Friday, July 01, 2016

 

Saturday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time

02 July 2016 
Saturday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time
Sts.  Bernardine Realino, John Francis Regis 
and Francis de Geronimo, Priests; 
Bl. J. Maunoir and A. Baldinucci, Priests 
Memorial.   White.     

Am 9:11 – 15 / Mt 9:14 – 17

Today's memorial is of Jesuit priests, saints and blessed, who faithfully served the Church in Europe: Sts. Bernardine Realino (1530 – 1616), an Italian:  Frenchman John Francis Regis (1597 – 1640) and Italian Francis de Geronimo (1642 – 1716); and Bl. Julian Maunoir, French (1606 – 1683) and Anthony Baldinucci, Italian (1665 – 1717).

From the 1st Reading: Am 9: 11 - 12
On that day I shall restore the fallen hut of David and wall up its breaches and raise its ruined walls and so build it as in the days of old.  They shall conquer the remnant of Edom and the neighboring nations upon which my name has been called.

Gospel Reading: Mt 9: 14 – 17
Then the disciples of John came to him with the question, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not your disciples?"

Jesus answered them, "How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? Time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast.

"No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for the patch will shrink and tear an even bigger hole in the coat.  Besides you don't put new wine in old wineskins. If you do, the wineskins will burst and the wine be spilt. No, you put new wine in fresh skins; then both are preserved."

Reflection
The first reading speaks of God's promise to restore us back into the state that we were all created in.  We are all broken, wounded, and scattered.  It may be because of our mistakes, or because of the mistakes of others.  There may even be times when we may doubt the love of God for us. It is because of our state of ruin that Christ came, so that we can become whole again. Christ does not take away our sufferings and brokenness, but uses them so that we may see ourselves and our lives in the light of His love.  We are called to see His love in the middle of our daily struggles.  Like new wineskins, we are called to receive His love fully, so that we may not fast, which is a sign of mourning, when we experience a cross.  Instead we find meaning in our cross, so that, like Jesus, we may find life in it.  

The Gospel reading gives a message of hope for those who want to be renewed in body and spirit.  God can make all things new.  But the question is – do we want to be renewed or do we prefer to continue to be our old selves?  Some people are like that.  They do not want to change for the better.  They are contented with their superficial joys and reject the everlasting happiness God offers to those who love Him.        


WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

IN MEMORIAM (+)
     Beatrice Lim Le Hun Co Chan (Dec 23, 1928 – Jul 2, 2007)

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.  
  +================================================+

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
Archive: http://biblereflection.blogspot.com/
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
 
© 2016 Daily-Homily
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DAILY-HOMILY" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to daily_homily+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

 

Friday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time

01 July 2016  

Friday, 13th Week in Ordinary Time 

St. Junipero Serra, Priest 

Green.       

 

Am 8:4 -6, 9 – 12 / Mt 9:9 – 13

 

Born in Mallorca, Spain, St. Junifero Serra (1713 – 1784) joined the Franciscans and, as a missionary in the New World, established many churches and Christian communities in the US West Coast. He was canonized by Pope Francis in the US in September 2015.

 

Gospel Reading: Mt 9:9 - 13 

As Jesus moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom-house, and he said to him, "Follow me." And Matthew got up and followed him. Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew's house, many tax collectors and other sinners joined Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, "Why is it that your master eats with those sinners and tax collectors?"

 

When Jesus heard this he said, "Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but the sinners."

 

Reflection:

If Jesus were in our midst, we too like the Pharisees would be scandalized seeing him in the company of tax-collectors.  Why?  Because they were despised for enriching themselves with the money of their fellow Jews.  They were also considered as betrayers of their people and of the Law of Moses.  This prejudice and dislike for them remain till now.  They were numbered among the list of sinners in Jesus' time, along with the prostitutes, adulterers, etc.  All men should shun their company.  

 

Yet Christ was not ashamed to be among them.  He considered them as sick and wounded people who needed a physician.  In fact he was the physician who could heal the serious internal disease of men called sin and its consequences. His love and compassion were greater than any sin.  It could transform a sinner into a saint.  In the Gospels, often the public sinners were the ones who welcomed this forgiveness and converted faster than those who considered themselves healthy.  

 

Do we need the healing of Christ?  Christ came to die for all of us.  We too are sinners like the tax-collectors and prostitutes.  We too are murderers and adulterers.  Because even if we are not in jail for murder, oftentimes, hatred has made us guilty of it.  Lust for a man or a woman also makes us adulterers.  

 

Jesus said, "What makes us unclean is not what comes from the outside, but what comes from within, from the heart."  (Mt 7: 21) We may seem to fulfill the law perfectly, but, if we become fault-finders and self-righteous like the Pharisees, then we are committing the mother of all sins, pride.  Let us examine ourselves sincerely and recognize that we do need Christ because we are no better than the public sinners.

 

 

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.  

  +================================================+

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
Archive: http://biblereflection.blogspot.com/
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
 
© 2016 Daily-Homily
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DAILY-HOMILY" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to daily_homily+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?