times, we depend on our human strength and ability in coming up with solutions that more often lead us to failure after failure. We fail to put our trust wholly in God and forget that only He has the best solution to our problems. Thus we complain and worry. But despite our unfaithfulness, God has always been a faithful God and this can only be seen through the eyes of faith and with His grace. At times He does this by sending people to us at the right time and when we need them most. In our case, God sent us relief through the payment of a debt that was long overdue. It also came in the form of spiritual guidance from people who helped form us and bring us back to God.  How blessed are we because God enabled us to experience His goodness. 

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary
... for families who are in need of healing
    * for speedy recovery of Joy Rodriguez
... for world peace and reconciliation
... for birthday intentions of Jaime Federico Gonzales, Atty. Romy Macalintal

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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