DAILY- HOMILY

October 8, 2014

Wednesday 27th Week in Ordinary Time

Gal 2: 1-2, 7-14 / Ps 117:1bc, 2 / Lk 11: 1-4      

Reading: Gal 2: 1-2, 7-14  

After fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and Titus came with us. Following a revelation, I went to lay before them the Gospel that I am preaching to the pagans. I had a private meeting with the leaders-lest I should be working or have worked in a wrong way. They recognized that I have been entrusted to give the Good News to the pagan nations, just as Peter has been entrusted to give it to the Jews. In the same way that God made Peter the apostle of the Jews, he made me the apostle of the pagans. James, Cephas and John acknowledged the graces God gave me. Those men who were regarded as the pillars of the Church stretched out their hand to me and Barnabas as a sign of fellowship; we would go to the pagans and they to the Jews. We should only keep in mind the poor among them. I have taken care to do this. When later Cephas came to Antioch, I confronted him since he deserved to be blamed. Before some of James' people arrived, he used to eat with non-Jewish people. But when they arrived, he withdrew and did not mingle anymore with them, for fear of the Jewish group. The rest of the Jews followed him in this pretense, and even Barnabas was part of this insincerity. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas publicly: If you who are Jewish agreed to live like the non-Jews, setting aside the Jewish customs, why do you now compel the non-Jews to live like Jews?

Gospel: Luke 11:1-4

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." And Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say this: Father, hallowed be your name, may your kingdom come, give us each day the kind of bread we need, and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive all who do us wrong, and do not bring us to the test."

Reflection:

     St. Paul was a trailblazer. On his missionary journeys, he would go to preach in the Jewish synagogues first, but when on many occasions, he was driven out of them, he decided to preach the Good News to the Gentiles. The latter were not required to become Jews first before being catechized and baptized. They were called proselytes. But the Jewish converts in Jerusalem did not approve of this and wanted the proselytes to be circumcised and to observe certain Jewish traditions. Paul fought against this wrong way of thinking and eventually Peter and the other leaders of the Jerusalem Church acknowledged that it was the Holy Spirit inspiring the evangelization of the pagans, and so they decided not to impose Jewish traditions on these converts.

     Times are changing. We cannot be moralistic or legalistic as Christians. We should be sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church of today. We should not be afraid to bring the Good News to public sinners, jail prisoners and drug addicts, which by the way the religious have been doing all through the centuries. God can do miracles. For those living in non-Christian countries, preaching to Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, etc. is a very challenging proposition. God wants the gospel to be preached to all men. Are we up to the challenge? The truth is that in the past half century after Vatican II many Protestants, Anglicans and atheists have entered the Catholic fold because of aggressive preaching by brave and sincere lay and professed missionaries. The recent popes have also declared the third millennium as the one for the evangelization of Asia which is mostly non-Christian. Are we up to the challenge?

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 especially in war-torn areas

... for wisdom, perseverance and clarity of mind for those who prepare and take their exams:

     * Karen Tuala who takes the bar exams on the four (4) consecutive weekends of October

... for the healing of Amelia R. Vitan

... for the intentions of Beny, MTN

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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