Wednesday, July 02, 2014

 

Thursday 13th Week in Ordinary Time

July 3, 2014
Thursday 13th Week in Ordinary Time
[Feast, St. Thomas, Apostle]

Eph 2: 19-22 / Ps 117: 1bc, 2 / Jn 20: 24-29 

Reading: Eph 2: 19-22
Now you are no longer strangers or guests, but fellow citizens of the holy people: you are of the household of God. You are the house whose foundations are the apostles and prophets, and whose cornerstone is Christ Jesus. In him the whole structure is joined together and rises to be a holy temple in the Lord. In him you too are being built to become the spiritual sanctuary of God.

Gospel: John 20: 24-29 
Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he replied, "Until I have seen in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." Eight days later, the disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them. Despite the locked doors Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands; stretch out your hand and put it into my side. Resist no longer and be a believer." Thomas then said, "You are my Lord and my God." Jesus replied, "You believe because you see me, don't you? Happy are those who have not seen and believe."

Reflection:
A personal experience comes to mind - a testimony of God's goodness after "drought and famine." My spouse and I lost our jobs, and our small business failed. We were stuck with a big debt, bills piled up, credit cards and loans were at their maximum. The family was in and out of the hospital so often that the staff would say "Welcome back!"  There were many days of despair when we did not know how we would be able to feed our two small children and there were creditors knocking on our door. Each night we called on God on bended knees, but there seemed to be no answer. We thought we were in this all alone. During those times it was hard to believe that Christ was the redeemer for we were stuck in the mud for so long that like Thomas, our doubts got the better of us. Everything came into culmination 2 days before Christmas. We had no money to spend, and yet that day our two small children were rushed to the hospital for severe sickness. We spent Christmas in the hospital with only P2,000. How to pay our bill was our big worry. After five days they were discharged, and we able to pay our bill amounting to P30,000.  Without being asked, people just came bearing gifts like that one Christmas night in Bethlehem. Jesus renewed our faith in him. Christ was born again in our hearts that day. Then things started to fall in place. The following year we were able to land a job. But who would have thought that at exactly the same date of the following year, we rushed our two children again to the hospital. But unlike the first Christmas, we had enough money to pay our bill, although we were left with nothing. But this time we were more hopeful because we believed in God's goodness and providence. The next Christmas, now with three kids, we were able to celebrate Christ's birthday more joyfully at home. God is good indeed. 

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
... for the intentions of Tessie Binaday

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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