DAILY- HOMILY

November 10, 2014

Monday 32nd Week in Ordinary Time

[Memorial, St. Leo the Great]

Ti 1: 1-9 / Ps 24: 1b-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 / Lk 17: 1-6 

Reading: Ti 1:1-9

From Paul, servant of God, apostle of Christ Jesus, at the service of God's chosen people, so that they may believe and reach the knowledge of truth and godliness. The eternal life we are waiting for was promised from the very beginning by God who never lies, and as the appointed time had come, he made it known through the message entrusted to me by a command of God, our Savior. Greetings to you, Titus, my true son in the faith we share. May grace and peace be with you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I left you in Crete because I wanted you to put right what was defective and appoint elders in every town, following my instructions. They must be blameless, married only once, whose children are believers and not open to the charge of being immoral and rebellious. Since the overseer (or bishop) is the steward of God's house, he must be beyond reproach: not proud, hot-headed, over-fond of wine, quarrelsome or greedy for gain. On the contrary he must be hospitable, a lover of what is good, wise, upright, devout and self-controlled. He must hold to the message of faith just as it was taught, so that, in his turn, he may teach sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Gospel: Luke 17: 1-6

Jesus said to his disciples, "Scandals will necessarily come and cause people to fall; but woe to the one who has brought it about. It would be better for that one to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around the neck. Truly this would be better for that person than to cause one of these little ones to fall. Be careful. If your brother offends you, rebuke him and if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he offends you seven times in a day but says to you seven times 'I'm sorry,' forgive him." The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." And the Lord said, "If you have faith even the size of a mustard seed, you may say to this tree: 'Be uprooted and plant yourself in the sea,' and it will obey you.

Reflection:

     We cannot entirely avoid scandals. The Lord said. "They will necessarily come and cause people to fall." Oftentimes our actions, our words and attitudes scandalize others.  Sometimes we are not conscious of our actions, our words. We do not mean to scandalize but people who see our actions or hear our words are affected. The Lord gives us a very strong admonition. "It would be better for that one to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck."

     In the first reading, Paul was writing to Titus, one of his faithful assistants in the service of the gospel, giving instructions to a select group of collaborators whom he sees worthy and are good Christian witnesses. He must be one who is hospitable, upright, devout and self-controlled. With these qualifications, can we say that we who are church or pastoral workers are up to the standards set by St. Paul? 

     Seminaries which are schools for preparing men for the service of the church did not exist during the time of St Paul. But some of the teachings that come to us today are from these chosen collaborators. There is a need for us today to pray for missionaries who will dedicate themselves for the propagation of the faith.  Most importantly, let us pray that young men and women of our parish respond to the invitation of God.

     Our saint of the day -- St. Leo, the Great, Pope and Doctor -- was a pastor and father of souls.  He safeguarded the integrity of the faith and defended the unity of the church.

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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