DAILY- HOMILY

September 27, 2014
Saturday 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[St. Vincent de Paul]

Eccl 11: 9 - 12: 8 / Ps 90: 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17/ Lk 9: 43b-45

Reading: Eccl 11: 9 - 12: 8
Rejoice, young man, in your youth and direct well your heart when you are young; follow your desires and achieve your ambitions but recall that God will take account of all you do. Drive sorrow from your heart and pain from your flesh, for youth and dark hair will not last. Be mindful of your Creator when you are young, before the time of sorrow comes when you have to say, "This gives me no pleasure," and before the sun, moon and stars withdraw their light, before the clouds gather again after the rain. On the day when the guardians of the house tremble, when sturdy men are bowed and those at the mill stop working because they are too few, when it grows dim for those looking through the windows, and the doors are shut and the noise of the mill grows faint, the sparrow stops chirping and the bird-song is silenced, when one fears the slopes and to walk is frightening; yet the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is fat and the caperberry bears fruit that serves no purpose, because man goes forward to his eternal home and mourners gather in the street, even before the silver chain is snapped or the golden globe is shattered, before the pitcher is broken at the fountain or the wheel at the mill, before the dust returns to the earth from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Meaningless! meaningless! the Teacher says; all is meaningless!   

Gospel: Luke 9: 43-45
And all who saw it were astonished at God's wonderful work. While all were amazed at everything Jesus did, he said to his disciples, "Listen and remember what I tell you now: The Son of Man will be delivered into human hands." But the disciples didn't understand this saying; something prevented them from grasping what he meant, and they were afraid to ask him about it.

Reflection:
     Jesus knew what his fate would be when  he came to this earth. But he loved us so much that he fulfilled his fate and died for us. He could have stayed in heaven with our Father.  Since we are his children, his brothers and sisters, he gave his last breath to free us from sin and to help open our eyes to the wonder and glory of God.
     We live by this belief to stay in joyful hope that Jesus will once again be with us. We put this into practice by living out what he taught us. We honor his sacrifice every time we attend Mass and participate wholeheartedly in the liturgy. We strive to love in the manner he loves us.
     That's why we try to remind ourselves about the cost of loving like he did. That means being ridiculed and misunderstood. It might even mean sacrificing our own lives for the faith.  But, with all the countless missionaries and martyrs that bravely proclaimed this good news, their sacrifice has only strengthened our church. Pope Francis invites us to do the same by bringing more joy into our lives. Because the one who follows Christ must be able to share that happiness with others. We won't be effective missionaries if our faces reflect gloom and doom.
     Christ is the reason we live.  We hopefully can preach this joyfully and let the whole world know how much we are loved by God.

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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