DAILY- HOMILY

August 23, 2019 – FRIDAY, 20th Week in Ordinary Time
St. Rose of Lima, Virgin and Patroness of the Philippines
Green.

Ru 1: 1, 3 – 6, 14b – 16, 22 / Mt 22: 34 – 40

The first canonized saint of the New World, St. Rose of Lima (1586 – 1617) was a Dominican Tertiary. A mystic like St. Catherine of Siena (1347 – 1380), also a Dominican Tertiary, St. Rose was instrumental in the foundation of the first monastery of cloistered nuns in Lima. She was proclaimed Patroness of the Americas, the Philippines and the West Indies.

GOSPEL READING: Mt 22: 34 – 40
When the Pharisees heard how Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. One of them, a teacher of the Law, tried to test him with this question, "Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the Law?"

Jesus answered, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and the most important of the commandments. But after this there is another one very similar to it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole Law and the Prophets are founded on these two commandments."

REFLECTION
When we love someone, we try to give our very best. We wish to make the loved one happy. We show love in various ways – in words of affirmation and love, in giving of gifts and service, in presence and touch.

How do we show our love of God? We declare our love in our prayers. We spend quality time with God in prayer, at Masses and religious services. We serve God through people and his Church. We show love and respect to God by showing love and respect to religious objects and places.

How do we show our love of neighbor? Jesus' account of the Last Judgment is his model for love of neighbor: "Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me into your house, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to see me." (Mt 25: 34 – 36)

"Lord, when did we see you hungry . . . thirsty . . . a stranger . . . naked. . . sick or in prison. . .?" "The King will answer, 'Truly, I say to you: whenever you did this to these little ones who are my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.'" (Mt 25: 37 – 40)

And to those on his left, "Go, cursed people, out of my sight into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! . . . Whatever you did not do for one of these little ones, you did not do for me." (Mt 25: 41 – 45)

Is there a better way to express or describe how to "love your neighbor as yourself?"

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
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