Friday, June 26, 2015
SATURDAY, 12th Week in Ordinary Time
June 27, 2015 SATURDAY, 12th Week in Ordinary Time
St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church;
Our Mother of Perpetual Help
Green
Gn 18:1 - 15 / Mt 8: 5 - 17
[St. Cyril of Alexandria (376 – 444) was Patriarch of Alexandria and a key theologian at the General Council of Ephesus on the divine maternity of Mary.]
[Our Mother of Perpetual Help is associated with a famous Byzantine icon from the 15th century. The Redemptorists were appointed by Pope Pius IX in 1865 to be custodians and missionaries of the icon.]
Reading: Gn 18:1 – 15
Yahweh appeared to Abraham near the oak of Mamre. Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, in the heat of the day, when he looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them. He bowed to the ground and said, "My Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought. Wash your feet and then rest under the trees. I shall fetch some bread so that you can be refreshed and continue on your way, since you have come to your servant." They then said, "Do as you say." Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said to her, "Quick, take three measures of flour, knead it and make cakes."
Abraham then ran to the herd, took a fine, tender calf, gave it to the servant who hurried to prepare it. He took butter and milk and together with the calf he had prepared laid it all before them. And while he remained standing, they ate. They then asked, "Where is Sarah, your wife?" Abraham answered, "She is in the tent." And the visitor said, "At this same time next year I will return and Sarah by then will have a son."
Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent. Abraham and Sarah were old, well on in years, and Sarah no longer had her monthly periods. Sarah laughed to herself saying, "Now that I am old and worn and my husband is an old man, am I to have this pleasure?" Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying: 'Am I really going to have a child now that I am old?' Is there anything that is impossible for God? At this same time next year I will return and Sarah by then will have a son."
Sarah denied saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. But he said, "You did laugh."
Gospel: Mt 8:5 - 17
When Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached him to ask his help, "Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralyzed and suffers terribly." Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."
The captain answered, "I am not worthy to have you under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one: 'Go,' he goes, and if I say to another: 'Come,' he comes, and to my servant: 'Do this,' he does it."
When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those who were following him, "I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness; there they will wail and grind their teeth."
Then Jesus said to the captain, "Go home now. As you believed, so let it be." And at that moment his servant was healed.
Jesus went to Peter's house and found Peter's mother-in-law in bed with fever. He took her by the hand and the fever left her; she got up and began to wait on him.
Towards evening they brought to Jesus many possessed by evil spirits, and with a word he drove out the spirits. He also healed all who were sick. In doing this he fulfilled what was said by the prophet Isaiah: He bore our infirmities and took on himself our diseases.
Reflection:
"Is there anything that is impossible for the God? (Gen 18: 14) This was the reply of the Lord to Sarah's skepticism that she would bear a child in her old age. Time and time the Lord has shown his faithfulness and power over things that do not seem humanly possible. Miracles of healing, conversion, how events conspire resulting in outcomes that only he could have wrought.
Let us not underestimate God and put limits on his power to surprise and amaze us. Let the words of Scripture reassure us of his infinite love for his people. As one develops the habit of thumbing through his living Word, we get to know our Lord more and more. And we are ever more convinced that nothing is too marvelous for him to do!
Harassed with everyday cares? Somehow, it all works out, we are able to sleep the sleep of the just, and in the morning, we are ready to face another day. Saddled with problems? The Lord will send people, veritable "angels" who can lift the burden for and along with us. Scared of a medical procedure? Let your prayer or mantra be, "Only you, O Lord, suffices," as St. Teresa of Avila affirmed. The Lord is above any pain, any trial that can be inflicted on us in this world. What a marvelous God we have!
WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:
BIRTHDAY
JED MATTHEW T. SARTE
JOHN TAN
LOURDES CHUA LIM
THANKSGIVING
ELSA & PAOLO
WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
ENRIQUE & LIZANNE CASTILLO
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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FRIDAY, 12th Week in Ordinary Time
June 26, 2015 FRIDAY, 12th Week in Ordinary Time
St. Josemaria Escriva, Priest
Green
Gn 17:1, 9 – 10, 15 – 22 / Mt 8: 1 - 4
[St. Josemaria Escriva (1902 – 1975) was the founder of Opus Dei, which encouraged and promoted holiness in ordinary life.]
Reading: Gn 17:1, 9 – 10, 15 – 22
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty. Walk in my presence and be without blame!
God said to Abraham, "For your part, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation. This is my covenant with you, that you will keep, you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised;
God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai, your wife, no longer are you to call her Sarai, but Sarah. I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. I will bless her and from her will come nations; kings and peoples shall come from her."
Then Abraham fell face down, and he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? And can Sarah who is ninety have a child?" And Abraham said to God, "If only you would accept Ishmael as yours!" But God said, "Not at all! It is Sarah, your wife, who will give birth to your son and you will name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him and his descendants after him forever. As for Ishmael, I heard you. I will bless him and make him fruitful, and I will multiply his race. He shall be the father of twelve princes and I will make of him a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, the child Sarah will have this time next year." When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went away from him.
Gospel: Mt 8: 1 - 4
When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.
Then a leper came forward. He knelt before him and said, "Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean." Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I want to, be clean again." At that very moment the man was cleansed from his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, "See that you do not tell anyone, but go to the priest, have yourself declared clean, and offer the gift that Moses ordered as proof of it."
Reflection:
One of the greatest gifts that God has given us is our freedom. Even if we don't deserve it, God gives us this great respect and bestows upon us freedom. This is proof of God's great love. Sometimes we think that it would be simpler if we did not have a choice, if we were just simply "forced" to do good, and "forced" to convert. Perhaps this type of martial law, or authoritarian rule would get a lot of positive things done, yet the Lord mysteriously allows us to be free, giving us a conscience and a mind to think and decide on our own.
It requires this same freedom to choose Christ. God cannot force himself to heal us, but he so respects that he patiently waits for us to have the inspiration and desire to want to be cured.
The first step is to recognize that we are unclean, that we are sinners. We have first to realize our limitations, our weaknesses and our sins. We cannot call upon Christ if we declare ourselves free from sin. Many of us go through life quite satisfied with ourselves, thinking we can manage quite well without God. We think we are in very, very good health when in fact we are spiritually almost dead. We don't realize the gravity of our sins which is a more serious advanced stage of spiritual leprosy. We may remain blind all our lives without this realization.
When we realize we are sick, we need to look for the one who can heal us. And Christ can heal us! We shout out, cry out to be healed. This action of asking is important because it shows our deep intention and desire to convert. These words "I want to be clean again" are spoken from the heart. And the Lord looks into our heart and cures us. If we are serious, we can get well again!
Today, we can ask the Lord to cure us, to heal us that we may have his Spirit and love within us.
WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:
BIRTHDAY
RUBY JANE G. NAVAL
IN MEMORIAM (+)
ELEANOR REYES ONGHAI
FELISA DY
LUISITA R. CHUA
PATERNO LUYM
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
| distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+
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