DAILY- HOMILY

June 12, 2015 FRIDAY - THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS 

Solemnity, White   

Hos 11: 1, 3 - 4, 8c – 9 / Eph 3: 8 –12 / Jn 19: 31 - 37 

First Reading: Hos 11:1, 3 - 4, 8c – 9 

     I loved Israel when he was a child; out of Egypt I called my son. 

     Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; yet little did they realize that it was I who cared for them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with leading strings of love, and I became for them as one who eases the yoke upon their neck and stoops down to feed them.

     My heart is troubled within me and I am moved with compassion. I will not give vent to my great anger; I will not return to destroy Ephraim for I am God and not human. I am the Holy One in your midst and I do not want to come to you in anger.

Second Reading: Eph 3: 8 –12

     This grace was given to me, the least among all the holy ones: to announce to the pagan nations the immeasurable riches of Christ and to make clear to all how the mystery, hidden from the beginning in God, the Creator of all things, is to be fulfilled.

     Even the heavenly forces and powers will now discover through the Church the wisdom of God in its manifold expression, as the plan is being fulfilled which God designed from the beginning in Christ Jesus, our Lord. In him we receive boldness and confidence to approach God.

Gospel: Jn 19: 31 - 37

     As it was Preparation Day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross during the sabbath, for this sabbath was a very solemn day. They asked Pilate to have the legs of the condemned men broken, so they might take away the bodies.

     The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who had been crucified with Jesus. When they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead; so they did not break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a lance and immediately there came out blood and water.

     The one who has seen here gives his witness so that you may believe:  his witness is true and he knows that he speaks the truth. All this happened to fulfill the words of Scripture, Not one of his bones shall be broken. Another text says: They shall look on him whom they pierced.                               

Reflection:

     Though the Jews and the Romans crucified Jesus, the story of his death started when he was sent by his Father to be a man like us, except that he was without sin: "And the Word was made flesh; he had his tent pitched among us, and we have seen his Glory, the Glory of the only Son coming from the Father, full of truth and loving kindness."

     The Son of God was sent to be one of us because God found it necessary to save mankind from humanity's sinfulness and forgetfulness and from themselves. Jesus preached the Good News and affirmed what the prophets had said. Jesus showed what God's goodness could do through him. 

     These reminders, instead of bringing back God into the lives of people, apparently fueled the envy and resentment of those whose life-styles and authority were threatened. The leaders of the Jews incited the people who did not seem to know any better. Upon the prodding of the leaders and before the hated Roman Procurator, Jesus, God's messenger, was sent to his death on the cross.

     We also "look on whom they have pierced." To the extent that we fail to weave Jesus' teaching and love in our lives, we also participate in the continued rejection of God by mankind. When we choose to be faithful to Jesus' life and teachings we show that his death for us and all mankind was not in vain; we will have saved ourselves from ourselves. Our hope is that our faith in the Jesus who saves us will color the way we live and love in our lives and the way we relate with people, especially with those who do not have much.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     WILFREDO ORTIZ

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

   |  priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish

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