Saturday, August 27, 2016

 

22nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

28 August 2016
22nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Cycle C.  Green.  

Sir 3: 17–18, 20, 28-29 / Heb 12: 18–19, 22-24a / Lk 14:1, 7 - 14

From the 1st Reading: Sir 3:  17 – 18, 20, and 28
My son, conduct your affairs with discretion and you will be loved by those who are acceptable to God. The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself and thus you will find favor with God.  For great is the power of the Lord and it is the humble who give him glory. . . 

For the sufferings of the proud man there is no remedy, the roots of evil are implanted in him.

From the 2nd Reading: Heb 12: 22 - 24a 
But you came near to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem with its innumerable angels, you have come to the solemn feast, the assembly of the firstborn of God, whose names are written in heaven. There is God, Judge of all, with the spirits of the upright brought to perfection.  There is Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.

From the Gospel Reading: Lk 14:  7 - 14 
Jesus then told a parable to the guests, for he had noticed how they tried to take the places of honor. And he said, "When you are invited to a wedding party, do not choose the best seat. It may happen that someone more important than you has been invited. And your host, who invited both of you, will come and say to you: 'Please give this person your place.'   What shame is yours when you take the lowest seat!

"Whenever you are invited, go rather to the lowest seat, so that your host may come and say to you, 'Friend, you must come up higher.'  And this will be a great honor for you in the presence of all the other guests. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised."

Jesus also addressed the man who had invited him and said, "When you give a lunch or a dinner, don't invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives and wealthy neighbors.  For surely they will also invite you in return and you will be repaid.  When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you then, because they can't repay you; you will be repaid at the resurrection of the upright."  

Reflection
The way of union with God is the way of humility, a lesson taught us by Jesus not just by his teaching but by his very life.  Paul summarizes this beautifully in his letter to the Philippians:  "Though being divine in nature, he did not claim equality with God, but emptied himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and in his appearance found as a man.  He humbled himself by being obedient to death, death on the cross. That is why God exalted him and gave him the Name which outshines all names.  " (Phil 2: 6 – 9)

God became man to save us from our pride – from our wanting to be like God but without acknowledging God.

The first reading from Sirach praises the humble: "The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself and thus you will find favor with God.  For great is the power of the Lord and it is the humble who give him glory." (Sir 3: 18, 20) 

Seeing how the dinner guests prefer the places of honor, Jesus' words and parable in the Gospel reading teach us about true humility.  Jesus teaches us to see ourselves as how we really are; better Jesus teaches us to see ourselves as God sees us.  

At the latter part of the Gospel reading Jesus teaching us another aspect of humility and magnanimity.  When you give a dinner, do not invite the rich and powerful, your wealthy relatives and  friends: "When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you then, because they can't repay you; you will be repaid at the resurrection of the upright."  (Lk 14: 13 – 14)

In the same way that we have received freely and so generously from or Father in heaven, we should be ready to share what we have with those who have none or less.  We are assured we will be rewarded by our Father in heaven.  


WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

IN MEMORIAM (+)
     Eligio R. Reyes

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?