DAILY- HOMILY

01 August 2016  

Monday, 18^TH Week in Ordinary Time      

St. Alphonsus Ligouri, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Memorial.         White.           

Jer 28:1 – 17 / Mt 14:13 – 21

From Naples, St. Alphonsus Ligouri (1696 – 1787) founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) and was a famed moral theologian.

Gospel Reading: Mt. 14:13 - 21

Jesus set out secretly by boat for a secluded place. But the people heard of it, and they followed him on foot from their towns.  When Jesus went ashore, he saw the crowd gathered there and he had compassion on them. And he healed their sick.

Late in the afternoon, his disciples came to him and said, "We are in a lonely place and it is now late. You should send these people away, so they can go to the villages and buy something for themselves to eat." But Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat." They answered, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fishes." Jesus said to them, "Bring them here to me."  

Then he made everyone sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fishes, raised his eyes to heaven, pronounced the blessing, broke the loaves and handed them to the disciples to distribute to the people.  And they all ate, and everyone had enough; then the disciples gathered up the leftovers, filling twelve baskets.  About five thousand men had eaten there besides women and children.

Reflection

There are moments in our lives when Jesus seems to be hiding from us.  He is just nowhere to be found.  So there are times that we even become desperate and hopeless. In our Gospel today, the crowd was keen in finding Jesus. 

Would we be like those people who will just not stop to search for him and then continue to follow him wherever he would go?  Each of them must have had an experience with Jesus to have that fire within them. Do we also have our own unique encounter with Jesus? How meaningful was that for us? Notwithstanding the hardship, do we desire to pursue him as the crowd did? 

People and events could discourage us from following Jesus but faith can make us stand firm in our decision. Jesus is the only one who can change our hearts only if we allow him to.  Still it is our choice.  No sacrifice is wasted when we try to follow the footsteps of Jesus. His compassion is truly so great that he will see us through in the difficult moments. He will not abandon us when we are down and out.  

Like what he did for the crowd, he would heal and feed us too.   He would bless us with the grace we need in order to be healed and comforted. He would feed us with his very self so we may gain the strength in every trial we have to face. His love satisfies our hunger.

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

    Wendlyn T. Ligo

    Randy Roa

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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