ANG MABUTING BALITA NGAYON AYON KAY SAN MATEO 16:24-28

24 Sinabi ni Jesus sa kanyang mga alagad, "Ang sinumang nagnanais sumunod sa akin ay kinakailangang itakwil niya ang kanyang sarili, pasanin ang kanyang krus, at sumunod sa akin. 25Ang naghahangad na magligtas ng kanyang buhay ay mawawalan nito; ngunit ang mawalan ng kanyang buhay alang-alang sa akin ay magkakamit nito. 26 Sapagkat ano ba ang mapapala ng isang tao makamtan man niya ang buong daigdig, ngunit mapapahamak naman ang kanyang sarili? Ano ba ang maibabayad ng isang tao para mabawi niya ang kanyang buhay? 27 Sapagkat darating ang Anak ng Tao na kasama ang kanyang mga anghel, at taglay ang dakilang kapangyarihan ng kanyang Ama. Sa panahong iyo'y gagantimpalaan niya ang bawat tao ayon sa ginawa nito. 28Tandaan ninyo: may ilan sa inyong naririto na hindi mamamatay hangga't hindi nila nakikita ang Anak ng Tao na dumarating bilang hari."

Gospel Today, November 14, 2013 - LK 17:20-25

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,Jesus said in reply,“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,

and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

Then he said to his disciples,“The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.There will be those who will say to you,

‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.”

Reflection in today's Gospel:

In the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan hundreds gave whatever they could no matter how small. Hundreds prayed also, they stormed the heavens pleading to the good Lord. Nations gave humanitarian aid without any condition they simply wanted to help and show their solidarity with the suffering Filipino people.

Jesus said in today’s gospel that the kingdom of God is among us. Yes indeed! It’s among us most especially if we feel that urgent need to give and to help those who were ravaged by typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan.

Jesus is not only a figurehead God. He is the God of mercy and we allow this God of mercy to be with us once we become merciful also. Amen…

THE ESSENCE OF PRAYER - Fr. Joel O. Jason

Anyone familiar with the Gospel knows that there are many times when the Apostles were not so “apostolic,” so to speak. There were times they were cowardly, lazy and acted like spoiled brats. Today’s Gospel (Luke 11:1-4), however, is one of those moments when they act like true followers of Jesus. Look at their request: “Lord, teach us how to pray.” They wanted to pray like Jesus. If I were one of the Apostles, I think I would have requested Jesus to teach me some magic so I can impress people on my own, or maybe a magic word or formula that God can never refuse to heed.

       What is prayer? In some other parts of Scripture, Jesus said, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you” (John 14:13). To ask in Jesus’ name is not a magic spell we cast on the Father, i.e., blackmailing God to act according to our liking. To pray in Jesus’ name is what the disciples requested in today’s Gospel. To pray like Jesus, to pray in His name, is to pray according to His heart, His mind, His will. Whatever we ask the Father in Jesus’ name will surely come to pass if it is according to the heart and mind of God.

       Prayer therefore is not so much a changing of the mind of God by a force that is irresistible. Prayer in its very essence is the changing of our hearts and minds, such that whenever we pray, we pray for what is true, beautiful and good. Prayer is conforming our hearts to God that even when our own desires are actually in conflict with His way and time, we remain steadfast in following Him.

       This is why Jesus asked us to pray daily, “Your will be done on earth as it in heaven.” Prayer is not conforming the mind of God to ours, whether  He likes it or not. Prayer is conforming ourselves to God — then everything else will follow. 

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: Have you transitioned from seeing prayer as a transaction to a relationship?

 

Lord, may Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Amen.

GOSPEL READING TO DAY - Luke 11:1-4 - THE OUR FATHER

Lords prayerNow once he was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished one of his disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’. He said to them, ‘Say this when you pray:

“Father, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come;
give us each day our daily bread,
and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test.”‘

Reflection on Luke 11: 1-4

In today’s gospel, Jesus Christ teaches us how to pray. He gives us a very simple way in which we can pray effectively. What matters in prayer is not the quantity but the quality. The Lord’s prayer gives us the core elements in our prayer: thanksgiving to God for his goodness to us; surrendering to God and trusting in his plans for our lives; living in his providence by asking him to provide only for our needs of the day; recognizing our sinfulness and asking for forgiveness while at the same time we forgive all those who have offended us; and finally, asking God to help us avoid anything that will lead us away from trusting and living in him. In this prayer, we see how God wants us to live. Apart from being a prayer, it is also the way a Christian should live his or her life. Our challenge today is to make this prayer a part of our own lives.

Gospel Reading & Reflection for the 25th Sunday Ordinary Time Year C – September 22nd 2013

FIRST READING: Amos 8:4-7

Listen to this, you who trample on the needy
and try to suppress the poor people of the country,
you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over
so that we can sell our corn,
and sabbath, so that we can market our wheat?
Then by lowering the bushel, raising the shekel,
by swindling and tampering with the scales,
we can buy up the poor for money,
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and get a price even for the sweepings of the wheat.’
The Lord swears it by the pride of Jacob,
‘Never will I forget a single thing you have done’

GOSPEL: Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.” Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”

Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?” “One hundred measures of oil” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty”. To another he said, “And you, sir, how much do you owe?” “One hundred measures of wheat” was the reply. The steward said, “Here, take your bond and write eighty”.

‘The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.’

‘And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity. The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?

‘No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.’