DAILY- HOMILY

September 26, 2014
Friday 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Sts. Cosmas and Damian]

Eccl 3: 1-11 / Ps 144: 1b and 2abc, 3-4 / Lk 9: 18-22

Reading: Eccl 3: 1-11
There is a given time for everything and a time for every happening under heaven: A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting. A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building. A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing. A time for throwing stones, a time for gathering stones; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from em-bracing. A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for throwing away. A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time to be silent and a time to speak. A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peace. What profit is there for a man from all his toils? Finally I considered the task God gave to the humans. He made everything fitting in its time, but he also set eternity in their hearts, although man is not able to embrace the work of God from the beginning to the end.   

Gospel: Luke 9: 18-22
One day when Jesus was praying alone, not far from his disciples, he asked them, "What do people say about me?" And they answered, "Some say that you are John the Baptist; others say that you are Elijah, and still others that you are one of the former prophets risen from the dead." Again Jesus asked them, "Who then do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Messiah of God." Then Jesus spoke to them, giving them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. And he added, "The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the Law, and put to death. Then after three days he will be raised to life."

Reflection:
     Today's Catholics, if asked the same question by Jesus, would probably answer:  "God, God the Son, Our Creator, Our Lord and Savior, Our Redeemer, the Word Made Flesh, the Only Begotten Son of the Father, the son of Mary, the Christ, true God and true Man" - for all these, he truly is.  Unlike the apostles of his time, our strict instruction now is to tell this to everyone.
     The apostles were not sure who Jesus was. They learned who he was only much later, after witnessing his death and resurrection, and they proclaimed who Jesus was to all the nations so that they would be saved, even at the cost of their own lives. All the apostles, except St. John, died a martyr's death. Now we know who Jesus really is.  His life, death and resurrection proved this to us. We are blessed because God gave us the grace to know this. We must realize how important this knowledge is to us; our eternal life depends on it. We know that " in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him nothing came to be." (Jn 1:1-3)  God originally intended eternal life to our first parents, but because of disobedience and pride, they lost it. So for our salvation, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, in order to redeem for us the eternal life which was lost.  We know that he suffered and died on the cross for us in order to achieve this redemption. We must tell what we know to everyone so that they would not reject this eternal life redeemed for us by Jesus Christ.

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 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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