"Woman, you have great faith! Your wish will come to pass."
Lectionary Readings of 20th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
http://catholic.pcentral-online.net/lectionary/20th-sunday-a.html
In life, there will be many times when we will encounter problems and difficulties. We do not know what it is that will befall us for we are all under the mercy of God. It may be sickness, an early death, loss of a family member, bankruptcy, loss of a job, war, famine, economic disasters, or anything that will truly test our faith. Whenever we do so, it is good to follow the example and witness of the Canaanite woman here in the gospel for this Sunday. Her daughter is plagued with a demon and she wanted Jesus to cure and heal her daughter. Jesus' reply was: that He was only called to the House of Israel (excluding Canaanites). But the Canaanite woman knew and with faith that like the dogs that are under their master's tables, these dogs are able to eat the morsels and bits of food that fall from their master's tables. Therefore, this Canaanite woman, even though she knew that the Jewish society of that time was discriminating her, she knew with great faith that Jesus can heal her daughter. And because Jesus was amazed by such a great faith, Jesus granted her request.
Whenever we are burdened with trials and difficulties, how easy it is for us to be tempted and to give up. We often are sapped of our energy and our enthusiasm when times become hard and it is so difficult to earn a living, to get people's support, to serve a family, to keep a marriage, to gain job security, to make the business survive, to lead a parish or a mission, to fix a very difficult moral situation, etc. All these situations and many more will truly test our faith in Christ. We are therefore called to be inspired by the Canaanite woman, who despite the fact that she was powerless to ask for help in a very Jewish setting that discriminates their ethnic group, she continued on and pleaded for help from God in Christ Jesus. Perhaps, when we are indeed in dire straits for our situation or the situation of members of our family, we are called to express great faith in God and to cling totally to Him and know deep down in our heart that even though we are sinners, He is good and will always be faithful in His kindness and mercy to us.
Whatever be our situation now, let us not lose heart when things become very difficult and situations bring so much pain and hardship, but let us be called to be inspired by the example of the Canaanite woman: her faith teaches us that God answers the prayers of all - especially the least and the little people.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Sunday, August 07, 2005
19th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
"Lord, save me!"
Lectionary Readings of 19th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
http://catholic.pcentral-online.net/lectionary/19th-sunday-a.html
In this gospel passage, we see an image of Christ walking on the water and bidding Peter to come unto Him. At first, Peter was able to walk a distance. However, after seeing the strong waves around him, he faltered and began to experience fear. This doubt led to his slow sinking into the waves. As he began to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus at once stretched out his hand and caught him. Then Jesus remarked, "How little faith you have!" "Why did you falter?"
In our faith journey, we will experience both success and failure, victory and defeat, sickness and health, poverty and riches, and all experiences that will either strengthen or weaken our faith. In those times when we experience successes, most of us forget that it is the Lord who gave us our abilities so that we may succeed. And so we become proud and and forget the Lord. When, however, we began to experience failure again, only then will we remember the Lord and like Peter, cry out, "Lord, save me!"
We thank the Lord for the times that He gives us the gift of faith - a gift that helps us "walk on the water". But we must not forget that this faith is a gift and must be nurtured with humility, service, servanthood, sacrifice and fear of the Lord. Sometimes this gift of faith from God will help us go on even though we see obstacles and even if we see all kinds of hindrances towards our life objectives and goals. But sometimes, we may see the difficulties and the hardships and the problems and forget to focus on God who can give us that faith that will see us through all manner of difficulties. Then, in our doubting, we sink and fail to do His will.
The lesson we are taught in this gospel is to always put our focus on the Lord. We are called to look always toward Him. He is the real objective and goal of our life. If we focus on the problems and difficulties we encounter in our faith journey, we will forget the Lord and lose our faith. Keeping our eyes on Him all the time through prayer and service and humility will help us "walk in the water" and reach our destination of eternal life in Him. So if we continue to keep to our life of prayer and our life of service to the Church in our work, we shall have the faith to surmount any difficulty and we will be able to do the Lord's will to serve Him.
Lectionary Readings of 19th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
http://catholic.pcentral-online.net/lectionary/19th-sunday-a.html
In this gospel passage, we see an image of Christ walking on the water and bidding Peter to come unto Him. At first, Peter was able to walk a distance. However, after seeing the strong waves around him, he faltered and began to experience fear. This doubt led to his slow sinking into the waves. As he began to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus at once stretched out his hand and caught him. Then Jesus remarked, "How little faith you have!" "Why did you falter?"
In our faith journey, we will experience both success and failure, victory and defeat, sickness and health, poverty and riches, and all experiences that will either strengthen or weaken our faith. In those times when we experience successes, most of us forget that it is the Lord who gave us our abilities so that we may succeed. And so we become proud and and forget the Lord. When, however, we began to experience failure again, only then will we remember the Lord and like Peter, cry out, "Lord, save me!"
We thank the Lord for the times that He gives us the gift of faith - a gift that helps us "walk on the water". But we must not forget that this faith is a gift and must be nurtured with humility, service, servanthood, sacrifice and fear of the Lord. Sometimes this gift of faith from God will help us go on even though we see obstacles and even if we see all kinds of hindrances towards our life objectives and goals. But sometimes, we may see the difficulties and the hardships and the problems and forget to focus on God who can give us that faith that will see us through all manner of difficulties. Then, in our doubting, we sink and fail to do His will.
The lesson we are taught in this gospel is to always put our focus on the Lord. We are called to look always toward Him. He is the real objective and goal of our life. If we focus on the problems and difficulties we encounter in our faith journey, we will forget the Lord and lose our faith. Keeping our eyes on Him all the time through prayer and service and humility will help us "walk in the water" and reach our destination of eternal life in Him. So if we continue to keep to our life of prayer and our life of service to the Church in our work, we shall have the faith to surmount any difficulty and we will be able to do the Lord's will to serve Him.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
18th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
"All those present ate their fill."
Lectionary Readings for 18th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
http://catholic.pcentral-online.net/lectionary/18th-sunday-a.html
In the gospel for this Sunday, we see Jesus feeding the crowds who numbered about five thousand, not counting women and children. At first, before He fed them, His disciples told him about their situation: that they were in a deserted place and that there was no feed for all of them. The disciples wanted Jesus to disperse them. But Jesus said that there was no need to disperse and dismiss the crowds. He even challenged the disciples to give the crowds something to eat. But the disciples said that they have nothing with them except for five loaves and a couple of fish. So Jesus said to them to bring those loaves and fish to them. Then in a very poignant and deeply affecting way, he took the food, blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to give to the people. And without really being aware of what was happening, the disciples soon realized that they were able to feed the crowd and with twelve baskets with leftover food. "All those present ate their fill."
How we need Jesus in our life today when so many people are hungry and poor. If spirit of Christ were in each one of us, then we can easily work and produce in a way that will help so many people.
In the celebration of the Eucharist, some of you may have experienced the host running out or the wine running out. And there would be a few people who would not be able to receive communion. They are just requested by the pastor to make a spiritual communion. Some who are practical, especially for those ministers of communion distributing the host, find that approximating the length of the communion line will help them to apportion the host - halfing them or breaking them into many pieces so that all may receive communion. But certainly, this does not always work as the number of those who will actually fall in line for communion cannot be determined.
How we need Christ for us today. For if Christ and His spirit of generosity and service were with us, "All will have their fill." If we give up our selfish ways and self-centered ways, then we can help so many people - especially those who hunger not only physically but also spiritually - the discouraged, the depressed, the lonely, the abandoned, the elderly who are sick, and so many others. I believe the best example of one who practices charity that is truly in Christ is Blessed Mother Teresa. If we follow also her example, and go to the poor - then we will do our part in Christ's work, Christ work in the Eucharist, to make "All people have their fill."
Lectionary Readings for 18th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A
http://catholic.pcentral-online.net/lectionary/18th-sunday-a.html
In the gospel for this Sunday, we see Jesus feeding the crowds who numbered about five thousand, not counting women and children. At first, before He fed them, His disciples told him about their situation: that they were in a deserted place and that there was no feed for all of them. The disciples wanted Jesus to disperse them. But Jesus said that there was no need to disperse and dismiss the crowds. He even challenged the disciples to give the crowds something to eat. But the disciples said that they have nothing with them except for five loaves and a couple of fish. So Jesus said to them to bring those loaves and fish to them. Then in a very poignant and deeply affecting way, he took the food, blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to give to the people. And without really being aware of what was happening, the disciples soon realized that they were able to feed the crowd and with twelve baskets with leftover food. "All those present ate their fill."
How we need Jesus in our life today when so many people are hungry and poor. If spirit of Christ were in each one of us, then we can easily work and produce in a way that will help so many people.
In the celebration of the Eucharist, some of you may have experienced the host running out or the wine running out. And there would be a few people who would not be able to receive communion. They are just requested by the pastor to make a spiritual communion. Some who are practical, especially for those ministers of communion distributing the host, find that approximating the length of the communion line will help them to apportion the host - halfing them or breaking them into many pieces so that all may receive communion. But certainly, this does not always work as the number of those who will actually fall in line for communion cannot be determined.
How we need Christ for us today. For if Christ and His spirit of generosity and service were with us, "All will have their fill." If we give up our selfish ways and self-centered ways, then we can help so many people - especially those who hunger not only physically but also spiritually - the discouraged, the depressed, the lonely, the abandoned, the elderly who are sick, and so many others. I believe the best example of one who practices charity that is truly in Christ is Blessed Mother Teresa. If we follow also her example, and go to the poor - then we will do our part in Christ's work, Christ work in the Eucharist, to make "All people have their fill."
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