Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Gospel Reflection



October 09, 2013
Wednesday – Year of Faith – Ordinary Time
by Rev. Fr. Leo Nilo C. Mangussad, - Rector, Shrine of Mary Queen of Peace (Our Lady of Peace Quasi Parish/EDSA Shrine)
12:15PM Mass at the EDSA Shrine

Reading 1 Jon 4:1-11

Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry that God did not carry out the evil he threatened against Nineveh. He prayed, “I beseech you, LORD, is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish. And now, LORD, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” But the LORD asked, “Have you reason to be angry?”

Jonah then left the city for a place to the east of it, where he built himself a hut and waited under it in the shade, to see what would happen to the city. And when the LORD God provided a gourd plant that grew up over Jonah’s head, giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort, Jonah was very happy over the plant. But the next morning at dawn God sent a worm that attacked the plant,
so that it withered. And when the sun arose, God sent a burning east wind; and the sun beat upon Jonah’s head till he became faint. Then Jonah asked for death, saying, “I would be better off dead than alive.”

But God said to Jonah, “Have you reason to be angry over the plant?” “I have reason to be angry,” Jonah answered, “angry enough to die.” Then the LORD said, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?”

Responsorial Psalm PS 86:3-4, 5-6, 9-10

R. (15) Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
All the nations you have made shall come
and worship you, O Lord,
and glorify your name.
For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds;
you alone are God.
R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.

Gospel Lk 11:1-4

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”

HOMILY

In the advent of social networking, a lot of people are always using their Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo and other accounts. And I am going to bet my fingers that most, if not all of you, have an account (soft laughs).

It's not bad. But do you notice that what is posted, especially on Facebook, are photos of the person? Every day, they change. The picture of the person changes - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....Sometimes, the picture of the person changes three times a day. (laughs) Gone were the days when you take the photo, and the important person is not there, because he is the one taking the photos. Now, we are taking photos of ourselves, and showing it to everyone. It is me, I, myself. You are losing the very importance of who you are, because you are projecting yourself more than anything else.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He taught them the most beautiful prayer in the world. And it begins with 'Our Father...', not 'myself'. It begins with who the Father is, not who I am. The priority is my Father in heaven, and not myself on earth. But the people of today do not even consider the importance of the Father in heaven. One considers 'my' importance, not yours. That is why we are having problems.

My brothers and sisters, if we can only learn from the prayer, to put God first before ourselves, things will be put in their proper place. The problem nowadays is - I, I, I....When I come to church, I want my seat to be vacated, because I want to sit there. If someone sits there, I get frustrated and disappointed. I....

It's time to change our attitude. If we mean the Lord's Prayer, let us put it into practice in our lives. God first before my needs. God's desires first, before what I want. And God's providence first, before my request. Amen.