Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Wednesday 28th Week in Ordinary Time
October 15, 2014
Wednesday 28th Week in Ordinary Time
[Memorial, St. Teresa of Jesus]
Gal 5: 18-25 / Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 / Lk 11: 42-46
Reading: Gal 5: 18-25
But when you are led by the Spirit you are not under the Law. You know what comes from the flesh: fornication, impurity and shame-lessness, idol worship and sorcery, hatred, jealousy and violence, anger, ambition, division, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like. I again say to you what I have already said: those who do these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy and peace, patience, understanding of others, kindness and fidelity, gentleness and self-control. For such things there is no Law or punishment. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its vices and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us live in a spiritual way.
Gospel: Luke 11: 42-46
A curse is on you, Pharisees; for the Temple you give a tenth of all, including mint and rue and the other herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. This ought to be practiced, without neglecting the other. A curse is on you, Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace. A curse is on you for you are like tombstones of the dead which can hardly be seen; people don't notice them and make themselves unclean by stepping on them." Then a teacher of the Law spoke up and said, "Master, when you speak like this, you insult us, too." And Jesus answered, "A curse is on you also, teachers of the Law. For you prepare unbearable burdens and load them on the people, while you yourselves don't move a finger to help them.
Reflection:
In the first reading, we are told that self-indulgence leads to all kinds of sins. An unspiritual man cannot and does not want to please God because he seeks to please himself most of the time. His love of God is non-existent, and in pleasing himself through immoral and carnal acts, he brings himself to more emptiness and meaninglessness of life. A spiritual man, on the other hand, is patient, kind, chaste, loving, joyful and peaceful. He strives to conquer his carnal desires with spiritual weapons such as prayer, self-denial, avoiding bad company, helping the poor and the needy, etc. He is happy to obey God's commands which he knows will bring him true happiness.
In the gospel, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and the lawyers for their conceitedness, false religiosity and mistreatment of the poor and the downtrodden. If we examine our daily actions, we will surely find something which we can try to change or improve on. Sometimes we are too hard on other people, especially those who are weak and are always making mistakes. Sometimes we fail to help those who need our attention because we are too busy with our own affairs. The biggest sin of the Pharisees was their self-conceitedness. In other words, they were self-worshippers. The lawyers who had many opportunities to help others, did not do so and did the opposite instead - they made life harder for them. They did not care less about the sufferings of others.
We must remember that the best way to find favor with God is not just to stop sinning, which is not totally possible, but to be humble and try to perform acts of love every day. Love is the key and we should ask God to inspire us to go out of our way to do good deeds every day. "Love covers a multitude of sins."
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 birthday intentions of Ben Ong
... for wisdom, perseverance and clarity of mind for those who prepare and take their exams:
* Karen Tuala & Lisette Mandocdoc who will take 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!
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