DAILY- HOMILY

October 9, 2014

Thursday 27th Week in Ordinary Time

[Sts. Denis and companions; St. John Leonardi]

Gal 3: 1-5 / Lk 1: 69-70, 71-72, 73-75 / Lk 11: 5-13 

Reading: Gal 3: 1-5

How foolish you are, Galatians! How could they bewitch you after Jesus Christ has been presented to you as crucified? I shall ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by the practice of the Law, or by believing the message? How can you be such fools: you begin with the Spirit and end up with the flesh! So you have experienced all this in vain! Would that it were not so! Did God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you, because of your observance of the Law or because you believed in his message?        

Gospel: Luke 11: 5-13

Jesus said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to his house in the middle of the night and says: 'Friend, lend me three loaves,  for a friend of mine who is traveling has just arrived and I have nothing to offer him.' Maybe your friend will answer from inside: 'Don't bother me now; the door is locked and my children and I are in bed, so I can't get up and give you anything.' But I tell you, even though he will not get up and attend to you because you are a friend, yet he will get up because you are a bother to him, and he will give you all you need. And so I say to you, 'Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened. If your child asks for a fish, will you give a snake instead?  And if your child asks for an egg, will you give a scorpion?  Even you evil people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more then will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Reflection:

     "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you."  This is a very often-quoted verse, and its appeal is not so surprising.  Imagine, a God who gives you anything you want as long as you keep asking. Or so we, with our often misguided desires, would like to believe. But going back to the verse, Jesus did not initially say what it was. Did he really mean that God will grant us anything we ask of Him? Knowing Christ in His wisdom, it's highly unlikely that he meant it that way. As we read on, it becomes a little more evident what He did suggest. 

     At the end of the gospel passage, Jesus said, "Even you evil people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more then will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  Here, He sets the parameters to what God will willingly and lovingly grant us: the Holy Spirit. We might ask for things that we believe we want or need, but these might not reflect our deepest desires, and will probably do us more harm than good. Sometimes, what we seek becomes muddled by the superficial priorities of the world, that we forget about what it is we truly seek. When we stop for a while to step back and get a glimpse of the deepest recesses of our hearts, there lies our true desire to know and love God with our whole being. But it is only in asking Him and seeking His infinite wisdom that we may receive this blessing.

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 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

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!

**************************************************

These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following: 

  +================================================+

   |  The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the

   |  priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish

   |            http://www.marythequeen.org

   |  Distributed free and for personal use only.  

  +================================================+

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!

**************************************************

These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following: 

  +================================================+

   |  The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the

   |  priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish

   |            http://www.marythequeen.org

   |  Distributed free and for personal use only.  

  +================================================+

October 7, 2014

Tuesday 27th Week in Ordinary Time

Our Lady Of The Rosary  

Gal 1: 13-24 / Ps 139:1b-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15 / Lk 10: 38-42    

Reading: Gal 1: 13-24   

You have heard of my previous activity in the Jewish community; I furiously persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it. For I was more devoted to the Jewish religion than many fellow Jews of my age, and I defended the traditions of my ancestors more fanatically. But one day God called me out of his great love, he who had chosen me from my mother's womb; and he was pleased to reveal in me his Son, that I might make him known among the pagan nations. Then I did not seek human advice nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. I immediately went to Arabia, and from there I returned again to Damascus. Later, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to meet Cephas, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. But I did not see any other apostle except James, the Lord's brother. On writing this to you, I affirm before God that I am not lying. After that I went to Syria and Cilicia. The churches of Christ in Judea did not know me personally; they had only heard of me: "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith he tried to uproot." And they praised God because of me.

Gospel: Luke 10: 38-42

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he entered a village and a woman called Martha welcomed him to her house. She had a sister named Mary who sat down at the Lord's feet to listen to his words. Martha, meanwhile, was busy with all the serving and finally she said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the serving?" But the Lord answered, "Martha, Martha, you worry and are troubled about many things, whereas only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her."

Reflection:

     Martha and Mary were sisters whom Jesus visited at Bethany. They both loved Jesus but they showed their respect and love for him in different ways.  Martha made herself busy, making preparations in the kitchen for Jesus' arrival. Mary, on the other hand, simply sat and listened to Jesus. When Martha asked Jesus to tell her sister Mary to help her around the house, Jesus simply told her not to worry about too many things whereas only one thing is needed. "Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her."  

     In our daily lives, we tend to have Martha's mindset:  we are so busy and we look to God and ask Him to send some signs that he is acting in our lives. We are so involved with our work, organizations, causes and involvements that we believe that these should be enough to please God. We seek recognition from God, our families, spouses, loved ones and friends that the things we do are important. But Jesus does not need us to move busily from one involvement to another, seeking to please Him and our loved ones at all times.  In fact, Jesus said that Mary, unlike Martha, had it right all along. Sometimes the one thing we need to do the most is to be still and to listen to Him. We need to free ourselves from the voices that move our daily lives, and to contemplate God's love for us in all that we do.       

     It is appropriate that this gospel guides us as we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Mother Mary also listened and accepted the events in her life and kept them in her heart. She was humble to do God's will. She did not seek to please God through accolades or achievements. She simply said "yes" to the plan of God in her life.

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

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!

**************************************************

These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following: 

  +================================================+

   |  The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the

   |  priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish

   |            http://www.marythequeen.org

   |  Distributed free and for personal use only.  

  +================================================+