DAILY- HOMILY

July 28, 2017 – FRIDAY, 16th Week in Ordinary Time

Green

Ex 20: 1- 17 / Mt 13: 18- 23

GOSPEL READING:           Mt 13: 18- 23

   Jesus said, "Now listen to the parable of the sower. When a person hears the message of the Kingdom but without taking it to himself, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that fell along the footpath.

   "The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word and accepts it at once with joy. But this is fickle and has no roots. No sooner is he harassed or persecuted because of the word than he gives up.

   "The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word, and it does not bear fruit.

   "As for the seed that fell on good soil it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more."

REFLECTION

   We usually interpret the Parable of the Seed and the Sower in terms of how different people respond to the word of God, the "seed" in the story. The different types of ground are people who receive the word.

I suggest we look at the parable in relation to how we go to Mass.

   Are you like the footpath or hard ground? You go to Mass because it is an obligation of a baptized Catholic. You go to Sunday Mass but it has no effect in your life.

   Are you like the rocky soil? You feel Mass recharges you and helps you when problems and challenges come. But when real serious trouble comes, you give up easily.

   If you are the ground with the thistles, you are grateful for benefits received but you are overwhelmed in your practice of your Christian faith by your daily worries and problems, endless desires and monetary concerns.

   If you are the good soil, your Sunday Mass is a treasured moment of your week, a blessing which animates your personal, family and professional life, a time to review and be grateful for the past week and to prepare for and be productive for the coming week. It is a blessing for you to be shared with family and friends.

   What does Sunday Mass mean to me? How do I prepare for it? What do I get out of it? What does this community Sunday worship mean to me?

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY 

     GLAZELLE A. BANDA-AY

PRAYER INTENTION

     GERALDINE S. LIM

THANKSGIVING 

     JENNIFER GOTAMCO TAN

     MAVIC DEVELOPMENT INC

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.  

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

July 27, 2017 – THURSDAY, 16th Week in Ordinary Time

Green

Ex 19:1- 2, 9 -11, 16- 20b / Mt 13:10- 17

FROM THE FIRST READING:          Ex 19: 18- 19

     Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because Yahweh had come down in fire, and the smoke rose as from a furnace. The whole mountain shook violently while the blast of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke and God replied in thunder.

From the GOSPEL READING:        Mt 13: 10- 13, 16- 17

     Then his disciples came to him with the question, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"

     Jesus answered, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people. For the one who has will be given more and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived of even what he has. That is why I speak to them in parables, because they look and do not see; they hear, but they do not listen and understand....

     "But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you that many prophets and upright people would have longed to see the things you see, but they did not, and to hear the things you hear but they did not hear it."

REFLECTION

     In today's readings God speaks to us in very different ways. In the first reading Yahweh comes in great power, in fire, thunder and trumpet blasts, to speak with Moses at Mount Sinai. In the Gospel reading Jesus explains to his disciples why he often makes use of parables in his teaching.

     However different the ways, what is important is that God wishes to speak to us. Are we able to listen to him? Do we hear him?

     Yahweh spoke in great power and with great wonders to the people of Israel through Moses: though Israel made a covenant to follow Yahweh's commandments, very often they also strayed away from God and violated their covenant with him.

     In the preaching of Jesus, he hoped to teach the people, especially his disciples and close followers about the kingdom of God. He often made use of parables not only to clarify through images from the ordinary life and world of the people what the kingdom of God was but also because so many of the listeners were not ready to hear and accept his message.

     All that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law saw were Jesus violating the sabbath, eating with tax collectors and sinners and not following their cleansing practices; they refused to see his wonderful message and works.

     How ready am I to hear God's urgings in my life? What are my mufflers and blinders in not hearing and seeing God in my life? Are my selfishness and self-absorption blocking me in seeing my neighbor's needs? Am I too busy to have time with God?

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY 

     FLORENCIA A. SALAMAT

     MARY ANNE O'GORMAN

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.  

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