DAILY- HOMILY

March 11, 2014
Tuesday First Week of Lent 

Is 55: 10-11 / Ps 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19 / Mt 6:7-15

Reading: Is 55: 10-11 
As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat, so is my word that goes forth out of my mouth: it will not return to me idle, but it shall accomplish my will, the purpose for which it has been sent.   

Gospel: Mt 6: 7-15
When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do, for they hold that the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, holy be your name, your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts just as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.  Do not bring us to the test but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their wrongs, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you either.

Reflection:
     In the first reading, Isaiah likens the Word of God to the rain which comes down from heaven and waters the earth. We know how much the soil needs rain to make plants grow and to keep it fertile. It is the same for us whose thirsting souls need the Word of God to give us life and direction. We need our daily dose of the Word of God from Sacred Scriptures and listen to people talk to us about Jesus. This is the spiritual food that truly nourishes us and will bear fruit in us if properly taken and constantly received with love and obedience to God.
     The gospel talks about the Lord's Prayer. The Word of God we receive every day should make us aware of the holiness of God and make us desire that His kingdom be established here on earth as quickly as possible. We understand that as Christians we belong to heaven, and therefore, let us pray that God's reign be firmly established in the hearts of men which is full of confusion, lawlessness, deceit, worldliness and immorality. Then we ask God to provide us our daily bread, which is not only our immediate material needs but also the daily guidance and inspiration to be faithful to God's commands. One of these commands is to forgive those who sin against us. We do this by loving them, by understanding them, by helping them to correct their attitudes and behavior. "To err is human, to forgive divine." So we need divine help to forgive others. Lastly, we ask God our Father to save us from the evil one, and that is Satan. Satan is among us constantly tempting us to go against God's commands. We implore God's help to fight against his suggestions and resist him by being solid in our faith. 

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 personal intentions
     * Beny Chua
... 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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   |  The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
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