November 05, 2011
Saturday
Saturday
Commemoration of All
Deceased of the Seraphic Order (Memorial)
Anticipated Sunday Mass
by Rev. Fr. Stephen Mifsud (MSSP –
Quezon City)
MSSP House / Mass for the poor
Psalm: Psalm
63:2-8
Gospel: Matthew
25:1-13
1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall
be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the
bridegroom. 2 Five of them were
foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with
their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was
delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry,
`Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' 7 Then all those maidens rose and trimmed
their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to
the wise, `Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 9 But the wise replied, `Perhaps there
will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for
yourselves.' 10 And while they went to
buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the
marriage feast; and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other maidens came also,
saying, `Lord, lord, open to us.' 12 But he replied, `Truly, I say to you, I
do not know you.' 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
HOMILY
Be Prepared.
What do you
think happens if a fat priest like me goes to play basketball with the Atineo
Eagles? Fail!!
Why? Not
because I am fat but because I am not prepared!! If in the last day
before the match, I tell someone of the players, “pls give me some of your
talent or energy!! Will he give me? No! he cannot.
This is what
Jesus is teaching us today in the Parable. We know that one day we have
to die and hopefully we will be prepared to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The fact is that we do not know the day
We cannot
say , I will do what I like now and leave it till later in life to repent and
embrace the Gospel! We have to be prepared, there is no age frame of
death eg. Over 50 you will die. All of us know someone who died in the
“early years” I am saying this not to make you afraid but to
prepare well. If you know the questions of the exam before the exam and
prepare well, will you be afraid to go to that exam? No.
Jesus
compares the preparation with oil... need to have extra oil. What is the
oil?
It refers to inner qualities like honesty, fairness, integrity, charity.
We cannot borrow another person’s quality and preparation. I
cannot borrow the goodness of another. I have to prepare for myself.
We must work
up our way – I cannot say my parents are holy so I have a complementary ticket
to heaven.
We have to give an account of how we lived
Be prepared
When do you
start preparing for Christmas? The day before? No... many weeks b4.
Can u prepare wedding feast the day before? No... many months before!
Before Christmas we are going to do a party for you... what happens if we do
not prepare... you will not eat, you will not have gift... is preparation
important? YES!!
If we
prepare so many things for a celebration, how much have we to prepare for
eternal life?
Let us make
the best use of the time we have been given. Let us learn how to live as
God wants us through the reading of the Bible, let us live and love like Jesus,
by praying, helping others, not harming others but forgiving them, bringing
peace and joy.
Story:– to a
group of young people who were playing football one asked: What would you do if
I told you knew you are going to die in 2 hours. I’d go to the chapel, find a
priest and confess, I go to pray. I’d run home and tell my sister I’m sorry, I
go and visit my parents. Dominic Savio replied: I’d finish our soccer game.”
What would
you do if you knew that in two hours you are going to die?
Are you prepared?
